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Gavin Grimm just wanted to use the bathroom, but he ended up become the face of transgender civil rights. Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia, sued his school board after it refused to allow him to use the bathroom that matched his gender identity. He won a landmark victory in the Fourth Circuit and was on his way to the Supreme Court when the Trump administration repealed protections for students like Grimm, essentially ending his case....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. When will it stop? We have been hearing about cyberhacking for years, and rather than hack attacks dropping out of the news, we continue to be inundated with reports of successful hacks. This time the latest victim is the European Central Bank. Perhaps you are thinking that because hacking is nothing new, methods and technology should have been developed to thwart hackers in their tracks....

When a client comes to you seeking justice, often, you’ll need to explain that the legal actions you can take in the real world don’t work like they do on TV. Unless it’s a pressing criminal matter, or there’s a looming appearance, they’re not going to be in courtroom for a while. And while that client might not want you to wait one single second before filing, you might want to consider holding back for several reasons....

The First Circuit decided two criminal cases today, one involving a defendant’s Fourth Amendment violation claim and the other involving a defendant’s Batson claim. US v. Fernandez, No. 09-1058, concerned a defendant’s challenge to the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress a gun recovered from defendant following a traffic stop, in his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. In rejecting the defendant’s argument that the district court erred in failing to find that his state law and Fourth Amendment rights were violated by a police officer’s inquiry into his identification, the court held that a police officer may ask identifying information from passengers in a vehicle stopped for traffic violations without particularized suspicion that the passengers pose a safety risk or are violating a law....

U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, who was killed in the attack against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, tackled tough legal issues from the bench. The chief federal judge of the District of Arizona even received death threats. In fact, his death comes at a time when resources in his district are stretched thin. There were already two vacancies that needed to be filled prior to his death. Now that Judge Roll has passed away, his district will need help....

Tired of hearing about Obamacare? Great, because we’ve decided to make your life easier and give you a distilled list about what you need to know to effectively represent your company. For purposes of this discussion, we’re going to assume that the company you represent has more than 50 employees. If it doesn’t, check out the nifty guide we put together for small businesses. Large Business – 50 or More Employees If the company you represent has more than 50 full-time employees, it’s considered a “large” business for purposes of Obamacare....

See that line outside the door? They aren’t waiting to buy tickets to a Ghostface Killah concert, nor are they waiting for the new iPhone. Those are clients. (Okay, the line is imaginary - but your business is booming). At a certain point, you’ll have to give in and hire support staff. However, it’s not as simple as putting up a job ad — there are a number of bureaucratic tasks that must first be completed....

Stroman v. Thaler, No. 07-20198, involved a cocaine possession prosecution. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of petitioner’s habeas petition, holding that petitioner’s petition was untimely, and he failed to show the due diligence required for equitable tolling. As the court wrote: “The district court granted the respondent’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the petition was barred by the one year statute of limitations and that Stroman was not entitled to equitable tolling....

A jury has awarded $110 million in another talcum powder-cancer case, a further indictment against Johnson & Johnson and an endorsement for lawyer advertising. Attorneys rarely get public approval for their ads, especially when it comes to late-night solicitations, but this time it is paying off in more than dollars. The latest nine-figure award is only one of many cases – about 2,000 nationwide – that have made the public aware of the dangers of using talcum powder....

It’s Round 2 as #LeftSharkGate continues unabated, and appears no signs of stopping. Sosa got himself a lawyer: Prof. Christopher Jon Sprigman of NYU School of Law, a specialist in IP. A few days later, Perry’s lawyers responded, and they’re having none of it. In a new letter to Sprigman, Steve Plinio of GreenbergTraurig doubled down on claims that the “Left Shark” costume is copyrighted. How is that? Apparently because the costume was based on drawings, and those drawings are copyrighted....

Bankruptcy is a complex legal issue. Throw in a Chapter 11 cross-jurisdictional showdown between a state court and two bankruptcy courts, and it becomes a completely muddled mess. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently attempted to un-muddle that mess in Alderwoods Group, Inc., et al v. Reyvis Garcia, et al. The debt in this case stemmed from tort liability claims possessed by relatives of people buried at Graceland, a Miami cemetery....

Smart homes are yesterday; smart cities are the future. Actually, many cities have been semi-smart for a while. Those stupid traffic cameras are an example. But one Canadian city is planning to be genius-smart. In Toronto, the future is a sensor-filled city. But is that a good thing? Sensor-Filled City Owned by Alphabet, Sidewalk Labs wants to turn a 12-acre lot into a data collection machine. The company plans to collect data and disrupt “everything from traffic congestion to health care, housing, zoning regulations, and greenhouse-gas emissions....

Women lawyers serve as lead counsel in only 25 percent of all cases in New York courts, according to a new study. The New York State Bar Association survey found an even lower percentage of women served as lead counsel in private civil cases. The lowest representation occurred in complex commercial litigation, where 19.5 percent of the lead counsel were women. “In short, the more complex the case, the less likely that a woman appeared as lead counsel,” the bar association reported....

The law changes with the ebb and flow of legal tides, but in the world of in-house practice, the waters are especially treacherous. We’re talking about recent developments that implicate how GCs do their job, for whom they do their job, and what liability they could face for doing their job. In fact, these changes even implicate whether or not anyone would want to go in house at all, anymore....

On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh (who also presided over the Apple v. Samsung patent dispute) refused to dismiss a series of class-action lawsuits against Google, which allege that the company’s email scanning practices violate wiretapping laws. Google scans the emails of its users for a variety of purposes, including spam control, advertising, data collection and delivering extra features like Priority Inbox. The plaintiffs are not free Gmail users (who have consented to the scanning via Google’s Terms of Service)....

Three more states legalized marijuana in the mid-term elections, but a different state was way ahead of them with new guidance for attorneys in the field. California, which legalized medical marijuana more than two decades ago, has a new rule for lawyers who advise clients about pot use. Voters approved it for recreational use in California two years ago. The state bar association took a while to act because it also added or changed 70 ethics rules for California attorneys....

Mother’s Day isn’t just about phone calls, cards, and chocolates. It’s about taking the time out to appreciate what our mothers (and if applicable, the mothers of our children) do for us. It’s also a great time to look at what we can do for them. Baker & McKenzie launched a global gender initiative in 2011 that aims to help more of its female lawyers advance into its highest ranks. It also offers workshops and webinars, formal coaching by equity partners, and flexible scheduling options, like telecommuting, shortened workweeks, and reduced billable hours....

Denial of Preliminary Injunction In Plaintiffs’ Suit Against a Broker Re Purchase of Auction-Rate Securities Affirmed Braintree Laboratories, Inc. v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 09-2540, involved plaintiffs’ suit against defendant broker, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., claiming that defendant misrepresented the purchased auction-rate securities as entirely liquid money market investments, seeking rescission of the transactions, restitution of the consideration paid, and damages. Related Link: Read the First Cirucit’s Full Decision in Braintree Laboratories, Inc....

The defense has repeatedly claimed that Casey Anthony was molested by both her father and brother, often insinuating that one of the two men is the father of Caylee. When Baez brought this up in front of the jury, Judge Perry scolded the attorney, reports Reuters. He was told to brush up on “good faith questions.” An FBI DNA expert had already confirmed that neither of the men had fathered Caylee....

Texas Midstream Gulf Servs. LLC v. Grand Prairie, No. 08-11200, involved an action seeking a declaration that a city ordinance regulating natural gas pipelines was preempted by the Pipeline Safety Act (PSA), 49 U.S.C. sections 60101-60137, and that the ordinance impinged on plaintiff’s state-conferred eminent domain powers. The court of appeals partially affirmed the district court’s partial grant of injunctive relief for plaintiff, holding that 1) the city’s zoning power was not subservient to plaintiff’s eminent domain power; 2) the PSA did not preempt the setback requirement of the ordinance; and 3) the ordinance’s preempted security fence requirement was severable from the remainder of the ordinance....