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In US v. Davis, No. 08-20844, the Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant’s conviction for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, holding that 1) the IRS did not reject the Forms 1040 defendant prepared based on the language he added to them, and thus the Forms 1040 were valid, though fraudulent, tax returns; and 2) defendant failed to demonstrate how the district court’s failure to give him accommodations that were never requested affected his substantial rights....

General Counsel Pressuring Firms Amid Recession The following article was written by Brett Tarr, general counsel for eMag Solutions, based in Atlanta, GA: Times are tough for everyone. The economy continues to falter, and both corporate legal departments and outside counsel are facing unprecedented pressures. Law firms are downsizing and corporate legal department budgets are being slashed. In the midst of this economic crunch, general counsel have increased pressure on their outside law firms, demanding lower fees, predictable bills and improved service....

The Obama administration’s deferred action plan for undocumented immigrants suffered another setback today, as a federal district judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction ordering the administration to stop enforcing executive orders related to the Deferred Action for Parents or Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Over 123 pages, Judge Andrew Hanen agreed with 26 states that the Obama administration exceeded the scope of its statutory (but not constitutional) authority in creating DAPA....

Today marks the anniversary of the first U.S. patent. On July 31, 1790, Samuel Hopkins was issued the first patent, for a procedure for making potash. Two hundred twenty-four years and over 8 million patents later, here are five patently fun facts you might not know about patents and patent history: 1. For 90 Years, All Patent Applications Were Accompanied by Working Scale Models. From 1790 to 1880, the government required every patent application to be accompanied by a working scale model of the invention, no larger than 12 inches on each side....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Drones are coming down in price, and they no longer are confined for deployment by military officials and high-level business moguls. So, can you just go out and buy and use a drone, completely unfettered? Sorry, no. Not under new FAA rules. But where there is a will, there is a way. If you have a business purpose for your drone, you could be fined for using your drone without obtaining FAA approval....

Does data analytics have a place in the in-house legal department? At more and more companies, the answer is yes. With increasing frequency, forward thinking in-house attorneys are turning to big data and data analytics to identify risks and ensure compliance. Here’s how. You can be forgiven for thinking that “big data” is just a meaningless buzzword. It often is. “Big data” simply refers to the reams and reams of unstructured data in your possession: the contents of emails, the length of phone calls, frequency of transactions, etc....

As the consumer and business legal markets change, law firms need to be ready to adapt. Using technology to cut costs, as well as increase convenience and transparency, can boost your firm’s competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. Along those lines, self scheduling software can really help with increasing, that holy grail of web-traffic metrics, conversion rates. Put yourself in the shoes of your own online potential client. If you were checking out a prospective lawyer on the internet, and you were able to click a link on the law firm’s website, and through that link, schedule an appointment … Would you be impressed, or maybe relieved, that scheduling was that simple?...

In Cianbro v. George H. Dean, Inc., No. 09-1574, the First Circuit dealt with the issue of whether an in rem maritime lien should be allowed against plaintiff’s vessels, arising from a Vessel Conversion Contract to convert the vessels from sulfur tankers into multi-purpose supply vessels. Under 46 U.S.C. section 31342(a), to establish a maritime lien on a vessel, the lien claimant must prove, inter alia, that it provided necessaries to the vessel on the order of the owner or a person authorized by the owner....

With the NBA playoffs underway, basketball fans often see Jay Z and wife Beyonce sitting courtside these days. The billion dollar couple have the resources to fly on their $40 million jet from New York to California, with a stop-off on the way for Beyonce to slay Coachella. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. This week Jay Z has another lawsuit to look at: a Scandinavian law firm and a financial institution want almost $600,000 from a music deal....

Today, we have a refresher on the standard of review in interlocutory appeals, courtesy of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department. Interlocutory appeals aren’t the fuel of everyday practice because most appeals wait until after a judge or jury decides a case. If you’re facing your first interlocutory appeal, welcome to the wonderful world of qualified immunity. First, let’s dispose of the facts in the case....

Police respond to a domestic violence call at the Doe household, where they find a pretty sizeable collection of firearms and marijuana plants. The government suspects that Poppa Doe is the owner of these objects, but since others have traipsed through the premises, they need someone to testify. Momma Doe clams up, claiming privilege, as does college-aged Doe Jr. – and the district court somehow agrees. Attorney-client? Sure. Doctor-patient? No problem....

Wage and hour class actions are about as appealing as a bland, chain restaurant burger. And Ruby Tuesday just got served with an extra helping of hard to swallow litigation, now that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of every single tipped worker who worked at Ruby Tuesday locations in the last three years. If things go really badly for the restaurant chain, workers could be entitled up to $10....

How many fake emails does it take to fool a lawyer? And no, this is not a lawyer joke. Apparently, it takes more than seven states’ worth of email because scammers have targeted lawyers across the country and they are not letting up. Attorneys from New York, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Alabama have recently received email with phony threats of lawsuits and disciplinary actions against them. The phishing scam is designed to entice lawyers to click on a link that results in their computers being taken hostage by ransomware....

In February 2010, after five years in development, Thomson Reuters released WestlawNext, which has since been subject to much fanfare. The product, which is a sleeker, cheaper, and more efficient version of the company’s traditional Westlaw service, was just named the best new product of 2011 by the American Association of Law Libraries. Here’s why. Developers worked with hundreds of legal professionals, handing each one a difficult legal research project. They tracked search terms, retrieved documents, and logs, watching how legal professionals move from document to document....

Some people become lawyers because they want to help others and blah, blah, blah. But some of us did it for the gadgets. How else would we be able to afford the latest tech toys with a liberal arts background? Being an attorney may not offer many advantages when it comes to acquiring gizmos – no one’s handing us an iPhone prototype to lose in a bar – but having a way with words (and $1500) could help some lucky lawyer win a new toy that’s not even on the market yet: Google Glass....

Just months after he joined the company, investors are publicly calling for Yahoo to fire CEO Scott Thompson. Thompson, who has been touted for his technological experience, appears to have claimed that he had degrees in both accounting and computer science. His computer science degree doesn’t actually exist. Dan Loeb, whose company ThirdPoint holds a 5.8% stake in the company, broke the story when he released a scathing letter sent to the Board of Directors....

Some law firms, we recently learned, have been keeping a small stash of Bitcoin on hand. Why? Because Bitcoin, the digital cryptocurrency, is the preferred mode of exchange for most hackers. Should the firm succumb to a ransomware attack, a quick Bitcoin payoff can allow business to resume without too much difficulty. But there’s another way to prepare for potential cyber attacks – and it doesn’t involve stuffing Bitcoin under the mattress....

Over the past dozen years or so, social media has certainly made its mark on the legal profession. Lawyers now connect with clients on Facebook, release legal podcasts, and some even have an Instagram account. But social media’s reach stretches well beyond legal marketing; social networks have changed the law itself, along with the way lawyers practice. Here’s how. Sure, you know about hashtags for lawyers. But what about social media’s impact on antitrust litigation, now that banter on Twitter can raise antitrust concerns?...

Walter Maksym may well be the most embarrassed attorney in Illinois. Homing in on his grammatical deficiencies (and a 345-word sentence), the 7th Circuit publicly critiqued the litigator’s inability to file an intelligible complaint. It ordered him to show cause why he should not be suspended or otherwise sanctioned. If that wasn’t enough, the panel then directed the clerk to send a copy of its opinion to the state bar’s disciplinary authorities....

The King has been sold. But at least he didn’t come cheap. Burger King has been sold to 3G Capital Management for $3.26 billion, approximately $24 a share. $3.26 billion is quite a lot of money, though banks lended over three-quarters of the money, $2.8 billion. Burger King has seen the value of the company take a major hit over the past several years, so getting the company for $3 billion now seems like a steal....