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Using a technology originally designed to protect government communications, the dark web hides all sorts of criminal activity. On Playpen, users got access to the child porn site without detection – so they thought. But the FBI seized Playpen and installed tracking software, resulting in hundreds of user-arrests. A trial judge said a search warrant was invalid in one case that could have unraveled everything, but an appeals court reversed in United States v....

By some measures, in-house counsel have got it rough. You’ve got to be masters of all trades, plus you have to keep up with all of the latest trends in each field of law that’s relevant for your company. For example, did you hear about last year’s NLRB decisions regarding workplace social media policies? Yes, but only for the Land Rover mocking, the NLRB held. The complaints about catering could amount to criticism of working conditions in an effort to effect change....

Delaware’s reputation as a corporate tax haven is not news, nor is the amount of companies that incorporate in Delaware (more than half of Fortune 500 companies). What is news is this: the Delaware Supreme Court recently adopted a new standard of review for certain kinds of buyouts and mergers. Do we have your attention now? “Novel Question of Law” In a case instigated by the merger of Ron Perelman’s M&F with M & F Worldwide, the Delaware Supreme Court had to determine what the proper standard of review was for a “private merger conditioned upfront by the controlling stockholder on approval by both a properly empowered, independent committee and an informed, uncoerced majority-of-the-minority vote....

The Grutter v. Bollinger decision always seemed a bit odd to me. The oddity wasn’t in the court’s holding. Affirmative-action, race-conscious admissions, and the best means of achieving diversity are certainly issues that can be debated at length, with no clear right answer. Do they help? Are they racist or reverse-racist? How much consideration of race is too much? No, the oddest part was the sunset provision. Justice O’Connor expressed a hope (or holding) that affirmative-action would not be needed in twenty-five years....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Once upon a time, it was widely believed that electronic discovery would streamline litigation, making it faster, easier, less burdensome, and less expensive. So, now that we are some years into the e-discovery experience, has the prediction come true? Sadly, not necessarily. While it is true that it can be easier to retrieve information electronically by using search terms, rather than sending teams of associates into warehouses to rummage through boxes of documents, that is just the tip of the iceberg when considering the overall e-discovery effort....

This one irritates me greatly. Ethics Alarms, a typically brilliant blog about lawyer ethics, cites a legal ethics specialist that recently opined, to the D.C. Bar, that recent grads, immersed in student loan debts, may have irresolvable conflicts with their clients due to their financial pressures. The short version of the argument is this: recent grads are so stressed out by their non-dischargeable student loan debt that they may be tempted to compromise their clients’ cases, or to pressure them to accept a lesser settlement, in order to handle their own bills....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. When contemplating the world’s largest nations by population, China, India, the United States, and Indonesia might come to mind. Indeed, their populations are currently estimated as follows: China: 1,355,692,576 India: 1,236,344,631 The United States: 318,892,103 Indonesia: 253,609,643 But, are these truly the world’s largest nations? Well, not if the Facebook nation is included....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. London was recently besieged with riots. In the wake of these often-organized riots, Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that Britain is evaluating whether to clamp down on social networking activities such as Twitter or Blackberry Messenger during these tumultuous periods. Cameron’s statement very possibly stems from reported comments from law enforcement authorities and other politicians that Blackberry Messenger was used by the rioters to plan their civil disobedience activities....

In early June, a lawsuit accused mega-firm McDermott Will and Emery of e-Discovery malpractice, an allegation that stems from the firm’s reported failure to supervise off-site staff attorneys, which in turn led to the production of nearly 4,000 privileged documents. Though there have been few widely publicized cases of e-Discovery malpractice, if you ask LeClairRyan partner Dennis Kiker, it’s a lot more common than attorneys would like to think it is....

It won’t be long before you look at the car next to you and see no driver, but no steering wheel? No gas pedal? And no brakes?! General Motors already has plans to make that kind of self-driving car. It is the latest thing in driverless design, and it’s cause for serious debate. Current safety rules require cars to have a steering wheel and pedals, but Congress is considering an exception....

Especially in our current political climate, regardless of what side of the coin, aisle, or pantry, you identify, fighting for social causes that you believe in is exhausting. For attorneys, being professional while on the clock for your cause is not only necessary, but it comes at an exacting emotional cost. Sadly, one fact that seems to remain too true, which was highlighted in a study on activist burnout in 2015, is that social justice and human rights activists, like lawyers, “are not intentional about tending to their own well being....

In-house legal departments are often seen as cost centers, but the past few years has seen an interest in converting legal departments to profit centers. This was especially the case during the Great Recession, but is smart business in all financial climates. Here are some areas, and things to consider, in trying to make your company’s legal department profitable. The first thing you should do is look at your company’s business, and what makes it unique....

A federal appeals court restored a Louisiana law that requires abortion doctors have credentials to work at hospitals. In June Medical Services v. Gee, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court decision that struck down the law as unconstitutional. Act 620 provides that treating doctors at abortion clinics must have credentials at a hospital within 30 miles. The appeals panel said the law was intended to protect “maternal health” and “unborn life....

The Justice Department’s Megaupload shutdown raises questions about a pair of anti-Internet piracy bills being considered by Congress: Do the feds even need SOPA or PIPA to combat piracy by foreign websites? Federal prosecutors pulled the plug on the website Megaupload on Thursday, and charged its executives with violating Internet piracy laws, the Associated Press reports. Megaupload is a foreign file-sharing website with more than 150 million registered users. The feds’ Megaupload shutdown followed a widespread Internet “blackout” campaign to protest the House of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act and a companion bill in the Senate, the Protect Intellectual Property Act....

On June 9th, the SEC announced its second largest award given under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program: $17,000,000. The money will be paid to the anonymous individual that supplied the agency with information that eventually led to the successful investigation of fraudulent practices in securities. This monumental sum, however, pales in comparison to the $30M award paid in September of 2014. Kudos to Originality The SEC made a statement about the relevant information offered by the lucky recipient....

Surprise, surprise, lawyers are slow to embrace change as indicated in a “satisfaction survey” of attorney alternative fee arrangements. More and more attorneys are turning to alternative fee arrangements, according to the survey of 194 large law firms and 141 law departments. However, only 26 percent of legal departments and 11 percent of law firms reported were “very satisfied” with the fee structures, reports the ABA Journal. So are attorney alternative fee arrangements here to stay, or this just a bump in the road to the slow death of the billable hour?...

The living metal, or perhaps iron, legend himself, Ozzy Osbourne, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Anschutz Entertainment Group (aka AEG) over a contract requirement that the Prince of Darkness play a show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in order to book the O2 Arena in London. For performers, as Osbourne alleges, this contract term encourages anti-competitive behavior as there are other venues besides the Staples Center that are suitable for performers as popular as the Blizzard of Oz....

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a Texas city housing ordinance that requires citizenship or lawful immigration status as a precondition to renting housing is unconstitutional. The housing ordinance also criminalized making false statements on an occupancy license application, occupying rental housing with a license, and knowingly permitting a person to occupy a rental unit without a valid license. Appellate courts across the ideological spectrum have rejected state and local laws that attempt to combat illegal immigration....

Maybe you heard this song before, but there’s a veterinarian who would talk to the animals if he could. At age 75, Dr. Ronald Hines is an old-school practitioner with a modern approach. He gives pet advice online. At least he did until Texas shut him down. Now he’s suing for his right to free speech – again. 2ndChance For more than a decade, Hines diagnosed pet ailments through his website, www....

Defendant’s conviction for maliciously destroying by fire a building owned by an institution receiving Federal financial assistance in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 844(f) is affirmed where: 1) in general, the statute should be limited to arson of property acquired, renovated, or leased using federal financial assistance; 2) section 844(f) is constitutional and it applies to defendant’s conduct in this case; but 3) defendant’s sentence is vacated and remanded in light of US v....