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Theranos, the troubled blood-testing company, has agreed to pay $4.65 million to settle claims in Arizona. State Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the company misrepresented its blood tests in advertisements to customers, including more than 175,000 Arizonans. About 10 percent of some 1.5 million tests proved to be flawed. “Everyone who paid for a test will receive a full refund, period,” Brnovich said. “This is a great result and a clear message that Arizona’s consumer protection laws will be vigorously enforced....

Being your own boss has a lot of perks, but it also means there are no higher-ups to give you time management tips. Of course, when your boss gives you tips it’s generally in the form of “work harder” or “stop wasting time.” But if you’re a solo or a small firm attorney and you are your own boss, you can be kinder to yourself without sacrificing productivity. No matter how good your time management skills are, there are always new things to learn....

Face it–if you’re running a law firm, you’re also running a business, meaning that you’re prone to making mistakes just like business owners in every other industry. The only real differences are the ethical constraints under which you operate and the tendency of small firm and solo practitioners to focus too much on the law and not enough on the business. For this reason, lawyers tend to make the following big mistakes–all practices that are generally frowned upon by the business community....

Defendant’s drug and firearm possession convictions and sentence are affirmed where: 1) the district court erred by admitting a drug lab report that was a testimonial statement and thus hearsay, but this did not rise to the level of plain error; 2) a rational trier of fact was entitled to conclude that defendant possessed the handgun at issue “in furtherance” of a drug trafficking offense; 3) “aggravated robbery,” as defined by section 29....

We’ve featured a lot of the ways that iPhones can help you run your law practice, but one that isn’t recommended is for robbing restaurants. For whatever reason, Jerome Taylor thought that he could rob a Connecticut restaurant with just his phone, NBCConnecticut.com reports. To some extent his plan worked. The cooks seemed to believe he had a gun. To another extent the plan did not work. The cooks pulled out their large knives and threatened Taylor....

Hewlett-Packard’s long-time general counsel Michael Holston announced his resignation this week. While he “pursues other opportunities,” David Healy of Fenwick & West LLP will be filling in on an interim basis. Things have been touch-and-go for the Silicon Valley company for a while now. In September, the Board of Directors fired CEO Leo Apotheker after just 11 months. He was replaced with ex-eBay CEO and gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. Could the two events be related?...

You want to protect your firm and your client data from cyberattacks. An ounce of prevention, as they say, is worth a pound of cure. But prevention is only one part of a full cybersecurity plan. Detection is just as important. After all, if you can’t tell when someone’s gotten through your defenses, you can’t properly respond to a cyberattack. And for many organizations, detection is a serious weakness. Most companies don’t recognize that their data has been breached until months after the event....

A lifetime ago in El Salvador, Jose Alvarado joined the national guard because it was the only job he could get to feed his family. One day, however, he stood by as his superiors beat a suspected guerilla and forced needles under the man’s fingernails. Alvarado later left the country for the United States. An immigration judge said Alvarado could legally stay in the U.S. because he didn’t have the motive to hurt anybody....

Over the next decade, elder law is expected to start booming. Given the fact that the average age of the population is increasing as the younger Baby Boomers are now entering their golden years, some practitioners might be wondering if transitioning into elder law could prove profitable. If you’re considering exploring the elder law niche, below you can find three tips to help you break in. First, if you want to do elder law, you’re going to need clients....

Last night, I got a tweet. And another. And another. It seemed that a judge in Virginia decided to give same-sex marriage advocates an early Valentine’s Day present. And so, in an eloquently-worded opinion, another state’s ban on gay marriage falls. Here are five takeaways from another landmark case: It has been widely-assumed that, since the Supreme Court punted on gay marriage in Perry, that the issue would inevitably make its way back to the Court’s docket....

Where to begin? It’s a question that precedes every opening statement or argument. The answer, if a lawyer turns it into an effective introduction, can be gold. Unfortunately, half the attorneys who go into court come out losers. With apologies for those who fail, here’s a look at the worst ways to get started. 1. “Your Honor” Really? Did you not see the judge’s name on the bench? “Your honor” is supposed to be a respectful appellation....

The American Bar Association narrowly approved a certification program for specialists in privacy law. It was so close on a voice vote that it took a second call for the ABA House of Delegates to pass the resolution and approve a program. Before the vote, opponents complained about the program definition of privacy law and the potential that clients would be confused by it. Barbara Howard, chair of the standing committee on specialization, told delegates that was not the issue....

In a profession reluctant to leave black robes and white wigs to history, it’s not surprising that lawyers have not kept up with technology. Even the most progressive law firms have a long way to go before a robot takes over the scrivener’s job. While all attorneys have smart devices, relatively few really know how to use them. According to a recent survey, law firms are using less artificial intelligence than brain power....

Everyone needs a notary public at some point in their lives. Notaries serve the important function of making sure people who sign documents are really who they claim to be. And it just so happens that many legal documents also need to be notarized. So you could be a one-stop shop, right? Conflicts of Interest? It’s unclear whether an attorney cannot, as a rule, notarize documents in the course of representing a client....

Gretchen Carlson followed up the Fourth of July holiday with some fireworks of her own, this week. On Wednesday, the former Fox News host filed suit against Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of the conservative news channel, alleging that Ailes created a hostile work environment and took her off air when she refused his advances. Here’s a look at her allegations, and what they might mean for Ailes’ future at Fox....

The Dropbox app for the iPhone is useful. That is, if you use Dropbox already. In order to review the Dropbox app, you need to be familiar with the computer program itself. And what the company offers. It’s essentially a free cloud-based storage system for computer files. It’s useful in terms of sharing, uploading, and maintaining files across different devices such as your phone, computer, and tablet. For tech-savvy attorneys, having a program like Dropbox can simplify your life....

A recent headline out of a Chicago business journal highlights the sale of a divorce law firm that charges flat-fees. It was purchased by another family law firm in the area that was looking to expand. While flat-fee family law services might not be the newest or most revolutionary idea, with news of the sale, it raises the question of whether flat-fee clients make a law practice more buyable and/or sellable....

It took only a month for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide that Zach Scruggs is stuck with his “earwigging” guilty plea. Scruggs, who has already completed his sentence, told the appellate court in July that his plea should be thrown out because his conduct didn’t constitute a crime under the Supreme Court’s 2010 Skilling v. U.S. ruling. Thursday, the Fifth Circuit affirmed Scruggs’ conviction, finding that he was not entitled to relief....

Tim Eyman apparently didn’t hear the judge the first time. Judge James Dixon ordered him to produce financial records in a lawsuit that accuses Eyman of using campaign donations for personal use. The judge also fined him $500 a day for any delay in producing the documents. When Eyman turned over five files to the attorney general’s office, however, the judge said it wasn’t enough. Now it’s $1,000 a day....

After her first year on the Supreme Court, Justice Elena Kagan appears to be getting favorable reviews from both commentators and her colleagues. Said to have “established herself as an incisive questioner and forceful writer,” the junior justice has also established herself as a friend. She has been out with both Justices Scalia and Thomas, as well as with Justices Ginsburg and Kennedy. And according to some, Chief Justice Roberts might as well be her twin....