Laying off employees is never pleasant, but how you break the news can be just as important as the layoffs themselves. So what’s the best way to draft a legal layoff letter? First, keep your audience in mind. The employee you’re laying off will want to know why, when, and how your company plans to implement layoffs. Disgruntled employees who receive a layoff letter may also be looking for reasons to sue....
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. We keep hearing about new and different ways that data can be hacked in the online and wireless world. And, generally speaking, our concern tends to be that our personally identifiable information may be stolen and misused. But that may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the negative consequences of hack attacks....
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Are international governments already engaging in cyberwarfare by hacking into each other’s computer systems? According to recent Reuters articles, at a minimum, a war of words is brewing suggesting that this already is the case. First, it is reported that via a flaw in Adobe software, hackers were able to target government computer systems in Europe....
Does your website feature audio narrations to accompany every image or video to aid the hard-of-hearing? Are they equipped with alternative text that can be read by software aloud for the visually impaired? We doubt it. The good news is that you’re not alone. The bad news is that it could soon be a violation of federal and state law. This arises out of growing worry over the applicability of some sections of the American with Disabilities Act to business websites, a legal issue that had previously sounded too far-fetched to even be concerned about....
There are approximately 80,000 abortions in Texas each year, according to the Houston Chronicle. With this week’s implementation of the new Texas sonogram law, there will be approximately 80,000 additional sonograms in the state. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks’ temporary order blocking enforcement of Texas H.B. 15, last month after deciding that the law would likely survive constitutional review in a federal district court....
Well, color us shocked. The Second Circuit this morning found that the NSA’s bulk metadata collection program – which, by the way, would have remained secret if not for Edward Snowden – was not authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act. The court took seriously the notion that systematic bulk electronic collection of metadata is very different from more “traditional” metadata collection, such as reading the address on an envelope or using a pen register on a phone....
Like lawyers and priests, people tell journalists secrets. Unlike lawyers and priests, journalists get to spill those secrets to the public. Occasionally the long arm of the law knocks on a journalist’s door, demanding the names of secret-sharing sources. The journalist, of course, can choose to play the moral superiority trump card and declare, “I would rather go to jail than reveal my sources.” Sometimes they wind up in jail. Sometimes they ask the courts to apply the reporter’s privilege....
Civil rights suit against police officers for excessive force dismissed Statchen v. Palmer, 09-2418, involved a plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against police officers, claiming that they used excessive force in arresting him for public intoxication and in transporting him from a station house to jail. In affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants on the basis of qualified immunity, the court held that the district court had no basis for sending the case to a jury because plaintiff’s own deposition provided no evidence to indicate that the force exerted was unnecessary, or that a reasonable police officer would have thought otherwise....
It’s that time of year when lawyers pay their annual state bar dues to keep their licenses active. For most, it is an easy “pay-to-play” decision. But for others, it’s a $430 question: Should I pay when I don’t really practice anymore? The answer is: Yes, Maybe As some lawyers say, the easy answer is: “It depends.” For one law professor, however, it wasn’t so easy. Carol Rose Goforth practiced law in Oklahoma before she became an academic....
Hey, at least they didn’t crash the stock market, like Facebook did. In fact, Twitter’s stock prices are booming. We covered the morning’s hype on our In House blog, including the spike from the IPO offering at $26, opening at over $45, and peaking at around $50 per share. Pretty insane for a company that is losing money, even with all of those reasons for optimism. The optimism may have been misplaced....
Don’t play video games at work. This is sort of like saying: “Don’t mix beer and wine together. Oh yeah, don’t drive on the railroad tracks.” Words to live by, says Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day.” Do we really need someone to tell us not to play video games at work? Apparently… Lost Production According to studies, men are wasting more time playing video games at work. Researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester say that work hours for young men between age 21 and 30 have fallen by 12%....
I was going to blog about procrastination for National Fight Procrastination Day on September 6, but I just didn’t feel like it. But at least I’m getting to it now! All of us in the law community suffer from procrastination, some more than others. Appellate attorneys may have it worst of all: Their deadlines are a month down the road, so why start now? You’ve got plenty of time! And then suddenly you don’t....
Ah, insurance: one of the most critical expenses that lawyers need – yet so poorly understand. At least, lawyers may not fully grasp the important of certain types of insurance. Take ransomware, for instance. Does your firm have it? If not, do you need it? There’s a New Attack in Town We’re hoping that most firms haven’t yet tasted the bitterness of being taken for a ride by one of the many email scams out there....
You know how people occasionally spill secrets? Accidentally hit “Reply All” on a sensitive email? It can be embarrassing. For lawyers, however, divulging information that should be kept quiet can lead to thousands of dollars in attorney sanctions. Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld $29,667.71 in sanctions against a Florida tire litigation firm that accidentally distributed material that was subject to a protective order in a products liability case, the ABA Journal reports....
Coin collectors, like bikers and mimes, are a wild bunch, constantly testing the limits of what decent society will tolerate, so it should come as no surprise that the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) had a brush with the law. What may shock your conscience is that the ACCG has the gall to appeal its wrongdoings to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. The nefarious activity prompting such gumption? Ancient coin importation....
It may sound like a tool for ambulance chasers, but actually an emergency roadside kit for trial lawyers is a good idea. There’s nothing as rookie as having to borrow a pen from the bailiff or a notepad from the clerk in the middle of a trial. It’s not a good look to have your tablet or computer – with all your files and research – run out of battery power in the middle of a presentation....
A company’s in-house counsel and human resources department are sometimes at odds with one another. Often tasked with legally guiding the HR department, the legal department is endlessly updating company policy to reflect rapidly evolving law that requires quick turnaround. Fret not, irascible in-house counsel, there are solutions. Here are a few tips on how to get along with your HR department: Time to hug it out and laugh it off....
Thinking about making your small screen debut with your own lawyer TV ad? The potential payoff is huge, in terms of new clients – as is the potential to become a laughing stock. With all the YouTube vigilantes out there, an embarrassing or poorly produced law-firm TV commercial could make you the next viral video sensation, for all the wrong reasons. To help you make the most of your lawyer TV ad, here are some dos and don’ts:...
Caught in the cross hairs of US-China relations, Huawei’s chief financial officer bailed out of jail this week. Meng Wanzhou had been in custody for 10 days after her arrest on fraud charges. She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Bail cost $7.5 million, which is not much for China’s telecommunications giant. The stakes in the international market are much higher. High Stakes Chinese stocks took a dive after Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver at the request of U....
Insider-trading can make you rich. And, oh yes, it can also just as easily land you in jail. Haven’t we all learned how well the whole “greed is good” thing worked out for from Gordon Gekko on “Wall Street?” An in house attorney in San Diego apparently did not. The patent agent and member of the in house team at Sequenom has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges, according to Bloomberg....
