Are you on the Best Coast with a few days to spare next week? We’d recommend devoting that free time to LegalTech’s West Coast conference. The conference, in gloomy San Francisco, will be filled with legal tech companies, practitioners, and scholars. Those who attend can expect to see everything from presentations on data privacy and security to round tables with top counsel from eHarmony, Google, and TiVo – it’s an eclectic mix....
Have too many software programs? Overwhelmed by what they do and don’t do? Not to sound like an antidepressant commercial, but you may be suffering from software overload. And you’re not alone. Small firms and solo practitioners, like most small businesses, don’t have on-call IT support, meaning that attorneys are often engaged in their own troubleshooting. Unfortunately, this often ends in new software purchases, adding to the chaos. But what if it didn’t have to be that way?...
When Dario Suarez-Valenzuela (DSV) appeared on a Peruvian talk show in 1997, he was promised compensation by the show’s investigator, Jason, and the show’s host, Lara Bazzo. He was never paid, and together with Jason, he confronted Bazzo and threatened to report her to a rival station. After agreeing to testify against Luis, DSV was stabbed. He then fled the country for the U.S. Luis served three months in prison for the murder....
The in-house job market may be growing, as indicated by some recent high-profile hires. Bloomberg recently snagged five partners from Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Along with the new partners, about 15 associates may follow their bosses and cross over to Bloomberg. The exact number of attorneys hired is still unconfirmed. It’s a healthy number, and a relatively good sign that things are going well over in the Bloomberg front. Hiring five partners can’t be too cheap, and bringing along more than a dozen associates can also be costly....
The trial of Ammon and Ryan Bundy begins today, but the duo won’t be wearing their signature cowboy attire. The Bundy brothers, part of the family of Nevada ranchers turned anti-government activists known for their armed confrontations with the federal government, are being charged for their role in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon last January. But before the trial could get started, there was the important issue of wardrobe....
The first of two parallel challenges to the NSA’s cell phone metadata gathering program reached a federal appeals court this week, and if the judges’ comments are any indication, the Second Circuit may be leaning toward reversing a district court’s ruling in favor of the agency. U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled in the NSA’s favor last December, accepting the government’s proffered evidence that the program had helped anti-terrorism efforts and holding that he was bound by decades-old Supreme Court precedent....
Startups get millions of dollars in venture capital in hopes of making it big. But sometimes a bulk of those millions will be spent on legal fees when General Counsels find their new businesses are sued for millions. Six major Hollywood studios have sued Internet-movie company Zediva, claiming the start-up violates copyright law with its system for showing new movies online for $1 or $2. The “DVD-rental” company doesn’t send DVDs to customers through the mail, like Netflix....
Is it time for your company to address mass shootings? Does your workforce need training on how to escape, or how to avoid violent confrontations? Several states like Alabama and Washington, believe so, and are encouraging employers to come up with training to address and prevent mass shootings. In fact, some companies have even produced (corny) training videos that simulate what happens during an attack and what to do to protect yourself....
Interested in jumping into mass medical malpractice suits or maybe a giant product liability claim? Get your lender on the line, because it may cost you millions in funding, often at absurd rates. At least according to a new lawsuit by an ex-AkinMears employee who alleges he raised almost $90 million in litigation funding for the firm – in just four months. Those numbers aren’t just for the billion dollar BigLaw firms either....
‘Working vacation’ is an oxymoron, especially for solo attorneys. So why do we plunge head first into the ritual? It’s like starting a journey, knowing that you’ll never get to your destination. But such is the attorney’s fate, and so we soldier on with our lattes in life. Here are some ideas for your next working vacation: Plan Ahead It’s impossible to anticipate every possibility in a solo law practice. Opposing counsel can ruin your best-laid vacation plans with one ex parte notice....
T.W. v. Sch. Bd. of Seminole Cty., Fla., No. 09-12623, involved an action claiming that defendant school board violated a disabled student’s constitutional right to be free from excessive corporal punishment or discriminated against the student solely by reason of his disability, in violation of a federal statute, due to a teacher’s physical and verbal abuse of the student on several occasions. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for defendants, on the ground that the evidence overwhelmingly established that the teacher’s use of force during the incidents at issue was related to the student’s disruptive or self-injurious conduct and was for the purpose of discipline....
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!: This blog post does not create a legally binding blogger-reader relationship. The blogger concedes his intent is to convey non-privileged, non-proprietary information about whether it’s wise or necessary to add possibly pointless paragraphs to your electronic legal communications. Opinions expressed in this post are subject to change. If you feel you have read this blog post in error, well, keep reading anyway because it pertains to your daily practice…...
They found a proverbial ‘smoking gun’ in the self-driving car case against Uber. It was buried in discovery documents that the company wanted to hide. Ultimately, the judge ordered Uber to produce them. The plaintiff has the documents now, but there’s a problem. It’s going to take some time to figure out if the smoking gun shot the bullets. “Dodge This” Uber may not be able to dodge this bullet. Google’s self-driving car division, Waymo, alleges that Uber used stolen technology to develop a self-driving car....
Bad news divorce lawyers: Your easy cases might be harder to come by after February 2018. That’s because the maker of the DoNotPay chatbot has turned his focus to uncontested divorces. In a few months, a free service for divorce papers preparation will be available to couples that qualify and agree to an uncontested divorce. Like the DoNotPay chatbot (that handles parking tickets), an individual will go through various chat prompts and then receive filled out court forms....
For some lawyers, legal research is engaging, stimulating, and even fun. For others, it’s torture. Thankfully, legal researchers and those that hate legal research have had a symbiotic relationship for quite some time. Unfortunately for the legal researchers though, artificial intelligence is poised to start really cutting into the available research workload, or at least the number of hours one can claim spending time researching legal authority. A newly released free AI tool not only works, it seriously threatens those who live to research whether cases cited in briefs are still good law....
An appeals court battle over Maryland’s 40-foot ‘Peace Cross’ is over, but the conflict will go on. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals refused en banc to hear American Humanist Association v. Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. A three-judge panel ruled last year that the World War I memorial had the “primary effect of endorsing religion and exclusively entangles the government in religion.” The en banc court, split by multiple dissenters, declined to reconsider that decision....
Last year, workplace retaliation lawsuits exceeded the number of lawsuits filed for discrimination based on race, sex, disability, or religious discrimination, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Previously, retaliation lawsuits were viewed as a “throw-in” claim to discrimination lawsuits. But retaliation claims are now standing alone, reports Inside Counsel. And as the number of claims go up, the amount of damages that companies pay out is going up as well....
When a calamity strikes your company, what’s the best way to handle potential mass claims for damage or injury? The recent Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, Calif., and the BP oil spill in 2010 offer just two examples of how multinational corporations have handled mass claims. While a company’s efforts may not prevent all potential lawsuits, following an established (and humane) claims-handling process can pay off, both financially and in terms of goodwill....
Robert James Campbell was about two and a half hours away from being executed, the first scheduled execution in the United States since a botched execution in Oklahoma led to 43 minutes of apparent agony for a now-deceased inmate. Now, thanks to recently discovered IQ tests that Texas officials failed to turn over to the defense years ago, and some equitable tolling, the allegedly mentally impaired inmate, whose IQ was recently determined to be 69, will get a shot at habeas relief....
Q: How do you get two of the most ardent supporters of a surveillance state to reverse course? A: Grant blanket powers to a government agency and act surprised when they surveil 36 world leaders. Over the last few months, we’ve seen reform proposals come from Congressional leaders, such as a bill backed by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Udall (D-CO), and Rand Paul (R-KY). The biggest opposition came from Sen....
