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The next time your client wants to decline a settlement offer, you may want ask them to reconsider. Federal judge Stefan Underhill awarded $15.7M against RJ Reynolds for accumulated interest payments, because they didn’t accept a settlement offer, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Underhill rejected claims by RJ Reynolds that the interest was excessive. He explained that the interest was mandatory as a matter of law and is designed to encourage defendants to accept reasonable settlement offers....

In Consero’s 2013 survey of 52 Fortune 1000 general counsel, one of the issues at the top of everyone’s list was cyber security. The Association of Corporate Counsel came to a similar conclusion in its 2013 survey of when 72% of attorneys surveyed found data breaches and protection were of serious importance in the coming year. Take the time to do training with all of your employees on the basics: don’t click on mysterious links, don’t download unexpected attachments, and change passwords frequently – and what a strong password really is....

The government cannot search extended cell phone location records without a warrant, the Fourth Circuit ruled last Wednesday. Cell phone service providers routinely collect and record cell site location information, creating detailed reports of where a phone was and when. Should the government wish to look at that information over an extended time frame – a phone’s location over a 221-day period, for example – it must obtain a valid warrant, the Fourth ruled....

The ABA has announced its 54th annual Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, recognizing outstanding work fostering public understanding of law and the legal system. This year’s recipients include six Silver Gavels and two honorable mentions, selected from nearly 200 entrants. A short description of the honorees: Bloomberg Markets Magazine: David Evans, Senior Writer, for three stories on life insurance companies’ profit from death benefits owed to service members’ families, “Fallen Soldiers’ Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit,” “Veterans Agency Made Secret Deal Over Benefits,” and “Taxpayer-Funded Profits....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. We routinely hear about all sorts of addictions relating to drugs, alcohol, food, and even sex. But what about internet addiction? Is it real, and is it a problem? The answer to both, unfortunately, is yes. According to a study led by Michael Van Ameringen at the McMaster University in Canada, heavy internet use can exacerbate various mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, especially among college-aged students....

So you actually want to start a family law practice? And you did not come to this decision because a friend or family member asked you to help with a divorce? You actually want to spend your life in the most emotional battle zone in law? Here are some tips, but first a story to double-check your commitment: Gunshots Heard ‘Round the Courthouse Years ago, I was practicing family law in a jurisdiction where a commissioner, two lawyers, and two litigants were shot and killed following bitter custody battles....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. There have been recent claims that North Korea successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test. Plainly, if North Korea has this capability, there would be cause for concern. But, according to CNN, the White House is skeptical, and the Air Force may send a “sniffer” jet in the region of the Korean Peninsula to help ascertain whether North Korea’s claims are accurate....

On July 21, a timely webinar will be broadcast by the American Bar Association. Courtesy of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, experts in mass torts, government, the insurance industry and environmental law will discuss the legal ramifications of what has been called the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history: the BP oil spill. The webcast, entitled “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Legal Fallout,” will take place on July 21 at 11 a....

What counts as a “success on the merits” for purposes of attorney fee-shifting in an ERISA claim? Diahann Gross’ employer, Sun Life Insurance, denied her disability leave claim for numbness and fibromyalgia. In an earlier appeal, the First Circuit said that Sun Life’s insurance plan contained an incorrect standard for evaluating disability claims. The court remanded to the insurance plan’s administrator for further review. In this appeal, Gross is asking for attorneys fees....

In a rather ancient profession, how are there so many new trends in the legal industry these days? When did barristers start becoming lawyers, and when did it become normal protocol to text your client as a proper means of communicating? Times are changing, and it waits for nobody. Social media. Social networking is not only used amongst laypersons, but is a business’ primary marketing tool these days. This doesn’t exempt legal professionals who use a variety of social media tools to advertise, recruit, research, and everything in between....

As of Monday night, more than 30,000 residents in Broward and Palm Beach Counties were without power thanks to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac. So what’s a lawyer to do while waiting for the power to return? First, consider purchasing a generator for the next storm. Then, review the Judicial Conference’s proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure on your wee, back-lit smartphone screen. (N.B. Even if you’re sitting pretty with your air-conditioning and Internet access in Alabama or Georgia, you can still take a gander at the changes....

Feel like you’re reinventing the wheel every time you draft a contract? Do you wish you could get more done with the work you already have? You’re not alone. For plenty of in-house lawyers, writing and rewriting legal agreements becomes a bit of Sisyphean task after a while; the mountain is the same, the rock is pretty similar, and only a few of the key terms have changed, like whether the rock rolls back down on your left or your right....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Should our digital pasts always follow us around, or should we have the right periodically to wipe out digital slates clean? The notion of “the right to be forgotten” has garnered quite a bit of attention in Europe, where privacy is more strictly protected than here in the United States. And while there have been some rumblings on our soil, perhaps now is the time for this notion to be taken more seriously in the United States....

For the past few months, the government has been waging a PR campaign against enhanced phone encryption – encryption of the type that might make it harder for government snoops to peak into your phones. When Apple announced that it wouldn’t be able to break the default encryption in their new operating system, FBI Director James Comey went as far to say that children will die as a result. Several commentators noted the irony behind Comey’s histrionics....

The law firm billing model has taken a lot of heat of late, with companies refusing to pay for new associates and demanding alternative fee agreements. That conversation has just been launched onto the national stage, a response to a motion filed by Madoff trustee Irving Picard and his legal team at Baker & Hostetler requesting some $43 million in legal fees and expenses for about 4 months of work....

That’s because actually there is no such award. But let’s face it, we all want it. The good news is there are many awards that recognize lawyers for the good they do. The bad news is that you actually have to earn them. Outstanding Young Lawyer Kaitlin A. Brown got one. She has been awarded the 2018 Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award by the Michigan State Bar. Given by the young lawyers section, the award honors attorneys younger than 36 who have shown “overwhelming commitment to public service, service to the bar and exceptional leadership....

If you have not been taking intern lawsuits seriously, you need to. By now you’ve probably heard about Fox’s Black Swan and Heart’s intern lawsuits; the appeals of class certifications (granted in the former, and denied in the latter) will be heard by the Second Circuit in tandem. That’s not all. Last month a class of MTV interns was certified and just this week, another intern class was certified, and another intern lawsuit settled – for the largest amount of money in this type of case to date....

Can a few shortcut keys make you a more efficient lawyer? It’s frustrating to watch a lawyer wasting time schlepping that cursor around with a mouse when he could be blazing like a wizard using shortcut keys. Using the mouse too much also sets you up for repetitive strain injuries. Make Pop-Up Windows Go Away Faster Hit Esc to exit. Instead of mousing over to the “Cancel” button on the screen and left clicking, you can usually hit the Escape key to exit a window....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. LimeWire, a software application that allows for free music and music file sharing over the Internet, has suffered a recent and significant judicial defeat in at the hands of 13 major record companies. The LimeWire lawsuit indicates that record companies will not back off from fighting against free music downloads. Some years ago, the record companies filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against certain companies and individuals while asserting a variety of federal and state law claims for their alleged role in the distribution of LimeWire....

While the order itself may look authentic, one Minnesota state court judge is bound to have news station anchors and weather-reporters chuckling for years to come with his recent Order to Enjoin “Minnesota Meteorologists, Old Man Winter, and Mr. Snow” from dumping anymore snow on the state and county he presides over. The order itself lays out a rather cute, but cursory, analysis of why an injunction against any more snow is warranted....