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Defendants’ marijuana possession convictions are affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting defendants’ cellular call records into evidence; 2) the district court properly instructed the jury that the prosecution’s summaries of the call records were not evidence. However, certain defendants’ sentences are reversed where the district court plainly erred in treating some drug offenses as “serious drug offenses” under 18 U.S.C. section 3559(c) and then imposing the mandatory life sentences....

It’s no secret that in-house lawyers are motivated by more than just cold hard cash – though that helps, too. Many lawyers seek out in-house positions even though they could make more in big firms or their own practices. It’s the desire for work-life balance, an interest in business, or a yearning for greater variety that brings them to corporate legal departments. Those non-monetary motivations don’t disappear once in-house attorneys land a job....

People can do almost everything on their cell phones, but that doesn’t mean they should vote with them. That’s the debate going on in West Virginia, where officials plan to allow voters living overseas to do it via smartphone. Security experts, on the other hand, think that’s not smart at all. With the 2018 election season in full-swing, it may turn out to be 2016 all over again. “Horrific Idea” The last presidential election may go down in some history books as the election the Russians won....

Richard Jesus Amos, an immigrant from the Philippines, committed a sexual crime against a minor. After he served his punishment for the crime, the Department of Homeland Security came knocking. Since the Attorney General has the power to remove any alien “who is convicted of an aggravated felony,” the immigration judge heard a strong case against Amos. As might be expected, the judge ordered Amos to be removed and denied motions for reconsideration....

Despite the defendant being convicted of growing more than 100 marijuana plants at a warehouse in Deerfield, the Court held that the search that led up to it was not valid, and that this evidence should therefore be suppressed. Valerio first became under suspicion during an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in July 2011, after he was seen making a purchase at Green Touch Hydroponics – which was likely to be used in growing marijuana....

Man, I’m hungry. Look at this menu though. There’s like, 67 different kinds of burgers. And what in the heck is the difference between a McDouble and Double Cheeseburger. And CBO? I do like bacon. Hmmm. And look at this - thirty different kinds of soda. Where’s Diet Mountain Dew? You might call it a First World Problem. We’re presented with too many choices for too many things - from food to smartphone apps to cable TV channels....

Clients may not think about their lawyers in a natural disaster, but their lawyers should think about them. That’s the upshot of new guidelines from the American Bar Association. The ABA released an ethics opinion on how attorneys should deal with disasters. It’s only natural, considering how Hurricane Florence ravaged an untold number of businesses. For attorneys, a big concern is safeguarding records. Cloud Coverage In Formal Ethics Opinion 482, the ABA focuses on concerns such as client communications and records....

If you haven’t met Alexa yet, you’re gonna love her now. Now, thanks to innovation from Thomson Reuters, FindLaw’s parent company, Alexa does something only a lawyer could love. She keeps track of billable hours! Billable Reality If you thought you were dreaming, you can wake up now. Or you can ask Alexa to wake you up because she does that, too. You see, Alexa responds to voice commands. So if you say, “Alexa, set my alarm for 6 a....

Apple is launching a web portal for law enforcement and will train officers how to submit requests for data from the company. The web portal will be live by the end of the year as part of Apple’s new law enforcement program. The company says it is committed to “protect the security and privacy of its users.” It’s not like the company is going undercover. It’s really more about transparency as Apple deals with rapid changes in data management....

The iPad continues to reach into the legal world, spawning the creation of the iPad attorney. For a recent example, take Ron Elkins, Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney. He has integrated iPads into the prosecutor’s office, according to Planet10tech.com. “You can load your whole case file onto the iPad, plug it in to the projection system in any of our courtrooms, we use it with Bluetooth audio in our courtrooms. Based on the ease of use and the stability of the operating system, it is a lot easier to walk around and hold the actual device during trial and present that to witnesses or to a jury and you can accomplish a lot more than you can with a connected PC....

In plaintiff’s personal injury action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), denial of plaintiff’s motion for judgment as a matter of law is affirmed as there was sufficient evidence of contributory negligence to support the jury’s substantial reduction in damages awarded to the plaintiff. Read Butynski v. Springfield Terminal Ry. Co., No. 09-1164 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts Decided January 22, 2010...

The First Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a district court’s denial of habeas corpus in a murder case that’s been bouncing like a pinball through the Massachusetts courts since 1985. Penny Anderson was murdered at her Springfield, Mass. apartment in 1984. In 1985, a Superior Court jury convicted the petitioner, Edward Wright, of the crime. After exhausting his state challenges, Wright filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court....

As in-house counsel you probably hear so much about corporate compliance that it may blend in and sound more like white noise. Well, next week is Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week, so we’ve decided to make a rallying cry for corporate law departments to get in on the action. You have one week to get ready – here are some tips for participating in Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week. What Is Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics has recognized Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week since 2005, making this the 10th annual week of recognition....

Passive aggressive Facebook posts — in which people announce their opposition to a government policy, a reality show plot line, or someone’s choice of fragrance — are not terribly effective. Such messages rarely even reach the object of their ire. A class action settlement objector’s Facebook posting, however, can ruffle the right feathers. In January, McDonald’s and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to settle allegations that a Detroit-area restaurant falsely-advertised its food as halal, The Associated Press reports....

You can find ‘geeks’ somewhere between ‘cool’ and ‘sketchy.’ Like members of the Geek Squad are cool because they can fix computers. But they can also be sketchy because some have been paid to turn over child pornography they find on computers to federal authorities. According to newly released records from the FBI, Best Buy’s geeks have been working with the agency for a decade. Child Porn The documents detail how the Geek Squad let the FBI know when child porn showed up on customers’ computers....

Here are three great things Maryland has: the very first national highway, most of the Chesapeake Bay, and the only state flag based on English heraldry. Now here’s a fourth: access to FindLaw’s newly launched Code of Maryland and Constitution section, the best new source for Maryland laws online. So whether you’re looking for Maryland’s constitution, or its criminal procedure laws, or the nation’s only law on how to set up a flagpole, you can now find them here, right on FindLaw, and entirely for free....

We are lawyers. We are also businesspeople. Often, especially when a big trial or motion is pending, we fall into single-case tunnel vision. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Clients should always come first. After all, you have an ethical obligation to help the client, and only a financial obligation to your business. Update Your Website, Blog Do you maintain your own website? Some of the biggest factors for placement in Google search results are fresh content and regular updates....

Remember that time Google wrote cookies to deliberately circumvent privacy settings in Safari users’ browsers and to track user activity? No? No big deal. Sure, it was hugely invasive, but if the settlements are any indication, no one seems to be particularly concerned. The Internet giant, which had $14.9 billion in revenue last quarter, will pay about $17 million to 37 states as part of a settlement in ongoing litigation over the issue....

Some of the most prolific examples of digital piracy can be traced not to hackers, but to universities and college professors, a series of lawsuits seems to assert. In each case, the schools and professors claim that fair use applies to their alleged copyright infringement, The Wall Street Journal reports. But critics say “fair use” is going too far. One case involving Georgia State University’s “e-reserve” service – where professors can post excerpts from copyrighted textbooks for students to read – may soon be decided by an Atlanta federal judge, who described her legal predicament in court:...

We swear we’re not making this up: lawyers are absolutely dominating the field of content marketing. According to Contently, law firms both large and small are getting into the game of providing regular (and useful) content for potential clients. This is perhaps a little surprising considering the profession’s reputation for keeping its valuable information to itself. Actually, if there’s any industry that is ripe for content marketing, it’s the legal profession....