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Petition for Review of BIA Dismissal of Appeal Granted In Rodriguez-Barajas v. Holder, No. 09-60351, a petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), arguing that the BIA erred in holding that it lacked jurisdiction to hear petitioner’s appeal because he had voluntarily left the country while his habeas corpus petition was pending in federal court, the court granted the petition where an alien subject to removal proceedings who voluntarily departs the U....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Yes, there are people who take photos of themselves on their smartphones on practically a constant basis so that we can see them in every life activity imaginable on social media or mobile-friendly blogs. And yes, this can be annoying, even if some of these photos might actually be interesting if we were not otherwise inundated by mundane selfie photos....

Sooner rather than later, your fridge could be connected to your Facebook account. Your toilet could send out tweets. It’s the Internet of Things – the universe of web-connected devices from Fitbits to smart appliances – and it’s becoming more of a reality every day. The IoT, of course, raises a gig or two of legal questions: questions regarding privacy, cybersecurity, transparency, and liability. But the Internet of Things also provides a wealth of evidence....

Ronald Zaccari, the former President of Valdosta State University (VSU), expelled Thomas Hayden Barnes, a student, from the University in 2007 on the ground that Barnes presented a “clear and present danger” to the campus. Granted, it was in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, and college administrators were a little jumpy, but Barnes did not receive a notice or a hearing before his expulsion. This week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Zaccari could be held personally liable for violating Barnes’ due process rights, reports The Huffington Post....

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit brought by a pregnant driver against UPS to proceed. The driver, Peggy Young, was told by her doctor that she shouldn’t be lifting more than 20 pounds. UPS drivers, however, have to lift 70 pounds. She asked for an accommodation, UPS said no, and Peggy was unable to work, eventually losing her medical benefits. The Supreme Court’s decision has wide-ranging implications for pregnancy discrimination and sets out a new test for determining whether an employer action is discriminatory toward a pregnant employee....

What does your law firm insurance cover? Does it cover e-mail scams? That’s right - those strange e-mail scams that you always see popping up in your personal inbox from those Nigerian nationals asking you to help them with their inheritance that was left to them by their great great uncle that they can’t get to without your help… Yes, those scams. A New York court has ruled that a law firm’s insurance policy does in fact cover work done for these “clients,” as one firm found out the hard way....

It seems like people these days can’t walk four feet without typing their thoughts out on a cell phone. But who owns all your text messages? The natural inclination is to assume that you do, after all, you wrote it. But as we all know, the law can be full of absurdities that can sometimes lead to odd conclusions. And in the case of text messages, the result is no different....

Too many lawyers never figure out what they are going to be when they grow up. For some, it’s because they never realized their purpose. It goes way beyond making a buck. Purpose is perhaps the most important part of practicing law, especially in the beginning. It’s why you should define your firm’s purpose as soon as possible. Big Picture Purpose Carolyn Elefant, the popular lawyer/blogger, says purpose is more important than planning when starting a law firm....

You know how some parents will break the bank to buy Christmas presents for their kids? And despite any suggestion that Christmas is not really about money, kids are the driving force behind the buying frenzy? Well, it’s Christmas for Snapchat, and the kids who are making it happen. The tech company has gone public, and its shares jumped from $17 to $24 apiece at the opening. While the story is far from over, the company is poised to beat projections in its initial public offering....

At FindLaw, we love to get questions from our readers. So when you ask, we try to answer. One reader recently wrote us to wonder about the relationship between judicial scrutiny, appellate standards of review, and recent Second Amendment cases. In sum: what’s up with all that? The question actually goes to the heart of legal battles over concealed carry laws, assault-weapon bans, and Second Amendment rights. And it’s bound to come before the Supreme Court, sooner or later....

There’s an app for everything these days. For example, take a look at the “I’m Getting Arrested” app available for Android phones. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests, the app lets you blast a message to a customized list of contacts. Want everybody to know that you won’t be able to make it to a family event because you just got busted? Just tap the “bull’s-eye” on your Android phone’s screen....

What made the Internet the strange, fascinating and sometimes frightening animal that it is today? It wasn’t just the Silicon Valley billionaires, ARPANET visionaries or cats – lots and lots of cats. The legal system bears its share of praise, or blame, as well. From protecting free speech online, to prosecuting cyber pirates, these five lawsuits helped shape today’s information super-highway: ISPs not Responsible for Their Users - Zeran v. AOL....

Another set of survivors have filed suit against Facebook following revelations that Hamas and other terrorist organizations have been recruiting militants via the social media site. We say “another” because suits like this have happened before – and they’re likely to continue as the theory of the law settles. Does the desire for society to root out terrorists’ communication channels necessarily mean a reduction in our speech liberties? Perhaps we’ll found out sooner than we wished....

The tech world is abuzz with concerns about Carrier IQ, a pre-installed app used to monitor smartphones – including questions about its legality and the consequences of its use. Never heard of Carrier IQ? You’re not alone. The application, ostensibly hidden on a wide range of mobile phones, was largely unknown until software researcher Trevor Eckhart found it on his phone and posted his discovery online, Wired reports. While Carrier IQ maintains its app is only used for analytic purposes such as tracking battery use, Eckhart found the software also kept a log of every keystroke – including numbers entered on a smartphone’s keypad....

It sold out within hours of launching, despite limited app support (the only non-Google app supported at launch was Netflix). It looks like a pudgy flash drive. But what is the Google Chromecast? And why should you order one now? Chromecast is, to put it simply, a way to beam content to your television. You choose content in an app (such as Netflix) or a Google Chrome browser tab, tap the “Cast” button, and it appears on your screen....

A Lowe’s employee was properly denied ERISA benefits on her death because of an insurance administrator’s interpretation of her plan’s coverage of work trips. In a very sad case before the Fifth Circuit, Elizabeth Porter died in 2008 when a car hit hers head-on, killing herself and her unborn child. Porter had insurance benefits through her employer, Lowe’s, but the company refused to pay those benefits to her husband because Porter had died while going to and from work....

A year and a half after losing a four-day trial, former Commodores guitarist, and founding member, Thomas McClary was dealt a blow by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. McClary used the Commodores name for his band in 2014. Not surprisingly, the surviving members of the Commodores (that never left the band) filed a lawsuit against McClary claiming trademark infringement, and were awarded a permanent injunction. On appeal, the permanent injunction was affirmed....

“Social video is a no-brainer: consumers want it, and it works better than anything else.” So says FindLaw’s Lawyer Marketing. We couldn’t have said it any better; that’s why it’s worth repeating. Everybody in social media marketing knows it. But if you missed it the first time, here are some high points about how to market your firm with social media videos. Short, Sale Writing for Forbes, marketing executive Dan Gingiss said that video content has been steadily rising on social media....

The First Circuit affirmed a pair of consolidated insider trading convictions in which general gratitude for being a tippee could be considered a personal benefit under federal securities laws. The same goes for wine, steak and massage parlors. If that doesn’t worry you, that’s probably because you don’t golf too much. Background In the McPhail case, the defendant had a long-established relationship with a corporate executive. The lower court established that the relationship between the men was actually quite close: they frequently golfed together, saw each other several times a week, and would even mediate each other’s marriages when marital complications arose....

Clients gripe all the time about how expensive lawyers are, and the rise of Google means that everyone’s a lawyer, which only makes matters worse (“why am I paying you $300 an hour when I can look up the statutes myself?”). There are, of course, times when lawyers can and should provide legal work for free – and times when they shouldn’t. Of course, there’s pro bono. Lawyers have a long tradition of providing free legal work to members of the public who can’t afford representation....