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A three-judge panel of Ninth Circuit justices heard arguments this week in the DACA decision-making document discovery debacle. And though the feds were hot from a recent Second Circuit win, the Ninth Circuit panel did not hold back when it came to the questions. After Judge Alsup of California’s federal Northern District Court ruled that the administration would have to produce more documents, the Trump administration appealed. Fortunately for the White House and DHS, the order requiring the probably huge document production has been stayed pending the resolution of this appeal....

Are you the in house or general counsel of a university that awards scholarships to athletes? Prepare for the biggest shakeup you’ll ever see, now that a National Labor Relations Board hearing office has labeled college athletes “employees,” which brings the right to unionize and other legal headaches. Should the ruling be upheld by the full NLRB in Washington, D.C., this could impact everything from NCAA rules on amateurism to Title IX scholarships....

The beauty of a blog is that it is always brimming with new, brilliant tips and information. That also means older posts can get lost in the shuffle. Today, we’re going to try something we haven’t done in a while. We’re going to take a look back at some of our best posts on a topic near-and-dear to every small firm’s heart: getting paid. From billing blunders, to the annoyances of alternative fees, here is a listing of what you need to know as a solo or small firm practitioner....

In an employment discrimination action, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where: 1) plaintiff established a prima facie case of discrimination under state law as she put forth evidence that defendant regarded plaintiff as handicapped, that she was still able to perform the essential functions of the job despite the handicap, and that she suffered an adverse employment action as a result of her handicap; and 2) a reasonable jury could find that the removal of plaintiff from the work schedule was predicated on impermissible discrimination rather than a permissible legitimate concern about her ability to perform the job safely....

Police body cams are becoming increasingly popular, with nearly a quarter of the nation’s police agencies currently using the small, body-mounted cameras, and 80 percent considering the technology. Civil rights advocates, law enforcement officers, and even the President, view body cams as an important way to document police interactions, deter misconduct, and improve community relations. But one major controversy remains: should officers have access to body cam footage following an incident?...

It’s not easy to get a job as in-house counsel. If you don’t have a connection inside the company, you’re largely left with just your resume and cover letter to make an impression. So your resume should wow, as much as a resume can. A resume summary statement can help you grab attention by providing a quick, succinct “I’m qualified!” at the top of your resume. Some argue, however, that it wastes valuable resume space....

You’ve written a song – a successful one, maybe. Long after it has fallen off the charts, it’s picked up and sampled in a new hit. Suddenly, it’s showing up in commercials, with your vocals highlighted, but without your permission. Most lawyers would recommend pursuing a copyright claim, but that’s not the path being taken by Jerome Lawson, lead singer of The Persuasions, whose 1971 song “Good Times” was sampled in Jaime xx’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” and subsequently used to advertise the iPhone 6....

Ekaterina Schoenefeld is a one-woman law firm working out of a duplex in New Jersey. She is also a force to be reckoned with, so get used to pronouncing her name. Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and California, Schoenefeld sued in 2008 for a declaration that New York’s law requiring out-of-state attorneys to maintain in-state law offices to practice there is unconstitutional. She has pushed the issue to the U....

The “Internet of Things” is a fun buzz-phrase that describes non-computer devices with Internet connections, like your car, your refrigerator, or your thermostat. Unfortunately, companies that make such devices don’t always have security in mind. Your Nest, Turned Against You What am I talking about? August’s Black Hat security conference was geared toward hacking “smart devices.” Security researchers from the University of Central Florida demonstrated how they hacked a Nest thermostat: by plugging USB device into the Nest, they put it into “developer mode” and uploaded their own custom firmware....

It’s been a big year for immigration law. Many of the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ most noteworthy decisions this year have dealt with asylum and what it takes to obtain “refugee” status. Below, we’ve included three of the most interesting asylum rulings the appellate court has issued this year. 1. China’s One-Child Policy and Per Se Refugee Status Congress enacted 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(B) to help the victims of China’s one-child policy attain asylum....

Defendant’s conviction for importation of an alien for prostitution in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 1328 is affirmed where: 1) the overbreadth doctrine was applicable only to First Amendment challenges, and section 1328 did not even arguably implicate First Amendment rights; 2) section 1328 did not reach a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct; 3) the statute was not vague as applied to defendant’s conduct; and 4) the jury instructions did not leave the jury with unfettered discretion to convict based on its own views of sexual morality....

It was the worst of times. Period. That’s because it’s hard to talk about the best of times when your executive officer has a legal issue with the company. It’s really a problem when the C-Suite complains to the company attorney. And if they sue, it only gets worse. That’s when general counsel has to put down the easy reading and look at the hard rules. Conflicts of Interest The Rules of Professional Conduct were not written for general counsel, although Rule 1....

Forget hoverboards, flying cars, and space colonization, the future will be about intelligence augmented by nanobots. And that future’s coming fast. Within 15 years, tiny robots in our brain will make us smarter, sexier, and permanently connected to the Internet. Sure, the prediction may be little more than enthusiastic sci-fi fantasy, but don’t disregard it outright. It comes from Ray Kurzweil after all, a well-known futurist, writer, and director of engineering at Google....

We talk a lot about cybersecurity here, and not just because the Internet is a scary place full of crazed Russian hackers ready to steal your every cached file. It’s because of that, but it’s also because we’re lawyers, and we’re trained to look at potential risks. Some of those risks may get a bit smaller should Congress pass any of the three cybersecurity bills coming down the pipeline. The bills seek to increase information sharing between the private sector and government and protect companies from liability when sharing information....

AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong is still reeling from his massive “distressed babies” public relations debacle. At a town hall meeting, Armstrong blamed two AOL employees’ “distressed babies” and their pricey health care costs for the company’s decision to cut employee retirement benefits, Reuters reports. Deanna Fei, an accomplished writer and mother to one of the so-called “distressed babies,” penned an incredibly moving article for Slate about how Armstrong’s town hall comments has affected her family, including her husband, the AOL employee....

In plaintiffs’ action against defendants-labor unions, alleging that the union provided them with false information regarding their eligibility to receive retirement incentive packages in 2007, the judgment of the district court is affirmed in part, vacated and reversed in part and remanded where: 1) district court correctly ruled that the defendants timely filed the notice of removal; and 2) the district court was without subject matter jurisdiction over the retirees’ claims because the doctrine of complete preemption does not apply here to create a basis for removal under 28 U....

When it comes to international business, the arm of anti-bribery and corruption laws is long, reaching transactions across the world. And the arms of the law are growing more numerous. It’s no longer just America’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that companies have to worry about. Canada and Brazil both have strong anti-bribery laws, while the U.K.’s Bribery Act is stricter than that of any other country. Companies don’t need to just worry about themselves, either....

Microsoft’s long-standing strategy, and recent ad campaigns, tout “one experience for everything” – Windows Phone, Windows RT for Tablets, and Windows 8.1 for desktops, but despite their similar appearance, all three are distinct systems with their own apps. Your long-beloved Outlook and Office are half-functional on mobile devices. It’s been this way forever. When MS had Windows CE on smartphones, there was the familiar “Start” button and Windows interface, but the apps differed....

“Drop and give me 14 push-ups! Or 30, if you’re a dude.” That, in essence, is the gender-based difference in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s physical fitness exam for special agent trainees. Men must be able to complete 30 push-ups to pass the physical exam; women are required to hit just 14. And that’s perfectly fine, the Fourth Circuit ruled on Monday, after a male trainee who was just one push-up short of 30 sued, arguing the test illegally discriminated on the basis of sex....

In 2008, then-Maine Governor John Baldacci commissioned a mural for the waiting area of the Department of Labor in Augusta, using $60,000 in state funds. The mural was meant to convey the value of the labor force and the history of Maine’s labor, including depiction of a shoe-worker strike, child laborers and Rosie the Riveter. In 2011, current Maine Governor Paul LePage created an uproar when he ordered the 11-panel, 7-foot-tall mural removed because he considered it biased in favor of organized labor over business interests....