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We’ve seen the writing on the wall for some time, but the Harvard Business Review Blog Network recently published a post on the decreasing popularity of “pedigreed” white shoe firms as the go-to choice for in-house counsel. Increasingly, smaller firms are getting a bigger piece of the pie. A recent survey conducted by AdvanceLaw asked general counsel at 88 companies (such as NIKE, Shell, Google, Nestle and more) two questions: one relating to cost, the other to service....

Attorney Ken Grady says he identifies with the dog in the “Bacon Bits” commercial. The popular commercial featured a dog with selective hearing, that only heard: “Blah, blah, blah, Bacon Bits. Blah, blah, blah, Bacon Bits.” “With law firms, it’s become ‘blah, blah, blah, Law Firm name. Blah, blah, blah, Law Firm name.’ According to Grady, after a pitch is over, if you ask general counsels: “what stood out after listening to a law firm pitch?...

Half the battle is having a strategy to win; the other half is winning the battle. Erin Keena’s lawyers had a strategy to get around an order to arbitrate. It was to request dismissal of their client’s complaint, and then appeal from the final judgment. The strategy may have worked in the past, but not in Keena v. Groupon. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said it didn’t have jurisdiction because the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her case....

In plane, train, and automobile crashes, human error is often the cause because technology is more fool-proof than the people in the drivers’ seats. It’s a harsh indictment, but finger-pointing before a tragedy is better than after one. In the collision of email and cyberattacks, it is also a human problem. According to reports, the latest email scam has cost businesses about $3.1 billion. Here are some ways law firms can avoid the human errors that lead to serious crashes....

It’s the middle of the night and you’re facing a deadline, or you have a “hot pen,” to use Justice Ginsburg’s phrasing, when suddenly your screen goes black. You have no idea if your current work has been saved, but worse still – what about all your other work? Computer crashes are no fun at all, and if you can’t make it to an IT professional to fix the problem, you may want to try these suggestions out before you truly start panicking:...

That Innovation Act we talked about back in October? It just passed, 325-91 in the House. It’s expected to have support in the Senate and White House as well, so if your company ever deals with IP or patents, this is a law worth getting acquainted with. What does H.R. 3309 do? Stomps patent trolls. Somewhat. Fee-shifting, delayed discovery, heightened pleading, true owner transparency, and pinch-hitting for customers in litigation are all included in the bill....

Robots may be casting a shadow over law jobs, but they are also opening doors at law firms. Legal tech positions – such as chief innovation officer, legal solutions architect and chief data scientist – are in demand. BigLaw, in particular, needs people to make the tech work. It’s no secret that those tech workers have an advantage if they also know the law. The big surprise, for some, is that the robots actually need help....

Some cattlemen still brand livestock with hot irons, but it’s a shame when there are modern, pain-free ways to keep track of herds. It’s the same with law firms that use old-fashioned ways to brand their businesses. It takes some work, but branding doesn’t have to be painful. There are ways to avoid the painful pitfalls of misbranding. Here are two big ones law firms fall into: Forgetting the Audience Many law firms – especially small firms – evolve from cases that walk through their doors....

Uber has had a rough go of it recently. Two weeks ago, the California Labor Commission ruled that at least one driver was an Uber employee, not the independent contractor Uber had claimed. Last week, taxi drivers in Paris, where Uber is largely illegal, staged violent protests against the company, followed quickly by the arrest of Uber executives. The latest thorn in the ride-hailing app’s side? Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission....

US v. Graham, No. 09-6013, concerned a challenge to the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a certificate of innocence after his conviction for embezzlement of his employer was overturned. In affirming the denial, the court held that defendant has not demonstrated that the court abused its discretion in concluding that he failed to meet his burden under the second clause of section 2513(a)(2), that he did not, by misconduct or neglect, cause or bring about his own prosecution....

Will convicted Rhode Island attorney Robert Ciresi accept his fate, or appeal all the way to the Supreme Court? Monday, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Ciresi’s 2011 conspiracy convictions. A federal jury convicted Ciresi, a 78-year-old North Providence attorney, on bribery, Hobbs Act extortion, and conspiracy charges stemming from his involvement in a scheme to purchase the votes of three corrupt town councilmen on two zoning matters. The three councilmen pleaded guilty and went to prison....

U.S. sanctions against Iran hit hard this month when they took out World of Warcraft servers with no recourse for fans of the online game. The makers of the game, Activision Blizzard, told Iranian users that due to U.S. sanctions they would no longer be able to access the game which is kept on U.S. servers. The sanctions prohibit the company from doing business with Iran, reports CNN. Not only can’t Iranian users access the game, they can’t get their money back either....

It looks like at least one of Apple’s legal issues is finally put to rest. The Supreme Court of the United States declined this last Monday to hear Apple’s challenge to the Second Circuit’s ruling that it and four other companies tacitly conspired to drive up e-book prices in violation of federal anti-trust laws – specifically the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Supreme Court’s decision not to disturb the lower circuit’s ruling (or refuse to review the case) means that Apple will have to pay approximately $400 million as part of the settlement put in place earlier....

With aging baby boomers getting pushed out of their jobs early, age discrimination claims with the EEOC are up a staggering 38%, according to new statistical data compiled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last year, 22,857 people filed age-related complaints with the EEOC, compared with 16,548 in 2006. For in-house counsel, the data begs the question: Is your company engaging in subtle age discrimination without even realizing it?...

In the time of the “start up” business, where young people fresh out of college get some venture capital and make a bajillion dollars, the law firm seems like a vestige of an older time – a time when we were genteel professionals writing on parchment with quill pens. Structurally, that’s the way it is, too: the vanguards of the legal profession still like to pretend law firms are a separate, distinct, elite category of business-but-not-business entity....

If you’ve recently decided to hang up your shingle, you’re mind is probably swimming with questions in how to start a law firm. Don’t worry. There’s a whole world of information out there, on the world wide web. Several years ago, the ABA’s Law Practice Today newsletter ran a piece on 50 Web Resources for the Suddenly Solo Lawyer. They recently re-ran this piece with updated information. The article had some fabulous suggestions but we decided to add some of our own suggestions, as well....

District court did not err or abuse its discretion in imposing the statutory mandatory minimum sentence, and defendant’s request that the statute be declared unconstitutional as applied to him is rejected, as he has not supplied any supporting argument and did not present a constitutionally based argument in the district court. Read US v. Cirilo-Munoz, No. 08-1830 Appellate Information Appeal from the United State District Court for the District of Puerto Rico...

Gay marriage is now 24-0, undefeated in courts since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Windsor barely more than a year ago. The Fourth Circuit, applying strict scrutiny, held today that none of Virginia’s arguments could justify discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws,” Judge Henry Floyd wrote for the majority of the Fourth Circuit panel in Bostic v....

In an action by an insurer seeking a declaration that it was not required to indemnify defendant for the settlement of an underlying property damage lawsuit, a declaratory judgment ruling for plaintiff is reversed where the complaint in the underlying action alleged an “occurrence” under the policy because it did not simply allege non-performance, such as failure to deliver the casing at issue; rather, it involved an unforeseen and unexpected event – the defective casing production which resulted in a gas well failure....

‘Weird’ is a relative term when it comes to law office amenities. For a law firm courting Silicon Valley startups, for example, an in-office volleyball court would be completely normal. At a traditional Wall Street firm, not so much. Whatever your firm prefers, it’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin. Here are a few unusual amenities, including some that might make your skin crawl. Comfort in Your Skin New York attorney John Lenoir loves his office, which is literally on the water....