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After a brief break to deal with Hurricane Isaac, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to dive back into civil procedure with a new service of process policy. Friday, the New Orleans-based appellate court adopted a flexible due diligence standard for foreign service of process. The appeal arose from a 2006 automobile accident in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Gloria Lozano was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by a truck rented from Enterprise and driven by Julie Bosdet....

Did we say free? Well, kind of. You see, the geniuses at ObiHai designed a box that takes Google’s free calling, and a free Google Voice number, and routes it into a normal phone. Pay for the Obi box, which is $30-$70, depending on the model, and you have free phone service for as long as Google Voice remains free. How much is your monthly office phone bill? $100? $200? Extrapolate that over a year or two and the saved overhead is truly significant....

This case is neither particularly exciting, nor complicated. Maria J. Collazo-Rosado worked for the University of Puerto Rico, heading up its student tutoring department. She suffers from Chron’s Disease, which causes inflammation of the intestines. You’re not a doctor, and neither am I, but that basically means she runs to the toilet a lot and has to have frequent visits with a doctor. UPR had a pretty strict attendance policy about using time cards, one which she repeatedly failed to follow (ostensibly because of her condition, though she even failed to text or email when she was going to be late, as required by UPR)....

Legal malpractice insurance is required in some jurisdictions. Many other states make malpractice insurance for attorneys optional, but it’s still recommended, even for the most experienced professionals. Small firms and solo practitioners have many options when it comes to buying legal malpractice insurance. So how do you buy the insurance plan that’s right for you? Where to begin Your state and local bar associations are good places to start. They may be able to introduce you to various insurance providers, and can offer general information about malpractice insurance in your area....

Judge Royce Lambeth has imposed an inventive Rule 37 discovery sanction on the District of Columbia (D.C.), reports the ABA Journal. In a class action, D.C.’s attorneys showed up for trial without having produced thousands of emails requested by plaintiffs in pretrial discovery. D.C.’s attorneys protested they had too little staff, and that they “kept finding new caches of emails,” reports the ABA Journal. Finally, D.C. agreed to produce the documents on a “rolling basis” after the trial was over....

Law firms that offer free cab rides on New Year’s Eve are doing their community a good service. They’re reducing the number of potential accidents by taking inebriated drivers off the road. They’re also receiving free publicity. It’s a trend that seems to be growing. Many news outlets from across the nation have reported stories of do-good law firms sponsoring cab rides. Many of these programs are sponsored by personal injury attorneys....

With all that power to compute and show you delightful cat pictures and videos, you may not want to believe it, but your smartphone hinders your ability to think. At least according to the recent research published in the Harvard Business Review. No, it’s not the invisible microwaves or infrared, -blue, -green, or -fuchsia signals that pass through your skull. Your smartphone’s very presence around you distracts you, and a distracted you is a you that’s less able to think and solve problems....

Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Colorado and Washington state, following successful ballot initiatives. As lawmakers hammer out the details and figure out how to tax and regulate marijuana use, some attorneys looking for a niche may not want to pass on the opportunity to grow their marijuana law practice. Before you leave this blog post huffing and puffing over the seemingly preposterous idea of practicing pot law, keep in mind that marijuana law does not mean simply defending teens caught lighting up a joint....

One thing for sure about the future of legal tech, there will be upgrades. In that tradition, Microsoft has announced its newest edition of SQL 2017 – a server that features software upgrades that may serve lawyers well. It is not a lawyer product, per se, but it has tools that can help attorneys manage their workloads. The most promising features for the legal profession, according to reports, are improved analytics and artificial intelligence that may even predict outcomes....

With its new PrintStik mobile Bluetooth printer, PlanOn takes aims squarely at the road warrior market, reports Laptop Magazine. This printer seems designed to appeal to the bicep-challenged road warrior. Or maybe, the road warrior who appreciates a chic,1.5-pound printer. Small. Light. Wireless Bluetooth. An inch high, eleven inches long, two inches wide. No toner. And it prints. On paper. Anywhere. Do these features add up to a good thing or a bad thing?...

RNC Chair Michael Steele may still be struggling to hold onto his post for another term. But one position within the Republican’s national committee has been set. Steele has appointed Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norman M. Semanko as RNC General Counsel. The appointment is still subject to confirmation by the National Committee. Semanko was previously the Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, reports NewsonNews. First elected to the position in 2008, he was unanimously re-elected in 2010....

Brian Davison is a self-appointed government watchdog and Loudon County’s worst nightmare. He complained about school board members and other concerns, posting his criticisms on a county supervisor’s Facebook page. Supervisor Phyllis Randall then blocked him from commenting. So Davison sued the supervisor, and the man won. It turned out to be the shout heard around the social media world. First Amendment In Davison v. Randall, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said the supervisor violated the First Amendment....

Education, skills, experience: these are the bedrock of a good potential hire. But you don’t want to stop there. Finding the best candidate when your firm is hiring means searching for someone who has more than just the basics, someone with the qualities that will make for a stellar hire. Enter the “six Q’s.” A recent Washington Post article detailed the six characteristics, or “quotients” the best job seekers have – everything from IQ to IMQ, or the ability to adapt successfully to new situations....

Last week, President Obama announced that he would be taking the initiative to craft immigration policy in the absence of congressional action. All of his actions come under the umbrella of enforcement. The president has no power to rewrite immigration law, but as the head of the executive branch, he can prioritize enforcement. Republicans decried the move as outside his constitutional powers and threatened to sue. Last week, the Texas Attorney General, joined by 16 other states, sued the United States in the southern district of Texas....

LinkedIn isn’t just for networking. For attorneys, it’s also a platform for marketing your business. Lawyers should at least consider taking a glance at LinkedIn’s advert options for small firms. Here are a few tips to get you started advertising on LinkedIn. The Role of the Internet in Your Marketing It’s well known that lawyers don’t like change – we tend to worry about change’s legal ramifications. But in the case of Internet marketing, it is no exaggeration to say that one’s online visibility is perhaps his or her most important asset....

Hoverboards were 2015’s Cabbage Patch Doll or Tickle-Me Elmo – that is, the gift to get this holiday season. The self-balancing platforms on wheels (think Segway’s, but without anything to hold on to) are everyone’s favorite new toy. That is, when they’re not dropping you on your back or bursting into flames. And now, lawyers want in on the fun too. Here’s why the New Year may be the year of hoverboard liability....

A Federal District Court of Appeals decision in Oracle v. Google could leave the search giant on the hook for billions in damages to Oracle. The appeal is making headlines not just over the potentially astronomical damages, but also due to the discussion of fair use when it comes to code copyrights. The appellate court overturned the lower court’s jury verdict finding that Google’s use of Oracle’s copyrighted Java APIs in the Android software was fair use....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Once upon a time, long ago but not too far away, there was a law firm associate who was working up a case for a senior trial partner with the hope of delivering a well-prepared pre-trial and trial plan. The associate proudly presented all the miscellaneous supporting legal authorities and the various favorable facts....

To recover damages in a private securities-fraud action under §10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5, a plaintiff must prove, among other things, reliance on a material misrepresentation or omission made by the defendant. The Supreme Court has endorsed a “fraud-on-the-market” theory, which permits securities-fraud plaintiffs to invoke a rebuttable presumption of reliance on public, material misrepresentations regarding securities traded in an efficient market....

There’s nothing wrong with being technoskeptical. There’s good reason for attorneys to take a cautious approach to technological advancements, making sure that the next big thing is actually a worthwhile thing before throwing their money (and their clients’) at it. But you also can’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to technological change – not just because it’s unwise, but because it can be an ethical violation. That’s right, more and more states are adopting the view that lawyers who don’t stay up to date on tech, or consult with someone who is, are violating their professional duties....