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‘OMG, are you stupid?’ When your opponent says that in the midst of litigation, it means at least one of two things: either you are stupid or your opponent is stupid. It could also mean you are both stupid, but let’s keep it simple. In the case of Bradley P. Moss against Donald Trump, history will be the judge. For the rest of us, maybe we should keep our “stupid” thoughts to ourselves because it’s never a good look to say everything that comes to mind....

Do a Google review, get tickets to the zoo. It was a law firm contest that almost worked. The Kentucky lawyers thought it would be a good way to generate positive Google reviews, and it did. A lot of people bought in to the idea and the firm generated close to 100 reviews. But when the firm got called out by an online review vigilante, Google investigated the solicited reviews, and within a couple weeks, the reviews vanished....

John Edwards’ campaign finance case is moving ahead, much to the chagrin of his attorneys. The case has survived five motions to dismiss. The former presidential candidate is accused of misusing campaign contributions. He allegedly used funds to cover up the existence of his mistress, videographer Rielle Hunter. Hunter later carried Edwards’ daughter to term. Edwards was accused of paying for Hunter’s living and medical expenses with campaign funds. Edwards’ attorneys say that if they lose at trial, the landscape of campaign finance law will be forever changed....

We previously wrote about how the painfully low percentage of Generation Xers making BigLaw partner in this country. Now, the researchers whose data led to that odious conclusion have also provided data to show that law firm partners are significantly older than the CEOs of the clients they serve. Is the BigLaw model of law firms growing continuously gray at the temples? While Gen Xers make up only three to four percent of BigLaw partners, they make a staggering one third of CEOs that are traded on the Nasdaq....

It may be noble for a captain to go down with the ship, but general counsel can do better than that – especially when the company hits the crisis stage. It takes more than teaching people how to use lifeboats, however. If you want to avoid a reputational catastrophe, teach your crew how to watch for warning signs. The Titanic is an old metaphor for unexpected failure, but the real story lies below the surface....

Quint, the ill-fated captain of “Jaws,” was a family man in real life. The actor had 10 kids and bills to pay, but he took a pay cut for the movie because he believed in Steven Spielberg’s vision. It was the young director’s second feature film. The risk paid off, and “Jaws” went on to become a classic. Film buffs and entrepreneurs know the story. Risk v. Reward Rob Kolar, a Los Angeles businessman and performer, knows it well....

Jeffrey Baird thought he got a friendly discount when his friend, who was a weapons collector, offered to sell him a 45 ACP Smith & Wesson revolver — an excellent choice for the money. A quick scan of Internet classifieds yields a price range of around $900. He got it for $200. Oh, caveat emptor, Baird. Baird claims that he was not told that the weapon was stolen when he paid a $100 down payment....

The WestlawNext iPad app has undergone a bit of a makeover, and the new changes are getting rave reviews. The biggest enhancement is the app’s new offline capabilities. No longer do you need to carry a stack of case law and statutes when you’re away from your desk. Now you can save documents to your iPad and view them offline. You can even make notes and continue highlighting – all new edits will be ported to your online account once you reconnect to the Internet....

If you haven’t lost your cell phone before, consider yourself lucky or at least not forgetful. If someone has stolen your phone before, join the club. Millions of cell phones are stolen every year. At hundreds of dollars a pop, it’s big business. For one unlucky executive, however, it was a million dollar loss. Some kid hacked the man’s phone and cleaned out his accounts. $1 Million Phone Hack Robert Ross, a Silicon Valley executive, had $1 million in cryptocurrency....

It’s only been little more than a month since the Second Circuit decided the New York case of Expression Hair Design v. Schneiderman, ruling that the state’s no-surcharge law is lawful. Serendipitously, the Eleventh Circuit ruled this week that no-surcharge laws violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. The Eleventh Circuit ruled that the state’s applicable statute, which bans retailers from charging a surcharge to customers who elect to use their credit cards is nonsense when taken in conjunction with the state’s express allowance of offering a discount for cash....

There are 50 beautiful states in this country and you’ve probably got business in more than a few of them. As in-house counsel, you don’t need to memorize the commercial codes from California to Connecticut, but there are some important state issues that you should be aware of. States with big markets and lots of regulation deserve extra attention. (We’re looking at you, California and New York.) So, to help you out, here are our top state-specific tips for corporate counsel, from the FindLaw archives....

District court’s sentence of a 240 months imprisonment and a life term of supervised release of a defendant convicted of knowingly transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in sexual activity and related offenses is affirmed where: 1) district court’s use of uncharged conduct in determining defendant’s sentence did not violate the Sixth Amendment; 2) district court did not err by relying on uncharged conduct that was proven by preponderance of the evidence standard; and 3) the district court did not commit reversible error in calculating defendant’s Guidelines range and the sentence was therefore procedurally reasonable....

Defendants’ drug conspiracy and firearm possession convictions and sentences are affirmed where: 1) had the officers had reason to question the validity of the state search warrant pursuant to which they searched defendant’s residence, or had there been no state search warrant, the officers nonetheless could have secured a search warrant and conducted the search that yielded the disputed evidence; 2) there was no Apprendi error where the district court determined the quantity of drugs under the preponderance of the evidence standard and sentenced defendant to a term of imprisonment within the statutory range authorized by the verdict; and 3) the particular attributes of a firearm were not actual elements of the firearm possession offense....

Earning CLE credits if often at the bottom of lawyer’s to do list, somewhere below ‘get dry cleaning done.’ Part of the problem is lack of time but there’s also the lack of interesting and informative opportunities. Or is there? It’s no secret that there are a lot of substandard CLE courses out there. Many attorneys rely on the free CLE courses and unfortunately you often get what you pay for....

Under the terms of a 1997 settlement, minors must be released from Immigration and Naturalization Service detention centers, the Ninth Circuit ruled last week. That settlement, known as the “Flores agreement,” established a “nationwide policy for the detention, release, and treatment of minors” in INS custody, Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz wrote for the three-judge panel, regardless of whether those children are alone or accompanied by adults. Currently, hundreds of immigrant parents and children, accused of entering the U....

New York attorneys, you can go on and get creative, according to the 2nd Circuit. Recently, the appellate court struck down some of the Rules Of Professional Responsibility regulations ( 22 NYCRR §1200), which limit certain tactics in attorney ads as violations of the First Amendment. Lawyers, now you can be as cool as Apple, as charming and quirky as E*Trade…well unless you worry Lindsay Lohan will sue you, but that’s another post....

When you opened the doors to your law practice, you probably didn’t expect to spend the number of hours you do on administrative and management tasks and duties. And as most lawyers that run a practice learn, management responsibilities are much less exciting than lawyering responsibilities. Interestingly, making the right business management decisions can actually end up freeing up your time to do what you want: practice law. Below, you can find three tips on how to run your law firm more like a business so you can spend more time lawyering....

Everyone good in the corporate legal department wants out. Yeah, you read that right. According to legal recruitment director Doron Paluch, in-house lawyers are looking to move into private practice at a rate higher than ever before. Could it be that private practice actually has a lot more to offer? In-House Slow Down Paluch, director of legal recruitment companies Burgess Palcuh and Kaleidoscope, says that he has observed what he called “slow conditions in the in-house market” over the last 12 to 18 months in the legal industry and that this could be a contributing factor for many in-house attorneys looking to greener pastures....

As a faithful Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 (Google’s homebrewed Android phone and tablet, respectively) user, I am almost as enthusiastic about Android as that Droid Lawyer guy. So when I received an email from the ABA announcing the newly published Android Apps in One Hour for Lawyers by Daniel Siegel, my curiosity was piqued. A book that promises to introduce me to an already familiar world? Why not? Maybe I’ll learn something new....

In a tort action arising out of a ship collision, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where the District Court did not abuse its discretion in applying the doctrine of forum non conveniens, because the accident occurred in Chinese waters and proceedings were already underway in a Chinese court. Read Compania Naviera Joanna S.A. v. Koninklijke Boskalis Westminster NV, No. 08-1031 Appellate Information Argued: March 24, 2009 Decided: June 26, 2009...