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The United Kingdom will go to the polls in less than a week to decide whether to stay in the European Union, or not. And current polling shows that a Brexit, or British exit from the EU, is becoming increasingly likely, driven by concerns over immigration and contributions to the EU budget. If your business does business in Britain, the Brexit could have major legal and practical consequences. Over 6,000 years ago, Doggerland was submerged by rising sea levels, leaving what would become to British Isles cut off from mainland Europe....

Firing employees isn’t easy. But, with so many talented people out of work, it’s hard to let the actions of your incompetent staff slide. Why pay people for subpar work when you can have some of the best and brightest working for you? 1. Train Your Employees This where you need to be very proactive. Non-lawyers as well as lawyers, must know the importance of client confidentiality. This ethical obligation must be ingrained in your staff and in your firm culture....

For solo practitioners or lawyers working in a smaller firm setting, time is at a premium. That’s why bad, non-paying clients are universally despised. But how do you spot the bad apple client who will just waste your time? Here are some tips you should keep in mind for handling a legal leech if your ever so unfortunate to encounter one. Time Is Money All lawyers know that time is money....

Is your small firm offering health care under Obamacare? While the new Obamacare mandates may not necessarily require your firm to offer health insurance (it’s only required for those employers with 50 full-time employees or more), you may decide that you still want to. However, if you decide to offer health care, it’s best to know exactly what options you have. With that said, here are 3 things you should know about your decision to offer health care at your firm:...

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Should consumers be able to avoid paying state sales tax simply because they make purchases on the Internet? Some legislators think not, believing that state coffers should not be deprived of sales tax revenue from online purchases. Consequently, they have enacted some laws designed to capture such revenue. However, according to the Chicago Tribune, a recent law passed in the Land of Lincoln attempting to tax online purchases was just ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court....

There’s a theory that once you go in-house, you can never go back. There are enough attorneys who have made the switch between the two to suggest that theory isn’t absolute, but it should still factor into a prospective in-house attorney’s considerations before making the jump. Will you be satisfied with your salary if you can’t go back to a law firm? How will your in-house pay compare to that of your peers on the cusp of making partner?...

In a decision that probably won’t surprise many, the Fourth Circuit found that an employer-insurer was under no duty to indemnify a gunshot wound to a third party after the employee “play[ed] around” with his gun. The decision is important because it gives a little bit more clarity to both employers and employees as to what actions are covered under the “work related” language of insurance policies. Practitioners should note, however, that the ruling is unpublished and does not yet have precedential effect....

What do you do when you have client whose story seems so improbable and lurid that it’s unlikely that any jury would buy it? Do you try to salvage the client’s reputation or do you admit the client’s shortcomings and move on with your case? On Wednesday, Arias was found guilty of first degree murder in the brutal killing of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, CNN reports. She’s now facing life in prison or the death penalty....

There’s been a lot of talk about general counsel becoming a more integral part of the corporate leadership team. But nothing pushes in-house counsel into a position of influence like a significant legal crisis. Case in point: Heather Dietrick, Gawker Media’s president and general counsel. After joining the company three years ago, Dietrick has shepherded the online blog network through a series of legal defeats, as best as one can, and has found herself in a leadership position that’s fairly unique among general counsel....

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not only the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court, she’s arguably its most groundbreaking. Fellow Justice Elena Kagan told The New York Times on Monday that her own path to the nation’s highest court – which followed being Dean of Harvard Law and the first female Solicitor General – was made possible due to Justice Ginsberg. In the spirit of this trailblazing woman and the upcoming Valentines holiday, we present five reasons to love Justice Ginsberg:...

Remember all that money Lance Armstrong won as a Tour de France champion? Yeah, he’s losing it all. Of course you’ll remember that he admitted all of his wins happened thanks to performance-enhancing drugs, resulting in his titles being stripped. Earlier this week, Armstrong found himself on the short end of an order to pay $10 million to SCA Promotions, in a sharp reversal of an arbitration agreement that everyone thought was finalized 10 years ago....

New Hampshire law allows, but doesn’t require, abortion clinics to create a buffer zone around their facilities, of up to 25 feet. The public, with some exceptions, is excluded from that zone. Abortion opponents sued to have the law overturned under the Supreme Court’s McCullen v. Coakley decision, issued just a few days after the buffer zone law was enacted. Except there’s a fatal flaw to that lawsuit, the First Circuit ruled last Wednesday: the law has never been activated or enforced....

New Yorker Minhee Cho stopped by a Papa John’s pizza chain for dinner last week. Cho ended up slapped with a racial slur – on her Papa John’s receipt. The store employee typed out that her name was “lady chinky eyes.” Cho, a communications manager for an investigative journalism non-profit, tweeted a picture of the offending receipt. The photo went viral. The company is now facing a flurry of criticism and negative publicity....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Most of us are aware that electronic discovery abuse and spoliation of evidence can lead to monetary sanctions. But one recent case shows that such failures also can lead to adverse judgments and even potential imprisonment. In Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc., Chief Magistrate Judge Paul Grimm, of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, was called upon to resolve the plaintiff’s motion for terminating and other sanctions arising out of the defendants’ alleged intentional destruction of evidence and other litigation misconduct....

Remember the lawsuit brought by Apple against Samsung a year ago? Suing over allegations that the Korean technology company infringed on Apple’s patents, the sum at issue was a rather modest $120 million. Now, in a twist of the knife against Apple, Samsung is attempting to press that number down even lower. After Samsung’s success against Apple over the last few years, this would be a real cherry on top. This is the latest development in what can only be described as a very confusing and very expensive journey through the IP courts....

The legal issues surrounding undocumented immigrants are varied and often controversial. When it comes to disclosing a defendant, litigant, or even a witness’s immigration status, courts must exercise a careful balancing act between the probative value and the potential for prejudice. However, a new rule in the state of Washington seeks to lead by example when it comes to handling an individual’s undocumented status. It basically makes it so that a person’s immigration status will always be considered prejudicial, unless, by way of motion, the court finds it is more probative than prejudicial....

President Trump will reshape the court in the South District of Florida – and that none too soon, according to some observers. The Miami Herald says the “unprecedented” number of vacancies gives the President five seats to fill on a federal bench of 13, not including 10 senior judges in South Florida. The newspaper says the high number is rare. Meanwhile, another report recently named Florida the No. 1 Judicial Hellhole in the country....

In June, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in an appeal regarding whether the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors could stop a group of monks in Covington from making and selling caskets. Though more than four months have passed since oral arguments, this case won’t be laid to rest quite yet. Tuesday, the appellate court asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to decide if the Board can set the state rules of casket sales....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. World War I was supposed to be “war to end all wars.” And the League of Nations and the subsequent United Nations were designed to keep countries at peace. But unfortunately, wars are still part of the international landscape, including the emerging threat of cyberwarfare. As the UN prepares to celebrate its 69th anniversary October 24, let’s take a look at how it and the League of Nations have tried – and often failed – to prevent conflict between nations....

Google has a new Chrome extension to protect users from password breaches. The add-on for the Chrome browser automatically checks websites against known password breaches. The extension, called Password Check, is available now for free. That’s the easy part. The rest is Greek to everybody but geeks. Password Checkup Ars Technica explains it – sort of: “It securely checks credentials used to log in to websites – whether they’re manually entered or stored in Chrome’s password manager – against hashed credentials stored in an encrypted database of billions of compromised accounts maintained by Google,” the ezine reports....