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Friday, December 6, 2013
Can Software Be Patented? Supreme Court to Decide
The U.S. Supreme Court will attempt to answer a question that has perplexed the technology industry for decades: When is a piece of software patentable?
Accelerate Your Use of Metrics
Corporate law departments want to improve their use of data and reporting to make smarter, more strategic business decisions - the question is, "how?" In this edition of Tech Experts, join Rashad Porter, Director of Business Intelligence Strategy & Solutions at Datacert, for a discussion of the Legal Business Intelligence Maturity Model. Rashad uses this tool to help you realistically evaluate where your department’s reporting stands now and outline actionable steps you can take towards becoming more strategic in your use of metrics to manage.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/tech-experts/2012/08/accelerate-your-use-of-metrics/
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Effectively Managing E-discovery Portfolios
As big data keeps getting bigger, and discovery costs keep getting higher, it’s important for the litigation team to keep the big picture in sight. With complicated cases, multi-matter management can hone efforts and avoid duplicate tasks and interviews. In this edition of The ESI Report Kroll Ontrack’s Director of Thought Leadership Michele Lange discusses effective project management of e-discovery cases with John Addington.
Senior E-Discovery Analyst of Dell, John Addington focuses on multi-matter management in all phases of large, complex e-discovery projects from collection through production. He is a certified e-discovery specialist and frequently lectures nationwide. His goal is to refine companies’ e-discovery processes to streamline for both efficiency and cost reduction.
Senior E-Discovery Analyst of Dell, John Addington focuses on multi-matter management in all phases of large, complex e-discovery projects from collection through production. He is a certified e-discovery specialist and frequently lectures nationwide. His goal is to refine companies’ e-discovery processes to streamline for both efficiency and cost reduction.
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Building an Effective Policy Management Program: Getting Started
This podcast takes a closer look at why a policy on policies, or meta-policy, is the foundation for any effective policy management program and what a strong meta-policy should cover. Learn about the important role that technology can play in enforcing a meta-policy, helping ensure that a policy management program is both effective and sustainable.
The podcast features Lisa Hill, former Senior Business Leader and Corporate Policy Manager at Visa and current Policy Pundit for GRC 20/20 Research / President of Policyscape Consulting and Daniel de Juan, Director of Product Management GRC at Datacert. Together, they discuss best practices and technology for successful policy management.
The podcast features Lisa Hill, former Senior Business Leader and Corporate Policy Manager at Visa and current Policy Pundit for GRC 20/20 Research / President of Policyscape Consulting and Daniel de Juan, Director of Product Management GRC at Datacert. Together, they discuss best practices and technology for successful policy management.
Ringler's Top Ten on Structured Settlements
Even though structured settlements have been around a long time, false impressions about products and services still remain. There are a lot of moving parts involved in a claim’s settlement, and lots of financial and legal information swirling around the process. In this podcast, Ringler Radio host Larry Cohen joins colleagues, Jim Early and Bill Wakelee, to debunk the misconceptions sometimes seen in the structured settlement industry, and clarify through their top ten on structured settlements.
AI: North Korea continues expansion of political prison system
[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Thursday released new satellite images [text, photos, PDF] and an assessment of North Korea's political prison camps, which reveal new housing blocks, an expansion of production facilities and continued tight security. In a report titled "North Korea: Continued Investment in the Infrastructure of Repression," AI analyzed satellite images of political prison camp (kwanliso) 15 at Yodok in South Hamgyong province and kwanliso 16 at Hwaseong in North Hamgyong province gathered from 2008 to...
Legal Issues Surrounding the Colorado Movie Massacre
The Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. The latest mass shooting in America brings up many legal issues on a national scale, including gun control, the insanity defense, liability and the death penalty. Lawyer2Lawyer co-hosts and attorneys, Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams, analyze the legal arguments of this case with Professor Adam Winkler from UCLA School of Law and Professor Daniel Filler from the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University.
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Thursday, December 5, 2013
No Private HIPAA Claim for False Records
A plaintiff may not sue defendant physician for assault for allegedly performing an experimental surgical procedure that removed too much skin from her eyelid because the claim is barred by Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations for personal injury; the Alexandria U.S. District Court also dismisses plaintiff’s claim for falsification of medical records, which Virginia does ...
Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2013/12/05/no-private-hipaa-claim-for-false-records/
Social Media and Lawsuits
From "tweets" to Facebook status updates, social media has taken over how we communicate with the outside world. It has also become a large part of our legal system. Social media is now considered key evidence in both criminal cases and civil lawsuits. Lawyer2Lawyer co-hosts and attorneys, Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi examine the surge in social media-based evidence and claims in litigation, as well as the importance of educating attorneys on the ins and outs of social media with Attorney Antigone Peyton, Founder and CEO of Cloudigy® Law, PLLC and Attorney Ernest Svenson, solo attorney and blogger.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2012/07/social-media-and-lawsuits/
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Sikh Job Applicant's Bias Suit Over No-Beard Policy Prompts Reforms
A New Jersey car dealership has settled a suit over a no-beards policy that denied a job to a Sikh applicant, agreeing to enforce policies and procedures to prevent religious discrimination.
Third Circuit Joins With the Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits in Holding That Plaintiffs Asserting 1933 Act Claims Need Not Plead Compliance With the Statute of Limitations, Splitting With the First, Eighth and Tenth Circuits
In Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers v. Mortgage Asset Securitization Transactions, Inc., No. 12-3454, 2013 WL 5184064 (3d Cir. Sept. 17, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit joined the Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, holding that Section 13 of the Securities Act of 1933 (“1933 Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 77m, does not require plaintiffs asserting a claim under the 1933 Act to plead with particularity compliance with the statute of limitations. In doing so, the Third Circuit split from the First, Eighth and Tenth Circuits, potentially triggering review by the United States Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs, purchasers of mortgage-backed securities, sued UBS AG and several of its subsidiaries (collectively, “UBS”) for alleged misrepresentations in the securities’ offering documents and registration statements. As of September 18, 2007, when plaintiffs purchased the securities, both Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) and Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) had rated the securities AAA. However, being comprised entirely of loans originated by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (“Countrywide”) and Indymac Bank, F.S.B. (“Indymac”), the securities rapidly lost value, and were subsequently downgraded — to B2 by Moody’s on February 20, 2009, and to B by S&P on August 13, 2009. Between late 2007 through 2009, as the financial crisis began to unfold, many news articles also highlighted the alarming default rate for Countrywide and Indymac loans.
Plaintiffs filed their original complaint on February 22, 2010, asserting claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the 1933 Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77k, 77l(a)(2) and 77o. Plaintiffs subsequently filed an amended complaint, which the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed without prejudice, ordering plaintiffs to plead with particularity in a further amended complaint that their claims were timely under the applicable statute of limitations set out in Section 13 of the 1933 Act. Defendants moved to dismiss the second amended complaint (the “SAC”) on the basis that the 1933 Act claims were untimely. The district court agreed, applying an inquiry notice standard to determine that the plaintiffs’ claims were untimely, and dismissed the SAC with prejudice. Plaintiffs appealed.
The Third Circuit first took issue with the district court’s ruling that plaintiffs must plead compliance with Section 13. Section 13 requires 1933 Act claims to be brought “within one year after the discovery of the untrue statement or the omission, or after such discovery should have been made by the exercise of reasonable diligence.” 15 U.S.C. § 77m. The Third Circuit rejected the reasoning adopted by the First, Eighth and Tenth Circuits that plaintiffs asserting 1933 Act claims must affirmative plead in the complaint compliance with Section 13 because “when the very statute which creates the cause of action also contains a limitation period, the statute of limitations not only bars the remedy but also destroys the liability.” Cook v. Avien, Inc., 573 F.2d 685 (1st Cir. 1978). Instead, the Third Circuit joined with the Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, holding that “requiring a plaintiff to plead compliance with a statute of limitations would effectively ensure that a timeliness issue would always appear on the face of a complaint, thereby shifting the burden to the plaintiff to negate the applicability of the affirmative defense.”
The Third Circuit next considered the district court’s application of the inquiry notice standard to determine when the plaintiffs’ limitations period began to accrue. Under the inquiry notice standard, statutes of limitations start to run when a plaintiff “would have discovered general facts about the fraudulent scheme by the defendant rather than specific facts about the fraud perpetrated on her.” The Court held that the district court failed to apply the discovery standard announced by Supreme Court in Merck & Co. v. Reynolds, 130 S. Ct. 1784 (2010). In Merck, the Supreme Court held that a claim under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“1934 Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), accrued “(1) when the plaintiff did in fact discover, or (2) when a reasonably diligent plaintiff would have discovered, ‘the facts constituting the violation’ — whichever comes first.” Id. at 1789-90, 1793. The Third Circuit held that Merck, though it dealt with claims under the 1934 Act, was still applicable to the instant 1933 Act claims, because “both statutes incorporate the word ‘discovery,’ which the Merck Court identified as a term of art representing the discovery rule.” The Third Circuit went on to adopt the Second Circuit’s reasoning in City of Pontiac General Employees’ Retirement System v. MBIA, Inc., 637 F.3d 169, 174-75 (2d Cir. 2011) [blog article here], holding that “a fact is not deemed ‘discovered’ until a reasonably diligent plaintiff would have sufficient information about that fact to adequately plead it in a complaint . . . with sufficient detail and particularity to survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.” Id.
Despite holding for plaintiffs on both the pleading requirements and applicable standard for measuring timeliness, the Third Circuit ultimately upheld the district court’s dismissal of the SAC. Plaintiffs argued that a reasonably diligent plaintiff would not have discovered the misrepresentations regarding the securities until the rating downgrade by Moody’s on February 20, 2009. The Court disagreed, noting that on September 9, 2008, a class of plaintiffs that included the lead plaintiffs in the instant action had “filed an amended class action complaint in the California Superior Court against both Countrywide and UBS Securities, asserting claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the [1933] Act that were substantially similar to those in this case.” Given that plaintiffs had been aware of serious issues involving mortgage backed securities sold by UBS and comprised of loans originated by Countrywide and Indymac in September 2008; and that a subsequent investigation that would lead to the discovery that plaintiffs may have viable claims would take no more than two months, plaintiffs were precluded from bringing the instant action any later than November 2009.
Pension Trust has not only placed the burden of testing whether 1933 Act claims are timebarred squarely on defendants, but also has eased the standard for measuring the limitations period in plaintiffs’ favor. Furthermore, there is a clear spilt between the Circuits regarding the issue of pleading timeliness of 1933 Act claims, potentially triggering review by the Supreme Court in the future.
For further information, please contact John Stigi at (310) 228-3717 or Sarah Aberg at (212) 634-3091.
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Law Librarians at the Front Lines of Change
In the June edition of Law Technology Now, host Monica Bay, an attorney and Editor-in-Chief of ALM's Law Technology News invites her American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) co-presenters, Steven Lastres and D. Casey Flaherty to chat about the recent and upcoming changes in technology affecting law librarians and legal research. Bay, Lastres, and Flaherty will be presenting at AALL’s annual conference this month in Seattle. Learn how librarians are leading the charge for faster, better, and cheaper legal services!
• Lastres, an attorney, is director of library and knowledge management for Debevoise and Plimpton. He is responsible for the firm’s information and knowledge management initiatives. He is the co-founder of the OnFirmerGround blog — a collaborative effort of international law library associations seeking to promote the value that law firm librarians bring to the business and practice of law.
• Flaherty is corporate counsel of Kia Motors America. He manages all legal matters from transactional to litigation. Before moving in-house he worked at BigLaw where he focused his practice in commercial litigation and e-discovery. Flaherty is known for his meticulous auditing system made specifically for law firms, on which he regularly speaks and writes about.
Tune in for a sneak preview of their upcoming presentation and the future of legal research.
• Lastres, an attorney, is director of library and knowledge management for Debevoise and Plimpton. He is responsible for the firm’s information and knowledge management initiatives. He is the co-founder of the OnFirmerGround blog — a collaborative effort of international law library associations seeking to promote the value that law firm librarians bring to the business and practice of law.
• Flaherty is corporate counsel of Kia Motors America. He manages all legal matters from transactional to litigation. Before moving in-house he worked at BigLaw where he focused his practice in commercial litigation and e-discovery. Flaherty is known for his meticulous auditing system made specifically for law firms, on which he regularly speaks and writes about.
Tune in for a sneak preview of their upcoming presentation and the future of legal research.
Boatload Of Cash Found In Walls After Owner’s Death, Sale Of House. Whose Is It?
If you went to law school, you probably read the title of the post and thought, hmm, that sounds like a question on a law school exam. If you’re a normal person, you probably thought “finders, keepers.” So, who gets the money? As reported by azcentral.com:
An Arizona court says a man’s heirs are entitled to $500,000 cash that was found in the walls of his former home years after he died.
The Court of Appeals ruling Thursday upholds a judge’s decision that the money, stashed in ammunition cans inside the walls, belongs to Robert Spann’s estate.
Spann died in 2001. According to the ruling, his daughters found stocks, bonds, cash and gold hidden in his suburban Phoenix home before they sold it seven years later.
The couple who bought the home in Paradise Valley claimed the cash after a worker found it in the walls during kitchen and bathroom remodeling.
We’re rich! We’re rich! No? Exactly how is that money not the property of the current homeowner?
The Court of Appeals said that legally, the money was only mislaid, not abandoned, so it still belonged to Spann’s estate.
Lawyers: Yes, of course. Normal folks: WTF are you talking about? Here’s the source.
Source: http://rss.justia.com/~r/LegalJuiceCom/~3/KsxKAy-Do9k/s-6.html
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What’s next for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Amendments
On this edition of The ESI Report, Kroll Ontrack’s Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership Michele Lange discusses the proposed amendments of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and what effects they will have on e-discovery with Thomas Allman.
Allman works as an attorney and a consultant, as well as an adjunct professor for the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He writes and speaks frequently on the interrelationship of corporate compliance policy and the effective management of electronically stored information. He has been involved in the FRCP Amendments since the last round of changes in 2006.
Lange and Allman will cover the basic rule changes, when they will be brought to public forum for comment, and how you can get involved. You can access an explanation of the amendments on Kroll Ontrack’s The E-Discovery Blog.
Allman works as an attorney and a consultant, as well as an adjunct professor for the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He writes and speaks frequently on the interrelationship of corporate compliance policy and the effective management of electronically stored information. He has been involved in the FRCP Amendments since the last round of changes in 2006.
Lange and Allman will cover the basic rule changes, when they will be brought to public forum for comment, and how you can get involved. You can access an explanation of the amendments on Kroll Ontrack’s The E-Discovery Blog.
Are American Law Schools Failing Students?
In his new book, Failing Law Schools, Washington University Law Professor Brian Tamanaha claims the American law school system is broken. He blames many institutional practices including skyrocketing tuition, bloated faculties, and unnecessary school rankings. But is this a fair critique? Lawyer2Lawyer co-hosts and attorneys, Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, examine these issues and more with Professor Tamanaha and Dean Susan Poser from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Sidley Austin Looks to Riverbed to Build a Broader Network
Sidley Austin had a legacy network connecting its 17 offices in the U.S., Asia and Europe, resulting in slow data transfers and limiting the firm's ability to centralize IT resources. To create better connectivity between offices, the firm upgraded its network with Riverbed appliances.
Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202473966828&rss=rss_ltn
Judge Scheindlin’s Collection Case and Florida E-Discovery Amendments
One of the attributes that makes for a great e-discovery lawyer is the ability to wade through the digital mire that separates preservation from collection. The ESI Report’s Michele Lange, Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership at Kroll Ontrack joins e-discovery expert David Kearney, Director of Technology Services at Cohen & Grigsby, to discuss Judge Shira Scheindlin’s recent opinion in the case, National Day Laborer Organizing Network et al. v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, et al. On the Bits & Bytes Legal Analysis segment, Kroll Ontrack Legal Correspondent, Elliot Westman analyzes recent e-discovery amendments to the Florida Civil Procedure Rules.
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In Light of NSA Surveillance, Should Lawyers Encrypt?
In this edition of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss encryption. The recent news coverage of the NSA surveillance has everyone talking about who can access their data, and this is especially relevant to practicing attorneys, who have to consider both their own data as well as that of their clients. According to your hosts, 30% of lawyers are using encryption to secure files and only 24% are using it to send email. This poses the question: Has the time for lawyers using encryption arrived?
The second segment of the show will talk about Tom’s switch from the iPhone to the Android smartphone. Learn how and why he made the decision to make the change and his review, so far.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Transporter.
The second segment of the show will talk about Tom’s switch from the iPhone to the Android smartphone. Learn how and why he made the decision to make the change and his review, so far.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Transporter.
What the Law Says About Amazon’s ‘Prime Air’ Drones
Amazon.com's idea to deliver packages with unmanned drones within a half hour of customers placing an order definitely has the feel of sci-fi. But are the 'octocopters' illegal?
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/02/what-the-law-says-about-amazons-prime-air-drones/?mod=WSJBlog
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Straight From The Hole
It's far easier to wrap your head around torture when it involves the infliction of active pain. That doesn't make passive pain, the infliction of often unbearable psychological punishment, an less torturous. And it happens regularly, and many time arbitrarily, as explained in an op-ed by Wilbert Rideau, who served 44 years for manslaughter in Louisiana.
Before you dismiss Rideau as a killer who deserved whatever he got, bear in mind that stories from the inside aren't told by saints. Every once in a while, a former inmate emerges with the erudition necessary to put into words the world that most of us never knew existed. When this happens, it's a window through which we need to look. Rideau offers a view of solitary confinement, the hole.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
Before you dismiss Rideau as a killer who deserved whatever he got, bear in mind that stories from the inside aren't told by saints. Every once in a while, a former inmate emerges with the erudition necessary to put into words the world that most of us never knew existed. When this happens, it's a window through which we need to look. Rideau offers a view of solitary confinement, the hole.
I know something about solitary confinement, because I’ve been there. I spent a total of 12 years in various solitary confinement cells. And I can tell you that isolating a human being for years in a barren cell the size of a small bathroom is the cruelest thing you can do to a person.Deprived of all human contact, you lose your feeling of connectedness to the world. You lose your ability to make small talk, even with the guard who shoves your meal through the slot in the door. You live entirely in your head, for there is nothing else. You talk to yourself, answer yourself. You become paranoid, depressed, sleepless. To ward off madness, you must give your mind something to do. In 1970, I counted the 358 rivets that held my steel cell together, over and over. Every time the walls seemed to be closing in on me, I counted them again, to give my mind something to fasten on to.
Without having been there, it's likely inconceivable to understand what happens to a mind in isolation. Some of us have trouble being alone for an hour, an evening, a day. Add day upon day, year upon year. But not the way it is for us, where we still have access to television or internet, even if there is no other living person around. No, this is completely different.
But to add insult to injury, don't leap to the assumption that if a prisoner ends up in the hole, he must have done something pretty bad to deserve it.
In a world where authorities exercise absolute power and demand abject obedience, prisoners are almost always going to be on the losing side, and they know it.
The typical inmate doesn’t want trouble. He has little to gain and too much to lose: his job, his visits, his recreation time, his phone privileges, his right to buy tuna, ramen and stale bread at inflated prices in the commissary. The ways even a bystander to the most peaceful protest can be punished are limited only by the imagination of the authorities.
Punishment can be deserved or not. There's no due process in prison. There's no one to complain to about being punished based on a false accusation, a trumped up allegation, a guard pissed off by an attitude. Authorities own the lives of prisoners, and can be as harsh as they want to be, as arbitrary as they feel like. And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.
Rideau explains that the prison protests in California are an outgrowth of a system run amok and no other means of addressing their grievance.
And yet, sometimes things get so bad that prisoners feel compelled to protest, with work stoppages, riots or hunger strikes. On July 8, some 30,000 inmates in the custody of the California Department of Corrections went on a hunger strike to demand improvements in prison conditions. Their biggest complaint was the runaway use of solitary confinement, the fact that thousands of prisoners are consigned to this cruelty indefinitely, some for decades.
While prisoners are sentenced to incarceration, no judge sentences them to isolation for decades. There is no requirement that any neutral party review the decision to inflict this torture on another human being. It can be imposed for a sound reason or no reason at all. Who is to disagree? But no matter what the reason or nonreason, to put a person in the hole for years, for decades, is to impose psychological torture of a terrible kind on a human being. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, the prisoner can do about it.
In California, inmates did the only thing left for them to do, protest. Not too many of us care about what happened to "criminals." After all, bad dudes who did bad things to other people. A pox on them. They get what they deserve and their out of sight, out of mind. But there is good reason to give them just a little bit of though. For one thing, they are still people, and we are still purportedly a civilized society that doesn't condone the needless brutal treatment of people. But if you lack anything remotely resembling empathy, than do it for your own sake:
Why should you be concerned about the inhumane conditions of prolonged solitary confinement, with all the social, emotional and mental deterioration that it entails? Well, every year men from California’s Pelican Bay and other supermax prisons around the nation are released directly from the vacuum of their cells into free society, to live and work among you and your loved ones. As a matter of self-preservation, maybe we should all join the prisoners’ request for rehabilitative opportunities that will improve the mental health of those in solitary.
Go say "hi" to the guy who moved in down the block kids. So what if he spent the last two decades in the hole and seems a bit odd. I'm sure he'll get over it.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/17/straight-from-the-hole.aspx?ref=rss
Accelerate Your Use of Metrics
Corporate law departments want to improve their use of data and reporting to make smarter, more strategic business decisions - the question is, "how?" In this edition of Tech Experts, join Rashad Porter, Director of Business Intelligence Strategy & Solutions at Datacert, for a discussion of the Legal Business Intelligence Maturity Model. Rashad uses this tool to help you realistically evaluate where your department’s reporting stands now and outline actionable steps you can take towards becoming more strategic in your use of metrics to manage.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/tech-experts/2012/08/accelerate-your-use-of-metrics/
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Post DOMA and Prop 8 Rulings: The Next Move for Gay Rights
With the Supreme Court’s Prop 8 and DOMA rulings, same-sex marriage is now legal in California and same-sex married couples can receive federal benefits across the nation. These landmark decisions for gay rights have sparked the question: is nationwide marriage equality on the way? On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams will talk with Constitutional Law Professors Mark Tushnet and William Eskridge about what the history of both the gay rights and the civil rights movements have to say for the future of gay rights in America.
• Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet specializes in constitutional law and theory, with a focus in examining the practice of judicial review in the U.S. and worldwide. He has served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall. Currently, his focus is in constitutional history and the development of civil liberties. He is known for his critical and controversial analysis of Supreme Court rulings, including Brown v. The Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
• William Eskridge, Yale Law Professor, focuses in statutory interpretation. He represented a same-sex-married couple from 1990-1995 who sued for recognition of their marriage and has published many books covering the political framework of gay rights. The historical component of his book GayLaw was the basis of an amicus brief he drafted for the Cato Institute and for much of the Court’s (and dissenting opinion’s) analysis in Lawrence vs. Texas, the decision which made same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state.
These law professors will provide unique insight to the future of gay rights through their knowledge and experience with Supreme Court rulings and civil liberties movements.
Thanks to our sponsor, Clio.
• Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet specializes in constitutional law and theory, with a focus in examining the practice of judicial review in the U.S. and worldwide. He has served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall. Currently, his focus is in constitutional history and the development of civil liberties. He is known for his critical and controversial analysis of Supreme Court rulings, including Brown v. The Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
• William Eskridge, Yale Law Professor, focuses in statutory interpretation. He represented a same-sex-married couple from 1990-1995 who sued for recognition of their marriage and has published many books covering the political framework of gay rights. The historical component of his book GayLaw was the basis of an amicus brief he drafted for the Cato Institute and for much of the Court’s (and dissenting opinion’s) analysis in Lawrence vs. Texas, the decision which made same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state.
These law professors will provide unique insight to the future of gay rights through their knowledge and experience with Supreme Court rulings and civil liberties movements.
Thanks to our sponsor, Clio.
The DRI - ‘The Voice of the Defense Bar'
DRI is considered a ‘think tank’ for defense attorneys and in-house counsel. On Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen and Ringler colleague, Jim Early, join Attorney Matthew Cairns from the firm, Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, to focus on the DRI - ‘The Voice of the Defense Bar’ and talk about what defense attorneys should know about the settlement process.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/ringler-radio/2012/10/the-dri-the-voice-of-the-defense-bar/
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Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Entropy: It's Not What It Used To Be*
In thermodynamics, entropy is the measure of how things go from order to disorder. Its application is far broader, however, applying to life in general. For those of us, like me, who strive to maintain order, it is the enemy.
My ability to do what I do, to function, depends on my maintaining order. In a world of chaos, it's a constant battle. No man is an island, and so almost every function relies to some greater or lesser extent on interactions with others. In order to prepare an affidavit, a person must take or return my phone call, do so in time for me to get their words on paper in both an accurate and comprehensible manner, make sure I've captured their thoughts properly, get it executed and file and serve the document. If the person decides that he would rather go to the beach than speak with me, but will get back to me later, the entire scheme can fall apart. A call back on Monday at 11 doesn't help when the papers are due Monday at 9.
When I explain how their conduct affected my ability to do my job, the response is one of two things: "Oh, I didn't realize," or "you should have told me that before." Of course, I can't tell you anything if you don't take or return my call. "Oh."
It's a fragile set up at best. Some people are reliable in a way that allows other to count on them, to plan ahead and not find themselves in a quagmire from which they can't emerge. These are people who make other people's lives go smoothly. They tend to be somewhere along the anal compulsive spectrum, which sounds pretty nasty but is actually a really good thing for organized people, especially lawyers.
Others are chaos personified, off in the thousand directions without any thought whatsoever to the consequences for themselves or those who rely on them. Their alternative to order is their tolerance of disorder. It's not that they don't eventually come to realize what they failed to accomplish because of their chaotic approach to responsibility, but that they can live with themselves that way.
The other day, a massive failure to accomplish a task upon which I relied was explained to me as the result of unforeseen circumstances. It wasn't quite true. Getting hit by a truck is an unforeseen circumstances. Making overly optimistic promises which you chose not to keep when time or interest gets tight is not an unforeseen circumstances. It's life.
There is a difference between explanations and excuses. When something doesn't go as intended, which happens despite best efforts and planning, there is either an explanation or it was just a screw-up. If the former, then there is a reason. If there is no reason, then it's a screw-up. Yes, screw-ups happen. No, they don't have to. Are they your fault? Yes. That's why we call them screw-ups.
Excuses are a different animal. Excuses are explanations that shift the fault onto the party who caused the problem. Most are imperfect, in that fault is born by more than one party, often all parties, who either failed to do what they should have, or said they would, as well as parties who failed to anticipate or accommodate the chaos wrought by others involved. See how that works? We knew that other people screw-up, and so we assume the responsibility of inserting that potential in our equation of order. When we organize our world, we do so in anticipation of entropy.
It's all a choice. Frankly, the failure to realize this, to conduct oneself as an island of order in a world tending toward chaos, to both live an ordered life and recognize that others don't or won't, is a choice. If you want to do what you can to do better, be more responsible, keep your promises to others despite reliance on those who infuse their chaos into your world, you can. But you must make the choice.
It's hard to fight entropy, but those who do keep the world running.
* The title is brazenly stolen from Buzzfeed's 21 Jokes Only Nerds Will Understand.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
My ability to do what I do, to function, depends on my maintaining order. In a world of chaos, it's a constant battle. No man is an island, and so almost every function relies to some greater or lesser extent on interactions with others. In order to prepare an affidavit, a person must take or return my phone call, do so in time for me to get their words on paper in both an accurate and comprehensible manner, make sure I've captured their thoughts properly, get it executed and file and serve the document. If the person decides that he would rather go to the beach than speak with me, but will get back to me later, the entire scheme can fall apart. A call back on Monday at 11 doesn't help when the papers are due Monday at 9.
When I explain how their conduct affected my ability to do my job, the response is one of two things: "Oh, I didn't realize," or "you should have told me that before." Of course, I can't tell you anything if you don't take or return my call. "Oh."
It's a fragile set up at best. Some people are reliable in a way that allows other to count on them, to plan ahead and not find themselves in a quagmire from which they can't emerge. These are people who make other people's lives go smoothly. They tend to be somewhere along the anal compulsive spectrum, which sounds pretty nasty but is actually a really good thing for organized people, especially lawyers.
Others are chaos personified, off in the thousand directions without any thought whatsoever to the consequences for themselves or those who rely on them. Their alternative to order is their tolerance of disorder. It's not that they don't eventually come to realize what they failed to accomplish because of their chaotic approach to responsibility, but that they can live with themselves that way.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,Then again, it has nothing to do with God. It has to do with us. We make choices. If you're inclined to believe in a deity, then know that the deity imbued you with the power to make wise or foolish choices, and left it to you to decide which.
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.When I'm asked how I manage to get as much done in a day as I do, the answer is order. I organize. I plan ahead. I try to anticipate the chaos I will confront in the course of trying to get things done so that I can accommodate it as much as possible, and will give myself enough room so that someone else's choice of disorder won't completely undermine what I need to accomplish.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear-
I will choose Free Will.
The other day, a massive failure to accomplish a task upon which I relied was explained to me as the result of unforeseen circumstances. It wasn't quite true. Getting hit by a truck is an unforeseen circumstances. Making overly optimistic promises which you chose not to keep when time or interest gets tight is not an unforeseen circumstances. It's life.
There is a difference between explanations and excuses. When something doesn't go as intended, which happens despite best efforts and planning, there is either an explanation or it was just a screw-up. If the former, then there is a reason. If there is no reason, then it's a screw-up. Yes, screw-ups happen. No, they don't have to. Are they your fault? Yes. That's why we call them screw-ups.
Excuses are a different animal. Excuses are explanations that shift the fault onto the party who caused the problem. Most are imperfect, in that fault is born by more than one party, often all parties, who either failed to do what they should have, or said they would, as well as parties who failed to anticipate or accommodate the chaos wrought by others involved. See how that works? We knew that other people screw-up, and so we assume the responsibility of inserting that potential in our equation of order. When we organize our world, we do so in anticipation of entropy.
It's all a choice. Frankly, the failure to realize this, to conduct oneself as an island of order in a world tending toward chaos, to both live an ordered life and recognize that others don't or won't, is a choice. If you want to do what you can to do better, be more responsible, keep your promises to others despite reliance on those who infuse their chaos into your world, you can. But you must make the choice.
It's hard to fight entropy, but those who do keep the world running.
* The title is brazenly stolen from Buzzfeed's 21 Jokes Only Nerds Will Understand.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/14/entropy-its-not-what-it-used-to-be.aspx?ref=rss
Building an Effective Policy Management Program: Getting Started
This podcast takes a closer look at why a policy on policies, or meta-policy, is the foundation for any effective policy management program and what a strong meta-policy should cover. Learn about the important role that technology can play in enforcing a meta-policy, helping ensure that a policy management program is both effective and sustainable.
The podcast features Lisa Hill, former Senior Business Leader and Corporate Policy Manager at Visa and current Policy Pundit for GRC 20/20 Research / President of Policyscape Consulting and Daniel de Juan, Director of Product Management GRC at Datacert. Together, they discuss best practices and technology for successful policy management.
The podcast features Lisa Hill, former Senior Business Leader and Corporate Policy Manager at Visa and current Policy Pundit for GRC 20/20 Research / President of Policyscape Consulting and Daniel de Juan, Director of Product Management GRC at Datacert. Together, they discuss best practices and technology for successful policy management.
Are American Law Schools Failing Students?
In his new book, Failing Law Schools, Washington University Law Professor Brian Tamanaha claims the American law school system is broken. He blames many institutional practices including skyrocketing tuition, bloated faculties, and unnecessary school rankings. But is this a fair critique? Lawyer2Lawyer co-hosts and attorneys, Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, examine these issues and more with Professor Tamanaha and Dean Susan Poser from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Here Comes the Next Round of E-Discovery Rules
In this May edition of Law Technology Now, host Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of ALM’s Law Technology News, invites Mark Michels, a director in Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, and Henry Kelston, senior counsel at Milberg, to discuss the proposed changes in federal e-discovery rules. Kelston’s article, "Are We on the Cusp of Major Changes to E-Discovery Rules?", was recently published in Law Technology News.
Mark Michels is a director at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. As a former in-house counsel, he specializes in advising on electronic discovery management. Mark has more than 13 years of experience in devising multi-faceted corporate discovery programs, including developing discovery compliance processes and requirements, evaluating and implementing solutions for collection, processing, review, and production of diverse corporate data, and applying continuous process improvement methodologies.
Henry Kelston is senior counsel at Milberg, specializing in complex litigation and electronic discovery. Henry is a member of the firm's e-discovery practice group and The Sedona Conference's Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production. He is a frequent writer and speaker on e-discovery issues.
Listen in on the roundtable discussion of the future of e-discovery.
Mark Michels is a director at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. As a former in-house counsel, he specializes in advising on electronic discovery management. Mark has more than 13 years of experience in devising multi-faceted corporate discovery programs, including developing discovery compliance processes and requirements, evaluating and implementing solutions for collection, processing, review, and production of diverse corporate data, and applying continuous process improvement methodologies.
Henry Kelston is senior counsel at Milberg, specializing in complex litigation and electronic discovery. Henry is a member of the firm's e-discovery practice group and The Sedona Conference's Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production. He is a frequent writer and speaker on e-discovery issues.
Listen in on the roundtable discussion of the future of e-discovery.
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Welcome Back, Spitzer
Nature abhors a vacuum, and Eliot Spitzer didn't have much to do after his foray into TV punditry crashed and burned, a few times. It was a match made in...New York. The disgraced former governor, marauding attorney general, overly ambitious assistant district attorney, horn-dog hypocrite and liar, now wants to do the books for New York City.
Well, not really do the books, as he wants to use the oversight authority of the Comptroller's office to once again become the sheriff of something. He got a lot of mileage out of playing sheriff, as the public loves the pretense of someone in public officer "fixing" the people they hate. Few were able to create targets of derision better than Spitzer, enough so that when he used bazookas to go after flies, even innocent flies, the only sound from the groundlings was applause.
At Cato, Walter Olson reminds us of who this Spitzer guy was before his fall from grace. But hubris never takes a day off, so Spitzer made his pitch:
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Well, not really do the books, as he wants to use the oversight authority of the Comptroller's office to once again become the sheriff of something. He got a lot of mileage out of playing sheriff, as the public loves the pretense of someone in public officer "fixing" the people they hate. Few were able to create targets of derision better than Spitzer, enough so that when he used bazookas to go after flies, even innocent flies, the only sound from the groundlings was applause.
At Cato, Walter Olson reminds us of who this Spitzer guy was before his fall from grace. But hubris never takes a day off, so Spitzer made his pitch:
On “CBS This Morning,” Spitzer said, “I sinned, I owned up to it, I looked them in the eye, I resigned, I held myself accountable. I think that was the only right thing to do. There’s a record there that I hope they will look to and say, ‘yes, the comptroller’s position is one that fits his skill set and we hope that we can bring him back for public service.’”Some might think the generous thing to do, particularly from someone inclined toward redemption as befits a criminal defense lawyer, would be to accept his concession of wrongdoing, the price he paid by giving up the post of governor with his wife (could she be described as cuckolded?) forced to stand next to him as if this wasn't a humiliation so far beyond anything she could ever imagine happening to her.
And yet, while his announcement has produced no end of hilarity in some circles, it should be taken with brutal seriousness. George Santayana's warning comes to mind, though it strikes me as needing a slight adjustment here. It's not that we've forgotten the past of Eliot Spitzer, but maybe we just can't muster the will to reject him despite the past. There just isn't anyone else around who has enough name recognition, star stature, to interest us, unless Kim Kardashian jumps into the race.
It's not that there aren't other people whose ideas are worthy of our political consideration, but, heck, Americans need to be spoonfed what they think because critical thought makes our head hurt and takes us away from important bonding time at fast food restaurants and in front of computer gaming consoles.
"Spitzer? Yeah, I remember that name. He was, like, somebody once, right? Pass me a beer."
Even local newspapers aren't particularly outraged. In fact, because of what the New York Post calls a "talent drought," they are preparing to do what they never do: forgive. Newsday says his candidacy is "worth a look," a curious position given its rush to convict the amorphous unindicted and forgive the admitted criminal. The Daily News takes a more level headed approach, relating the hard facts of his failures as governor to the job of comptroller to remind people that Spitzer would be a disaster even if he wasn't pond scum otherwise.
Since SJ isn't political, you might wonder why I've written a post about Spitzer, who wouldn't be eligible to vote no less run had he been prosecuted like a regular guy for what he did. Because Eliot Spitzer would be the first guy, aside from Rudy Giuliani and Joe McCarthy, to string you up for a millisecond of adoration.
Is it unduly hopeful to believe that the age of the popular appeal of the avenging angel is over? Is it wrong to hope that the public bloodlust for "getting" someone, anyone, so that we can pretend we've rid society of all the people who make our lives unpleasant and can go back to a time when we can only take for ourselves?
Eliot Spitzer reflected the worst of us. Then he was gone, destroyed by his own hand as the overly righteous should be. And now he's back? Will we reject him and all he represents because we've had enough of the avenging angels? Or are we as still as angry and mindless as we were when he was crowned governor?
Go away, Spitzer. Just go away.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/09/welcome-back-spitzer.aspx?ref=rss
Maritime Injuries and Structured Settlements
You don't hear much about maritime law until a huge disaster like the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off the coast of Italy earlier this year. But the fact is, maritime accidents happen frequently and people are often left severely injured. On Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen and co-host, Keith Christie join guest, Attorney Charles Leche, a partner at Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, as they take a look at maritime law and how injured parties can have a financially secure future through structured settlements.
Dubious in the First Degree
While many folks from the heartland despise the New York Times for its purported coddling of criminals, its contents don't always bear out this sensibility. It's done it again by publishing Lawrence Downes' homage to ignorance in its editorial notebook.
Payback is a bitch, and to the extent Downes' screed offers anything, it's the insight to what motivates this tyranny of the majority against the 600 Long Island Railroad retirees on disability who had the misfortune of following the LIRR's advice and going to Dr. Peter Ajemian. Long Islanders hate the LIRR. They hate the price of tickets. They hate having to stand on their daily commute despite the absurdly expensive cost of the ride. They hate the uncaring conductors enforcing rules that presume their passengers to be criminals seeking to get free rides. The LIRR has done much to cause this hatred, and only a fool would deny it's well deserved.
This is payback time. Finally, the media and the government have given us an easy target of this hatred, this simmering anger, and the rest of us, the commuters, the business people who paid the hated Commuter Tax, have an excuse to unleash our venom.
For a working schlub who commutes from the suburbs, the Long Island Rail Road disability scandal of 2008 was powerful evidence that the game of life is rigged.
Hundreds of railroad employees — engineers to white-collar managers — would retire in fine health as early as 50, then become instantly and lucratively disabled. If they took their phantom neck and back pain to the right doctor and to an obscure federal railroad board that almost never said no to a disability claim, the checks would start to flow. The daily grind turned into daily golf.
Hundreds? Name them, Downes. After years of investigation, the government has prosecuted a grand total of 33 defendants, of which 25 have pleaded guilty. Does this amount to hundreds on disability playing "daily golf" using the New York Times version of math?
The scheme cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a billion federal dollars from 2000 to 2008. It also gouged the L.I.R.R., which had to pay for all those early retirees’ pensions and for overtime and training new employees. What was most shocking about this gravy train was how many L.I.R.R. employees were on it. Every year from 2000 to 2008, between 93 percent and 97 percent of employees over 50 who retired with 20 years of service got disability payments. Experts had to wonder what other workplace, besides the gulag, crippled so many of its workers.
Experts knew exactly what happened, even if pundits were confounded. Older employees cost the LIRR a lot of money. They were paid at a much higher rate than new employees, and to reduce costs, the LIRR sought to persuade older workers to move on so they could be replaced with far less expensive employees. Nothing hard to grasp here, Downes. It's just money.
So the LIRR held seminars for the older workers about how they could retire on disability, and steered workers to facilitators who would help them navigate their way through the Railroad Retirement Board's disability system. These workers were sent to physicians who knew what was needed and could help them obtain a disability annuity.
Of course (and nobody seems to get this part of it), the RRB would have these retirees examined by their own physicians, who would review not only the narrative reports of docs like Ajemian, but the treatment notes, x-rays and MRI's as well. Suggesting that one doc like Ajemian could single-handedly defraud the federal the government is absurd, unless you eliminate the nasty facts and ignore the parts that don't conform to the narrative of payback.
It's not that this doesn't give rise to issues. A railroad disability isn't like a disability that applies to desk jockeys. It's an occupation disability, where it's given because of the inability to do railroad work, meaning those guys who fix the broken switches in the middle of the night in a snowstorm so you can hate them during your morning commute.
Do you really want the guy popping Vicodin because of his herniated disks responsible for the lives of a thousand people? The potential for harm is so great that railroad workers have been singled out for random drug testing, approved by the Supreme Court in 1989 in Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Assn even thought suspicionless testing would be unconstitutional if applied to, say, New York Times pundits.
Even putting aside these and myriad other "details" wholly ignored by the media, there remains a flagrant flaw:
The Railroad Retirement Board has only now decided to cut off payments to about 600 of the dubiously disabled, months after the doctor who signed off on their diagnoses, Peter Ajemian, pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court.
Meet the new criteria for terminating rights by the federal government, dubiousness. Forget "beyond a reasonable doubt," "preponderance of the evidence" or "probable cause." Heck, not even reasonable suspicion. Dubiousness. And why does the New York Times endorse the new standard of "dubiousness" for deprivation?
Disenchanted riders are counting on the feds and the L.I.R.R. to get the money back, and send the belated message that the schemers will be punished.
It's not about proof of wrongdoing. There is no proof of wrongdoing. The only "proof" is that guys with missing limbs and multiple surgeries went to Peter Ajemian (plus the unmentioned RRB doctors, but let's not muddle up anger with facts). As long as people are angry, we don't need no stinkin' evidence.
Lest someone get the misimpression that it's just the Times feeding into the anger and ignorance that pervades the media attention, Newsday offered an editorial as well:
Now the LIRR wants to revoke their pensions as well. Workers who are truly disabled can reapply for disability benefits -- a hassle, probably, but a crucial step to whittle out those who committed fraud.
Because it would be far too hard to expect the government of the United States of America to figure out first whether someone did wrong before convicting them of dubiousness in the first degree and denying them due process? The difference here is that expectations of thoughtfulness by Newsday are inherently lower than that of the Times. Tell the families who use the disability annuity for food that they just need to suffer the hassle of the next year without it to make the government's job easier.
As far as I can tell, I may be the only voice speaking out for the LIRR disabled, which is itself curious given that I commuted for 25 years on the railroad and hate the LIRR as much as the next guy. But my hatred of the railroad doesn't obscure the facts, my rage doesn't make me desire payback from innocent targets.
For those of you who rail about constitutional violations when it comes to the police, what's being done here isn't materially different. These 600 have been painted with the Ajemian brush, though none have been found guilty of any fraud nor afforded a fair opportunity to challenge the taint imputed to them for committing the crime of dubiousness.
But then, you aren't getting a disability annuity, so why should you care if the government wrongfully beats the crap out of some other guys, as long as you get to go about your life unimpeded. And besides, everybody hates the LIRR, so it's just too hard to muster any sympathy. Too hard for Newsday. Too hard for Downes. Too hard for the New York Times. Thinking is too damn hard. Let's just burn them all at the stake and call it a day.
© 2007-13 Simple Justice NY LLC. This feed is for personal, non-commercial & Newstex use only. The use of this feed on any other website is a copyright violation. If this feed is not via RSS reader or Newstex, it infringes the copyright.
Source: http://blog.simplejustice.us/2013/07/08/dubious-in-the-first-degree.aspx?ref=rss
G-Harmony: Motorola Mobility's Law Department Embraces Google Culture
Last year, Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. As usually happens in such a merger, the law department went though a significant re-organization. Of the law department's 250 people, 150 departed post-merger — some to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., others left the company. The MM law department took Google's instructions to better use technology to heart, and not only "ate the dog food," (i.e., used Google technology) but became a "skunkworks" operation — actually developing new technology tools and apps to help the legal team streamline processes and deliver faster, better, cheaper, and transparent legal services.
Law Technology Now host Monica Bay, an attorney and editor-in-chief of ALM’s Law Technology News, interviews David Kenzer, Motorola’s vice president of law, and Elizabeth Jaworksi, director of legal operations, about how the MM law department embraced Google's culture.
Law Technology Now host Monica Bay, an attorney and editor-in-chief of ALM’s Law Technology News, interviews David Kenzer, Motorola’s vice president of law, and Elizabeth Jaworksi, director of legal operations, about how the MM law department embraced Google's culture.
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Monday, December 2, 2013
Paralegal Hiring Trends
On this episode of The Paralegal Voice Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal, joins host Vicki Voisin to discuss the future of the paralegal profession, how it’s changing, and specific steps you can take to land your dream job.
Charles Volkert is executive director for Robert Half Legal and co-managing director of Robert Half Legal eDiscovery Services. Robert Half Legal is the premier provider of highly skilled legal professionals for law firms and corporate legal departments; it also offers legal project management and managed review services. Volkert is a noted author, speaker, and former litigator.
Volkert provides valuable advice on how to get noticed in the field, including the importance of a proactive mindset and the need to be flexible.
Special thanks to our sponsor, the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
Charles Volkert is executive director for Robert Half Legal and co-managing director of Robert Half Legal eDiscovery Services. Robert Half Legal is the premier provider of highly skilled legal professionals for law firms and corporate legal departments; it also offers legal project management and managed review services. Volkert is a noted author, speaker, and former litigator.
Volkert provides valuable advice on how to get noticed in the field, including the importance of a proactive mindset and the need to be flexible.
Special thanks to our sponsor, the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/paralegal-voice/2013/05/paralegal-hiring-trends
The iPad for Litigators and Life After Google Reader
Learn why iPads are a valuable resource in the courtroom for their portability, presentation capabilities, and apps catered specifically to case intake, jury verdict, and more. Hosts Dennis and Tom elaborate further to outline why litigators especially can benefit from an iPad and Tom’s upcoming book iPad in One Hour for Litigators. The second half of the show mourns the approaching death of Google Reader, the significance and utility of an RSS reader, and what other options are out there.
Law Librarians at the Front Lines of Change
In the June edition of Law Technology Now, host Monica Bay, an attorney and Editor-in-Chief of ALM's Law Technology News invites her American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) co-presenters, Steven Lastres and D. Casey Flaherty to chat about the recent and upcoming changes in technology affecting law librarians and legal research. Bay, Lastres, and Flaherty will be presenting at AALL’s annual conference this month in Seattle. Learn how librarians are leading the charge for faster, better, and cheaper legal services!
• Lastres, an attorney, is director of library and knowledge management for Debevoise and Plimpton. He is responsible for the firm’s information and knowledge management initiatives. He is the co-founder of the OnFirmerGround blog — a collaborative effort of international law library associations seeking to promote the value that law firm librarians bring to the business and practice of law.
• Flaherty is corporate counsel of Kia Motors America. He manages all legal matters from transactional to litigation. Before moving in-house he worked at BigLaw where he focused his practice in commercial litigation and e-discovery. Flaherty is known for his meticulous auditing system made specifically for law firms, on which he regularly speaks and writes about.
Tune in for a sneak preview of their upcoming presentation and the future of legal research.
• Lastres, an attorney, is director of library and knowledge management for Debevoise and Plimpton. He is responsible for the firm’s information and knowledge management initiatives. He is the co-founder of the OnFirmerGround blog — a collaborative effort of international law library associations seeking to promote the value that law firm librarians bring to the business and practice of law.
• Flaherty is corporate counsel of Kia Motors America. He manages all legal matters from transactional to litigation. Before moving in-house he worked at BigLaw where he focused his practice in commercial litigation and e-discovery. Flaherty is known for his meticulous auditing system made specifically for law firms, on which he regularly speaks and writes about.
Tune in for a sneak preview of their upcoming presentation and the future of legal research.
The "Pink Collar" Profession: The Male Paralegal's Perspective
Is the paralegal profession a woman’s world? Or is the number of male paralegals on the rise in this female-dominated profession? Paralegal Voice co-hosts Lynne DeVenny and Vicki Voisin get the male perspective and some interesting insight from special guests, Carl H. Morrison, II, PP, AACP, a Certified Paralegal at Rhodes Hieronymus and Zachary W. Brewer, CP, a Litigation Paralegal at Hall Estill.
injury attorneys injury lawers injury lawyer injury lawyers international law
The Filibuster is Unconstitutional, Says Professor
New York University law professor Burt Neuborne thinks the Senate’s decision last week to go nuclear on the filibuster wasn't just a partisan shake-up of internal voting rules. The move, he argues, actually righted a longstanding constitutional wrong.
The Controversial War on Drugs
Back in 1971, Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs" claiming "America’s Public Enemy No. 1 in the United States is drug abuse". Forty years later, we are still waging a war against drugs. Lawyer2Lawyer co-hosts and attorneys, Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance and Judge Jim Gray, author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It, as they spotlight the controversial war on drugs including: the legalization of Marijuana, the rise in prescription drug use, sentencing reform and what needs to happen legally to eliminate this growing problem.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2012/07/the-controversial-war-on-drugs/
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Noisy Nancy Very Displeased With Neighbor And Johnny Law
“Um, excuse me. Could you please keep it down?” Fuhgeddaboutit. Ain’t nobody quieting this lady down. As reported by The Star-Ledger at nj.com:
A 47-year-old Hackettstown woman went on a rampage and was arrested when police arrived at her house to check into a noise complaint last week, authorities said.
Gail Tortorella was drunk when police showed up to her home on Ashley Avenue at about 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Hackettstown police said in a release. Instead of calming down, police said she became belligerent.
Rampage? Yeah, not the right move.
While being placed under arrest she allegedly kicked an officer in the groin and spit on him.
Kicking up a cop in the man zone? You just motivated at least one officer to push your case very, very hard. Plea bargain? Fuhgeddaboutit. Oh, and she wasn’t done yet.
Tortorella then threatened to kill the police and her neighbor, authorities say. She also kicked down the neighbor’s door.
So what’s she looking at?
She is charged with resisting arrest, aggravated assault on police, threats, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. Tortorella was held on $7,500 bail at the Warren County jail, police said.
Here’s the source.
Source: http://rss.justia.com/~r/LegalJuiceCom/~3/xtpG0NF_5ug/d.html
Obenshain to seek recount in AG’s race
(AP) Republican Mark Obenshain said Nov. 26 he is seeking a recount in his paper-thin loss to Democrat Mark Herring in the race for state attorney general. Obenshain had made it clear in recent weeks he would seek a recount of the Nov. 5 election. The State Board of Elections on Nov. 25 certified the ...
Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/2013/11/27/republican-to-seek-recount-in-ags-race/
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Sunday, December 1, 2013
Starting Your Own Bankruptcy Practice
Did you ever think of starting your own bankruptcy practice? New Solo host and solo practitioner, Attorney Kyle R. Guelcher chats with Attorney Christina M. Turgeon, about some of the pros and cons of opening a bankruptcy practice, professional organizations a new lawyer should join when starting a bankruptcy law practice and important resources that would assist a new bankruptcy law practitioner.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/new-solo/2012/10/starting-your-own-bankruptcy-practice/
LawBiz® Legal Pad On the Road: Suing Your Client
Should lawyers litigate against their clients? The insurance companies say no now watch to hear what Ed has to say.
Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/LawBizBlog/~3/acF3Pp9aLT8/
real estate attorney real estate lawyer solicitor solicitors statute law
Cancer patient injured in texting-while-driving crash – $150,000 Settlement
A young driver who was distracted by texting T-boned the plaintiff’s vehicle. Plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including a broken ankle and broken ribs. The plaintiff underwent an open reduction with internal fixation of the ankle. Shortly after surgery, some of the hardware needed to be removed. At the time of the wreck, the patient was ...
Paralegal Writing Skills
Fine tuned writing skills are pivotal to a firm’s success. They affect first impressions through websites, newsletters, client leads, emails or network listings, client representation, legal write ups, and the list goes on. On this edition of The Paralegal Voice, host and paralegal mentor, Vicki Voisin will speak with noted legal writing educator Gary Kinder to discuss how paralegals can improve their writing skills.
Kinder is a lawyer and New York Times bestselling author. He has taught over 1,000 writing programs to prestigious law firms nationwide. His career is dedicated to teaching legal professionals how to write precisely, vividly, concisely and memorably. Kinder channeled years of experience studying superior legal writing and editing into the creation of WordRake, a software designed to help law firms and organizations tighten their prose and become better writers. He also authors a weekly writing tips blog called WriteToThePoint.com.
Tune in to learn more about the importance of Paralegals’ writing skills, the basics of the Plain Writing Act of 2010 and how it affects paralegals, how to avoid common mistakes, and more.
Special thanks to our sponsor, National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
Kinder is a lawyer and New York Times bestselling author. He has taught over 1,000 writing programs to prestigious law firms nationwide. His career is dedicated to teaching legal professionals how to write precisely, vividly, concisely and memorably. Kinder channeled years of experience studying superior legal writing and editing into the creation of WordRake, a software designed to help law firms and organizations tighten their prose and become better writers. He also authors a weekly writing tips blog called WriteToThePoint.com.
Tune in to learn more about the importance of Paralegals’ writing skills, the basics of the Plain Writing Act of 2010 and how it affects paralegals, how to avoid common mistakes, and more.
Special thanks to our sponsor, National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA).
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/paralegal-voice/2013/07/paralegal-writing-skills
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Desktop as a Service for Lawyers
Desktop as a service, commonly known as DaaS, is a relatively new service which provides users access to their desktops from any computer via the cloud. Your hosts Jared Correia and Heidi Alexander invited Tom Rowe to talk about DaaS for lawyers.
Rowe is a 4th generation attorney with an undergraduate degree in computer science and business administration. He now works as a technology consultant for law firms and businesses at OTB-Consulting and was named Technolawyer’s technology consultant of the year.
Rowe answers questions about DaaS for big, small, and solo firms, how to make DaaS secure, how to make it cost effective, and more. He will also talk about SaaS, software as a service, as it relates to lawyers and DaaS users.
Rowe is a 4th generation attorney with an undergraduate degree in computer science and business administration. He now works as a technology consultant for law firms and businesses at OTB-Consulting and was named Technolawyer’s technology consultant of the year.
Rowe answers questions about DaaS for big, small, and solo firms, how to make DaaS secure, how to make it cost effective, and more. He will also talk about SaaS, software as a service, as it relates to lawyers and DaaS users.
Source: http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/legal-toolkit/2013/04/desktop-as-a-service-for-lawyers
The Implications of NSA Surveillance for Lawyers
Edward Snowden’s leaks about NSA surveillance have been a hot topic in the media for the last few months. But what do lawyers, specifically, need to worry about? The answer is: a lot. On this edition of Digital Detectives, hosts Sharon D. Nelson and John W. Simek take the stage and examine NSA surveillance as it relates to lawyers. Tune in for an overview of Snowden and the NSA surveillance controversy, how effective (or ineffective) encrypting data is, whether the surveillance is having a chilling effect on lawyers, how to abide by the Model Rules of Professionalism 1.6, and an answer to the underlying question - has George Orwell’s dystopia, 1984, arrived a few decades late?
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Demythologizing the Mythical Paperless Office
For many years, lawyers have chased after the holy grail of the paperless office. While the basic techniques and strategies have largely stayed the same and the technology and tools have gotten better, most lawyers and firms have not attained the elusive goal of a “paperless” office. Is the goal simply unachievable or is it just too hard to execute on what it takes to achieve the goal? In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the history and current state of paperless office efforts, approaches that might (or might not) work for you, and whether the end of paper is within sight. The second half of the episode will cover Georgetown University's new "Iron Tech" Contest where students create a new application, platform, or system to improve access to justice and/or legal representation.
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