In the news: “A law firm partnership may once have been the usual reward for showing efficiency and competency, but now, says a newly minted partner, the burden is on associates to show they're "crucial" to a firm's ability to make money. As fewer associates attain partnership, a self-marketing plan is all the more crucial. From doing pro bono work to give the firm visibility to becoming expert in less glamorous areas, being aggressive -- without being obnoxious -- can help associates set themselves apart.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
31 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Bonnie Shucha posts: “Holographic imaging has made its way to the courtroom. According to an article in Legal Technology,
[H]olographic imaging. . . makes it possible to show such things as three-dimensional views of aneurysms, running automotive parts and structural failures.
"For $450, you can project a 3-D image in the air of a section of a brain. And the judge or jury can look around the image ... and it's identical to the subject's brain," said John Eamigh, a technology consultant for the Chicago-based litigation consulting firm Zagnoli McEvoy Foley.
But some lawyers worry that too much gadgetry will sever the emotional connection they need to make with jurors.”
[Her] Source: Legal Technology Blog
Source: Wisblawg, 30 August 2005
Larry posts: “When you get a job offer it's better to take it than to accept your current firm's counter-offer, according to Bruce Allen of Rutan & Tucker. In a recent Marketing Catalyst blog post he says, "An amazing statistic is that 89% of people accepting counter offers are gone in 6 months. 89 PERCENT!"
He recounts how me made a job offer to a woman to join his marketing team. "When partners at the last firm found out she intended to leave they pulled out all the stops; made promises; told her everything is going to be great from here on out. She stayed." Bruce wrote.
"Not too many days later I've heard from her and now she is MEGA unhappy. The partners may have wanted things to transform, but the people she actually reports to are still the same." he says. "If the relationship is not transformed, money and platitudes will not change a thing. A huge discount (or a raise in the case of my teammate) changes nothing about why someone is unhappy."
So maybe the grass is greener on the other side. If you get a good job offer, simply take it.”
Source: Larry Bodine’s Professional Marketing Blog, 30 August 2005
Wayne Schiess posts: "It was once a cherished superstition that prepositions must be kept true to their name and placed before the word they govern . . . . The fact is that the remarkable freedom enjoyed by English in putting its prepositions late . . . is an important element in the flexibility of the language."
H.W. Fowler, Fowler's Modern English Usage 473-474 (2d ed., Ernest Gowers, ed., Oxford 1965).
(Fowler was writing in the 1920s, by the way.)
Under this supposed rule, we get sentences like this:
I am providing a copy of various university regulations of which you should be aware.
Why not "that you should be aware of"?
Check any source on English usage. All that I have checked say essentially this: End a sentence with a preposition if avoiding it would sound awkward or pretentious.”
Source: Legalwriting.net, 30 August 2005
Edison Ellenberger posts: “The New York Times (Adam Liptak; Aug. 28) reports on a study on law professor politics that is forthcoming in The Georgetown Law Journal. The study analyzes 11 years of records of federal campaign contributions by professors at top law schools. The findings show that "81 percent who contributed $200 or more gave wholly or mostly to Democrats; 15 percent gave wholly or mostly to Republicans."
The Volokh Conspiracy has additional commentary.”
Source: The E-LawLibrary Weblog, 30 August 2005
In the news: “Google's plans to turn the world into "one big instant messaging network" may leave employers wondering how responsible they are for the millions of messages that cross their servers. In some ways, instant messaging presents many of the same security and privacy issues as e-mailing or blogging, but many employers may not even realize the need to address it. Speaking of messages, here's one from lawyers to employers: Start worrying.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
31 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gary Price posts: "We hope, by year's end, to deliver several enhancements to the current features to provide for quicker searches with more relevant results," said Kevin Novak, director of education outreach and Web services at the library's Office of Strategic Initiatives. 'The release of Thomas set for early September is a refreshment of the site with a new, more pleasing look and feel.'"
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Source: The Resourceshelf, 31 August 2005
Reid Trautz posts: “My review of the Mirra Personal Server appears in this month's edition of Law Practice Today. I think you'll find it worth your while.
I am really enamored with this little gem. It constantly backs up my files without any hassle, plus I use the extranet features more than you would think. While on vacation recently, I needed a file (OK, a recipe from my home computer), so I logged in the the Mirra service and grabbed a copy of it off my personal server. Zero aggravation. That's just the way I like it on vacation!”
Source: Reid My Blog, 30 August 2005
“The Ohio Metropolitan Bar Association Consortium (OMBAC) has partnered with EON! (Education Over the Net) to provide online CLE. The OMBAC members participating in this online venture are the Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cuyahoga County, Dayton and Toledo Bar Associations.
To begin using this site, you must first register as a user by clicking the “Register” button above. Once you have entered your user profile, go back to the list of available courses, and register for each course individually. You will be required to prepay for each course online using a Visa or MasterCard. Once you have completed each course and have completed the course evaluation, you will receive access to a printable Certificate of Completion which you keep for your records. Your credits will be submitted to the Supreme Court of Ohio automatically upon completion of each course.”
There are 40 new offerings at <http://www.eondirect.com/OhioMetroBar/PublicSite/ViewCourses.asp>
Source: E-mail from G. Baker, “On-Line CLE Link,” 29 August 2005
Posted by Jim Milles: “Simon Chester at Slaw notes a recent article in Legal Affairs on outsourcing legal support work to India.
The market for outsourced legal work is expected to reach $163 billion by next year, and India is positioned to seize the largest share. The time difference between India and the United States allows for work to be done overnight, and many people in India's enormous workforce are college-educated and English-speaking. Intellevate recently placed a want ad for a patent researcher in the Times of India, the leading English-language daily. The company received 1,700 résumés. "There are 200 million English-speaking, college-educated Indians and there are not 200 million jobs," Steinberg said. Such a disparity in supply and demand allows his company to hire credentialed, capable labor, cheaply. "We're not selling shoes," Steinberg likes to say. "We're selling cobblers." . . .
At Lexadigm, attorneys' salaries range from $6,000 to $36,000. The employees, whose résumés lead off with LLMs from top U.S. law schools and are studded with internships at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and apprenticeships at the Indian Supreme Court, would earn six-figure salaries at elite U.S. law firms. But the education visas most of these young attorneys used to study in the United States allow for only one year of work after graduation, so most have to return to India to find jobs.
The disparity in salaries makes this seem like a more heroic sacrifice than it is. The lifestyle a Lexadigm or Intellevate salary buys is in many ways more lavish than an American attorney's. (And more than an Indian attorney's—Intellevate employees make 40 percent more than new associates at corporate law firms in India; many left such jobs to come to Intellevate.) . . .
While the plight of underpaid legal researchers is unlikely to be the next cause célébre for the anti-sweatshop movement, legal outsourcing, whispered about now, is likely to become a hotly debated topic in American law soon. For now, third-party outsourcers like Intellevate and Lexadigm remain popular mostly with corporate legal departments, which use outsourcing to keep costs down. Large law firms have been slower to send work to overseas outsourcers.
But what if they were to come around? Thomas Morgan, the professional responsibility expert, says bar association ethics rules require law firms to pass on to clients cost savings from outsourcing. In theory, at least, it would take only one big firm looking for a competitive advantage to start a bidding war that could change the cost of buying legal advice in the U.S.
I wonder if LexisNexis and Westlaw charge the same rates in India that they do in North America.”
Source: Out of the Jungle, 26 August 2005
Posted by Jeff Beard : “Google's interactive mapping technology has some useful applications. For instance, have you ever wished you were closer to a cell tower, or simply knew which way to point your cell phone or CrackBerry to get a better signal? For the answer, try Mobiledia's Cell Phone Tower Search.
Just type in the city and state, and up pops a Google map populated with the cell tower locations. How'd they do that? The cell towers are registered with the FCC. They took the information and compiled it into a searchable database. By presenting that information in Google Maps, they provided a simple but very effective graphical interface to display towers within the area.
Very cool, and definitely more useful than Google Moon's use of Google Maps (but you really need to zoom all the way into Google Moon for the best experience)."
Source: LawTech Guru by Jeff Beard, 29 August 2005
Bonnie Shucha posts: "Daniel Harmon, editor of The Lawyer's PC, has written an outstanding article on "Blawg Promotion." (Available on Westlaw, 22 NO. 22 Law. PC 1)
As the number of blawgs continues to skyrocket, readers may find themselves overwhelmed with choices. Harmon offers some excellent tips on how to make your blawg stand out from the crowd. "[A] blog. . . can be a waste of your brilliant ideas and information unless you can attract readers."
Some tips include:
* Drop your blog's name constantly
* Register with search engines & directories
* Link to other blogs
* Make the blog's name descriptive of its content
* Use keywords in your post titles
* Offer your own unique perspective - "Don't Saw Sawdust"
* Encourage Reader Feedback
* Invite journalists to read your blog"
Source: WisBlawg, 29 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Large companies, such as IBM, Oracle and Purina, see podcasting as a means for "for hawking their wares." However, as with RSS, it's difficult to determine the demographics of your audience. Moreover, "[f]or all the buzz podcasts have created among the tech savvy, the technology is still relatively unknown."
The article doesn't mention libraries, but it may give libraries ideas about the potential for marketing their services using this technology.
RELATED: What Blogs, Podcasts, Feeds Mean to Bottom Line
eWeek.com, 25 August 2005
("The average consumer of blogs, RSS/XML feeds and Podcasts is male, earns big bucks and, in the case of Podcasts, is a youngster -- all good to know if your company is thinking about jumping into the blogosphere, according to new research from Jupiter Research.")
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
30 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Evan Schaeffer: “The Podsafe Music Network has launched. Sign up for free, browse the music, and use it on your podcasts without having to worry about getting permission.”
Source: Blawgcast.com, August 27, 2005
Posted by: Tom Mighell: “There's a new search tool in town -- Jeteye. As search engines go, it's doesn't appear to be all that special. But you can package your search results and share them with others. Once you register, just run a search, and check off the results you like. That will create a "Jetpak" that you can then e-mail to others. Even better, these Jetpaks are themselves searchable.”
Source: Inter Alia, 30 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Chris Sherman explains what RSS is and what it isn't. He also talks about why Web searchers should understand and utilize RSS content. "Content published in an RSS feed is typically set up to send out notifications whenever new material is available. This makes the new content immediately available to feed readers and RSS search engines. Contrast this with ordinary web pages, which are essentially passive and generally aren't accessible to most of us until search engine crawlers find and index them."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
30 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: “Effective October 1st., there are new statutory provisions in HB 66 implementing a $25 fee to be charged to all persons requesting or being provided with a public defender or private counsel in Ohio. Forms and additional information, including the pertinent portion of HB 66, are available on the Ohio Public Defender’s website.”
Source: Cincinnati Law Library Blog, 26 August 2005
Evan Schaeffer posts: “Here is a checklist you can use to insure you've chosen scientific experts whose backgrounds will help you withstand challenges based on Daubert and Frye:
* Does your expert have strong academic credentials? Is he recognized by his peers as someone who stands out--someone who has received awards, appointments, and other honors and distinctions? * Does he have actual working experience with the precise issue or issues about which he will be testifying?
* Have you done your own independent research into your expert? Since your opponent might attempt to verify every claim on his C.V., you should too.
Have you attempted to find everything written by or about your expert to see if any of it will be inconsistent with his testimony? Have you asked him for his previous depositions? Have you looked for them yourself?
* Have you tested the quality of your expert's written work to see whether it was peer-reviewed and appeared in reputable publications?
* Have you run a Lexis/Nexis search on your expert to see what you can find?
Is your expert someone who will be able to communicate complex subjects to a jury?
* Does the expert have time to talk to you?
Many of these tips can also be used to investigate your opponent's experts as you prepare to take their deposition.
Source note: The format and contents of this post were suggested by a paper presented by Vance Andrus, Richard Arsenault, and Donald Marks, M.D., at a Mealey's litigation conference.”
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 29 August 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “We in the legal market know about the e-discovery explosion. The shock waves now reach outside legal.
MetaLincs Debuts Discovery Software in the 8/22 issue of eWeek magazine describes new e-discovery software. I’ve been reading eWeek for years and recall only one or two prior feature story on discovery software. Interestingly, the featured product is new to me (other interesting search tools are described here and here)
The article notes that with “more and more enterprises finding themselves under intense scrutiny due to regulatory compliance mandates and litigation pressures, e-mail and document discovery is fast becoming a labor-intensive proposition laced with inconsistency and a small margin of error.” eWeek describes the company’s software as including features for “indexing, processing, search, review, reporting and production.” Visual displays are a key aspect; the company CTO explains that the “software presents customers with a visual representation of the relationships between people, time, documents, events and communication patterns based on appropriate context and search criteria.”
More information at the company web site.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 28 August 2005
In the news: “Few things can cap a lawyer's career like arguing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Unfortunately, that's an opportunity most general counsel will never get. But for a select group, the experience has been a special one. Some of those GCs -- two of whom are former Supreme Court clerks -- share their insights, offer some advice on beating the odds, and make predictions as to who might be the next general counsel to stand before the justices.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
29 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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In the e-newsletter: “FindLaw columnist and U. Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry discusses how private companies have used -- and may misuse -- information from GPS systems in rental cars. Ramasastry focuses on a Connecticut case in which the state's Supreme Court evaluated a rental car company's contractual "wear and tear" charge of $150 -- incurred by the driver every time that, according to GPS data, a car was driven at 80 miles or more an hour, for two minutes or more. The Court found that the charge was not reasonable, in light of the much lower actual cost of the wear and tear on the car. Ramasastry also considers the possibility that GPS-related information may be used not only to overcharge customers, but also to infringe privacy by tracking customer movements.”
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Source: FindLaw WRIT
26 August 2005
Copyright © 2005 FindLaw, a Thomson Business
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Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “Did you know that Tim Stanley, formerly of Findlaw fame, offers a new RSS service called Auto Recalls? Or that there is a web site out there called PatentMojo that helps patent professionals create watchlists for patent searches, using RSS feeds, of course?
Then you (and me both!) obviously don't know everything there is to know about RSS. But Robert J. Abrogi does, and he summarizes for us in his Law Technology News article, The Power of RSS.
If you're having difficulties convincing your co-workers or boss about the importance of RSS, just print this article out for him/her. It ought to do the trick.
Source LawLibTech, 28 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: "Jim Milles shares information posted to a law library director's discussion forum about the removal of West headnotes from Shepard's citators. Richard Ducey, Director of the Law Library at the University of Tulsa, alerted members of the group to what appears to be a quiet, yet significant, change in Shepard's.
"I was working on an assignment for my class that included Shepardizing a Maryland Court of Appeals case. Upon Shepardizing (on LEXIS), I was unable to restrict by the West (Atlantic Reporter) headnotes as I have done many times in the past.... At AALL, I made a point of asking about this, only to to be told that LEXIS decided to discontinue both on LEXIS and in print any references to headnotes in West reporters. Restrictions would be available for official headnotes (if any) and LEXIS headnotes. They said they might go back and remove the West headnote references already available."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
2 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Joy London: “In Harnessing Group Memory to Build a Knowledge Sharing Culture, Rachel F. Robbins, a founding partner and now alumna of Blaqwell, the international legal industry consultants, warns how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX") underscores the need for global legal departments to develop knowledge-sharing systems. This article examines some successful corporate models (International Paper, DuPont) and points out common sense lessons learned by corporates not so successful.
If potential SOX violations (with the threat of huge financial penalties and long prison sentences) doesn't scare the bejesus out of lawyers to implement and leverage KM systems, I don't know what will.”
Source: excited utterances, 24 August 2005
In the news: “Today, the Judicial Council of California's Task Force on Jury Instructions is expected to approve the result of an 8 1/2-year process of wrangling the legalese out of criminal jury instructions and turning them into plain English. While attorneys wait to see how the new rules affect the way they try cases, task force Chairwoman and appeal court Justice Carol Corrigan said the effort was really focused on jurors' struggle with antiquated verbiage. "[A juror's] job is already difficult," she said.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
26 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Genie Tyburski: “Microsoft says it is building anti-phishing features into the next version (7) of Internet Explorer. The features will interrupt and warn users when they encounter a known phishing site or a site that behaves suspiciously. Meanwhile, it is also developing an anti-phishing plug-in to the free MSN toolbar for users of Internet Explorer 6.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
26 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Ken Kozlowski posts: “The release by the AG's office announces that an online form is now available for Ohio citizens to easily report incidents and/or knowledge of potential crimes relating to Medicaid”
Source: Ohio Law, 23 August 2005
Free Management Library
Posted by Anthony Cerminaro: “I have added a link to this site in my sidebar under Running Your Business:
Free Management Library for For-Profit and Nonprofit Organizations, a highly integrated library of resources on a myriad of topics at http://www.managementhelp.org
Source: BizzBangBuzz, 25 August 2005
Posted by Anthony Cerminaro: "New business leaders and managers have to develop at least basic skills in financial management. Expecting others in the organization to manage finances is clearly asking for trouble. Basic skills in financial management start in the critical areas of cash management and bookkeeping, which should be done according to certain financial controls to ensure integrity in the bookkeeping process.
New leaders and managers should soon go on to learn how to generate financial statements (from bookkeeping journals) and analyze those statements to really understand the financial condition of the business. Financial analysis shows the 'reality' of the situation of a business -- seen as such, financial management is one of the most important practices in management."
This managementhelp.org website will help you understand basic practices in financial management, and build the basic systems and practices needed in a healthy business.”
Source: BizzBangBuzz, 25 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “In a contract dispute, the federal judge granted a temporary injunction based on e-mail messages that contradicted deposition testimony. "As electronic discovery becomes more commonly used, e-mails are proving to be a gold mine of information in corporate legal disputes."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
25 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Evan Schaeffer posts: “A lawyer I frequently practice with offers this tip. In trials with hundreds of exhibits, the jury will understandably have a difficult time sorting them out during deliberation and might even ignore them entirely. If you want to make sure they see the ones you consider most important, gather these into a stack and hold them up during your closing arguments. Tell the jury something like this: "Here are the the exhibit we think are the most important. I'm going to set them here on the rail. If you want to look at them later, ask for the stack of exhibits I set on the rail."
If you know the trial judge is going to send all the exhibits with the jury to the deliberation room, modify the procedure accordingly.”
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 24 August 2005
Bonnie Shucha posts: "There are a number of nice people finding databases on the Web, but what happens when you aren't sure of the spelling an individual's last name? A database search is only as good as the query that you input. As the saying goes: garbage in, garbage out.
Although Surname Finder is designed as a genealogy search engine, its browsable list of last names could be quite useful for finding variations in spelling."
[Her] Source: PI News Link
Source: WisBlawg, 24 August 2005
New on LLRX.com for August 19, 2005
From Sabrina Pacifici:
“**Copyright and Licensing Digital Materials - A Resource Guide
http://www.llrx.com/features/digitalmaterials.htm
Therese A. Clarke Arado's guide documents reliable resources on copyight from the government, academia and advocacy groups, as well as identifying relevant organizations from which one may need to obtain appropriate permissions for the use of copyrighted works whose formats include music, motion pictures and television.
**Researching Intellectual Property Law In The Russian Federation
http://www.llrx.com/features/russiaiplaw.htm
Julian Zegelman's comprehensive guide on researching contemporary intellectual property law in the Russian Federation includes an overview of the state's political and legal system and its respective federal IP law; recommendations on research strategies utilizing specific print and online sources; and an annotated bibliography of primary resources.
**The State of Online Legislative Research and What Makes a Good Legislative History
http://www.llrx.com/features/statelegislativeresearch.htm
Susan H. Paschell's pathfinder focuses on the process of researching legislative histories in Maine and New Hampshire.
**CongressLine, by GalleryWatch.com: The Document's Story - Legislative Narration
http://www.llrx.com/congress/legislativenarration.htm
Paul Jenks defines the concept and scope of a legislative narrative, and using the stem cell research issue as an example, details the type and range of documents comprising such a compilation.
**The Government Domain: Back to School for Constitution Day
http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain8.htm
Peggy Garvin's column this month encompasses topical web resources that will assist educators, students, federal employees, website designers, librarians, and non-profit organizations as they prepare for this important day.
**FOIA Facts: Dear Attorney General Gonzales
http://www.llrx.com/columns/foia23.htm
Scott A. Hodes argues that in response to FOIA requests, federal agencies should release any relevant documents that would not cause foreseeable harm.
**Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: Travel in Wireless Style
http://www.llrx.com/columns/legaltech34.htm
Brett Burney details how to use compact and versatile wireless travel routers to best advantage, as well recommending a range of great products for mobile phones and PDAs from a highly recommended online source.
**LLRX Bookstore
http://www.llrx.com/bookstore
A dozen new recommendations available, on topics that include: the Constitution, e-government, PC privacy, implementing inovative technologies, KM and marketing, library management, government surveillance, and more....
**And don't forget LLRX Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets, the unique, free searchable database, maintained and continually updated by Margaret Berkland
http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/
Source: New on LLRX Newsletter
24 August 2005
Copyright © LLRX TM, Law Library Resource Xchange, LLC.
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Edison Ellenberger posts: “The 2005 print version of Future Trends in State Courts is not available until October, but a number of articles that will appear in it are currently online at the Web site of the National Center for State Courts. They are listed below:
· Beyond the Vanishing Trial: A Look at the Composition of State Court Dispositions [Conclusion]
· Digitization of Library Collections: The Future is Now [Conclusion]
· Human-Trafficking: A Growing Crime to Hit State Courts [Conclusion]
· Immigration and Its Impact on the State Courts [Conclusion]
· Public Access and the National Landscape of Data Regulation
· Radio-Frequency Identification: Why the Justice System Should Tune In [Conclusion]
· Trends in Appellate Court Technology [Conclusion]
· Trends in Identity Theft [Conclusion]
· Verification, Validation, and Authentication of Electronic Documents in Courts: How Digital Rights Management Technology Will Change the Way We Work
Source: The E-LawLibrary Weblog, 25 August 2005
In the news: “Corporate America is taking advantage of an increasingly popular strategy of hiring a top government regulator as general counsel. At a time when business lobbyists in Washington have engineered remarkable victories with policymakers in Congress -- such as this year's class action reform and bankruptcy legislation -- corporate interests are also lining up regulatory expertise with lawyers who know the agencies, the rules and the players.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
25 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Tom Mighell: “Yes, I know I rave on and on about the wonderful things Google Maps can do for you. But don't take my word for it -- check out this page of Essential Resources for Google Maps and see for yourself.
Source: Inter Alia, 23 August 2005
Posted by Genie Tyburski: “Lynn Peterson, founder of PFC Information Services, explains how conducting various checks for pre-employment purposes might save you from making a poor hiring decision. She reveals the kind of records employers typically review and explains what the records tell them.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
25 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Jim posts: “The typical law school graduate may enter the practice of law with little, if any, training in business management. This is perhaps not a critical problem for the new lawyer who goes to work for as an assistant district attorney, a public defender or an associate in a large law firm. But for the solo and small firm lawyer, this can be a significant gap in skills. To their credit, law schools are moving to fill this gap. In fact, next week I will be giving a two hour presentation to a class at the University of Oklahoma College of Law that focuses on starting a law practice.
The quandry of the solo/small firm lawyer is that he or she needs to manage well in limited time. Administrative responsibilities are non-billable and the more time that is spent on them means less billable business production that day. So there is a built-in temptation in the small law firm to give short shrift to those tasks in favor of providing client services. Client services are a priority. But good management is also critically important. It may be easy to fail to regularly review the financials because there is money in the bank or defer making decisions because of lack of time to consider alternatives. But what advice would you give a business owner client who failed to regularly review the financials?
I've located a good short course in management, thanks to the BizzBangBuzz Blog. You may be surprised to learn that it was written by an electrical engineering lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and is over ten years old. Read Basic Management Skills by Gerard M. Blair. Read these ten articles when you have time to think about them.
Source: Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, 21 August 2005
In the news: “Just when lawyers think they've seen the latest in high-tech trial gizmos designed to dazzle jurors, something new comes along to push the envelope even further. The latest: holographic imaging, which makes it possible to show such things as three-dimensional views of aneurysms, running automotive parts and structural failures. But some lawyers worry that too much gadgetry will sever the emotional connection they need to make with jurors.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
24 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina posts: “Webroot Software released their State of Spyware Report today (free but requires registration), which states in part that "...the number of websites distributing spyware has quadrupled since the beginning of 2005 to an astonishing 300,000 unique URLs." [press release] In addition, 80% of corporate computers are infected with malicious software, which can take the form of trojans, spyware or adware.”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
23 August 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by Evan Schaeffer: “There was a great discussion about the future of podcasting--including talk about venture capital and [criticisms] of Adam Curry's Podshow on Sirius--in this podcast by the Gillmor Gang.”
Source: Blagcast.com, 23 August 2005
Posted by Dennis M. Kennedy: “Tom Mighell and Dennis Kennedy of Between Lawyers recently presented a webcast with Raza Hasan of Thomson FindLaw called "Blogs for Lawyers: Building an Audience to Build Your Practice." A free replay of the webcast is available here.”
Source: Between Lawyers, 23 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Google yesterday introduced Google Talk, instant messaging and computer-to-computer calling software. Danny Sullivan reviews the product, but he is less than enthusiastic about it. He also explains how computer-to-computer calling differs from voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), which has been in the news a lot lately.
According to the Web site, "Google Talk is in beta and requires a Gmail username and password."
SEE: Google Talk
(Access requires GMAIL password.)
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
24 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by David Bau: “Google has a friendly talk-in-the-hallway kind of culture that I love, but Google engineers seem to be everywhere now, from Bangalore to Tokyo to Dublin to Zurich. I work on a team that's in Mountain View, Kirkland, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. We like to talk about the projects we're working on, but a hallway is hard to come by. So we've put together a gadget that keeps us talking, even when we're on different sides of the planet.
It's called Google Talk — a small program that lets you call and IM other Google Talk friends over the Internet for free. We're releasing it in beta today for all Gmail users (once you sign on, you can start inviting any of your friends to try it too).
The sound is great — usually much better than a regular phone — and it's a perfect way to use that computer microphone you never realized you had. My laptop with its built-in mic makes a superb speakerphone. Google Talk also works great with just about any standard mic or headset you can plug in to a computer.
We're already finding that Google Talk is pretty useful, as it's great to be able to see when friends are awake and online in London, Tokyo, or the exotic Kirkland Public Library. And of course it's wonderful to be able to ring friends on a whim, without having to dial all those pesky country codes.
Geeks in particular might notice that the Google Talk service runs on the open XMPP protocol. So even though many people will log on using Google Talk, you can also use iChat, GAIM, Trillian, Adium, Psi, or another one of the many great XMPP clients out there.
There's a reason for that openness. We believe Internet communication networks should openly interoperate, and that they should include IM and voice. The openness of the Google Talk service to XMPP clients is just a start. We like SIP too, and we want to also federate between servers. We've already started working with our friends at EarthLink and Sipphone to federate our respective real-time communications services so all our users can talk to each other for free. If you're interested in federating with us or would like to interoperate in a way that we have not yet implemented, let us know.”
Source: Google Blog, 24 August 2005
From Bob Rankin: “If the idea of shelling out cold, hard cash for an anti-virus program doesn't sit well with you, then how about some free anti-virus software? There are some nifty online scanners that let you check for viruses just by connecting to a website. And there are some good old-fashioned full-fledged anti-virus packages you can download for free. Read this article to find out where to get the goods, gratis:
http://www.askbobrankin.com/free_virus_scan.html”
Source: The Internet Tourbus
Volume 11, Number 08
23 August 2005
Copyright 1995-2005, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved
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Bonnie Shucha posts: “Last week, ABA's Answers of the Week featured some interesting answers to the question:
If you could go back and attend law school again, what opportunity do you wish you had pursued? Or what seemed like a big deal at the time but, looking back on it, you would not pursue again?
[Her] Source: UBLaw Phoenix”
Source: WisBlawg, 22 August 2005
Edison Ellenberger posts: “Wayne Schiess is the director of the legal writing program at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of the Legalwriting.net blog. Professor Schiess is also the author of Writing for the Legal Audience and various articles that are available at Legalwriting.net. Readers have the option of receiving a weekly legal writing tip."
Source: The E-LawLibrary Weblog, 22 August 2005
Evan Schaeffer posts: “One of the problems with assigning the task of abstracting a deposition to a lawyer or paralegal who is not familiar with the case is that you'll often end up with a page-by-page recounting of the deposition testimony that, though shortened somewhat, still contains way too much information in a way that remains hard to skim. It's one of the reasons why, when time permits, I'd rather abstract depositions myself.
However, I don't arrange the abstracts page-by-page. Instead, I do it by topic or issue. For example, in a recent overtime case seeking overtime for a class of insurance adjusters, my deposition abstracts were organized by issue, with headings such as job duties of insurance adjusters, use of discretion and independent judgment, company structure, numerosity, common questions of fact and law, and so on. I then copy-and-pasted the witness's most important deposition testimony to the issue outline with a page citation.
When the same case issues are used for abstracting every deposition in a case, it makes finding pertinent information a breeze. And if you use software like CaseMap, it's possible to view deposition summaries both page-by-page or by issue, changing between the views with a click of the mouse.”
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 22 August 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: "The August Corporate Legal Times reports on ways to reduce litigation costs. Technology plays a big role and one of my favorite approaches - decision trees – is featured. GCs Offer Strategies for Reining in Litigation Costs reports on a recent general counsel roundtable. The sub-title is “Decision [Trees] Play a Key Role in Settling Complex Cases.” My former colleague and now law professor David Post and I explained the basics of risk analysis and decision trees in a 1990 article (the concepts have not changed since then) and I recently wrote about software for doing decision trees.A sidebar to the article lists “Controlling Costs in 10 Easy Steps” by FMC general counsel Jeff Carr. Two involve technology: (1)"Require that your law firms create a decision tree or other early case assessment within 90 days of retaining them.” (2)"Once you are in litigation, use an artificial intelligence engine instead of people to triage electronic documents for discovery relevance. Seek to reduce the documents people need to review to the important ones as opposed to using people to review documents to determine which are important.”And two of Carr’s steps relate to knowledge management techniques: (1) “After it’s all said and done, do an ‘after action’ or a ‘lessons learned’ review.” (2) “Remember the whole process is circular… learn from the process to avoid it again.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 22 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “This well-researched article explains why some employers conduct background checks on prospective employees. It lists some of the types of records they check. It also provides an overview of your rights as an employee or interviewee.
RELATED: The Truth Behind Standard Criminal Checks
Law Office Computing e-LOC, June 2005
(Explains what employers should know about the research behind "standard" criminal background checks.)
RELATED: Data Security's Hidden Problem: Us
Baseline, 10 June 2005
(Relates the story of a man, who was falsely arrested, after his employer used a ChoicePoint company to conduct a criminal background check. Because of mismatched (or missing) identifiers, data in online reports is often inaccurate. Rather than interpreting the data for the prospective employer, some pre-screening services simply turn over the online report.)”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
23 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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David Swanner posts: “Evan Schaeffer recently wrote a post on How to Start a Deposition at his Illinois Trial Practice Weblog. It’s a good post for young lawyers on how to get started. That reminded me of the opening questions that I use to lock a witness down in the event that the witness needs to be impeached at trial:
· Is there any reason you can’t do the deposition today? We have to do this at some point, but is there any reason today is any worse than any other day?
· Are you under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs or anything else that would affect your ability to understand or answer my questions?
· Have you ever given a deposition before? (If so, find out when and under what circumstances. What other depositions have you given?)
· The purpose of this deposition is twofold. First, this is my only chance to talk to you. I want to hear your side of the story. So, if I ask a question you don’t understand for any reason, please ask me to rephrase the question. If I ask a question that’s too long, if I use a lawyer word, or if for some reason you just don’t understand what I’m asking, please don’t answer the question. Ask me to rephrase the question. Would you do that for me?
· But if I ask a question and you answer it, I’m going to assume you understood the question. Is that fair?
· The reason I want to know what your side of the story is because I don’t like surprises. When we plan for trial, we need to know what your version of events are, even if we disagree with them. Which brings me to the second purpose of the testimony, if we go to court and your testimony changes substantially, I’m going to use this deposition to show the jury that you’re changing your story. We’re not trying to play a game of ‘Gotcha’, but if your story changes substantially would that be fair?
· (A lot of times they’ll say that their story won’t change. Yes, but if your story does substantially change, would it be fair to tell the jury that?)
· You understand that this is sworn testimony?
· You understand that you have sworn to tell the truth?
So what have we done here. We have ‘closed the doors’ on:
· I was drunk or under the influence
· I was (getting divorced, losing my business, had a teenager, under an extreme amount of stress) and not thinking clear
· I didn’t understand the question
· I didn’t understand the importance of the deposition and just answered any old way
· I didn’t think it was as important as trial testimony
· I didn’t know what the purpose was. Sorry, but this is the real story at trial.
You also have:
· Let the witness know that you will impeach them if they lie, before they do it. This eliminates the jury from feeling that you’re playing ‘Gotcha’.
· Had the witness say that they believe it is fair for you to impeach them.
With most witnesses, you’ll never need to use this. But if you do, you’re ready for impeachment at trial.”
Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 19 August 2005
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “This article, Developing Businesses Takes Proper Networking, Stephen Melanson (August 18, 2005) offers some old standby ideas on networking as well as some new approaches. In the category of old standbys, there's the usual advice on joining a chamber of commerce or a trade association. As for a new idea, Melanson recommends starting your own group:
Form a group that caters to exactly what you need. It's unlikely others aren't in the same boat as you, and if you look around there are people you can work with who won't compete directly with you but who are looking for the same customers you are.
To get started, go meet with your favorite business-owner friends who have a common business objective. Then set a date and begin working on building a group of like-minded professionals who can give some enthusiasm, ideas and some non-competitive support and referrals.
Sometimes, to do something right, you have to do it yourself. In the case of networking, don't assume that your only option is to plug into existing groups. The very best results can come from formal or informal groups getting together to develop relationships and share information.
There are plenty of other benefits that come from organizing a group. The process of getting people together forces you to make contacts with potential clients or referrals. At the same time, because you're in charge, you can approach these prospects with an air or authority rather than desperation. I've recently helped form a trade association and while it's frustrating to try to get it off the ground, it's given me more regular contact with those in the industry than if I'd tried to approach each individually.”
Source: MyShingle, 21 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “LexisNexis and iParadigms, developer of technology for detecting intellectual property theft and for vetting a work's originality, yesterday announced the release of LexisNexis Copyguard. The product "enables users to verify content originality quickly and easily. Within minutes users can search efficiently across billions of documents. There are more than 6.1 billion searchable documents that are continuously updated through the LexisNexis service, including deep archives, and four to five years of archived Web pages from iParadigms, which together create a vast collection of content in one place."
SEE: LexisNexis Copyguard
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
23 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Tom Mighell writes: “The folks at AskSam have put together this great database of The Opinions of Judge John G. Roberts. The cases have been divided up into categories for
ease of use.”
http://www.asksam.com/cgi-bin/as_web6.exe?Command=First&File=JGROpinions
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly by Tom Mighell
Volume 6, Issue 27
21 August 2005
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By Julie Hilden: “The first year of law school is notoriously a difficult one, as students are faced with new challenges at the same time that their grades count a great deal. Attorney and author Julie Hilden looks back on her own first year of law school, and draws on her experience to offer some advice to incoming first years.”
Read full text
Source: FindLaw WRIT
19 August 2005
Copyright © 2005 FindLaw, a Thomson Business
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Posted by Bruce MacEwen: “Sometimes it doesn't hurt to be reminded of the obvious. Permit me to remind you:
· Ours is a talent-driven profession.
· Professionals—"elevator assets"—are highly mobile.
· The best people are always in limited supply.
· Turnover is expensive, disruptive, and to the extent clients identify with the individual attorney rather than the firm, truly threatening.
So the question is: What have you done about this lately?
Deloitte has a primer which I commend to you. Among its key recommendations:
· Focus on the long run. Where will your needs (by practice group, by geography, by client/industry cohort) be in a few years? This involves everything from whether you're recruiting at the right law schools to whether your associate development and partner coaching initiatives are in alignment with where you think your firm should be heading strategically.
· Realize that your firm has an image, a perception, dare I say a "brand" in the marketplace for recruits—distinct from the market for clients. Think of your firm's brand image to clients as its "demand side" brand and its brand image to recruits as its "supply side" brand.
· Consider unconventional ways of assessing and recruiting associates—your cheapest source of new talent. For example, IDEO, the multi-award-winning San Francisco based design firm, sends senior staff members to teach in the engineering master's program at Stanford, creating what amounts to a three-year interview of promising designers. Imagine some of your corporate partners (the right ones, please!) guest-lecturing at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia (etc.) in the corporate law and securities courses. Think the top-notch students you might otherwise be unaware of would be receptive to a personal invitation to interview with the firm?
Once you've got the right people, you've got to keep them. The good news and the bad news here is that money alone won't do it.
To be sure, the overall compensation package must be competitive in the marketplace and, more crucially, perceived as fair. But once you've achieved that baseline, "softer" factors take precedence: How strong are your professional development efforts? Are associates free to move between departments in search of the right fit? Do you focus on outcomes, not bureaucracy, eliminating constraints and permitting creativity?
Let's face it: With the first-year associate package apparently frozen at $125,000 plus bonus, with every firm claiming to be "friendly and collegial," and with the reality of 2,000+ hours/year requirements across the board, how is your firm really going to distinguish itself?
McKinsey chimes in that it really does get back to "branding." If you limit yourself to the traditional toolkit (salary, benefits, blah blah blah), you will limit yourself to run of the mill recruits. But if you can persuasively demonstrate intangible and emotional ties linking your best professionals to the firm with passion and commitment, trust me, you will well and truly stand out—and have the standout recruits to show for it.
Source: Adam Smith, Esq., 17 August 2005
Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “RSS is really such a simple concept. Publish RSS feeds, then let those that are interested subscribe to them. No fuss, no muss, and so far, no spam. Not much in the way of ads yet, either, though that's likely to change.
Just as intranets became popular after the introduction of the web, businesses are starting to see how RSS feeds can be an efficient way increase communication within an organization without increasing employee's email burden. InformationWeek's article, Order from Chaos Via RSS, explains how businesses such as Disney and Microsoft are implementing RSS.
RSS feeds are handy because they can be automatically created when new content is added to an application or web page, reducing the need for employees to wander the intranet looking for updates, or digging through emails trying to find the really important stuff.
Watch for RSS feeds to really take off as the tools to read them become more commonplace. Start asking for RSS capability from vendors now.”
Source: LawLibTech, 21 August 2005
Tom Mighell writes: “Remember Y2K, that potentially disastrous issue that turned out to be not much of a problem? Well, we may have another Y2K-esque scenario on our hands, since the federal government passed legislation recently signed a law that extends daylight savings time for four weeks. That means that all of the computers and other mechanisms that are automatically configured to change time on a set date will have to be re-configured, or they might get confused.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050808-4.html
http://snipurl.com/h39a (CNet article)
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly by Tom Mighell
Volume 6, Issue 27
21 August 2005
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Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “When is a blog not a blog? When it's a cheap and easy content management system instead. Bill Machrone discusses some of the non-traditional ways use you use blog software in his column, I Blog/I Do Not Blog.
Related Article: Create a Policies and Procedures Manual with Movable Type”
Source: LawLibTech, 21 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Google today announced the availability of a beta upgrade to its desktop search software. "Beyond providing search results, it monitors the user's behavior and presents relevant information in a resizable and moveable vertical window called the Sidebar."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
22 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From the blog: "The Home Office Lawyer blog has an entire category devoted to the pursuit of the paperless office, it is a great resource for all things paperless. I recommend anyone considering a paperless law office to check out this link.
Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 17 August 2005
Posted by Arnie Herz: “Rosa at the wonderful Talking Story blog directed me to this clip of author and speaker Marcus Buckingham discussing “the importance of using one’s personal strengths in the workplace.” There are a lot of thought-provoking observations packed into this little sound bite. Buckingham raises the question that’s fueled his work to date: Why do so few of us have a chance to use our strengths – those things we enjoy most and do best - on the job? He does not supply an answer, but does cite a recent poll showing that the respondents spend only 17% of their working day doing things they really like to do. Asserting that this number is way too low, Buckingham declares his continuing interest in discovering how to build a better world that compels each of us to “identify and deploy the best of ourselves” in our chosen occupation. I wonder how many lawyers would have benefited from a law school curriculum designed to help us discover our individual strengths and match them to a particular area of the law or to a related field, such as dispute resolution or teaching.”
Source: Legal Sanity, 17 August 2005
David Swanner posts: “More on the LA Times about how the spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association says that lawyers create their own problems:
In fact, Schwartz said, over-the-top self-promotion by some trial lawyers have made the best case for the need for change. "Their ads making things seem as if it's just free money" have done "more to convince the American public that we have jackpot justice than anything put out by any tort reform organization — including the 'looney lawsuits' stories," he said.
Recent research shows that 40% of people get their info on lawyers exclusively from the media (TV, newspaper) - they have 40% unfavorable , 28% favorable impression. Twenty percent say that lawyer advertising are their main source of information about lawyers. This group has an 84% negative, and 10% positive impression of lawyers and the legal system.
Oof. We have met the enemy and he is us."
Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 18 August 2005
Posted by David Stratton: “Googling one's own name is sometimes called a vanity search, but there is a good reason to do it occasionally, as pointed out in an article from the latest newsletter from Legal Mutual.”
Source: Insurance Defense Blog, 13 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts created an index to the fee schedules for the Courts of Appeals, District Courts, Bankruptcy Courts, U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
19 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Jeff posts: "With the rapid spread of the Zotob virus and its variants this week, I thought I'd direct others to my comprehensive article on making your personal wireless network more secure: "Wireless Networking Best Practices: Version 2.0".
Why? Because the vast majority of home and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) wireless networks are notoriously insecure by many estimates. The tips contained in this article provide critical defenses to blocking the techniques and mechanisms used by Zotob and its variants.
By some reports, even if your version of the Windows OS cannot be infected by Zotob, the virus may still run on it as a host. This effectively turns your PC into the electronic equivalent of Typhoid Mary, so it can seek out and infect other unprotected PCs.
Please also note the article's section on disabling the UPnP (Universal Plug 'n' Play) feature of your router. UPnP is the main exploit used by Zotob. A year ago, I stated: "UPnP is used for some devices like the Xbox game system. If you don't have a UPnP device, then make sure it's disabled. Otherwise, it's another potential security hole for your network." For instance, I noticed that some versions of Linksys' wireless router firmwares consciously left the UPnP feature enabled by default, a really bad decision. Leaving UPnP enabled in the router may have been required for gaining the Microsoft Xbox certification. However, it's still a really bad security decision considering that many people using those routers don't have an Xbox.
Anyway, I hope you find these security best practices helpful. All of the information is still current and valid.
Source: LawTech Guru Blog by Jeff Beard, 19 August 2005
Edison Ellenberger posts: “In an introduction to a 2003 report - Does Business Ethics Pay? [Executive Summary] - from the Institute of Business Ethics, Sir Paul Judge notes the reluctance in some sectors to conduct rigorous and scholarly research in the area of business. In contrast, he considers business a proper focus of academic study.
Sir Judge contends that consumers and the community, corporate governance, and the management team are three areas that impact modern business ethics; these subjects are particularly conducive to further research. The research would, respectively, demonstrate to the community the importance of ethics to a company, build on the corporate governance laws by using ethical codes as key reference points, and assist management teams to increase their appreciation of ethical codes.
According to the study from the Institute of Business Ethics, a published code of ethics is not only a matter of principle; it also leads to greater business success.
[His] Source: SLA Learning Connections (Aug. 15)”
Source: The E-LawLibrary Weblog on Law, Libraries & Research, 18 August 2005
MARRIAGE & LIVING TOGETHER
From the e-newsletter: “The "Marriage & Living Together" section of FindLaw for the Public's Family Law Center has informative articles and helpful resources for people planning to marry, those already married, unmarried couples living together, and same-sex partners. Topics include prenuptial agreements, the financial aspects of marriage, domestic partnerships, and much more. Click on the link below to get started.
http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/
State-by State Marriage Laws, License Requirements, and More
http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/marriage-laws/”
Source: FindLaw PUBLIC ADVISOR
18 August 2005
Copyright © 2005 FindLaw, a Thomson Business
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From the e-newsletter: “This site "was created for kids 11-13 years old by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). ... The content of The Cool Spot is based on a curriculum for grades 6-8 developed ... to give young teens a clearer picture about alcohol use among their peers." The site features facts about alcohol, information about risks of underage drinking and peer pressure, and resources for those with alcohol problems.
http://www.thecoolspot.gov"
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet
NEW THIS WEEK for 2 August 2005
Copyright 2005 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.
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Sabrina posts: “Following up on my July 27, 2005 posting, Web Archives Provide Sources for Discovery, see this Article of the week from Lawyers Weekly USA: Lawyers Are Turning To Old Websites For Evidence, available free. [note: this article will be archived one week after publication date]."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
17 August 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Evan Schaeffer posts: “A corporate-designee notice under the procedures of Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) or a state-court equivalent requires your opponent, if a corporation, to produce someone with knowledge to testify about whatever topics you list in your notice. It's a powerful discovery tool that I use in almost every case. For example, in "Discovery: Cut Out the Middleman," I wrote about the use of corporate-designee depositions as a substitute for interrogatories. And in "Discovery Concerning the Parameters of Electronic Information," I wrote about using the corporate-designee procedure as a part of electronic discovery.
In this post, I'll include a sample corporate-designee notice from one of my old cases. It can't be used verbatim, of course, but it illustrates the sort of information that can be discovered by using such a notice. It's based on Illinois Rule 206(a)(1), which states--
(1) Representative Deponent. A party may in the notice and in a subpoena, if required, name as the deponent a public or private corporation or a partnership or association or governmental agency and describe with reasonable particularity the matters on which examination is requested. In that event, the organization so named shall designate one or more officers, directors, or managing agents, or other persons to testify on its behalf, and may set forth, for each person designated, the matters on which that person will testify. The subpoena shall advise a nonparty organization of its duty to make such a designation. The persons so designated shall testify as to matters known or reasonably available to the organization.
NOTICE OF DEPOSITION PURSUANT TO RULE 206(a)(1)
TO: All Parties and Their Attorneys
You are hereby notified that on ______________________, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the offices of __________________, counsel for the Plaintiffs, will take the deposition of Defendant _________, Inc., upon oral examination. The deposition will be taken before an officer duly authorized by law to take deposition and continue from day to day until completion. You may attend and cross-examine.
Pursuant to Rule 206(a)(1), Defendant _________, Inc., must designate one or more persons to testify concerning the following matters, said person(s) to possess the knowledge known or reasonably available to _________, Inc., as to the following categories of information set forth herein.
DEFINITIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
As used herein, the terms "you" and "your" refer to __________, Inc., its agents, affiliates, representatives, subsidiaries, merged or acquired predecessors, present and former officers, executives, directors, employees and all other persons acting or purporting to act on its behalf.
DEPOSITION TOPICS
1. The genesis, development, testing, implementation, and/or evolution of directory assistance call completion (DACC).
2. Any studies analyses, assessments, and/or forecasts prepared by you or on your behalf regarding DACC.
3. The genesis, drafting, developments and evolution of the language in [defendant's] tariffs (including any drafts thereof) pursuant to which [defendant] implemented and has continued to execute its DACC.
4. The number of customers who used DACC to complete phone calls.
5. The revenues, earnings, profits, losses, or billings relating to and/or derived from [defendant's] DACC.
6. The total number of directory assistance (DA) calls in Illinois yearly since 1995.
7. The total number of calls completed through DACC yearly in Illinois since 1995.
8. Complaints received from customers about DACC charges or the usage fees resulting from a DACC connection.
[SIGNATURE BLOCK]
[CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE]”
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 17 August 2005
Joy London posts: “For the technology-impaired, Brian Bailey, KM consultant (and former knowledge manager at Gadens), provides eight ways to share knowledge through good ol' conversations.
Conversations as Knowledge Sharing
(1) Talk about what fascinates your clients
(2) Scenarios analysis and strategic planning
(3) Client planning meetings and reviews
(4) Expert briefing sessions
(5) Cross practice briefings
(6) Competitor briefings
(7) Incorporate experiences into reviews
(8) Communities of practice
For further reading What do you know? (by Brian Bailey, co-written with Stuart Kay, former knowledge manager at Gilbert + Tobin). The article compares knowledge audits at Gilbert + Tobin and Ernst & Young."
Source: excited utterances, 17 August 2005
Dennis posts: “I read a fascinating article today (couldn't find an online version to link to) about a survey that asked lawyers in big law firms whether they would leave their firms to start a solo practice if they were guaranteed sufficient capital to do so.
93% of the respondents said "NO" they would not do so, even with the necessary capital in hand. This number represents a significant increase from the surveys of the last two years.
Given the general sense that generation X is more entrepreneurial than the baby boom generation and the number of big firm lawyers who've complained to me over the years that lack of capital to start their own practice was the only thing keeping them at a big firm, I find the results quite surprising. I'm curious to see what others think of these results, even accepting that they probably are not scientifically valid results.
For those 7% who might want to make the jump, let me note the new 4th edition of the ABA Law Practice Management Section's Flying Solo book has just been published and it is a treasure trove of information for any lawyer in or planning to start a solo practice. Bill Gibson did a masterful job of editing the new edition. I was a co-editor of the Technology section and wrote three chapters. Check it out.”
Source: DennisKennedy.com, 17 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Earlier this week, RSS was down. Now it's up, depending on who you read. Regardless, as the Forbes article points out, there is great potential for RSS once the browsers incorporate the ability to display it. Microsoft is planning to give Internet Explorer 7.0 and the Longhorn operating system this capability. Meanwhile, you can find some support with current versions of Firefox and Opera.
RELATED: RSS Use Is Low, Blog Numbers Are Up
TVC Alert Research News, 16 August 2005”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
18 August 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Cindy L. Chick: “Blawg.org has started a new category for law firm feeds. It makes perfect sense for law firms to provide RSS feeds of at least their marketing materials, and sure enough, some are doing just that. The first entry in this category is Hogan & Hartson. That's all well and good, but finding this feed from their home page is, at best, unlikely. Help me out here, does anyone else see where it's linked? But paste this into your aggregator, and you too can monitor Hogan's press releases.
Lacking from this entry are those firms that have offered blogs, and naturally, include RSS feeds for those blogs. Those are included under the applicable subject matter."
Source: LawLibTech, 14 August 2005
In the news: “The federal courts may soon face the first round in a battle over the Justice Department's demand that federal wiretapping requirements be extended to Internet services. The Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others are weighing whether to challenge an FCC requirement that VoIP services accommodate the taps in their designs and applications. Critics say the FCC decision is based on a flawed interpretation of a 1994 law.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
18 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sue Altmeyer posts: “Using the Ohio Business Gateway, Ohio businesses can "submit selected filings, registrations, and payments with the state's Department of Taxation, Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Department of Job and Family Services, and Department of Commerce. OBG also partners with local governments to enable businesses to file and pay selected Ohio municipal income taxes." See OBG Electronic Filing Services. The site can be used to register for the Commercial Activities Tax. See OBG Tax Registration.
[Her] Source: E-LawLibrary Weblog.”
Source: Cleveland Law Library Weblog, 16 August 2005
In the news: “Claiming ‘zero tolerance’ for sexual harassment is a common way for law firms to declare their hard-line approach if such a problem occurs within their own organizations. But a lawsuit filed by a former Blank Rome associate demonstrates the gray areas that can emerge when bad conduct comes from big clients. The case is serving as an example of the opposing tensions that law firm management has in addressing a worker's allegations and maintaining viable relationships with important clients.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
16 August 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Evan Schaeffer writes: “In a post about persuasive advocacy, the Sardonic Lawyer writes--
I've been thinking a lot lately about the poor job many attorneys do of limiting themselves to legitimate arguments on behalf of the client, as opposed to the "kitchen sink" approach I encountered quite a bit in practice. If, someday, I have the opportunity to teach an ethics course in law school, I think I'll dedicate at least one class to the practical question of distinguishing between zealous advocacy and shameless idiocy.
The post continues with a list of six rules to use to determine if a lawyer has crossed the line from advocacy to idiocy. It's well worth a read.
In practice, I think the Sardonic Lawyer's rules are most often violated when lawyers write briefs. It frequently happens, for example, when a low-level associate does a draft of a memorandum that necessarily includes every conceivable point, and then turns it in to a superior who has insufficient time for editing.
It also happens when lawyers don't want to let go of an argument because they think they might need it on appeal. This raises two other issues: Why preserve a weak argument? And is it necessarily waived if not included in a trial-level brief? Often that's not the case.”
[Don’t overlook the comments – also good]
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 15 August 2005
Larry posts: “Joan Stewart, a/k/a the Publicity Hound has six great tips for hiring a "dream publicist."
They have a hot list of media contacts at newspapers, magazines and TV stations where you want your story to appear--or they know how to create the list. The Number One factor in hiring a publicist is chemistry.
If you're looking for a publicist, be on the lookout for someone who:
--Can deliver a snappy, succinct telephone pitch within 15 seconds.
--Can create a clever media kit that reporters won't toss in the newsroom wastebasket along with all the others.
--Understands how to take the contents of that same media kit and put it at your website so reporters can access information about you within seconds, without you having to spend money on expensive overnight deliveries.
--Knows the target market for your product or service as well as you do and prefers to develop relationships with a short list of media contacts instead of sending blast faxes to a cast of thousands.
--Prefers to hold a magazine in her hands and inspect it before calling an editor to pitch.
--Uses accurate yet enticing email subject lines that force reporters to open email pitches.
For more info, including how to avoid a Publicist from Hell, visit her site at http://www.publicityhound.com/hireapublicist.html.”
Source: Larry Bodine’s Professional Marketing Weblog, 19 [?] August 2005
Carolyn Elefant posts: “A reader who's currently employed but actively planning to start a firm recently posed the following question to MyShingle:
How do I announce to my current employer my intentions to start a firm and leave on friendly terms but still take the clients whom I'd like to take with me (assuming the client wants to leave)?
Our reader is seeking resources on this topic as well as personal experience from other readers who've successfully navigated the transition from law firm employment to solo practice without burning bridges or losing clients.
I've jumped to the rescue on the resource end. Below is a quick list of articles and ethics opinions that deal with ethical considerations of leaving a firm and soliciting or taking clients. Essentially, most of the opinions acknowlege that both the firm and the departing attorney must act in the client's best interest by taking whatever actions are necessary to ensure that the client can choose to remain with the firm or follow the departing lawyer. At the same time, departing lawyers must steer clear of soliciting clients while on the firm's dime or taking files which are considered firm property without permission from the firm or the client:
1) MyShingle post on the right way and wrong way to leave a law firm.
2) Utah ethics opinion on departing lawyers
3) South Carolina LPM materials on lawyer transitions, including a sample letter notifying clients about their rights to their files.
4) San Diego Bar Association opinion on departing lawyers.
5) New Hampshire opinion on departing lawyers.
6) Summary of Florida's new rule (2004) on ethics relating to lawyers leaving firms.
7) Wisconsin Bar Journal article on departing lawyers and sample departure letter.
8) Virginia Bar Materials on withdrawing lawyers (including non-compete agreements).
That's what I've found, quickly, on the topic - I'd welcome any other information as well as personal advice from readers on what worked and what didn't when leaving their law firms."
Source: MyShingle, 15 August 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “I recently visited DC-based 60-lawyer Spriggs & Hollingsworth, which built an innovative case management system that illustrates how knowledge management can be embedded into a process.
The firm handles a variety of complex litigation. To support the firm’s insurance coverage practice, which involves claims of many plaintiffs in serial and multidistrict litigation, partner Marc Mayerson (who leads the firm’s national practice representing policyholders), CTO Todd Haley, and Director of Litigation Support Jeff Slater supervised extensive customizing of Legal Files, a case and matter management system.
The firm embedded significant know-how about managing cases in a sophisticated set of menus and corresponding screens with many fields. These screens systematically walk a lawyer through collecting relevant data about a plaintiff (e.g., counsel, nature of the claim, and details of product usage). The software not only helps efficiently prepare for each plaintiff, it also helps manage the entire portfolio. And in the future the system will support an all-digital file for each plaintiff. (Those attending ILTA’s upcoming conference can learn more; Todd is presenting Thursday, August 25th at 2pm about the firm’s work.)
Most KM discussions focus on precedents, document retrieval, or experience location. Here, the KM is about best practices, specifically for handling a class of cases. It is a relatively uncommon – and highly valuable – way to make explicit know-how that typically remains tacit (i.e., capture process know-how of lawyers and litigation support professionals in software). I suspect that any firm that handles a volume of complex matters could benefit from this approach. Doing so would require more collaboration among lawyers, knowledge managers, and lit supp professionals than is typical.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 17 August 2005
Bonnie Shucha posts: “BlogPulse is a useful new tool that can help you evaluate the content and influence of a particular blog - who authors it, how active the blog is, how it ranks in comparison with other blogs, what it's about, etc.
Simply enter in a blog's url to view it's BlogPulse Profile. WisBlawg's profile reveals our blog rank (3896), post frequency (12 per week), how many times we've been cited and by whom, links to sources we've cited, and more.
[Her] Source: LJ Tech Blog”
My Source: WisBlog, 16 August 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Mary Ellen Bates explains how to use Yahoo's subscription service to find fee-based content from familiar aggregators, such as LexisNexis and Factiva. She also discusses how coverage and search syntax differs.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
17 August 2005
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