Menu
Blog Archives
Are Landlines on Their Way Out?
November 30, 2013
In a recent podcast on NPR's All Tech Considered Martin Kaste muses over whether or not the landline has come to an end. The quality of the landline connection has apparently been declining for sometime now, according to people who live in further out areas, as well as experts interviewed by Kaste. The poor quality is due to both the expense at maintaining the traditional infrastructures, as well as new technology, which sees calls being rerouted through the Internet. The expenses of maintaining...
November 30, 2013
In a recent podcast on NPR's All Tech Considered Martin Kaste muses over whether or not the landline has come to an end. The quality of the landline connection has apparently been declining for sometime now, according to people who live in further out areas, as well as experts interviewed by Kaste. The poor quality is due to both the expense at maintaining the traditional infrastructures, as well as new technology, which sees calls being rerouted through the Internet. The expenses of maintaining...
MAPLA Conference: LSAC Applicant/Applications Data by Geographic Region
November 30, 2013
LSAC Applicant/Applications Data by Geographic Region --Fall 2012 to Fall 2013 -- As I mentioned in my last posting, Joan Van Tol, General Counsel for the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), gave a presentation at the conference of the Midwest Association of Pre-law Advisors (MAPLA) about trends in law school applications. I described the LSAC data on the historic cycles in applications here. I discussed the conference generally here. Today, I'll describe the LSAC data presented on two maps...
November 30, 2013
LSAC Applicant/Applications Data by Geographic Region --Fall 2012 to Fall 2013 -- As I mentioned in my last posting, Joan Van Tol, General Counsel for the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), gave a presentation at the conference of the Midwest Association of Pre-law Advisors (MAPLA) about trends in law school applications. I described the LSAC data on the historic cycles in applications here. I discussed the conference generally here. Today, I'll describe the LSAC data presented on two maps...
Dropbox Gets Down to Business: ‘The Internet Filing System’
November 30, 2013
Code-cranking visionary Drew Houston (pronounced like the Manhattan street, "how-stun," not like the Texas city) is attaching a rocket to the back of his San Francisco-based company Dropbox by launching a new product tailored for businesses to manage their professional and personnel information. Dropbox first grew popular among college students who used it to store documents and access updated versions via the cloud, anywhere and from any device. After building a base of 200 million accounts,...
November 30, 2013
Code-cranking visionary Drew Houston (pronounced like the Manhattan street, "how-stun," not like the Texas city) is attaching a rocket to the back of his San Francisco-based company Dropbox by launching a new product tailored for businesses to manage their professional and personnel information. Dropbox first grew popular among college students who used it to store documents and access updated versions via the cloud, anywhere and from any device. After building a base of 200 million accounts,...
California’s New ‘Digital Eraser’ Evaporates Embarrassment
November 30, 2013
On Sept. 23, California Governor Edmund "Jerry" Brown signed into law Senate Bill 568, “Privacy Rights for California Minors in a Digital World.” S.B. 568 includes a provision known as the “Delete Button” or “Eraser” law, which allows minors under 18 to request that companies delete specified information that the requestor had previously posted online. California State Senator Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who sponsored the bill, said a motivating factor behind the law is that colleges...
November 30, 2013
On Sept. 23, California Governor Edmund "Jerry" Brown signed into law Senate Bill 568, “Privacy Rights for California Minors in a Digital World.” S.B. 568 includes a provision known as the “Delete Button” or “Eraser” law, which allows minors under 18 to request that companies delete specified information that the requestor had previously posted online. California State Senator Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who sponsored the bill, said a motivating factor behind the law is that colleges...
Company Alleges Firm Breached a Fiduciary Duty by Keeping Settlement Proceeds
November 29, 2013
A Houston-area company filed a lawsuit on Nov. 15 against Houston's Steele Sturm, alleging it breached a fiduciary duty by keeping $39,447.53 in settlement money from a lawsuit and using it to pay fees and expenses in a separate lawsuit. Midtown Edge LP alleges in the petition that Steele Sturm should have held the settlement funds in trust, and only distribute to the plaintiff. "Simply put, Defendant stole Plaintiff's share of the settlement proceeds," Midtown Edge alleges in the petition. Midtown...
November 29, 2013
A Houston-area company filed a lawsuit on Nov. 15 against Houston's Steele Sturm, alleging it breached a fiduciary duty by keeping $39,447.53 in settlement money from a lawsuit and using it to pay fees and expenses in a separate lawsuit. Midtown Edge LP alleges in the petition that Steele Sturm should have held the settlement funds in trust, and only distribute to the plaintiff. "Simply put, Defendant stole Plaintiff's share of the settlement proceeds," Midtown Edge alleges in the petition. Midtown...
In-House Salaries Growing at Measured Pace
November 29, 2013
The latest annual report on legal industry salaries by Robert Half Legal, a division of staffing company Robert Half, indicates that pay for in-house attorneys continues to grow at a modest rate. The data also shows that law departments are looking to maximize value as their workloads increase by hiring attorneys with high experience levels and specialized knowledge in hotter legal areas like compliance and health care, sometimes on a project-by-project basis. Robert Half Legal’s 2014 Salary...
November 29, 2013
The latest annual report on legal industry salaries by Robert Half Legal, a division of staffing company Robert Half, indicates that pay for in-house attorneys continues to grow at a modest rate. The data also shows that law departments are looking to maximize value as their workloads increase by hiring attorneys with high experience levels and specialized knowledge in hotter legal areas like compliance and health care, sometimes on a project-by-project basis. Robert Half Legal’s 2014 Salary...
Complex Civil Appeals: Making the Case for Settlement
November 29, 2013
More than 90 percent of civil cases are settled without trial. By contrast, most civil appeals are briefed, argued and decided by the court. In complex cases when large amounts of money are at stake, settlements pending an appeal seem to be the exception: such appeals frequently go forward to decision without a serious attempt to settle. There are reasons to consider a settlement discussion before putting the parties’ fate in the hands of an appellate panel. To begin with, the popular Court...
November 29, 2013
More than 90 percent of civil cases are settled without trial. By contrast, most civil appeals are briefed, argued and decided by the court. In complex cases when large amounts of money are at stake, settlements pending an appeal seem to be the exception: such appeals frequently go forward to decision without a serious attempt to settle. There are reasons to consider a settlement discussion before putting the parties’ fate in the hands of an appellate panel. To begin with, the popular Court...
Unsurprising Sixth Circuit Decision that Propriety of Class Arbitration is a Gateway Question and that Silent Clause Doesn’t Permit Class Arbitration
November 29, 2013
From the Employer Law Report (Caroline Gentry): The Sixth Circuit held that courts, not arbitrators, must decide the “gateway”...
November 29, 2013
From the Employer Law Report (Caroline Gentry): The Sixth Circuit held that courts, not arbitrators, must decide the “gateway”...
A Pyramid Collapse for Law Schools? Most are Losing Money This Year, Law Prof Says
November 28, 2013
Most law schools are operating at a deficit this year as they grapple with lower enrollment and try to lure more students with tuition discounts, concludes a law professor who studied the numbers. Just how many law schools are losing money? Eighty percent to eighty-five percent, according to the estimate by University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, writing at the blog Lawyers, Guns & Money.Above the Law notes the article. Campos drew his conclusion after studying the budgets of 31 ABA-approved...
November 28, 2013
Most law schools are operating at a deficit this year as they grapple with lower enrollment and try to lure more students with tuition discounts, concludes a law professor who studied the numbers. Just how many law schools are losing money? Eighty percent to eighty-five percent, according to the estimate by University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, writing at the blog Lawyers, Guns & Money.Above the Law notes the article. Campos drew his conclusion after studying the budgets of 31 ABA-approved...
Retired S.C. Lawyer Disciplined for No Active Email
November 28, 2013
Should lawyers be disciplined for not having active e-mail accounts? The South Carolina Disciplinary Board thinks so. Aaron Weems, associate at Fox Rothschild, reports on the Pennsylvania Family Law blog that the S.C. board recently ruled a retired lawyer "poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and to the administration of justice" for not having an active e-mail address. Weems recites anecdotes from his own practice, when opposing counsel's lack of technological tools caused...
November 28, 2013
Should lawyers be disciplined for not having active e-mail accounts? The South Carolina Disciplinary Board thinks so. Aaron Weems, associate at Fox Rothschild, reports on the Pennsylvania Family Law blog that the S.C. board recently ruled a retired lawyer "poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and to the administration of justice" for not having an active e-mail address. Weems recites anecdotes from his own practice, when opposing counsel's lack of technological tools caused...
