Lawyer Swept up in Protest Sues for Inauguration Arrests

Benjamin Christopher Carraway planned on spending a night while in Washington to attend Donald Trump's inauguration, but he didn't plan on spending the night in the local jail. Carraway was arrested on Inauguration Day with about 230 other people...

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Where to Find Free, On-Demand CLE

If you're scrambling to finish up your continuing legal education credits before a compliance deadline, or just want to make sure you're on top of the latest legal developments, here's one thing to keep in mind: you don't have...

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Court Etiquette 101: Try Not to Gag During Direct

A witness's testimony may make you want to scoff, roll your eyes, or stick out your tongue, but try to keep the theatrics under control in court. That's the lesson from Florida this week, after a Palm Beach public...

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Tax Tips for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers

They say there are two things that are certain in life: death and taxes. As between the two, most will say that taxes are preferable. Except perhaps those people who get audited. They might choose death. In any case,...

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Attorney Could Be Disbarred for Olympic-Sized Resume Lies

An attorney in Michigan is facing disbarment for filling his resume with a series of 'alternative facts' -- including that he competed for the U.S. field hockey team in the 1996 Olympics. Turns out, the lawyer, Ali Zaidi, wasn't...

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How to Be a More Approachable Attorney: 3 Tips

In "Being John Malcovich," people were able to enter his mind and experience different relationships through his eyes. It's a comedy, with some strange twists, but basically it ends happily ever after. In being more approachable, attorneys may also...

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5 Tips for New Trial Lawyers

It can be tough starting out as a trial lawyer. You may find yourself unsure of what comes next in a case. You might be confused by court procedures, or frustrated by clients. You could be up against seasoned...

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3 Tips for Handling Juror Questions

In a way, handling juror questions is like handling judges' questions. The question may give you cause for concern, especially if the answer will hurt your client's case. Or it may give you hope because the answer will lead...

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Hold Your Own Against Opposing Counsel

I was David; opposing counsel was Goliath. I was a solo practitioner working out of my house; their office lobby was bigger than my house. The firm had so many lawyers they occupied three floors in a downtown high-rise....

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Pro Se Lawyer's Divorce Leads to Sanctions Over 'Maelstrom of Misconduct'

Getting divorced? Get a lawyer. That's not just good advice for laymen, it's good advice for attorneys too. Take, for example, the case of Anthony Zappin. A New York appellate court recently upheld sanctions against Zappin after the New...

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Fake Lawyers May Be Scraping Legal Blogs' Content

Imitation might be the highest form of flattery, but some legal blogs appear to have taken that imitation a bit too far -- by scraping content from prominent blogs and reposting it on their own. Is this just part...

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Are Texas Personal Injury Ads Causing Harm to Patients?

Doctors v. Lawyers No, it's not a lawsuit or an Alien v. Predator movie. It's a real-life drama unfolding in Texas, where personal injury attorney ads have prompted doctors to fight back. With a survey showing lawyers advertise there...

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ABA Task Force Studies Due Process in College Sexual Misconduct Cases

The American Bar Association has formed a new task force to study due process rights in college sexual misconduct cases. Andrew S. Boutros, co-chair of Seyfarth Shaw's White Collar, Internal Investigations and False Claims Act Team, will lead the...

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Death of the Billable Hour Rumors Are Coming True

According to reports, the billable hour may go the way of the dinosaur. Still adjusting to market downturns and evolving technologies, law firms need to make changes in their practices that also change the way they bill for services. If...

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Lawyer Seeks Immunity for Lying Clients. It Fails Badly

Pancy Lin, a partner at Lynberg & Watkins, stepped into harm's way when she arrived to defend Orange County social workers who had lied in a custody case to wrest custody from the plaintiff's mother. Based on their perjured...

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What Fonts Are Acceptable for Legal Documents?

When it comes to assembling legal documents, does font matter? Yes! Quite simply, fonts influence how your writing appears and is perceived. There's the elegant (and ink-efficient) Garamond, the matter-of-fact Lucida Sans Typewriter, the "I might as well have...

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Workplace Tips for Setting Up Small Law Firms

Tips are like opinions: everybody has one. That's not a great spin of the original phrase, but at least it's printable. What we're really talking about here is spinning some new ideas on setting up a small law firm....

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California Sets Guidelines on Lawyer Blogging, Attorney Advertising

If you've ever sat down to a WordPress blog and started typing out your thoughts on tort reform, legal tech, or the trials of starting your own firm, you've probably wondered: At what point does my attorney blogging become advertising?...

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Prospective Clients Hang up When on Hold, Study Finds

'Thanks for calling. Please hold.' Click. That's what happens when you put a prospective client on hold for too long, according to a study by an audio-branding company. And lawyers are some of the worst call-holding offenders. PH Media...

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There's a Law Firm Just for Esports Now

America has its first exclusively esports-focused law firm now. What's esports, you ask? "Electronic sports," or professional, competitive video gaming. And if competitive video gaming sounds strange, well, it may be. But esports is also a major industry, with...

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Video Surveillance Cameras in Lawsuits Everywhere

Big Brother and his ever-watchful video-surveillance camera have been around since at least 1984. But in a new millennium where everybody with a cell phone has a video camera, surveillance has even transcended Big Brother. Not only may government...

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Tips for Changing Practice Areas

If Robert Frost were a career counselor, he would tell you to take the road less traveled by. It could turn out well, too, depending on your perspective. After all, a poet can sometimes be a prophet. But if...

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How to Build a Referral Network for Your Solo Practice

If you look at the typical mousetrap, the technology hasn't changed that much in the past 100 years: mouse gets cheese; mouse gets murdered. There are some "humane" versions, the kinds that don't snap the critters' necks when they...

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Posner Scolds Lawyers for Verbosity, 250 Pages of Briefing

Your briefs should be, well, brief, Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit reminded lawyers in a recent opinion. In a case involving the right to a public audience in a voir dire proceeding, the judge devoted his final...

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5 Tips Before You Make a Career Change

So you're standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the rocks below and imagining what your body will look like when they find you. Of course, it's not gonna be that bad. There are risks to...

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Takeaways From Obama's Harvard Law Review Article

President Obama returned to the pages of the Harvard Law Review last week, publishing a commentary on criminal justice reform in the journal he once edited. The 56-page article surveys the work the Obama administration has taken to address inequities...

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7 Real New Year's Resolutions for Solo Practitioners

We're a week into 2017 and you're already regretting that new gym membership. Your plans for a "Drynuary" (that's a booze-free January) probably won't survive the weekend. And those thoughts about making your life more hygge-full? Forget them. (Please,...

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Should Lawyers Take Sabbaticals?

For a moment, just imagine asking your employer about taking a sabbatical from work. The question is only difficult because you think that the answer will be "no" and that you will wonder, "what was I thinking?" Then you...

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Many Attorneys Could See Their Income Tax Rate Go Up Under Trump

Donald Trump will be inaugurated in just over two weeks and will begin to implement his promised policies. That includes potentially significant changes to the tax code. We know, every presidential candidate in your lifetime has pledged to reform...

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Takeaway Tips From a Successful Client Meeting

If you're reading this piece about a first client meeting, you probably are a new lawyer or soon-to-be one. After all, an experienced lawyer would not likely read this because it would not be his or her first rodeo....

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How to Manage a Multigenerational Legal Workforce

Whether you're a Boomer or a Gen Xer, a Millennial or a Korean War vet, if you're running a legal practice today, you're probably working with people from across three or four generations. That's because there are currently four...

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Tips to Improve Work-Life Balance in the New Year

Balancing work-life can be like balancing a tire. When changing tires, a good mechanic will balance new tires before putting them back an automobile. The task requires moving lead weights strategically around the circumference of each wheel until it rotates...

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