Category «Legal Profession»

Confidence in the Supreme Court is declining – but there is no easy way to oversee justices and their politics

Recent evidence showing that Virginia Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent at least 29 text messages to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to help overturn the 2020 election has reignited a long-simmering debate about judicial ethics and the nation’s highest court. Professor Eve Ringsmuth writes, “As a Supreme Court scholar, I think it is important to recognize that there is no formal code of conduct guiding the work of the Supreme Court, which contributes to a lack of clarity regarding the ethical boundaries for justices.”

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Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Ethics, Leadership, Legal Research, United States Law

Your Resume: Portrait or Passport Photo? Career Development for Lawyers—And Other Ambitious People

Jerry Lawson discusses how a good resume is more like a stylish portrait photo. A top portrait photographer uses lenses, lighting, composition, props and other tools to bring out the subject’s best features in an original way. Your resume should do no less for your professional qualifications. This actionable guide clearly identifies the elements and components that comprise an outstanding resume for attorneys and other legal professionals.

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Competitive Intelligence, Job Hunting, KM, Legal Profession, Search Engines, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 18, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Your connected car could be putting your privacy at risk; Deepfakes on Trial: a Call to Expand the Trial Judge’s Gatekeeping Role to Protect Legal Proceedings from Technological Fakery; Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren’t ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft; and Why You Should Delete (All) Your Tweets.

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Subjects: Courts & Technology, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Ethics, Healthcare, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Technology Trends

Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren’t ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft

Liza Vertinsky and Yaniv Heled are law professors who study how emerging technologies like genetic sequencing are regulated. They believe that growing public interest in genetics has increased the likelihood that genetic paparazzi with DNA collection kits may soon become as ubiquitous as ones with cameras. While courts have for the most part managed to evade dealing with the complexities of surreptitious DNA collection and testing of public figures, they won’t be able to avoid dealing with it for much longer. And when they do, they are going to run squarely into the limitations of existing legal frameworks when it comes to genetics.

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Subjects: Courts & Technology, Criminal Law, Discovery, Ethics, Legal Research, Privacy

13 Ways Overturning Roe v. Wade Affects You (even if you think it doesn’t)

Kathy Biehl is a lawyer licensed in two states, as well as a prolific multidisciplinary author and writer. Roe v. Wade has been settled law during her entire career. In this article Biehl succinctly and expertly identifies how the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a draft of which was “leaked” on May 2, 2022, will impact many facets of our society as well as our democracy.

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Subjects: Congress, Constitutional Law, Ethics, Health, Human Rights, Legal Profession, Legal Research, Privacy

The Practice of People Law

Jim Calloway is the Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program. He informs us about the range of legal services delivered by what have been designated as “primary-care lawyers.” From Calloway’s perspective, there is people law, and there is business/corporate law. Over the years, there has been a greater divergence in these two types of law practice focuses. He makes the case that increasingly, these are completely different types of law practices, with different types of challenges and processes. Calloway believes this is not only true but profound. He views it as profound because consideration of the differences should inform and impact the method of legal service delivery depending on the type of client.

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Subjects: Communications, Education, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Management

Propaganda, Mis- and Disinformation, and Censorship: The War for Hearts and Minds

Author and blogger Dave Pollard addresses the incendiary global war of lies vs. truth, reminiscent of the MAD Magazine cartoon Spy Vs. Spy for those who of us who can recall the scenarios they played which remain eerily prescient. Pollard posits the most effective way to win and retain political power is by seizing the hearts and minds of citizens through a mix of propaganda, mis- and disinformation, and censorship. He continues, this is especially true now, living with a ubiquitous and unceasing firehose of often-conflicting information, and exploitative for-profit “social” media controlled by a handful of dimwitted and unstable western oligarchs.

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Subjects: Communications, Competitive Intelligence, Ethics, Free Speech, Information Management, KM, News Resources, Social Media

The FBI is breaking into corporate computers to remove malicious code – smart cyber defense or government overreach?

Cybersecurity scholar Scott Shackelford discusses how the FBI has the authority right now to access privately owned computers without their owners’ knowledge or consent, and to delete software. It’s part of a government effort to contain the continuing attacks on corporate networks running Microsoft Exchange software, and it’s an unprecedented intrusion that’s raising legal questions about just how far the government can go.

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Subjects: Communications Law, Computer Security, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Legal Ethics, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Privacy
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