Justices Appear Torn in eBay Patent Case
April 27, 2006
Two veterans of the U.S. Supreme Court bar argued forcefully ' and inconclusively ' last month in a high-stakes dispute over how easy it should be for a patent holder to win an injunction against an infringer.<br>From the tenor of the questioning in <i>eBay v. MercExchange</i>, justices seemed closely divided over the issue.
Wikipedia Creates Concerns Aplenty About the Web's Reliability
April 27, 2006
Although the online encyclopedia Wikipedia recently added its 1 millionth English-language article, controversy over the value of its content continues. Concerns arise because Wikipedia has no single editor, and anyone (or virtually anyone) can add a new entry or edit an existing one. <br>Reliability concerns are in no way limited to Wikipedia, but pervade legal research done on the Internet.
<b>Technology In Marketing: </b> Attorney Blogging: Best Practices
April 27, 2006
Obtaining a high search-engine ranking may no longer be enough to realize the business potential of a blog. The reason is that as the use of blogs as a marketing tool proliferates among lawyers, differences in quality between blogs covering the same topic will become evident. There are only so many blogs that prospective clients can read on a daily basis, and as the number of choices grow, readers will become more and more selective. It is therefore critical for any lawyer launching a blog to consider 'best practices' that will set his or her blog apart from the pack.
What You Need to Know About the PPEBA
April 27, 2006
The union of the Internet and commerce has lead to increases in productivity, convenience, and access for consumers everywhere. At the same time, it has spawned tremendous privacy concerns. It is not uncommon these days to hear of businesses inadvertently publicizing consumers' personal data, or worse, hackers obtaining personal financial information.
The Basics of Hiring A Contract Attorney
April 27, 2006
Law firms use contract attorneys to aid in large-scale document reviews such as those often required in e-discovery, and for mergers, internal audits and other matters that require an influx of temporary help. Of course, the subject matter involved in these wide-ranging projects varies, which makes contractors an ideal solution for dynamic business. If a project requires that attorneys or other workers who are or may be involved have a specific background, then law firms, or the agencies they hire, may well be better positioned using temporary workers who also may be making a specialty of the work required, such as the search, classification and other specific functions required in e-discovery. And often, projects require only a general legal background, which makes finding candidates far easier. But whatever the situation that demands looking for short-term or long-term employees ' for staff positions or contract work ' firms should consider the key factors when hiring contract attorneys.
News Briefs
April 19, 2006
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Company Had No Duty to Encrypt Personal Information on Stolen Laptop
April 19, 2006
A Minnesota district court recently found that a financial institution was not negligent for failing to encrypt personal information contained on a laptop computer that was stolen from an employee's home office. In <i>Guin v. Brazos Higher Education Service Corp.</i>, the court dismissed the negligence action brought against a student loan provider by a customer. In granting the defendant's summary judgment motion, the court ruled that the company did not breach a duty of care under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ('GLB') to customers whose unencrypted data may have been contained on the laptop.
A Notice Does Not Notify Unless It Can Be Understood
April 19, 2006
The office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, along with the Ontario Bar Association's Privacy and Health Law sections and the Ontario Dental Association, spearheaded a team to develop short notices for the province's new Personal Health Information Protection Act ('PHIPA'), which launched the products earlier in June 2005.
The Company's Right to Know v. the Anonymous Critic's Right to Remain Unknown
April 19, 2006
When does it make sense to spend the time and expense necessary to determine the identity of an anonymous blogger who is damaging a company? This question is becoming increasingly important with the proliferation of blogs and Web postings used for corporate criticism ' from wakeupwalmart.com to www.googlereallysucks.blogspot.com.
