The Estrin Report

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

HR Manager, attorney, paralegal, marketing manager, may describe your role but it sure ain’t fun. By Chere B. Estrin. COVID-19 has led a lot of people to search for a brand new position. The problem is, those brand new positions may be sporting brand new titles and you haven’t a clue what to look for anymore. Let me give you an example: A couple of months ago, my client, one of the biggest law firms in the world, called me and told me they wanted a “Professional Development Innovative Specialist

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JURIST

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday ruled that an artificial intelligence (AI) machine cannot be an inventor under the Patent Act. The action was a motion for summary judgement concerning two patent applications filed by Stephen Thaler for an AI machine called DABUS. DABUS was listed as the inventor for Neural Flame—a light beacon that flashes in a new and inventive manner to attract attention—and Fractal Container—a beverage container based on fractal geometr

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The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

California death penalty protest. photo by Malcolm Maclachlan via Flickr. In the 36 years that David Carpenter has been on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California, his routine has rarely changed. He awakens early in the morning and exercises, despite suffering from arthritis, in the cramped space of his single-bunk cell before eating breakfast.

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LawSites

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

With both Arizona and Utah now allowing nonlawyers to deliver legal services through alternative business structures, the American Bar Association today issued a formal ethics opinion that addresses the question of whether lawyers outside those states may passively invest in an ABS. The issue hinges on ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 5.4 , which prohibits lawyers from sharing fees with nonlawyers or practicing in an entity in which a nonlawyer has an ownership interest.

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Speaker: Joe Stephens, J.D., Attorney and Law Professor

Get ready to uncover what attorneys really need from you when it comes to trial prep in this new webinar! Attorney and law professor, Joe Stephens, J.D., will share proven techniques for anticipating attorney needs, organizing critical documents, and transforming complex information into compelling case presentations. Key Learning Objectives: Organization That Makes Sense 🎯 Learn how to structure and organize case materials in ways that align with how attorneys actually work and think.

Attorney

Attorney at Work

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

In college, I worked as a restaurant prep cook. The chef had French training and emphasized the importance of “mise en place” — a French term for “everything in its place.” Mise en place (pronounced meez ahn plas) is a system chefs use to prepare themselves and their kitchens in the hours leading up to mealtime. The “meez,” as kitchen professionals refer to it, involves studying recipes, making lists of necessary ingredients, prepping food and assembling the tools for coo

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The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Twenty-four states have the world’s highest incarceration rates, beating even the U.S. national average and surpassing countries that have comparable or higher crime rates, says the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI). In its 2021 survey of global incarceration rates, the PPI found that “the only countries that approach the incarceration rate and ‘violent crime’ rates of the 50 states are El Salvador, Panama, Peru, and Turkey.

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Government 144

LawSites

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

In its second acquisition in six weeks, law practice management company Clio has acquired Lawyaw , a document automation and assembly platform designed for solo, small and mid-sized law firms. This news follows Clio’s July 28 announcement that it acquired CalendarRules, an automated court calendaring product. It is Clio’s third acquisition ever, including its 2018 , acquisition of Lexicata , the client relationship management platform that formed the basis of Clio Grow. .

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Attorney at Work

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

If you’re sick of MicroSoft word fonts Calibri and Cambria, change your default heading and body styles so you can start every new Word document with the fonts you prefer. Put Font Frustration Behind You! One of the most persistent frustrations legal users have with Microsoft Word fonts is the default font settings. Fortunately, you can permanently change just two Styles (+Body and +Headings) to give your documents a more businesslike typeface.

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JURIST

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

The Sackler family on Wednesday won immunity from opioid lawsuits linked to Purdue Pharma , their privately owned company, and its OxyContin medication when a federal judge approved a bankruptcy settlement to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits. OxyContin is a prescription painkiller that is stronger than morphine. Nearly all 50 states filed lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family for their alleged roles in the opioid crisis.

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Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Finance

The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

When it comes to seeking expungement of stories from the media, do some people seeking a clean start have an advantage when making their case to newspaper boards considering their requests? Should the boards be comprised of purely journalists? These are two of the questions raised in a recent paper “Newspaper Expungement,” written by Brian M.

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SCOTUSBlog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

Share A Texas inmate asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block his execution, arguing that the state’s refusal to allow his spiritual adviser to lay his hands on him and pray out loud in the execution chamber violates both the Constitution and a federal law protecting the religious freedom of people in prison. The request by John Ramirez, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, once again brought the issue of religious rights during the administration of the death penalty back to the jus

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ABA Journal

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

A suburban Chicago lawyer has admitted that he called a judge a clown and an opposing lawyer a “lowlife bottom-feeder,” but he said his comments…

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JURIST

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Dutch non-profit Stichting Massaschade & Consument filed suit Tuesday against TikTok, seeking to force the social media app to compensate 4.5 million Dutch users for “harvesting and auctioning sensitive user data” in violation of European privacy laws. Stichting Massaschade & Consument is asking the court in Amsterdam to order TikTok to pay €6 billion, an amount based on fixed damages of €1.250-1.750 per user.

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Advertisement

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Paralegal

The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Traffic stops for expired tags and broken tail lights will no longer be prosecuted in Ramsey County, Minnesota as part of an initiative to reduce police violence following Philando Castile’s police killing during a traffic stop in 2016, CNN reports. These “non-public safety stops” have a history of leading to fatal interactions with police, according to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.

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Patently O

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

by Dennis Crouch. You may have heard that most US utility patent claims use the open transition phrase COMPRISING. Here’s the data to support that hearsay. The chart below shows data from independent claims gleaned from issued US patens grouped by patent issue year. To make the chart, I calculated the percentage of independent claims that include the phrase comprising or comprises or comprise as the first traditional (or only) transitional phrase within the claim text.

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Attorney 124

LegalReader

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

The Mexican Government recently reacted to the mounting corruption allegations in Brazil by banning Trafigura from doing new business with its state-owned oil company Pemex.

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Government 124

JURIST

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Here, a female law student in Herat in western Afghanistan offers her latest observations and perspective. For privacy and security reasons we are withholding her name and institutional affiliation. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

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Advertisement

Your auto accident clients don’t realize that they have lost value in their vehicle because the insurance company covered their repairs and gave them a rental to drive until their vehicle was “brand new.” When they realize that loss in value is when they go to trade or sell their car.

The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

Photo by janinsanfran via Flickr Photo by PROjaninsanfran via Flickr. Far from an objective and equalizing tool, forensic testimony perpetuates the “presumption of guilt” for people of color involved in the criminal legal system, argue the authors of a forthcoming Criminal Law Bulletin article. In “Perpetuating the Presumption of Guilt: The Role of Implicit Racial Bias in Forensic Testimony,” Forensic Justice Project Executive Director Janis C.

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ABA Journal

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

A district attorney in Georgia was indicted Tuesday based on accusations that he offered $1,000 bribes to two prosecutors and tried to influence a police…

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Attorney 125

SCOTUSBlog

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Share The Supreme Court agreed to postpone the execution of John Ramirez, who was scheduled to die on Wednesday night in Texas. The last-minute respite will allow the justices to fully consider Ramirez’s request that his pastor be allowed to physically touch Ramirez and audibly pray in the execution chamber while Ramirez is put to death. Ramirez’s emergency application was the latest in a series of shadow-docket requests in the past two years involving spiritual advisers at executions.

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JURIST

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a criminal complaint in Germany on Monday accusing five retailers of using forced labor in Xinjing in their production line. In a press statement by the ECCHR, information has found that companies including Lidl, Aldi, Hugo Boss, and others have “allegedly directly or indirectly abetted and profited from the forced labor of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.” There have been mounting concerns over concentration camp

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Speaker: Kaitlyn "The Persnickety Paralegal" Story

Deposition preparation is a critical aspect of a paralegal's role, requiring meticulous attention to detail and proactive management of the case timeline. In this session, participants will explore how effective deposition preparation not only contributes to the success of the legal team but also helps maintain a balanced workflow, minimizing last-minute crises.

Depositions

The Crime Report

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

The “robust” use of social media should be part of anti-violence efforts in troubled neighborhoods across the country, says the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ). According to a new report from the council’s Working Group on Violent Crime, “offline altercations are increasingly triggered by online conflicts.”. “Cyber- or ‘internet-banging’ happens when individuals or groups taunt, insult, challenge, and threaten each other on social media, resulting in violent encounters in real life,” the repo

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ABA Journal

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

A dating app called Lawyr is intended to connect people in the legal community with each other or with others who want to meet them.

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The Process Street

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

Bora Lee is the Manager of Customer Enablement at ChurnZero. She is passionate about helping customer success teams succeed by crafting big-picture strategies executed through automated, streamlined processes that put the right data in front of the right customer at exactly the right time. She works hand in hand with customer success leaders to create fruitful, long-term relationships and to maximize customer satisfaction.

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JURIST

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

A group of Indigenous Australian leaders have filled a complaint with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination calling it incompatible with Australia’s international obligations. The complaint comes one year after the legal destruction of historically and culturally significant rock shelters by the mining company Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA) that sparked protests across the nation.

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Speaker: Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader

In today’s competitive market, pricing is more than just a number — it’s the cornerstone of profitability. The right pricing strategy ensures that you capture the true value of your offering, paving the way for sustainable growth and long-term success. Join Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader, in this exclusive session where he will explore how a well-crafted pricing approach balances customer perception with business objectives, creating a powerful tool for securing both competitive advantage a

Finance