If you are a new associate at a medium or large law firm, it is not uncommon to sacrifice time with your friends and family in favor of working with multiple superiors for extended hours into the evening or even ...
Read More »Associates need to know when – and how – to say no
4th Circuit warns police about Taser use 
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has put police officers on notice when it comes to using Taser stun guns as a compliance tool on a resisting subject. Unless officers can demonstrate that the subject poses an “immediate danger,” ...
Tagged with: Federal Courts Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker
Read More »Not probable cause, but gun evidence comes in 
A pair of police officers might have lacked reasonable suspicion to stop behind a parked pickup and activate the lights on their cruiser. But the gun that the driver tossed during the encounter was abandoned and could come into evidence, ...
Tagged with: Federal Courts Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Search & Seizure
Read More »Make it a resolution to be paperless, but not reckless 
Said one forward-thinking lawyer to another: “Let’s just go paperless. We can free up all that space in the file room and quit paying so much for outside file storage.” “What a great idea!” said the other. “We’ve already got ...
Tagged with: Law Office Management
Read More »4th Circuit: Dismissal without prejudice not final and appealable 
RALEIGH, NC — The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said it is time to turn common practice into precedence for cases in which district courts have dismissed claims for failure to plead sufficient facts. On Dec. 9, a ...
Tagged with: Federal Courts Judge Andre M. Davis
Read More »Will new federal rules give litigation leg up on arbitration? 
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended on Dec. 1. The primary purpose of the amendments is to curtail discovery costs by making the courts and the parties focus on discovery that is “proportional to the needs of the ...
Tagged with: ADR Civil Procedure
Read More »Focus of NYT series not representative of arbitration 
A three-part series in the New York Times this past fall (“Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice,” Oct. 31), spotlighting certain abuses and injustices in particular types of arbitration, has gained wide attention in the ADR community, the broader ...
Tagged with: ADR
Read More »Solo doesn’t mean alone 
Solo practitioners are constantly faced with tackling multiple jobs while trying to achieve the most important goal: building a successful law practice. If you’re a solo, in addition to being a lawyer, you have to be a small business owner, ...
Tagged with: Practice Tips Virginia Practice
Read More »Warrant fib prompts drug suppression 
A lie about the existence of a search warrant allowed a group of police officers to comb through an apartment and find crack cocaine and digital scales, leading to the conviction of one of the occupants after a federal judge ...
Tagged with: Federal Courts Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Search & Seizure
Read More »Yes, your practice is going to change — so be ready (Part 2) 
The perception of legal service delivery is in constant flux. In my Dec. 7 column, I pointed to legal service apps and nonprofit law firms as two quickly emerging factors that are reshaping the landscape for practicing attorneys. Now I ...
Tagged with: Technology
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