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Preventing improper witness coaching during remote depos
Anyone who has peeked at his or her cellphone during a Zoom meeting likely has recognized the potential for improper witness coaching during a remote deposition. When lawyers, the deponent and the court reporter are in physically different places, it is difficult for an attorney conducting a deposition to observe or control the way the […]
Listening to others during a videoconference
Most meetings lately are held via some form of videoconferencing platform — Zoom, Teams, Webex, etc. Those of us who use that medium throughout the day know that “Zoom fatigue” is a real thing. According to a Ted.com article by Sander & Bauman, meeting online causes fatigue because it actually increases our cognitive load. We […]
Remote mediation: Best practices for lawyers
In the blink of an eye, the pandemic changed everything. Even courts have curtailed their activities. Yet, the disputes confronting our citizens have not abated. Lawyers have responded to these challenges by using phones, desktops, laptops and tablets to mediate remotely. It’s working! Cases are settling. Importantly, people are safe. Lawyers and mediators are now […]
Security tips for lawyers using Zoom
Social distancing has eliminated in-person interactions, causing lawyers to “meet” with clients through telephone calls or video conferencing. One of the most popular video conferencing platforms is Zoom. Since the coronavirus outbreak, Zoom’s daily active users have shot up from approximately 10 million to 300 million as people use the platform for work meetings and […]
C u in court: Text messages now remind defendants to show up
(AP) — C u in court. Courts around the country are embracing text messages as a way to nudge people into showing up for their hearings. On any given day, up to half of defendants fail to show up for their scheduled proceedings. No-shows cost the courts time and money, and failure to appear can […]
‘The bad guys WILL get in’
Lawyers who once sought stronger firewalls and tighter security to keep the bad guys out of their computer files are now hearing a sobering new message. “The bad guys will get in, and you better plan for the crisis,” was the message from tech experts at the 2017 Virginia State Bar TECHSHOW. Despite the latest […]
Telemedicine catches on, offers glimpse into health care’s future
Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic is using video cameras to connect babies born in distress at small hospitals to neo-natal specialists at their Rochester hospital. In Maryland, intensive care unit patients in 11 hospitals — 10 of them in sparsely populated rural areas — now have instant access to top specialists across the state through video cameras […]
Technology: prioritize in money and time
Google the word “technology” and in less than one second you’ll get almost 3 billion — yes, that’s right, billion — results. Love it or hate it, technology is not only here to stay, but also here to have an impact on your law practice. No one can argue the importance of technology in a […]
Roundtable: Cybersecurity
Virginia Lawyers Weekly held a roundtable on Aug. 30 on cybersecurity, sponsored by the Fairfax law firm of Berenzweig Leonard. The participants included a lawyer, a risk assessment manager, an insurance specialist, a cybersecurity strategist and a public relations professional. The discussion in this special section is excerpted from the 70-minute session, which covered, among […]
Three bad tech habits that your law firm needs to break
During a lifetime, most people develop less-than-ideal habits that can be detrimental to wellness and maybe even financial health. But when it’s an enterprise or law firm that’s putting those habits into place, it can impact every aspect of operations, from recruiting to client services. Technology is notorious for creating bad habits — checking email […]
Tracking child-related costs? There’s an app for that
The cost of raising children includes many expenses beyond the day-to-day, from summer camp tuition to medical bills to algebra tutors. But between divorcing parents, disputes over incidental costs that fall outside regular child support responsibilities can escalate quickly. An app called SupportPay, which helps parents track child-related costs, upload receipts and send the other […]
Social media terms of service and your firm
When you take a photo with your cell phone or write a blog post or a short story or a poem, in general you are creating a copyright that you own. Under United States copyright law you, as the owner of the copyright in that photo, blog post or poem, are the only one who […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Plaintiff injured in crash with oncoming vehicle — $235,000 settlement
- Driver killed in rear-end collision with tractor-trailer — $1.5M settlement
- Man died from pancreatic cancer after delayed response — $1.8M settlement
- Worker fell off roof, rendering him a paraplegic — $1.25M settlement
- Driver sustained permanent hearing loss after traffic collision — $240,000 settlement
- Plaintiff suffered concussion in rear-end collision — $81,000 verdict
- Builder misrepresented home status to buyers — $675,000 verdict
- Low potassium led to cardiac arrest, death of patient — $1M settlement
- Excessive propofol caused death in dialysis patient — $850,000 settlement
- Pedestrian struck in crosswalk in hit-and-run incident — $300,000 settlement
- Navy veteran killed in collision with box truck — $1.85M arbitration award
- Motorcyclist ejected from bike in collision with SUV — $1.5M settlement
Opinion Digests
- Company owner dodges breach of contract suit
- Employee’s own allegations doom minimum wage claim
- Federal government defeats former employee’s claims
- Principal wasn’t entitled to exclusively remote work
- USPTO properly redacted info in responsive documents
- Untimely lawsuit allowed to proceed
- Engineering consultant dismissed from suit
- Rule 60 motion was filed too late
- Nonprofit directors immune from ex-employees’ claims
- City, employees immune from whistleblower claims
- Experts excluded in condemnation damages suit
- Judgment entered against company for horse’s death
