Law Departments Cut Costs by Sending Patent Work Abroad
Cheap foreign labor has long been a frightening specter for some American industries. But these days, garment makers and steelworkers are not the only ones competing with lower-paid counterparts abroad. Spurred by the slow economy, many in-house legal departments are cutting costs by relying less on U.S. outside counsel and more on lawyers in India, New Zealand, South Korea, and other countries where professional salaries are lower.
The CAN-SPAM Act: Regulates, Doesn't Eliminate, Spam
The CAN-SPAM Act went into effect Jan. 1, and has important implications for anyone engaged in the sending of unsolicited e-mails, which are commonly known as spam. Contrary to public opinion, the act does not make spam unlawful; it attempts to regulate it.
Spam Filters Raise Ethical Issues
Most attorneys rely heavily on e-mail as a primary form of communication with their clients. The accessibility, speed, flexibility and low cost of e-mail have made it a nearly indispensable tool in the business community. However, these same qualities that make e-mail so valuable have enabled unscrupulous marketers to blanket e-mail users with unsolicited e-mails, such as for mortgage refinancing, prescription drugs, obscene invitations and requests for help from fictitious Third World government officials. Spam is the nemesis of nearly every e-mail user, and as spam exceeds the point of accounting for one of every two e-mails transmitted, many feel that without remedial steps, this medium may be in jeopardy. It would seem then that technological enhancements to e-mail communications, such as spam filters, would be a natural and accepted outgrowth of this permissible communications method. However, attorneys are subject to ethical considerations not present in many other industries. Therefore, the specific manner in which a spam filter operates must be examined in order to gauge whether it is appropriate for a law firm environment.
Injunction Upheld on Web-Hosting Firm
An injunction preventing a Web-hosting company from accessing a registration service for Internet domains to gain data for mass-marketing has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in <i>Register.com v. Verio, Inc.</i> A two-judge panel upheld the preliminary injunction granted by Southern District Judge Barbara S. Jones in favor of Register.com, Inc., one of 50 companies that act as vehicles for the registration of names in the .com, .net and .org domains.
Total Search: The Answer to Law Firm Productivity!
In this age of increased client demand for greater efficiency when it comes to legal services, coupled with the ever-facing challenge of firms dealing with competitive market pressures and ever-declining revenues, the legal professional faces the dilemma to give the client a higher return on his legal investment dollar! But how can technology help to solve this ever-increasing problem? One way in finding a solution is about to come forth from a well-established 30-year-old firm - LexisNexis. The company has put forth an all-encompassing solution that should allow the legal market a chance to be an even brighter and shinier star to its clientele. The program is designed to provide added value to the legal researcher and share their firm-wide knowledge within and across hitherto disconnected boundaries!
Practice Tip: <B>Some Seriously Serious Computer Forensics Tools</b>
In-house and outside personnel are increasingly on the lookout for software tools they can use themselves to work with electronic discovery. A plethora of tools is available today, ranging from software solutions intended to be used only by properly trained computer forensics specialists to ones any of us can load on our machines and begin working with after only minimal instruction. This article focuses on two packages that fall squarely within the first group: EnCase Forensic Edition, and the Ultimate Toolkit. According to Jeremy Wunsch, Director of Data Forensics at Lucidata, LLC, and president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Information Systems Forensic Association, these are the two leading computer forensics products for the private sector.
Case Briefing
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
The Litigation That Will Not Die
Fen-Phen litigation is entering a critical phase that promises to be at least as complex and contentious as anything that preceded it. The national settlement that was supposed to buy peace is now smack in the middle of the storm that swirls, as always, around Wyeth. Claims against the Madison, NJ-based drug manufacturer are moving slowly through the $3.75 billion trust Wyeth funded to compensate people whose heart valves were damaged by its diet drugs. Lawyers and clients have been highly critical of the delays.
