Cellphones
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11th Circuit, 7th Circuit, Cellphones, Deaths, Immigration, Media and Journalism, Morning Docket, Privacy, Richard Posner, Technology, Tobacco / Smoking, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 03.01.12
* A federal judge tossed out a law requiring tobacco companies to put graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. If paying $7 a pack doesn’t stop you from buying smokes, I don’t think nasty photos will either. [CNN]
* SCOTUS won’t deal with Arizona’s controversial immigration law for a couple months, but the 11th Circuit will hear oral arguments about Alabama’s even stricter law today. But why would you immigrate to Alabama, of all places? Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* The Seventh Circuit ruled that police can search a cellphone for its number without a warrant. Judge Richard Posner compared it to law enforcement’s ability to open a pocket diary and copy the owner’s address. The bigger question is: do drug dealers keep diaries? [Wall Street Journal]
* James Murdoch, the News Corp. heir apparent, has resigned in the wake of the News of the World scandal and related lawsuits. Now everyone can just go back to reading British tabloids for the Page Three Girls. [Los Angeles Times]
* RIP Lynn D. “Buck” Compton, the prosecutor who secured a conviction of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, and the Army paratrooper portrayed in the book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” [Washington Post]
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Cellphones, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Privacy, Technology
This Cell Phone Software Company Might Know Everything About You
Last week, the tech world caught fire with the newest in an increasingly long list of electronic privacy scandals. Carrier IQ, a small Silicon Valley software company with its product installed on millions of cell phones, made headlines when a young programmer posted a video allegedly showing the software’s ability to log keystrokes and collect […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Airplanes / Aviation, Cellphones, Rudeness, Technology, Travel / Vacation
Why I Refuse to Turn Off My iPod for Takeoff and Landing
Like he does every time he gets on a plane, Chris Danzig took off his headphones until the flight attendant walked away. Then he put them back on. He also never turned off his cell phone or put it in airplane mode. You probably know this is not allowed. Airplane passengers are supposed to turn off all electronic devices for takeoff and landing. But WHY?
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Cellphones, Police, Privacy, Technology
Judges Are Getting Concerned About 'Undeniably Creative' Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking
There has been justifiably a lot of talk over the last few days about U.S. v. Jones, and the privacy issues it raises. Our editor emeritus Kashmir Hill was fortunate enough to hear oral arguments at the Supreme Court in person, alongside top legal reporters such as Jeffrey Toobin and Adam Liptak. But when it […] -
1st Circuit, Benchslaps, Cellphones, Free Speech, Nauseating Things, Police, Technology, Videos
First Circuit Has No Sympathy For Cops Who Say, 'Don't Tape Me, Bro!'
One of the most important -- and overlooked -- technological developments of the last five-odd years is the ease with which anyone can record police doing their jobs and throw the video on YouTube. The technology can be a great deterrent against police misconduct. So it's really, seriously disturbing when police try to intimidate witnesses into turning off their cellphone cameras. It's even more nauseating when someone gets arrested for simply filming police activity. Luckily, a recent decision from First Circuit unambiguously told police to cut it out.... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Cellphones, Fabulosity, Fast Food, Food, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Nauseating Things, Non-Sequiturs, Police, Privacy, Technology, Television, Texas
Non-Sequiturs: 08.10.11
* Should the police be able to use mobile-phone location data in order to locate a charged defendant? Kash reports on a recent decision. [Not-So Private Parts / Forbes] * More importantly, should Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street get “gay married”? [Althouse] * The ABA takes a lot of blame for the inadequacy of […] -
Bar Exams, California, Cellphones, Disasters / Emergencies, Rudeness, Screw-Ups
Bar Exam Open Thread: Have At It
Here’s an open thread for discussing the July 2011 bar exam. We hope you attack it with all the gusto of Los Angeles lawyers at a deposition. If you’ve just finished the bar exam, congratulations. We hope you’re taking a well-deserved vacation, perhaps involving some exotic travel (e.g., the traditional bar trip). If you’re still […] -
Cellphones, Facebook, Google / Search Engines, Privacy, Technology
Are Tech Companies Becoming Unofficial Intelligence Agents?
The satirical Onion News Network recently reported on new government funding for that “massive online surveillance program run by the CIA,” known as Facebook — dreamed up by “secret C.I.A. agent Mark Zuckerberg.” The report made light of how much information we’re willing to make available to a third party — information that we would […] - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Baseball, Biglaw, Cellphones, Drugs, Morning Docket, Sports
Morning Docket: 03.25.11
* In the Barry Bonds trial, an expert on steroids described how the government injected a bunch of baboons with the drug Bonds is accused of using. I, for one, welcome our new baboon overlords. [ESPN] * Some Amish in Kentucky are fighting a regulation that requires reflective safety triangles on their buggies. Say they’d […]
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Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Cellphones, Partner Issues, Rudeness
Acela Bob, Meet Acela Jim: Kelley Drye Managing Partner Conducts Confidential Conversation on Packed Train
Here at Above the Law, we’re trying to help you. We write about lawyers who do embarrassing things so that you can learn from their examples. Heck, you should get ethics CLE credit for reading this site. One of our most widely-used lessons — now part of new employee training at a Wall Street firm, […] -
Cellphones, Constitutional Law, Drugs, Privacy, Technology
On Why It's Better To Be A Drug Dealer in Ohio Than in California
As a place to live, California has a lot going for it: the Pacific Ocean, pleasant weather, celeb spottings. But if you’re concerned about the police perusing the contents of your smartphone without a warrant, you might prefer to spend your time further east, in the Buckeye State. The Supreme Courts of California and Ohio […] -
Associate Advice, Cellphones, pls hndle thx, Technology
Pls Hndle Thx: No Service in the Club
Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. ATL, Can you please offer your insight into proper etiquette for ring tones in the workplace? I understand someone may have an affinity for The Jitterbug in their personal life, but when did it become acceptable to leave your cell phone on […] -
Cellphones, Lawyer of the Day, Layoffs, Rudeness, Technology
OMG. So sorry, but u r fired. :-(
This is a blind item, since we don’t know the identity of the attorney. Yesterday, this unknown attorney sent an employee a text message. It wasn’t to wish the employee a happy Labor Day. From Reddit: “Sexting” was the latest hot cell phone trend. Maybe the new trend will be “diSMSing.” Dear Reddit. It is […]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
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Cellphones, Lawsuit of the Day, Sex
Lawsuit of the Day: Involuntary Poster Child for 'Sexting' Sues Hearst
How would you like to be the unofficial mascot for that dubious practice known as “sexting”? From ATL associate editor Kashmir Hill, writing over at True/Slant: Earlier this year, the media went crazy over “sexting.” It has all the elements of a great, salacious, audience-attracting story: flirtation, cell phones, nude photos, and oftentimes, teens…. One […] -
Biglaw, Cellphones, Layoffs, Rudeness
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to New YorkPillsbury Admits Gaffe -- and Looming Lawyer Layoffs
Time for a brief follow-up to our earlier post about Biglaw partner Robert Robbins, head of the corporate practice of Pillsbury Winthrop, and how he spoke — a little too loudly, on a crowded Acela train — about the firm’s planned layoffs. You may have already seen it in the comments, but in case it […] -
Biglaw, Cellphones, Layoffs, Partner Issues, Rudeness
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to New York(Or: Pillsbury associates, brace yourselves.)
Law firm partners need to watch more Gossip Girl. If they did, they’d learn the perils of talking about private matters in public places. In the age of BlackBerrys, texting, and cameraphones, it’s ridiculously easy for tipsters to leak details of overheard conversations and not-so-secret rendezvous to their favorite online gossip girl (or boy — […] -
Cellphones, Department of Justice, Exercise, Job Searches, Morning Docket, Politics, U.S. Attorneys Offices, UVA Law, Wall Street
Morning Docket 10.17.08
* Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias speaks out against the DOJ’s ACORN probe. [Talking Points Memo] * Judges in China refuse to take lawsuits over tainted milk. [Associated Press] * They may cause rashes. And brain cancer. But we still love them. [Reuters] * Grand jury investigations for Lehman, in New York and New Jersey. […]
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Cellphones, Email Scandals, Law Schools, Rudeness, Vicious Infighting
'How To Handle This?'(By not sending out over the law school list-serv?)
When you’ve been wronged, there’s a part of you that wants the whole world to know. Maybe you think exposing the evildoer’s misdeeds will bring solace, revenge, sympathy… But more often than not, it brings scorn. People just don’t like tattletales. Several tipsters sent along such an exchange from the University of Michigan’s law school […] -
Cellphones, Contempt, Judge of the Day, Lunacy, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns
Judge of the Day: Robert Restaino
This episode gives new meaning to the term “flip phone.” A cell phone that went off during court proceedings caused one judge to, well, flip out. From the NYT’s City Room blog: The next time you pass through the city court system in Niagara Falls, N.Y., remember to turn your cellphone off. Today, the Commission […] -
Blogging, Cellphones, Non-Sequiturs, Politics
Non-Sequiturs: 08.03.07
* Bored at work? Look up the campaign contributions of that partner you work for. [Fundrace 2008 / Huffington Post] * We generally find personalized cell phone ringtones to be pretty annoying. But if you’re going to have one, it might as well be legal-themed, right? [The Billable Hour] * Law bloggers, stand up and […]