Featured Posts

641D9F39-5BE3-410E-960F-247B44617424
All lawyers and law firms use the Internet for marketing and business development. Websites, SEO (search engine optimization), directories, ratings, content marketing, email newsletters and more. Lawyers spend a lot of money and, in most cases, a lot of time, here. But do lawyers know how these forms of Internet marketing work? Do they know if these forms of Internet marketing work at all for lawyers like them? Most lawyers marketing on the Internet focus…
top-ten-770-feature
Welcome back to another Top 10 in Law Blogs! Alkida Kacani discusses California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for the most generous parental leave in the country, possibly setting a precedent in the U.S. Steve Dickinson wrote about bills introduced by a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers and how they could deal a crippling blow to Huawei and other Chinese telecommunication companies. In the continuing saga of the government shutdown, now in its fourth week, Hannah…
The regulation of pharmacies at the state level might not be what Justice Louis Brandeis had in mind as an example of a “laboratory of democracy,” but for pharmacists and consumers, state-level policy-making can have important real-world effects and encourage efforts on the federal stage. Over the past twelve months a number of regulatory trends have played out that define the current operating environment for pharmacies, many of which are anticipated to continue in 2019.…
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington on January 30-31, in connection with further discussions to resolve the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Vice Premier Liu is expected to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Liu is a key economic advisor to President Xi Jinping and is leading the Chinese delegation in talks with the United States. This next round of talks follows last…
world-lgbt-connection-concept-transgender-symbol-on-world-map-picture-id1075501636
As of January 1, 2019, intersex Germans, meaning Germans with sex characteristics not fitting neatly within the standard understanding of males and females, will be able to register their gender as “divers,” which translates to “miscellaneous.” This new gender classification will be included on such documents as birth certificates, passports, and driver’s licenses. Since 2013, Germany has permitted parents of babies born without a clear gender to leave the baby’s gender status blank so that…
The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history continues to affect around 800,000 federal workers and major agencies, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). Despite the shutdown, however, many EPA employees are being called into work without pay. On January 14, 2019, EPA updated its contingency plan for shut down to increase the total number of “excepted personnel” to 891 or 6.37% of its total workforce. EPA’s contingency plan lists 486 HQ program…
Last week, the attorneys general (AGs) of 43 states and the District of Columbia announced they reached a $1.5 million settlement with Neiman Marcus Group LLC to resolve an investigation of a 2013 data breach that involved the payment card information of thousands of customers. On Jan. 10, 2014, Neiman Marcus publicly announced that it had experienced a security incident involving its payment processing system that may have resulted in unauthorized access to the payment…
LegalWeekHome169
Diversity has long been widely discussed in the legal industry. In the past year, however, new questions have been raised about equality in the profession, driven by prominent movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp. Even as stories continue to pour out of Hollywood and elsewhere, the legal industry is confronting difficult questions about whether women in law firms, or in the legal profession in general, receive equal representation and treatment. This is one in a…
2512086374_5da1610fc9_b.jpg
The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel’s surprising decision to keep the 2,200 public submissions secret for months has had immediate repercussions. Some organizations are refusing to disclose their submissions until the panel does and others have noted the missed opportunity for public discussion of a vitally important issue. To date, about 30 submissions have been posted, a tiny percentage of the total. The decision has had an impact on university courses and predictably created…
the-businessman-puts-a-stamp-on-the-contract-picture-id940476300
On 4 January 2019, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) released draft amendments to the Chinese patent law for public comments (English translation available upon request), proposing, among other issues; higher damages for patent infringement, more options for rewarding inventors under an employee invention remuneration scheme, and patent term extensions for design patents and pharmaceutical patents. The current version of the law, which dates back to 2008, is generally seen as outdated and in need of…