Monthly Archives: November 2015

Plain Language = Good Writing.

28 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Grammar, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing, Plain Language, Proofreading, Readability

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The Pros Know: Plain Language Is Just Good Writing, by Mark Cooney, 94 Mich. B.J. 54 (Sept. 2015) (with hat tip to William P. Statsky!)

http://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article2701.pdf

Is plain language foreign to ‘real’ writers? To the pros, I mean? Would professional writers, editors, and literary agents outside our field scoff at the plain style that this column has long endorsed? Would plain English draw ridicule in those quarters? Too childish? Dumbed down? Illiterate? And would readers of literate magazines, technical journals, or fiction balk at the simplicity, the directness?

This is an easy one: no—on all counts. . . .

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By Playing Facebook “Test,” How Much Private Personally Identifiable Information Did You Inadvertently Reveal?

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Consumer Privacy, Facebook, Privacy, Social Media

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Facebook “Most Used Words” App as Privacy Lesson,  by Adam Levin, Huffington Post Blog

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/facebook-most-used-words_b_8651034.html

If you spend any time on Facebook, no doubt you have noticed an assortment of games or tests meant to reveal something about your personality. Have you ever wondered how much personal information you reveal about yourself, your friends, or  other privacy details? If not, you should, as well as how it could be used to your detriment.

Conversely, if your intent was to obtain research on that individual, how much information did it reveal? -CCE

If you have an account on Facebook, you may have noticed posts featuring a nicely designed cloud comprised of the words your Facebook friends use most often. It’s powered by an app from a company called Vonvon, and it’s been getting a lot of attention this week from consumer privacy experts.

The reason this app has privacy hawks screeching is simple: it grabs an enormous amount of personally identifiable information and private details about Facebook users for way too little in return.

In exchange for a graphically-appealing cloud featuring the names of your children and/or significant others, pets, the stuff of warm-hearted Aws and Ohs — and, let’s not forget, potential answers to security questions that might allow a clever fraudster to execute an account takeover — the app seems to get virtually everything there is to know about you. . . .

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Chicago’s Police Data Project In Response to FOIA Requests.

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Law Enforcement, References, Research

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Chicago Citizens Police Data Project, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog

http://www.bespacific.com/category/e-government/

‘The information contained on this website comes primarily from three datasets provided by the Chicago Police Department (CPD), spanning approximately 2002 to 2008 and 2011 to 2015. The CPD has released these lists in response to litigation and to FOIA Requests. . . .’

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Questions About The New Federal Rules Amendments on Discovery? – 3rd of 5-Part Guide.

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Court Rules, Courts, Discovery, E-Discovery, Federal District Court Rules, Preservation

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Day 3: Your First Five Questions (times four): A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Preservation, by Karin Scholz Jenson, Gary Levin, Robert J. Tucker, James A. Sherer and Jonathan Forman, Discovery Advocacy Blog

http://bit.ly/1NvYTnd

This is the third of five posts discussing the current amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Rules went into effect December 1, 2015. Today’s post addresses “Preservation.” -CCE

Questions About The New Federal Rules Amendments on Discovery? – 2nd of 5-Part Guide.

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Admissibility, Concept Search Tools, Court Rules, Courts, Discovery, E-Discovery, Evidence, Federal District Court Rules, Preservation, Rule 16 Conference

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Day 2: Your First Five Questions (times four): A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Early Case Assessment, by Karin Scholz Jenson, Gary Levin, Robert J. Tucker, James A. Sherer and Jonathan Forman, Discovery Advocate Blog

http://bit.ly/1jluREF

The current amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—and, in particular, those that address the practice of civil discovery—are the product of five years of development, debate, and, of course, dialogue. Now that the Rules are set to be implemented on December 1, 2015 – and they apply to pending cases where ‘just and practicable’ — the focus among attorneys and their clients has changed from what the Rules should say to how they should work. While debates remain as to how certain parts of the Rules will wear-and-tear once put to the test in discovery, there are clear indications within the text of the Rules (with some help from the Committee Notes to the Rules and the contributions of judges and other writers) as to how the Rules will apply. . . .

Today we review: Early Case Assessment.

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Federal Sentencing Guidelines Effective November 1, 2015.

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Criminal Law, Federal Sentencing

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2015 USSC Guidelines Manual, United States Sentencing Commission

http://www.ussc.gov/guidelines-manual/2015/2015-ussc-guidelines-manual

The 2015 Guidelines Manual (effective November 1, 2015) is available in HTML and Adobe PDF formats (large file and broken into chapters), which can be viewed, downloaded or printed via the website. . . .

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Grammar Lessons From The CIA.

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Grammar, Legal Writing, Plain Language, Punctuation, Style Manuals

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11 Grammar Lessons from the Leaked CIA Style Book, by Nick Greene, Mental Floss Inc. © 2012

http://mentalfloss.com/article/57743/11-grammar-lessons-leaked-cia-style-book

In 2014, a leaked copy of the Directorate of Intelligence Style Manual & Writer’s Guide for Intelligence Publications found its way to the Internet. That long title belies what it actually is: A well-written style book for the CIA — the Strunk & White for Spies.

Inside the 181 pages (not including the index) is a terrific guide for normal folks, and not just government sleuths. It still offers some unique advice, however, and you won’t find some of these examples in your copy of the Oxford American Dictionary. . . .

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Failure To Follow Court Rules Earned This Fed Up Benchslap.

23 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Appellate Law, Bad Legal Writing, Benchslap, Brief Writing, Citations, Court Rules, Courts, Issues On Appeal, Judges, Legal Writing

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A Lawyer Way Out Of Her League Gets Benchslapped By Frustrated Judge, by Kathryn Rubino, Above The Law Blog

http://tinyurl.com/o9hk847

The case did not seem suspicious. A commercial painter claimed he had not been paid for work hired by a building manager. The lawyer took the painter’s case. Unfortunately, under oath, her client admitted that he had faked his evidence with forged invoices.

No one was surprised when the trial court imposed sanctions. The surprise came when the lawyer appealed the case with a badly written brief. The lawyer only made it worse when she submitted her corrected brief to the Court. The judge’s response is a classic benchslap. -CCE

How To Research Opposing Counsel, Judges, and Juries.

21 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by in Internet, Law Journals, Legal Databases, Legal Directories, Legal Directory, LexisNexis, References, Research, TLO for Legal Professionals

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Internet Tools for Researching Opposing Counsel, Judges, and Juries, by Anna Massoglia, Lawyerist Blog

https://lawyerist.com/92442/internet-tools-for-researching-opposing-counsel-judges-and-juries/

Knowing the ins and outs of how other courtroom players think is a key ingredient in successful litigation. Here’s how to do it. . . .

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Questions About The New Federal Rules Amendments on Discovery? – 1st of 5-Part Guide.

21 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by in Civil Procedure, Discovery, E-Discovery, Federal Civil Procedure, Preservation

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 Day 1: Your First Five Questions (times four): A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Proportionality, by Karin Scholz Jenson, Gary Levin, Robert J. Tucker, James A. Sherer and Jonathan Forman, Discovery Advocate Blog

http://tinyurl.com/o72ub69

If you do not fully comprehend the recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, you are not alone. We will learn more as district and circuit courts rule on cases affected by these amendments.

Please note the hyperlink under the “Conference Commentary” button to see the Summary of The Report of The Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which will also assist you. -CCE

The current amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—and, in particular, those that address the practice of civil discovery—are the product of five years of development, debate, and, of course, dialogue. Now that the Rules are set to be implemented on December 1, 2015 – and they apply to pending cases where ‘just and practicable’ — the focus among attorneys and their clients has changed from what the Rules should say to how they should work . . . .

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Were Deleted Emails A Failure to Preserve?

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in Discovery, E-Discovery, Emails, Preservation

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Prejudice and to Avoid “Confusing the Issues,” by Electronic Discovery Law, K&L Gates Blog

http://tinyurl.com/ndmfrlx

West v. Talton, No. 5:13-cv-338 (CAR), 2015 WL 6675565 (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2, 2015)

In this case, the court granted Defendants’ motion to exclude ‘Plaintiff’s use of any argument or evidence of alleged spoliation’ where, despite Defendants’ failure to preserve emails from an individual defendant, they were nonetheless able to locate the relevant defendant’s ‘old computer’ and to hire a third party to search for and recover relevant emails and documents from the same. . . .

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“How To” Tip for iPhone and iPad.

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology

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How to Use Caps Lock on Your iPhone and iPad, by Lori Kaufman, How-To Geek Blog

http://www.howtogeek.com/233097/how-to-use-caps-lock-on-your-iphone-and-ipad/

You just got your new iPhone after switching from Android and you want to type something in all caps. How do you use caps lock in iOS 9? We’ll tell you how to type all caps and also how to enable and disable the caps lock feature. . . .

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South Carolina Supreme Court Creates Board of Paralegal Certification.

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in Certification, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation, South Carolina Supreme Court

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South Carolina Supreme Court creates a State Board of Paralegal Certification, by Edward Nelson, NY Public Policy Examiner, examiner.com (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://www.examiner.com/article/south-carolina-supreme-court-creates-a-state-board-of-paralegal-certification

Today [November 11, 2015], the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an Order which gives legitimacy to Rule 429 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR) and creates the Board of Paralegal Certification where paralegals can voluntarily apply to become certified with the State of South Carolina. According to the Supreme Court, ‘The purpose of certification of South Carolina’s paralegals is to assist in the delivery of legal services to the public by identifying individuals who are qualified by education, training, and experience and who have demonstrated knowledge, skill, and proficiency to perform substantive legal work under the direction and supervision of a lawyer licensed in South Carolina.’

This is a tremendous Order from the South Carolina Supreme Court issued on November 12, 2015. The Board of Paralegal Certification shall be formed of five (5) attorneys in good standing with the South Carolina Bar and four (4) paralegals certified under the program which constitutes a nine (9) member board. . . .

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The Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Effective December 1, 2015.

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Courts, Federal District Court Rules

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Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp

The full text of every federal civil procedure rule, including Notes and Committee Notes. -CCE

Bankruptcy Forms Substantially Change Effective December 1, 2015.

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Bankruptcy Law

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Pending Changes in the Bankruptcy Forms, United States Courts

http://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/pending-rules-amendments/pending-changes-bankruptcy-forms

Most Official Bankruptcy Forms will be replaced with substantially revised, reformatted and renumbered versions effective December 1, 2015. . . .

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The U.S. Supreme Court, Qualified Immunity, Deadly Force, and a Car Chase.

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Appellate Law, Civil Rights, Excessive Force, Governmental Tort Claim Act, Qualified Immunity, United States Supreme Court

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Supreme Court Action: Qualified Immunity When Deadly Force is Used By Officers During A Car Chase, by Mark Giangrande, Law Librarians Blog

http://tinyurl.com/q8m43ce

It will be interesting to see how this ruling may be applied to recent news events. –CCE

The Supreme Court issued one opinion today [November 9, 2015].  The case, Mullenix v. Luna (14-1143), decided whether a Texas state trooper (Mullenix) was entitled to qualified immunity when he fired shots at a suspect’s car during a high speed chase, killing the suspect. . . .

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How To Subpoena Social Media – Updated 2015.

08 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in Discovery, Social Media, Subpoena Duces Tecum

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Social Media Subpoena Guide 2015 Edition, posted by Keith Lee, Associate’sMind Blog

http://associatesmind.com/2015/01/26/social-media-subpoena-guide-2015-edition/

I cannot explain why people lose their sense of discretion and decorum on social media. I just know that it often happens. In some areas of law, Facebook is a lawyer’s gift from God. How many of you routinely tell your clients to close their social media websites and/or delete incriminating photos and posts?

If you get lucky, the person who swore in a deposition that he never drinks alcohol has a picture on his or a friend’s Facebook page in which he is chugging a beer with a big thumb’s up. Don’t you just love it when that happens? Ah, good times.

But it is not always easy to get your sticky fingers on the smoking gun. Keith Lee has some good advice for finding and obtaining social media, which he has generously shared with us. -CCE

I initially wrote about how to subpoena various social media sites back in 2011. Seeing as it has been a few years I thought it was time to provide an update.

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The Effort to Make and Keep Patents Correct and Clear.

08 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Intellectual Property, Legal Writing, Legalese, Patent Law, Plain Language, Readability

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Director Michelle Lee: Moving toward Patent Clarity, posted by Dennis Crouch, PatentlyO Blog

http://tinyurl.com/q4dvog7

The following is a post from Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee and was published on the PTO Director’s blog.

Patent quality is central to fulfilling a core mission of the USPTO, which as stated in the Constitution, is to ‘promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.’ It is critically important that the USPTO issue patents that are both correct and clear. Historically, our primary focus has been on correctness, but the evolving patent landscape has challenged us to increase our focus on clarity.

Patents of the highest quality can help to stimulate and promote efficient licensing, research and development, and future innovation without resorting to needless high-cost court proceedings. Through correctness and clarity, such patents better enable potential users of patented technologies to make informed decisions on how to avoid infringement, whether to seek a license, and/or when to settle or litigate a patent dispute. Patent owners also benefit from having clear notice on the boundaries of their patent rights. After and after successfully reducing the backlog of unexamined patent applications, our agency is redoubling its focus on quality.

We asked for your help on how we can best improve quality—and you responded.

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If You Don’t Need It, Don’t Plead It.-

03 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Legal Writing, Pleadings

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Be A Winning Writer, Not A Self-Indulgent One, Starting With Complaints, by John G. Balestriere, Above the Law Blog (with hat tip to Allen Mihecoby, CLAS, RP®)

http://abovethelaw.com/2015/10/be-a-winning-writer-not-a-self-indulgent-one-starting-with-complaints/

‘In law it is good policy to never plead what you need not, lest you oblige yourself to prove what you can not.’ – Abraham Lincoln

We lawyers love to write, at least most of us do (as well we should, since to say it’s a big part of our job is an understatement). But as with all of the work we do, we need to remember our writing has a purpose: any of the writings we submit as litigators to a court or arbitrator must be directed towards winning for our clients.

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Seventh Circuit Rules On The Weight Of Scientific Evidence.

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Evidence, Insurance Defense, Litigation, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Torts

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Seventh Circuit Ruling On Scientific Evidence Closes Some Doors But Opens Others, by Robert H. Riley, Neil Loyd, and Brian O’Connor Watson, Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nmjffed

Exposure to potentially harmful substances at some level is a fact of modern life. These substances are everywhere — in the air we breathe, in the food we eat, and in the water we drink — and many of these substances are naturally occurring. It is impossible to have zero exposure to all of them.

For both science and law, however, the issue is not whether someone has some detectable exposure. Rather, it is whether the dose was sufficient (in quantity and duration) to cause harm.

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Search Engine for The Wayback Machine!

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Legal Directory, References, Research, Wayback Machine

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International School of Information Science

http://www.bibalex.org/isis/frontend/archive/archive_web.aspx

and

The Wayback Machine, Internet Archive

https://archive.org/index.php

These links are two great ways to get to the Wayback Machine. Not familiar with it? Please allow me introduce you. The Wayback Machine has been around for 19 years, and has literally billions of saved URLs. If you ever tried a hyperlink and got that annoying 404 message, did you know it was still alive and well on the Wayback Machine?

As you can imagine, the Wayback Machine is huge. There has been only one way to search on the Wayback Machine – you had to have the URL. If did not have the exact URL, you were out of luck.

The great news is that the Laura and John Arnold Foundation have donated several million dollars to create a search engine for the Wayback Machine. The word is that it will be ready sometime in 2017. Imagine being able to search that much data!

Commonly, if you are researching on the Internet, you use Google, Bing, or another major search engine. How long do those links stay available? It varies, right? You thought Google was huge? It is said that the Wayback Machine has snapshots of every webpage ever posted on the Internet. Every single one.

Think about a researcher’s possibilities when the search engine is up and running. It is going to be interesting. -CCE

 

A Different Perspective On Mass Torts.

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Class Actions, Litigation, Torts

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The Lucrative Mass Torts Scam That Wasn’t, by Max Kennerly, Esq., Litigation and Trial, The Law Blog of Plaintiff’s Lawyer Max Kennerly

http://tinyurl.com/pn9oy5z

The lawsuit brought by financier Amir Shenaq against mass-torts law firm AkinMears has made the rounds of the tort reform blogs (e.g., SETexas Record, Daniel Fisher at Forbes, and Paul Barrett at Bloomberg), so I figured some plaintiff-side commentary was in order. The details of the lawsuit confirm what I’ve been saying for years: ‘Mass torts is not an area in which you want to dabble and start throwing around discounts. It’s work, it’s risky, and it can be very, very expensive.’

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