Living Above the Fold

Across the country, curious jurors are defying court instructions and causing mistrials as they text, Tweet, and surf the Web about the cases they’re deciding. The issue has created such a disruption that it’s generating new court policies and even California legislation.

Banning Google From the Jury Box (California Lawyer, August 1, 2010)

Consumers have plenty of online services they can use for locating a lawyer to hire. But when litigators need to employ specialists—such as arbitrators, mediators, or expert witnesses—they often fall back on leads from colleagues they trust.

Rating Litigation Services (California Lawyer, May 1, 2010)

In today’s weakened economy, lawyers across the country are looking for new ways to drum up business—and Web-based tools are expanding in response. Alongside established online legal directories, new Internet-based businesses that provide assistance with marketing and referrals offer lawyers even more ways to land new work.

Attorneys Use New Online Tools to Find, Refer Work (California Lawyer, April 1, 2010)

When fortunes shrink during tough economic times, estate and tax planning may not be a top priority. But many expect pent-up demand for such services—and a quirk in the federal tax code—to make 2010 a bumper year for lawyers in this specialty.

Estate and Tax Planners Expect a Bumper Year (California Lawyer, March 2010)

Cases in which employees allege they were forced to work through legally mandated meal or break periods are taking off in the already fast-growing niche of wage-and-hour litigation.

No Break in Worker Suits (California Lawyer, February 2010)