Legal Research

Flowcharts for Free

Posted on July 12, 2010
Do you need to create a diagram or flowchart but don't have Microsoft Visio? Visio is a strong diagramming tool, but if you don't have MS Office, or didn't pony up for the version with Visio, you won't have access to it. Instead, check out MeeSoft's Diagram Designer. It's a dead simple way to create flowcharts, and then export them in image formats like JPG, PNG and GIF. And did I mention it's free? Give it a look.

Blawg of the Day - Professional Discipline

Posted on July 09, 2010
We'll round out our tour of Canadian law blogs this week by visiting Professional Discipline, brought to you by Canadian lawyer Johannes Schenk. He hopes to make the blog a resource in professional discipline matters, following a broad body of case law and primary and secondary resource materials in an effort to consolidate principles and trends as they develop in this area of law.

Blawg of the Day - Ontario Insurance Law Blog

Posted on July 08, 2010
We continue our trip this week to Canada by visiting the Ontario Insurance Law Blog. It's published by John Norton and Tara Pollitt of the Ontario firm of McCall Dawson Osterberg Handler. They're discussing a number of different insurance issues, including MMS changes, accident benefits, liquour liability, municipal law, and a lot more.

Blawg of the Day - Canadian Competition Law

Posted on July 07, 2010
Another blog from Canada today - it's Canadian Competition Law, a blog with updates on Canadian competition and antitrust law. It's brought to you by Norton Stewart, a Vancouver firm. They're discussing competition speeches, Canadian Trade Association Competition Law Cases, abuse of dominance, refusal to deal, and bid rigging, among other topics.

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Blawg of the Day - Pensions & Benefits Law

Posted on July 06, 2010
Pensions & Benefits Law is published by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, a firm with offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and New York. The blog presents a discussion of Canadian and U.S./cross-border pension and benefit legal issues, and it features posts on bankruptcy, DB plan funding, executive compensation, plan administration, public sector plans, and more.

Blawg of the Day - Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

Posted on July 05, 2010
Jacksonville lawyer David Goldman publishes the Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog - it features, as you might expect, estate planning topics with a Florida emphasis. Recent posts are on topics like revocable trusts, digital estate planning, prenuptial agreements, will contests, and GRATs, among others.

Blawg of the Day - Tax and Estate Planning

Posted on July 01, 2010
The blandly-named Tax and Estate Planning (I can't believe there wasn't already a blog with this name!] is a Canadian blog, published by Moodys Tax Advisors and law firm Shea Nerland Calnan. They're a team of tax accountants and tax lawyers, and are "passionate about tax optimization." Check it out.

Blawg of the Day - Eyes on Wall Street

Posted on June 30, 2010
Eyes on Wall Street is "a blog for concerned investors," published by New York firm Labaton Sucharow. They're discussing banking regulation, corporate governance, the financial crisis (of course), and securities litigation, among other topics.

Blawg of the Day - Immigration Law, Policy & Politics

Posted on June 29, 2010
Immigration law is certainly a hot topic these days, so resources like Immigration Law, Policy & Politics should be hot sites right about now. Alas, there just aren't a lot of posts here, but check it out anyway. It's brought to you by Carlos Batara, a Riverside, California immigration attorney.

Blawg of the Day - IP Law Watch

Posted on June 28, 2010
An IP blog for you today - and yet another blog from uber-blogging firm Fox Rothschild. IP Law Watch brings you "practical knowledge concerning intellectual property litigation," and it's primarily authored by Eric Osterberg, of the firm's Stamford, Connecticut office. You'll find posts here on business method patents, Green IP, inequitable conduct, patent term extensions, trade secrets, and more.

Links for 2010-06-27 [del.icio.us]

Posted on June 28, 2010
Sample Motions and Pleadings - ExampleMotion Pennsylvania Bulletin Online Office of Special Counsel VGT home The Government Domain: New & Free Regulations Trackers | LLRX.com

Links for 2010-06-18 [del.icio.us]

Posted on June 19, 2010
13 Tools for Building Your Own iPhone App

Blawg of the Day - Global Employment Law

Posted on June 18, 2010
Here's a blog you don't see that often - it's a group blog, but instead a blog with posts from different law firms. Global Employment Law features posts from international firms like Alrud, Capstan, Claeys & Engels, Freehills, Heenan Blaikie, Lewis Silkin, Littler, Raczkowski, and Sagardoy Abogados. You'll find employment law news and commentary from countries all over the world. Great idea!

Links for 2010-06-17 [del.icio.us]

Posted on June 18, 2010
Help - 12 Tips to Speed Up Windows 7 Tips, Solutions & How Tos | PCMag.com

Blawg of the Day - The Faculty Lounge

Posted on June 17, 2010
I haven't mentioned a law faculty blog in a long time, but I've got one today. The Faculty Lounge features posts from 10 law professors from several different law firms. Recent posts include discussion on writing around the law, politics, the genesis of the law review, and other interesting topics.

Blawg of the Day - Ontario Family Law Blog

Posted on June 16, 2010
Back to Canada for our blog of the day today. Ontario Family Law Blog is published by Brian Galbraith, of the Galbraith Family Law firm in Ontario, Canada. He's providing updates on the usual family law issues, as well as notes on collaborative team practice.

Blawg of the Day - Cruise Law News

Posted on June 15, 2010
What better blog to feature during the summer than Cruise Law News, which provides breaking news and commentary on cruise ship passengers and crew members around the world. It's brought to you by Jim Walker of the South Miami firm of Walker & O'Neill. The topics covered here are interesting, including collisions, disappearances, contagious diseases, pirate attacks, and the worst cruise line in the world.

Blawg of the Day - Chronicle of Data Protection

Posted on June 14, 2010
I love law blogs that touch on technology issues, and today's blog does just that. The Chronicle of Data Protection features posts on privacy and information security news and trends. It's being published by megafirm Hogan Lovells, but its editors are based in Washington, D.C. Some of the topics discussed include behavioral advertising, e-commerce, HIPAA, online standards, and the telecommunications industry.

Blawg of the Day - Palm Coast Injury Law Blog

Posted on June 11, 2010
Philip Chanfrau is a personal injury attorney working in Palm Coast, Florida. His Palm Coast Injury Law Blog features the usual personal injury topics, all with a Florida point of view.

Blawg of the Day - Food Safety News

Posted on June 10, 2010
I love, love, love the design of Food Safety News - it's so much more interesting than the average blog site. It's the product of food safety gurus Marler Clark, and provides information on the subject in several different categories - Recent News, food safety events, opinion and contributed articles, jobs, and much more. Check it out.

Blawg of the Day - Greenberg Blawg

Posted on June 09, 2010
I *think* the name of this blog is Greenberg Blawg - however, the title has highlighted "Green" and "Law" from those words, so that could be the title, for all I know. What's certain is that this blog is published by Los Angeles firm Greenberg Glusker. They're currently posting on the BP oil mess in the Gulf, but you'll also find posts on air quality, clean technology, climate change, contaminated property, and more.

Blawg of the Day - Business Licenses and Permits

Posted on June 08, 2010
I guess this is a law blog, although it's not published by a law firm or lawyer in practice. Business Licenses and Permits is brought to you by the Corporation Service Company, and it discusses such topics as business license fees, real estate licenses, landlords, and just about any position that needs a license.

Password Security for the Post-It Generation

Posted on June 07, 2010
I talk to people all the time who don't want to use great password management tools like LastPass or Keepass because they're too confusing. These are the same people who like to keep passwords on Post-It notes pasted to the monitor, or note cards taped to your desk. For these friends of mine, I have found you a new solution: your PasswordCard. The premise is simple. Use a color printer to print out the card - it's designed to be carried in your purse or wallet (you can laminate the card if you want). The card has 9 rows of random numbers, letters (lower and upper case), and symbols, with a different color for each row. Just pick a direction - up or down, left or right, or diagonally if you can read that way - and select an 8 (or more) character password length...

Blawg of the Day - The California Employee Advocate

Posted on June 07, 2010
Another employment law blog for you today - The California Employee Advocate discusses hot topics in California labor law. It's published by United Employees Law Group, a class action labor law firm based in Long Beach, California. Some of the hot topics discussed include FMLA, harassment, salesperson exemptions, unemployment, and whistleblower laws, among others.

Bar None Celebrates its Silver Anniversary!

Posted on June 07, 2010
Here in Dallas, we're busy getting ready for Bar None, the show where lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals sing, dance and make fools of themselves, all for a good cause - in this case, the Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarships at SMU's Dedman School of Law. This year, Bar None is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with Alice in BarNoneLand: 25 Years Through the Looking Glass. We'll feature a skit or song from each of the past 24 years, with a focus on showing you what was going on historically at that time. We're having a blast putting it together! The show will be performed June 16-19 at the Greer Garson Theatre on the SMU campus. Ticket and other information is available at the Bar None website. I hope to see you there!

Supercharge your Outlook

Posted on June 04, 2010
Have I written here about how much I love Xobni? It's one of the best Outlook email managers I've ever used - with just a few clicks of a button, you can view all messages, tasks, contacts, and even social networking posts about any of your contacts, or those from whom you receive email. It also provides lightning-fast search for your Outlook email. Well, for those of you using the Microsoft Office 2010 beta, some good news: Xobni for Outlook 2010 is finally available. I'm using it with a copy of Outlook 2007, but had not yet been able to use it for my beta copy of Outlook 2010, and I felt a little lost without it. Download it today - it's free!

Blawg of the Day - Pay to Play Law Blog

Posted on June 04, 2010
Stefan Passantino is a lawyer focusing on representing political figures, corporations and other political entities with respect to state and federal election law, campaign finance, lobbying law and ethics issues. His blog has a great title - the Pay to Play Law Blog - and it features articles, resources, and insights on pay to play regulations on the federal and state level.

Links for 2010-06-03 [del.icio.us]

Posted on June 04, 2010
Hardball Frenzy

Blawg of the Day - Wage & Hour Law Update

Posted on June 03, 2010
You'd expect that a firm like Jackson Lewis would primarily feature employment law topics in its blogs, and you'd be right. One of the newest is the Wage & Hour Law Update, and the firm's employment lawyers are discussing topics like furloughs, minimum wage, meal and rest breaks, exemptions, retaliation, and more.

Drafting an Email: Best Practices (or Better, anyway)

Posted on June 03, 2010
I read the blog post The Well-Structured Email over at Dan Brown's greenonions.com a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to share his great tips with my readers. Dan's opening recommendation, "don't send business colleagues a wall of prose," is dead on. Sometimes you have to send your clients, opposing counsel, or others a lot of information, but there are ways to do it to get faster responses and be more efficient about your email writing. Some of the suggestions Dan makes include: - Use headers to delineate sections - Start with the action item - Include the deadline (you're all already doing this, right?) - Make a recommendation - you shorten the conversation and the email chain - Summarize the message - for longer emails - Use bullets for sub-topics - Anticipate needed information - again, to short-circuit the seemingly endless chain of messages Some great email usage tips here - read it!

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