March 2017

Featured Articles

Discovery

E-discovery specialists can provide competence, oversight for law firms

The days of sitting on the floor and going through boxes of documents looking for evidence are over. The manual method of discovery has been replaced by the much faster digital method.

Practice Marketing

Advertising in social media

The rapid development of social media has created new digital channels that give advertisers the unprecedented ability to directly, and instantly, market their products to consumers at low cost. While the simplicity of advertising in social media may suggest that advertising laws are not applicable to this medium, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides guidance on how to ensure advertisements in social media are not deceptive and misleading.

Ethics

ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility hosts hearing at Midyear Meeting on amending lawyer advertising rules

On Friday, Feb. 3, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (SCEPR) held a hearing during the Midyear Meeting in Miami to consider the Association of Professional Responsibility’s (APRL) proposal to amend Rules 7.1 Communication Concerning a Lawyer Responsibility Services, 7.2 Advertising, 7.3 Solicitation of Clients, 7.4 Communication of Fields of Practice and Specialization and 7.5 Firm Names and Letterheads of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

Practice Technology

Legal Innovation 101: Get with the program or get left behind experts say during Midyear Meeting

Catching up with legal technology is no longer a luxury in a tough market for legal services. While sorting through options may seem daunting at first, firms that embrace technology and new methods will be at a huge advantage.

Military & Veterans

If you start a clinic to help veterans, they will come, panelists say

Among the goals of ABA President Linda Klein’s Veterans Legal Services Initiative are to have one civil legal aid clinic at every VA Medical Center and one law school clinic serving veterans in every state.

Access to Justice

ABA committee says civil justice system is broken, offers roadmap for improvement

The civil courts, according to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson, have been “taken over by institutional interests — the debt collectors and the landlords — and that has had a profound effect. It has taken over the docket and there is no room for the kinds of disputes that common people have.”

Labor & Employment

Employment lawyers explore challenges of closing gender pay gap

A panel of women attorneys at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Miami Feb. 3 tackled the current gender pay gap in the U.S. workplace, discussing the reasons and the law as they sought to separate fact from fiction.

International Law

Uncertainty clouds business prospects with Cuba

President Barack Obama’s landmark visit to Cuba last March created excitement in the business community that the 50-plus-year embargo with the island nation would soon end, and companies like AirBNB started exploring opportunities in Havana.

Bias & Discrimination

Panelists call Batson a failure, offer solutions

In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court in Batson v. Kentucky ruled that a prosecutor’s exercise of race-based peremptory challenges to jurors violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Thirty years later, according to the experts, the law has been a colossal failure.

Education

Public service loan forgiveness programs offer relief from debt burden, say panelists

With more Americans saddled with student debt than ever, public service loan forgiveness programs offer a viable way to help manage the burden, say panelists at the Feb. 2 program “Treading Water: Fighting the Rising Tide of Student Debt” during the Midyear Meeting in Miami.

Cybersecurity

Combat Alexa hacks, fight ransomware, other tech musts to best secure client data

Lawyer and blogger Chris Dale has written, “Lawyers are winning cases and business by demonstrating competence in the use of technology in the management of their own and their clients’ business; the corollary to that is that work is being lost by those who lack that ability.”

Children's Rights

Children of those behind bars are unintended victims of mass incarceration, say researchers

According to the American Bar Foundation, the United States has more people incarcerated per capita than any other country in the world and half of those imprisoned are parents.

Renew Your ABA Membership

How Law Firms Can Retain Top Female Talent by Supporting Their Dual Roles

First Environmental Justice Symposium tackles racism, discrimination

Empowering Bystanders: Why Everyone Needs to Stand up to Muslim Hate

The Path Forward: Discussions and Strategies in Ensuring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion post-SFFA v. Harvard Webinar Series

ABA Center on Children and the Law and Commission on Youth at Risk Address Legal Needs of Children and Families

ABA legal ed arm proposes standard to replace DEI language

ABA Passes Resolution Opposing Broadening Involuntary Commitment Standards to Address Unhoused People with Mental Health Disabilities

ABA House of Delegates

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Career & Practice

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YourABA March 2017

ABA committee says civil justice system is broken, offers roadmap for improvement

Featured Articles

E-discovery specialists can provide competence, oversight for law firms

Advertising in social media

ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility hosts hearing at Midyear Meeting on amending lawyer advertising rules

Legal Innovation 101: Get with the program or get left behind experts say during Midyear Meeting

If you start a clinic to help veterans, they will come, panelists say

ABA committee says civil justice system is broken, offers roadmap for improvement

Employment lawyers explore challenges of closing gender pay gap

Uncertainty clouds business prospects with Cuba

Panelists call Batson a failure, offer solutions

Public service loan forgiveness programs offer relief from debt burden, say panelists

Combat Alexa hacks, fight ransomware, other tech musts to best secure client data

Children of those behind bars are unintended victims of mass incarceration, say researchers

ABA Resources

The ABA

Connect

Renew Your ABA Membership

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

The Path Forward: Discussions and Strategies in Ensuring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion post-SFFA v. Harvard Webinar Series

ABA House of Delegates

YourABA March 2017

ABA committee says civil justice system is broken, offers roadmap for improvement

Featured Articles

E-discovery specialists can provide competence, oversight for law firms

Advertising in social media

ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility hosts hearing at Midyear Meeting on amending lawyer advertising rules

Legal Innovation 101: Get with the program or get left behind experts say during Midyear Meeting

If you start a clinic to help veterans, they will come, panelists say

ABA committee says civil justice system is broken, offers roadmap for improvement

Employment lawyers explore challenges of closing gender pay gap

Uncertainty clouds business prospects with Cuba

Panelists call Batson a failure, offer solutions

Public service loan forgiveness programs offer relief from debt burden, say panelists

Combat Alexa hacks, fight ransomware, other tech musts to best secure client data

Children of those behind bars are unintended victims of mass incarceration, say researchers

ABA Resources

The ABA

Connect