April 20, 2007

Table of Contents

LAWYER MARKETING

• Making The Most Of Client Surveys
• Before Starting to Write: Maximizing the Potential of Bylined Articles

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

• Setting Up Your Office: Furniture and Supplies
• Privacy Apps Have Potential to Help, Hinder Attorneys

LAWYER LIFESTYLE

• The Unique Psychological World of Lawyers
• Explorations in Wine

COURT SIDE

• It's Time for the Supreme Court's Sony Betamax Decision to Be Reversed
• "Lawyers.com" Ruled Too Generic to Trademark
• The Supreme Court as Umpire?: How the Global Warming Decision Illuminates the Role We Ask the Justices to Play
* Read the Decision

INSIDER TIPS & SMALL FIRM NEWS

• Court Order Bans Owner of Rap-A-Lot Records From 'Harassing' Rival Rap Music Executive
* Who is Plaintiff's Counsel?
• Illinois Franchisees File Class Action Suit Against Quiznos Sub
* Meet the Plaintiff's Attorney
• Federman & Sherwood Announces That a Securities Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Amgen, Inc.
* Lean More About the Firm
• Bill Broadening Prescribing Rights to Psychologists Unsafe and Unnecessary
• NCRC Calls For a Congressionally-Mandated Stay To Slow Down ´Foreclosure Mills´ Operated By Law Firms

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LAWYER MARKETING:

MAKING THE MOST OF CLIENT SURVEYS
(Charles A. Maddock) - Client surveys have become increasingly popular among law firms. And with good reason.Properly designed, client surveys can help the firm in many ways. Read more...

Related Resources
Access Legal Marketing White Papers and More!

BEFORE STARTING TO WRITE: MAXIMIZING THE POTENTIAL OF BYLINED ARTICLES
(Steven A. Meyerowitz) - Article writing is an important business development tool. But to obtain the most value from an investment of time and money in writing bylined articles, lawyers should take a number of steps before the writing actually begins. Read more...

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

SETTING UP YOUR OFFICE: FURNITURE AND SUPPLIES
(FindLaw's Law Firm Business Center) - Attorneys looking to start up a firm often look for the best furniture, equipment, and supplies available so as to impress their prospective clients once the office is open. However, lawyers just starting out their careers or making a clean, fresh transition from another practice may have to be more practical in their considerations. Read more...


PRIVACY APPS HAVE POTENTIAL TO HELP, HINDER ATTORNEYS
(FindLaw's Legal Technology Center) - A number of scandals in recent years have revealed the power of the electronic record. From Enron to the Foley page scandal, email and instant messaging technologies have provided evidence of wrongdoing long after their users had assumed that the information had disappeared into the ether. Information stored by web browsers and on Internet servers can also hold secrets about web-browsing habits that most users would prefer not to reveal. With this in mind, a number of developers have created programs and services that protect privacy by reducing or eliminating the electronic trail that online communications typically leave behind. Read more...


LAWYER LIFESTYLE:

THE UNIQUE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORLD OF LAWYERS
(Ronda Muir) - A psychological profile of lawyers is strikingly different from that of Americans generally. That means that, in many ways, entering a law firm or law department amounts to entering into a world different from the one "outside," with different majority and minority attitudes and traits, different expectations and different ways of making decisions and dealing with conflict. Read more...


EXPLORATIONS IN WINE
(FindLaw's Law Firm Business Center) - You've managed to figure out the basic "red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat (pork doesn't count)" rule. Now you're looking to try something a bit more exotic. In fact, you've decided that if you know a wine's name, it's not good enough for your palate. You're looking to travel (please don't drink and drive) down the road less traveled. A few vino suggestions for as you begin your exploration. Read more...

Related Resources
Get More Out of Your Lawyer Lifestyle


COURT SIDE:

IT'S TIME FOR THE SUPREME COURT'S SONY BETAMAX DECISION TO BE REVERSED
(Marci Hamilton) - Recently, the Wall Street Journal's front page reported on the new practice of creating "guerrilla video sites" -- websites that offer menus of links to illegal video copies of television shows and movies. For obvious reasons, the television and motion picture industries are not happy with the sites. For equally obvious reasons, the practice of posting the links is illegal: a prime example of contributory copyright infringement. Read more...

Related Resources
FindLaw's Writ: Daily Legal Commentary


"LAWYERS.COM" RULED TOO GENERIC TO TRADEMARK
(Kevin Fayle) - A company seeking to register the "Lawyers.com" mark received some bad news out of the Federal Circuit recently. The court upheld the Patent and Trademark Office's determination that the mark was too generic in relation to the kinds of services offered on the website, and affirmed the PTO's denial of the registration. Read more...


THE SUPREME COURT AS UMPIRE?: HOW THE GLOBAL WARMING DECISION ILLUMINATES THE ROLE WE ASK THE JUSTICES TO PLAY
Chief Justice John Roberts gave a memorably smooth performance during his confirmation hearings. The moment for which his testimony may be most vividly remembered, is one where he used a metaphor to describe the judicial role: Judges are like baseball umpires, Roberts said. Their job is simply to call balls and strikes, applying the strike zone defined by the Constitution and the laws the Congress enacts. Read more...

Related Resources
Read the Decision (Mass. v. EPA)


INSIDER TIPS & SMALL FIRM NEWS:

COURT ORDER BANS OWNER OF RAP-A-LOT RECORDS FROM 'HARASSING' RIVAL RAP MUSIC EXECUTIVE
(PRN) - A Houston-area state district judge has granted a Temporary Restraining Order against James Prince a/k/a J. Prince. The order, requested by rival recording executive Ronnie Bookman, follows allegations that Prince arranged for Bookman to be severely beaten in a dispute involving Houston's hip hop industry. Read more...

Related Resources
John Thomas of Hicks Thomas & Lilienstern, Plaintiff's Counsel


ILLINOIS FRANCHISEES FILE CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST QUIZNOS SUB
A class-action lawsuit was filed against Quiznos Sub today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging that the company has systematically defrauded its franchisees in a scheme designed to build the brand at the expense of its operators in the field. Read more...

Related Resources
Plaintiff's Attorney Justin M. Klein's TLR Profile


FEDERMAN & SHERWOOD ANNOUNCES THAT A SECURITIES CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST AMGEN, INC.
On April 17, 2007, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Amgen, Inc. . The complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws, Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, including allegations of issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market which had the effect of artificially inflating the market price. The class period is from May 4, 2005 through March 9, 2007. Read more...

Related Resources
More About Federman & Sherwood


BILL BROADENING PRESCRIBING RIGHTS TO PSYCHOLOGISTS UNSAFE AND UNNECESSARY
(PRN) - Setting the stage for another legislative battle that puts mental health patients in the middle, a bill seeking to give licensed psychologists prescribing privileges for dangerous medications is scheduled to be heard on April 23, 2007 in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. The bill, SB 993, is the fifth legislative attempt since 1995 to broaden psychologists' scope of practice. Read more...


NCRC CALLS FOR A CONGRESSIONALLY-MANDATED STAY TO SLOW DOWN ´FORECLOSURE MILLS´ OPERATED BY LAW FIRMS
(PRN) - The National Community Reinvestment Coalition urged lawmakers today to pass legislation immediately to shut down the "foreclosure mills" being operated by law firms, racing to kick out financially-troubled subprime borrowers from their homes. The law firms represent mortgage servicers, Wall Street investment firms and lenders. Read more...