Welcome back to the Top 10 in Law Blogs, where we compile our favorite and most relevant posts from the past week. This week’s list featured a variety of posts including Frost Brown Todd member Stephen Embry’s ten takaways from #ClioCon9; Reed Smith attorney’s Dr. Andreas Splittgerber and Friederike Detmering on what social media platforms need to know about Germany’s new hate speech act; and Jeff Nobles of the Smith Law Group had a great piece on how diabetes has helped him become a better appellate lawyer.
Backstory: From Chaos to Clout – By Joe Calve on In-House Ops: Thomson Reuters recently released the first edition of a new semiannual report focused on legal department operations. It’s called the Legal Tracker LDO Index Benchmarking & Trends Report, which puts it squarely under the company’s e-billing and matter management brand, Legal Tracker. View Full Post
Like fine wine, does M&A activity get better with age? – By Sara Josselyn on the Deal Law Wire:
Canada’s population is aging quite rapidly. Statistics Canada reported that in 2016, the proportion of seniors representing the total Canadian population surpassed that of children. Furthermore, since 2011, there has been a rapid increase in the number of Canadians over 65 years of age and leaving the workforce. View Full Post
How Appellate Work Saved Me from Diabetes and Diabetes Made Me a Better Appellate Lawyer – By Jeff Nobles on The Texas Appellate Law Blog: I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 44 years ago, on September 24, 1973, and have practiced appellate law full-time since 1989. Appellate law has played a major part in helping me live a longer and healthy life. In 1973, the life expectancy for a teenager diagnosed with diabetes was 50. View Full Post
Your Sensitive Information Was Accessed in a Government Hack? You May Have No Remedy – By Avi Gesser, Shahira D. Ali, Kelsey Clark and Alicia Robinson on Cyber Breach Center: In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 20th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that it was investigating a 2016 data breach of its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) database. The SEC does not believe that personally identifiable information was exposed, but the investigation is still ongoing and raises questions regarding government agencies’ obligations to protect sensitive information, and the potential litigation challenges facing individuals who are impacted by hacks of … View Full Post
Chicago City Council Committee Approves Hands Off-Pants On Ordinance to Protect Hotel Employees – By Shawn D. Fabian and Michael Roth on Sheppard Mullin’s Employment & Labor Law Blog: On October 2, 2017, the Chicago City Council Committee on Workplace Development and Audit approved an amendment to the Municipal Code (the “Ordinance”) that, if approved by the full City Council, will require hotel employers to equip hotel employees assigned to work in guestrooms or restrooms with portable emergency contact devices and develop and implement new anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures. View Full Post
Germany’s new hate speech act in force: what social network providers need to do now – By Dr. Andreas Splittgerber and Friederike Detmering on the Technology Law Dispatch blog: On 1 October 2017, the German Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act, „NetzDG“) that we already reported on in April and May, entered into force (English version here). The NetzDG shall be an “act to improve enforcement of the law in social networks” and aims at combating fake news and hate speech. View Full Post
ClioCloud9: 10 Takeaways – By Stephen Embry on TechLaw Crossroads: This year’s Clio Conference in New Orleans just concluded. Clio calls itself a cloud based law practice management software company. Every year, it holds a conference with lots of razzle dazzle, speakers and parties. And it always skates where the puck is going. View Full Post
Viability of the “Act of God” Defense in a Superstorm World: By Sarah Quiter on The Nickel Report: The stakes are high for anyone facing environmental liability in the wake of superstorms like Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Irma, and Maria. If you are among the parties potentially liable for the costs to clean up a release of oil or hazardous substances caused by a major storm event, you may be thinking about a possible “act of God” defense. View Full Post
Trinity: Divine Fifth Circuit Ruling Gives FCA Defendants Reason for Praise – By Peter B. Hutt II and Michael Wagner on Inside Government Contracts: Last year, the Supreme Court’s watershed Escobar ruling altered the landscape of False Claims Act litigation when it declared that the FCA’s materiality requirement presented a “demanding” barrier to plaintiffs alleging contractual non-compliance. In the 15 months since that time, lower courts have issued a steady stream of rulings interpreting and refining this standard. View Full Post
Retaliation for Refusing to Go Along with the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – By Gabrielle Nagle on The Whistleblowers Protection Blog: One of the biggest highlights of this year’s National Whistleblower Day celebration, was hearing Dr. Tommie “Toni” Savage tell her personal story of courage and suffering as a whistleblower who exposed corruption within the Army Corps of Engineers. It was a nightmare ordeal for Savage and her family who still continue to face the aftermath today. View Full Post