Tag: Law News

CAPITAL CASE

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block the execution of an Oklahoma man with schizophrenia, rejecting a claim from his legal team that he does not understand the reason for his execution. Benjamin Cole is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday.

The court turned down Cole’s last-minute appeal in a brief order with no recorded dissents. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the decision. Gorsuch likely recused himself because he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit when Cole sought relief from that court during earlier litigation.

Cole was convicted and sentenced in 2004 for killing his nine-month-old daughter. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. According to his defense team, Cole has been unable to interact with his lawyers for years, and prison staff have confirmed he

After many years with the same ‘look’, Lexis Library has updated its interface to a new and more streamlined version – Lexis+ UK.   From Thursday 15th September, when you go onto Lexis, this new platform will be ‘live’ and the old version will no longer be available.

Like with most new platforms,  the best way to learn is to go on and have a look around.  However to help with the basics, we have put a few pointers below.  We have also produced a 15 minute video to go through things in more detail for those that prefer to see it demonstrated rather than static screen shots.  It can be found  on the Law Bod 4 Students Canvas page, under Panopto Recordings here https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/169355 or if you cannot access that site then it is also on YouTube here https://youtu.be/dcqnJ7yLIZs  (please note that we are still working on the closed captions

What to do when your law firm won’t embrace technology

Many legal professionals face the frustration of working at a firm that will not embrace technology. If you’re feeling stuck at a firm that insists on doing things manually, you’re not alone.

A large factor in this dynamic is the generational gap. Older partners may be dead set against drastic changes, while junior attorneys and other legal professionals know how digital technology can positively transform their workplace.

So is the answer to just accept working at a Luddite law firm?

We say no.

Instead, seek out ways of encouraging tech adoption at your firm, even if you are not the ultimate decision-maker on the issue. Then you can work to make some major shifts in the firm’s culture around innovation — or, if your efforts really are wasted, transition to a firm that already has the right

At its annual Clio Cloud Conference today, the law practice management company Clio released the 2022 edition of its annual Legal Trends Report – its seventh year of the report.

It finds that law firms are seeing an average 10% increase in the growth of new business, but that their fees are 3% below where they should be given recent trends in inflation.

It also finds a profession grappling with work-life balance, as many lawyers are changing jobs in search of work-life balance and 49% say they would rather work from home.

“The past two years have fundamentally changed how lawyers define the role of work in their lives,” said Jack Newton, Clio’s founder and CEO. “The challenge for every law firm is to meet the expectations of clients and employees while balancing business objectives in a fluctuating economy.

“Technology is enabling much-needed flexibility for today’s lawyers, and this

Ed. note: This post by longtime ATL contributor Brian Cuban is aimed at informing our audience of the invaluable online peer-to-peer support group for legal professionals, The Lawyers Depression Project.  Over the coming months, we will continue to highlight and promote LDP as a community service for our audience.

The Lawyers Depression Project (LDP) started off with a handful of participants meeting virtually a few times a month to talk about coping with mental health while practicing law. Since then, it has grown into a worldwide community of over 900 members, with weekly peer support meetings and other resources like an online forum for lawyers, legal admin and support staff, and law students to connect with each other.

I was so moved by LDP’s commitment to wellness in the legal profession that I became a member of the LDP Board of Directors. As someone who has long been

CASE PREVIEW

California wants to ensure that pork products sold in the state come from humanely raised pigs, but the pork industry argues that the state law is unconstitutional. (Robert Crow via Shutterstock)

In 2018, California voters approved Proposition 12, a ballot initiative that its supporters describe as the country’s strongest law to protect farm animals. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a challenge to the constitutionality of the law. The challengers, two groups that represent farmers and pork producers, contend that the law “will transform the pork industry nationwide,” while California and its supporters insist that the impact will be more limited. And both sides of the dispute contend that a ruling for the other side will have legal implications far beyond animal welfare.

Proposition 12 bars the sale in California of uncooked pork products