E-Commerce Law

E-Commerce Law Named to Top 100 Legal Blogs

The Criminal Justice Degrees Guide has named E-Commerce Law to its list of the "top 100 law and lawyer blogs."  Other notables on the list include Above the Law, Blawg Review, and Internet Cases.

Blawg Review #167

The Blawg Review is a weekly review of the best law-related posts from a variety of blogs.  We've had the pleasure of hosting the Blawg Review twice before (Blawg Review #103 and Blawg Review #140) and we're thrilled to be hosting Blawg Review #167.   

Since this edition of the Blawg Review immediately follows the Independence Day weekend ("America's Birthday," according to my three-year old daughter), we thought it would be appropriate to follow a patriotic theme.  Finding no more worthy or patriotic symbol than the flag of the United States of America, we decided to use this post to recognize "50 Stars of the Blawgosphere," one important or influential legal blog or blogger from each of the 50 states represented as five-pointed stars on the Flag.  Here they are, one for each star/state, in the order in which their state ratified the United States Constitution or was admitted to the Union:

E-Commerce Law Will Host the Independence Day Edition of Blawg Review

We've hosted Blawg Review twice (Blawg Review #103 and Blawg Review #140) and enjoyed it so much that we asked to host this year's Independence Day edition, which will be posted on July 7, 2008. 

After considering a number of possible themes, we've settled on presenting a post enumerating "50 Stars of the Blawgosphere" in which we will discuss the blawggers, blawgs, cases, and issues that are most important or influential in modern legal blogging.  In an attempt to make that issue of the Blawg Review based on something more than our arbitrary (and somewhat myopic) view of the blawgosphere, we invite (beg) our readers to submit their own nominations for this highly (or barely) coveted recognition.

If you wish to nominate a blawgger, blawg, case, or issue for consideration as one of the "50 Stars of the Blawgosphere," please submit your nomination as a comment to this post.  Remember, your nomination need not be an individual blawger (though a person may be nominated) or even a blawg (though those can be nominated too), it can be a case or issue that has influenced legal blogging or become a popular topic for legal bloggers (e.g., the effect of the economy on law firms).

Blawg Review #144

We don't make a habit out of pointing out when the most recent edition of the Blawg Review has been posted.  We figure that our readers probably go to Blawg Review to check on that.  However, this week's edition is hosted by one of our alltime favorite Blawg Review hosts, Cyberlaw Central.

You may recall that Cyberlaw Central hosted Blawg Review #42, with its Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy theme, and Blawg Review #93, based on Illuminati by Steve Jackson Games.  This week's edition, Blawg Review #144, has a Lord of the Rings theme and includes some great illustrations from John Howe.

"David Lat Has a Stupid Fat Face"

This afternoon I spoke at a DC Bar event entitled "Practicing Law in the e-Court of Public Opinion:  How the Internet Can Make Or Break Your Reputation and What You Can Do About It" with David Lat, Carolyn Elefant, Mark Britton, and Andrew Mirsky.  I found it to be a profoundly interesting and educational experience.

Dedon on Estate Planning

After being quoted a number of times in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, my colleague John Dedon has decided to take his message directly to the people.  This month, John launched Dedon on Estate Planning, a regularly-updated discussion of estate planning techniques. 

Though I expect his work to be of interest to estate planning attorneys, financial planners, and insurance brokers, it's plainly written to be accessible to anyone.  Yesterday, he asked Why Do I Need a Will? while today's post addresses more advanced estate planning techniques. 

Aside from the times that we have hosted the Blawg Review (#103 and #140), we rarely have the opportunity to suggest a blog that is wholly unrelated to e-commerce law.  However, we understand that everyone needs estate planning information and John's expertise in the field is well-recognized.  Take a look and let us know what you think.

Blawg Review #140

The Blawg Review is a weekly review of the best law-related posts from a variety of blogs. Having enjoyed hosting Blawg Review #103 (the BaseBlawg Review) in April, I eagerly volunteered to host another installment. However, other than to direct your attention to the Sports Law Blog’s summary of commentary on the Mitchell report, this edition of the Blawg Review will have no references whatsoever to baseball. Like many other legal bloggers do at this time of year (like here, here, here, here, and here), I’ll stick with a holiday theme.

Since today is Christmas Eve, I thought about drawing inspiration for this issue from Twas the Night Before Christmas before the Blawg Review’s intrepid editor pointed out that a similar framework had been used, years ago, by Wired GC. Undeterred, I turned to another holiday favorite, the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Law Firm Growth Management Seminar Recap

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Law Firm Growth Management Conference at the Harvard Club in New York. I was part of the panel on "Legal Blogs and Other Technology" with fellow bloggers Arnie Herz, Jim Hassett, and Peter Marx.

You may know Arnie Herz from Legal Sanity or Legal Blog Watch. He’s an attorney in New York who also runs a successful training business which focuses on the art of relationships. (As a side note, Arnie’s Legal Sanity blog hosted Blawg Review #108 this week.)

Jim Hassett provides sales training for attorneys and blogs at Law Firm Business Development. His company, LegalBizDev, provides business development workshops and coaching for larger law firms.

Peter Marx is the president and co-founder of Legal Insight Media, Inc., which helps law firms create multimedia marketing and recruiting presentations. His blog is the Law Firm Media Blog.

We addressed a number of blog-related issues of interest to attorneys and law firm business development directors and, while we didn’t always agree, it was interesting to tap into the combined legal and marketing experience of the panel. Highlights of the session included discussions of:

• The legal risks associated with blogging and the protections afforded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 affords online publishers fairly broad protection against liability for content authored solely by third parties. With that exception, Internet publications, like blogs, have the same risks associated with them as any other form of mass communication.

• The benefits of legal blogging: primarily credibility and visibility.

• The current state of legal blogging and its prospects for the future. Legal blogs still make up a small minority of existing blogs, though more and more attorneys are entering the blogosphere.  Of course, attorneys blog more than the general population.

• The logistics of legal blogging. Although the panel noted that most current legal blogs are authored by a single attorney, we generally agreed that it would be most beneficial to blog as a practice area or department. Arnie was particularly supportive of involving younger associates in the blogging process, in both the research and writing, noting that it saves the time of more senior (and, therefore, higher billing) attorneys and helps to promote the associate.

All in all, it was an interesting and educational experience. If you happened to be in the audience on Tuesday, drop us a comment and let us know what you thought.

Technorati Tags:  CDA, blawg

Vote for E-Commerce Law

E-Commerce Law has been nominated for a Blogger's Choice Award in the Best Business Blog category.  The winners will be announced on June 2, 2007. 

You can vote for E-Commerce Law here.

Technorati Tags:  Blogger's Choice Awards

Blawg Review #103

The Blawg Review is a weekly review of the best law-related posts from a variety of blogs and I have the pleasure of hosting this week’s issue. In honor of the annual return of our National Pastime, I am pleased to present Blawg Review #103, the BaseBlawg Review.

A (Very) Brief History of Baseball in the United States

Professional baseball in the United States dates back to 1869 and its been our "National Pastime" since the 1870s.  The leagues that make up modern day Major League Baseball (MLB) are each more than 100 years old (the National League was established in 1876, the American League in 1901).  Off field competition between these two leagues, for players and fans, was heated until 1903, when the World Series was established, leading to Major League Baseball as we know it today.

The Ceremonial First Pitch

First thrown by President William Howard Taft in 1910, the ceremonial first pitch is a well-known ritual of baseball. Nearly every United States President since Taft has thrown the first pitch of a baseball season.

The BaseBlawg Review’s ceremonial first pitch is being thrown by James of Begging to Differ, who posted his thoughts on Opening Day 2007.

The Umpire

Like baseball umpires, trial attorneys rely on judges to "call balls and strikes." What follows are this week’s posts addressing the power of judges, juries, and courts to adjudicate particular disputes, the manner in which that power is exercised, and the (sometimes odd) results.

Anne Reed and Deliberations presents a shocking example of jury compromise. The South Carolina Appellate Law Blog also posted about the case.

Point of Law.com directs us to a decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court "reversing an appellate court that had misapplied basic conflict-of-laws principles."

Legal Pad has Justin Scheck’s post "En Banc Notice Bolster’s Snarky Dissent."

The Infield Fly Rule

When there are fewer than two outs and there is a force play at third, the batter who hits a fair fly ball that, in the umpire’s judgment may be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, is out. Rule 6.05e, commonly referred to as the "infield fly rule," is among the most commonly misunderstood rules in baseball. This portion of the BaseBlawg Review is devoted to laws which have proven to be inscrutable, ill-conceived, or simply odd.

Jamie Spencer notes that under Texas’s current parole system felons "are serving higher and higher percentages of their sentences, even when they accumulate substantial good-time credit" at Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer.

Walking the Berkshires fills us in on some strange Connecticut laws.

Eric Goldman updates us on the Utah state legislature's assault on keyword advertising.

The MLB All-Star Game

Marking the symbolic midpoint of the baseball season, the "Midsummer Classic" is the annual game between selected players from the National and American Leagues.

At this, the midpoint of the BaseBlawg Review, we take a moment to review law student Timothy Bishop’s post on lawyer superlatives, specifically the SuperLawyers list.

The Designated Hitter

To improve offensive performance in games, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule in 1973. Under the rule, which has been adopted by most minor leagues, teams may designate a hitter to bat in place of the pitcher. In the National League, pitchers still bat for themselves. Since E-Commerce Law is the "designated hitter" for this week’s Blawg Review, we’ve devoted this section to topics of particular interest to our regular readers.

Enrico Schaefer directs us to the "Registerfly Update from ICANN" on the ICANN Blog.

Like us, Blawg IT is interested in the issue of Internet jurisdiction.

We follow the practice tip recently offered by Kevin Thompson at Cyberlaw Central: "Use Truecrypt to secure portable media."

David Jacobson’s External Insights include a post on business wikis.

Volokh points his readers to Terranova’s post on one law school’s class expedition experience with property law concepts in a well-known virtual world.

Adam Smith, Esq. discusses an ambitious online community devoted to facilitating communication and business deals between the legal departments of large law companies and the lawyers who serve their legal needs.

Techdirt decries the current state of trademark protection in "Can't Drink Coke In A Movie Without Coca Cola's Permission?"

This week, the Washington Post reported that video blogger Josh Wolf was released from jail after serving nearly eight months on a contempt charge for refusing to testify about about an anarchist's demonstration.  Evan Brown mentioned the story at Internet Cases.

Regular readers of our E-Commerce Law Briefs know about the copyright infringement case filed by two Virginia high school students against the plagerism-detecting Turnitin system.  This week, the case has spawned posts at Long Road, the Student Printz, and IT: Instructional Technology.

The Black Sox Scandal

Arguably the best known sports scandal in history, the conspiracy amongst several members of the Chicago White Sox to throw games during the 1919 World Series is commonly referred to as the "Black Sox" scandal. The scandal resulted in the lifetime ban of eight players and has been immortalized in print and on film. This section of the BaseBlawg Review is devoted to bad conduct of all types.

Timothy Bishop of the Legal Scoop responds to a recent "payola" settlement between the government and broadcast companies.

Teen age foolishness is the topic of "To the Moon, Alice" at Overlawyered.

When copying pornographic images from a friend’s computer, one should take care not to copy military secrets as well. See this post at Infamy or Praise.

Embezzlement in law firms? It’s still a problem, according to LawBiz Blog.

A lawyer has been charged in the vehicular death of a Sheriff’s Deputy. The Legal Reader has details.

The Seventh Inning Stretch

Baseball’s seventh inning stretch is a traditional break in the action between the halves of the seventh inning. Feel free to stand up, walk around, or stretch before returning for the last two innings of the BaseBlawg Review.

The Bullpen

Before heading to the mound, pitchers warm up in the bullpen. Here we present cases yet to be decided, controversies brewing, and other matters that are "waiting in the wings."

Stephen at Patent Baristas discusses Abbott Laboratories’ announcement that it will not launch new medications in Thailand.

Antitrust Review updates us on trouble brewing in the online music industry here and here.

The Clean-up Hitter

It is the job of the fourth batter in the line up, the clean-up hitter, to "clean up the bases." So, we use this last portion of the BaseBlawg Review to clean up any loose ends.

Randy L. Braun of Juz the Fax asks "Do Pro Se Litigants Have an Advantage?"

Madeleine Begun Kane has the Form 1040 Blues.

AdamsDrafting helps us to properly use "Including Without Limitation."

"‘Changes Being Effected’ Labeling and Novelty" at Drug and Device Law.

Conglomerate's "Is that a Zillow on My Pillow?"

Legal Andrew provides some business card ideas.

Jim Hassett tells lawyers how to qualify new client prospects at Legal Business Development.

And here we are, the last out of the ninth inning, as the fans head to the parking lot. It was my pleasure to host the BaseBlawg Review.

Blawg Review has information about next week's host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Technorati Tags:  Blawg Review

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