Listen to me explain why putting people at ease is the best way to elicit information from them. I don’t have a badge or a subpoena, so the key is to be nice to them and be interested in what they do, think, and feel. Get the podcast chat on Ernie Sander’s “You Said What?”
The Small Business Landlord-Tenant Wars Have Begun
The big guys have been going bankrupt, but the real carnage is yet to come:. Among America’s small businesses. Potential creditors need to get organized for the fight which appears to have been kicked off in New York this month with a fascinating case.
We have seen the big names going down including JC Penney,
Atlanta Paper Exposes Widespread Violation of Federal Law by Private Investigators and the Lawyers That Enable Them
Great work by the Atlanta Journal Constitution on an issue that’s bugged me for years: the brazen violation of federal law by investigators and the lawyers who hire them.
At issue is the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, meant to protect the confidentiality of banking records. You are not allowed to pretend to be someone
The Cosby Trial’s Lesson: Evidence is Good, Admissible Evidence is Better
One lawyer we know has a stock answer when clients ask him how good their case is: “I don’t know. The courts are the most lawless place in America.”
What he means is that even though the law is supposed to foster predictability so that we will know how to act without breaking our society’s
3 Ways to Improve Law Firm Innovation
Lawyers need to find witnesses. They look for assets to see if it’s worth suing or if they can collect after they win. They want to profile opponents for weaknesses based on past litigation or business dealings.
Every legal matter turns on facts. Most cases don’t go to trial, fewer still go to appeal, but
A Little Diligence on Local Businesses Goes a Long Way Toward Preventing Fraud
We pretty regularly find ourselves blogging about small business owners that draw people into scams. We’ve seen the would-be movie executive, the sweet-talking investment solicitor, the landscaper and the produce company owner. Too often, we find that defrauded consumers and investors could have avoided their losses by doing some basic due diligence.
Betrayed by Their Own Reflection: Selfies Help Police Catch Criminals
Not one, but two stories of criminals foiled by their own selfies have made the headlines this past week. Tanya Peele, a 26-year-old Atlanta woman, is accused of setting up a fake business account at JP Morgan, then using that account to steal over $100,000. When Peele went to withdraw the allegedly stolen cash
The E.U. Google Decision: Big Brother Gets to Play Favorites
The on-line world is abuzz today with news from Europe’s highest court that Google will have to start removing links to certain information that some judge or bureaucrat decides is irrelevant. Even if it’s true and lawfully posted, the governments of Europe now get to decide what’s suitable to read, case by case
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We’re
Finding Phone Records: Usually Out of Bounds
Last week, the Associated Press reported that the Department of Justice had obtained confidential phone records for more than 20 telephone lines used by the staff of the Associated Press while investigating leaks of classified information. Only days later, news surfaced that the DOJ had also accessed the phone records and emails of James Rosen
The Masters: In Golf, Facts and Law Just Like in Real Life
There has been no end of snobbery over the years that makes fun of the conservatism of golf: so much space to serve so few athletes, the cost to the environment, the exclusivity of the private clubs, and so on.
But this fascinating New York Times article made clear to me that in one respect