Recently in Interesting Facts and Statistics Category

Have you clicked on FindLaw's Lawyer Directory lately? Or perhaps you've joined a discussion in our FindLaw Answers community forum, or even took the time to let us know about a typo on one of our millions of pages of content.

If so, you know that FindLaw.com is as dynamic and responsive to user feedback as websites can get. And it's thanks to software engineers like Margaret Omanska who make it all happen.

"I've been here 13 years, and the people are still fantastic," Omanska said about her tenure at FindLaw. "You feel like people really care."

For more than 30 years, Americans have tuned into "Family Feud," a game show that features ordinary families facing off to guess the top responses to survey questions. The host will offer a prompt like "Name a place you visit where you aren't allowed to touch anything," and players will shout responses like "Museum!" and "Zoo!," attempting to win a cash prize.

But a "Family Feud" survey exists only to create topics for the show. At the end of the day, the answers are reported and discarded.

At FindLaw, we view surveys differently. Here, survey responses represent the beginning of an inquiry, not the end. Throughout the year, we constantly analyze survey data to learn how we can improve the FindLaw.com consumer experience.

In School House Rock! there's bill sitting on Capitol Hill, hoping and praying that he will become a law. He explains:

When I started, I wasn't even a bill, I was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local Congressman and he said, "You're right, there ought to be a law." Then he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me to Congress. And I became a bill, and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law.

Certainly, that's how many bills originate, but it's not the only way. The seeds for some bills start in the courts, not with the constituents. Take, for example, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which evolved from a lawsuit.

When Andrew Chow started at FindLaw.com, he couldn’t identify a single Kardashian. That may not be an occupational hazard in most fields, but a passing familiarity with the Kardashians is practically a requirement for FindLaw bloggers.

Regardless of how you feel about the first family of reality TV, the Kardashians have faced a plethora of legal dilemmas: divorce, lawsuits, contract disputes, etc. FindLaw’s writers have used some of those “real” world experiences to explain legal concepts to readers.

So how did Chow — a recent law school grad and former television news producer — overcome his Kardashian handikap?

Last year was highlighted by new laws legalizing marijuana; a failed legal challenge to Obamacare; heated discussions over tax policy; charges of money laundering at a large bank; and a renewed debate about gun policy in the wake of several tragic mass shootings. But along the way, we Americans also managed to gawk at Kim Kardashian, laugh at various YouTube mash-ups of “Call Me Maybe,” and generally take our minds off the more troubling news stories of the year.

But at FindLaw, all that matters to us is what matters to our readers, who come to our site for actionable legal guidance. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 search terms at FindLaw.com for 2012 (with relevant links for each):

Every organization relies on individuals, each pulling his or her own weight (and then some) to achieve a shared success. The collective efforts of software engineers, Web designers, content writers, bloggers, editors, online Answers community moderators, marketing professionals, and other experts synergize into the comprehensive legal news and information portal that is FindLaw.com.

But despite the talented roster of professionals in our Sunnyvale office, only one -- Amit Rajwani, Systems Engineer for Thomson Reuters' Internal Technology Services -- has earned superhero status (though he doesn't wear a cape or, thankfully, tights). Simply put, nothing gets done without his technological wizardry and calm demeanor.

Coffee and donuts can build bridges. Just ask the folks here at FindLaw.com's Sunnyvale, Calif., office, where we enjoy copious amounts of free coffee -- as well as bagels, donuts, and fresh fruit delivered to our office every Friday.

Those free Friday breakfasts give FindLaw's teams of lawyers and engineers an excuse to socialize and exchange ideas.

They also offer a chance to mingle with other Thomson Reuters staffers who share office space with FindLaw -- and who are working on completely different projects.

A gang of actual zombies dragging their decomposing, brain-seeking selves through the streets or a grinning, chainsaw-wielding madman stalking the neighborhood surely would raise a few goose bumps anytime of the year. But what about the five-year-old girl dressed as a mermaid knocking on your door on Halloween night?

While trick-or-treaters generally are much cuter than they are scary, and even if we gasp in mock terror before dropping a Snickers bar in their bags, the holiday itself presents a potential blood bath of legal problems. Halloween should be fun, but simply whistling through the graveyard instead of taking a few smart precautions can drive a stake right through your evening.

Courtesy of the skeleton crew at FindLaw, here are some of the more common legal mishaps you should try to avoid this Halloween:

Celebrities love the spotlight. Whether at the latest movie premiere or at the trendiest dinner spot in LA, most of Hollywood's elite can't seem to get enough attention. They also get lots of attention (mostly unwanted) from the law. But why would a legal website such as ourselves dedicate an entire blog to the legal happenings of celebrities?

A couple of reasons. To begin with, we are just as entertained by celebrities as many of our readers are. So when a celebrity couple files for divorce or Hulk Hogan sues over a sex tape, or the Lohan family does pretty much anything, we are presented with the unique opportunity to apply our legal expertise to a trending pop culture issue.

Ever wonder where all the legal information here at FindLaw.com comes from? The answer lies with our teams of lawyers and engineers. And technically, a few "Mavericks" as well.

Most of what a visitor sees in FindLaw's Learn About the Law section comes from the minds of FindLaw's lawyers. These lawyer-writers break down laws and legal principles so everyday consumers can understand them.

But FindLaw also boasts a bevy of court decisions, state laws, and federal laws, straight from the source. And that's where our engineers and "Mavericks" come in.