January 2012 Archives

Super Lawyers is very pleased to announce the recipients of the 2011 Super Lawyers Pro Bono Awards. The awards recognize attorneys, law students, law firms and other legal organizations for offering volunteer legal services to the poor, disadvantage or exploited. Super Lawyers received more than 200 submissions showcasing exceptional pro bono work from around the country.

Selecting the top volunteer efforts for 2011 was no easy task, but Super Lawyers narrowed it down to eight recipients. For the individual recipients, we provide some details about their pro bono work.

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's new:

FindLaw Consumer Blogs

• Capital Gains Tax Isn't Just for Rich People: GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns sparked some buzz about the fairness of our tax system. But the 15% capital-gains tax rate that Romney used to his advantage is actually available to everyone -- with exceptions, of course. Grab a calculator and follow along as FindLaw's Law and Daily Life deciphers IRS guidelines about capital gains.

Your time is precious. You need to keep up with the latest court decisions and legal news. You have neither the time nor the energy to plug through case law in your down time.

So turn to FindLaw for your legal news.

Did you know that FindLaw.com isn't just a resource for statutes and cases; FindLaw has a dedicated team of lawyers who research and write 19 blogs for legal professionals, generating fresh content for attorneys five days a week.

Happy 2012 everyone! With 12 months to continue crafting quality content to share and interact on your various social networks, one great approach to the new year is to create an editorial calendar around events you know you will want to talk about.

Here are some examples of how this pre-planning transitions nicely into your blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Blogs:

You can hardly do anything these days without hearing, seeing or reading about the upcoming presidential election. With that in mind, take a moment to think about how some of the issues being debated relate to your legal practice. For instance, if you are an employment law attorney you can talk about where the two candidates (or within each party) stand on important employment law issues. Not only are you joining the larger conversation about an important topic to your readers, but you are making the story legally relevant.

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week’s offerings from various areas of FindLaw’s unique content, including: core legal content, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what’s new:

FindLaw Consumer Blogs

• Cruise Ship Injuries: What are Your Rights?: Shipwrecks like the Costa Concordia disaster could lead to a wave of injury claims. But a passenger’s right to take legal action may be limited. FindLaw’s Injured explains why you should look at your ticket contract, and perhaps a map, when considering a cruise-injury lawsuit.

Law schools groom students to apply to firms, rather than hang shingles. Generally, it's a good plan. Existing firms provide mentorship and name recognition, allowing bright, new lawyers to build a reputation in their communities.

BigLaw, (or even Mid-SizeLaw), however, is not for everyone. Many lawyers toy with the idea of self-employment, but lack the know-how to start their own practices. FindLaw for Legal Professionals fills that knowledge gap.

Welcome to another post from our “Meet the FindLaw Team” series. “Meet the FindLaw Team” provides insight into the day-to-day lives of our colleagues. Today we feature FindLaw Senior Web Designer Brittney Hall. Get to know Brittney reading about her experiences at FindLaw below.

What is your current title?

Senior web designer in customer operations.

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's new:

FindLaw Consumer Blogs

• 5 Key Cases Since MLK's 'I Have a Dream' Speech: As the nation reflects on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we look at how King's call for a more civil society has been reflected in our courts. FindLaw's Law and Daily Life describes five important cases involving race and discrimination in the nearly 50 years since King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

Welcome to another post from our "Meet the FindLaw Team" series. "Meet the FindLaw Team" provides insight into the day-to-day lives of our colleagues. Today we feature FindLaw Sales Consultant Becky Kosidowski. Get to know Becky by reading about her experiences at FindLaw below.

What is your current title?

FindLaw Sales Consultant

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's new:

FindLaw Consumer Blogs

• Record $322M Asbestos Verdict Thrown Out by Miss. Judge: An asbestos case verdict, and the record-setting award that followed, have been vacated without explanation. But all signs point to a judge's potential conflict of interest, which he allegedly failed to disclose. FindLaw's Decided explains how legal actions by the judge's parents may have led to the vacated verdict.

If a lawyer launches a website, but clients never find it, is it worth the effort?

Businesses need a web presence; law firms are no exception. According to a TMPDM/comScore local search usage study, 57 percent of people searching locally online contact the businesses they find on the Internet.