Leader of the Pack

The United States leads the field in nanotechnology invention, based on the amount of patent literature published on the topic in 2012. According to a survey of the literature, American inventors accounted for 54% of all nanotechnology patent literature published last year. South Korean inventors came in second with 7.8% and Japanese inventors took third, holding 7.1% of patent literature worldwide.

Source: Intellectual Property in the Next Technology Revolution: How Does the United States Stack Up? by McDermott Will & Emery, February 2013.

50% of pre-law students plan to use their law degree in a nontraditional legal job.

Source: Kaplan Test Prep survey, April 11, 2013.

On any given day, 300 immigrants are held in solitary confinement at the country’s 50 largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.

Source: New York Times, March 23, 2013.

Say What?

“Plaintiffs have outmaneuvered the legal system. They’ve discovered the nexus of antiquated copyright laws, paralyzing social stigma and unaffordable defense costs. And they exploit this anomaly by accusing individuals of illegally downloading a single pornographic video. … For these individuals, resistance is futile. … So now, copyright laws originally designed to compensate starving artists allow starving attorneys in this electronic-media era to plunder the citizenry.”

–U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in Ingenuity 13 v. John Doe (Central District of California, 2013).

7 Weeks

The average amount of time it takes Apple to help police unlock iPhones.

Source: CNet news, May 10, 2013.

23% of Americans say they have had problems with their credit report. 68% of those have been able to correct them. 18% of people reporting problems were never able to get them corrected.

Source: FindLaw survey, May 28, 2013.

One Week

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hit the H-1B cap for the 2014 fiscal year within the first week of the filing period this year.

Source: Laner Muchin, April 16, 2013.

Liar, Liar

81% of people lied about themselves during job interviews.

Source: The Daily Stat, HBR.org, June 3, 2013.

Twitter is the most popular form of social media used by U.K. law firms, followed by Facebook and LinkedIn.

Source: Living Group’s Social Media and Brand Content in Professional Services, April 2013.

Up, Up and Away

Since 2008, the number of wage and hour claims filed in federal court has been steadily increasing: In 2008, 5,302 actions were filed; in 2009, 5,644 were filed; in 2010, 6,081 actions; in 2011, 7,008; in 2012, 7,064; and so far in 2013, 7,764 actions have been filed.

Source: Wage & Hour Litigation Blog, Seyfarth Shaw, May 9, 2013.