Business Development

Why did a Georgia city prohibit tattoos on Sundays?

These days, people from all walks of life get tattoos. But in Columbus, Georgia, it was illegal to give them on Sundays, until recently. No one knows for sure what led to the law, but some suspect that it was what’s known as a “blue law,” a term for state and municipal regulations that prohibits commerce on Sundays, when lawmakers thought people should be in church.

Feb 24, 2020 3:35 PM CST

Top tips to secure legal tech investors in 2020

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Jerry Ting, the CEO and co-founder of Evisort, an artificial-intelligence-powered contract-analysis system based in San Mateo, California.

Feb 21, 2020 9:38 AM CST

UpCounsel website for freelance lawyers announces it will continue running under new ownership

Less than three weeks after the online legal marketplace UpCounsel announced plans to shut down, the company has announced that it will continue operations after all.

Feb 19, 2020 3:19 PM CST

New feature in Westlaw Edge predicts legislative outcomes

Thomson Reuters unveiled a new feature in Westlaw Edge on Wednesday that uses artificial intelligence to provide a variety of information about federal legislation, including predictions about a bill’s likelihood of passage.

Feb 12, 2020 3:54 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: 2-time SCOTUS litigant gets settlement; at-large judge elections upheld in voting rights case

Florida man wins $875K settlement after two trips to the Supreme Court A Florida man who won twice in the U.S. Supreme Court will get an $875,000 settlement for his troubles from the city of Riviera Beach. Litigant Fane Lozman said the money covers his legal fees but “it doesn’t…

Feb 6, 2020 4:11 PM CST

UpCounsel announced shutdown after reaching deal with LinkedIn, court papers reveal

A legal dispute between the online legal marketplace UpCounsel and a dissatisfied shareholder is shedding light on why UpCounsel announced this week that it is planning to shut down March 4.

Feb 6, 2020 10:39 AM CST

UpCounsel website for freelance lawyers shuts down after litigation opponent becomes ‘significant shareholder’

An online marketplace that links freelance lawyers with small businesses and other would-be clients has announced it is shutting down March 4. UpCounsel did not provide a reason for the decision in an announcement sent to users and posted on its website.

Feb 3, 2020 4:09 PM CST

DC Bar considers relaxing its already-lenient rules to allow nonlawyer ownership of law firms

The District of Columbia Bar is considering changes to its ethics rules that could allow external ownership of law firms, as well as businesses in which lawyers and nonlawyers provide both legal and nonlegal services.

Jan 27, 2020 10:40 AM CST

What you need to know about virtual and chatbot assistants for lawyers

Many lawyers are reluctant to delegate, preferring to handle everything themselves. The problem with this approach is that it leaves them overburdened, overworked and overstressed. That’s where virtual legal assistants and AI-based chatbots come in. To get you started, Nicole Black of MyCase breaks down some of the more popular options available.

Jan 27, 2020 6:00 AM CST

CEO discusses the disrupting, displacing and deconstructing of legal services

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Varun Mehta, the new CEO of Factor, formerly Axiom Managed Solutions, an organization focused on performing complex legal work at scale.

Jan 24, 2020 8:30 AM CST

Why you should insist on diversity in your law practice

How women are perceived matters. As partners like to remind associates, when it comes to making it, perception is reality, writes author and lawyer Suzie Scanlon Rabinowitz.

Jan 23, 2020 11:08 AM CST

Too big too soon: How LeClairRyan went under

While there was no single point of failure, undisciplined acquisitions, ad hoc and expensive compensation schemes, and financial mismanagement coalesced to bring LeClairRyan’s ruin, several former shareholders say. Its demise—one of several firm failures in the last decade—is as much a story about a single firm as it is a warning to others in a softening economy.

Jan 21, 2020 11:56 AM CST

9 tips on how to dress for the courtroom

We’ve all heard the cliches: You only get one chance to make a first impression, dress for success, and you are what you wear. While these maxims are familiar, they are also true. You are judged in less than seven seconds, so dressing appropriately can help you win or lose your case.

Jan 16, 2020 6:30 AM CST

How to kick off 2020 with more productive business meetings

When considering our New Year’s resolutions, we all want to be more resourceful with our time, especially with our workdays. We don’t realize how much time meetings can take up if they are conducted in an inefficient manner.

Jan 8, 2020 6:00 AM CST

BigLaw firm defends its commitment to diversity after Al Sharpton’s criticism

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is defending its diversity efforts after the Revs. Al Sharpton and Dale D. Dennis II criticized the law firm for having few racial minorities in its Wilmington, Delaware, office.

Jan 7, 2020 3:42 PM CST