October 2017 Archives

Due to the decrease in the maximum SNAP benefit allotments and the minimum benefit amount, some families may see a small decrease in their SNAP benefit on October 1. This will be especially true for any family receiving the maximum benefit allotment for their household size and for elderly/disabled households who are currently receiving the minimum benefit. This change in benefits may be confusing to SNAP recipients because many will experience a small reduction in their monthly SNAP benefit even though they have not had any changes in their income or expenses. Our toolkit provides community organizations with updated tools and resources and information on how to help SNAP recipients maximize their SNAP benefits.

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RELATED COURT DOCUMENTS

Bad news, bridge fans. The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursdaythat the card game is not a sport, even when played by multiple competing teams.

Like many disappointments, this one traces its roots to a dispute on taxes

Cybersecurity is a priority for all tax professionals. Learn more in this upcoming webinar, "Don't Take the Bait - Protect Your Clients and Protect Yourself." Scheduled for Nov. 1 at 2 pm ET/11 am PT, this program will:

• Provide real-life experiences from a tax professional who fell victim to data theft 
• Detail common tactics cybercriminals use
• Review recommendations from cybersecurity experts to better protect your data

Register now. Earn one continuing education credit - category: federal tax.

Four years ago, Richard Susskind published the first edition of "Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future." With the rapid changes in the legal profession, tomorrow is now today.

The second edition of "Tomorrow's Lawyers" focuses more sharply on how artificial intelligence, alternative business structures, low-cost law firm service centers, legal tech startups and evolving in-house roles are changing the way legal services are delivered and how law schools are educating students to meet those changes.

To that end, ALM during October is publishing excerpts across several of our brands from the second edition to spark thought and conversation about the industry's future among the legal profession's leaders. ALM editors and reporters have solicited reactions--positive and negative--to Susskind's ideas from law firm chairs, top legal educators, general counsel, law students and industry analysts to get their take. 

The book's section on automation and connectivity, discussed below, can be found here.

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Anyone with a Google account can sign up for the security program on Google's Advanced Protection webpage. To get started, you will have to buy two physical keys for about $20 each. Google recommends buying one from Feitian and another from Yubico.

The keys, which look like thumb drives and can fit on your key chain, contain digital signatures that prove you are you. To set one up, you plug the key into a computer USB port, tap a button and name it. (The Feitian key wirelessly communicates with your smartphone to authenticate the login.) This process takes a few minutes.

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The Education Department has rescinded 72 policy documents that outline the rights of students with disabilities as part of the Trump administration's effort to eliminate regulations it deems superfluous.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter Friday that it had "a total of 72 guidance documents that have been rescinded due to being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective -- 63 from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and 9 from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)." The documents, which fleshed out students' rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act, were rescinded Oct. 2.

A spokeswoman for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did not respond to requests for comment.

Advocates for students with disabilities were still reviewing the changes to determine their impact. Lindsay E. Jones, the chief policy and advocacy officer for the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said she was particularly concerned to see guidance documents outlining how schools could use federal money for special education removed.

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Last year, Apple Watch transitioned its Edition line from 18K yellow and rose gold to white ceramic. That took it from tens of thousands of dollars down to $1,299 for 38mm and $1,349 for 42mm. Still more than an iPhone X but much, much less than most ceramic watches.

Even though mechanical and computational watches have completely different value propositions, it does keep Apple Watch Edition at the very top end of Apple's offerings. In essence, it's for people who want an Apple Watch but also want it in ceramic.

And this year, with Apple Watch Series 3, it's also for people who want it in space grayceramic.

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A district court in Illinois has ruled (full text of ruling) that law enforcement may force people to use their fingerprints to unlock Apple devices during the search of a house. The ruling overturns a decision from a lower court, and marks a significant increase in the steps cops can take to force people to unlock devices.

The ruling only applies in one particular case, with a very specific set of circumstances. Police officers had already obtained a warrant to search a house, looking for child pornography. They expected to find at least one iPad and one iPhone on the premises, and wanted to be able to force any occupants found on the premises to unlock the devices using Touch ID during the search.

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While you wait for Twitter to roll out "more aggressive" rules regarding hate speech, which CEO Jack Dorsey promised are coming within "weeks" as of late Friday, here's a quick workaround to kick nazis off of your Twitter feed right now: Go to the 'Settings and privacy' page and under the 'Content' section set the country to Germany (or France).

This switches on Twitter's per country nazi-blocking filter which the company built, all the way back in 2012, to comply with specific European hate speech laws that prohibit pro-Nazi content because, y'know, World War II.

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Therefore, clients are demanding mobile applications that provide direct access to a firm. In addition, consumers want education; online questionnaires to gather information rather than in-person consultations; and free legal forms for specific practice areas. Rather than fighting this trend toward creating mobile legal products and services, attorneys can use online information-gathering tools to triage and educate clients and focus on professional judgment for problem-solving.

Firms have made standard forms free, for example Orrick's Start Forms Library. Also, legal plans have free forms on mobile applications, like LegalShield's Forms app, which includes more than 15 free forms for common consumer transactions like renting, buying and selling--plus freelance agreements. Taking it a step further, we need to use mainstream technology to create solutions for specific applications within the law. For example, we can utilize chabots to answer frequently asked questions or customizable expert systems for immigration or incorporation questionnaires.

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Check out Orrick's Start Forms Library

The state comptroller has announced that New York is joining 28 other states in offering a program that will help parents with disabled children save money for their future.

The program is modeled on the college savings program, which also is operated by the comptroller's office. It allows an account to be set up in the name of any New Yorker who is diagnosed with a disability before the age of 26.

Friends and relatives can contribute up to $14,000 a year for a total of $100,000, and the money can be used tax-free to help pay for the disabled person's education, housing, transportation and other expenses. 

The IRS is warning all e-Services users to beware of a new phishing scam that tries to trick tax professionals into "signing" a new  e-Services user agreement. The phishing scam seeks to steal passwords and data. 

All tax professionals should be aware that as e-Services begins its move later this month to Secure Access authentication and its two-factor protections, cybercriminals likely will make last-ditch efforts to steal passwords and data prior to the transition.

The scam email claims to be from "e-Services Registration" and uses "Important Update about Your e-Services Account" in the subject line. It states, in part, "We are rolling out a new user agreement and all registered users must accept its revised terms to have access to e-Services and its products." It asks you to review and accept the agreement but takes you to a fake site instead.

If you have clicked on this link, you should perform a deep scan with your security software, contact your office's IT/cybersecurity personnel and contact the IRS e-Help Desk. 

To read more about what the IRS is doing to protect your accounts with Secure Access authentication, go directly to the main e-Services landing page on IRS.gov.

The Justice Department has released a series of recently overruled legal memos concluding that presidents cannot appoint their relatives to the White House staff or presidential commissions, even to unpaid posts.

In January, a career Justice Department official essentially declared the earlier opinions erroneous or obsolete, clearing the way for President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to take a senior adviser position in the White House. First daughter Ivanka Trump later took a similar official but unpaid slot under the same legal rationale.

The newly disclosed opinions, issued to the administrations of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and obtained by POLITICO Monday through a Freedom of Information Act request, detail how Justice Department lawyers concluded for decades that such appointments of family members were illegal under an anti-nepotism law passed in 1967.

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