April 2019 Archives

For starters, you're going to need additional hardware. Specifically, one of the key tools needed is a reliable, affordable scanner. In The 2019 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide authors Sharon D. Nelson, John W. Simek, and Michael C. Maschke help lawyers sift through their technology choices and address the many different hardware needs of law firms. When it comes to scanners, they recommend two different models for law firms.

The first is for firms in need of a low-volume scanner: the Fujitsu Scansnap iX500. This desktop scanner scans up to 25 color pages per minute.

The second, the Fujitsu fi-5530C2 scanner, is for firms in need of a higher-volume scanner. This scanner scans 50 color pages per minute. Depending on your small firm's specific needs, either would be a good choice.

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According to OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen, Pelham Court is not subject to the new directive as it is a Town and Village court and not a part of the Unified Court System. "Only New York State courts that are secured by Unified Court System court officers are subject to our directive," he said. According to the Town of Pelham's website, court security is overseen by the Town Constables, who did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication. 

There are close to 1,300 Town and Village courts in New York State that see roughly 2 million cases per year. These courts handle the prosecution of misdemeanors and violations committed within a town's boundaries, as well as some preliminary hearings in felony cases and vehicle and traffic law misdemeanors. 

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Parking enforcement officers in Saginaw, Michigan, who use chalk to mark the tires of cars to track how long they have been parked are violating the constitution, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati held that the practice of chalking violated plaintiff Alison Taylor's right under the Fourth Amendment to be free from unreasonable searches. The Washington Post, the Associated Press and NBC News have coverage.

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In an era when politicians and pundits alike are bemoaning society's lack of civility, the New York State Bar Association is announcing today that it has adopted new standards that tell lawyers how they should behave in the sandbox, so to speak. But don't worry: you most likely won't get sanctioned for throwing a temper tantrum.

We are gradually, and grudgingly, learning that our online presence can outlive our physical presence and possibly even take on a life of its own. As we begin to move more of our activities - financial, social, work, leisure, creative - onto the Internet, the questions about what happens to our online presence and how we best prepare to handle that have begun to grow in quantity and complexity.

New York state's Office of Court Administration issued updated rules Wednesday that immigration advocates hailed as a check on the ability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to make arrests inside state courthouses, just a week after a new, 80-page report detailed the impact of federal immigration officials operating in the state courthouses.

"We have concluded that this report provides us with a sufficient basis to take the step that many have asked us to take to require that ICE present a judge-issued warrant before conducting an arrest in a state courthouse," Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks told the New York Law Journal. "Although we're not aware that any other court system in the country has taken this step, this comprehensive, well-documented report has convinced us that this change in policy is now appropriate and warranted."

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Apple has recently updated its Apple Pencil support document to note of a bizarre issue some users have experienced. According to the updated document, if you're charging your second-generation Apple Pencil with your iPad Pro, you might experience problems unlocking your car via a key fob.

So, it's time.  June 30th will be my last day as Director of the Legal Information Institute. 

That is good reason for mixed feelings. The LII has been the center of my professional and personal life for the last 27 years. The step away will leave a large gap in both.  Some of the challenges have not changed much over three decades, but many have. It's time for fresh perspectives. And I'm ready for a third career, or a seventh, depending on how you count.

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Editor's Note:  It seems like it was just yesterday (1993), that some of us from NYSBA were sitting in the cafeteria at Cornell Law School, having been blown away by a presentation by Tom Bruce and Dean Peter Martin on the concept they were developing of "adding value" to legal materials available in the public domain.  That concept became LII and spread around the world.  I look forward to seeing what Tom's next career brings forth.

[In Rockland County, an outbreak spread fear in an Ultra-Orthodox community.]

Dr. Paul Offit, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said there was precedent for Mr. de Blasio's actions, pointing to a massive measles outbreak in Philadelphia in 1991. During that outbreak, officials in that city went even further, getting a court order to force parents to vaccinate their children.

Hundreds of thousands of New York filers are receiving letters asking for proof of the state taxes withheld from their wages in 2018, with the Tax Department demanding copies of W-2s or paycheck stubs from the filer's employer.

The letters are not a hoax. 

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They want Shell to reduce its carbon emissions 45% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels and to zero by 2050. Both targets are in line with the Paris climate accords of 2015. According to the latest IPCC climate report, the only way to achieve those goals is to rapidly transition the global economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels.

Carroll Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law, said on Friday, "The IPCC has warned that window of action for avoiding irreversible and truly catastrophic climate harms is narrow and closing rapidly. Today's suit against Shell sends a clear signal that business as usual is no longer acceptable. Companies that continue ignoring climate risks can and will be held legally accountable and financially responsible for their actions. Investors and corporate decision-makers who ignore this new reality do so at their peril."

What is clear is this: Nearly three years after the test debuted, some judges, lawyers and educators are bemoaning the impact. In meetings and lectures, judges are talking openly about the lack of knowledge possessed by lawyers appearing before them.

No one knows whether the perceived deficiencies are caused by the lack of rigor of the Uniform Bar Exam itself, deficiencies in the 50 multiple choice question open-book test on New York law that accompanies the multistate test, or the precipitous drop in the percentage of students studying New York practice.

At one time, 80 to 90 percent of students at some New York law schools would take a course in New York practice; some law schools say that number has declined to less than 20 percent.

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