The Wall Street Journal reports that the recession has left more people with the daunting prospect of going to court without a lawyer.

Many people have found themselves in court facing potentially expensive  financial proceedings such as fighting foreclosure and litigating employment fights are deciding to go pro se rather than hire a lawyer.

According to the article, legal experts say many people are likely losing claims and paying penalties they could have avoided with a lawyer at their side. Litigants often don’t understand the sort of evidence they need to present in legal proceedings, said Florida state Judge Claudia Isom.

Raymond Brescia, a professor at Albany Law School, noted that “People will gather legal information from the Internet, from friends, or leaflets at a courthouse and think, ‘I can play checkers, I’m ready. But when they get to court they realize it’s a game of three-level chess, and they don’t have the first idea of what’s happening.”

The Law Office of Frederic R. Abramson practices civil litigation in New York.  If you have a question, call me at 212-233-0666

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Consumer Reports confirms that there is an antenna problem with the iPhone 4.  They do not recommend purchasing the new phone until the flaw is corrected.

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I just finished creating a new site for my foreclosure practice. Here is the link. Let me know what type of information would be helpful to post on the site.

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The lawyers for the rock band Rush (one of my all-time favorite bands) served a cease and desist letter to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul for unauthorized use of their songs.

According to the Courier-Journal (first time I ever encountered the paper), the next legal step depends on the formal response the band’s general counsel gets from the Paul campaign.  They can be subject to damages of up to $150,000 for each work. Under 17 USC 412, statutory damages are only available for works that were registered with the Copyright Office prior to infringement, or within three months of publication.

For all of you Rush fans (probably only white men), here are a list of the offending songs and what the campaign used them for:

• Spirit of Radio (first song on Permanent Waves). The Rand campaign pumped up the crowd with this one. The lyric Glittering prizes and endless compromises/shatter the illusion of integrity was used by Rand during his campaign speeches.  However, I think that his supporters may be more worried about the government sending out invisible airwaves crackle(ing) with light.
• Tom Sawyer (from Moving Pictures). The campaign thought this was great fundraising music. This is the lyric that I am sure brought in the money from fans of the libertarian candidate: No his mind is not for rent. To any God or Government.

The lawyers for Rush say that it is not a political issue, after all they are all Canadian (with their socialized health insurance).

It is not unusual for entertainers to have issue with political candidates using their songs without permission.  The most famous example is during the 1984 Presidential campaign, when Ronald Reagan used Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA without his consent (he also had no idea what the song was about).

Well… There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees…

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Forbes posted this great graphic that summarizes the problem with e-discovery.

One scandalous document can make or break a fraud case, but there’s a big problem: finding it among millions of others.

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Seth Godin wrote an interesting blog post for new entrepreneurs about the most important choice they will make which is what you do. The answer, according to Godin,  is “What do you do.”

Here are some questions that Seth posed to get your thoughts flowing.  Here are my answers even though I am not a new entrepreneur. Let me know yours.

1. Who are you trying to please? I am trying to please business owners who are working to build their business.
2. Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy? I am working to create a law firm that will make a difference to anyone who hires me.
3. How will the world be different when you’ve succeeded? This is a really difficult question to answer.  I know that I have succeeded when the people’s perception of lawyers had changed.
4. Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones? It is more important to increase my contacts with my existing clients.
5. Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that’s two questions).  I am not that interested in have a large team.  As per Seth Godin, small law firms are the new big. I am solo attorney by choice.
6. Would you rather have an open-ended project that’s never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?) I believe that my law practice is a never ending journey.
7. Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it? I am pro-active when getting the word out about my firm.
8. Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better? Innovation in the legal field is hard to come by, especially in litigation.  My niche is helping start-ups succeed.
9. If you take someone else’s investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back? Lawyers are not allowed to have shareholders or take investment from non-lawyers.
10. Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself? I am never finished personally growing. I work on honing my craft (the law) daily.
11. Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask..  A great lawyer teaches and leads his clients but there is a balance.
12. How long can you wait before it feels as though you’re succeeding? I am succeeding already, but I am always looking to help more people.
13. Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?) Creating legal work, such as motion and contracts need to be as close to perfect as possible.
14. Do you want your customers to know each other. Absolutely.  Following my first consultation with a client, I always ask how I can help their business grow in non-legal ways.
15. How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we’re on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?) I have been at this for over 13 years, so failure is not an issue.
16. What does busy look like? Busy looks like working inside my law practice by working on my cases.

Related posts:

1. “Art,” Linchpin, Seth Godin and the Law
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Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade has settled a $25 million lawsuit over a breach-of-contract lawsuit involving failed plans for a chain of sports-theme restaurants. Not surprisingly, the exact amount of the settlement was not revealed by either party.

The settlement came after a trial, which is also not unusual.  Both sides appeared to be pleased about the terms of the settlement.

There were actually four lawsuits between  Duane Wade and Mark Rodberg and Lauren Hollander. Most of the lawsuits involved Rodberg and Hollander as plaintiffs.

According to the Miami Herald,

Rodberg and Hollander accused Wade of breaching the terms of the contract for a chain of sports-themed restaurants bearing Wade’s name and likeness when they wouldn’t increase the 12 percent stake held by Wade and business associate Marcus Andrews.

When another partner, Richard von Houtman, didn’t meet his obligations, the plaintiffs say, Wade and Andrews wanted 30 percent. Only two of the restaurants opened. Neither survived long.

They also accused Wade of not following through on a deal to license his name to two charter schools.

A fourth suit involved Wade’s ability to control the use of his likeness and name.

A fifth suit, a defamation suit filed by Wade against von Houtman, wasn’t part of the settlement.

If you have any questions regarding breach-of-contract cases in New York, contact me at the Law Office of Frederic R. Abramson at 212-233-0666.

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1. Breach of Contract Lawsuit in New York: Quick guide to steps
2. 5 Breach of Contract Defenses
3. Who Should Produce the First Draft of a Contract?
4. Civil Litigation
5. Google Hit With a Wi-Fi Class Action Lawsuit, Likely Road to Nowhere

Google has previously admitted that it accidentally collected some open WiFi data. It is not exactly clear what Google was using the data for. If data is unencrypted, anyone using a WiFi network can see data used by others on that same access point. Is this legal? We will soon find out.

The  first class action against Google’s so-called data collecting has been filed by three attorneys from Oregon. The complaint alleges that the company violated Washington and Oregon privacy laws as well as the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

The plaintiffs are seeking up to $10,000 per violation suffered by each class member plus other damages. See the complaint below.

Van Valin v Google Complaint

Reading the complaint, I have no idea why the plaintiffs believe that their data was collected by Google.  Granted, the plaintiff’s will have the opportunity during discovery to find out why and how their data was collected.  At this stage, it looks to me that the lawyers went fishing for two plaintiffs and found them.

It is unclear what type of damages the plaintiffs can hope to receive.  According to the Recorder,

federal law may not offer the damages that the plaintiffs are seeking. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act offers a safe harbor for some breaches if the collected information is publicly accessible, said Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe partner I. Neel Chatterjee. Companies have typically been protected too if they can prove they collected the data unintentionally.

One of the plaintiffs admits that her data was not encrypted. Where are the damages there?

As a publicity stunt, the lawyers may win.  However,  the case is premised on a weak legal basis and will likely be dismissed.

If you have any questions about privacy law in New York, contact me at the Law Office of Frederic R. Abramson at 212-233-0666.

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1. Breach of Contract Lawsuit in New York: Quick guide to steps
2. What can Companies do to Protect their IP and Data from a Google-like Cyber Attack?
3. Is Google Negligent for Pedestrian Knockdown Due to a Bad Map?
4. Facebook’s Law Department is Ready to Brawl over Requests for Information from a User’s Facebook Account
5. Litigation, Privacy and other Legal Issues in Cloud Computing

USA Today reports that Wal-Mart has agreed to pay up to $86 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it owes workers in California.  According to court papers filed in  a class action lawsuit, the settlement is for vacation pay and other unpaid wages, such as unpaid overtime and not paying wages of terminated employees.

The number of workers that will receive a piece of the settlement is huge.  It appears that 232,000 workers will receive compensation as a result of the settlement.

I reported earlier that wage and hour lawsuits are rising. It is relatively simple for a worker to prove her case in New York.  The worker simply has to provide some prima facia evidence, such as a time sheet.  Since large employers nearly always keep track of time, the case is very easy to prove.

If you have any questions regarding wage and hours issues, call me at the Law Office of Frederic R. Abramson at 212-233-0666.

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5. Misclassification of Independent Contractors Crackdown

Jeff Pulver, a true social media thought leader, is holding his monthly 140 conference tonight.  I will be there, with a number of my clients and friends. Here are the details:

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