MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.

When a wife’s father said that a $15,000 payment was for “y’all,” he made a joint gift to the couple, despite his later testimony that he intended only to help his daughter, a Virginia trial court has ruled.

Topping the list is the 11th Circuit’s decision to strike down the individual mandate in the new federal health care reform law.

With employment offers not coming in, there may be a temptation to go it alone; to hang out your own shingle, as the phrase goes. That temptation is to be resisted. My uttermost recommendation is — don’t.

Referral marketing is more than a tool of the trade; making it a priority in your practice often makes the difference between being a good lawyer and a great one.

The federal mandate requiring that all medical records be converted to an electronic format by 2015 has heightened concerns about protecting the confidentiality of patient data. Even an unintentional security breach can land doctors in serious legal trouble, whether they are storing data or sharing it with third parties. Complicating the issue is the emergence of health information exchanges, which tend to vary from community to community in terms of their structure and security measures. Some simply relay data within a network, while others transmit and store patient information. Either way, it’s unlikely that an exchange will be 100 percent protected against hackers, so it’s important for physician practices to weigh the risks and benefits of participation.

You don’t have to memorize rafts of statistics to know that lawyer mobility is far more common today than it was even 10 years ago. Depending on the size of the firm, the prominence of the departing lawyer, the amount of work in progress and other factors, such as the costs incurred by the firm in training the departing lawyer, a law firm breakup can mean anything from a manageable inconvenience to a major financial and organizational disaster.

His name is Deaver, Jeffery Deaver. And he is, for now, also Bond, James Bond. Deaver, a corporate lawyer-turned-master of the crime thriller, is also the author of the latest novel in the James Bond 007 series, “Carte Blanche.” His Bond is an updated version of the spy created by Ian Flaming in 1953. The latest Bond is still in his 30s, but now he’s a veteran of the Afghanistan war and equipped with a smartphone that gives new meaning to killer apps.

Signatures at the end of e-mails, like their handwritten counterparts, are judged by their neatness and aesthetic quality. But only your e-signature doubles as an efficient, powerful – and free – marketing tool for your law practice.

I am often asked, what is elder mediation? It is a voluntary process to resolve conflicts regarding the needs of those who are elderly or with special needs and their families.

Dean Wigmore stated that cross-examination is beyond doubt “the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of the truth.” But, truth is rarely what a skillful trial lawyer seeks to accomplish on cross-examination. Cross-examination is not only a truth-seeking process. It also is an opportunity to persuade the fact finder to your position in the case. For the consummate trial lawyer, persuasion is an art practiced in its most subtle form on cross-examination.

“I would like to work on interesting matters with good colleagues, be paid well and work hard, but not give up my life for work.” That summarizes what several young lawyers and law students have told me recently and what a lot of attorneys and other professionals seek throughout their careers. Unfortunately, such a job description doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work to create greater satisfaction for yourself. Start by thinking about your career as not just a series of positions and titles, but as a journey during which you accumulate skills, expertise and experience to add to your professional portfolio, at times deliberately, but also incidentally.