Here at Lawline.com, we find constant inspiration through our work environment. Whether we’re discussing the recent passing of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, or laughing about the last Milestone dinner, there is always something to keep the mind at ease. We try to keep stress at bay, and as a result more work gets done. Below is a list of five common cultural aspects that we encounter every day, and attribute to the success of Lawline.com.

1.    Easy Communication

The technology world has certainly expanded, including in the area of social networking. By keeping up with the new and improved networking tools, communication and marketing reaches new heights. Here in our office, we utilize Facebook, YouTube, Bing, and Twitter. By utilizing all of these resources, it keeps the office young and expands our customer base. In addition, it adds a fun way to reach out to people.  Skype is a communication tool we use daily to keep in contact with each other.  It’s great for asking quick questions, or even just to send a funny joke. Humor in the office leads to our next must-have characteristic.

2.    Relaxed and Laid Back Attitudes

Given this is a Friday post, we hope you’re reading it in your jeans. The office is where people spend most of their time, so it should be somewhere that they can relax. While getting work done is the main goal of the office, stressing out should not be the end result. By providing a friendly atmosphere, employees are more inclined to get work done in a timely manner. Allowing for a communal staff lunch in the conference room is something we do constantly at Lawline.com. It brings everyone together to discuss work matters in a relaxed environment, or even just chat about the weekend to come.

3.    Ownership and Responsibility

Getting everyone involved and making sure they understand they have a say in the company promotes the feeling of ownership. By delegating responsibility and making the employees understand the company relies on their hard work brings a “we’re in this together” attitude to the office.

4.    Inspiration in the Work Force

By letting ideas flow and constantly being open to new ideas, Lawline.com is always updating and improving. A major resource we use is called the suggestion box, which is an online tool that all employees can see and give input on. The suggestion box is a quick and easy way for anyone to suggest any small idea that comes to mind, right as the imaginary light bulb turns on. In addition, during weekly staff meetings, new suggestions, issues and concerns are addressed and often implemented. A constant flow of new ideas keeps the work atmosphere running progressively.

5.    Absence of Micromanagement

At Lawline.com, we have our own custom built intranet that lists each employee’s tasks for the day. By highlighting each task in certain colors, everyone can see how far along anyone is with the task at hand. This is extremely helpful and prevents micromanagement. By allowing for freedom in the office, employees feel they are trusted and are a valuable part of the company.

       Our hope is that these suggestions can be implemented in your own office, or even better- already are! We have found that the atmosphere here at Lawline.com brings smiles to our employees’ faces while increasing productivity. In the spirit of inspiration in the work force, feel free to email us at support@lawline.com with any feedback or suggestions. We’d love to hear some new ideas!

 If you're interested in learning more about culture of the work place, you would probably find this interesting too.....http://www.zapposinsights.com/live/

In today's Legal Tip of the day,  productivity expert and Lawline.com faculty member,  Neen James outlines tips specifically targeted towards boosting attorney productivity. She gives clear, simple advice on everyday practices attorneys can use to make the most of their work day.

Her mantra "plan tomorrow today" captures the idea that lawyers can prepare for upcoming meetings, appointments, or projects by devoting ten minutes at the end of the previous workday for planning. This should be accompanied by fifteen minutes of planning at the beginning of every work day. This way lawyers can strategize about how best to allocate their time.

Watch the clip for more information.

The clip is from the course "Promotions and Productivity for Lawyers"

Today in In Lawline.com's Legal Tip of the Day, prominent criminal attorney, Benjamin Brafman talks about using humor when trying a case.  He particularly talks about how humor allowed him to successfully lighten the mood among the jury when working with Johnny Cochran to represent P Diddy a few years ago.  Watch the clip for more.

Benjamin Brafman is a well established attorney and Lawline.com faculty member.  He has represented and worked with many well known individuals including P Diddy, Michael Jackson, and most recently Plaxico Burress.

Click here for more information on Mr. Brafman's course "Summation: A Work In Progress"

     The king of pop may have passed away, but his legacies will continue to live on.  His music will forever keep people of all ages, from teenagers to great grandmothers, on the dance floor.  Young performers will always attempt to imitate the ground-breaking dance moves that caused Michael to revolutionize pop music.  He is the Elvis of our generation, and like Elvis, his legacy will resonate with generations to come.  It’s hard, however, to separate Michael from his second legacy, which will also continue to live on, his legal troubles.   In the past decade these troubles overshadowed his talent and tainted his image as an entertainer.
   
   From the molestation charges to his recent bankruptcy problems, Jackson made the news more often for legal issues than for anything else.  It is estimated that he died with a debt of $400 million dollars.  This is sure to raise issues for whoever actually inherits the assets that he did hold onto–such as publishing rights to over 250 songs from the Beatles catalog, and music compositions from his own catalog.  The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael also had outstanding litigation from former concert promoters, managers, and auction houses.

     The “Bitter Lawyer” has listed the Top Ten Lawyers that have represented Michael Jackson.  Third on the list is Lawline.com faculty member, Benjamin Brafman.  Brafman appeared on CNN the day after Michael’s death where he recounted his experience with Michael.   The AM Law Daily reports that, “The singer’s ‘naivete’ about the legal process shocked Brafman, who told Cooper he was even more surprised when Jackson collapsed onto his shoulder and began “sobbing hysterically” after the blunt New York lawyer informed him of the seriousness of the molestation charges. When Brafman put his hand on Jackson’s back to console him, all he felt was bones.”  

           Brafman also said that after interacting with Michael, he had a sense that “he was not going to live to be an old man.”  He later went on, “He was so thin that you had to believe that the pain was real and you could see in the -- in his speech pattern. Sometimes they were halting that there was a pain that enveloped him. Whether it was real, whether it was psychological, I don't know. I'm not trained in that regard but I worried about Michael Jackson a lot.”  To read a transcript of Brafman’s appearance go here.

       Since his unfortunate death last week, his image as a performer has been revitalized.  Radio playlists and charts are saturated with his songs, MTV and VH1 have been playing marathons of his music videos, and millions of people have been streaming his performances on YouTube.  It is clear that his legacy as an entertainer will survive.   His legal troubles, however, will also continue to surface, and will probably become even messier.

Plaintiff Continues with Legal Malpractice and Unjust Enrichment and Fiduciary Duty Claims

In a well-reasoned opinion from the SDNY, Judge Koeltl determined that plaintiff may continue with three claims against the attorneys.  In SMARTIX INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, a.k.a. SMARTIX INTERNATIONAL, LLC,  - against - GARRUBBO, ROMANKOW & CAPESE, P.C. AND ANTHONY RINALDO, 6 Civ. 1501 (JGK); UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK; 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29114;March 30, 2009, Decided
 
In this case, Smartix, a corporation with certain ticketing intellectual property, was in the business of selling and licensing that technology, and wanted to enter into a contract with Mastercard.  They retained the defendant law firm to advise them on the contract negotiation, to engage in corporate governance, and put one of the attorneys on the board.

Things went wrong with the MC contract and then Smartix was sued by plaintiffs named Metzger.  Plaintiffs retained defendants to defend that suit.  In this blog entry we'll look at the legal malpractice claims, and in tomorrow's we'll look at the unjust enrichment claim.

Plaintiffs complained that defendants failed to advise them correctly on the Mastercard contract negotiation and left them open to Mastercard's exploitation.  Beyond that, they claim malpractice when defendant attorney failed to attend a court ordered mediation session, [as well as the other attorneys] and was open to a sanctions hearing for which they billed plaintiffs.

Judge Koeltl denied summary judgment on both counts. "The plaintiff's first legal malpractice claim is based on the defendants' representation of the plaintiff in the course of the Metzger litigation. The plaintiff alleges that it was billed for the defendants' attendance at a sanctions hearing resulting from Mr. Rinaldo's failure to attend a court-ordered mediation. The defendants [*11] point out that both Metzger parties failed to attend the court-ordered mediation and that no sanctions were ultimately imposed.

The allegation regarding the sanctions hearing raises an issue of material fact with respect to the plaintiff's first legal malpractice claim. The plaintiff has provided evidence that it was billed in connection with a sanctions hearing resulting in part from Mr. Rinaldo's failure to attend a court-ordered mediation.  [T]he failure to follow direct orders from the court would fall below any standard of care. Cf. Logalbo v. Plishkin, Rubano & Baum, 163 A.D.2d 511, 558 N.Y.S.2d 185, 187-88 (App. Div. 1990) (finding in the absence of expert testimony or expert report that attorney who disregarded "clearly defined and firmly imbedded" obligation failed to meet any permissible standard of due care).

Moreover, although the defendants point out that the trial judge in the Metzger litigation did not ultimately [*12] impose sanctions on the defendants, they do not argue that this decision by the trial judge precludes a finding of legal malpractice against the defendants, and there is no reason that would be so. Plainly claims for legal malpractice may exist even where attorneys have not been sanctioned for their conduct."
 
"The plaintiff has produced evidence in the form of deposition testimony that the MasterCard Agreement was drafted to the disadvantage of the plaintiff and contained certain vagaries that MasterCard was able to exploit at the expense of the plaintiff. (Katz Dep. at 47-49 ("[The Agreement] was very vague . . . . It did not protect Smartix from MasterCard's efforts to secure [*19] use of the software outside the contract."), 101 ("The MasterCard Agreement was vague enough so that MasterCard felt that they would roll the dice and try to do these businesses without us, which they subsequently did . . . ."); Huber Dep. at 72 ("It sounds as if MasterCard can do pretty much anything they want with this in one part of the contract . . . . There's also penalty clauses in here that would cause Smartix enormous damages if they wanted to market this outside of MasterCard . . . “

What Creates an Attorney-Client Relationship for Legal Malpractice Purposes?

Privity of contract is an essential in legal malpractice litigation.  One may not sue the opponent's attorney; only one's own.  What makes for privity of contract?  As all know, no writing is necessary to create a contract.  So, can there be privity of contract without a retainer agreement.  Putting aside Rule 137 questions about the attorney's obligation to provide a writing, in Denise Terio,  v Lance Roger Spodek, Reich Reich & Reich, P.C., 2008-03594, 2008-04435;  SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, SECOND DEPARTMENT; 2009 NY Slip Op 4412; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4411June 2, 2009, Decided we see a short answer:
 
"To recover damages for legal malpractice, a plaintiff [**4] must prove, inter alia, the existence of an attorney-client relationship (see Velasquez v Katz, 42 AD3d 566, 567, 840 N.Y.S.2d 410; Moran v Hurst, 32 AD3d 909, 822 N.Y.S.2d 564; Wei Cheng Chang v Pi, 288 AD2d 378, 380, 733 N.Y.S.2d 471; Volpe v Canfield, 237 AD2d 282, 283, 654 N.Y.S.2d 160). While a plaintiff's unilateral belief does not confer upon him or her the status of client (see Volpe v Canfield, 237 AD2d at 283), an attorney-client relationship may exist in the absence of a formal retainer agreement (see e.g. Swalg Dev. Corp. v Gaines, 274 AD2d 385, 386, 710 N.Y.S.2d 619). To establish an attorney-client relationship there must be an explicit undertaking to perform a specific task (see Wei Cheng Chang v Pi, 288 AD2d 378, 733 N.Y.S.2d 471; Volpe v Canfield, 237 AD2d at 283)."
 
Attorney and Client Battle over Fees and Legal Malpractice

So often, the practice of law seems to have devolved into an attorney v. client battle over the work and fees.  Here in Morelli & Gold  LLP v. Altman, NY Slip Op 31492(U) we see a large scale battle over a child support/custody case in which there has been litigation, fees, fee dispute, trial de novo, counterclaims and appeals. All this, and the case has not yet left the pleadings stage.

In her 32 page decision, Justice Edmead goes through a complete primer on:

a.  Rule 137 fee disputes, trial de novo, the pleading requirements for a trial de novo, and the forms used;
b.  Defenses and counterclaims after a fee dispute;
c.  Proper pleadings in legal malpractice counterclaims;
d.  The role of res judicata and collateral estoppel in legal malpractice fee disputes.

It's a long decision,,,look to the link and read through it for a good discussion on these issues.

Today in Lawline.com's Legal Tip of the Day, faculty member Jay Sullivan sheds some light on little tips to keep a client meeting organized and concise. He tells us how to not only keep the client's attention but how to appear prepared as well.

Watch the clip for more information.

Read more about Jay's course on "Building Dynamic Client Meetings" by going here.

In our continuing effort to recognize some of the most notable legal blogs on the web, we bring you this week’s Featured Blog.  As constant advocates of education, we recognize the importance legal blogs (or more appropriately named Blawgs) as they facilitate the exchange of information.  This week we will be featuring “That’s What She Said.”

For anyone who is a fan of the NBC show “The Office,” you will certainly find this blog both entertaining and revealing.  Most people who work in an office environment will agree that the television series can be very representative of reality.  This blog, however, takes it to a new level and views the episodes from an unconventional viewpoint by highlighting problematic legal situations that generally go unnoticed.  Like an analysis of literature that sheds new light upon the work, this blog similarly offers new insight and perspective upon, and often greater appreciation for the television show.

In one particular blog post, Foster identifies a potential liability claim after Michael (the main character of the Office) announced that there would be lay-offs at a company picnic in front of employees and their families.  In a real life situation this can potentially present a claim of “negligent or even intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

The blog is run by Troy Foster, an employment attorney from Arizona.   Foster started his career as an HR professional and recognized that when work is fun, learning is facilitated.  Using this concept, his blog provides the opportunity to teach something out of a fun and entertaining show.

To check out the blog go here:  http://employmentlawpost.com/thatswhatshesaid/

Employment attorney and Lawline.com faculty member Ardra O'Neal talks about ways of structuring the inevitable layoff. Performance and Seniority based evolution may be one way that the layoff structure is approached. Watch the clip for more information. Ms. O'Neal notes that employers often fail to adequately document the poor performance of their employees, which can potentially lead to legal liability if laid off.  Watch the clip for more. 

The clip is from Ardra O'Neal's course "Best Practices For Implementing Lay-Offs For Private Sector Employers" which can be accessed here.

Here at Lawline.com we are in the CLE business.  And around the legal community, we know that CLE stands for Continuing Legal Education.  But, just like any other acronym, it can be fun to think about what else CLE could stand for.

Inspired by a post to Twitter by a lawyer who clearly did not like his most recent CLE course, we decided to make the acronym the focus of this week’s Twitter contest.  Come up with the most unique, interesting, funny, etc. phrase that CLE could stand for.  Then, to enter the contest, post it to Twitter with the hash tag #Lawline.  You can only win if you use that hash tag.

Example: CLE is Critical Legal Endorsements #Lawline

At the end of the week, we will pick our favorite one and that person will win a free year of CLE with us.  Enter as many times as you want.

Good luck.

It’s Friday again and there is a lot going on in the world.  So much so that it is hard to get a grip on everything at once.  But there is one thing that a lot of people are lining up to get a grip on today, the new iPhone.

The new iPhone 3G S officially launched today, with people waiting for stores to open all night.  Why?  After the success of the original iPhone, and the anticipation of some great new features, the updated phone from Apple is sure to please.  So for this edition of Lawline.com’s Friday Five, we have decided to showcase the top 5 new features that lawyers are sure to love.

1. Speed.  The new iPhone is advertised as twice as fast as the old model.  With most of using the iPhone for business as well as pleasure, the new speed should work to keep up with the fast paced world that we work in.

2. Cut, Copy, and Paste.  One of the features almost everybody was looking for on the first version of the phone was the ability to work with text.  Now, you can highlight text with the touch of a finger, remove it, copy it into an email, paste it into a new text, etc.  It gives you much more flexibility and makes typing much easier.

3. The Landscape Keyboard.  Another feature that Apple failed to include the first time around is the landscape keyboard.  While other touch phones allow you to tilt your phone horizontal and have more room for the keyboard, Apple kept you strictly in the upright position.  But this time around they have figured it out.  Landscape typing makes it easier and faster to type emails and text messages on the go.

4. Stock Watch.  An updated stock market section of the phone has many people excited.  With real time quotes, charts, financial details, and headlines, you never have to be too far from your portfolio.  This is just another step in the process towards more financial independence.

5. Updated Search.  The new iPhone would not be complete without an upgraded search.  The search on this phone is all encompassing.  It allows you to search your contacts, your messages, your emails, and practically any other type of information that you store on there.  This is just another feature that improves the speed and functionality of this phone.

Overall, the new iPhone is being hailed by those who have used it as one of the best smart phones in the world.  It has the Apple community buzzing, and is sure to turn a couple Blackberry users into iPhone enthusiasts.  Get your hands on one and see for yourself.  And have a great weekend.

Today in Lawline.com;s tip of the day, faculty members Gina Rubel and Laura Powers talk about identifying your target audience when pursuing a social media campaign. Furthermore, you must decide what your key message will be to this audience and how it will influence your desired appearance.

Watch the clip for more information.

Our Unlimited CLE product has become so popular in the past month that we have decided to expand its reach.  We launched a Lawline.com Affiliate advertising campaign to allow anyone with a law related website to share in its growth.

Becoming an affiliate is quite simple.  We will give you an ad to place anywhere on your website.  The ad will promote our Unlimited CLE program to anyone who is visiting your site.  Since it is a special offer, it is something that will really relate to your readers.

Additionally, the ad will benefit you because it pays royalties based on conversions.  Through our tracking program, you can monitor how many sales you receive from the ad, and get paid a percentage of every sale.  So the more you promote the ad on your site, the more money you will make from the affiliate program.

If you currently operate a website that relates to the legal community and is seen by lawyers in general, please don’t hesitate to sign up.  Contact me for more information or to register to become an affiliate advertiser today.