In today’s print edition, I wrote an article about how bar association membership has dropped on a national, state and local level because there are fewer working lawyers to pay dues and fewer law firms willing to pay for their lawyers to obtain memberships… So I interviewed Patricia Refo, chairwoman of the ABA’s standing committee on membership, who said the association had implemented new, lower fee structures for judges, solo practitioners and public and public sector lawyers. She added that the ABA had seen an increase in those areas.

Just like the general population, more lawyers are using mobile devices than ever before and their use of smart phones and mobile devices is increasing every year. According to the American Bar Association’s 2010 Legal Technology Survey Report, released in July 2010, 76 percent of responding lawyers reported using smart phones, up from 64 percent in 2009.

Should disaster strike in New York, a new judicial rule allows out-of-state attorneys to offer pro bono services to disaster victims in New York. New York State Bar Association President Stephen P. Younger today commended the state Court of Appeals for adopting the so-called ‘Katrina Rule,’ named for the devastating hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. … The rule permits out-of-state lawyers to volunteer their legal services in New York when the Court has determined an emergency exists affecting the justice system. … In February 2007, the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted a similar model rule after Hurricane Katrina. In June 2007, the House of Delegates of the State Bar Association approved a report by the Association’s Committee on Mass Disaster Response recommending that New York adopt a version of the ABA rule.

This week, the Supreme Court ruled oral complaints are protected activity for purposes of the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). …Federal agencies have also been focusing on improving workers’ access to legal assistance. Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) partnered to launch a hotline to assist workers with legal complaints under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The project is one component of a larger effort by the administration’s Middle Class Task Force initiative.

Establishing an online presence can be invaluable for students looking for an edge in their future careers. Anything that helps you stand out – in a good way – can give you an edge in your job search or client development. More and more, lawyers of all ages and experience levels are turning to the Internet to get that edge. …The ABA’s 2010 Legal Technology Survey found that 56 percent of lawyers surveyed were using social media, and 10 percent said they had gotten new business as a result.

Oral arguments for the Myriad Genetics, Inc. appeals case is set to begin April 4 with a possible written decision in June 2011, RBC Capital Markets said. …Previously on March 29, 2010, district court Judge Sweet issued a ruling that invalidated certain of Myriad Genetics’ patents related to the BRCA 1 and 2 breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes. …’A number of positive factors that could suggest a positive outcome, or overturn Sweet’s decision,’ said Michael Yee, an analyst at RBC Capital. The number of positive factors include: whether Assoc for Molecular Pathology had standing or jurisdiction to litigate in the first place (plaintiff is not harmed); American Bar Association wrote a 13-pg report in support of patentability of isolated genomic DNA to the House of Delegates; The Dept of Justice wrote an amicus brief to the Appeals Court stating they support patentability of Myriad’s cDNA; Judge Sweet ruled patent ineligibility based on Bilski before it was overturned by the Supreme Court. Additionally, the Appeals Court overturned the Promethus case, citing that patent eligibility should be broader than a ‘machine or transformation test’; and Judge Sweet has ruled on four other patent cases, all of which were appealed and all were overturned by the court, which bodes well for Myriad.

Not me, of course, but lots of workers complain about their bosses. In fact, tens of thousands of employees each year go so far as to take their concerns to the Department of Labor – more grievances than the agency can handle. Now there’s backup help. The Labor Department has established a first-of-its-kind program with the American Bar Association. The agency would put workers whose complaints it won’t take up in touch with private employment lawyers.

Here’s a link to [the American Bar Association’s] article – 8 Tips on Getting Your First Job After Law School.  I actually think the tips are pretty general.  What really does make you stand out is #7 and #8 if employed correctly.  If you happen to know who your interviewers are ahead of time, it can be a great advantage to you to look up their background and find something you could talk to them about personally.

The nomination of Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green for a federal judgeship is before the Senate Judiciary Committee which is expected to schedule a hearing soon. Answers to the questionnaire are posted on the committee’s website (http://judiciary.senate.gov), along with the recent rating of the American Bar Association. The majority of the association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary finds Green ‘qualified,’ while a minority voted him as ‘not qualified.’

Not me, of course, but lots of workers complain about their bosses. In fact, tens of thousands of employees each year go so far as to take their concerns to the Department of Labor – more grievances than the agency can handle. Now there’s backup help. The Labor Department has established a first-of-its-kind program with the American Bar Association. The agency would put workers whose complaints it won’t take up in touch with private employment lawyers. The Bridge to Justice program focuses on potential violations of overtime, minimum wage and family medical leave laws.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is soliciting comments about a planned program that would cut down on controversial pat-downs and full-body scanner searches at airports and instead rely on an ‘intelligence’ system that focuses on people who have been identified as a threat. …The blog comes weeks after TSA Administrator, and former FBI agent, John Pistole told a group of American Bar Association lawyers that the agency is attempting to move more into intelligence on passengers who pose a threat rather than making air travel unpleasant for all of the 628 million people who are screened in the U.S. each year.

‘A truly mobile lawyer with a laptop can do everything they can do in their office by connecting through various software tools to access documents there and store that content on their laptop,’ says Pinnington, co-author of the book, Busy Lawyer’s Guide to Success: Essential Tips to Power Your Practice, published by the American Bar Association in 2009.