To expand business during the bad economy, more lawyers than ever are providing unbundled legal services. Just as iTunes allows consumers to buy specific tracks off an album for a cheaper price than paying for a full album, this kind of representation allows clients to pick and choose what they want from a lawyer, usually for less money than full representation.

According to lawyer Karina Ayala-Bermejo, 12 percent of Illinois residents live in poverty. They may also need to go to court. Living paycheck to paycheck means that unanticipated expenses like medical bills, a rent hike, or a court case can send a family over a budgetary cliff.

A distinguished panel of best-selling lawyer-authors gathered to discuss their writing careers in “The Law as a Platform for Writing” Aug. 4 at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

As many as nine out of 10 LGBT teens reported being bullied within the past year because of their sexual orientation, panelists noted during a 2012 ABA Section of Litigation Annual Meeting program titled “Leave My Child Alone, or I’ll …What? Using the Law to Stand Up to Bullies.”

Implicit bias, also known as hidden or unconscious bias, is more evident as women of color climb the corporate ladder, said lawyers from Fortune 500 companies at “Visible Invisibility,” a panel discussion during the ABA Annual Meeting.

Privacy has never mattered more than it does today, said moderator Christopher Wolf of Washington, D.C., in introducing the Aug. 3 panel, “Privacy Law in 2012: Where We Are and Where We Are Going,” sponsored by the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. Wolf leads Hogan Lovells’ privacy and information management practice, and co-chairs a think tank dedicated to responsible data practices.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took the spotlight during a panel discussion comparing constitutional systems in the United States, Israel and Canada at the ABA Annual Meeting Aug. 3 in Chicago.

American Bar Association President-Elect Laurel Bellows expressed confidence that the association would do its part to eliminate one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country. “We are going to take the expertise of the ABA and end human trafficking in the U.S.,” she said. “But the ABA is not going to do it alone.”

If you want to stand out to potential clients, “it’s not about selling yourself,” said Nancy Mangan, senior consultant and client growth specialist with the Wicker Park Group, speaking to lawyers at an Aug. 3 program of the ABA Annual Meeting. Rather, “it’s about selling a solution you have to their problem.”

Lawyers and judges are becoming increasingly aware of the effect that social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have on jurors and ensuring fair trials. An expert panel at the ABA Annual Meeting on Aug. 3 in Chicago investigated what happens when technology and the law mix.

Is it ethical for judges to avoid cases that are likely to evoke intense public reaction when they are up for re-election? Should children testifying about sexual abuse be allowed to hold a dog to make them more comfortable in court?

If you are an undocumented immigrant and want to attend college, where you live matters.

With comprehensive federal immigration reform stalled, states are taking widely different approaches on whether undocumented young people can receive in-state tuition, scholarships or even attend a university or college at all.