January, 2025

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Rights group reports crackdown on human rights lawyers in Iran

JURIST

The Centre for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) released a press release on Monday claiming Iran has escalated its crackdown on human rights lawyers and other dissenters as part of its expanding suppression of dissent. The authorities are using intimidation and prosecution, with five prominent lawyers being arrested and sentenced in the last month. CHRI, in its press release , states the Iranian government has intensified its persecution of human rights lawyers, particularly since the 2022 Woman, Lif

Lawyers 274
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Supreme Court of Delaware Finds Defendant Can't Claim Involuntary Intoxication Based On Thinking He's Taking One Illegal Drug, But Actually Ingesting a Different One

EvidenceProf Blog

Most jurisdictions allow criminal defendants to raise an involuntary intoxication defense that can absolve them of criminal liability if they unknowingly ingested drugs or alcohol to the point of intoxication. Imagine, for instance, that a defendant thinks she's eating regular.

Court 202
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Justices take up Maryland parents’ challenge to LGBTQ books in schools

SCOTUSBlog

Share The Supreme Court will decide whether a group of Maryland parents can opt to have their children exempted from LGBTQ-themed storybooks. The justices on Friday afternoon granted Mahmoud v. Taylor , in which a coalition of parents from Montgomery County, Md., contend that requiring their children to participate in instruction that violates their religious beliefs violates their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

Court 139
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Beyond Hallucination: Discernment Is Required When Using Generative AI

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

If youve been following the news about lawyers use of artificial intelligence, youll know that hallucinations have been an issue. When a generative AI tool, like ChatGPT , hallucinates , it essentially makes things up. Now, thats a problem if, say, youre an attorney adding a court case to a legal brief, that youll submit to the court. Theres a whole line of caselaw , about how bad this can be, starting with Mata v Avianca.

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Document Automation for Small Law Firms: A Practical Guide for Paralegals & Staff

Are you a paralegal or legal staff member tired of recreating the same documents repeatedly? This practical guide shows how small and solo law firms can transform their practice with affordable document automation. Written for paralegals and support staff, we break down how to automate common documents like client intake forms, routine correspondence, and basic agreements without expensive software or technical expertise.

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Yale Law School Bars Students From Accessing Information About Abusive Judges

Above The Law

It appears YLS does not want students to access negative information about clerkships, fearing it might dissuade students from clerking for certain prestigious -- and abusive -- judges. The post Yale Law School Bars Students From Accessing Information About Abusive Judges appeared first on Above the Law.

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Uganda court convicts human rights lawyer of contempt without fair trial: Amnesty International

JURIST

Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Ugandan authorities to overturn a military tribunal’s decision and release lawyer Eron Kiiza, who has been convicted of contempt of court without trial. Kiiza was arrested after reportedly shouting at a court martial after being denied entry to the reserved space for lawyers when attempting to represent opposition leader Kizza Basigye at a court hearing.

Lawyers 265
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Ninth Circuit Finds Feigned Memory Loss Can Trigger Hearsay Exclusion for Prior Inconsistent Statements

EvidenceProf Blog

Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(A) provides an exclusion to the rule against hearsay for: A statement that meets the following conditions is not hearsay: (1) A Declarant-Witnesss Prior Statement. The declarant testifies and is subject to cross-examination about a prior.

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Mastering Your Craft: How One Attorney Uses AI to Elevate His Pitch

Sterno

Executive Summary Challenge: After decades of litigation experience, attorney Mike Marzban recognized that colleagues were often too shy to provide candid feedback on his deposition technique. He needed an objective way to evaluate his performance and identify potential blind spots in his questioning strategies. Solution: Marzban began using Transcript Genius for what he describes as "a blunt dialog about what I didn't get right.

Attorney 130
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Court OKs Tesla Board’s Deal to Repay Nearly $1 Billion

Intelligize Blog

Ending one skirmish amid the legal battles at Tesla over excessive compensation, a Delaware Chancery Court on January 8 approved a deal that Teslas board of directors struck 18 months ago to return roughly $919 million to the company. The agreement was in response to a complaint filed by shareholders accusing board members of awarding themselves millions in excess pay from 2017 to 2020.

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Buyer’s Guide for Contract Lifecycle Management Software

With advancements in automation tools and digitization, the overall modern business environment is fast, to say the least. Legal operations are no exception to this need for expediency. Managing contracts efficiently is critical for organizations to maintain compliance, minimize risk, and optimize their contract lifecycle operations. As such, organizations considering CLM software need to diligently review CLM software offerings to find the solution that best fits their specific needs.

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Facebook Lawyer Ditches Client As Company Embraces Bigotry For Fun & Profit

Above The Law

Mark Lemley announced decision on Facebook for maximum effect. The post Facebook Lawyer Ditches Client As Company Embraces Bigotry For Fun & Profit appeared first on Above the Law.

Lawyers 125
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With Launch Today of ‘Playbooks,’ Gen AI Company Spellbook Expands Into In-House Legal Market

LawSites

Spellbook, the company that introduced the first generative AI copilot for contract drafting and review in 2022, and that last August launched a sophisticated AI agent for law capable of planning and executing complex, multi-step workflows, today rolled out Playbooks, a contract-review feature designed for in-house teams working in corporate legal departments.

Legal 122
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Ukraine becomes 125th state party to ICC Rome Statute

JURIST

Ukraine became the 125th state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday. With the ratification of the Rome Statute , Ukraine gains full participation rights within the ICC framework , which includes voting on budgetary matters and influencing decisions regarding amendments to the statute. Moreover, the ratification strengthens Ukraine’s ability to prosecute international crimes domestically, aligning its legal framework with international standards.

Statute 270
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Third Circuit Finds Expert's Testimony That Recovered Memories Are No Less Accurate Than Continuous Memories Was Improperly Admitted

EvidenceProf Blog

Federal Rule of Evidence 702 provides that A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if the proponent demonstrates to the court that.

Education 133
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Case Closed: How to Optimize Your Legal Intake Process for Efficiency

Speaker: Anne Post, CEO North America, Xakia Technologies

Do you know that 40% of U.S. Legal Departments now have a formal legal intake process? With that in mind, where does your legal department stand today? Many legal teams still struggle with a flood of incoming requests, leaving everyone overwhelmed and frustrated. Implementing a formal legal intake process can seem like an obstacle between the business and the legal department, but it doesn’t have to be!

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Most lawyers aren’t using AI to address growing workloads, new report says

ABA Journal

A new study has found that most legal professionals are not yet using artificial intelligence to address increasing workload challenges. On Tuesday, Washington, D.C.

Lawyers 123
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Benefactor: What Happens When a Third Party Pays for Legal Services?

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

It happens from time to time, when a third party pays for the legal services of another. Though, its still a fairly unusual situation. So, the question is: What do you do when it happens? Ideally, two things: First, you want to clearly explain to both the payor and the client that the payor is not the client, the client is which sounds like an obvious thing for lawyers, but wont be for your clients and the person paying the legal fees.

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Chief Justice John Roberts Thinks You’re Stupid And He’s Probably Right

Above The Law

It's not just that it's disingenuous. it's shabby legal writing too! The post Chief Justice John Roberts Thinks You’re Stupid And He’s Probably Right appeared first on Above the Law.

Legal 130
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My AI Experiment That You Can Use As a Paralegal

Paralegal Bootcamp

Even though this was an AI experiment I was doing in my business with a podcast episode, I wanted to show it to paralegals because Google’s NotebookLM has a variety of uses that could benefit paralegals in their work. In this example, I’m showing you a clip from a recent podcast episode that I produced entirely inside NotebookLM. If you’d like to listen to the entire podcast (audio only) episode, you can listen here.

Paralegal 130
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Trial Prep: What Attorneys Really Want (And How to Deliver It)

Speaker: Joe Stephens, J.D., Attorney and Law Professor

Get ready to uncover what attorneys really need from you when it comes to trial prep in this new webinar! Attorney and law professor, Joe Stephens, J.D., will share proven techniques for anticipating attorney needs, organizing critical documents, and transforming complex information into compelling case presentations. Key Learning Objectives: Organization That Makes Sense 🎯 Learn how to structure and organize case materials in ways that align with how attorneys actually work and think.

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Executions of women in Iran hit highest level in 17 years: report

JURIST

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reported Monday that at least 31 women were executed under Islamic law in 2024, which marks the highest annual toll in 17 years. The report also highlighted a troubling surge in executions disproportionately affecting female prisoners. The report stated that approximately 70 percent of them were accused of killing their male partners, often in the context of an abusive marriage, including child brides.

Laws 253
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Supreme Court of Virginia Finds Admission of Video From Police Officer's Body-Worn Camera Didn't Violate the Confrontation Clause

EvidenceProf Blog

The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right.to be confronted with the witnesses against him." Moreover, in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), the Supreme Court found that.

Court 133
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Stanford Law prof fires Meta as client, citing platform’s ‘descent into toxic masculinity’

ABA Journal

Updated: A professor at Stanford Law School announced on LinkedIn on Monday that he could no longer in good conscience represent Meta, the parent company…

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Phased Out: Take Your Workflows to the Next Level with Stages

NCBA Law Practice Management Blog

The most efficient law firms (and, thus: the most profitable) are driven by effective processes. In fact, creating and managing workflows is one of the most important things that you can do as a law firm owner. However, you can take it further. Many project management, case management and CRM systems now offer the ability to add phases or stages to processes.

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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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Florida Woman Bumbles Through Senate Hearing But Will Get To Be Attorney General Anyway

Above The Law

The name's Bond(i). Pam Bond(i). The post Florida Woman Bumbles Through Senate Hearing But Will Get To Be Attorney General Anyway appeared first on Above the Law.

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Special Edition Today: Legaltech Week’s Year in Review – Our Panelists’ Picks of the Top Stories of 2024

LawSites

What were the most important stories of 2024 for legal technology and innovation? In a special edition of Legaltech Week today, our panel of journalists and bloggers will share their picks of the trends and developments that mattered most. The show is live today at 3 p.m. ET.

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US to repatriate $52M in seized corruption funds to Nigeria

JURIST

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday an agreement to repatriate approximately $52.88 million in forfeited assets to Nigeria. The assets are linked to a corruption case involving former Nigerian Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and her associates. Under the agreement, $50 million of the repatriated funds will be dedicated to the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project.

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Fourth Circuit Advises District Court to Appoint a Court Expert in "MOKE" v. "MOKE" Trademark Case

EvidenceProf Blog

Federal Rule of Evidence 706(a) provides that On a partys motion or on its own, the court may order the parties to show cause why expert witnesses should not be appointed and may ask the parties to submit nominations. The.

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Paralegal Power Move: Your Guide to Getting the Tech Tools That Maximize Your Time

Your time is valuable—and you know the right technology could help you do even more. From document management to client communication, modern tools can transform how you track deadlines, manage cases, and support your legal team. This practical playbook shows you how to: Compare and evaluate technology vendors Understand all costs and ROI potential Build a compelling presentation Handle common objections Pitch your solution like a pro Created by legal technology experts who understand how pivota