UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

Courts Citing to Wikipedia & Online Dictionaries of Slang

In an interesting piece in the New York Times, Leslie Kaufman writes: "The wheels of justice move slowly sometimes, but not, apparently, as slowly as Webster’s New World Dictionary." Given that courts must sometimes resort to dictionaries to define terms--as in, for example, determining legislative intent and the meaning of a statute--it is important to have these resources.

According to Kaufman, lawyers and judges are relying in this age of rap and slang upon a more informal source of definitions: Urban Dictionary, a crowdsourced collection of slang words on the Internet. [I challenge you: find "crowdsourced" in Webster's Dictionary!]

Kaufman writes that courts refer so often to Urban Dictionary and Wikipedia in legal cases that the law review of St. John’s University in Queens published an article in its Spring 2010 issue outlining "standardized rules" for the most appropriate uses of crowdsourced Web sites. The St. John's University article notes that it is neither appropriate nor necessary to use urban dictionaries or Wikipedia to define scientific terms and other technical definitions.

Son of Citation Machine | Easy, Proper Citations of all Kinds of Sources

 

 

 

 

Wow! What a cool item for Jeanne's Toolbox. "Son of Citation Machine" provides lawyers and professional researchers with a very easy way to cite the resources that they use in proper form. You may choose your "style"--MLA, APA or Chicago Book of Style (15th Ed.) Use this online citation creator to cite authorities in briefs, journal articles, books, etc.

Amendments to Michigan Court Rules

There were many changes to the Michigan Court Rules that became effective on January 1, 2013. Make sure that you are up to speed on these. The court rules with amendments are:

Rules 1.109, 2.107, 2.113, 2.114, 2.302, 2.518, 3.001, 3.218, 3.800, 3.901, 3.903, 3.930, 4.001, 5.101, 5.113, 5.731, 6.007, 8.108, and 8.119.

To review the SCAO memo regarding these changes, Download Order Michigan Supreme Court dated Oct 31, 2012 .

Dictionary Apps for iPhone, iPad

Hors d’oervres, thaumaturgy . . . can I spell those without looking them up? No. But on my iPhone or iPad, I can choose from several handy apps to help me. [Some of these are also available for Androids.]

One app is from Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus. It is free—so long as you are willing to put up with the on-screen ads. For $2.99, you can buy the ad-free version. Here’s how it works:

New Concerns About Privacy on Facebook

Is there a family lawyer out there who hasn't had a client clobbered at trial by a printout from a Facebook page? Facebook postings can be the family lawyer's nightmare and the divorce or custody client's downfall.

A recent article in the New York Times explores new privacy concerns for Facebook users. It's not enough to "un-friend" someone so that he or she cannot access the client's Facebook.  New technology can allow friends, enemies and strangers to access information on a Facebook page.

According to Sengupta: “One of Facebook’s cleverest heists is the word ‘friend.’ It makes you think all your Facebook contacts are really your ‘friends.’ They may not be."

Changes in Michigan Child Support Formula & New USO Forms

The new Michigan Child Support Formula 2013 takes effect on 1/1/2013. All orders entered after that period will use the MCSF 2013 and the new Uniform Support Order also becomes effective 1/1/2013.  William J. Bartels, Senior Management Analyst for the MI Supreme Court - State Court Administrative Office has highlighted for practitioners the following important things that you should know when calculating child support and using the new forms:

 * The new USO forms (rev 3/12) have two significant changes. 1) Rather than just reporting the average for all children spend with each parent, the overnights the payer spends with each child are recorded following the child's name and DOB. 2) The provision for prior orders is changing.  If a support provision is not written in a USO entered after 1/1, unchanged provisions from earlier orders no longer continue. (The 2013 MCSF Changes webcast  mentioned below includes information about the USO changes.)

Legal Research | What is Reasonable for Online Research Costs?

The ABA Journal reported on November 14, 2012 that many clients are balking at the costs billed for use of on-line database services. Back in the day, I used one of the BIG online services. I was billed at a rate for a solo practice. My contract allowed me to research the Michigan Court opinions and statutes. I was billed a premium cost if I went outside of the contract. The other 49 states, treatises, law review articles, etc. were all outside of my contract and the cost was not small. When my search of law reviews (at $50 per search) was interrupted  and I signed back on . . . there was an additional $50 charge. I billed my clients for the access charges, but not for my mistakes / problems (e.g., a dropped connection). One month my bill was $750 because I had done some very complicated research.

According to the ABA Journal,

"With clients increasingly primed to demand discounts, balk at hourly rates and refuse to pay for associate lawyers, a greater number of law firms have found themselves absorbing legal research costs as a way to shrink their clients’ tabs."

More Internet Safety Resources

Thanks to Rebecca Henry, Deputy Chief Counsel, ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence for these wonderful collections of resources expanding on Internet Safety for Men, Women and Children:

Safety & Privacy in a Digital World by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (September 2012) provides information and resources to support the safety and privacy of those who may or do experience technology-assisted abuse. It reviews the ways in which technology can be misused, offers tips for enhancing data security and personal privacy, and explores considerations for advocates and organizations serving survivors of abuse.

The Technology & Confidentiality Resources Toolkit by NNEDV's Safety Net Project, The Confidentiality Institute, and the U.S. DOJ Office of Violence Against Women (2012) can be found on the VAWnet.org website. Click on the Internet Explorer icon to view.

Protecting your Email, Accounts, Etc. with Secure Passwords

One of the first things I tell new clients is that they should change passwords on their email account(s) to avoid the potential that their spouse, former spouse or others will be able to access and read confidential attorney-client communications. This is particularly important when spouses share the same computer or the same home network.

In the November 7, 2012 issue of the New York Times, Tech writer Nicole Perlroth writes:

Not long after I began writing about cybersecurity, I became a paranoid caricature of my former self. It’s hard to maintain peace of mind when hackers remind me every day, all day, just how easy it is to steal my personal data.

More recently, I received a text message from Google with the two-step verification code for my Gmail account. That’s the string of numbers Google sends after you correctly enter the password to your Gmail account, and it serves as a second password. (Do sign up for it.) The only problem was that I was not trying to get into my Gmail account. I was nowhere near a computer. Apparently, somebody else was.

Practicing Law in Shariah Courts | A Valuable Resource

The American Bar Association has published a new resource that will be helpful for those lawyers practicing in locales with clients whose marriages have been contracted according to Shariah law. The book is titled Practicing Law in Shariah Courts: Seven Strategies for Achieving Justice in Shariah Courts. It describes the Shariah courts of Northern Nigeria, and offers advice for counsel practicing in Shariah courts worldwide, particularly in cases involving women. The author, Hauwa Ibrahim, is entering her fifth year at Harvard University. Prior to joining Harvard Divinity School Ibrahim was a Radcliffe Fellow and was a jointly appointed Fellow to the Human Rights Program and the Islamic Legal Studies Program.

Ibrahim provides valuable insight into practicing law in Shariah courts, and answers some questions that arise from being on the field, and also from her experience of seeking justice under these laws both legally and spiritually. Ibrahim discusses the delicate and flexible boundary between the rule of law and individual interpretations of Shariah Law that may unjustifiably cause individual and social ills.

Michigan | Database | Average Wages & Income

Often as lawyers seek to establish what the potential for a child support award will be, they need to know what the usual income is for a particular kind of worker. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget maintains a website. There you will find databases for the typical incomes earned in Michigan by people skilled in a certain occupation.

Here is the link to this information. There are other, more detailed reports available from this page.

Long-arm Statutes as a Basis for Personal Jurisdiction

On my way to the forum . . . [in today's parlance, "while surfing the Net"] . . . I found a terrific resource. It won't have application to my practice, but to those of you who also practice business or tort law, you will find this invaluable.

See Long-Arm Statutes: A Fifty-State Survey, published by Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz, P.C., a law firm with offices in Chicago, New York and Livingston, New Jersey.

Download Long Arm Survey here.

Subpoena Telephone, Facebook, Twitter Records

A colleague, Mary G. Falcone, family lawyer in West Bloomfield, Michigan, posted a download on the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Listserv today with contact information for subpoenas to various telephone and social media sources. Thank you, Mary. The information comes from the  North Calorina Indigent Services Office. Note the reference to a North Carolina Ethics Opinion regarding service of a subpoena in another state. It is possible, in Michigan without any cost, to "domesticate" a subpoena.

Therefore, it may be necessary to find a colleague in the state where the subpoena is to be served to first domesticate it. Download Telephone, social media subpoena_guide here.

Court Battle over Twitter Subpoena

First they came for the email account content, then the Facebook content, and now lawyers are after Twitter content. The question becomes "Who owns the Tweets?" Although this case doesn't involve family law issues, the prospect remains that the decision could impact family law cases.

Twitter says that its users own their tweets, and all that personal information. The court says Twitter does, and should hand them over when subpoenaed. This week Twitter has filed an appeal to New York Supreme Court, the second time it's filed a motion in this case.

Bottom line: Twitter says that it makes it clear in its terms of services that users own their content and they have "a right to fight invalid government requests," i.e. subpoenas.

Cell Phones | Lost & Found

A friend called the other day, sad that she'd lost her cell phone. That reminded me of an entertaining blog post in the NY Times last week: Where Is David Pogue’s iPhone?  Pogue lost his iPhone on an Amtrack train. Demonstrating the power of social media, David sent out a Tweet. Demonstrating that New Yorkers do sometimes engage in random acts of kindness, lo and behold, a massive Twitter campaign located David Pogue's iPhone.

Today, David Pogue explains how to set up your iPhone (mind you, you've encrypted it so that no one can read your data), so that you can actually find it. All you need is a free iCloud account and some techie capability. You may read How to Make Your Lost Phone Findable online at the New York Times.

Legal Writing | Fit or Flabby?

Thanks to Elizabeth Sadowski for this great tool for legal writers. Nothing irritates trial judges more than a brief that is too verbose and is otherwise poorly written and/or organized. Because our trial briefs are our first opportunity to explain the facts of the case and the applicable law, nothing could be more important than making sure that the trial brief doesn't simply annoy the judge or referree. A succinct statement of the chronology and a brief explanation of applicable law will make a great first impression. Liz wrote on the State Bar of Michigan's Listserv yesterday:

I ran across this interesting  piece on writing skills for academics (that means us, I believe) on the State Bar’s Newslinks page. It’s an article about Prof. Helen Sword,  who wrote two books on academic writing, The Writer’s Diet and Stylish Academic Writing.

Professor Sword posted a free on line tool to test whether your writing is “fit” or “flabby”.  Give it a try, if you like. [I just copied and pasted part of a brief into notepad to remove the Word elements that interfere with html. I excised quotes from cases I cited so that I was testing only my own writing.]

Legal Writing | Fit or Flabby?

Thanks to Elizabeth Sadowski for this great tool for legal writers. Nothing irritates trial judges more than a brief that is too verbose and is otherwise poorly written and/or organized. Because our trial briefs are our first opportunity to explain the facts of the case and the applicable law, nothing could be more important than making sure that the trial brief doesn't simply annoy the judge or referree. A succinct statement of the chronology and a brief explanation of applicable law will make a great first impression. Liz wrote on the State Bar of Michigan's Listserv yesterday:

I ran across this interesting  piece on writing skills for academics (that means us, I believe) on the State Bar’s Newslinks page. It’s an article about Prof. Helen Sword,  who wrote two books on academic writing, The Writer’s Diet and Stylish Academic Writing.

Subpoena AT&T Records

Thanks to my friends Elizabeth Sadowski of Rochester Hills, Michigan and Marshal Willick of Las Vegas, Nevada for this helpful link to an online request by subpoena for AT&T records.

See:    https://contact.bellsouth.com/subpoena/

Legal Research | Online Database Services

When is the last time you held a law book in your hands? For me, a sole practitioner, it was about 1996. Prior to that, I had the West Michigan Digests and some treatises--books to help me out in the middle of the night if I awakened with a deep concern about a case. [Home office disavantage!] I could read the cases at the courthouse. Then I had Lexis, then West Law online. When I moved in 2006, I gave my entire library (except for my ICLE books) to a young lawyer I was mentoring.

I use TheLawNet and I supplement with volumes from the Institute for Continuing Legal Education at University of Michigan--the online versions that are keyword searchable. We all learned keyword search--with digests, etc. at law school. As a member of the Law Review at Detroit College of Law, I had unlimited access to LexisNexis, and refined my skills at Boolean research to the point that I can reduce a search on any database from 2 million (for example) to 12. [See a tutorial on Boolean research here.] But I have chosen TheLawNet as my online database legal research tool for several reasons.

Free Document Conversion Tools

Now you can put to good use some of your tax dollars. The U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) document conversion tools make the exchange and use of electronic information easier for librarians, library users, and the general public. The DocMorph Web site and MyMorph software are two free conversion tools that allow users to convert more than 50 types of files into alternative, usable formats. DocMorph allows users to convert files one at a time into PDF, TIFF, or text through their Web browsers. In addition, NLM has created a mashup using DocMorph and Google Language Translation, which permits DocMorph users to translate uploaded files into many languages.  This extends the file types translatable by Google to include scanned image files (e.g., image PDF, TIFF, and JPEG2000).

The downloadable MyMorph client software replaces the browser for the case where users need to mass migrate files to PDF, TIFF, or text. You can download the DocMorph and MyMorph here.

Protecting Law Firm Data From Security Breaches

I read an illuminating article in the ABA Law Practice Management Magazine about protecting your law firm data from security breaches. Some of this was basic, but most of the information related to safe cloud-computing and protection from hackers, an ever-increasing threat. Much of the information will be relevant to clients as well. Computer security is always on the checklist of items to be covered in my office with new clients.

You may read this valuable article here. John W. Simek and Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., Preventing Law Firm Data Breaches, Amer. Bar Assn Law Practice Management Magazine, Volume 38 Number 1 (2012).

Hat-tip to Paula Alyward of Marshall, Michigan, an ABA colleague, for calling this item to my attention.

 

Permission to Travel Letters | International Travel with Minor Children

Thinking about traveling during your child's next school vacation period across international borders? Be prepared. Not only will you need your child's passport, if you are traveling without your child's other legal parent, you'll need a Permission to Travel Letter.

A child departing from the United States and other countries, traveling with only one parent, a guardian, grandparents or other adults must have a written and notarized Permission to Travel Letter from both legal parents or legal guardians to enter many countries. In fact, if the child is on a cruise ship, the child will need such a letter to participate in shore excursions.

Minors traveling in groups:  Sometimes, minors under 18 leave the United States with school groups, teen tours, or friends on a vacation. Minors traveling with sports teams and academic study programs must have a similar Minor Consent to Travel form.

Dictation on Smart Phones

Many users of iPhones and Android phones are unaware that their phones come with dictation features. WSJ's Personal Technology Columnist Walt Mossberg tests out this little-used feature of smartphones and finds it works surprisingly well for composing hand-free text. For all of us out there looking for a good way to save time and generate documents more easily, have a look-see at Mossberg's comments. He says:

I am writing this paragraph on an iPhone. But I am not typing it on the phone's virtual keyboard. I am dictating it using a little-known feature that allows you to employ your voice, instead of your fingers, wherever text entry is possible on the device.

Read the column here: Take a Note: Typing With No Hands. Mossberg, Walter S., Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2012. See his interesting video here:

Step by Step Guide for using the Hague Service Convention

Today's guest author is Pamela Brown, a legal services lawyer in Texas. Many lawyers are asking recently about how to serve process on someone who resides outside of the United States. Ms. Brown has some practical and valuable advice. She says:

Last year, I prepared and disseminated an elaborate step by step guide as to how to properly and practically serve a defendant/respondent residing in Mexico via the Hague Service Convention ("HSC"). I noted then that while the Convention itself provided a rather streamlined process for accomplishing service in its signatory countries, some countries, including Mexico, had essentially disregarded parts of the treaty and required attorneys requesting service of process within their borders to jump through several hoops not contemplated by the Convention as drafted.

Well, I am happy to report that the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law was also keen to the problems associated with some its signatory countries' implementation of the treaty and has been taking some steps to remedy the situation. Fortunately, Mexico is among the countries embracing the Permanent Bureau's recommendations.

Scott Bassett Reviews MS Office on iPad

There are many apps that let you open and edit Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) files on an iPad.  I use Documents to Go Premium mostly because I have been using a version of this app since I carried a Palm OS device in the 90's, but there are several other choices.  As handy as they are, these apps do not provide the entire Office feature set.  For example, I often use PowerPoint files with embedded audio or video or complex transitions when I teach at CLE seminars or law schools.  For the most part, those advanced features are lost when I open a PowerPoint file in one of the many iPad apps that allow you to open, create, and edit basic Office files.  Also, key features in Word such as the all-important Tracked Changes don't work with most iPad apps that claim MS Office file compatibility.  What if you want (need?) to use your iPad as full-featured tool to create and edit Office files?

Interesting Calculators

Have you ever needed to know what time it is in another country? Here's a link to a terrific website that allows you to convert your time into the time in many, many US and/or foreign cities. Time Difference Calculator.

But there is much, much more. Create a customized calendar here. There is a calculator here to for the distance from one place to another. Explore the website. There are many valuable tools here.

Free PDF Creator

Thanks to Elizabeth Sadowski, Oakland County, Michigan family lawyer for this neat tip! She has provided the URL for download of a free PDF creator. The free PDF creator is, however, a 30-day trial and then you need to pay for it.

This PDF creator has some very special features. The Nitro PDF Creator, among other things, does the following:

Creates the ideal PDF

Choose from predfined creation profiles — Web-ready, Office-ready, or Print-ready — or choose your precise settings. The PDF creation is integrated with Windows in a drag-an-drop feature, so it converts files faster into PDF documents and does it straight from any folder.

Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents

You have a case in which you need to serve a party who lives in a foreign country. You need to know about the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.  According to an article written by Mark A. Canizio and Jessica Y. Singh for the New York Law Journal (August 27, 2010):

"Extending for more than 4,000 miles, the Silk Road used to interconnect a network of trade routes across the Asian continent with the Mediterranean world as well as Africa and Europe. The Silk Road once used to transport foreign goods, especially luxuries such as satin, spices, medicines, jewels, and of course, silk, from other parts of the world. Undoubtedly, "the world was getting smaller" then.

Scott Bassett Reviews & Recommends iPad and Apps for Mobility

I've had my iPad 2 since July of 2011.  My first trip with it was to the Family Law Section's Summer Conference on Mackinac Island.  It is a great travel device.  I also use it regularly in my appellate practice to read and annotate trial transcripts and the rest of the trial court file (scanned to PDF, of course).  I've tried several PDF annotation apps such as PDF iAnnotate, but lately have been using Notability for that purpose.  Documents to Go Premium handles viewing and editing MS Office documents.  I use SugarSync to transfer and sync my case documents from my PC to my iPad.  It works very well and I've never found the 16 GB storage (mine is the cheapest iPad 2 model) to be a limitation.  Lately I've been leaving paper behind when I fly up for appeal arguments and just sync the case file, including briefs, to the iPad.

Leon Walker Case: Unauthorized Access of Email is a Felony

On December 27, in an unpublished decision, 2011 the Michigan Court of Appeals decided a case involving Leon Walker's unauthorized access of his wife Clara Walker's password-protected email account. Leon Walker does (or did) work for the Oakland County Information Technology Department maintaining and setting up computers. Following the preliminary hearing, the district court bound Leon over on two charges, one a violation of MCL 752.795, which prohibits fraudulent access to computers, computer systems, computer programs, and computer networks.
The district court found that Clara did not share her computer password with defendant, and defendant did not ask Clara for her information. The trial court said: “Gmail allows a user to create a password which creates an expectation of privacy and creates security for the user. It’s the user that decides who can have access to the information inside of the computer account, which in this case is like a vault.”

Facebook | Divorce & Total Recall

Well, Jane Smith, filing for divorce and asking for primary custody—you think you can avoid some of the stupid things you posted on Facebook a year ago? You think it might never see the light of day—those comments about how drunk you got—where you were, with whom, doing what? Guess again! And think about how Facebook will supplement your resume’ as you begin job-hunting. [See this blog article on Lexis-Nexis' use of Facebook in making decisions about whom to hire.]

Last Thursday (December 8, 2011), Facebook began updating Facebook accounts with a new and revamped profile feature called Timeline. Timeline allows a person with access to the account to see a user’s entire history of photos, links and other things shared on Facebook accessible with a single click. 800 million members of Facebook are about to see just how many digital fingerprints they have been leaving on the site — and on the Internet in general. This will make it more difficult to erase past identities, past comments, past bad behavior memorialized in a moment of sheer stupidity.

iPad vs. Kindle Fire? Scott Bassett Reviews & Recommends

Today's guest blogger is Michigan family law appellate lawyer Scott Bassett. Scott has many talents, including bass-playing in a jazz band and he is the consummate techie. In fact, I never purchase hardware or software til I have checked with Scott. Scott consults with law firms through Affinity Consulting and writes a blog for them. Today Scott reviews iPad vs Kindle Fire. He says:

"iTablet computers can be useful productivity devices for lawyers - if the hardware and software are up to the task.  From my use of a Kindle Fire over the last week to read and annotate transcripts for an appeal, do legal research, manage email, and edit documents, I must conclude that it isn't up to the task. 

How To Subpoena Social Media

The Electronic Frontier Foundation,  a donor-funded nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech,    privacy, innovation, and consumer rights online, has been hounding relevant law enforcement agencies to get a hold of documents identifying how the government seeks information from social networking sites and how the sites respond to these requests.

Via an ongoing social networking Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the EFF asked for copies of the social networks’ own guides that they provide to law enforcement giving the “how-to” on how to get information about site users.  EFF pulled guides from thirteen companies, including Facebook, MySpace, AOL, eBay, Ning, Tagged, Craigslist and others. The EFF then compared the guides and organized the data in spreadsheets (xls) and pdf. The guides cover the period from 2005 to 2010 and address requests for contact information, photos, IP logs, friend networks, buying history, and private messages. The EFF wasn’t able to secure Twitter’s guide, but they did their own research and found some relevant information on the site to include on their spreadsheets as well. 

Parental Abduction | Another Resource for Left Behind Parents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Bob D'Amico, Administrator of the Bring Sean Home Foundations's website for this important piece of  information.

Legal Citations | Valuable On-line Guide

Do you ever wonder if your citations to case law, to law journal articles, on-line materials, etc. in a legal brief are correct?

Times have changed so much since I read that little blue book in law school with instructions for correct citation. I've discovered a tremendous resource on the Cornell website--a guide to proper citation. It may be used online or, for $20, you may order a copy to download on your computer or to your Kindle.

Peter W. Martin, Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (online ed. 2010), http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm [Last accessed August 7, 2011]

You can browse through the Table of Contents here--with hot links. http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/full_toc.htm#7-400 [Last accessed August 7, 2011]

So you want an iPhone (or have an iPhone)?

Now that I have upgraded to an iPhone (having never activated that Blackberry that I bought about 9 months ago), this news just in about security issues:

Apple, the maker of the iPhone you are holding, or that iPad on your lap, or the computer in front of you, is tracking your every move. A secret file on Apple's mobile devices has been found to store location information, a privacy glitch discovered by two independent programmers and revealed at a conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
 
That's not the only bad news about the hip technology developer. Greenpeace, the international environmental advocacy group, has named Apple the "least green" company on the planet. Apple received the unwanted award because of the company's heavy reliance on coal power at the sites that house its banks and servers.

Citing Wikipedia as Authority? What was Counsel Thinking?

According to Judith D. Fischer, Associate Professor of Law, University of Louisville, writing for the Legal Writing Prof Blog on April 5, 2011, a U.S. District Court in Kentucky recently criticized a lawyer for both plagiarism and citing Wikipedia as authority. See U.S. v. Sypher, Criminal Action No. 3:09-CR-00085, 2011 WL 579156 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 9, 2011). Good grief, a lawyer's discussion of the law in a brief submitted was copied and pasted verbatim from the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. Imagine having to be reminded by a court that copying another's writing without attribution is unethical and professional misconduct. Worse yet, the lawyer had to be reminded that "Wikipedia is not appropriate legal authority." See Court Condemns Copying from Wikipedia by Associate Professor Fischer.

IRS Resources for Divorced and Divorcing People

The IRS has released updated publications and forms that help divorced and divorcing people understand and deal with these issues:

• income tax filing status
• the right to claim tax exemptions
• how to protect against tax liabilities arising from FOC intercepts of tax refunds on joint returns when, in fact the intercept is for child support arrearages of only one spouse and some of the tax refund belongs to the other spouse.
• how to claim "innocent spouse" relief from liability caused by unreported income by the other spouse are now available.

Wi-Fi Users Threatened by New Hacking Tools

How often do you sit in a local coffee shop or at an airport or at the local courthouse and access free (or not free) Wi-Fi on your laptop or smartphone? No worries? The New York Times reports on February 16, 2011 that anyone using Wi-Fi in public places should be worried not just about highly skilled government intelligence agents and nerdy teenage hackers wherever hacking into your computer. According to the NY Times, some simple software allows almost anyone sitting next to you in a public Wi-Fi spot watch you browse the Web and even assume your identity online.

ABA | CLE on Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is one of the hottest trends in legal technology. Rather than installing and running software on your local computer, your software and data is hosted by a third party and made available over the Internet. While this new approach to cloud computing offers many benefits, lawyers in particular need to be aware of security and privacy related "best practices" prior to entrusting confidential client data to "the cloud."

Inexpensive Internet Long-distance Calling

The New York Times Tech writer has written a terrific explanation of the many options for inexpensive Internet long-distance calling. Who knew that there are so many? They are: TRUPHONE, FRING, Skype, Google Voice, Line2, FreePhone2Phone, TEXTFREE WITH VOICE

You may read the entire NY Times article here. Don't miss the great tutorials on the left side of the page. Pogue, David, "Ins and Outs of Calling via the Net," New York Times, January 26, 2011

Subpoena Online Services, Financial Institutions

Here's another resource for discovery purposes. There are not plentiful choices here, but addresses for the legal department accepting subpoenas for PayPal, Craig's List, some credit card companies, etc. can be found at this Blog. Subpoena Info for Attorneys

An earlier resource in the toolbox has many addresses for legal departments accepting subpoenas for information from ISPs.

Boolean Search | A Powerful Research Skill

My experience on Law Review at Detroit College of Law allowed me free and unlimited access to Lexis / Nexis and I took full advantage of it to develop and hone Boolean research skills. Let me give you an example of how powerful Boolean research is: When I was researching and writing my book Taking Charge: Good Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It, I used the online National Medical Library as well as Google. One of my early searches resulted in 12,000+ returns. Using Boolean research strategies, I was able to narrow that search to twelve medical journal articles! Not only did I find the answer to an important question, but one of the authors of that article, Dr. Joseph H. Friedman, a neurologist who teaches at Brown University Medical School subsequently became my mentor and later a co-author of the book.

Today's addition to Jeanne's Toolbox is a brief tutorial on how to do Boolean searches.

PDF Documents | Watermarks for Protection

I'd published an article about using a PDF Printer last December about how to save webpages such as Facebook pages, or documents sent to clients or other lawyers. Jim Ryan then emailed me about the use of watermarks. I had recommended them but never used them. I decided to look up Microsoft's Help Page on watermarks and learned a lot. Here is a tiny tutorial that will help you protect documents that you send, converting the doc to PDF before sending so that (a) no one can change the content of the document and (b) the document will paginate the same way it does on your computer, rather than as on the recipient's computer which is scaled to the particular printer that is in default use there. At the end is a link to the full Microsoft tutorial.

The sample used in this tutorial is a durable power of attorney that I use to eliminate precious time lapses when dealing with clients who are far way--Kuwait, Spain, Germany, Alaska, etc. So you can blame me for ruining business for FedEx, UPS, and the USPS. But sometimes I need an original signature quickly for a document to be filed. The sample you find here is one such document. Now, let's learn how to put a watermark into this document so that noone can change the content:

Google Voice | Features

I'm learning more about Google Voice every day, especially as I anticipate attending the Family Law Section's Winter Conference in Antigua in February. My cellular service is provided by Verizon and I don't want to change because my cell phone coverage is so excellent in my home / office location. However, I cannot get Verizon cellular service in Antigua. Exploring options for long-distance calling (and preparing my presentation for the conference--focusing on some of the tools in "Jeanne's Toolbox"), I reviewed Google Voice again. My interest had been piqued earlier when I learned about recording cell phone calls with Google Voice. With Google Voice, I can make long distance calls for $0.14/minute!

But Google Voice has much, much more to offer.

Reading your spouse's email | A crime? | He said, she said?

A lot of attention is focused these days in family courts around the country on text messages, voice mails, emails, and various social media that spouses use against each other in divorce and custody matters. In fact, protecting yourself from intrusion upon your Internet security has been a frequent topic on this blog. When domestic abuse figures into the picture, the need to be secure in your on-line activities is even more important.

A TODAY Show segment discusses prosecution of a man who says that he used the passwords that his wife shared with him or left open for his discovery and use. She says he's a computer IT person. The unanswered question? Did he access the email because they shared a common family computer setting (like an unlocked file cabinet) or did he use software or hardware to access her email? Here's the Today Show report (Click on the image):

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook | Hype or not?

The latest ABA Journal talks about use of social media for lawyers. The journal says that there’s a growing consensus that it is overhyped, arguing that no credible ways to measure return on investment are available and that no data exists showing that social media has the capacity to create business or that the number of followers you have on Twitter or friends on FaceBook means that you are increasing your earning potential.

Archiving text messages and emails on iPhones and Blackberry phones

Archiving emails and test messages is helpful to attorneys and also to litigants involved in family law cases. There are many free or commercial Apps available to help you do that, whether you are using an iPhone or a Blackberry.

Five easy steps: Erase a hard drive to preserve privacy when discarding

From time to time, all family lawyers buy a new computer. Sometimes I give an old computer to a family member or friend. I've given one to a senior center. But first, I have my IT guy erase the hard drive. Today I learned how I can do this safely myself. To do it yourself, you'll need to have the bootable CD-Rom disc that came with your computer--the system recovery disc.

WINDOWS Platform:

PDF Creator - Copy webpages - free

OK. So you have access to a MySpace page or Facebook page. How do you show it off to the Court? If you have a PDF "printer" on your computer (see below), you can go to the upper lefthand corner of your browser page, click on Print and make a PDF file of the entire FB page. Remember, in order to print all of the posts and pictures, unless the FB user has converted to the new FB Timeline interface, you will have to click on "older posts" at the bottom of each page until you have the whole FB page opened up.

You can download a free PDF creator here and use it like a printer.

FreePDF Creator is a fully free desktop tool for high-quality PDF creation. Its most notable features are:

• Unlimited use without any time limits.
• Intuitive and simple to use.
• Creates PDF files from over 300 different Windows file formats.
• Prints PDF directly from the source program that the document was created in.
• Ability to create password protected and secure PDF files with 128-bit encryption.
• Ability to customize PDF files.
• Supports Asian language fonts.

You can download it and learn more here: http://www.pdfconverter.com/freepdfcreator/