UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

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. But 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. See http://www.nitropdf.com/reader/  Versions are available for either PC or MAC. When you print, select nitro in the printer queue and it will make pdf files for you. Another free tool will print webpages. See http://www.pdfdownload.org/about.html and find a PDF printer for the specific Internet browser that you use.

Do you have several PDF files you need to join? Try the free tool found here: http://www.pdfjoin.com/

Facebook | May lawyers ethically "friend" to gather information?

I've earlier written about whether it is ethical for family lawyers to tell their clients to delete or to change their Facebook or My Space pages to avoid damaging information coming into the hands of an about-to-be ex-spouse or opposing counsel. Today I address a separate issue: May a family lawyer use deception or have a paralegal or other third party use deception to "friend" an opposing party or potential witness (a "best friend," a daycare provider, etc.) to gain access to social media pages that are "private" and available only to "friends?"

Unemployment | Relocation tools

You'll find a wealth of information on the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics website to help you show the dismal state of the economy in Michigan (or other states) as opposed to the state of economy in the prospective relocation state. The unemployment rates by county are projected on a map and much detailed information is available. Various reports are also available. Here is a good place to start. Note the Michigan state and county map showing loss of employment by county, and access to detailed information. This is a huge website with an incredible amount of information available.

Also check out the Quick Links and Help menus at the bottom of the page.

 

Need help with a post-judgment relocation motion?

Find a process server - US nationwide

Lawyers often need a process server in another state. There are several ways to find one. Sometimes,  I will look at one of the nationwide legal directories and contact a lawyer in the town where I need process served and ask who the firm uses as a process server. Failing success there, I've found other resources:

Here is a list and contact information for firms having directories of process servers nationwide:

United States Process Servers Association  

State Process Server Directory 

United States Process Serving Corp 

Scott Bassett on Microsoft's Live Mesh

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. If you spend a lot of time on the road, you will want to read his article on Live Mesh, Microsoft's free application for remote access to your computers while you're traveling. As Scott explains, this useful application is going to be Windows Live Mesh 2011 soon. I am sure we haven't heard the last word from  Scott on synching of files between computers for portability.

Read Scott's article, posted on the Affinity Consulting blog here. Windows Live Mesh 2011

New Android App | Beware SIMS Replicator

A New York Times tech blog exposes a new App for Android phones that would secretly forward text messages to any other phone without the knowledge of the Anroid's owner. Wow! Think how much easier it coulda been to catch up with Kwame! 

While this could be a terrific source of good material for those divorcing, think of the privacy issues.

Beware 'Free Public WiFi'

NPR Radio brought an Internet access problem to my attention last week. If you haven't followed Tom Loeb's warnings to install new security patches, you should check out your computer now.

"Free Public WiFi" is available now--in your airports, your coffee shops and your libraries. It's sort of like the flu virus hanging around shopping carts at the local supermarket. And it acts like a virus, according to NPR.  NPR says that free wireless access does not actually provide access to the Internet. Like a virus, it has spread — and may even be lurking on your computer right now.

Read Larchuk, Travis. "The Zombie Network: Beware 'Free Public WiFi'" on the NPR website (or listen to the segment.  [Accessed October 16, 2010]

Guidelines for Waiver of Court Fees

Michigan courts can waive fees in cases where the litigant files SCAO form MC20 and qualifies for the waiver. It is up to the presiding judge to determine whether a person qualifies for the waiver. People who receive IV-D or TANF benefits automatically qualify, but what about those who receive no such benefits? How does the court determine whether a waiver should be granted? What about family size?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services compiles Poverty Guidelines. These are based upon both household income and family size.    You can access 2010 HHS Poverty Guidelines in Jeanne's Toolbox to see if a litigant may qualify for a waiver of fees for indigency. These Guidelines will be used for all cases dating from March 2010 through early 2011.

Facebook: You can have one for business and one for friends

More than a year ago, I stopped using my Facebook page because I could not separate my social friends from my business networking. The kinds of things friends might post are not always appropriate to a professional profile.

The New York Times recently noted that Facebook has introduced an easier way to make posts and photos visible only to certain groups. Recent criticism about privacy concerns was one thing motivating Facebook. However, this was also a recognition of the need to separate digitally, the way we live at work and life away from the office.

Miller, Claire Cain, The Many Faces of You, NY Times, October 16, 2010

Helft, Miguel, Facebook Lets Users Interact in Small Groups, NY Times, October 6, 2010

Facebook & MySpace | Is it ethical for lawyers tell clients to change, delete?

Richard Gould-Saltman, of the Gould-Saltman Law Offices in Los Angeles, California raised some thought-provoking questions on the ABA Family Law Listserv the other day. He asked:

• Are custody litigants/divorce litigants barred, in states with strong spoliation statutes, from changing any publically accessible aspect of their lives?
• Are they only barred from doing so once opposing counsel has sent some sort of "notice to preserve"?
• If this is the law, is it anything like a good policy? 
• If litigants, particularly custody litigants, realize that they're presenting to the world, and to their children, some image of themselves which, in 20-20 retrospect, is less than stellar, do we want to not only discourage them from fixing it, but punish them, legally, for doing so?
• By analogy, if I learn that my client, before I got involved in the case, routinely went to publically visible custodial exchanges with his ex-wife, wearing a t-shirt which said "Slap the Bitch Up!", am I not allowed to tell him once he's hired me, to stop doing so ?

Google voice | Record phone calls

Now on your cellphone: Google Voice records incoming calls as MP3 audio files. Free. There are a few caveats.

Read "How to Record Phone Calls With Google Voice" by Paul Boutin in the New York Times. (Accessed October 10, 2010). A one-time sign-up is required.

Apple to offer iPhone on Verizon

Everyone I know has an iPhone. I resisted because I like the coverage I have on Verizon. My son David, who lives just north of Chicago, has an iPhone and really terrible service with AT&T. Since I live in the country, I thought I would stick with what works for me. So I bought a Blackberry. Months ago. I finally charged it. Weeks ago. Too busy to deal with it . . .

And the NY Times today published an article stating that iPhone is going to offer access to Verizon. Well nuts. I can start over.The New York Times article is here.

Formation of a binding settlement through E-Mail exchange

Wayne Scheiss has written a terrific article discussing how lawyers should and should not approach the use of email in their practices. The use of email is particularly important to those lawyers who have clients residing in other states in order to facilitate the prompt transmission of documents between lawyers and clients. However, care is needed to ensure that the lawyer makes a good impression [spell check!], ensures privacy and confidentiality, and fully incorporates with specificity all issues that the client needs to resolve, all well-stated in this article.

After reading Scheiss' article, I was prompted to go back and review a 2007 published case involving the formation of a binding settlement through an exchange of emails between counsel for the parties shortly before trial. The points Scheiss makes about using emails as carefully as though you were writing a formal letter or settlement offer are underscored by what transpired in that case involving Kloian (lessor of a building) and Domino's Pizza, L.L.C.

FBI & Facebook | Privacy concerns?

Family law lawyers are always concerned about the evidence obtained from social networking sites negatively impacting their clients' custody and parenting time cases. Greater concerns loom, not only for divorced and divorcing families, but for all people using these sites. The Justice Department released a presentation entitled "Obtaining and Using Evidence from Social Networking Sites." The slides, which were prepared by two lawyers from the agency's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, detail several social media companies' data retention practices and responses to law enforcement requests. The presentation notes that Facebook was “often cooperative with emergency requests” while complaining about Twitter’s short data retention policies and refusal to preserve data without legal process. The presentation also touches on use of social media for undercover operations. The document says evidence from social networking sites can:

What's a "geotag?" | To protect yourself and your family, you want to know

Am I a privacy freak? Yes, without a doubt. I've abandoned the social networking sites folks had recommended as "good for business." You won't see me on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. You won't see casual snapshots of my "kids" (two Siamese sisters) that I took with a smartphone on my blogs or websites. Why not? I read an article about geotags and about how cellphones and digital cameras with built-in GPS can reveal the exact location of where the photo was taken. I had a real wake-up call. Families with children posting to social networking sites need the same wake-up call.

iPhone 4 -- Consumer Reports won't recommend

My sons swear by anything Apple. I have a lot of lawyer friends who love their iPhones. But CNN reports that Consumer Reports will not recommend the iPhone 4. Check out CNN News to find out why.

Hint: Now I know why I have such trouble getting a clear connection with David who lives just north of mid-town Chicago.

Mike Golub, Michigan family lawyer suggested looking at Android phones and Scott Bassett, the Family Law Section's tech guru had these very valuable comments:

I agree with Michael's suggestion to look at Android phones if you want a phone that can run apps for a variety of things like the iPhone does.  Also, if you are a user of Gmail or any of Google's services, the way Android (also a Google product) integrates with your Gmail account and other services is superb.  If your interest is primarily POP or corporate (Exchange) email and voice only, a Blackberry is a simpler choice, although an Android phone will work with any email service, including Exchange (I use mine to access my Exchange email with the Affinity Consulting Group for the newsletter I edit. 

Calculator to figure the inventory fee for probate estate

If you have the occasion to file an estate for probate, there is a handy calculator on the website of the Kalamazoo County Probate Court Website. You may access it here.

Web Tool Helps Veterans Navigate Web Resources

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it has revised its e-VETS Advisor—an interactive, online tool to assist Veterans, Service Members and their families and caregivers to quickly and easily navigate Web-based information on a variety of topics, including education, job training and employment. 

The updated e-VETS Advisor offers access to more than 11,000 services and resources at the national, state and local levels.  In addition to education, job training and employment, it provides information on benefits and compensation; family and caregiver support; health; housing; homeless assistance; and transportation and travel.  It integrates with the National Resource Directory (NRD), a Web-based index of services and resources collaboratively managed by the Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs.

Currency converter | A helpful tool

Now in Jeanne's Toolkit: A very handy online currency converter.

Access this helpful currency converter here.

The Lawyer | Litigant's "Secrets of Internet Search"

Let's face it: More than a quarter of the world's population is online, accessing and sharing information on a 24/7 basis. Therefore, for lawyers and other legal researchers, the Internet has become a NBF ["new best friend]" and is a logical first choice for researching people -- finding them and gathering background information. [By the way, I tell all of my clients either to take down their Facebook or MySpace websites or make them accessible only to trusted insiders.]

Family lawyers find gold in those sites. Family lawyers aren’t the only ones who can use information from the Internet. Imagine the insurance company lawyers searching them, too, only to see that the lady who claimed she was terribly injured in an auto accident has posted photos of herself and a friend square-dancing up a storm last week!]

Location of military service records and how to request them

There are times when, in a family law case, it is important to have the military personnel or medical records of a service member. Some records from personnel files are available and stored in various locations. Records of a medical or mental health issueare kept in other locations. Some of those may be unavailable.

Here is a link to a page that describes in detail how to obtain active duty medical records for service members. There are links to forms. Other records are addressed below.

Military Personnel Records:

Protecting privacy | Wiping your copier or telefax hard drive before disposal

Recently, CBS News ran a segment on the horrific breaches in security that have occurred as a result of copy machines being sold, send back to the lessor, etc. without the necessary security wipe of confidential information contained on the hard drive of the machine. Highly confidential criminal records from a police agency, from a medical service provider were shown in this segment, appropriately redacted.

How many of us knew that a copy machine has a hard drive? It not only saves copies of every document copied on the machine. If the machine is also used as a telefax machine, it saves out-going and in-coming documents. You can see the video here. It is instructive. Below the video you will find a link to a CBS News report with even more details.