We’ve moved…
Apr 15th
USBlawg can now be found here: http://www.usblawg.com/, with guest US law blogging now available.
RPost Sues Adobe and EchoSign for Infringing Five Patents
Jul 20th
RPost Sues Adobe for Patent Infringement of RPost-Pioneered Technology for Electronic Signature Services that Adobe Now Employs Through its EchoSign Acquisition
From Press Release:-
Los Angeles, CA — July 19, 2011 — RPost, the inventor of Registered Email® services and a pioneer of electronic signature services announced today that it has brought suit against Adobe related to the electronic signature services provided by EchoSign which Adobe announced it acquired on July 18, 2011. This suit is about Adobe’s acquired EchoSign electronic signature services that RPost has determined relies on RPost patented technology. RPost has brought suit for infringing five of RPost’s United States patents – patent numbers 6,182,219; 6,571,334; 7,707,624; 7,865,557 and 7,966,372. RPost has asked the US Federal Court to issue an injunction against Adobe to prevent further damages.
RPost’s flagship Electronic Signature and Registered Email® services provide senders legally valid, court admissible evidence of email content, timestamp and delivery, with options to record the recipient’s consent to attached contracts with legal electronic signatures. RPost, founded in 2000, is one of the pioneers in the e-signature service marketplace with its Registered Email legal delivery proof and electronic signature services.
“Electronically signing a document is not difficult,” says Zafar Khan, CEO of RPost.
Just typing your name at the bottom of a document or email can have all the legal force of a handwritten signature if all parties have proof that you are the author of the specific content. But if you don’t have that proof, then electronic signing is legally worthless. The key element in any system of electronic signature is creating a legally meaningful audit trail of every step of the signature process and associating that audit trail with particular electronic document content. When part of that audit trail involves email, it is on our turf: we pioneered the technology for proof of email and document delivery, including recording recipient reply or signoff on the message content, and have the patents to prove it.
RPost’s 35 patents granted worldwide have priority over technology dating back to 1995. These patents broadly cover the technologies of verifiable proof for email delivery, recording recipient consent associated with received messages and documents, and value-added outbound email processing. RPost patents have been granted in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States; with numerous additional patents pending.
About RPost: RPost® is the global standard for email proof, message encryption and electronic signature services. RPost Registered Email® services enable both sender and recipient to prove, e-sign, encrypt, archive and collaborate across desktop, mobile and online email platforms, with far less cost, time, paper and risk. RPost services are designed for industries such as insurance, financial services, legal, telecommunications, manufacturing and real estate, where the speed of contract execution, encryption or court admissible email records may be a business critical requirement. Recipient of the 2011 World Mail Award for Security, endorsed as the top pick by the 2011 JMBM Corporate Counsel Guide for Converting Contract and Legal Notices to Electronic Delivery and the 2010 Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ Buyers Guide for Email Encryption, RPost services are in use in nearly every country in the world, by the U.S. Government through AT&T’s GSA schedule, within Global F500 companies, and endorsed by the most influential American bar associations. RPost, founded in 2000, has been granted 35 patents with worldwide coverage and operates in 8 languages. To contact one of our six global business centers or to register for a no-cost trial, please visit www.rpost.com.
Press Contacts:
David Wood, RPost Marketing. 310-342-0088, dw@rpost.com
Jessica Hasson, Social Radius. 310-862-6313, Jessica@socialradius.com
Use of freelance paralegals is an emerging trend that is catching on fire
Jul 18th
I am pleased to welcome Millie Tiffany, Litigation Paralegal & Legal Analyst, as she writes this guest blog post, discussing the use of freelance paralegals. Millie can be followed on Twitter via @MillieTiffany and you can also connect with Millie on Linkedin.
Use of freelance paralegals is an emerging trend that is catching on fire
Here are some reasons why:-
Economic reasons: The economic reality of our times is causing more and more attorneys to rethink their expenses and restructure their practices accordingly, with one of the major changes being the use of a freelance, or contract paralegal, rather than a full-time employee. Many firms have ebb and flow business. Obviously, it is more cost-effective to pay for a paralegal’s services only when the work flow is too heavy for the attorney to handle on his/her own.
Quality: Most freelance paralegals are educated, knowledgeable, highly-experienced, specialized, and extremely competent. They have to be. Their business depends upon it.
Technology: Today’s technology allows freelance paralegals to work virtually from their home offices for attorneys all over the USA. Files and documents can be exchanged in many different ways ranging from cloud sharing through overnight mail, depending upon the style of the attorney and his/her comfort level.
Less complicated: With a freelance paralegal, the only expense is her fee. The attorney pays no taxes such as federal income, social security, unemployment or workers compensation. There is no need to generate a W-2 form, pay ever-rising premiums for health insurance, make retirement contributions or provide other benefits. The freelancer provides her own computer, workspace and supplies. There are no personality issues to deal with that sometimes arise with day-to-day contact. Valuable time is not lost on advertising, interviewing, hiring and training, only to have the paralegal quit just when the attorney starts to rely on her, resulting in the process starting all over again! On the other hand, establishing an ongoing relationship with a freelance paralegal assures the attorney of reliable, quality support when necessary, and only when necessary.
Increased quality of life: The utilization of a freelance paralegal’s services is most often sought by sole practitioners who are so crazy-busy that they don’t know which end is up, or perhaps when they are away from the office because of a family emergency, conflict, vacation, or sickness, and need some back-up, or when the attorney would simply like another perspective. There are times when practicing alone is not easy. It is difficult for the solo to handle complicated situations/cases all alone, with no one to bounce ideas off or with whom to engage in brainstorming sessions. A trusted freelancer can provide a fresh perspective. Calling upon a freelancer also allows the attorney some down time to spend doing the things he/she enjoys. Rather than being holed up in the office at 7 P.M. answering interrogatories subject to a complusion order or drafting an Emergency Petition for Special Relief, he can be cheering for his son at a mini football game, watching his daughter’s dance recital, or checking out that new restaurant. A freelancer can help the attorney to restore balance to his life, something that more and more people are seeking.
Millie is the owner of Paralegal Specialists, LLC, which company offers freelance/contract paralegal services and legal copywriting on-site to Northeastern Pennsylvania attorneys and virtually to attorneys throughout the rest of the USA. Millie has 20+ years experience specializing in Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death litigation and PA Family Law. Millie can be followed on Twitter via @MillieTiffany and you can also connect with Millie on Linkedin.
9 of the most ridiculous lawsuits in the US Courts
Apr 25th
A natural product of a litigious society, ridiculous claims do get made, sometimes with extravagant amounts of money being sought. This post on 9 top ridiculous lawsuits was recently discovered via StumbleUpon Appelman Law Firm.
Image Courtesy of Silly cats
Below are the headline stories:-
Google Maps Blamed for Dangerous Directions: $100,000
Bank of America Blamed for Bad Service: $1,784 Billion Trillion
Comedian Blamed for Mother-in-Law Jokes: Unspecified
Homeless People Blamed for Being in the Street: $1 Million
Anheuser-Busch Blamed for Beer Failing to Attract Women: $10,000
Mourning Family Blamed for Damages Done to Car That Hit Son: $29,400
Dry Cleaner Blamed for Losing Pants: $67 Million
Victoria’s Secret Blamed for Thong Injury to Eye:$25,000+
What’s your favorite? The claim for $1,784 Billion Trillion from the Bank of America seems, to me, to be one of the funniest. The case revolved around one man’s apparent unhappiness with a bank for not depositing his checks. If you’re going to fail to win a case, you might as well have a fail of epic proportions!
Further, for 10 silly legal claims on a YouTube video, see below. Please bear with the music – it gets catchy around the third lawsuit!
Funny Laws: A horse, an owl and a hen party
Feb 7th
As I believe comic relief is important with blogging, blawgging and life itself, I thought it would be pertinent to bring to your attention a couple of interesting stories I have found from some of the criminal blawgs of the United States.
A horse
From the South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog comes a delightfully short blog post:-
In Texas, they arrest people for driving under the influence while on a horse. In Montana, horses are your friend and will take you home after you’ve had too much to drink:
Perusing the YouTube comments, two particularly funny observations should be made. First, it has to be wondered, in terms of protecting against personal injury, if you’re going to ride a horse after you’ve been drinking, a helmet would be a good idea. And second, if the horse knows where to stop to pick him up, the man has been to that bar way too many times.
An owl
Again written by Bobby G. Frederick on the South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog, another humorous blog post appeared the following day:-
German police took a brown owl into custody on Tuesday, alleging that the owl had had too much to drink.
The Brown Owl didn’t appear to be injured and officers quickly concluded that it had had one too many. One of its eyelids was drooping, adding to the general impression of inebriation.
“It wasn’t staggering around and we didn’t breathalyze it but there were two little bottles of Schapps in the immediate vicinity,” said Otruba.
“We took it to a local bird expert who has treated alcoholized birds before and she has been giving it lots of water.”
It is wondered if this was all caused by a hen party…
Drunk Owl
Welcome to USBlawg: Legal News Blog on US Law
Sep 22nd
Welcome to USBlawg: US Law 2.0.
This is a law blog, otherwise known as a “blawg”, designed to contribute to US law. It is designed specifically for businesses, for law firms, lawyers and law students.
If you would like to discuss guest publication or marketing opportunities, please do not hesitate to get in touch at http://wardblawg.com/contact
Best wishes
Gavin Ward
US Law 2.0
