March 2008

Letter from the Online Editor

Welcome to the March 2008 issue of Litigation News Online. This month we feature five articles on recent trends in case law:

• Supreme Court Further Undercuts Sentencing Guidelines
• Subprime Mortgage Meltdown Spurs Wave of Litigation
• Courts Confront Admissibility of Text and Instant Messages
• Litigation Seeking to Seal Court Records Face New Hurdles

We also continue our practice of following trends in the profession of law, with stories on client development (“Making Rain Without Creating a Storm”); utilization of social networking Websites in deposition preparation and discovery generally (“What’s On Your Witness’s MySpace Page?”); and the decline of permanent law clerks in the federal judicial system (“Federal Courts to Employ Fewer Career Law Clerks”).

Growing corporate scrutiny of outside counsel is reflected in two reports, “Corporations Balk at Outside Counsels’ Automatic Rate Increases,” and “In-House Counsel Are Keeping Closer Tabs on Outside Lawyers.”

Finally, we have two articles of special interest to young lawyers: “Section Establishes Litigation Practice and Procedure Fund”, and our regular Young Lawyers column, “How to Discuss Damages at Trial—Without Getting Burned.”

As always, we have provided links to the primary statutory and case-law sources cited in the articles themselves, as well as supplementary materials relating to the topic, that may be of interest to readers conducting research or simply desiring additional information.

We hope that you enjoy this issue, and we look forward to your comments.

Chuck Fax
Online Editor
Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC