In San Antonio, Texas, a court battle rages on over whether Republican lawmakers who redrew the borders for districts in the Texas House and Congress, did so in a way that discriminated against voters from minority groups.  Several minority coalitions banded together to sue the state, as defense attorneys argue that it was politics that determined the new district lines rather than issues of race or ethnicity.

The lawsuit centers on the the accusation that the new district maps were drawn with the intention of weakening the power of Hispanic and black voters, who, coincidentally, are statistically more likely to vote Democrat than Republican.  In the past ten years, the Hispanic population in Texas has grown by leaps and bounds, and given the percentage change in the new census data, Texas will be receiving four new seats in Congress.

The Voting Rights Act defends against redistricting in a way that would split up districts containing mostly minority residents.  The current lawsuit, which was originally several lawsuits that have now been combined into one, maintains that the Voting Rights Act has been ignored in this instance, and that the new district lines unfairly benefit whites and Republican voters.  Representatives of the state’s map redrawing committee have argued that the growth of the hispanic population in Texas has not been in specific areas, but rather has been spread throughout the state.

Deputy attorney general David Schenck defended the redistricting borders, pointing out that any theoretical demonstration of discrimination due to the redistricting is not enough to allow the lawsuit to be successful.  In order for the plaintiffs to prevail, they have to show that there was discriminatory intent, which Schenck claims was not there.  Aside from the racial and ethnic concerns, Democrats have asserted that the redistricting has broken up areas where a majority of residents vote Democrat, such as in Austin, which is now divided into five separate d

Tags: hispanic law, hispanic votes, latin lawyer, Spanish speaking lawyer, texas redistricting

Today’s workplace and job market affords you the possibility as an employer to experiment with more in-depth interviewing and assessment techniques. You can use of hypothetical situations, written tests, competency-based and behavioral interviewing, and even McKinsey style group projects!

Tags: job interviews, lawyers, legal hiriing, Legal Services, skills assessments

Dan Pinnington, a director at the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company, offers sound advice to lawyers: properly identify and verify client information; familiarize yourself with common types of bad checks and frauds targeting lawyers; educate your staff to be on the lookout; and never rush to disperse funds from a trust account especially if your client is pushing.

Tags: business management, finance for lawyers, fraud, law clients, law firm practice

According to the Washington Post:

“A majority of the nation’s children will be minorities before the decade is out, crossing a demographic milestone more quickly than previously predicted, according to a new analysis of census statistics by a demographer with the Brookings Institution.” Read more.

Tags: Attorney, Hispanic, immigration, inmigracion, Latino, Lawyer

Great article from the Washington Post.

“More than half of the United States’ 100 largest cities relied on Hispanics and Asians to grow and would have seen their populations decline without them over the past decade, a Washington Post analysis shows…”read more.

Tags: Hispanic growth in DC Metro, hispanic lawywer, hispanic legal assistance, immigration, Immigration resources

As social media continue to grow and firms and companies use it to grow their brand and increase sales, many of their communication policies predate social media.

As more employees use blogs, Facebook or Twitter, firms and companies need to consider two important questions: do policies consider the potential uses of social media? and should firms retrain employees on outbound digital media communications?

Social media communications policies should be short: prohibits releasing firm’s or company’s proprietary and confidential information; prohibits using employee’s firm e-mail address to identify author; reminds employees of their duty of loyalty to the firm applies to social media; and requires employees to say “these are my personal views, not necessarily the firm’s views,” if employees write or say anything about the firm or its services.

Keith Ferrazzi, author of “Never Eat Alone,” gives insightful advice on networking: create a professional and personal goal plan. It’s easy: list one goal and three individuals who can help you attain them! And begin your steps to connecting with people and reaching your goal!

When the husband of a client – a local businesswoman calls you almost in tears early in the morning almost sobbing that his spouse is in jail and going to be charged with murder 2, it’s not the moment to realize that crisis communication is an important part of your practice.

For your client, a crisis is anything that can potentially negatively reflect on her, as a person or as a business. The question is not what if a crisis happens? but what does one do when a crisis happens?

Small businesses are particularly vulnerable dealing with crises and communications. Within minutes, your client and her business may be in local media. The news may go viral from blogs to online news services throughout the United States. Within hours, the chief of police may be calling the incident “vigilante justice” and order an emergency business closing for 72 hours. One of the business partners may get in front of it. Unfortunately, the business partner may not have skills in crisis communications.

When you deal with your client, remember these important points in crisis communications.

No business is too small to have a crisis management team that can be mobilized to deal with the situation. As legal advisor, you are a key member of that team. Help your client prepare a crisis checklist for action items, what needs to be said and what needs to be done. Encourage your client to get some training in dealing with media. Suggest practicing scenarios: there are plenty students a local schools learning journalism whom your client might engage in asking questions, videotaping and critiquing. The local business association or chamber of commerce may offer seminars. Perhaps there is someone in the business who is interested in press and media and can have the right demeanor to serve as media liaison.

Since the news cycle is continuous, the crisis management team will have to convene quickly since the media will look for information quickly. Without information, the media might start making it up. Will a national newspaper print photos of a blood-stained sidewalk that had nothing to do with the incident or with your client’s business?

No matter how small, every employee of a business has a responsibility to notify management when something happens. Yet not every employee should be speaking to the media. If your small business client in going to manage a problem, your client has to know about it.

Your small business client should learn the real story before making comments and be able to reply to questions within 24 hours, preferably sooner. If the client has a website or uses social networks for business purposes, content must be clear and consistent. If employees use social networks, they must respect the proprietary relationship with the employeer and be careful and sensitive about what they are posting. If a press conference is called to make a statement, the speaker must maintain composure and be gracious even when the questions get tough.

Although it pays to be prudent, it’s never a good idea to reply “no comment” to the media.

Tags: crisis communications, legal advisor, media

Of leading occupations in the Unites States, lawyers are the most likely to suffer depression, and are more than 3.6 times more likely than average to do so. Most lawyers suffering from depression also have suicidal thoughts. The ABA Journal recently featured an article for lawyers concerned about colleagues at work who seem depressed. The article notes that most suicidal people provide clues to their mental state by verbalizing their feelings directly “I’m going to kill myself” or more subtly, “I don’t think it’s worth going on anymore.”

There may be expressions of anxiety, feeling trapped, purposelessness, hopelessness and anger. Watch. Other clues may be non-verbal and may include changes in eating and sleeping habits, withdrawal from family or simple things, inappropriate guilt, recklessness, constant fatigue, bad hygiene, missing work and decreased productivity.

It only takes one person to make a difference in another’s life. If you are concerned about a colleague or friend, ask questions and listen. As a lawyer, you are trained to ask questions, listen carefully and to suggest solutions. You can ask, “Are you thinking about hurting yourself?” Talking through feelings may help reduce anxiety and stress. It can also indicate a will to live.

If you remain concerned, you can help your colleague or friend find a mental health professional through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.

Are you using blogs to express yourself or attract business? Here are a few ideas to make your and your readers’ blogging experience more meaningful.

Use a simple theme and stick with only a few specific genres.

Post regularly, but do not post if you have nothing worth posting.

Use “subscribe” and “vote me” links judiciously.

Comment on other peoples’ blogs as they may visit your blog.

Enjoy and blog for fun!