With the launch of the Thomson Reuters 2011 Top 100 Global Innovator^SM program, Thomson Reuters has recognized the companies and institutions that lead the world in innovation activity.

To learn more about the program, we speak with Bob Stembridge, Intellectual Property analyst at Thomson Reuters. 

Our last Legal Current podcast of 2011 has a bit of a political twist as we feature two segments that take a closer look at the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform.

In our interview segment, we talk with Andrew Selesnick, a partner at Michelman & Robinson LLP, about the proposed healthcare bill and its impact on the 2012 presidential election.

In many cases, face-to-face interactions are declining while digital communications such as email, instant messaging and text messaging are on the rise. While these more virtual interactions do make it easier to do business anytime and anywhere, they are also a potential breeding ground for white collar crime.

Today’s executives need to be increasingly aware of their communications and interactions in order to avoid finding themselves in legal hot water.

 
To learn more about the growing white collar crime trend, we turned to Stuart Gasner, former federal prosecutor and senior partner at Keker & Van Nest LLP. Stuart sheds some light on why we’ve seen this area of crime increase substantially in recent years as well as provides some practical advice on “how to not become a white collar criminal."

With the trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak still frequenting global news headlines, the spotlight for anti-money laundering and anti-corruption issues has largely stayed on the Middle East. But there’s another part of the world, a little closer to home, where U.S. companies still need to exercise caution and that’s Latin America.

To learn more about the anti-money laundering enforcement efforts in Latin America, as well as how U.S. companies can re-double their efforts to ensure compliance, we are speaking with Will Barry and Jeff Lehtman, both partners out of the Washington D.C. office of Richards Kibbe & Orbe.

We’ve got an entertaining episode this month, starting out with our “Chaos in the Courts” story about a 22-year-old self-proclaimed vampire, just in time for Halloween.

In this month’s interview segment, we speak with Sally Abel from Fenwick and West about some potential trademark issues that are being created with the new .xxx domain for the adult entertainment industry.

We’ve got a great “back to school” episode this month – featuring two segments about employment opportunities for law school graduates.

Social media seems to be just about everywhere, and used by just about everyone. But with a lack of legal boundaries surrounding social media, it becomes difficult to determine what is fair game for law enforcement and what is private property. We spoke with John Browning, managing partner for the Dallas office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith, and author of The Lawyer’s Guide to Social Networking: Understanding Social Media’s Impact on the Law about this issue.

We’ve got a great episode this month! Our interview segment features Owen Nee, the first person to open a Western law firm in China. Owen describes the legal landscape in China and how it compares to that in the US. He also tells us about his career, which is made up of many “firsts.”

Hear Craig Newman, partner in the New York office of Richards Kibbe and Orbe LLP talk about when it makes sense for companies to go after anonymous online posters in court and when it could backfire and make the situation worse.

Richard Gabriel, a trial advisor for Casey Anthony's defense team, talks about the jury selection process and the unprecedented challenges that the team faced in order to ensure that their client received a fair trial.

Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Microsoft, granting Toronto-based i4i $290 million, brings up several questions. What impact will this decision have on intellectual property law in general? As innovation and technology continue to advance, will we see more IP lawsuits in the future?

For answers to these questions and to learn more about how this case will affect IP law, we interviewed Rod Berman, Chair of the IP Group with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell L.L.P.

ProLaw XII is launched, built on .NET technology for improved reporting features and more.

Mark Medice, program director, Hildebrandt Baker Robbins Peer Monitor, comments on the Q1 2011 report.

Join us for an interview with Steven Plitt, author of Couch on Insurance and his latest book Practical Tools for Handling Insurance Cases.

Join us as we talk to Andrew Serwin, partner at Foley & Lardner LLP and author of Information Security and Privacy: A Guide to Federal and State Law and Compliance as well as the Internet Marketing Law Handbook about how social media is impacting privacy law.

Susan Lambreth of Hildebrandt Baker Robbins discusses project management processes for law firms.

For more information on Thomson Reuters, go to legalcurrent.com

Is China about to overtake the U.S. and Japan in innovation?  Bob Stembridge, IP analyst and manager at Thomson Reuters IP Solutions discusses the findings of the 2011 Innovation Report.

Topics: social media and the law, LegalTech New York preview, the future of legal technology

For show notes and time codes, or for more information on Thomson Reuters Legal, go to Legal Current