The Successor to a Supreme Court Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg served 27 years on the Supreme Court, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1973. As a major force on the Court, Ginsburg often steered the liberal wing of the court for decades. This included important votes on cases like Bush v. Gore and Obergefell v. Hodges. These major cases often were important moments in American history.

And since Justice Ginsburg was often the 5th vote on important decisions, her role looms large. Furthermore, as one of the 4 liberal members of the court, if she is replaced it is likely that the court could shift significantly to the right.

What Affect Would this Have on the Majority?

In this case handled by business lawyers based in Hopkinsinsville area, the conservative majority will likely grow to 6-3 from the previous 5-4. The court has been divided in a similar fashion for a while now. Before the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Anthony Kennedy served as the swing vote. Now Chief Justice John Roberts, himself a George W. Bush appointment, is often the swing vote. It was Roberts who was the deciding vote in the famous ObamaCare in

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius in 2012. As a result, the importance of Ginsburg on the court is hard to overstate. This is why the decision of who will succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is so important. Furthermore, there are many more issues involved than simple politics.

Often, the makeup of the court will have implications in the Senate and beyond. Even the President appointing the next justice with the advice and consent of the Senate will prove to be a major media circus.

Michael Ehline is leading civil rights and personal injury attorney based out of Los Angeles. Ehline is the head of the Ehline Law Personal Injury Attorneys APLC and personal injury attorneys in Salt Lake City.

His legal training allowed him a chance to better understand the wider implications of the court and its effects. Ehline’s role as a civil rights attorney also gave him insight on some of the important decisions of the Supreme Court– both past and present. As a result, the role of what will happen to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat weighs large. Although, i thought about this website where you can contact legal advice for your case.

For more info, contact Michael at losangeles@ehlinelaw.com. He also writes a legal blog here.

Who Might Succeed Justice Ginsburg?

Justice Ginsburg came with a major amount of evidence prior to being appointed to the court in 1993. She served as a federal judge and as legal counsel for the ACLU. She also played a major role in the organization’s founding. Furthermore, our recent appointees came with a tremendous amount of legal experience, usually on the federal bench.

As a result, there is a high chance that whoever appoints the next justice will choose someone on the existing circuit or appeals courts. Furthermore, other experiences such as service on a State Supreme Court or as a Solicitor General or Attorney General may be of paramount importance. The highest chance is that President Trump will appoint the next justice. One major factor will be whether or not the Senate has 50 votes to confirm the next justice.

It’s not clear that the Republicans in the Senate will have enough votes. They have 53 members of the Senate and have a chance to do so– so long as the GOP doesn’t lose four votes. Furthermore, Democrats destroyed the judicial filibuster in 2013 to force through President Obama’s nominees. By attempting to block Neil Gorsuch in 2017, the Democrats left a wide-open role for the President.

Furthermore, the Democrats destroyed the filibuster through both actions. This makes it possible for President Trump to be able to name a successor– rather than requiring the 60 votes needed prior.

This is likely to have a major implication to happen next.

Amy Coney Barrett:

The first is Amy Coney Barrett, the 48-year-old member of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Barrett is a Catholic, who was insulted by Democrats during her confirmation hearings in 2017. This resulted in the major takeaway of the hearings:

“The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that people have fought for years in this country,” Feinstein said to Barrett.

Barrett responded sharply: “It’s never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions, whether they arise from faith or anywhere else, on the law.”

Up until this weekend, Barrett would have been considered the front runner. Furthermore, the odds of Barrett being named is high, considering that President Trump stated that he would name a woman to the Supreme Court. However, this is not a certainty, considering that he will try to get the 50 votes to get the nominee through the Senate. One can get legal help from https://www.davidhardawaylaw.com/theft/ as well.

Barbara Lagoa

Barbara Lagoa is a likely choice for the court herself. She was the first Latina to serve on the Florida state Supreme Court. Furthermore, her family is Cuban American. She would be the second Latino member of the Supreme Court after Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Lagoa previously went through a confirmation process last year. She was nominated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by President Trump.

She is 52 years old, making it likely that she could serve for decades on the court. By comparison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 60 when she first started on the Supreme Court. Many presidents recently have been naming younger and younger members to the court in order to get more time out of their lifetime appointments. Lagoa is a graduate of Columbia Law School who later served as a federal prosecutor and over a decade as a state judge. Governor Ron DeSantis chose her as a member of the Florida Supreme Court before she joined the 11th Circuit in 2019.

What Happens Next?

Most likely, President Trump will name one of these qualified candidates to the court in the next week. Then the Senate will hold hearings on their qualifications. Whether they make it to 50 votes is another topic entirely– and one that will dominate the media until the election, or beyond.

Works Cited

Politico: What you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett
Politico: What you need to know about Barbara Lagoa

Using the Standard Definition Of “Monopoly.”

Depending on your definition, Google may now be the most powerful company on the planet. It is worth billions and controls a large share of the data spread over the internet. Think of its search engine, its Google Chrome browser, Gmail service, Google Fi cell service, sprawling advertising network, etc. Google has tremendous power.

Consider Their former Code of Conduct. Tell me whether or not you think the company is living up to its former standards:

Back in the early days of Google, its motto was “Don’t be evil.” Things have changed. Two years ago the tech giant removed this from their code of conduct. Googlers generally apply those words to how Google serves its users. But “Don’t be evil” is much more than that.

Yes, it’s about providing our users unbiased access to info, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that they can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law of attorneys in Lemoyne based criminal defense attorney, acting honorably, and treating co-workers with courtesy and respect. The personal injury lawyers in Tampa can help with legal aid if needed in such cases.

The difference is stark. And below we will go into some of the reasons how Google acquired this incredible power and according to many, misused it. It is now in Congress’ hands. How properly can it put an end to the growing monopoly power of a company that won’t commit to not “be evil.”

What Happened To “Don’t Be Evil”?

As you read above business attorneys in Ormond Beach, Google has gone through quite a transformation over the last 20 years. It started with its role in the mid-2000s as the dominant internet search engine. It gradually transformed as the tech giant developed or bought out a number of services. By controlling the largest share of many aspects of tech. This includes internet browsers, searches, emails, ads, and more it has a unique position among internet companies. There is the Denver criminal attorney, Daniel M. Murphy, P.C. that you can contact online and talk about your case and legal help as well.

As a result, Google has the ability to influence not only consumer behavior but also elections. Google and much of Silicon Valley has an open disdain for conservative politics. We see that their efforts in being an “open provider” of news and info is being flouted. Hence the role of the big tech hearings on Capitol Hill last week.

The Causes For The Hearings?

If you didn’t get a chance to watch CSPAN last week you missed a great deal of fun. The heads of Google, Facebook, and Amazon all digitally beamed into the Congressional hearing. At the heart of the issue was the growing power– and increasing misuse of it by the major tech giants.

Google’s case is particularly interesting. Combine precedent of previous large conveyors of info with modern tech law. We get a better understanding of the issues at the heart of Congress’ concerns. If you will like to know how this condition your business check with an expert like Bob Bratt.

According to top rated criminal lawyers in Sydney the big tech companies have been able to hide behind Section 230 of the Telecommunications Act in their operations. Let’s take a closer look at the section before we go any further.

1)Treatment of publisher or speaker
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

Put all of this together and you can see that the internet companies are not acting in good faith. They do not act as a neutral platform for the dissemination of information.

So What Happens Now?

There is a good chance that Section 230 of the Telecommunications Law will change in the near future. It may be before the 2020 election or due to a bipartisan consensus after the election. Democrats fear the power of an oligarchic internet company commanding billions of dollars and tremendous influence. Republicans resent the fact that Google, Facebook, and Amazon have their thumbs on the scale for Democrats. As we’ll see below.

Section 230 was written in the internet’s infancy. So much has changed since then. A rewrite of regulation to reflect the modern state of tech. It may very well be useful and needed in this day and age.

A Valuable Precedent?

Let’s look back to a case that helped build the 1996 statute. Go back two years further to 1994. We have the case of an investment firm accused of fraud and an internet provider. Stratton Oakmont is better known for its profile in the famous movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

However, in 1994 it was an investment firm accused of fraud. The posts were uploaded anonymously onto servers operated by Prodigy. Prodigy claimed that it could not be held responsible because it simply indexed the info, rather than created it. The courts sided with Stratton Oakmont in the resulting case, Stratton Oakmont vs. Prodigy. But it did so due to an unexpected element. Since Prodigy manually edited content and moderated, it could be held responsible for its content.

It’s this precedent that helped build our modern internet. Then with the internet and technology today, lots of people get accused of cyber crime. So, it’s great to have a reliable defense for cyber crime as you may well need it. If Google did not touch search results or bend the rules for certain causes, there would be a difference. It could not be held liable in the same way due to the law. It would be acting as a library– and if there are books the government or politicians don’t like– too bad. However, once it starts creating results instead of just providing a neutral view, that becomes trouble.

Look no further than testimony on Capitol Hill. The most famous case of a company prosecuted despite Section 230 was Backpage. Prosecutors went after the company due to its involvement in its classified listings. That included looking the other way when there were sexual listings or prostitution.

Cox draws this distinction of websites like Backpage — involved or connected with their content — and sites that are “pure intermediaries.” He wouldn’t say whether that term applied to Facebook or Google.

Evidence of Google’s Involvement?

Unfortunately for the web giant, there is clear evidence that the company has been involved in clear manipulation for a long time. Most conservatives and people looking for negative results about democrats will find them buried. But if one were to look for positive stories about conservatives, they are buried.

Comparisons of web results are a clear indicator, especially revolving around the 2016 election. Users would find vastly different results when searching for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump– and it showed. Still, Google holds the cards.

Look at the recent testimony of the company’s CEO who donates large sums of money to Democrats. He admits that the tech giant willfully is involved in the manipulation of results. Even more evidence emerged from a recent CNN interview. The CEO Sundar Pichai even bragged about how it removed videos that violated its terms of service. But were selective about it.

The CEO bragged that YouTube had taken down 9 million videos that violated its policies, adding that YouTube is aiming to correctly draw the line between free speech and hate speech “over 99% of the time.”

A Bias Against Conservatives?

Part of the overwhelming problem is that the large majority of these accounts are of conservatives. Twitter recently pulled the same thing. It censored the posts of President Trump and using its power to restrict the accounts of other conservatives.

Even worse, YouTube can use its vast power controlling both the video platform and the ad revenue. This revenue supports it to effectively mute conservative causes. In these cases, right of enter accounts can still post but they may face restrictions. This may be in settings for “controversial” topics or Google shuts their ad revenue cut off. As a result, accounts that may bring in thousands of dollars per month. Google selectively brings them down to zero, as below:

Even if YouTube did draw the line at the right place, this 1% margin of error would imply that 90,000 perfectly acceptable videos would be deleted wrongly. But there is no reason for us to trust YouTube to draw this line at the correct place. YouTube’s censorship and demonetization of Steven Crowder, Prager U, and other conservative figures is proof of this.

What To Do About Google’s Massive Power?

The public agrees: Google has too much power. So do many of the web giants. The question is how to do so using the Constitutional principles of freedom of speech. If the government can force Google’s compliance with Section 230 and not show bias, this is key. Then there would be no need for additional legislation and the original intent of the law can be upheld. This is key.

If not, don’t be surprised if Congress considers a raft of new legislation next year. It could come from either party. It may also be a bipartisan agreement. There is a wide agreement about the abuse of power by web giants. Whether Trump or Biden wins, the new law may still be similar.

Google has a fair warning. Hopefully, it will heed it well. Until then, expect some major changes. The CEO’s comments play a major role in how the public perceives Google. We want them to not be evil. Te question is whether Google feels the same way. It is too early in telling so far. And if Trump loses the next election, don’t expect Google to change anything.

Keep your eyes on this site. We continually update on the current events around the tech giants. We also use our expert legal eye. Google is in the sights. Both in Congress and the public eye. Ehline Law passes out the info for you.

About the Author:

Michael Ehline is the lead attorney for the Ehline Law APLC Personal Injury Attorneys. In addition to personal injury cases, Ehline is committed to civil rights and internet privacy causes. He is a former lobbyist in Washington DC. He studied the means in which Google enriched itself over the years at the expense of its users. He’s tracked the habits of multiple tech companies. He’s acquired a bit of insider knowledge on the subject and reasonable expectations of how they will likely act in the future. This goes double in case the companies are not properly reined in by Congress.

If you’d like to know more, he recommends reading his legal blog. He will update our site with more content for the reader. Also, be on the lookout for our cooperation with large publishers. This includes such as the Boston Herald and Yahoo News on a variety of subjects. For more info, reach out to him at losangeles@ehlinelaw.com.

Works Cited:

• Gizmodo: Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct: https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393
• NPR All Tech Considered: Section 230: A Key Legal Shield For Facebook, Google Is About To Change: https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/03/21/591622450/section-230-a-key-legal-shield-for-facebook-google-is-about-to-change
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: 47 U.S. Code § 230 – Protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230
• Digital Media Law Project: Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy: https://www.dmlp.org/threats/stratton-oakmont-v-prodigy
• National File: Google CEO Admits Company Engages in Manual Censorship, Blacklists: https://www.westernjournal.com/google-ceo-admits-company-engages-manual-censorship-blacklists/
• Washington Examiner: Google CEO openly admits to censorship in new CNN Interview: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/google-ceo-openly-admits-to-censorship-in-new-cnn-interview

Google Setting The Trend, But You May Choose Which Path To Take

Google recently announced a profound shift in its working environment due to the COVID crisis. The tech giant announced that it would have almost all of its employees work from home through the rest of the year and into 2021. The news was on the one hand expected.

Google pioneered much of the work from home tech and precedents we’ve seen over the last four months. On the other hand, I can say that I was at least a little surprised that the company extended the work from home order for that long. It also sets a bar that other tech companies and the economy in general may work towards.

I saw an article on CNN that described the new policy as a “game changer.”

They were advised by their office risk assessment consulting service to keep almost all employees at home for another year to avoid legal issues. Furthermore, it may provide valuable changes for several reasons. On the one hand, it shows a concern for the safety of the employees at Google. Considering the tech giant received negative press recently due to their alleged hostile work environment, this is a welcome change.

On the other hand, such a policy may make it so that the company will never return to a traditional office. Sure, the company will still have an address. Someone will have to open the mail and get thing arranged. However, for the large majority of employees, don’t be surprised if there is a permanent sea change in how they are asked to perform their jobs.

About the Author.

Michael Ehline is a leading personal injury and technology affairs attorney in the greater Los Angeles area. Living just several hours from some of the hottest tech companies in the world, I’ve learned a lot about how they operate and how the precedents they set now are often the dominant trends of tomorrow. By keeping track of such paths, I’m hoping to provide a better look at why Google made the decision they did and the likely effect on the workplace of tomorrow. For more info or to contact me, reach out at losangeles@ehlinelaw.com.

Effects on the Tech Sector

It might not seem as obvious looking at this in July 2020, but this could be a crucial series of changes for the tech sector, outside of Google. Google may be the flagship, but it’s also the industry’s precedent machine. Due to its sheer size and influence, other tech companies simply follow whether they choose to or not. And in this case, coupled with the pandemic, there may not be much of a choice.

This could have profound effects for the industry in general. If the largest, richest of the tech companies decides that its employees don’t need to go in anymore, why should yours? Firstly due to the risk of the disease. Second for the cost of the office. Third for the pace of the employees. What happens if the experiment works? There may be a bevy of tech employees who find that they work better from home. Happier employees and better results could propel Google into yet another decade of dominance.

And there would likely be a large shift in the means around the current tech sector in Silicon Valley. So much of the greater San Francisco / Bay Area’s economy and way of life is centered around the whims of major tech companies. What happens when those tech companies downsize from needing a campus or skyscraper down to a six room office?

What happens when the demand for utilities falls dramatically? Are there effects from thousands of tech employees realizing they no longer need to live within an hour’s commut of those offices?

A Ripple Effect

As you can probably tell, there is a strong chance that the bubble would burst in and around the greater San Francisco area. The full effects of the Coronavirus are still yet to be seen. However, the early results seem to show a catastrophic economic decline. The number of houses in the Bay Area sold fell by half year over year (just so far.)

The result is palpable so far. Just imagine if tens of thousands of educated, young, well paid people decide to pick up stakes and leave. One of the major underpinnings of the modern economy of one of our nation’s top hotspots is now gone.

The Effect in the Wider Workforce

As I noted above, there are significant effects well beyond the tech sector. Since Google is setting a large precedent, expect other industries to follow as well. Many of them use Google products and are very well aware of the steps that the search engine giant is taking.

That being said, Google is also pioneering the further tech needed to work from home no matter what the industry is. By using and expanding such tech as the Google office suite, Google Meet (formerly Google Hangouts), Google Classroom, and more the company is setting itself up as the indispensable man in the room.

It will likely affect the legal field, as well. We’ve already made some major changes to the way our office works. This includes the role of consultation for our prospective clients. But that is only one piece of many in how a modern law office operates. By being able to work remotely, our attorneys were ahead of the curve dealing with the effects of the Coronavirus.

Furthermore, our experience working within the courts also allowed us to handle what happened next. Many courtrooms now operate virtually, holding their hearings on Zoom. This is very different from what we’ve seen in the past.

That all being said, Google is likely going to usher in a very different workplace over the coming decade compared to what were are used to. In many ways, it should be easier without the commute or the same fixed schedule. However, as we’re likely going to discover, there will be many unintended consequences.

Works Cited

CNN, Why Google’s new WFH plan is a game changer
San Francisco Chronicle, Bay Area home sales fall by half in May vs. last year; prices off 2.5%

Circle of Legal Trust Using Social Media to Bring Attorneys Together

By Michael P. Ehline, Esq.: Many of the members of the Circle of Legal Trust are aware that we are still a fledgling confederation of attorneys.

But when it came to my attention that several contributing members were unhappy that their competitors are making entreaties into joining the Circle, Florida injury attorney Matt Dolman and I decided to get together. We wanted to meet to draft some rules for submission to the originals for consideration. Of course we ,needed to plan the trip around a boxing match. You see, we are both into the martial arts and pugilism. So we waited till the Brando Rios fight in Los Angeles County.

The Gist of the Rules

We have only decided upon an outline, but the most important rule is that any new members who are also located in the same geographical area, and practice area, as an existing member, will need to: (1) Pass a Vote of the Originals; (2)Can be vetoed by any member who is geographically infringed upon by the new pledge. This will please David Slepkow, we hope.

The Meeting

First, I gotta say, Matt Dolman is a beast. Look at this picture of me standing next to him. Mind you, I am a lean 165, and work out with heavy weights 4 days a week.

Dolman was huge! We are hoping our next meeting will be in Maui or Las Vegas and we ask that Circle members help us research universal CEB credits so we can all get credits and have a seminar.

So anyone else who wants to help, please do so!

We are proud to announce that the Vegas Convention will be held at 801 S 4th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101.special thanks to Richard Harris and Seth Price. Also, if you have questions or wish to attend, call me on my cell at 310-593-4871.

Ehline will fly on the evening of 12th, will be there all day and night 13th for the seminar. Leave for DC early in the morning of the 14th. So I need you to reserve your spot now, so we know how big of a room we will need.

Also, please read below and contact me immediately. Seth Price may be here earlier than that, I believe. If so, he can start networking with members and come up with something he wants to talk about that can help us get traffic, etc.

The Fight Night

As far as Matt Dolman, we are supposed to go to the fight on the evening of the 12th in Vegas, as I recall?

Right? And you guys are all invited assuming you can get tickets, which I believe Matt may have a connection. Seth and I will be getting rooms at Bellagio.

On the morning of the 13th: All of the meetings will be simulcast on Youtube. Bring Google Glass if you have it.

• First. 9 am – 10:00 am I will go into basics of site architecture using WordPress. Here we will discuss proper titles, headers, footers, page layout, and crawl-ability. We will show you how to delete title repeats in posts and pages, and so forth. Cleaning up your sites on the spot. (bring laptops Discussion)  I will intro some basic techniques on brand building on the semantic web. Discuss brand mentions over links. Could it be the new link?10:15 – 10:45. We will detail basic LSI, and where to get ideas for LSI writing to incorporate into your style. (What is LSI and how to use it)

Example:

Title:

Clearwater Personal Injury Attorneys | Get a Free Legal Consultation Now

Description: Suffer a catastrophic mishap in Clearwater? Speak an award-winning multi-million dollar personal injury accident lawyer at Dolman Law now. (727) 451-6900.

Speak To a Unique and Experienced Clearwater Injuries Lawyer Now

Personal Injury Lawyer Clearwater, Florida and Adjacent Areas

Suffering a personal injury can be a life-altering experience that is typically for the worse. In case you were racked by a vehicle collision that led to a brain clot, slip and falls or a post surgical procedure by a negligent medical practitioner, you cannot represent yourself and expect reasonable compensation from a bad actor. That is where we as premises liability lawyers come in. We have set ourselves apart from other firms. Read on and learn how.

Why Choose Us Over Another Clearwater Personal Injury Law Firm?

Dolman Law Group has been serving residents and victims who were passing through our town, for over ten years. Also, as a result of our uncompromising service, we have been awarded the coveted Circle of Legal Trust Patch. And that means our peers vet us as having the highest levels of trust in the legal profession.

The Cutting Edge

It also means we are known for using cutting edge technology to stay in touch with our clients and keeping them abreast of the latest concerns in their case. That’s whether it is still in the insurance claims process, or during litigation and trial. Additionally, we have been accepted into several honorary societies and have been admitted as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers.” We are also accepted as “Million Dollar Advocates,” putting us in the top 1% of negligence law attorneys.

When you lose a wage earner due to a fatality or are simply down and out recovering for a spill on a motorcycle due to the negligence of an unreasonable individual, or a big corporation, attorney Matt Dolman is at the lead and supported by his large staff of paralegals, legal secretaries, and attorneys. We want to render legal aid to you before you make a mistake or say the wrong thing to an investigator or sneaky liability insurance adjuster.

We are grateful to our excellent organization of Clearwater-based personal injury lawyers for giving both our potential and current clients top-notch legal services. Our law firm has been committed to solely representing individuals who were afflicted with personal injuries, and wrongful death fatalities since __________.

Our proud and respected law firm has achieved impressive results in a motor vehicle accident, truck crash, medical malpractice and other incidents where negligent acts of another made a happy go lucky individual into a part, or permanently disabled victim.

Call for a quick, easy, and cost-free telephone call at (727) 451-6900. So if you hire us as your legal advocate, we will be your champion. You will rest assured that we are in it to win it. Accordingly, to earn your trust, we offer a no recovery, no fee promise. So this means you pay us nothing until we achieve a payout to you.

• Discussion with Jason Brick on the above example, and Proper LSI Writing techniques – 11 am – 12 pm

Break. 12:00-1:00

Eric Enge- Negative SEO and Identification and Healing: 1 pm – 1:30 pm

• Dealing with bad links and bad copy (Penguin and Panda). Open Discussion. 1:30 – 2:15. Also, Eric has earned the respect of Mike Blumenthal and Matt Cutts. And he is a winner who graciously set aside time for us despite a previous engagement.

Amerland and Traphagen Together – 2:15-3:00 and 15 minutes for discussion.

• David Amerland goes deep into semantic web and his award winning book. And Mark Traphagen puts it together explaining “authorship” and its relationship to the semantic web
• Allow 15 minutes or so for questions for youtube and live audience till at least 3:15.

3:15 pm – 4:00 pm PDF Publications and Treatises: Steven Sweat and Andre van Wyk via HOA

• How to create your own digital PDF magazine or e-book with ease, and they unveil the first edition of the COLT Journal. Steve will have his laptop and software and can screen-share with us. (awesome)

4:00 – 4:30 Anthony Castelli on Creating Awesome Law Firm Videos Using Hangouts and Youtube – Interviews, banter sessions, q, and a, backdrops.

4:30 pm – 4:45 pm Building Alliances: Building alliances and how it fits into co-branding.

Open discussion and break.

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm Hangouts On Air Via HOA, Ronnie Bincer on How to do a Hangout on Air, and how to do a private hangout.

6:00 – 6:15 – Press Releases 24-7 Mike may or may not make this. But 24-7 Press Release is to discuss brand mentions with press releases and forgetting about do follow juice from self-promotions, as we move forward.

6:15 – 6:30 – Content Curation and Various Social Signals Neil Ferree via HOA? Or in person?

Secondary Effects of Social Media – Referral Fees. Of special interest, Membership in the Circle of Legal Trust is the Gold Standard. You know you won’t get taken by a brother. And people who link together, stay together.

Anything else you need? We still need to pin downtimes.

Place – Palazzo Hotel Banquet Room – Starting Thursday, April 20, 2017, at 5:00 PM and ending April 22, 2017, the Masters of the COLT will lead off our annual Las Vegas Con.

Unfortunately, this year it is not free. Tickets are available for a small cost of $250.00 each.

Also, this is a closed session, non-invited guests and non-members need not apply. This means you must first speak to a COLT member in advance if you are a non-member to gain admission.

As an aside, you may have noticed that COLT went underground. Honestly, I was tired of helping SEO companies that offered us nothing, learn our techniques for web sustainability.

The good news is that our closed group will bring back a few older members and allow our sponsors to dig much deeper into brand building and market reach.

HOW DO I PAY and RESERVE A SPOT?

Presently, you may mail a check or use Paypal. These are the only methods of payment. In order to use Paypal, go here:https://www.paypal.me/coltcon

To become a paid sponsor go here > https://circleoflegaltrust.com/circle-of-legal-trust-convention-las-vegas-sponsors/

Where is the Syllabus?

Who Are the Speakers?

Will We Use Video Feed?

This is an Advanced Course.

Presently, I am building a syllabus of speakers. In any event, I will be speaking on the latest negative SEO attacks and their effectiveness. Also, I will cover the benefits of journalist outreach with Michael Iwasaki. In other words, without expert status in your profession and topic, it is highly unlikely your firm or practice will survive online. The question is how to affirm your status for long-term sustainability.

This is not a convention for beginners to online marketing and technical optimization; this is a convention for advanced SEO professionals who are ALSO lawyers. Most of all, these are people who have decided to take it upon themselves to know just as much or more than the SEO “professionals” they hire.

What We Can Help With

Here we will audit your website, links profiled and Flesch Kincaid writing and scoring, and help you understand what you need to know. You cannot become a Marine until you have been through boot camp, so enlist now and help you help yourself become an internet and marketing, legal warrior.

Speakers Have Included:

Dan Goldstein, Esq. – Owner of Page 1 Solutions and expert at alternative media and brand building.

Conrad Saam – An AVVO original, and expert at attorney marketing. His specialties include site audits and market research studies.

Michael Ehline – Expert at negative SEO reconnaissance and mitigation. Other specialties include document sentiment and readability scoring.

Chris Dreyer – First of all, the most honest and credible lawyer marketing helper in the Mid West. Also, Chris and his assistant Steven Willi are expert document coders. And they also have proprietary Content Management Systems designed to appeal to busy lawyers. Chris has led the way at alternative uses of media. And this is including but not limited to Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat marketing.

Joe Mas – Joe is a special technical expert at understanding and implementing JSON and other Schema.

Andrew Shaffer:

Andrew is a true coder. He writes algorithms and apps and he helps us Understand Semantic Search/Writing and Hummingbird Theory.

The list of past speakers is too long to include here. If you want to book a spot as a speaker, contact Michael Ehline at www.ehlinelaw.com. Seating is limited. We normally have small meetings in a hotel penthouse. Also, each guest and speaker must be cleared by our Sergeant at Arms, Tony Castelli.

If you think you have what it takes to attend, reach out at any of the above contact methods. Also, sponsorship is another method of supporting our efforts. Last, the Journal and Accident and Emergency Medicine for Tort Victims will be giving out the Personal Injury Attorney of the Year Award. A few years back this was won by a motorcycle accident lawyer in wakefield ri. And this will be in Association with Personal Injury Warriors International.

So this has truly become a worldwide organization with many PI lawyers involved.

Go directly to Syllabus >
Starting on Thursday, April 7, at 2:00 pm, Friday, April 8, 2016, at 10:30 am. And it ENDS Saturday, April 9, 2016, starting time 9:00 am (PDT) in Las Vegas, Nevada. LOCATION. We are in the Penthouse Suite of the Aria Hotel. And here, Circle of Legal Trust will have its 4th Annual Convention of experts and lawyer mentors.

A Brief History of the Circle of Legal Trust

Circle of Legal Trust is a lot different than a lawyer marketing group, in that it is run by real lawyers for lawyers. It started out solely as a Google Hangouts On Air program with weekly Youtube show, and grew to an international organization of lawyers helping lawyers understand the algorithmic and other issues of the day, such as Google Penguin, Panda, Venice and Pigeon.

Our Elite Lawyers and Speakers Are at a Highly Advanced Level

anted
So just when you thought you were done staying on top of the SERPS and building your multi state referral network. Circle of Legal Trust, in association with Personal Injury Warriors International, Hereby announces the Third Annual Law Vegas Convention from May 13-15th.

WHERE?!  The PENTHOUSE SUITE OF COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

The oval table.

DAY 1. Dinner, drinks and meeting.

DAY 2. Vegas HIRL (Hangout in Real Life) Guest speakers at this HIRL (Hangout in Real Life) will include attorney Michael Ehline, Steven Sweat, Anthony Castelli, Andre van Wyk, Chris Dreyer and many more. We are expecting Dan Goldstein as well, so this should be a real, mega whopper.

This event is not just for PI lawyers, far from it. It is only that right now, Circle of Legal Trust has enough lawyers who practice tort law to set up a nationwide and even worldwide association of experienced tort lawyers. However, the organization is growing in members of the family law and criminal defense bar.

DAY 3 – Late morning drinks and poolside chat on advanced tactics and basic elbow-rubbing with marketers and lawyers.

Things that Will Be Discussed At the Third Annual Circle of Legal Trust Las Vegas Convention HIRL on May 14th

There will be many matters important to struggling post Panda, Venice, and Pigeon, and Penguin, Fwashew, discussed, starting with inter alia:

• 10:00 am to 10:45 am – Conrad Saam;
• 11 am to 11:45 am – Chris Dreyer;
• 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm – Andrew Orlander;
• 2:50 pm to 3:45 pm – Joseph Mas;
• 3:50 p.m. -4:50 pm  Michael P. Ehline, Esq.
• OPEN Discussion, Drinks and Hanging out!

Scroll down for program and topics.

May 14th

• 

  Conrad

  10:00 am to 10:45 am. Easy and Effective Methods of Tracking Cost Per Client with Conrad Saam: In online marketing, lawyers very rarely get what they wanted. And that’s because they very rarely know either how much they are getting. What does Conrad mean? Despite collectively spending hundreds of millions of dollars across every online marketing channel conceivable, it is the rare law firm that can answer a simple question. How much do my clients cost?
  And without knowing how much clients cost, you can’t evaluate the efficacy of any given marketing investment. So the solution is mind-numbingly simple. But it requires the deployment of easy to use infrastructure. And it also needs an internal discipline to assess performance.

regularly

• 

  Chris Dreyer, President and Founder of AttorneyRankings.org

  11:00 am to 11:45. – Chris Dryer – “Shifting to Mobile Search for Lawyers” This internationally famous Online Public Relations Expert discusses the expansion of mobile search for lawyers. And he tells us about the necessity to make the switch now.

• 

  Andrew Orlander

  1:00 pm to 1:45 pm. Andrew Orlander – “

  Generating More Leads from Your Website”

• What makes a good website in 2015
• Knowing the Rules
• How to know if your website has a penalty
• What you can’t do in 2015
• Best Practices for Improving Rank and Domain Authority
• Strategic Engagement – Content Marketing

Joseph Mas

4. 2:50 pm -3:45 pm – Joseph Mas – “Impact of Technical SEO on ROI.” Summary: Gain insight on how technical SEO can impact every area of an online presence and ROI. Areas to be discussed include: increased marketing reach, branding, drastically reduced PPC costs, organic growth through search, and quality of leads and reduced junk leads. So Joe will highlight technical points and give insight as to what items should be considered when evaluating the health of a site. And he’ll cover why and how it affects ROI.

Michael Ehline on Content networks

5. 3:50 p.m. -4:50 pm – Michael Ehline, Esq. – Open Discussion on DMCA, Defeating and Stopping Negative SEO, Domain authority for lawyers and firms 101 with Michael Ehline. So below is an easy to understand discussion.

• Individual authority for practitioners;
• Brand authority;
• City “centroid” for lawyers wanting to rank for major LOCAL keyword terms in large locales like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc, and/or Maps;
• Future of Google Plus
• Public Relations; how to do it.
• Reporting/Recording Infrastructure
• Unblocking Majestic
• Latest Neg SEO attacks and Suing Spam Hosts Like OVH Canada, France

• For example, one way to build your brand is community outreach in the local city. So Google may just have inadvertently helped a lot of charities by rewarding community outreach. But we are going to talk about the various communities both on and offline. So now we can avoid getting in trouble for overdoing it. So we must focus on MAINLY answering questions most consumers would likely ask.
• Also, a major part of community outreach is public relations. So we are going to talk about what works well. And then we’ll see what works sort ok. After that, we’ll see how this contributes to brand building. Most of all, this is the name of the game. (David Jones from Splash Press, and Michael Iwasaki, a founder of 24-7 Press Release. Both are being asked to speak on this.)

Also, I have learned a lot from Carter Maslan, former head of Google Local, over the years. So I am trying my best to get him to at least attend by Google video feed at the very least. As always, I am reaching out to Eric Enge, Goldstein, Andre, Dreyer, Price. And perhaps we will even get David Jones with Splashpress Media.

So we will update this list and invitation as more data comes in.

Circle of Legal Trust Convention 2016 – Round Table

For the fourth year in a row, some of the most influential attorneys in the world of online and digital marketing attended Trust Con 2016. Additionally, some of the top experts in coding, site architecture, Local and Blended search either presented live or attended by Google HOA. The round table discussions and small group setting helped vendors, experts, and the lawyers understand the concepts, theories, and case studies. The energy and vibe were family-like. Tony Castelli, Dave Slepkow and Matt Dolman are always a welcome sight after another year of battling for web traffic.  The key to our success is that our fellow members know they are not going it alone when faced with all these new algorithms and sea of changes in how to build and maintain a web property. I want to thank everyone for their efforts at making this happen.

Special Thanks

At the outset, we wanted to thank Matthew Dolman of Dolman Law Group in Clearwater, Florida, for setting us up with a Penthouse meeting room at the Aria Hotel, Las Vegas. Dolman also had refreshments and an abundance of spirits brought in for the attendees. He spared no expense to make this event special for everyone who showed. We all had the best possible quarters to rub elbows and break off into tutelage groups.

Next in line for special thanks is Bill Tilley over at Amicus Capital. They catered in sandwiches and other goodies. Bill also helped out with the video and audio, and he is really a good sport.

I also wanted to thank Dan Goldstein over at Page1Solutions. He also helped with bringing in great food for all the attendees. Additionally, Dan taught us about weening ourselves from online marketing, as it becomes less profitable for most firms. Of course, he also taught us about These sponsors went the extra mile for us to keep the event free. Now reach out to them and send them some traffic!

I would say this is probably the best event we have had so far. I personally think that 3 days is a long time, but I also understand that giving large breaks and later start times means that people can also enjoy Vegas a bit. We will have a follow-up HOA to see about ways of improving the event.

Special Thanks to all the Vendors and Others

Chris Dreyer

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of Chris Dreyer, and Trevor over at Accident Data Center. Learning about the Google learning machine from

Mr. Base

Johnny Base was a highlight for me. I for one really enjoyed the conversations on “linking out” and how advanced markup is so very important in the days of modern search. There were also some really great discussions by Seth Price on local search.

He really nailed a lot of the key issues facing attorneys about NAP data consistency, and other hyper-local necessities. We also inducted several new members, and we are already planning next year’s event.

Conrad Saam

Conrad Saam also attended remotely, and as usual, he had a wealth of knowledge to share with us about finding 404 errors and fixing lost links, etc. He is an expert in the use of tools like Majestic and Ahrefs. Conrad didn’t make it, but thanks to a partially working google HOA and a cell speakerphone, we achieved the mission.

Andrew Shaffer proved his genius as a coder and this is one guy you should have attended the event, just to meet. I enjoyed hearing his perspectives and where he thinks the future of search is headed.

Awards and Accolades

Joseph

Joe Mas was awarded best speaker award. It was a close call, but Joe took it this year.

Joe nailed it with his great spoon-feeding abilities. His expertise in JSON coding, understanding semantic text, and how it ties into personal injury law firms was simply phenomenal. Congratulations, Joe, for the award! Moving on, we also had many outstanding presenters.

Circle of Legal Trust Convention 2016

It would appear that the organization is becoming more and more a personal injury attorney related organization. But I, for one, would like to get everyone in any legal profession involved. There are too many ways we can help each other. Reach out if you want to learn more. Contact me over at Ehline Law Firm here.

The Group ShotWell, it’s over, and 2015 Circle of Legal Trust LV is back to blog posts and Hangouts on Air till our next Hang Out In Real Life (“HIRL”) It did not go off without a hitch, however, due to the technical difficulties involved with Google Hangouts hanging up, not letting people in, notifying, recording, etc. Timing each speaker is also difficult if a speaker goes over, for example, when the next HOA and individual speaker is in cue.

One of the newer attendees who has not followed our international group till recently asked why we even bother with the HOA. Well, let me answer that first. This organization is based to a large degree on the Google HOA. Always has been. Many of the attorneys, speakers. And viewers are often in other locations around the world and they are needed in order to make this work. However, having learned from this, I am going to speak with Ronnie Bincer about the issues we had, and come up with a solution for next years convention.

The good news is, Bill Tilley was on hand with an HDMI cable, and we were able to tap into the suite big screen TV and use it as a monitor with our computers. More than likely, next time we will video record the sessions, and simulcast as an HOA, assuming Google does not work out the flaws in the HOA system.

The Group

The “Originals” In Person

This year we had a tight group. Original voting members, David Slepkow, Michael Ehline, and Tony Castelli showed, which was super awesome. Slepkow in particular, has benefited greatly from the “Personal Injury Warriors” section of the Circle Of Legal Trust, and we think this next 2016 year, he is really going to hit some more great web traffic in Rhode Island and Mass. And all this from his efforts implementing our ever evolving quality guidelines.

Tony was looking fantastic, and we had an opportunity to discuss his main website schema markup and local presence, including “City Center,” and what it really means.

 Gold Member Attendees

Matt Dolman, Jason Kupperman and Seth Price all made it. honorary attorney, and web developer Andre van Wyk, had connectivity problems and was unable to attend. Steve Sweat was able to show via HIRL, but the HOA feed failed, and he too got knocked off the live feed.

Dolman came through, however, with the help of his former Army Airborne administrator, Mr. Kupperman. How you ask, did they come through?

These two illuminated members made sure we had our convention in the Penthouse Suite of the Cosmo Hotel, LV. Most of the pics on this post, are of us in action, in that fine penthouse suite. So as you write your press releases, and news about the event, I would appreciate it if you would shoot the Dolman Law Group personal injury attorneys a link or two, and give them credit where credit is due. The event may have been free to you, but it cost the rest of us busy attorneys who contributed, and their staffs a pretty penny to make this work.

Matt is one of our very first legit members, and he is presently under consideration for induction as a voting “Original.” If you wish to provide some input as to why, or why not he should be moved into a position, like Sgt at Arms, S1, S2, etc., please provide your comments below.

Either way, his collaborative efforts have earned us a great friend/member, and his law firm, some unusual traffic, and rankings. And that is what we are all about: “Lawyers helping Lawyers.” Thanks again, Matt and Jason.

And of course, it goes without saying that Seth encouraged me in a big way years ago to get these conventions going, and now they seem to have a life of their own. And that is just fine with me. This organization is a team of enlightened lawyers. It is our mutual energy and determination that has gotten us so far, so fast when compared to the larger organizations that seem to put profits over members.

Seth has been a great coach and mentor to me in particular, and I, for one, am thrilled that such a caring, selfless fellow is part of our venerable membership pool. Hats off to the Gold Members!

Hang Arounds and Pledges in Attendance

We had two special guests and prospective members show for this experience. One of them, Bill Tilley, discussed above, is a non-attorney. But remain heavily involved in online legal case funding. So we believe he is a good fit for our group. Last, we look forward to his further association.

LEVINSON

Next, the man who invited Bill, we had Christopher Levinson of Vititoe Law Group (prior firm was Masry & Vititoe) in attendance.  Many of you may know Vititoe as one of the attorneys in  Erin Brokovich matter. I mean, you can’t get much cooler than that. And the cool thing is, Chris is a social media powerhouse, with over 130,000 followers on Twitter alone! Holy cow. Even Slepkow could learn a thing or two about social media from this amazing person.
Attorney Jeff Nadrich also showed, and as always, it is great to see an old friend. Amazing how fluctuations in the SERPS can bring people together.
The Nitty Gritty, Our Expert Speakers in Attendance

This year, we had some real winners speak. Unfortunately, the video Youtube feed had trouble, and I fear we lost some real gems. But in order, we had Conrad Saam discuss ways of tracking the cost of each client about the benefits of getting them. He spoke about methods of lead tracking on your website to help you get a handle on your budget as well.

Conrad is a fantastic guy, who like me, is willing to take some time off now and then to head to a Las Vegas machine gun range, and take out some paper targets. He is also part of the original AVVO group, and is now a freelancer at Mockingbird Marketing, helping lawyers get more presence online, of course!

Next, we had Chris Dreyer, my good friend over at AttorneyRankings.org. Dreyer works closely with me, Tony Castelli, as well as Matt Dolman, and I can personally attest to the fact that he is an honest, motivated, and skilled individual. He helped me with banners for the HOA, and he was number two in our line up.

He discussed the evolution of mobile search, its future and the necessity of testing, and improving site speed in anticipation of Mobilegeddon (Read More.) If you are in a pickle and like it when the guy you hired responds in a timely fashion, I suggest you follow him on Twitter and perhaps request a quote.

I feel that his strong-suit is a brand building and PR marketing, and that is of supreme importance in this day and age, as most of our seasoned guests know.

Orlander

And no, it’s not Zoolander. Next in our lineup was Andrew Orlander. Andrew spoke about methods of tweaking your site, and its signals to generate more leads. This was a great session, with lots of Q and A. Unfortunately, the feed did not work. So we lost the Youtube feed. But the good news is that Andrew will be writing a follow-up article. And that will be available on this site soon.

Andrew is a mover and shaker in both the medical and legal web field. He and his services are perfect for the discriminating personal injury attorney. Also, he can help you get an expert mention on a true medical site. Plus, he helps doctors and personal injury lawyers meet and break bread. And of course, he does not just help in the injury field. So I recommend you learn more about him here.

Big Joe

The next speaker we had is Joe Mas from searchdex of Texas. Now, first, I have to say, Joe is a gentle, caring, and genuine guy. He traveled to Vegas. All this, to meet us. And this was because he saw how well we got on from viewing and attending our Google HOA’s.

The areas he spoke on were among other things , gaining insight on how technical SEO impacts every area of online presence and ROI. In particular, he discussed ways to reduce PPC costs drastically, organic growth through search, and quality of leads. Joe also highlighted the technical points of evaluating the health of a site and how it affects ROI. He also took a lot of questions. And he even went over a site markup to show us how it all works.

Above all, Joe understands back end, and he has helped me with my htaccess redirects. So I have first-hand knowledge that he knows his stuff. You can also check him out here on Google Plus.

The last speaker was me, Michael Ehline. I went into the details of Negative SEO. I discussed how NSEO is the new way for some SEO companies to rank your competitors, and how it drove up PPC bid prices, causing a lot of former heavy PPC users to rethink Google PPC. And possibly they will switch to Bing or Yahoo! PPC. But perhaps it has exhausted marketing budgets and shut down a lot of businesses.

NSEO ATTACK?

I also went into methods of spotting an NSEO attack; our new Web-O-Trust disavow file blacklist. (now in beta testing). And I also teach how to deal with SEO hosts overseas, such as OVH, who don’t honor US copyright laws, or DMCA takedown requests.

I also went into a theoretical discussion on the disavow tool and its limited usefulness until such time that Penguin is run real-time, or dynamically. I guess my take away from this is going back to advertising on the side of a bus. But if you do, you are probably going to go BK sooner than you think.

This post still has legs. So if I missed something, contact me, and I will add, edit, etc., as needed. I want to thank all of our sponsors and attendees personally. Thank you all for helping make this a success. Also, I am accepting donations and speaker applications for next year’s Circle of Legal Trust Convention.

This next convention will be the culmination of learning from the mistakes of past sessions. And funding will be better. But I will need help getting this off the ground. After all, I still have to run my cases. Lawyers who can donate staff time are wanted.

We need help with banners, meeting places, catering, etc. Also, donors get a prominent place on the event sponsor page. Last, they get a juicy mention and link back to their profiles.

So feel free to use the contact form to get hold of me. The event will also be sponsored by “Personal Injury Warriors International.” So anyone who wants to join up now, and who does PI law, will be given a free listing. Next, they get posting privileges here. www.personalinjurywarriors.com.

Semper Fi. And many thanks for your support. See at the Hangout on Air soon!