Bitcoin CLE- February 4, 2016

I'm helping to plan and execute an exciting CLE in February, which is the first of its kind for Montgomery County, Maryland.   The vast majority of my peers seem to still be in the dark about virtual currencies, if they have heard of them at all.  It is not to be missed by local attorneys.

Bitcoin for Lawyers: Bitcoin, Virtual Currencies, and the New Asset Transfer Paradigm

Speaker: Andrew M. Hinkes, Esq., Berger Singerman LLP.

In this seminar you will understand bitcoin and other virtual currencies, how they function and operate, how they are regulated, how they are taxed, how they compare to other forms of value transfer, and how they do, and will impact multiple existing areas of law.  

Topics include:

-              How distributed virtual currencies actually work

-              How distributed virtual currencies are (currently) regulated

-              Virtual Currencies and Tax

-              Virtual Currencies and Real Estate Transactions

-              Virtual Currencies and Litigation

-              Impact of bitcoin on clawback/fraudulent transfer actions/insolvency proceedings

-              Future applications of bitcoin and blockchain technology

-              Digital currencies and regulatory arbitrage

Register Online: http://montbar.site-ym.com/events/event_details.asp?id=712575

Signing Documents

In my practice I often need to obtain client signatures on documents very quickly.  In litigation, they must sign under oath their pleadings (Complaint or Counterclaim, Motions, etc.) and discovery responses (Answers to Interrogatories, Response to Request for Admissions).  Once in a while a client needs to drop what he or she is doing to receive an emailed document, print it, sign it, and scan it back to me.  10 years ago it was iffy whether the client would even have ready access to a scanner.  These days, luckily, most do, which makes it easier for me.  However, I also always look for ways to make my client's life easier.  It occurred to me that there should be a way to sign a document on your phone, and of course, it turns out there's an app for that.  

I have been using Sign Easy for a few weeks now. http://getsigneasy.com/  They have an app for apple devices, web and android phones.  You pull up the document, sign it with your finger and then email yourself the document.  So far, it has been working great.  

What happens on Facebook does not stay on Facebook

I have introduced Facebook photos and screenshots as evidence in many a divorce or custody trial.  But, I have yet to meet an attorney who has successfully subpoenaed Facebook for this information.  I assume it has happened somewhere, ever, but not in my neck of the woods. Yet in my world of DC/Montgomery County divorces, Facebook contains a lot of valuable information and it's a struggle to figure out how to get it ALL in discovery.

What's significant that can be found on Facebook?  People post photos of their paramours, how they spend their money (vacations, designer stuff, you name it), and they tag their locations.  It bears on finances and judgment. Information from Facebook posts can be pertinent to alimony, child support, custody-  the full gamut. 

I have requested the content of a party's Facebook page in discovery, but the question is, what is "everything"?  I usually get dribs and drabs in response.  Every time that person "likes" an article, do I need that?  How does a person even obtain that information, assuming they want to bother to give it to me?  What about if certain posts are public and others are private?  If someone is posting privately, how will I ever know whether everything has been produced in discovery?

Have you ever scrolled the feed of a frequent user and just hit Expand, Expand, Expand?  It can be a daunting project to unravel all the posts and print or take screen shots of them all. And you still can't be sure you got it all, for example, if a post has been deleted.

When I am preparing the discovery request, I need to be concerned about tailoring it narrowly enough to make it possible for the person to reasonably respond. But I always want it to encompass everything I need.  

So... I just realized something that blew my mind a little bit.  I noticed while using Facebook, the ability to download all activity.

 And, with that, I'll be amending my discovery requests accordingly in the very near future. I'm looking forward to seeing what it yields.

Hiding Money

I haven't crunched any real numbers but I would say anywhere from 20-40% of my clients mention in the initial consultation, the fear that their spouse is hiding money. Unless their spouse is a small business owner, particularly one dealing with a lot of cash, I tell them that hiding money is actually harder than they probably think.  

For one, the IRS is in the business of finding money.  Most financial accounts generate at least a modest amount of reportable interest or dividends.  More than $10/yr will trigger a 1099 to the IRS, meaning that even if a spouse doesn't report the income, the IRS will soon catch up to him/her and when that happens, the divorce attorney will catch up too.

I've heard a lot of stories over the years about how parties going through a divorce hide money.  Cash withdrawals, buying gift cards, lines of credit, fishy "loans" to family members... to name just a few.  In discovery we ask for statements for checking, savings, bonds, retirement, certificated stock, etc., including all the usual ways and places people invest their money.  Some of the weirder cases I have had involved various valuable collectibles such as baseball cards, antiques and the like, which are hard to value and can actually be physically hidden.

But now, there's a new breed of "hidden money" in our midst.  Virtual currency.  What's that?  You've never heard of that? My friend Andrew Hinkes  is an authority on the subject and has made me aware of the complications related to virtual currency (i.e., bitcoin, lite coin, doge coin).  Here's a taste of the level of complication you didn't even know existed:

http://www.insidecounsel.com/2014/07/29/blockchains-smart-contracts-and-the-death-of-speci

Confused?  At least now you know what you don't know, which is a start. Virtual currency is becoming more relevant and prolific by the day. Attorneys and clients need to be knowledgable and aware to avoid any pitfalls. If you're an attorney, educate yourself before its too late. 

AliRecap- Calculate alimony recapture on the go. You know. If you want to...

I am continually unimpressed with the way lawyers utilize technology to make their practices easier and more efficient.  We are consistently behind the times when it comes to embracing new technology and I think that most of the technology created for/by attorneys is pretty disappointing. I'd love to help make attorneys' and/or clients' lives easier.   I think there a significant need for technology that could improve the lives of people going through a divorce, including their attorneys.  With that in mind, my husband and I made our first foray this year into the world of app development.  It was something my husband always wanted to do, and given that he did about 99% of the heavy lifting and I did the "directing" I was pretty enthusiastic about it. We decided on something relatively simple from a programming perspective: a calculator.  We created a program to calculate alimony recapture. Admittedly, it's not something that most people have a huge demand for.  Heck, most people have no idea what alimony recapture is. But an alimony recapture calculator is something that some people do need, and when they need it, they need it immediately and they need it to work simply.  This does the job. I'm hoping accountants and family law attorneys find it useful.  To learn more, please visit: www.327software.com or look up AliRecap in the Apple App store.

Introduction

I’ve decide to join the blogosphere (is that a word?) after years of urging by my husband.  Who is interested in what I have to say about divorce/family law and related topics?  I still haven’t answered that question and it’s possible the answer is “nobody.”  But I have a lot to say, so here it is.  On my blog.

The title of this blog derives from the concept that the divorce and family law landscape is always changing.  Today's divorce is different than a divorce fifteen years ago or even five.

When I started practicing, documents were produced to opposing counsel in discovery by delivering multiple bankers' boxes by messenger.  Not just by my firm, but all similarly situated firms with which I came into contact.  The paralegal had to know how to make official looking cover pages for each category of documents.  I tried to tell people there were better ways and I was met with some responses along the lines of "that's not how we do things around here."  

Soon after, we got our first industrial type scanner.  It ate stacks of paper and it was slow. We would have support staff or young associates scan and categorize documents.  A few years later, we started bates stamping (numbering) each document for better tracking.  Now, most of my clients have their documents in PDF already and upload them to me via file sharing websites.  Very few people, particularly those in their 30's and 40's, keep paper copies of anything anymore. Fortunately, some of our attorney processes have been streamlined in recent years, which is more economical for our clients.

Along those same lines, when I started out, I blew older attorney's minds by introducing into evidence a party's AOL instant messenger profile.  Do those even exist anymore?  I once got evidence of adultery from a GPS.   Years later I became interested in dating website profiles, blogs and of course Facebook.  Now I have my eye on websites with geotagging features, among other things.

The other day my husband tried to introduce me to a new and supposedly more efficient way of storing my computer files. My first response was "that's not how I do it" and I was resistant.  But I quickly reminded myself that we all need to change with the times.  Evolve or go extinct. 

I'm going to be blogging about innovations and news in the field of family law with an eye toward Millennials and what interests them. If that interests YOU, I hope you'll join me.

-Jessica