Blawg Time - Vote for Your Best Legal Blog (Blawg).

Forget the legislative stalemate in Washington.  Forget Obamacare.  It is time to vote for something important - the best of the American Bar Association's selection of law and law related blogs (which the ABA has dubbed "blawgs"). Click on the to the following link to ABA,s webpage where you a review the ABA's choices and vote.  ABA Top 100 Blawgs.

These are likely all great blogs.  I have followed a few and may follow a few more after looking at this year's list.  Here are a sample of what caught my attention (without endorsement, except for Taxgirl and Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog, both of which are very good):

Corporette

corporette.com
While this blog's most popular posts help female readers steer clear of the fashion police, former Wall Street lawyer Kat Griffin also takes questions from young lawyers and others about how to avoid career pitfalls. Posts written with empathy cover business etiquette, troubles with co-workers, interviewing, networking and more.

The Droid Lawyer

thedroidlawyer.com
"The Droid Lawyer provides practical tips that help attorneys sort through the ever-growing mountain of apps and hardware upgrades and identify those that can actually make life easier. Whether I'm making a checklist of documents for closing a deal or a list of books that I want to read on my tablet during vacation, the Droid Lawyer helps me find the right tool for the job." —Jim Singer, Fox Rothschild, Pittsburgh

iPhone J.D.

iphonejd.com
New Orleans lawyer Jeff Richardson lines up to get his hands on the latest Apple products on the day they are released, shares his experiences in great detail (focusing on the lawyerly uses of these devices) and rounds up Apple coverage from all over the Web. So if you want the skinny on iOS 7, the iPhone 5S, and the recently released iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina display, this is the blog to visit.

The Legal Geeks

thelegalgeeks.com
NEW Jessica Mederson and Josh Gilliland— lawyers and lovers of pop culture—are perhaps the nation's foremost experts on the legal issues that can be studied from John Cusack movies. Don't miss their irreverent video and audio podcasts, in which you can learn about everything from Renaissance fairs and comic-cons to torts and tortes. (You may remember Gilliland from past Blawg 100s as the author of Bow Tie Law's Blog. The bow ties still make an appearance.)

The Not-So Private Parts

blogs.forbes.com/kashmirhill
HALL OF FAME With this year's revelations about NSA surveillance, Kashmir Hill's privacy blog on Forbes.com should find itself with even more readers. While many posts are labeled "Headline Grab" and are more akin to tweets, Hill also composes substantive posts about topics such as how long-forgotten Facebook posts might come back to haunt you and why your baby monitor's webcam should be password-protected.

Small Firm Innovation

smallfirminnovation.com
Solos and small-firm practitioners—many of whom are established bloggers—write from personal experience at this group blog where posts are loosely centered on a monthly theme. The lawyers share specific problems they've encountered (and how they solved them) as well as pet peeves, favorite books and tech tips. Some themes from this year have delved into inspiring books, "outsourcing the small stuff" and the grating pop jargon of law practice management.

Supreme Court Haiku Reporter

supremecourthaiku.com/blog1
What can we say that
Has not already been said?
You should read this blog.
Providing us with
SCOTUS cases in haiku
Is a true service.

Taxgirl

forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb
HALL OF FAME Philadelphia lawyer Kelly Phillips Erb finds the tax angles of the day's major stories, sometimes consulting experts and sometimes sharing her own opinions on U.S. tax policy. Celebrities' tax woes often make appearances. This year, she also did a series of "back to school" posts that answered tax questions tied to the beginning of the academic year: Are tutoring services deductible? How do you document school-supply donations for tax purposes? Can you deduct expenses related to kids' sports?

TaxProf Blog

taxprof.typepad.com
HALL OF FAME Paul Caron, a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, covers tax reform in the news and scholarship related to U.S. tax law, and he notes celebrity tax disasters. But we like TaxProf at least as much for Caron's exhaustive coverage of news and debates covering legal education. He became the sole owner of the Law Professor Blogs Network and a makeover of that group of blogs soon followed.

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof
El Paso, Texas, lawyer Richard Mattersdorff writes that he's learned a lot about estate planning for digital assets from law professor Gerry Beyer's blog. "Professor Beyer is also accessible," Mattersdorff writes. "Sporadically, I have emailed him, and he always answers helpfully, privately and/or in the blog itself."

Go check out the entire 100.  You will find something to follow.

Resources on Digital Assets and Estate Planning

PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT TAX STATEMENT AT THE END OF THIS BLOG.

Following up on my last post, The Drum Beat of Estate Planning for Digital Assets, I am posting here some sample language and a listing of digital asset resources online and in print.

Sample Language

Here are some digital asset provisions presented in an attempt to focus our thoughts about a generic definition:

            (18)    To access, take control of, handle, conduct, continue, distribute, dispose of, or terminate digital assets and digital accounts.  The term “digital assets” means, but is not limited to, data files (including but not limited to, emails, documents, images, audio, video, and similar digital files) that currently exist or may exist as technology develops or such comparable items as technology develops, stored on digital devices (including, but not limited to, desktops, laptops, tablets, peripherals, storage devices, mobile telephones, smartphones, and any similar digital device that currently exists or may exist as technology develops or such comparable items as technology develops), regardless of the ownership or location of the physical device upon which the digital asset is stored.  The term “digital accounts” means, but is not limited to, email accounts, software licenses, social network accounts, social media accounts, file sharing accounts, financial management accounts, domain registration accounts, domain name service accounts, web hosting accounts, tax preparation service accounts, accounting service accounts, data storage or back-up accounts, online stores, affiliate programs, other online accounts that currently exist or may exist as technology develops or such comparable items as technology develops.  The powers granted herein shall include the right to possess, receive and control any password, security code or other mechanism or device or means by which access to digital assets or digital accounts is achieved.[1]

. . . . . .

Powers/Other Provision re Digital Assets

To access, take control of, conduct, continue or terminate my accounts on any website, including, but not limited, to any social networking site, photo sharing site, blogging, micro-blogging, e-mail or short message service website, financial, multimedia, personal, or other online account, or comparable items as technology develops. All such websites may release my log-on credentials, including username and password, to my [Personal Representative][Trustee], and the website shall be indemnified and held harmless by my [estate][trust] for any damages, causes of action or claims that may result from this disclosure.

[ALTERNATIVE] Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets.  The [Personal Representative][Trustee]may properly access, take control of, handle, conduct, continue, distribute, dispose of, or terminate the interests in my digital property unless such actions are contrary to the terms of this [Trust Agreement][will] or applicable law.  

My “digital property” shall include any digital asset and digital account owned by me, and shall consist of the ownership and management interests in the digital asset and account.  For purposes of this Article “digital account” means, but is not limited to, an electronic account containing a digital asset and includes any social networking site, photo sharing site, blogging, micro-blogging or short message service website, email, financial, multimedia, personal, or other online account or comparable items as technology develops.  “Digital asset” means any text, images, multimedia information, or personal property stored in a digital or analog format, whether stored on a server, computer, or other electronic device, regardless of whether it is remotely stored, which currently exists or may exist as technology develops, and regardless of the ownership of the device upon which the digital asset is stored.  Digital assets include, without limitation, any words, characters, codes or contractual rights necessary to access the digital asset, including any related intellectual property rights.  

In furtherance of the foregoing, the [Trustee][Personal Representative] is authorized to take any step necessary to terminate [or continue] any personal Web site operated by me at the time of my death.  Any website or entity controlling or sponsoring a digital asset may release my log-on credentials, including username and password, to my [Personal Representative][Trustee], and the website or entity shall be indemnified and held harmless by my [estate][trust] for any damages, causes of action or claims that may result from this disclosure.[2]

. . . . . . .

(8) “Digital asset” means information created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means on a digital device or system that delivers digital information. The term includes a contract right.[3]

. . . . . .

Digital assets are defined as electronic content and/or media and the right to use that content or media, including: email accounts, smartphones, tablets, netbooks and computers, online sales accounts, online purchasing accounts, online storage accounts, webpages, domain names, blogs, social network accounts, and intellectual property rights in such digital assets.[4]

---

[1]               Used with permission.

[2]               Used with permission.

[3]               National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Draft, See Section IV.L, infra.

[4]               Estate Planning and Administration with Digital Assets, Karin Praugley, Krasnow Sanders, LLP, Chicago, Illinois.  May 2013 Maryland State Bar.  Association Estate & Trust Law Section Dinner.

Resources

Here are some additional resources on digital assets and estate planning for digital assets:

Estate Planning in the Digital Age, Gerry W. Beyer, Texas Tech University School of Law, April 21, 2013

Estate Planning and Administration with Digital Assets, Karin Prangley, Krasnow Sanders, LLP, Chicago, Illinois.  May 2013 Maryland State Bar.  Association Estate & Trust Law Section Dinner.

Estate Administration in Cyberspace - Colin Korzec and Ethan A. McKittrick

Trusts & Estates, September 2011

Helping Clients Reach Their Great Digital Beyond - Evan E. Carroll, John W. Romano and Jean Gordon Carter

Trusts & Estates, September 2011

Virtual Assets - Michael walker and Vitoria Blachly

Tax Management Estates, Gifts & Trusts Journal 2011, page 253

Digital Death: Estate Planning for Passwords, Online Accounts, and Digital Property - James D. Lamm - San Francisco, CA - 2012

Digital Passing - A blog authored by James D. Lamm

Pixar for Estate Planners: Animating Your Practice Through Social Media and Forever Friending Your Clients Digital Assets - The Do’s, Don’ts and How To’s of New Communication Channels - Robert Kirkland

'Til Death Do Us Part:  A Proposal for Handling Digital Assets After Death, Chelsea Ray, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal, Winter 2013, Vol.47, No. 3., page 583 et seq.

The Digital Beyond, http://www.thedigitalbeyond.com/

Circular 230 Compliance Statement

Government Regulations contained in Circular 230 regulate written communication from us concerning Federal tax matters.  In compliance with those Regulations, we must inform you that, except as expressly stated herein, nothing in this article or any enclosures or attachments communicated herewith was written or intended by the authors to be used, and nothing in this article or any such enclosures or attachments may be used or relied upon by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on such taxpayer under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.  Furthermore, no one, without the express prior written permission of Stewart, Plant & Blumenthal, LLC may use any part of this article or any attachment or enclosure communicated herewith in promoting, marketing or recommending any arrangement relating to any Federal tax matter discussed herein or in any such attachment or enclosure.  Any taxpayer other than the addressee hereof should seek advice based on the taxpayer’s particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor with respect to any Federal tax transaction or matter contained in this article or any enclosure or attachment communicated herewith.