Monthly Archives: June 2015

In world news this week, Canada’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that restricting the medical usage of marijuana to smoking was constitutional. Within the Controlled Drugs & Substances act, it states that while smoking the cannabis is fine, but using the plants extracts in other forms was not. The reasoning behind the court stating this issue as “unconstitutional” was due to the fact that limiting the usage of the plant to only smoking would cause unnecessary risks that could be avoided. Thus, the court found the the restriction to violate Section 7 of the country’s constitution.

The response to the ruling has been generally positive, with many medical marijuana users within Canada happy that they can now use marijuana in forms other than smoking. Some of the users, who may have already had lung issues, were especially excited to know they could now take the medication smoke-free. However, many on the opposite side are arguing against any medical marijuana usage at all, and state that using marijuana in any form should be illegal, and are outraged at this recent ruling.

For many years, and especially recently, marijuana usage for both medical & recreational purposes has been widely debated within Canada and the United States. The controversy caused by medical marijuana usage especially has caused many heated discussions and appeals to many courts, both high and low. Even Puerto Ricos governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order that legalized medical marijuana in May, showing just how pressing medical marijuana has become within our society. The long-lasting benefits and consequences of these choices surrounding medical marijuana are not yet clear to us, but it is certain that it will be a heavily debated topic for years to come.

The legal industry, especially in this day and age, is an ever changing, growing marketplace. Every year the industry faces new implementations and growth that completely revamp practices, promote the ease of growth, and sometimes effect the very foundation of the industry. We here at Blick Law Firm have taken the time to showcase some of these recent trends, practices so as to better inform our clients of the ever changing legal industry and how it is continuously growing.

1. Eco-Friendly Practices: Has going green and doing more to help the environment becomes a more global priority, many law firms are taking steps to become more eco-friendly. By doing so they can cut costs, reduce their waste, and pave the way for more businesses to take responsibility and start improving themselves. Becoming an eco-friendly law firm is growing to become a staple of a successful law firm.
2. Social Media Prowess: The massive and growing social media market is proving to be a valuable resource for law firms who are able to effectively use it. By having a presence through multiple social media channels, law firms are able to expand their market exposure and successfully reach out to a new generation of men and women who may be seeking legal counsel.
3. Balancing Life & The Workplace: Due to trends with the ailing economy, quotas, the extremely competitive market, many law firms are pushing out work at an extraordinary rate in order to stick out from the crowd. However, due to this focus on committing as much time as possible to the workplace, many employees have had to sacrifice their personal lives in order to succeed in their business. However, many employees are pushing strongly for a new balance in the system, including flexible hours and part-time employment options for certain times of the year.
4. Mobile Technology: The trends of growing mobile markets and increasing expansive use of legal apps and services through the market has caused an influx of newcomers to the mobile space. Many law firms are now attempting to enter the marketplace with their own legal apps, and by doing so increasing their overall presence and exposure.

Overall, many of the new trends that are being seen in this day in age is due to the new generations of lawyers, paralegals, and other legal employees who are continuously bringing a new dynamic to the saturated marketplace. Since this generation understands how to appeal to it’s own market, they bring new ideas forth and push for expansion in different areas. Blick Law Firm prides itself on its stance on multiple fronts, including the mobile market with the Blick Mobile app, having a large social media presence and even our eco-friendly office. These growing fields and changes are having an impact on everyone within the legal industry, and causing firms to expand into territories and reach a market they never thought possible.

For the second time in three years, the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act is once again in the hands of the Supreme Court to interpret the legislation. The issue at hand is King v. Burwell, and is to decide whether or not low and moderate income Americans living in specific states should be allowed to receive tax subsidies in order to purchase health care insurance. What the side in favor of taking action is stating is that a straight reading of the legislation’s text means that the law states that credits are available only for those who buy insurance in marketplaces or exchanges which are established by the state.

If the court agrees with this statement, millions in 34 different states that didn’t set up their own exchanges would lose federal subsidies. This essentially means that the entire law would be undermined. President Obama recently held a press conference in which he stated that the Supreme Court should not have even considered the latest challenge to his signature healthcare law, however he believes that justices will “play is straight” and allow the law to remain intact.

Recent pollings show bipartisan support for both sides of the case, however a majority polled that they did not want the Supreme Court to take action. The public’s opinions on the matter, however, is not always within the court’s jurisdiction. Their job is to interpret the law to the best of their abilities, and that means they make very difficult decisions which impact a majority of Americans.

While this case is of great urgency to many, the court’s decision still has not been made public. Their decision on the matter is expected to come out within the following days, and will have a significant impact on the Obama Administration moving forward.