Our monthly roundup of client news for December is running a bit late.  With the combination of holidays, the new year, and getting the Clawbies out… somthing had to give, and I’m afraid it was me. :)

In the better late than never category, here is our monthly sampling of achievements, blog posts, and other newsworthy items from Stem clients for December. We can’t wait to see what 2009 has in store!

• December is an appropriate month to call attention to the 11 awards that China law firm King & Wood won in 2008. With numerous honours for their finance, labour, securities, dispute resolution, and intellectual property work in China, we’re proud to be working with one of the PRC’s top firms!
• Jonathan Marshall blogs regularly on a variety of criminal law topics for New Jersey. One of his recent posts discusses whether we should expect more domestic violence, as the slumping economy is preventing divorced couples from being able to separate their households. John also wrote about about the consolidation of New Jersey juvenile detention centers, and another on whether New Jersey will legalize medical marijuana.
• Jonathan Rosenfeld, a lawyer specializing in nursing home abuse claims, is a frequent blogger on elder abuse and care home issues. Reading his Nursing Homes Abuse Blog, you really get a sense of how passionate he is about his work, and why he is glad the newly-instituted nursing home rating system (Nursing Home Compare) is finally in place. In a pair of posts, Jonathan describes how the ratings work, why he welcomes the system, and how families can use it to help make choices about nursing home care for their loved ones.
• Lawyers at Vancouver firm Clark Wilson are frequently quoted in the news. December was no exception with Gwendoline Allison being interviewed in Business in Vancouver on BlackBerrys in the workplace. Gwendoline also penned an excellent guide to developing workplace BlackBerry policies for a recent issue of Work Place Post, the firm’s Labour & Employment newsletter.
• Also with Clark Wilson, I’d like to congratulate superstar Peter Tolensky for being named one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40! BIV still hides their articles behind a subscription wall, which is really too bad. That picture of Peter in his business suit and on skis would be better served in the public domain. ;) Ah, just kidding. Go Peter!
• Legal practice management software Clio picked up a pair of favourable reviews in December from Canadian Lawyer and Law.com. Praising fast technical support from Themis, compatibility with Macs, and universal accessibility, Clio’s happy clients continue to spread the word. Visit the Clio Blog for info on both reviews.
• What exactly is a “Ponzi Scheme”? Over at the Arizona Criminal Lawyer Blog, Lawrence Koplow of Koplow & Patane has shared a short video that answers this question and differentiates between a Ponzi scheme and a pyramid scheme.  Over on his Arizona DUI Defense Blog, Lawrence ponders whether Wonder Bread is “like kryptonite to an Intoxilizer” and posts a couple of videos that demonstrate how eating white bread can result in a false blood alcohol concentration reading.
• Stem client Hissey Kientz LLP launched two new service lines: one related to the FDA recall of ReliOn insulin syringes by Covidien Ltd., and a second related to the diet drug combination Fen-Phen and its link to primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).
• Mike Myers at business litigation firm McClanahan Myers & Espey writes that financial institutions that were successful in 2008 appear to also have increased reported holdings of bank-owned life insurance (BOLI).  Myers was also quoted in the December Investment News story, “Policies offer small businesses a lifeline”, on the importance of having the insured’s consent when taking out a corporate-owned life insurance policy.
• Ronald Chapman, a West Palm Beach attorney, wrote a trio of posts related to self-defense in Florida; including its association to the right to bear arms, standards for dismissal, and when it is not a defense.
• And finally, legal document sharing service JD Supra ended their year with a huge ‘thank-you’ post to its contributing members. The post also highlighted the 2008 launches of document widgets and their Legal Docs Facebook application – both of which have gone on to become huge hits!

We wish all our Stem clients a very happy and successful new year!