As developments in technology increase the role of forensic science in the courtroom, the demand for forensic scientists is growing. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that forensic science is one of the 30 fastest growing occupations in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. This employment growth is driven, in part, by the increasing application of forensic science to examine, solve and prevent crime. Crime scene technicians who work for state and county crime labs should experience favorable employment prospects resulting from strong job growth, according to the BLS.

The field of forensics is broad and involves many kinds of workers. But one thing all forensic specialists have in common is that their work is connected to the law in some way. Forensic scientists might have a background in life sciences, engineering, healthcare, social sciences, or a number of other fields. If you have an interest in the law or law enforcement, a career as a forensic scientist may be right for you.

Short-staffed and short on time? You might hire a virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants are paralegals or other administrative specialists who work offsite and online. For example, virtual assistants can perform legal research or transcribe voice files from anywhere on the globe. If you are facing a tight deadline or are overwhelmed with work, you can hire a virtual assistant for a basic retainer fee. When your workload recedes, you can terminate the virtual assistant relationship.

Virtual assistants eliminate the need to hire and pay for permanent, full-time staff during peak periods. On the downside, the virtual assistants may not be as familiar with your firm or as attuned to the particular needs of the firm as a traditional, in-house assistant. Nevertheless, as virtual assistants become more commonplace, lawyers will eventually establish ongoing relationships with providers of virtual assistance, creating a more collaborative experience.

Before you hire a virtual assistant, carefully screen each candidate and ask for references. Make sure the virtual assistant has the appropriate education, experience and technical tools (such as VoIP and web video streaming) to handle your work duties.

The swine flu pandemic has spurred a flurry of litigation around the globe. Some experts predict that vaccinated and unvaccinated victims will target doctors and the medical industry for ills that befall as a result of the vaccine or lack of the vaccine, causing a surge of medical malpractice suits against doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies and schools as the height of the flu season approaches. In fact, in preparation for the anticipated wave of swine flu litigation, the Department of Justice is hiring attorneys in its Office of Vaccine Litigation.

In addition, businesses could face a spate of legal claims from employees hit by swine flu, The Guardian reports, as concerns mount that firms are not prepared to deal with legal issues arising from affected staff. Employment-related claims arising from the swine flu pandemic may include personal injury, health and safety, and negligence claims. For example, pregnant women and those suffering disabilities are particularly likely to sue if they can show adequate precautions, such as flexible working, were not offered by their employers, The Guardian reports.

In New York state court, a group of health care workers has filed a lawsuit alleging that mandatory vaccination of all health care workers violates their civil rights, the Civil Procedure and Federal Courts blog reports. Another lawsuit filed in the D.C. Circuit challenges the licensing of the vaccines, alleging that the vaccines are untested and unsafe.

While not much good can be said about the swine flu, it appears to be fueling more work for the legal industry.

In the past year, law firms have implemented a number of strategies to adjust to the realities of the current economy. Layoffs, deferrals, salary freezes and curtailed recruitment have changed the employment picture for associates and other legal professionals. Below are three associate compensation trends that, while not good news, reflect the current business climate.

1. Associate salaries are decreasing - Although associate salaries have steadily risen since 2006, the National Association for Law Placement's (NALP) 2009 Associate Salary Survey reveals that law firm associate salaries have nowhere to go but down. A recessionary economy and budget-conscious clients have forced firms to reign in escalating compensation.

2. Law firms are hiring fewer associates - Two years ago, firms across the country hired about 10,000 fresh graduates, Altman Weil consultant Ward Bower told The Recorder. He predicts that in 2010, firms will hire only two-thirds or half of that number. Layoffs and reduced recruitment will severely limit law grad recruitment.

3. Compensation models are changing - More firms may be shifting from the lockstep model to merit-based compensation models. Lisa Smith, who heads Hildebrandt's law firm consulting practice, including associate management and finances, estimates that about one-third of large law firms are seriously looking at merit-based compensation models. Gone are the days of one market rate for each associate class.

Corporate counsel surveyed in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Litigation Trends Survey Report - which polls corporate law departments in the U.S. and U.K. on the state of global litigation - report that they expect an increase in the number of legal disputes their companies will face in the coming 12 months. According to the report, corporate counsel are steeling themselves for a big year of litigation with 42% of U.S. respondents anticipating an increase in legal disputes in the next year, up from 34% of last year's respondents.

The 2009 survey asked companies to consider, among other things, what types of cases they fear most, where they are spending their budgets and how they are adjusting their approaches to litigation management in light of the downturn. Survey highlights include:

• Rising Litigation Costs - 53% of all respondents said their annual litigation cost (excluding cost of settlement) exceeds $1 million, a marked increase from last year, in which 43% of companies said their annual litigation cost exceeded the $1 million mark. Nearly one-third of healthcare companies in the survey broke the $10 million mark.

• Budget Increases - Corporate legal budget increases will go primarily toward bankruptcy litigation, e-discovery, labor/employment, regulatory and contracts cases. Planned budget decreases are far less common: 5% of respondents reported decreases in class action work, while only 4% of respondents report decreases in the areas of personal injury, e-discovery, contracts, regulatory and intellectual property.

• Increased Use of Alternative Fees - More than one-third of companies said the economic downturn has increased their use of alternative fees. Tighter cost control, more than anything else, is the most important way in which the economic crisis has affected litigation management, respondents reported. 45% of respondents reported using some kind of alternative fee arrangement, including a balanced mix of blended rate, capped fee, conditional or contingent fee, fixed fee and performance-based arrangements.

• Most Active Litigation - In light of the downturn, companies face big increases in bankruptcy, contracts and labor/employment litigation. More modest increases were cited in intellectual property, insurance and regulatory actions.

• Cost-Cutting Measures - While companies aren't necessarily spending less on litigation, in-house counsel are finding other ways to cut costs. Cost-cutting measures include in-sourcing e-discovery, outsourcing certain e-discovery functions through preferred provider relationships, and employing stricter document retention policies, such as systematic destruction, to keep discovery costs down.

• More Regulatory Investigations - Regulatory proceedings, internal investigations and external inquiries - all of which had been steadily on the wane since 2006 - are increasing. The DOJ, EPA, states attorneys general and the SEC account for much of the regulatory action in the U.S. More than 31% of respondents reported an increase in inquiries and investigations over the past three years, including requests from the FDA, OSHA, the IRS, U.S. Attorneys offices and the FTC.

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2009, Bernie Madoff's investment scandal and other recent white-collar crimes, more legal professionals have been drawn to a specialty in securities law. The economic downturn has spurred a demand for securities lawyers; as deals fall through and stock prices plummet, investors are looking for someone to blame for their losses and are seeking the advice of securities professionals.

Securities lawyers represent clients with respect to stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and other financial instruments. Securities work is primarily divided into three broad areas--transactional practice, regulatory practice and litigation. Learn more about the history, job duties, education and skills of securities lawyers.

According to the 2009 ABA Technology Survey Results, 97 percent of respondents use PowerPoint for presentations. While PowerPoint is an effective presentation tool, it is not the only presentation tool. Given the enormous overuse of PowerPoint, why not stand out from the crowd? Consider implementing the following alternatives to PowerPoint for your next presentation.

PhotoStory

With PhotoStory you can create slideshows from digital photographs or other images from the web. You can then add soundtracks, special effects and even a voice narration. With a little creativity, these presentations can have a profound impact on your audience.

Prezi

Prezi provides a feature that permits you to zoom in or out of your presentation slides. By zooming out, you can provide your audience with a map of the entire presentation, enabling an understanding of the connectivity between slides. Then you may zoom into a particular slide for a detailed look.

Empressr

Empressr lets you create powerful presentations online using video, audio, images and animations, Most importantly, however, Empressr facilitates embeddable content from Flickr, Google, etc.

ThinkFree

ThinkFree offers an entire suite of products designed to compete with Microsoft. The advantage of ThinkFree to Microsoft is . . . it's free.

The next time you are preparing a presentation, feel confident in branching away from PowerPoint. As effective as a PowerPoint presentation is, sometimes a change of pace is enough to turn a good presentation into a great presentation.

According to a monthly news release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector lost 2,000 jobs in September. When not seasonally adjusted, the legal industry shed 13,600 jobs, likely a result of the conclusion of summer associate programs and the return of students to law school. While layoffs are never good news, job cuts at the nation's largest firms seem to have slowed from their frantic pace last spring. Seasonally adjusted numbers showed 2,700 lost jobs in March and 4,200 lost jobs in February.

Move over Westlaw and LexisNexis, Bloomberg is scheduled to launch a new legal search engine at the end of the month, according to JD Journal. The new venture is a "legal, regulatory, and compliance research platform, offering a suite of news, data and analytics to the legal and compliance community."

According to its website, Bloomberg Law can be tailored specifically for the needs of modern professionals, providing indispensable resources for legal research, compliance, business development, sector intelligence, and other information needs.

Those who want to preview the new database can register to view it on Bloomberg Law.

This month, the American Bar Association released its 2009 Legal Technology Survey Report and Legal Assistant Today magazine released its 8th Annual Technology Survey. Both surveys reveal that technology, particularly tools that use the Internet, are significantly increasing the productivity of lawyers and paralegals.

The ABA Legal Technology Survey, which surveyed practicing attorneys across the country, revealed that:

• Leaving the office doesn't mean leaving work behind. Eighty-two percent of respondents said they use a PDA, smart phone or BlackBerry while out of the office, compared to 67 percent in 2008. Of respondents that provided brand names, the BlackBerry/RIM (64 percent) was cited most often, followed by the iPhone (14 percent), then the Palm Treo (13 percent) in 2009.

• While more than three-fourths of respondents report that they telecommute (77 percent), only 6 percent of all respondents report having a virtual law office. Solo respondents are the most likely to report using a virtual law office (12 percent), followed by respondents from firms of two to nine attorneys (7 percent.)

• Social networking for personal use is gaining popularity among lawyers. Forty-three percent of respondents said they maintain a personal social networking presence, up from 15 percent last year.

• When asked whether their firms maintain a presence in an online community/social network such as Facebook, LinkedIn, LawLink or Legal OnRamp, 12 percent of respondents report affirmatively, up from 4 percent in the 2008 survey.

• Despite increased iPhone adoption by lawyers in 2009, only 4 percent report Mac OS as the operating system on their primary computer, roughly equivalent with the 3 percent in the 2008.

• Most respondents (74 percent) use Windows XP for their primary operating system. Nine percent use Windows Vista, 6 percent have Windows 2000 and 4 percent use Mac OS.

• Virtually all respondents (98 percent) report having enrolled in a Continuing Legal Education course, most often attending traditional live seminars (93 percent, compared with 91 percent in the 2008 survey). However, lawyers are increasingly logging on for CLE. Utilization of live webcasts was reported by 64 percent of respondents compared with 53 percent in the 2008 survey and 51 percent in 2007.

Legal Assistant Today's 8th Annual Technology Survey, which surveyed practicing paralegals across the country, reports:

• Nearly half (57 percent) of respondents claimed to have above average technological expertise as compared with others in their workplace (a 6.9 percent rise from the previous year).

• Nearly 60 percent of respondents have input on technological decisions in the office, compared to 52.6 percent in 2008.

• Westlaw is the most widely used online legal research service (42.2 percent), followed by LexisNexis (36.5 percent). Far fewer respondents are using FindLaw (4 percent versus 26 percent in 2008) and Loislaw (less than 1 percent versus 4.5 percent in 2008).

• 28.8 percent of respondents use of ASPs and web-based repositories, up from only 19.5 percent in 2008.

• More paralegals are using transcript management products this year; 39.9 percent of paralegals use such products, up 9.4 percent from 2008.

• 27.6 percent of respondents use case/practice management software very often and only 39.8 percent never use such software.