New and Forthcoming Law Titles from Elsevier

Details below the fold. [JH]

• The IT-Digital Legal Companion: A Comprehensive Business Guide to Software, IT, Internet, Media and IP Law, by Gene Landy with assistance from Amy Mastrobattista (forthcoming June 2008)
• A Litigator's Guide to DNA: From the Laboratory to the Courtroom, by Ron Michaelis, Robert Flanders and Paula Wulff
• E-Discovery: Creating and Managing an Enterprise-wide IT Program: A Technical Guide to Digital Investigation and Litigation Support, by Karen Schuler (forthcoming October 2008)
• Background Screening and Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspectives, by Kim M. Kerr and W. Barry Nixon
• Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, (3d ed.), by Brent Turvey

The IT-Digital Legal Companion
A Comprehensive Business Guide to Software, IT, Internet, Media and IP Law
By Gene Landy with assistance from Amy Mastrobattista

Paperback, ISBN-13: 978-1-59749-256-0, 639 pages
Publication date: June 2008
Imprint: SYNGRESS
Price: $59.95

Description: To compete effectively in digital business markets, you need to understand how the law affects your digital technology business. The contents include detailed plain English business and legal guidance on:

• Intellectual Property for Digital Business
• Digital Contract Fundamentals
• Open Source
• Development and Consulting
• Software as a Service
• Software Licensing and Distribution
• Web and Internet Agreements
• Privacy
• Digital Multimedia Content and Distribution
• IT Standards
• Web and Mobile Technology and Content Deals
• Video Game Deals
• International Distribution
• Legal Affairs Management
• Forms Appendix in the book and downloadable online 38 sample forms for deals and transactions and for the Web.

The content goes from the basics to advanced topics such as off-shoring, anti-circumvention, open source business models, user-created content, reverse engineering, mobile media distribution, web and game development, mash-ups, web widgets, and massively multiplayer games.

A Litigator's Guide to DNA
From the Laboratory to the Courtroom
By Ron Michaelis, Robert Flanders and Paula Wulff

Hardbound, 448 pages
Publication date: January 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-12-374036-6
ISBN-10: 0-12-374036-3
Imprint: ACADEMIC PRESS
Price: $89.95

Description: A Litigator's Guide to DNA educates litigators, judges, criminalists, students, and others about all aspects of the use of DNA evidence in criminal and civil trials. It includes discussions of the molecular biological basis for the tests, essential laboratory practices, probability theory and mathematical calculations. It presents issues relevant to all parties involved in trying a case, from the prosecution and the defense, and to the judge and jury. The book is also extremely useful as a text for students aspiring to careers in forensic science and criminal law. The authors provide a full background on both the molecular biology and the mathematical theory behind forensic tests written specifically for people with little or no science background. No other book relates the foundational information on molecular biology and statistics to legal practice issues as extensively as this book does.

E-Discovery: Creating and Managing an Enterprise-wide IT Program
A Technical Guide to Digital Investigation and Litigation Support
By Karen Schuler

Paperback, ISBN-13: 978-1-59749-296-6, 300 pages
Publication date: October 2008
Imprint: SYNGRESS
Price: $69.95

Description: One of the hottest topics in computer forensics today, electronic discovery (e-discovery) is the process by which parties involved in litigation respond to requests to produce electronically stored information (ESI). According to the 2007 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey, it is now a $2 billion industry, a 60% increase from 2004, projected to double by 2009. The core reason for the explosion of e-discovery is sheer volume; evidence is digital and 75% of modern day lawsuits entail e-discovery. A recent survey reports that U.S. companies face an average of 305 pending lawsuits internationally. For large U.S. companies ($1 billion or more in revenue)that number has soared to 556 on average, with an average of 50 new disputes emerging each year for nearly half of them. To properly manage the role of digital information in an investigative or legal setting, an enterprise--whether it is a Fortune 500 company, a small accounting firm or a vast government agency--must develop an effective electronic discovery program. Since the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which took effect in December 2006, it is even more vital that the lifecycle of electronically stored information be understood and properly managed to avoid risks and costly mistakes. This books holds the keys to success for systems administrators, information security and other IT department personnel who are charged with aiding the e-discovery process.

Background Screening and Investigations
Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspectives
By Kim M. Kerr and W. Barry Nixon

List Price: $49.95 
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann (March 18, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0750682566
ISBN-13: 978-0750682565

Description: While all employers must accept risk when forming business relationships, the degree of risk, whether it be high, low, or somewhere in the middle, is determined by the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring model.  Employment background screening, both pre- and post-hire, gives hiring personnel a glimpse into a person’s past behavior patterns, propensities, and likely future behavior.

Background Screening and Investigations provides risk-mitigation strategies that can significantly lower the likelihood of a negative outcome. The book draws upon the experience of Kerr and Nixon to provide readers with a blueprint for combining the skills of both security and human resources professionals in order to negotiate legal hurdles and implement best practices in background screening.  The book also describes all aspects of the background screening process – its history and evolution, the imperative for implementing a screening process, and how to create a comprehensive policy.

Criminal Profiling
An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis
Third Edition
By Brent Turvey

Hardbound, 816 pages
Publication date: April 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0-12-374100-4
ISBN-10: 0-12-374100-9
Imprint: ACADEMIC PRESS
Price: $79.95

Description: Now in its third edition, Criminal Profiling is established as an industry standard text. It moves evidence-based criminal profiling into a full embrace of the scientific method with respect to examining and interpreting behavioral evidence. If focuses on criminal profiling as an investigatve and forensic process, helping to solve crime through an honest understanding of the nature and behavior of the most violent criminals. Throughout the text, the author outlines specific principles and practice standards for Behavioral Evidence Analysis, focusing on the application of theory and method to real cases. Criminal Profiling, Third Edition, is an ideal companion for students and professionals alike, including investigators, forensic scientists, criminologists, mental health professionals, and attorneys. With contributing authors representing law enforcement, academic, mental health, and forensic science communities, it offers a balanced perspective not found in other books on this subject. Readers will use it as a comprehensive reference text, a handbook for evaluating physical evidence, a tool to bring new perspectives to cold cases, and as an aid in preparing for criminal trials.