Dear readers, I am happy to present for your interest our year-end review of the 50 most popular topics on JD Supra in 2014.

Since we published a list of well-visited topic pages in 2013 and plan on doing the same in 2015, you can call this the start of an annual tradition. Let's drink a toast to that!

This year, we've compared topics to their position on last year's list; you'll see that reflected below with green and red arrows. I also bolded any listing that jumped more than ten spaces in popularity between '13 and '14. You might not be too surprised by which topics saw such large spikes in interest over the last twelve months. Certainly, from the close point of view of one who monitors new content and readership every day, it makes sense to me to see writing about the TCPA, independent contractors, the EEOC, data breaches, and non-compete agreements in the mix of very popular matters in 2014. We've also noted topics new to the list this year - among them: crowdfunding, virtual currency, patent litigation, and corporate taxes.

As I said in 2013, "If what's past is prologue, what better way to consider the interests, needs, and concerns of business leaders and consumers in the new year than to look at what captured their attention" over the past twelve months. With that in mind, we give you:

The 50 Most Popular Topics on JD Supra in 2014:

1. Healthcare Reform (aka the Affordable Care Act or PPACA) - [Same as 2013: top spot]
2. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act - [↑ Up from last year's position: 22]
3. Estate Planning - [↑ last year: 23]
4. Independent Contractors - [↑ last year: 19]
5. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (aka EEOC) - [↑ last year: 15]
6. Compliance Matters - [↑ last year: 7]
7. The Dodd-Frank Act - [↓ Down from last year's position: 2]
8. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (aka FATCA) - [↑ last year: 17]
9. Social Media & the Law - [↓ last year: 6]
10. Whistleblowers - [↑ last year: 12]
11. Non-Compete Agreements - [↑ last year: 35]
12. Same-Sex Marriage - [↑ last year: 13]
13. Retaliation - [↑ last year: 43]
14. Hiring & Firing - [↓ last year: 3]
15. Data Breaches - [↑ last year: 26]
16. The National Labor Relations Board (aka NLRB) - [↓ last year: 8]
17. Cybersecurity - [↓ last year: 16]
18. Employee Handbooks - [↑ last year: 46]
19. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (aka CFPB) - [↓ last year: 14]
20. Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (aka HIPAA) - [↓ last year: 8]
21. Class Action Matters - [↓ last year: 18]
22. Patents - [↓ last year 20]
23. Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (aka OVDP) - [New]
24. Corporate taxes - [New]
25. Patent Litigation - [New]
26. The False Claims Act [↑ last year: 30]
27. Foreclosure - [↓ last year: 4]
28. Mortgages - [↓ down 11]
29. The Family Medical Leave Act (aka FMLA) - [↓ down 21]
30. Discrimination - [↓ down 10]
31. Reasonable Accommodation - (↑ last year: 48)
32. The Securities & Exchange Commission (aka SEC) - [↓ last year: 24]
33. Age Discrimination - [New]
34. Loan Modifications - [New]
35. Employer Liability Issues - [New]
36. Bring Your Own Device (aka BYOD) - [New]
37. The United States Supreme Court (aka SCOTUS) - [↓ last year: 27]
38. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (aka CMS) - [↑ last year: 44]
39. Title VII - [New]
40. Debt Collection - [New]
41. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (aka FCPA) - [↓ last year: 31]
42. Divorce - [New]
43. Termination - [↑ last year 47]
44. Crowdfunding - [New]
45. Arbitration - [New]
46. Virtual Currency - [New]
47. Estate Tax - [↓ last year: 42]
48. Wage & Hour - [New]
49. Oil & Gas - [New]
50. Trade Secrets - [↓ last year: 38]

***

Your Predictions? What do you expect in 2015:

So, which topics not included above do you expect to see on next year's Trends List, twelve months from now?

Leave your guesses in a comment below and, in December 2015 when we put this together again, we'll see how you did. Other comments welcome, too, of course:

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