Social networking and social media are increasingly incorporated into the workplace, but not without dangerous issues arising. Employers need to be ready to handle issues relating to social networking that occur during both on- and off-duty hours. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics, Social Media | Tagged: employees, employers, employment policies, internet, social media, social media policy | 1 Comment »
Whether employers like it or not, social networking and social media have found their way into most workplaces. Their appearance has meant many potential landmines for employers to navigate. Luckily, there are several relatively easy steps that every employer can take to decrease potential liability. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics, Social Media | Tagged: employee handbook, employees, employers, employment policies, internet, passwords, privacy, social media, social media policy, workplace | 2 Comments »
As the National Labor Relations Board continues to refine its position, here’s what you need to know to update your (or your client’s) social media policy. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments, Social Media | Tagged: employee handbook, employees, employers, employment policies, employment relationship, social media, social media policy | 4 Comments »
Judges throughout the country wrestle with the legal ramifications of evolving new technology, including personal information privacy in the use of social media. A New York criminal court recently put a big hole in any privacy expectation on tweets when it upheld a subpoena duces tecum and required Twitter to provide a defendant’s tweets to the district attorney. (more…)
Filed under: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments, Social Media | Tagged: privacy, social media, subpena duces tecum, tweets, twitter | 1 Comment »
Updated on 10/31/12: The ABA Journal reports that the judge refused to issue a gag order to bar comments and blogging by George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer, finding no “overriding pattern of prejudicial commentary” and that an impartial jury could still be seated.
In an admittedly unusual move, the defense team for George Zimmerman, the man charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, has launched a new website, Facebook, and Twitter account to “disput[e] misinformation,” “discourag[e] speculation,” and provide “a voice for Mr. Zimmerman.” The website also seeks donations for Zimmerman’s defense fund. Is this new route for defense counsel a risky maneuver? How would California’s legal ethics rules weigh in? (more…)
Filed under: Criminal Law, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy, New Legal Developments, Social Media | Tagged: criminal defense, First Amendment, George Zimmerman, gzlegalcase.com, legal ethics, social media, Trayvon Martin, trial publicity | 3 Comments »
The seemingly anonymous world of the Internet leads many of us to say things there that we would never say in person. But watch out, libel laws follow you into cyberspace. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Constitutional Law, Legal Topics, Social Media, Tort Law | Tagged: blog, blogger, defamation, internet, law school, law student, libel, opinion | 3 Comments »
Serving a complaint via Facebook may be in our future. As BusinessWeek.com reports, the practice of online legal service is spreading around the world as courts look for new ways to keep their dockets moving. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Legal Topics, Practice of Law, Social Media | Tagged: electronic service, Facebook, Internet service, service of summons, social media | Leave a Comment »
A company’s trade secrets have always been an integral and valuable part of its business assets. Social media networking is fast becoming an integral and valuable part of business practice. By their very nature, these two concepts clash and create unprecedented risks of trade secret exposure and challenges for trade secret law. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Intellectual Property, Legal Topics, Social Media | Tagged: social media, social networking, trade secrets | 3 Comments »
The issue of what constitutes a church for the IRS tax exemption purposes has recently been considered in a novel context: Is a congregation that holds only internet and radio worship services a church entitled to IRS tax benefits? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the ”electronic ministry” did not meet the IRS’s definition of a church. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Legal Topics, Social Media | Tagged: church, exempt, internet, IRS | 3 Comments »
Yet another example of the law of unintended consequences at work: Those seemingly frivolous Facebook posts can be a prime source of evidence in a legal case. Facebook posts have a wide range of potential evidentiary value, from information on a person’s feelings, which may be particularly relevant in family law cases, to the use of geo-tagging for determining where a person was at a particular time. In fact, the Associated Press reports that “[s]ixty-six percent of the [divorce] lawyers surveyed cited Facebook foibles as the source of online evidence.” (more…)
Filed under: Evidence, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy, Social Media | Tagged: evidence, Facebook | 3 Comments »
