Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Communications & Media Law

The Duty To Preserve Social Media Information

by Michael Schmidt | Cozen O'Connor on 4/10/2013

It is not, as many recent articles and blogs have discussed, just about whether relevant social media information can be discovered by one party in a lawsuit. It is also about what happens when a party fails to preserve...more

Supreme Court Raises The Bar For Class Actions

by Fisher & Phillips LLP on 3/28/2013

Today the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a pivotal decision, holding that as a prerequisite for certification of a class action, a plaintiff must introduce admissible evidence to show that the case is susceptible to awarding...more

Who Owns Your Online Persona?

by Wayne Chang, Paul Cowie | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/27/2013

Originally published in The Recorder on March 22nd, 2013. Eagle v. Morgan, 2013-11-4303 (E.D. Pa. 2013), represents one of the first trials on the issue of who owns social media accounts: the individual employee who...more

More Trouble With Work-Related Social Media Accounts

by John Delaney, Jesse Soslow | Morrison Foerster - Social Media on 3/20/2013

We have written before about cases involving disputes between employers and employees over work-related social media accounts, but a new case out of Arizona federal court raises issues that appear to be unlike those we have...more

Employment Law Newsletter - January 2013

by Arianna Gleckel | Bean, Kinney & Korman, PC on 1/17/2013

In This Issue: - The Definition of “Supervisor” Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Who Owns Your Twitter Account? - Excerpt from Who Owns Your Twitter Account? Do you have a Twitter...more

The Common Law Release Rule Meets Its Demise In California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/15/2013

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 877 (CCP 877) modified what is commonly referred to as the common law release rule. Prior to 1957, that rule held that the release of one tortfeasor given by a plaintiff had the...more

Will The NLRB's Protection Of Water Cooler Conversations Trump A Company's Right To Keep Its Investigations Confidential?

by Catherine M. Foti | Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C.... on 1/10/2013

Over the past year, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a series of decisions that have significantly expanded the rights of non-supervisory employees, including non-unionized employees, to discuss information that...more

Contract Disputes and Prevailing Party Attorneys Fees in California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/9/2013

Under California law, the recovery of attorneys’ fees are authorized by statute in a variety of situations. Among these are contract disputes. The “prevailing party” in a contract dispute is entitled to recover their...more

E-Discovery Guidelines Coming To A Court Near You

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/8/2013

New E-Discovery Guidelines related to the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) have been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Find the Guidelines and related documents...more

Federal Courts Continue Grappling With Privacy Issues And Employee Communications

by Beth P. Zoller | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 1/5/2013

The federal courts continue to evaluate an employee's right to privacy and an employer's right to monitor employee communications and terminate employees based on those communications, whether under common law, statute or the...more

BaZynga!

by Dan Nabel | Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger... on 12/26/2012

Free-to-play games are all the rage these days. Many people while away their days playing Angry Birds, or Words with Friends before going home to watch Monday Night Football. Nerds — and, increasingly, “normal people” — do...more

Employers Won’t Do Jail Time for Snooping Around on Employees’ Cell Phones, But They May End Up Paying for It

by John L. Litchfield | Foley & Lardner LLP on 12/26/2012

Do you ever have that feeling that the cell phone conspicuously pointed in your direction is actually taking your picture? Or, do you worry that a gossipy employee is spreading nasty rumors about you via text messages?...more

Legal Project Management Can Reduce Cost and Future Expense

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 12/26/2012

Companies can employ process management techniques to run more efficiently and reduce future legal costs. Among the many steps a company can take in this regard with respect to legal services are the following: 1. When...more

Court of Appeals Rules Employee Efforts To Take Over Editorial Control At Newspaper Unprotected By NLRA

by Mark Theodore | Proskauer - Labor Relations on 12/20/2012

An issue we have discussed previously is whether all employee action that is “concerted” is also protected by the NLRA. We have seen that maliciously false statements made to third parties are unprotected. But what about when...more

Marital Communications are “Essential to the Preservation of Marriage” – Unless Made from a Workplace Computer

by Gil Keteltas | BakerHostetler on 12/14/2012

Communications between spouses are typically accorded a “marital communications privilege” because they are “regarded as so essential to the preservation of the marriage relationship as to outweigh the disadvantages to the...more

Termination for Facebook Posting Does Not Violate State Invasion of Privacy Law

by Maria Greco Danaher | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 11/27/2012

Recent court decisions related to employees’ online postings have centered on whether disciplinary decisions regarding those postings may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA protects certain employee...more

Discoverability of Social Networking

by Patricia Alberts | Orrick - Global Employment Law Group on 11/20/2012

Two recent employment discrimination cases, though differing in their outcomes, make it clear to litigants that information posted on social networking sites (“SNS”) is fair game. ...more

Around the Virtual World - November 16, 2012

by Pillsbury Social Media, Entertainment &... on 11/16/2012

A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. In This Issue: - Beyonce Still Can't Nix Video Game Suit, Appeals Court Says - Video Game Co.'s Award Doubled To...more

Time For Your Sexual Holiday Party

by Michael Schmidt | Cozen O'Connor on 11/15/2012

Well, your company is certainly not intending for it to be a sexual holiday party. But, truth be told, it wouldn’t be the first story of an off-site end-of-the-year holiday shindig (with complimentary alcohol) that got a bit...more

Taking Control of Former Executive’s LinkedIn Account Found Permissible

by Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 11/6/2012

In our January 2012 newsletter, we reported on Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Group, Ltd., a case where a court recognized potential claims under the Lanham Act and/or the Stored Communications Act because an employer...more

Don’t Forget Social Media During Discovery

by Miller Canfield on 9/20/2012

Social media continues to be important in litigation, especially in cases where the plaintiff alleges damages for emotional distress or mental injury. Courts are increasingly allowing discovery of the plaintiff's social media...more

Ethics And Email, From The NC State Bar

by Brooks Pierce on 9/7/2012

The intersection of technology and the rules of ethics continues to develop. The NC State Bar has proposed a new FEO (2012 Formal Ethics Opinion 5), which deals with the interesting question of the attorney-client privilege...more

The Importance Of Accurate Time/Hours Records In The Social Media Age

by Michael Schmidt | Cozen O'Connor on 8/24/2012

Just because it’s that I-Can’t-Believe-There’s-One-Week-Left-In-August time of year, doesn’t mean there isn’t some fun and exciting law coming down the pike. An important decision was issued this month by the Second Circuit...more

Socially Aware: The Social Media Law Update -- Vol. 3, Issue 4 -- August 2012

by Morrison & Foerster LLP on 8/7/2012

In This Issue: “You Have One New Lawsuit”: Can You Serve Legal Notice Through Social Media?; We’ve Come for Your Tweets: Twitter to Appeal Denial of Its Motion to Quash District Attorney’s Subpoena; The NLRB Weighs In...more

Social Networks and Trade Secret Misappropriation: Can your company’s “friends” list be a trade secret?

by Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC on 8/1/2012

Trade secrets are aspects of your company that, if discovered/used by a competitor, could significantly impact your bottom line or your ability to compete in the marketplace. Recently, a federal court in Colorado held that...more

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Civil Procedure › Labor & Employment Law › Communications & Media Law