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Tweeting and napping jurors give defendant new trial 

Published: December 16, 2011

Tags: juries, jurors, social media, Twitter

A capital murder defendant is entitled to a new trial based on a juror who fell asleep and another who tweeted during the trial.

Pa. high court makes opinions available on Twitter 

Published: November 9, 2011

Tags: Judiciary, Twitter

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has turned to Twitter to increase online access to rulings and other court information.

ALJ rules that Facebook posts are not protected activity 

Published: October 21, 2011

Tags: Facebook, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, social media, termination, Twitter

In the continuing stream of cases dealing with Facebook firings, a car dealership that fired a salesman who complained on Facebook about his employer’s choice of fare at a party did not violate his rights, an Administrative Law Judge of the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.

Blogger and doctor settle landmark Twitter lawsuit 

Published: October 13, 2011

Tags: defamation, Pregon, Twitter

Lake Oswego, Ore. resident Dr. Jerry Darm and Portland blogger Tiffany Craig have reached a settlement in Darm’s $1 million lawsuit, the state’s first Twitter-based defamation case.

Preserving social media for electronic discovery 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: September 21, 2011

Tags: e-discovery, electronic discovery, Facebook, social media, social networking, Twitter

As more and more individuals and businesses participate in social media, the amount of litigation-related information on sites like Facebook and Twitter is rising.

For lawyers, these sites can be an electronic discovery gold mine – or they can be the downfall of a case.

How can lawyers ensure that social media communications are preserved for trial? Conversely, how can they stop their clients from putting themselves at risk of sanctions for deleting information?

Google Plus: The next big thing for small law firms? 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: August 16, 2011

Tags: Facebook, Google, legal marketing, LinkedIn, marketing, social media, social networking, technology, Twitter

Some law firm marketing gurus are going gaga over Google+ (Google Plus), the latest social media platform.

Calif. jurors face jail time for social media use during trial 

Published: August 16, 2011

Tags: criminal contempt, Facebook, juries, jurors, jury instructions, social media, Twitter

Jurors in California face the possibility of jail time if they violate a new rule prohibiting them from engaging in social media during trial or deliberations.

Legal writing in 140 characters or less 

Published: July 22, 2011

Tags: Facebook, legal writing, social media, Twitter

Forget everything you learned in law school about legal writing, because the rules have changed in the era of the tweet, the text and the two-second attention span of most readers.

Recent NLRB activity

Published: June 28, 2011

Tags: Facebook, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, social media, social media policies, social networking, Twitter

The NLRB has initiated several actions against employers who have taken employment actions based on an employee’s use of social media, but it has also refused to take action where it determined an employee’s behavior didn’t constitute protected activity.

NLRB aims at social media

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: June 28, 2011

Tags: Facebook, National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, social media, social media policies, social networking, Twitter

Employers – including law firms – need to take a closer look at their social media policies and how they enforce those policies in light of recent actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board.