Category: Social Media

No Expectation of Privacy in Emails Sent Over Employer’s Email Account, Massachusetts Court Decides

The National Law Review recently published an article by Martha J. Zackin of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. regarding Employee Emails:

Does an employer invade an employee’s privacy by accessing and reviewing the employee’s email? A recent Massachusetts Superior Court decision, Falmouth Firefighters Union v. Town of Falmouth, answers “no.”

For a two year period, the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, used Google Gmail for its email.  Falmouth entered into a contract with Google for use of Gmail, and the town purchased the domain names used for the email accounts.  Each town employee was given a Gmail address and was responsible for managing the email sent to his or her address.  Although Falmouth’s system did not save any emails on any computer, server, or disc, it was the administrator of the email accounts.  The Gmail accounts were widely used by Falmouth employees for personal communications.

Falmouth published an email policy stating that the town maintained the ability to access any messages on or transmitted over the email system.  “Because of this fact,” the policy stated, “employees should not assume that such messages are confidential or that access by the employer or its designated representatives will not occur.”  Although there was a dispute over whether this policy was subject to collective bargaining between the town and the union representing Falmouth employees, it was clear that employees were never told that their emails were confidential.

The emails to and from the account of a Falmouth firefighter were reviewed and copied during the course of investigating a charge of sexual harassment brought against the town by a former employee.  Some of these emails contained highly personal, intimate, and embarrassing emails.  The firefighter sued, claiming that Falmouth had invaded his privacy in violation of the Massachusetts Privacy Act, which provides that “[a] person shall have a right against unreasonable, substantial or serious interference with his privacy.”  To prevail, a plaintiff must show an expectation of privacy and an unreasonable and either serious or substantial interference with that privacy.

In a case of first impression, the Court found that the firefighter had no legitimate expectation of privacy in the emails and, therefore, no invasion of privacy.  In a very interesting analysis, the Court did not reach the issue of whether the town’s email policy was properly implemented or even relevant.  Rather, and importantly, the Court found that the firefighter “did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the emails he voluntarily sent over the Town’s email system absent any assurances that such communications were private or confidential.”

What does this mean for Massachusetts employers?   We continue to recommend that employers implement electronic communications policies that clearly and unequivocally state that the employer has the right to access and review any and all information sent, received, or maintained on any employer-owned or maintained electronic devices or systems.  However, at least in Massachusetts, the absence of such policies will not restrict the rights of employers to access employee emails.

©1994-2012 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

When the Sky’s the Limit, Don’t Forget the Basics: Social Media, the Internet and Your Business

The National Law Review recently published an article by Charles H. Gardner of Much Shelist, P.C. regarding Social Media and Businesses:

In today’s diverse marketplace, social media sites, as opposed to a company’s own branded website, are poised to become a primary and potentially first point of contact with current and future generations of consumers. Techrevel.com recently reported that 56% of consumers who use Facebook, as an example, say that they are more likely to recommend a brand after becoming a “fan.” With the number of Facebook users approaching one billion, a strong social media presence has become a de facto mandate for businesses.

In response, start up and established businesses are growing more reliant on the Internet, and social media in particular, for marketing and sales. According to a recent Forrester Research study cited on Statistica.com, social media marketing expenditure is expected to grow to $5 billion in 2016, up from approximately $1.6 billion in 2011.

In this context, you may be exploring the possibility of making your company website more interactive. From a business perspective, creating a user experience on your branded website that is simpatico with social media reanimates the end user’s experience and revitalizes your brand. From a legal perspective, however, you may wonder how to enter (or expand your presence in) this pioneer media. How do you balance the advantages of interactivity with the added burdens of creating, maintaining and updating essential privacy, data security and other policies?

You can start by asking―and answering―the following questions:

Does your website have a privacy policy that is compliant with all federal, state and territorial laws?

Federal law (and several state laws) mandates that companies inform their users about the personally identifiable information (PII) they collect, how the company uses it, with whom the company may share it, and how users may “opt-out” of having their PII collected and shared. PII includes information such as name, social security number, biometric records, etc., that alone or when combined with other information such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc., can be used to trace an individual’s identity. Because many states have regulations that are more restrictive than federal regulations, you should seek to comply with the laws of the most restrictive states. These laws may apply not only to information that you collect from your own company website, but also from your company social media pages.

Every company with a presence on the internet should have a privacy policy that is compliant, proactive and forward thinking. If you have a strong international presence, it should address issues of global compliance as well.

If your company website is interactive or likely to become interactive, are you following proper procedures to shield the company from liability?

Consumers are likely to continue their use of third-party social media sites, including Facebook, as an interactive first point of contact with a company. However, as branded company sites begin to mirror the functionality of traditional social media sites, company sites are including interactive features from blogs and community chat rooms to video sharing  and personalized profile pages that allow the posting of user-generated content (UGC). If your website includes these or similar features, then you are, in fact, also an interactive website.

There are two important legal protections for operators of interactive computer services. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) provides safe harbor (immunity from liability) for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This shields an ISP from liability arising out of civil causes of action such as defamation, invasion of privacy, trade libel, etc. As a very general rule, as long as the provider is not a publisher of the content (importantly, they merely provide a place to post the content; they do NOT contribute to or edit it), they will not be held liable for the original posting of the offending UGC. While the term ISP is traditionally applied to services such as Yahoo!, Google, and AOL, recent case law suggests that if you operate an interactive computer service, you should, for the practical purpose of maintaining safe harbor protection, consider yourself a sort of ISP.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) also contains important safe harbor provisions. Under the DMCA, “an operator of interactive computer services” is immune from liability for intellectual property (primarily copyright) infringement by a third party using the service provided that the provider follows certain registration, compliance and procedural guidelines.

Do you post and require users to agree to your company website’s terms of use?

One of the most valuable policies for a website owner is a terms of use policy (sometimes called “house rules” or a “user agreement”). Your terms of use tell your users what they can reasonably expect when using your site. For example, you may prohibit certain activities, such as hate speech, personal attacks, posting materials to which the user does not have the requisite legal rights, etc. By setting the ground rules of what you will allow on your site, you can monitor UGC for violations of the policy and remove or refuse to post such material objectively based upon your site’s posted terms and preserve your safe harbor protection. Remember, if an ISP edits or modifies content, it is treated as a publisher of content and can lose safe harbor protection. However, if an ISP removes content in its entirety for violating a documented policy, the ISP is not considered a publisher and is protected under the CDA for example.

A well-crafted terms of use policy, if correctly written and agreed to, also forms a “contract” between the end user and the website operator. For example, arbitration clauses can minimize the likelihood of class action lawsuits and the potentially negative publicity of high-profile trials. A transparent policy can also set reasonable expectations, engender goodwill and protect the company website owner.

Do you have internal procedures and policies in place to address data security, data breaches and personnel practices?

As soon as reasonably possible, before or after your site goes live, you should discuss data security with your attorney and a qualified information technology (IT) representative. Like privacy policies, data security policies should comply with federal law and regulations, as well as the laws of the most restrictive U.S. state or territory. It is wise to have written procedures for data protection and breaches, which should be provided to any personnel who will be dealing with the company’s electronically stored information (ESI), particularly to the extent that the ESI contains end users’ PII.

You should also have a separate personnel policy that educates your employees and contractors about the use of company technology, social media and the Internet, and that protects your company without unreasonably or illegally restricting your employees’ activities.

As a practical matter, social media is no longer merely an optional business tool. It is a primary source of communication, information and advertising. Developing sound social media and technology policies as early as possible can reduce your liability and exposure and allow your company room to grow in this new online world.

© 2012 Much Shelist, P.C.

Rainmaker Retreat: Law Firm Marketing Boot Camp

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Law Firm Marketing Boot Camp:

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

Have you ever gone to a seminar that left you feeling motivated, but you walked out with little more than a good feeling? Or taken a workshop that was great on style, but short on substance?

Ever been to an event that was nothing more than a “pitch fest” that left a bad taste in your mouth? We know exactly how you feel. We have all been to those kinds of events and we hate all those things too. Let me tell you right up front this is not a “pitch fest” where speaker after speaker gets up only trying to sell you something.

We have designed this 2 day intensive workshop to be content rich, loaded with practical content.

We are so confident you will love the Rainmaker Retreat that we offer a 100% unconditional money-back guarantee! At the end of the first day of the Rainmaker Retreat if you don’t believe you have already received your money’s worth, simply tell one of the staff, return your 70-page workbook and the CD set you received and we will issue you a 100% refund.

We understand making the decision to attend an intensive 2-day workshop is a tough decision. Not only do you have to take a day off work (all Rainmaker Retreats are offered only on a Friday-Saturday), but in many cases you have to travel to the event. As a business owner you want to be sure this is a worthwhile investment of your time and money.

 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Partners at Small Law Firms (less than 25 attorneys) Solo Practitioners and Of Counsel attorneys who are committed to growing their firm. Benefits you will receive:

  • You will discover over 65 different marketing techniques that are proven to work in the real world environment of a fast moving law firm. Only practical  techniques will be discussed here. We leave the theory for the classroom.
  • You will know the 5 critical numbers you need to be tracking in your law firm and how to measure your Return On Investment (ROI) for all your marketing efforts.
  • You will understand the core concepts of search engine optimization (SEO) and internet marketing for attorneys and how to create a dominant position on the internet.
  • You will study specific tools to automate your marketing system and “fix your follow up” to increase your conversion rates from prospects to paying clients.
  • You will be introduced to several advanced internet marketing strategies for lawyers.
  • You will leave with a Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint to help you fully leverage Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Avvo and JDSupra to drive new leads to your law firm.
  • You will learn from dozens of real world case studies of how attorneys have gone from a good 6 figure practice to a great “7 figure lifestyle law firm.”
  • You will learn how to focus your money on the most effective marketing strategies based on your specific practice area.
  • You will learn how to better select, train and motivate your partners and staff to do Rainmaking activities
  • You will learn where you can ‘cut the fat’ and reduce your costs by eliminating ineffective marketing strategies
  • You will create a written Marketing Action Plan (MAP) that will guide your law firm’s efforts and provide specific goals for your team to achieve in the next 6 months
  • You will have a realistic idea of how much money it will take to effectively market your law firm
  • You will start building a network of other attorneys across the country who are dedicated to building a 7 figure lifestyle law firm
  • You will understand how to utilize the 7 Rainmaker tools for generating more referrals and repeat business from current and former clients.

Solo practitioners who need to find more clients fast on a shoe-string budget. In addition to all the above benefits, solo attorneys will receive these massive benefits:

  • You will discover over 30 low cost (starting at $20/mo)and no cost marketing strategies to help you stretch your budget
  • You will learn software tools that will help you automate your marketing system
  • You will learn an easy to use system for tracking all your incoming leads
  • You will be introduced to specific tools to help you and your staff convert more prospects into paying clients.
  • You will create a written Marketing Action Plan (MAP) that will guide your law firm’s efforts and provide specific goals for your team to achieve in the next 6 months
  • You will see how other solo attorneys have leveraged internet marketing and social media networks to beat much bigger firms
  • You will hear about best practices in legal marketing and gain new insight into what has and has not worked for other solo attorneys all across the country
  • You will be introduced to several advanced internet marketing strategies for lawyers.
  • You will understand how to utilize the 7 Rainmaker tools for generating more referrals and repeat business from current and former clients.
  • You will learn what the most profitable practice areas are in this economy.
  • You will leave with a Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint to help you fully leverage Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Avvo and JDSupra to drive new leads to your law firm.

Law Firm Business Managers and Internal Legal Marketing Staff who are either responsible for marketing the law firm or manage the team who handles the law firm’s marketing. In addition to all the above benefits, Law Firm Business Managers and Internal Legal Marketing Staff will also receive these benefits:

  • You will understand what it takes to start marketing a practice from scratch.
  • You will walk out with a specific, step-by-step, written Marketing Action Plan (MAP) that your internal marketing team can implement in the next 30 days.
  • You will learn how to quickly evaluate potential legal marketing strategies to determine if they are a “good fit” for your attorney’s practice areas.
  • You will know how to integrate your offline legal marketing strategies, like referral development and cross selling the firm’s other services,with your online and internet marketing strategies.
  • You will have a simple guide for when it’s more beneficial and cost effective to outsource specific attorney marketing projects versus keeping it in house.
  • You will know the questions to ask when evaluating internet marketing and legal website development companies so you can make wise decisions.
  • You will grasp fundamental search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and understand how to evaluate potential providers of SEO services.
  • You will understand the “metrics of legal marketing”—how to track and measure the results and ROI of your law firm’s marketing campaigns using low cost tools.
  • You will discover a proven system for fixing the follow up of your attorneys and how to start tracking every lead, every prospect, and every referral source and automatically follow up with them frequently and consistently.
  • You will discover over a dozen low cost legal marketing strategies you can launch in 30 days or less.
  • You will have a paint-by-the-numbers approach to developing more referral sources for your law firm.
  • You will understand the basics of how to put together a reasonable law firm marketing budget.
  • You will know how to work better with the Managing Partner and law firm Partners to provide them with the data, the metrics and results they are looking for.

Of Counsel Attorneys who are paid on an “eat what you kill” basis. In addition to all the above benefits, Of Counsel attorneys will also receive these benefits:

  • You will learn how other Of Counsel Attorneys build their book of business.
  • You will understand how to walk the line between promoting your firm and promoting yourself.
  • You will learn low cost strategies to develop a stronger referral base.
  • You will realize how to apply a step-by-step approach to increasing your credibility in the marketplace.
  • You will recognize how to find more clients even without the support of your firm.
  • You will apply several specific strategies designed to improve your visibility.
  • You will leave with a game plan for finding more clients and building a sustainable book of business.

Associates who are either looking to grow their book of new clients in the next 6-12 months or want to launch their own private practice. In addition to all the above benefits, Associates will also receive these benefits:

  • You will understand what it takes to start marketing a practice from scratch.
  • You will learn the importance of building your own book of business now instead of just relying on senior attorneys to build it for you.
  • You will learn low cost techniques to find more clients with your limited time.
  • You will obtain a practical understanding of what it really takes to become a “Rainmaker.”

WHAT MAKES THIS SO DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER LEGAL MARKETING SEMINAR?

1. Specifically Designed for Owners and Managing Partners at Small Law Firms and Solo Practitioners.While Associates, Of Counsel, and Partners at large firms (50+ attorneys) are welcome to attend and will receive benefit from attending, the Rainmaker Retreat is specifically designed to meet the needs, challenges, and financial budgets of solo practitioners and small law firms.

You won’t find any strategies that cost tens of thousands of dollars in this seminar. In fact, many of our strategies have little to no cost and with many of them we will tell you how to trade more of your time instead of spending your money if you’re marketing your practice on a shoe-string budget. Nor will you hear about generic marketing ideas that only work if you have a large staff or a separate marketing department.

2. This is an Advanced Legal Marketing Workshop. We work very hard to make the material easy to understand and simple to apply, but please understand this is an advanced, in-depth, hard-hitting law firm marketing course!

If you are just starting out or have never done legal marketing or business development before you will likely find the volume and depth of our strategies to be a little overwhelming at times.

A common remark we hear from experienced attorneys is that attending the Rainmaker Retreat is like “trying to drink from a fire hydrant” because we will provide you will dozens of time tested legal marketing strategies each day of the workshop.

At the Rainmaker Retreat, you will not hear any generic marketing advice like “just buy more Yellow Page ads” or “try to get more referrals from clients.” The Rainmaker Retreat focuses on in-depth discussions of cutting-edge strategies and revealing secrets of highly successful attorneys used by only an elite group of lawyers.

3. You will be taught How to Track and Measure Every Legal Marketing Effort! You will find a big emphasis on tracking the results of your attorney marketing efforts so if you are a numbers kind of person you will LOVE the Rainmaker Retreat!

There are 3 major areas you need to analyze and every one of your current challenges is directly related to problems in one or more of these 3 areas. We will teach you what the 3 areas are and how to use this tool to diagnose your problems and what “marketing treatment” you need to prescribe.

4. You will learn a Proven Lead Conversion System. The biggest area attorneys overlook in their legal marketing efforts is how to convert more prospects into paying clients. You will learn the 5 numbers you need to track in your law firm.

We will give you the tools and teach you how to use them so you can start tracking: (1) where every incoming lead is coming from, (2) how many of those leads turn into appointments, (3) how many appointments show up, (4) how many of those appointments retain at the initial consult, and (5) how many retain at a later date. We will introduce you to our Rainmaker Follow Up System that can be used to determine your Cost Per Lead (CPL) and Cost Per Client (CPC).

5. It is a Working Retreat. This means that several times each day you will be given specific marketing tasks to complete with step-by-step instructions. You not only come to listen, learn and discover, but also to practice and apply.

By the end of the Rainmaker Retreat you will:

  • Create a written 90-day Marketing Action Plan (MAP) for your law firm
  • Discover your firm’s Unique Competitive Advantage (UCA)
  • Identify a profile of your Ideal Target Market (ITM)
  • Have written strategies for improving your internet presence and search engine optimization
  • Develop your own plan for leveraging the power of blogging and social media following the Rainmaker Social Media Blueprint
  • Create a letter of introduction to potential Strategic Referral Partners (SRPs)

6. There is a Strong Focus on Return on Investment (ROI)! Everything about this workshop is focused on one goal—helping you achieve the best possible results by finding more and better clients in the least amount of time using the least amount of money possible!

For most attorneys,landing just 1 new client as a result of this workshop will more than pay for your attendance. But that’s not our goal! Our goal is to teach you how to gain dozens of new clients in the next 60-90 days.

Please note, ethically we cannot guarantee those kinds of results, but we work hard to provide you with all of the tools you will need to find more and better clients on a consistent basis. With that kind of Return on Investment, can you afford not to attend?

7. 100% Money Back Guarantee! We are so confident you will benefit from the Rainmaker Retreat that we offer a 100% money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied at the end of the first day, just let us know, turn your materials in and we will refund your money.

We guarantee you will come out of these 2 days with a step-by-step Marketing Action Plan (MAP) to make very specific changes to your marketing and how you go about building your legal practice.

Nothing Revealed on “Reveal Day”: New gTLD Application System Remains Suspended

Recently an article by Geri L. Haight of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. regarding The NEw gTLDs was published in The National Law Review:

The much anticipated “Reveal Day” — so dubbed by ICANN itself — has now come and gone without fanfare.  May 1st was to be the day when ICANN was scheduled to publish the list of all applied-for new generic top level domains (gTLDs) as part of the roll-out of the new Internet era.  Instead, all that was revealed today was that ICANN remains mired in technical glitches.

ICANN announced last Friday that, though it had hoped to re-open the online application system on April 27th, the system would remain shut down.  ICANN now plans to notify all applicants within the next seven business days (by May 8th) as to whether their applications were affected by the “technical glitch” in the TLD application system.  The “technical glitch” at issue is that ICANN’s application system allowed a limited number of users to view some other users’ file names and user names.  For the past two and a half weeks, ICANN has been (and continues to be) reviewing its internal system logs and full packet-level capture of all traffic to and from the application system from when it opened the application system on January 12th until it was shut down on April 12th.  After it notifies all applicants, ICANN will announce a new schedule for reopening the system and allowing applicants to confirm the completeness of their applications.  At the time the application system was shut down, the number of registrants in the system was 1,268. According to ICANN, this number could change (for example, for applicants that might withdraw or were in the process of submitting their $5000 deposit when the system was taken offline). Many business (and their trademark counsel) are anxious to review the list of which .BRANDS and .GENERICS have been applied-for.

But, alas, it seems that nothing will be revealed anytime soon.

©1994-2012 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Social Media for Employers: Recent Cases Before Courts, NLRB

The National Law Review recently published an article by John Patrick White, Jeffrey T. Gray, Jr. and Luis E. Avila of Varnum LLP regarding Social Media and Employers:

Varnum LLP

Social media continues to be in the news.  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an “updated” summary of social media cases earlier this year and social media continues to find its way into court decisions.

In 2011, the NLRB’s General Counsel issued a summary of 14 social media cases handled by that office.  On January 24, 2012, the General Counsel issued an updated summary covering another 14 cases.  The General Counsel’s position in these cases is that social media policies (or any other policies) that may “reasonably chill” employees in the exercise of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) are unlawful.  Here are the high points from the updated summary:

  • The General Counsel continues to find employer policies and work rules to be unlawfully broad when employees may reasonably view them as prohibiting conduct protected under the Act.  For example, work rules or policies prohibiting “insubordination or other disrespectful conduct” and “inappropriate conversation” were held to be unlawfully broad because employees might think that they cannot join together to complain about their terms and conditions of employment, which is protected activity under the Act.
  • Importantly, the General Counsel’s Office rejected a “savings clause” in a social media policy designed to prevent the policy from being overly broad.  The employer’s social media policy stated that “it would not be interpreted or applied so as to interfere with” employee rights under the Act.  The General Counsel found this language did not “save” the policy from being overbroad because an employee could not reasonably be expected to know that the clause would apply to discussions the employer deems inappropriate under the policy.  In light of the General Counsel’s approach, employers should narrowly tailor their social media policies rather than attempt to use “savings” language to fix overly broad policies.
  • On the other hand, the General Counsel found an employer’s “amended” social media policy to be lawful because it prohibited conduct that was “vulgar, obscene, threatening, intimidating, harassing, or a violation of the Employer’s workplace policies against discrimination, harassment, or hostility on account of age, race, religion, sex, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or other protected class, status, or characteristic.”  The General Counsel found the policy lawful because employees would not reasonably construe the policy’s language to prohibit conduct protected by the Act.
  • Individual gripes by employees are not protected activity.  Thus, the General Counsel found in several cases that employers did not violate the Act by discharging employees who complained about their employment on social media pages because they were acting solely on their own behalf rather than on behalf of themselves and other employees.
  • Employees can go overboard in their criticisms, however, and lose the protection of the Act.  Language that is “opprobrious,” or sufficiently “disloyal, reckless, or maliciously untrue” may remove the activity from protection, depending upon the circumstances.

In addition to the NLRB’s attention to employee activity, courts and arbitrators are increasingly addressing social media.  Here are just a few recent examples:

  • A federal district court in Illinois ruled that an employee, a marketing director for an interior design firm, could proceed with federal Stored Communications Act and Lanham Act claims against her employer based on her co-workers’ unauthorized use of her Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote the employer.  Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Grp., No. 10C 7811 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 7, 2011).
  • A federal court in Washington ruled that a trial was necessary to determine whether an employee, who had been on leave for treatment of depression, was unlawfully discharged due to her suicidal comments made via social media.  Peer v. F5 Networks, Inc., No. C11-0879-JCC (March 19, 2012).
  • An arbitrator denied a grievance challenging the discharge of a Head Start teacher who started a closed Facebook page to “gripe” about employees, parents, and students at the Head Start program.  Although the members of the invite-only group complained about work, they were also exceedingly profane, many of the posts were not connected to working conditions, and, most importantly, there was “nothing about the conversations that would lead to the conclusion that [the employees] were seeking to band together to take action to address their workplace concerns.”  Vista Neuvas Head Start, 129 LA 1519 (VanDagens, 2011).
  • A federal court in California held that a mobile news website company sufficiently stated claims for negligent and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage by alleging that a former employee appropriated a company Twitter account that drove traffic to its website.  PhoneDog v. Kravitz, No. C 11-03474 MEJ (N.D. Cal. Jan. 30, 2012).
  • An NLRB administrative law judge recently ruled that a “Jimmy John’s” franchisee violated the Act when an assistant manager posted the telephone number of a known union supporter on an anti-union Facebook page and encouraged others to “text” him to let him know “how they feel.”  The ALJ believed this post amounted to an invitation for other anti-union co-workers to harass the employee in retaliation for this union activity.  Jimmy John’s, 18-CA-19707 (April 20, 2012).

Employers must act carefully when issuing disciplinary action in connection with social media activity.  Seeking legal advice is important because, as shown above, employee social media activity implicates numerous areas of employment law.

© 2012 Varnum LLP

Inside Counsel presents the 12th Annual Super Conference in Chicago

The National Law Review  is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 12th Annual Super Conference in Chicago sponsored by Inside Counsel.

 Reasons why you should Attend This Year’s Event:
  1. Who Should Attend – General Counsel and Other Senior Legal Executives from Top Companies Attend SuperConference:Meet with Decision Makers: You’ll meet face-to-face with senior-level in-house counsel
  2. Networking Opportunities: SuperConference offers several networking opportunities, including a cocktail reception, refreshment breaks, and a networking lunch.
  3. Gain Industry Knowledge: You will hear the latest issues facing the industry today with your complimentary full-conference passes.
  • Chief Legal Officers
  • General Counsel
  • Corporate Counsel
  • Associate General Counsel
  • CEOs
  • Senior Counsel
  • Corporate Compliance Officers

The 12th Annual IC SuperConference will be held at the NEW Radisson Blu Chicago.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel

221 N. Columbus Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

Don’t forget – The early discount deadline using the NLR discount code is February 24th!

Internet Marketing for Attorneys: How Blogging Is Like Sex

Recently The National Law Review published an article by Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute regarding Internet Marketing for Attorneys:

Did that headline grab you? It certainly did me when I saw this infographic from an India-based social media marketing firm:

blogging is like sex

The point is, that to be effective, blogs need to grab and hold the attention of your readers. Blogs hold a unique position in the online media landscape because they have become an accepted source of information. Here are some tips on how to successfully grow your blog:

Engage with other online communities. Become known on other relevant blogs by contributing valuable content to pick up audiences for your own blog.

Write about what you know. If you are passionate about your law practice, share it.

Provide engaging content. Be the spark that starts smart conversations online.

Answer questions. Solicit feedback and keep the conversation going.

Offer real value. Dive deep into your subject matter to keep readers wanting more.

Create content to match needs. Speak to your target market in your blog about the legal issues that concern them.

Make readers feel good. If someone posts a thoughtful comment, respond to it with appreciation. If you disagree, do so gracefully.

Give more than you get. Offer readers something of value like a free e-book or newsletter subscription. Post on a regular schedule so your readers are always getting something new from you.

© The Rainmaker Institute

Inside Counsel presents the 12th Annual Super Conference in Chicago

The National Law Review  is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 12th Annual Super Conference in Chicago sponsored by Inside Counsel.

 Reasons why you should Attend This Year’s Event:
  1. Who Should Attend – General Counsel and Other Senior Legal Executives from Top Companies Attend SuperConference:Meet with Decision Makers: You’ll meet face-to-face with senior-level in-house counsel
  2. Networking Opportunities: SuperConference offers several networking opportunities, including a cocktail reception, refreshment breaks, and a networking lunch.
  3. Gain Industry Knowledge: You will hear the latest issues facing the industry today with your complimentary full-conference passes.
  • Chief Legal Officers
  • General Counsel
  • Corporate Counsel
  • Associate General Counsel
  • CEOs
  • Senior Counsel
  • Corporate Compliance Officers

The 12th Annual IC SuperConference will be held at the NEW Radisson Blu Chicago.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel

221 N. Columbus Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

Don’t forget – The early discount deadline using the NLR discount code is February 24th!

Employer Social Media Policies: Another One Bites the Dust

An article by Gerald F. Lutkus of Barnes & Thornburg LLP regarding Employer Social Media Policies was recently published in The National Law Review:

The NLRB has continued its assault on employer social media policies and a recent Administrative Law Judge ruling from the Board further complicates the issue. The Acting General Counsel, in his various reports on the Board’s social media cases, has made it clear that employers need to include disclaimers in their policies that nothing in the policy is meant to interfere with employee Section 7 rights. However, a San Francisco-based ALJ, in a lengthy opinion dealing with the social media policy of G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc., struck down that company’s social media policy even though it included such a disclaimer.

Specifically, the ALJ found that G4S’s policy was overbroad and would chill the exercise of Section 7 rights by employees of the company. G4S’s policy stated, “This policy will not be construed or applied in a way that interferes with employees’ rights under federal law.” The ALJ expressly determined that “it cannot be assumed that lay employees have the knowledge to discern what is federal law, and thus permitted under the disclaimer, as opposed to what is prohibited ‘legal matter’.” Though the ALJ did not go beyond that, the clear suggestion from the opinion is that a disclaimer of noninterference with Section 7 rights must be far more particular in explaining what types of rights are, in fact, protected under Section 7 and, thus, not prohibited under an employer’s social media policy. Of course, most employers are reluctant to spell out in detail in their own policy manuals exactly what types of activity employees may engage in as protected activity under Section 7 of the NLRA.

The judge’s ruling also struck down that portion of the company’s policy forbidding employees from commenting on work-related legal matters, but allowed a provision that prohibited the posting on social media sites of pictures of employees in their security uniforms.

A full text of the ALJ’s ruling in G4S Secure Solutions can be reviewed here.

© 2012 BARNES & THORNBURG LLP

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