GJEL Blog » Legal Technology

If you work in an office, the chances are that you’ve used social media at work before. Hopefully, you keep personal use of social media communities like Facebook and Twitter to a minimum during work hours. New reports have found that more than half of employers in the United States view social media use as so harmful to productivity that they’ve banned it altogether. Companies that have not taken this drastic step, however, have run in to a variety of problems related to social media use, which has led to embarrassment, terminations, and even costly lawsuits.

Read Full Article »

Over the past five years, Facebook has evolved from a scrappy web upstart to a worldwide phenomenon with more than 500 million members. Even outside the social sphere, Facebook has also become a force in professional communities, and was the subject of the year’s most engaging film, The Social Network. But when it comes to law, the jury is still out on Facebook, as state courts continue to debate whether information gathered on Facebook should be admissible during the discovery process leading up to a legal showdown.

Read Full Article »

There are two sides to the debate about whether state bar associations should enforce stricter regulations on attorney advertising. First, there’s the question of whether the courts should regulate what attorneys can say in print ads. At the center of this debate is the use of nick names, and client testimonials. On the other side, attorneys have been debating whether attorney social media use amounts to advertising and should therefore warrant special regulations. For both of these debates, authorities have recently issued encouraging decisions that indicate a less restrictive view toward advertising and social media.

Read Full Article »

The rise of social media, and the Internet as a whole, has fostered the ability to connect with old friends, professional acquaintances, and distant family members. It also creates the possibility for a whole new world of social media quandaries that could lead to massive lawsuits. Whether its Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or Yelp, users of every major social media website have run into unique legal problems. And it doesn’t always end up pretty for the little guy. Below is a list of ten epic social media #Fails that have led to major lawsuits.

Read Full Article »

Most people outside the legal profession don’t know the incredible amount of work that goes in to a lawsuit before settlement negotiations or courtroom procedure begins. A major part of this process is discovery, defined by our legal dictionary as “devices that can be used by one party to obtain facts and information about the case from the other party in order to assist the party’s preparation for trial,” including depositions, written interrogatories, and the production of important documents. Discovery has always been a complicated process, but due to the relatively recent rise of computer domination, eDiscovery — which involves the production of information from technological sources — can be even trickier. We asked discovery expert Diane Barry to explain the complicated ethical elements of eDiscovery.

Read Full Article »

If I were a lawyer who had been sanctioned for unethical behavior, I’d probably try to avoid attracting attention to myself. But Florida attorney Joe Davis is taking a different approach, and has formally sued Avvo, the social media and information website for lawyers and consumers, for revealing that he had been sanctioned for professional misconduct. Needless to say, Avvo is not backing down since increasing transparency in the legal process is exactly what the pioneering website has set out to do.

Read Full Article »

The benefits of the internet are too numerous to count. The web has made information easily searchable, revolutionized the news industry, and boosted access to entertainment. But one of the unintended consequences of the online communities created by the Internet is the nasty remarks hastily employed by public and anonymous bloggers and commenters alike. It turns out that under the law, those comments can be considered more than a nuisance; they can be punishable by law.

Read Full Article »

I just sat in on Avvo’s webinar on “Ethical Issues in Online Advertising and Social Media” and wanted to share some thoughts. I’ve recently been fascinated by the intersection of communication and advertising, which has become increasingly interesting with the rise of social media and online marketing. Here on the GJEL blog, for example, we write about developments in distracted driving legislation, teen drivers, and other issues related to consumer safety because we have a deep interest and want a better market for consumers.

Read Full Article »

This Saturday night 17-year-old Oakland driver caused an fatal accident while under the influence of alcohol. The driver, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, was arrested on vehicular manslaughter charges for the death of 22-year-old Martin Contreras. He has been busted on DUI charges before, which carries a suspended license penalty of six months for a first-time offender in California. If California had stricter ignition-interlock laws, the accident could have been avoided.

Read Full Article »

Generally, I’m not a fan of efforts to reduce distracted driving among teens by scaring the crap out of them. There are all sorts of stats that clearly portray the dangers of distracted driving: last year, it was responsible for nearly 600,000 deaths; it is the number one killer of teenagers; and it’s just as dangerous as driving while drunk. But if teens today are a fraction as stubborn as I was as a teenager, listing statistics to kids won’t have a lasting effect. Instead, consider testing a distracted driving simulator on your teenager and let him or her be the judge.

Read Full Article »