On April 4, 2019, the Australian parliament approved the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material Bill, which amended the Criminal Code. The bill was approved after Christchurch terrorist attack to ensure that online platforms cannot be exploited by perpetrators of violence. The attack in March 2019 demonstrated the potential for live streaming to be abused by […]
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Topic: Confidentiality Obligations for Lawyer Blogging and Other Public Commentary “Lawyers who blog or engage in other public commentary may not reveal information relating to a representation, including information contained in a public record, unless authorized by a provision of the Model Rules.” […]
On June 30, 2017, the German Parliament, the Deutscher Bundestag, approved the Telemedia Act, Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG), which obligates the operators of Internet social media platforms to remove posts within 24 hours that violate German law and have been reported by other users. “Effective sanctions” shall apply to the social media platforms that do not […]
December 19, 2016, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued an order accepting a recommendation from the State’s Disciplinary Board to suspend an attorney for one year and one day for engaging in unauthorized practice of law. Among other counts, the Respondent allegedly maintained a LinkedIn profile representing to […]
On April 27, 2017, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered the suspension of an attorney from the practice of law for a period of 90 days followed by 1 year’s monitored probation. The Counsel for Discipline of the Nebraska Supreme Court filed formal charges against the attorney. According to the charges, the attorney had taken […]
On September 30, 2016, a California federal court granted permission to serve process through Twitter on a foreign defendant. Plaintiff St. Francis Assisi (a non-profit corporation) sued the defendants Kuwait Finance House, Kuveyt-Turk Participation Bank Inc., and Hajjaj al-Ajmi (an individual) for damages and equitable relief arising from the defendants’ financing of the terrorist organization Islamic […]
On August 18, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) affirmed the administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling that Chipotle maintained an unlawful social media code of conduct that violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Chipotle fired an employee shortly after he tweeted several times on employees’ working conditions and wages. Chipotle social media policy included […]
In Formal Opinion 2016-196, the California State Bar Ethics Committee dealt with the question of when a blog by a lawyer is subject to the ethics rules on advertising. If a blog is integrated into a lawyer’s website, it will be treated as advertising. A separate blog or blog post may or may not be […]
On November 4, 2016, Der Spiegel, a German newspaper, reported about an ongoing investigation on Facebook over hate posts. According to the complaint filed in Hamburg, Facebook is allegedly not removing illegal content, such as racist or violent posts, from its pages – even after being requested to do so. More information is available here in English. For […]
Topic: Attorney Advertising and LinkedIn Digest: “An attorney’s individual LinkedIn profile or other content constitutes attorney advertising only if it meets all five of the following criteria: (a) it is a communication made by or on behalf of the lawyer; (b) the primary purpose of the LinkedIn content is to attract new clients to […]