Last Friday I had the honor of presenting a program on Social Media and the Law at the annual American Bar Association meeting in San Francisco which was written up by the American Bar Association Journal (Slander or Satire? When Does Social Media Cross Legal Lines?). Presenting with me was Marylee Abrams of Abrams and Schmidt and Heather Armstrong (dooce.com).
Ms. Armstrong provided background as one of the nation’s most prominent lifestyle bloggers and her history, which gave rise to the term “being dooced” as a phrase meaning that a person was fired for things they said or did in a blog or other social media, as well as current legal issues she faces being a paid endorser and copyright owner.
Marylee gave an excellent program on issues employers need to consider in this world of social media. Her program was recapped very well at ABA Online, and on Marylee’s blog.
I provided clean-up by discussing the things attorneys need to tell clients considering making social media a part of their marketing strategy. In short, I noted the need to counsel clients on the fact that they need to accept that they can not control their presence. – Rather the focus should be on managing their liability. Methods of managing the risk include: (1) education on legal issues, (2) standardized procedures, (3) insurance, and (4) contracts/terms of use. Over the course of the next few months I will post additional notes concerning each of these.