Foursquare as Promotional Tool for Law Business
Foursquare may, indeed, be the next Twitter internet-phenom, with users creeping into seven figures and the number of check-ins getting over 20 million, well, ridiculous (we broke ground on Foursquare in this February 2010 post). Still a doubter? Well, expect more articles and coverage about Foursquare, like this New York …
Woes of Legal Blogs
Former legal blogger, Mark Herrmann, may be the smartest law blogger. Because he’s a former law blogger. Obviously, I do this voluntarily so there’s not too much complaining which would be well received. I liken the feeling to people who own boats and exclaim that the best days for a …
The Case of the Yellow Hat: Judge Can Use Google to Take Judicial Notice
It is difficult to determine if there is some precedent in the Second District’s U.S. v. Anthony Bari case relative to whether a judge can take judicial notice of a fact by Googling the issue. But, at least according to the federal court, we should “expect to see more judges …
Is There Really a “Free” Credit Report?
Yes, believe it or not. You’ve probably seen the commercials for LifeLock, the company where the president was publishing his own social security number to show how safe their $100/year identity theft program could be. Sounded great until they had to settle with the FTC for $12 million for alleged …
Lawyers: Foursquare & Yelp May Be New Discovery and Marketing Tools
Lawyers were fairly quick to catch onto the trend of Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Facebook. It is now common for lawyers to ask deponents about email addresses, Internet usage, and social networking activities. A new Internet trend is afoot and savvy lawyers may want to at least be …
False YouTube Ad and Padded Resume Leads to Reprimand of Florida Judge
The Supreme Court of Florida commanded Leon County Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey to appear for a public reprimand due to (1) a YouTube election advertisement entitled “re-elect” when she had been previously appointed to the bench and (2) a flyer claiming she had 20 years of legal experience when …
Does Your Company Need a Lawyer to Handle Social Media, Twitter and Facebook?
At least one company, Clorox, is looking for a full time, in house lawyer to clean up their social media policies and presence. Is that necessary? A marketing person (or even an astute college student) could likely develop and monitor Twitter feeds and a Facebook fan page. But is that …
“Blogging for Lawyers” at Palm Beach Bar Association
We recently offered a lunch-time seminar for lawyers interested in learning about blogging at the Palm Beach Bar Association. This was one in a series of lawyer-technology seminars, much like our prior Tweet Meet and Eat. Thanks to Matt Kakuk of Webmanagement.us who jumped in with some technical help on …
Florida Paralegal Association & Internet Social Networking
Thank you to the Paralegal Association of Florida – Boca Raton Chapter for the very kind invitation to speak about “Social Networking Websites for Fun and Research” at their January 14, 2010 meeting. This presentation grew out of the Spring 2009 article, “Internet Social Networking Sites for Lawyers,” which was …
Google Scholar’s Legal Search and Fast Flip
The ABA Journal Daily alerted us to “Google Offers Legal Research for Average Citizen… and Lawyers Too” so we had to take Google Scholar out for a test drive. Along the way, we also stumbled across another Google product, Fast Flip. Both are free. Apparently Google wants to dip a …
JEAC Enters Ethics Fray Over Judges and Facebook… But Florida Wasn’t the First
As has been recently well-hyped, there are certain restrictions on Florida judge’s use of social networks. It apparently took awhile for everyone to notice a November 17 Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee report but once the New York Times got a hold of it nearly a month later on December 10, …
Can You Twitter from a Courtroom?
The answer is a mixed bag, with the least favorable outcomes in federal court under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. In a recent federal criminal case in Georgia, the Judge in U.S. v. John Mark Shelnutt wrote that, “the request to ‘tweet’ from the courtroom is denied. According to …
Palm Beach County Bar Association Hosts “Tweet, Meet & Eat”
What does $30 buy you these days? How about a 90-minute session learning to use Twitter and Facebook, a free lunch, and 1 hour of Florida Bar CLE credit! Come join us on Friday, September 25, 2009 at the Palm Beach County Bar Association offices for the Tweet Meet & …
Can a Lawyer Get a Copy of a Transcript Without Paying Court Reporter? (The Debate Continues)
There is often an unspoken understanding that lawyers who attend hearings which are transcribed need to pay the court reporter to get a copy. Thus, if there are 10 parties to a lawsuit and everyone wants a copy of a 15-minute hearing transcript, court reporters often take the position that …
Lawyer & Law Firm Blogs: Advice from Palm Beach County Attorneys
Considering writing a law blog? Interested in seeing what other firms are doing? Take a peek at the September 2009 Palm Beach Bar Bulletin article, Lawyer Blogs: Overview and Advice from Palm Beach County Bloggers. It’s also included in the column to the right under “Articles.” Note the interesting statistics: …