The virtual workplace and telecommuting arrangements create a number of potential pitfalls for employers that do not follow the "traditional" workplace model. When employers have employees who do not "power off" and leave work at work, there are a number of important issues they must consider to manage the virtual workplace.
In its first ruling on the privacy of workplace texting, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 17 said that a city audit of an employee's messages on a city-owned pager was a reasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.
In advertising, it's amazing what works and what doesn't work. It isn't always what you think it is.
The practice of project management in e-discovery has traditionally been loosely defined, with significant variation in the application of the fundamentals and the people performing these services. In some cases, the individual taking a project management role on a case is an attorney or paralegal, while in others it's the e-discovery services provider's account manager. Some project managers come from IT or document management roles. Within any given case, multiple "project managers" may work together, each applying their own set of practices and procedures.
In many instances and in many sectors, technology is looked to as the savior, since it's easy to simply focus on the "bright, shiny object" that will quickly and painlessly fix the problem at hand. The same is true in the legal industry when it comes to litigation and e-discovery. Unfortunately, technology is only part of the equation, unable to deliver the promised value without the inclusion of the equally important pillars of people and processes. While many recognize this as a truism, they nevertheless forget (or underemphasize) the importance of the other factors ' much to their detriment.
How difficult is it for these potential clients to find a particular firm online and, once they do, are they motivated enough by what they find to take the next step and contact that firm? Some lawyers embrace online marketing and do it well, while others make mistakes that cost them clients, money and time.
There is an important debate unfolding across government and the private sector over a critical national security issue: how to secure America's information networks from cybersabotage, espionage and attacks. Congress, the executive branch and the private sector must all do a better job of engaging the public on decisions that are so important.
Talk about winning on a technicality. In a copyright infringement case brought by photographers who sued Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. over the allegedly unapproved use of their photos, Chief Judge Loretta Preska of Manhattan federal district court ruled in May that the works at issue had not been properly registered. Judge Preska threw out most of the photographers' claims in her 24-page ruling.
e-Commerce sales appear to be continuing their slow upswing, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. Figures for the first quarter of 2010, released last month, show estimated e-retail spending up 1.5% over the fourth quarter of 2009.
Those of us involved in e-commerce pay particular attention when online sellers are involved, such as the report that the same e-seller sold a gun or accessories to two well-publicized killers. This year, however, there is an additional legal twist.
