Social media

Don’t miss this live webcast on March 24, 2016 that discussion on the legal issues surrounding social media, including common intellectual property, discovery, and ethical concerns that can arise from your client’s use of social media. Attorneys with basic practice experience who attend this live webcast will better understand: trademark issues and risks that clients face when using social media; how to respond to the unauthorized use of trademarks on social media; how to advise your business client on social media policies in the workplace; how the National Labor Relations Board treats social media discussions, especially between employees; how to identify and avoid ethical pitfalls that may arise when using social media in your practice, including issues with advertising and communication with court personnel, opposing parties, or potential clients; the evidentiary and practical issues encountered when using social media at trial; how the Cable Communications Act and Stored Communications Act have affected providers’ reluctance to turn over information and discovery obtain from social media accounts; and much more!

In some high profile cases nationwide, jurors have used social media while they're impaneled and been punished by the court. In other cases, judges have resorted to draconian measures to prevent the practice from happening in the first place.

But a recent study by two Chicago judges and an associate at a large Chicago law firm suggests that such punitive measures are unnecessary. Of the nearly 600 jurors they surveyed, most said they were not tempted to use social media. And those few who were tempted said they understood and respected the judge's instructions not to communicate about the case by any means.

The study, spearheaded by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, who sits in the Northern District of Illinois, was conducted over three years by surveying jurors who heard civil and criminal cases in St. Eve's courtroom and those who heard criminal cases in the Chicago criminal courthouse before Cook County Circuit Judge Charles P. Burns, another study co-author. Michael A. Zuckerman, formerly a clerk for St. Eve and now an associate at Jones Day in Chicago, also participated in drafting the study's findings. Find out more in the July Illinois Bar Journal.