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For some years now, some clever scam artists have bilked many otherwise bright and clever lawyers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I myself have received this same email dozens of times.  They always go like this: "Hi, my ex lives in your jurisdiction (note the scammers never actually name your state or city).

This may be where many employers will be heading.  Athletic departments at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech University have been using a service to monitor social media of their players.  Texas A&M University also used a service from 2008 until 2012.  The service monitors the social media accounts of the players.

I first wrote about this issue here.  John Gibson, a lawyer in North Texas, picked a name for his blog, www.texasworkerscomplaw.com.  The Texas Department of Insurance, Workers Compensation Division, sent him a "cease and desist" letter accusing him of violating a state statute that forbids the use of "texas" and "workers compensation" in connection…

Many of us are concerned about our neighbors in Newtown, Connecticut after the terrible shooting there.  My colleague, Dan Schwartz, at Connecticut Employment Law Blog, mentions that the Sandy Hook Elementary will be moving to a new location for the rest of the school year.  They will need school supplies as if they were starting…

Its nice to work at home, but the stay-at-home employees suffer, according to one recent report.  According to two business professors, work-at-home employees receive lower performance evaluations, smaller raises, and fewer promotions.  Stay-at-home employees are observed less.  They receive less "passive face time," say the two researchers.   In white collar jobs, the lack of…

You only think that what you are posting will remain anonymous on the world wide web.  A federal prosecutor in New Orleans learned that painful lesson recently.  First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann had been posting anonymous comments on a New Orleans Time Picayune website under the online alias of "eweman."  Her comments were directed…

I met a neighbor at a recent gathering.  He asked a good question.  Can a boss can look at an employee’s Facebook comments?  Apparently, a friend of the neighbor left his computer at work open to Facebook.  "Jim" had posted something unfavorable about his employer, a major retailer.  Well, there is a lot wrapped into…

Online research has become ubiquitous.  It has reached the point where a judge in one criminal trial issued individual written orders to members of a jury not to conduct any research regarding the defendant.  The defendant was charged with murder.  The judge had already been burned by a prior trial in which jurors discussed the…

This would be a tough case for any lawyer.  Capt. Francesco Schettino, who infamously sunk a ship, the Costa Concordia, is suing to get his job back.  His Italian lawyer, says he is simply doing what any Italian citizen has the right to do.  According to this report, he gave the order to sail too…

The defense lawyer in the Trayvon Martin case has been blogging about his case.  Mark O’Mara has been trying to counter the publicity that George Zimmerman is a racist.  The prosecutor complained to the judge and requested an order prohibiting further use of social media.  The prosecutor claimed Mr. O’Mara’s use of social media would taint…