More on Social Media & eDiscovery
Many companies have embraced social media as an effective marketing and communication channel, but when you think of social media and eDiscovery together, the enthusiasm can turn to fear and dread – just as it has for a growing number of corporations.
True, social media does have an ugly side (employers spying on employees, trade secrets being carelessly shared, and corporate gossip that can tarnish even the most solid, clean cut image that companies like to project). But talking social media in terms of eDiscovery is downright uglier. An the reason is obvious enough: eDiscovery is all about litigation, and most would agree (even honest lawyers), litigation is something most folks compare to the Bubonic plague
No Management Policy for Electronic Information? Create it – PRONTO!
Eliminating fear and dread from the social media/eDiscovery equation is possible, provided that companies establish and strictly enforce a management policy. Roumiania Deltcheva cites statistics from Hafez Daraee, who writes for Oregon’s Daily Journal of Commerce. Daraee’s observations:
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2/3 of surveyed companies said that they worry about eDiscovery requests;
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25% said they were not adequately prepared to fulfill eDiscovery requests;
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33% said they were only partially prepared
And how many companies questioned on the survey were fully prepared? Only 9%!
That’s like saying 9% of pilots are fully prepared to fly, or 9% of surgeons are fully prepared to operate, or that 9% of politicians are competent enough to hold office.
(Er. Maybe scratch that last one.)
9% is a staggeringly tiny percentage, considering that most companies either have a full service legal department or else retain the services of a law firm. What’s even more remarkable is that companies, in the last 10 years, have resorted to using e-mail when communicating with customers, suppliers and providers. So why haven’t they gotten around the conference table to draft such a critical electronic information policy?
Is it lack of time? Lack of resources? Lack of expertise? Possibly. But these aren’t reasons; they’re excuses. Time, resources and expertise may be rare commodities in the corporate world, but they exist. And that means corporations need to do some soul searching, pull up their socks (or any other piece of clothing that helps), and prepare well for the tsunami of social media eDiscovery issues that are going to become a big – if not the biggest – part of their legal future. Because really, it’s just a matter of time.
Now if you’ll excuse us, we have some Tweeting to do.
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Chris Crum went over survey results conducted by CareerBuilder. The 
In its report of a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Deloitte Forensic Center, 
Many law firms are following certain policies to protect their privacy and to abide by certain rules when marketing their services through useful social media sites. These rules begin once you start whatever social media service your firm decides on. Before your firm signs up for a service, make sure that you check your state bar advertising rules. Each state has different requirements for lawyer advertising; make sure you are in the clear before you introduce your company to the brave world of social media.
As of this writing, there are some, but not a significant number, of cases dealing with Web 2.0 and the need for employment policies outlining acceptable and improper use of such technology. These issues will continue to be raised within and without the workplace until there are enough cases dealing with issues that Web 2.0 presents to form a body of law and guidelines for both employers and employees. Also of note is the intersection between general employment law, privacy rights, First and Fourth Amendment, wiretapping, and federal and state analogs to the 
Early in 2009, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics[FOOTNOTE 1] issued opinion No. 08-176 prompted by an inquiry from a judge who received an invitation to join a social networking site. This site was aimed at professional networking that would allow sharing business-related information, contacts and, most notably, the ability to "interact with lawyers and litigants." The committee recognized a host of potential benefits from membership, such as staying in touch with distant family members, former schoolmates and associates. There was nothing "inherently" wrong with joining, since it was comparable to the type of socializing judges already do in person. They keenly divorced the mode of communication from how it was used. To Continue Reading: 
Many social networking site users are likely to be unaware of the potential copyright issues associated with posting such original works. Once the work is on the internet, it must be assumed that it will be available to all parties, both intended and unintended. What legal remedies are available if somebody copies a photograph or video and uses it for his or her own purposes without the owner's consent?