If a blogger makes a malicious or libelous statement in cyberspace, does it make a sound? It’s a question more and more individuals and businesses are asking lawyers, corporate counsel and human resource executives. In fact, according to the Media Law Resource Center, there have been 95 new libel cases filed against bloggers in the last three years–a 216% increase over the previous three-year period.

While the reason for such an upshot is still unclear, the rise in prominence and use of social media tools and applications almost certainly played a role. Loyal readers that tally in the millions follow such top bloggers as Robert Scoble of Microsoft fame and Arianna Huffington, founder of HuffingtonPost, and they are increasingly chiming in with their own comments, too. more »

CareerBuilder.com’s “2009 Job Forecast” survey predicts cautious hiring practices for the coming year, and also identified the following 7 key hiring trends that every manager should know: more »

As social media permeates businesses from the mail room to the boardroom, employee usage has raised many legal questions–both old and new. This presentation provides an overview to help management– specifically human resource and law departments–navigate the social media legal landscape. Learn how to utilize and protect intellectual property; understand employment liability issues and the rights of privacy afforded both employers and employees; and discover the implications of the SPAM Act and FTC advertising rules. The bottom line: While many traditional approaches apply in the digital realm, social media requires additional steps to find the defamer or infringer, as well as to understand the context in which legal arguments and the rules of evidence apply.