Writing and Speaking on Social Media and Courts

I discuss different aspects of social media and the courts in a new article and at an upcoming conference.

Late last year I became the new lead contributor and editorial reviewer for the venerable Internet Law: The Complete Guide, published by Specialty Technical Publishers. Now, in connection with the latest quarterly update of the Guide, they have posted an article I wrote on service of legal notice (e.g., notice of lawsuits) via social media.

The bottom line is that such notice must adequately inform defendants that a lawsuit has filed against them, and give them an adequate opportunity to be heard in the case. Increasingly, courts are determining that notice via social media meets these criteria.

The article is available here.

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Also, next week I will be among 20 experts nationwide who have been invited to participate in a roundtable workshop on the Potential Impact of Electronic Media Use on the Right to a Fair Trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice's Criminal Justice Priority Needs Initiative.

At the workshop I will present an update of my prior work on juror use of social media and the internet during trial,  and what role that jury instructions can play in mitigating the problems created by this phenomenon.