A recent Michigan case -- Ahmed v. Finley's Mfg. Co. -- concerned the settlement of class action claims that "halal" products offered at fast food restaurants in Dearborn did not comply with Islamic dietary restrictions.
In response, a Dearborn lawyer not otherwise involved in the action posted statements on his Dearborn Area Community Members Facebook page, alleging that the settlement represented a "backroom deal," in which the plaintiff’s lawyer would "pocket" the majority of the settlement amount, and requested that community members "Like" his "Public Notice" regarding objections to the settlement.
In an unreported decision, the presiding judge prohibited further communication by the objecting lawyer about the case, citing "materially false, deceptive and misleading" statements in the Facebook posting.
The Public Citizen Litigation Group, representing the objecting lawyer, insisted that the order constituted a "prior restraint" on speech, and noted that the lawyer, as a member of the class affected by the settlement, could properly publicize objections to the settlement. The presiding judge modified her order, specifying that the objecting lawyer could identify himself as a class member, but not as an attorney in the case (in which he had never intervened). The judge also extended the period for notice to the class of the proposed settlement.
Social media is weighing the scales of justice.
This case, though perhaps of relatively minor interest as a local action, highlights how significant social media could become in the litigation process. The use of viral communications could help lawyers as in the Ahmed matter build a case for "opting out" of a settlement. Social media may also help lawyers find class action plaintiffs, and (in cases where class action is procedurally impossible) help lawyers organize mass individual proceedings. Companies, moreover, may monitor such online developments, to help plan responses to potential litigation.
— Steven C. Bennett is a partner in the New York City offices of international law firm Jones Day. The views expressed are his, and should not be attributed to Bennett's firm or clients.
Seems to me that notice via social media is just one more tool a court could use to provide what it may consider adequate notice of the settlement of a class action matter. Indeed, in the case discussed in my piece, there was a form of social media notification of the settlement (in addition to other methods, I believe). That's not unusual (the use of multiple methods for notice).
Your article got me thinking on the many ways that social media could be used vis-a-vis class actions.
For eternity, I will be quoted in a precedent setting case where a class action settlement was overturned largely because the settlement provided for insufficient notification. With that in mind I wonder about how class action settlements could use social media for notifications of the proposed settlements.
On the one hand I object to most class action lawsuits, but so long as we have them I can see many new uses for social media.
How can they prove it wasn't halal? How can the normal consumer do similar accusations with other products ("real beef", etc.)? The FDA has the proper tools but a normal consumer doesn't.
It's the informality of the medium, but also the drive to be interesting and unique. For some people, these phenomena produce a need to "over-share" the details of their lives. For others, it is unfunny "humor" and worse.
There seems to be something in social media that causes some people to lose all common sense. I'm not surprised to learn lawyers are not immune to that effect.
This problem (lawyer speech) is really just a particular variation of the larger problem of employee speech. Employees have rights under the First Amendment (and other law), but they also may have obligations to their employer, and the employer may have legitimate reasons for paying attention to employee speech. Add to the mix the fact that social media (especially) have helped to blur the lines between work / personal life, and you begin to see that the balancing problem is inherent in modern life.
I think most of us have obligations we need to balance against our First Amendment rights, but this is a special problem for lawyers (and doctors, teachers, etc).
Lawyers have First Amendment rights, just as all citizens maintain. But they are also officers of the court, and owe professional obligations to support the system of justice. Drawing lines between these two interests can be more than difficult.
" I don't see any real dangers on social media use by the bar, they have too much to lose if not careful with their words and actions."
There is a danger of speakingb too soon and that in itself can have serious legal implications. In the age of facebook and twiiter, there is always this rush to comment or senf constant update. In such a situation, social media can get the better o even the most detail and consciouteous legal person.
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The United States has no single national privacy protection agency. Over the past 20 years, however, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken a leading role in education, outreach to consumer and industry groups, and enforcement in the area of privacy and data security. The FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, within its Bureau of Consumer Protection, enforces several federal statutes, regarding “unfair or deceptive” practices, fair credit reporting, and confidentiality of financial information. Further, the FTC takes principal responsibility for enforcement of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which aims to place parents in control over what information is collected from their young children online.
The advancement of digital technology opens unprecedented avenues for e-commerce, aided by digital currency systems. In addition to online credit cards and other forms of payment, technology has developed to the point where individuals can carry digital wallets within their smartphones and complete transactions with near-instantaneous payment. This Forbes India article provides a description of digital wallet systems.
Social media platforms have greatly transformed personal interactions in the work environment. But the trend toward daily use of social networks, at work and elsewhere, has generated legal controversy as to what is protected worker activity and what is grounds for termination.
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New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
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Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
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