It is a question that many employers think about but do not really address.  A federal judge in Philadelphia recently provided a little more insight to the answer.

In Eagle v. Morgan, et al., the plaintiff had been the CEO of a banking education company.  While the CEO, plaintiff created a LinkedIn account at the encouragement of the company.  According to the complaint, Plaintiff “used her account to promote [defendant] Edcomm’s banking education services; foster her reputation as a businesswoman; reconnect with family, friends, and colleagues; and build social and professional relationships.”  Edcomm generally followed the policy that when an employee left the company, the company would effectively ‘own’ the Linkedin account and could ‘mine’ the information and incoming traffic, so long as it did not steal that former employee’s identity.” Although, it is not clear whether this policy was in writing (I am doubtful).

Like most areas of the law, media law is an ever-changing and developing field.  With the advent of social media, blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many other social media websites, issues such as defamation and copyright are at the forefront of every media lawyers’ mind.  The 24-7 news cycle also presents new challenges for media lawyers.  To help address these issues, the Law & Media Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association plans an annual conference in October, which is held in Columbus.  Participants include, among others, journalists, lawyers, judges, and students.  The conference entails a plenary session with multiple break-out sessions addressing topics such as defamation, fair use, copyright, ethics, newsgathering, sunshine laws, reporter’s privilege, crisis communication, and legal pitfalls in social media.

LinkedIn is the most common social networking site used by legal professional and allows you to reach more than 140 million members, 39 percent of whom are managers, directors, owners, chief officers, or vice presidents.  As of June 30, 2012, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members.  Despite the numerous benefits that LinkedIn provides to members of the legal profession, such as legal updates and sharing information, many attorneys fail to use their LinkedIn account effectively by not completing their LinkedIn profile and not utilizing the various apps and features provided by LinkedIn.