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#myNCBA: The New Way To Share Social Media Love

We want to let the world know what the NCBA means to you. So, we’ve created a new hashtag – #myNCBA – that will allow all of us to share thoughts, feelings and photos about this fellowship we know as the N.C. Bar Association.

Whether it’s grabbing coffee with another member, working with a group on a pro bono project or attending a CLE and loving the auditorium music playlist, we want to know what makes the NCBA special for you.

Here’s how it works: Include the hashtag #myNCBA in your social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Anyone else who has a public social media account and uses #myNCBA will be automatically shown all other public posts that include the hashtag. And you can find fellow members’ posts with #myNCBA, too.

Share all the events, memories and interactions that make your NCBA membership meaningful to you. During the month of September, show us your NCBA moments with #myNCBA for a chance to win a weekly prize. For example, post a photo of one of your favorite speakers from this year’s Annual Meeting with a caption telling us why you enjoyed the speaker and include #myNCBA.

Each week every post that includes #myNCBA will be entered into a prize drawing. So tell us about your favorite Annual Meeting, section networking event, member event, or anything else NCBA-related that brings a smile to your face. We can’t wait to see what makes your membership in NCBA special to you!

 

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Are Vague Social Media Policies a Problem For Public Employers? Indeed, They Are.

By Robin Shea

Many lawyers who represent private sector employers are familiar with the (some might say “harsh”) position on social media policies taken by the National Labor Relations Board during the Obama Administration. The NLRB’s position is that overly vague social media policies have a “chilling effect” on employees seeking to exercise their rights to engage in concerted activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

Under the NLRB’s analysis, social media policies that require “courtesy,” or that prohibit employees from “disparaging” the company or its management, or posting in a way that “adversely reflects on the company” violate Section 7. This applies to both union and non-union employers.

But the NLRA doesn’t cover federal, state, or local government employees, which is great if you represent a government employer . . .

. . . right?

Apparently not. Although public employers do not have to worry about the NLRA, they do have to worry about this little thing called “the First Amendment.”

A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Liverman v. City of Petersburg (Virginia), indicates that there may not be much practical difference between a First Amendment analysis of public employer social media policies and a Section 7 analysis of private employer policies.

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Beware the Ethics Pitfalls of Social Media Research

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By James M. Dedman IV

Lawyers now find themselves well into the era of social media discovery. Time was, Internet evidence was a novelty, and courts eyed such issues with wonder and skepticism. Cf. St. Clair v. Johnny’s Oyster & Shrimp, Inc., 76 F. Supp. 2d 773, 774 (S.D. Tex. 1999) (“[A]ny evidence procured off the Internet is adequate for almost nothing . . . .”). These days, these inquiries are routine. Accordingly, corporate counsel should be aware of the ethical principles governing social media research in litigation (whether they be conducting such research internally or relying on outside counsel to do so).

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