Legal Evening Post
Time and time again, friends, family, employers and now even the courts remind us: be careful what you post online, because it may not be as private as you think. Whether you mark something as “private” or not, it could one day be used against you in court. In one case where a woman was seriously injured by falling from a horse, the woman sued the man who owned the horse for damages. She said she once led a very active lifestyle (which she frequently posted on Facebook), but could no longer be as active due to her physical and cognitive injuries. In a process called “discovery,” the owner sought access to the woman`s private Facebook posts and photos to see how much the accident really affected her daily life. (“Discovery” is a procedure by which persons involved in litigation must hand over certain documents or information.) The woman refused to hand over her private information on Facebook, alleging, among other things, that it would constitute an invasion of her privacy. As a general rule, treat all legal issues seriously. Even if you think a claim is wrong, consider your options professionally and pragmatically. The decision on how to respond to the letter (or not) may depend on who sent the letter. In recent years, technological advances have changed the way we live and work, but few developments have had such a broad impact on our lives as social media. With friends and family posting more details about their lives than ever before, it can be tempting to “show up out there” by documenting daily activities on social media through posts and photos. For some of us who aren`t as open, it can be reassuring to assume that careful management of social media settings really keeps your information private and there`s no downside to not posting our profiles. If someone is afraid to respond to a legal claim letter, it is often not necessarily because they made a conscious decision not to respond.
Instead, they might be paralyzed by stress, fear, or anger (think flight, as in “Fight or Flight”). Whether or not you have to respond depends on the nature of the circumstances and the nature of the request you have received. Even if you don`t have to respond, your interests can be served by well-designed communication. Your decision should be motivated by the desired outcome rather than your emotions and is usually best determined with the advice of a lawyer. As the court`s reasoning shows, you need to keep in mind that what you post on Facebook or any other social media site may be relevant to the process in a way you wouldn`t normally expect. For example, your Facebook “recording” could be used somewhere five minutes before an accident to prove that you were near the accident when it happened; or perhaps your use of nicknames on Twitter could help you identify yourself in a situation where you relied on anonymity; or maybe your Instagram post with language complaining about how you have a black eye could be the real source of your injuries; or maybe your LinkedIn profile and posts could undermine your claim that you were disabled and couldn`t work. If you have a legal question for Lew and his colleagues, send it to [email protected]. He could answer them in a future column. If the letter was written by your colleague or their lawyer without the involvement of the court, you may not be required by law to respond. The decision whether or not to respond to such a letter is best made with the advice of a lawyer. Your lawyer could help you assess whether the official-looking communication is genuine or not – it could be a scam or someone trying to get information about you.
Your lawyer can also determine whether your dispute is best resolved through formal or informal communication, a legal response, or no response at all. Legal Evening News or Fazhi Wanbao[3] (Chinese: 法制晚报)[4], also known as The Mirror[5] or Legal Evening Post,[6] was a Beijing-based legal newspaper[7] published in simplified Chinese in the People`s Republic of China. His predecessor was Beijing Legal News (北京法制报), sponsored by the Judicial and Law Enforcement Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (中国共产党北京市委员会政法委员会). This article is for informational and entertainment purposes and not for legal advice. Consult your own lawyer for specific advice. So how could Facebook`s private information be relevant to determining whether the woman was injured when she fell off the horse? (She certainly didn`t post about it when it happened.) As the court noted, reviewing her Facebook posts and photos could help determine how “active” she was in a lifestyle she truly enjoyed before the accident. Or maybe her recent private messages would show that, contrary to what she says, she still leads a very active life. Or perhaps the fact that she was still able to write long, complex and detailed messages on Facebook after the crash would undermine her claim that she had suffered severe cognitive damage and was having “difficulty writing and using the computer.” (The Court of Appeals case at issue is Forman v.
Henkin, 2018 N.Y. LEXIS 180 (February 13, 2018). Examples of the relevance of “private” social media posts are loosely based on recent cases from New York.) Social media has been a great tool for bringing friends, families, and even businesses together. But remember that just because you mark something as “private” doesn`t mean it can`t be used against you in court – another reason why you should be careful about what you post online! 9 U.S.C.S. Section 4 provides that if the question arises as to whether the parties have agreed to arbitrate and the allegedly defaulting party requests a jury trial on the matter, the district court shall conduct the proceedings. However, it also provides that, if the court is satisfied that the conclusion of the arbitration agreement is not in question, it shall issue an order directing the parties to commence arbitral proceedings. It is not true that a party to an arbitration agreement can obtain one by simply requesting a jury trial.
