Last week was a momentous week as Brett Trout and I concluded the first ever full-day CLE devoted to lawyer blogging in the country through LAWpportunities. We were fortunate to have been joined by blogging experts Mike Sansone and Sandy Renshaw. Mike delighted the crowd with his tutorial on RSS feeds. Any lawyer
Employment Law
Five Ways to Avoid Lawsuits Against Your Business
By Rush Nigut on
As evidenced by a recent study from Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Iowa companies are concerned about the legal climate in Iowa.
Here are five ways to avoid lawsuits against your business:
1. Use written agreements. Unfortunately the day is over when you could rely on a handshake. Make sure that your agreements…
Should You Ask About Citizenship on Employment Application?
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Employment Law
Last week I attended the Iowa State Bar Association Employment Law Seminar. One of the more interesting discussions involved whether an employer should ask an applicant whether he or she is a U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the U.S. on the employment application. There was some lively debate on the issue.
The speaker…
Managing Small Business Risks
New York Small Business lawyer Imke Ratschko presents a helpful e-book on her blog "Small Business Guide to Risk Management – A complete guide for business decision-makers" published by the Association of Small Business Development Centers.
This easy to read guide discusses the many risks that businesses face and provides checklists to assess those risks…
Federal E-Discovery Rules
By Rush Nigut on
The new federal electronic discovery rules become effective December 1, 2006. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, 33, 34, 37, and 45 are being amended to take into account the importance of electronic records in the discovery process.
Here are the pending rules amendments.
Thanks to the Minnesota Business Litigation blog for the reminder.
Lawyers…
Update Employee Handbooks to Cover Blogs
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Employment Law
Many companies have policies covering Internet use, email, cell phones and other technologies. But does your company have a policy covering blogs? If not, you need to consider it. Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog posted an interesting article that appeared in Scotland’s National Newspaper regarding the need for companies to rewrite their employment contracts to cover…
Bloggers Beware!
By Rush Nigut on
Iowa patent and technology lawyer Brett Trout recently posted about a couple of cases where bloggers were hit with big verdicts. One of the verdicts included $11.3 million awarded to a Florida woman after being called a "crook", "con artist" and a "fraud" in an online post.
This just points out that businesses must look…
Age Discrimination and Employment Applications
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Employment Law
Is it acceptable to request the birth date of an applicant on the job application?
It is generally NOT advisable to request an applicant’s date of birth on an employment application (except to ask whether an applicant is over the age of 18). The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of…
Employee Handbooks and Personal Email Monitoring
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Employment Law
Corporate Law Notes Blog recently posted an interesting article which should cause employers to carefully consider their policies concerning monitoring of personal email and other technologies in the workplace.
A Massachusetts trial court ruled that the employer did not adequately put the employee on notice that his personal email account (Yahoo in this case) would…
Avoid the Pitfalls of Drug Testing
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Employment Law
A recent Iowa Supreme Court case, McVey v. National Organization Service, Inc., stresses the importance of developing a drug-testing policy that complies with Iowa law and making sure that policy is delivered to each employee.
McVey lost her job after testing positive for marijuana during a random test. The employer notified her over the phone…