November Notes: Attorney Gets SLAPPed with Fees; California Bar Goes Splitsville

Be Very Sure it’s Defamation Before Suing. A Texas attorney – or former attorney, because he’s now been disbarred – is liable for over $100K in attorney’s fees after unsuccessfully suing a local newspaper for coverage he found less than flattering. As I often point out, “defamation” isn’t “something mean somebody wrote about me.” Defamation requires that what’s written or said be materially false, and usually in ways that actually harm one’s reputation. And even then it often doesn’t make sense to sue (because of cost, hassle, and the Streisand Effect). But it REALLY doesn’t make sense to sue when a) the statements weren’t in fact false, and b) you’re doing so in a state like Texas which has a strong “anti-SLAPP” law that allows the defendant to immediately strike your complaint and get a mandatory attorneys’ fee award.

California Bar To Split in Two.  Big news from the country’s biggest bar: California is splitting in two. No, not the earthquake rupture that would cast LA, SF, etc. into the sea, but rather the decision to break the California State Bar into two pieces. To one side goes all of the mandatory licensing and disciplinary activity; to the other goes all of the hob-knobby trade association activity. It’s a natural split, already long in place in New York, Illinois, and, more recently, the United Kingdom. And it makes a ton of sense. The regulatory piece of the Bar – which is mandated with protecting the public – has always been in tension with the trade association interests of members. It’s far too easy – and tempting – for lawyers to use the levers of industry regulation to protect their monopoly. This divided structure doesn’t completely solve for the problems of self-regulation, but at least it removes one major impediment.

Not Sure About Twitter? Try “Lurking.” Georgia Supreme Court Justice Keith Blackwell, when asked about his twitter habits, noted that while he has an account, he uses it strictly to read information posted by others – he does not tweet. While his reasons for so doing may be grounded in a heightened sense of judicial propriety, this approach can have wider application. For while Twitter is a phenomenal source for breaking news, incisive commentary, cultural ephemera, and humor, interactivity on twitter  . . . isn’t always so hot. You can find yourself arguing with a disguised Russian troll bot, or besieged by basement-dwelling racist troglodytes. Or simply anonymous weirdos possessing no familiarity with logic and reasoned debate. And you get to spend your tame arguing with them – 140 characters at a time. Sure, there are bright sides, too. I’ve engaged with, and even met in real life, smart, thoughtful people on twitter. But if you’re just wading in, starting out as a lurker might be the best bet.

Social Media News and Notes:

Better than nothing: court accepts unsent text as dead man’s last will and testament.

The “can judges ‘friend’ lawyers” question is going all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

Arf! Can AI rules be created to make intelligent robots act more like service dogs?