LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

Juror Tweets, Not So Sweet

The ABA Journal ran this article about a juror who tweeted from his cell phone both during and after his jury service in a trial where the jury awarded a $12.6M verdict.  Obviously this is cause for concern and consternation by the losing party and their attorneys, but the judge found that it didn't rise to the level of improper conduct.  The lesson learned by one of the plaintiff lawyers is that he will ask potential jurors about cell phone and Internet use.  The juror's response:  "The courts are just going to have to catch up with the technology."

Bob Ambrogi over at Legal Blog Watch posted some of the juror's more inflammatory tweets.  Definitely not so sweet.

Twittering Away a Job – Infamously

It's all over Twitter and the web - how a Twitterer made a negative Tweet about her new job offer from Cisco.  Naturally, someone who identified himself from Cisco saw it and responded.  It's now an urban wegend (web legend), dubbed the "Cisco Fatty" incident, in reference to the "fatty paycheck" comment in her Tweet.  There are already YouTube videos parodying and discussing it.

Covered in a DailyTech article, the Twitterer identified as Connor Riley explained her situation and intent in why she turned down the job and sarcastically tweeted about it to her friends.  But she didn't protect the tweet from others seeing it.  She even authored a thoughtful blog post to explain, apologize, and add her thoughts on the subject of social media.  But really, the damage is done to her professional and personal reputation.  Not exactly how one wants to gain their 15 minutes of fame in transitioning from college into the workforce.  The Chicago Tribune also ran an article, "'Cisco Fatty' incident provides cautionary tale to those who tweet about work".

The moral of the story: Think before you tweet.