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Monday, June 02, 2008
Law - "Gossip blogs bedevil law firms"
Leigh Jones of the National Law Journal has a long article today that begins:
Many of the nation's most renowned law firms have felt the public relations wallop delivered by law gossip blogs, those online tabloids that can turn an interoffice memo into a virtual billboard of bad news for partners or associates.And here is what one of the "gossip blogs," Above the Law, writes about the article.Whether the topic is layoffs or love affairs, it seems that no subject is too edgy for sites such as Above the Law, Greedy Associates, AutoAdmit and a few others that dig up the legal profession's dirt.
The immediacy — and, at times, the brutality — of the media form is presenting a challenge for firms that are wary of their private matters entering the public domain.
"We're sensitive to the issue that things can very easily end up in cyberspace," said Mairi Luce, a partner at Duane Morris who also handles associate training and development.
Duane Morris "monitors" the blogs, Luce said, "to see what's out there in terms of gossip."
At bonus time last year, Duane Morris sat back and watched while some law firms sent e-mail to associates announcing their bonus amounts, which then were posted on Above The Law and elsewhere.
The postings prompted Duane Morris associates to press management for the details about their own pending bonuses, Luce said, which the firm subsequently disclosed in one-on-one meetings.
Although private meetings do not prevent anyone from revealing the content of a conversation to a gossip blog, they make it more difficult for the information to make the rounds without the glaring reality of a document.
"We're a little bit more cautious and slower to put information out there," she said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 2, 2008 04:41 PM
Posted to General Law Related