The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50821
ASSOCIATES the standard letter or lawsuit approach is fraught with risk. "Any lawyer looking to work in this area will need to gauge the weight of varying scenarios," says Mat- thews. "For example, a lawyer sends a demand letter to a blogger writing mali- cious posts, that blogger in turn decides to republish the letter in another blog post, which then gets picked up by three newspapers. Thousands of links pour in, and the letter is republished on 50 more blogs. The scenario has just exploded, and it's now the lawyer's fault." Still, says Matthews, online reputation protection is an important concern for anyone selling services, lawyers includ- ed. "That list could include accountants, consultants, real estate agents, financial planners — pretty much anyone who re- lies on their name to market themselves. Even product-based businesses are feel- ing the pressure to put 'a face' to their company's online presence," he says. The cautious approach has other bo- nuses, says Bowman, in that it's often all it takes and the client is happy since they didn't incur litigation costs and it was done quickly. "The problem with cyber- space is that things get old and forgotten very quickly whereas litigation can drag on for years, long after everyone's forgot- ten what it was all about," he says. But, if those responsible don't respond after the initial contact, he still has a quiver full of options — though he hasn't had to re- sort to a full-blown lawsuit yet. Ironically, given the speed with which new materials are posted and deleted, sometimes simply removing the item isn't a panacea; the nature of the internet means content is "cached" (or stored) and mirrored on servers all over the web and sometimes it takes some time for that data to be washed out of the system. That, too, may take some sleuthing. For individuals, restoring reputations is a similar process, he says. "I had a cli- ent who posed for some provocative pic- tures, which were to be used for a limited time, and then was upset because they weren't taken down," he says. In that case it became a licensing issue since the pic- tures were contracted to be used in a pro- motion for a set time period. "We were able to work that out quite quickly." However, in some cases clients are the authors of their own misfortunes. While people are more cautious about what they post on their Facebook or MySpace sites, lest a potential employer catch them posing in a pink tutu while inhal- ing from a purple bong, their friends and acquaintances don't always exhibit the same restraint. In cases like that, there's little one can do, says Bowman. He ad- vises clients simply work with the people involved to have the material removed. "I didn't start out to do this and no DD CL HRHlfC-08 Prmo ad 6/5/08 11:56 AM Page 1 one is more surprised than me," says Bowman, who writes for the Winnipeg Free Press around technology and the law. "I've been asked to speak on this a number of times and I've just been ap- proached to write a book on the subject, so it's all very exciting for me." COURT IS ADJOURNED with summer inspired Corporate Promotional Products Presenting new evidence for a FUN U FILLED SUMMER yourONE source supplier for Office & Furniture Products • Corporate Promotional Products Printing & Graphic Services • Law Office Essentials Corporate Supplies • Search & Registration Services C PREFERRED SUPPLIER E Our 2008 summer inspired Pomotional Products Brochure is now available. Contact us to receive your copy. dyedurham.ca • Phone: 1-888-393-3874 • Fax: 1-800-263-2772 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JULY 2008 17 D a Y I E 9 n N p & 9 d C D n R m 1 a H a A n M S 8 a W e ' r e y C i o a