Communication Lawyers in the USA

Attorney advertising is a fairly new phenomenon in many jurisdictions. Rules of various state bar associations have eased over the last two decades to allow more and more freedom for attorneys wishing to advertise their services just like any other profession. However, the rise of new technology has presented a new twist and new source of liability for attorneys wishing to advertise online.

When consumers see or hear an advertisement on the Internet, radio, in print, on a billboard, on television, or anywhere else, federal law says that the ad must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence.

Many will long remember the death of Princess Diana in 1997. She passed away as a result of a fatal car crash during a high-speed paparazzi chase. This led to a number of laws in both England and America relating to the paparazzi.

It seems like the headlines are constantly filled with new stories of politicians quite literally caught with their pants down in scandals with prostitutes. This often raises the question of why we do not treat prostitution in the same was as pornography. Why is sex for money okay in one setting and not another?

We have all seen commercials making claims that our common sense told us simply cannot be true. For example, miracle weight loss supplements or exercise equipment. And yet, somehow these commercials make it to television and are not immediately removed as part of a lawsuit. How is that? What is the difference between false advertising and simply inflating the truth about your product (a practice called “puffing”)?

Considered by many to be the most important rights established by the United States Constitution, the First Amendment rights cover some of the most fundamental freedoms Americans enjoy. They include free speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly. These rights are fiercely protected but also not without limitation.

Defamation is when someone tells one or more persons an untruth about you, and that untruth harms your reputation. Defamation is the general term, while slander and libel refer to particular types of defamation. Libel is a written defamation, and slander is verbal. There are three key factors to consider when deciding whether a defamatory statement should be taken to court.

A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives recently introduced legislation intended to combat the illegal distribution of counterfeit goods via rogue websites hosted overseas. The proposed bill greatly expands protections for intellectual property (IP) and, if passed, would bring sweeping changes to copyright law.

With the explosion of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it is likely that many of your employees use social media for both personal and business interactions. While these tools can be a great way to spread the word about your company’s products or services, they can also compromise proprietary information, including trade secrets.

I spent three weeks in Brazil at the end of 2011, traveling in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the upscale resort town of Buzios in RJ State. One way in which Brazilian urban and suburban landscapes differ from those in the United States is that almost everywhere you look, you see new multi-family construction projects being built, mostly high-rises.