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Private eye

21 March 2014 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7599 / Categories: Features , Data protection
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Tom Morrison returns with his quarterly review of the world of information law

Christmas 2013 may have become a distant memory, but any work-related party of note will have left its indelible mark somewhere on a social network. Party-goers up and down the land will have made sure that those special moments from their work dos were captured in prose on Twitter, through grainy fake Polaroids on Instagram or with amusing clips posted on YouTube. There can be few workplaces where an employee has not done something like tweeting a picture of a photocopied body part with the hashtag #mybossisanidiot or posted a video of themselves drinking vodka via their eye sockets.

The anecdote becomes somewhat less amusing for the employee if, once the alcohol-induced haze has cleared, his or her employer decides that the employee may have brought the business into disrepute because the company’s social media account was used, or the star of the video was in company uniform at the time. There is an employment law minefield to navigate, not only in relation

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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