“Who Run The World?” LAWYERS!- Courtney Love Sued for Defamation on Twitter

“Who run the world? Who run this mutha? Who run this Mutha?” Beyonce asks loudly amidst all kinds of interesting visuals to get the point across. She concludes “Girls Run the World.” Errr . . . Beyonce. I don’t think so. Wrong answer.  Lawyers RUN this world. Name some of the most powerful people in the world and there is probably a legal degree lurking somewhere in the corner. Beyonce also ask in her song, “I hope you still like me.”With lawyers, especially trial lawyers, they are least concerned if you like them. It’s legal war zones, remember?

Anyway, since lawyers run the world, at least from where I sit, please believe me folks when I say that there will be some way we lawyers find to regulate or turn “social media” i.e. “kicking it online” into a legal battlefield. Lawyers come into play when people start behaving badly i.e. they forget to be polite, say their “thank yous,” don’t steal, cheat, lie, gossip or throw really bad tantrums etc. Okay, enough of my legal rambling. Let’s get into it. “DEFAMASHUN” and in more proper speak, “defamation” seems to be the code word this week. See the Shirley Sherrod case for UDUAK LAW FIRM BLOG analysis on Defamation.

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It’s been only a few months since Courtney Love paid to settle that unique lawsuit claiming she defamed a fashion designer via Twitter. Now the rocker has been sued again for comments made online, this time by lawyers who represented her in an effort to pursue money allegedly stolen from the estate of her late husband, Kurt Cobain.

Gordon & Holmes, a San Diego-based law firm, filed suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the firm represented Love from December 2008 to May 2009, but toward the end of the representation, Love allegedly became angry when the firm’s partner Rhonda Holmes asked that Love refrain from “any and all substance abuse” during the attorney-client relationship, according to the suit.

Love allegedly fired the firm but came back months later asking it to resume representing her. The firm declined, according to the suit, and soon after Love began making allegedly libelous statements on Twitter and elsewhere suggesting the lawyers had taken a bribe.

“I was fucking devastated (sic) when Rhonda J Holmes Esq of San Diego was bought off […]

Before I send you all to read the full article on THR, Esq. a few things to note:

1. Celebrities, you are a celebrity. Not necessarily translated to mean you are rich. But, definitely translated to mean you are influential. Your pocket books can and will easily drain with a lawsuit regardless of the millions you own. Be conscientious of your actions online. Have fun but also know you are ALWAYS a target for a lawsuit. When in doubt, get some of the best legal team your money can buy and then be about your business.

2. Employees– If you tweet, facebook or blog during work hours, if there is a social media policy in place, you could get fired. Plus, really you using work time to hangout online is so not cool. It’s like having your kids in school who are supposed to be learning. Instead, they are tweeting, bb’ing or chatting while in class. Productivity level is almost next to nothing. Delegate a time, during your break, before you go to work, after work to do your personal chats etc. Also, understand that you could subject both yourself and employers to a lawsuit if your commenting online amounts to defamation, libel etc.

3. Employers-Roll with the times, really. Modern age, new technology etc. Get an attorney, who understands what social media is, to draft a social media policy for you. Have a social media policy in place. I will cover this in a bit more depth in the future. But, for now, just remember this important point.

Alright folks. THR, Esq. has the full story.

Photocredit: Askmen.com