Listed below are the top ten (10) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog and website articles with the highest readership in 2021, as measured by the number of “unique page views” of each blog post. The title of each article is hyperlinked to the original posting on the blog so that each article is.. read more →

Listed below are the top ten (10) thirteen (13) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog with the highest readership in 2020, as measured by the number of “unique page views” of each blog post. The title of each article is hyperlinked to the original posting on the blog so that each article is accessible.. read more →

In this case, a Nashville, TN attorney who posted comments on Facebook with instructions on how to shoot someone and avoid criminal conviction by making it look like self-defense was suspended from the practice of law for four years. In Re Winston Bradshaw Sitton, BPR #018440 Mr. Sitton, the attorney in this case, maintained a.. read more →

Listed below are the top ten (10) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog with the highest readership last year, in 2019. After each hyperlinked blog post title, the original post date is included. Check out the list to see this year’s highlights. Our sincere thanks for taking the time to read our blog!    .. read more →

Happy December to clients, friends and readers. Listed below are the ten (10) eleven (11) blog posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog with the highest readership in 2019. After each hyperlinked blog post title, the original post date and summary of the post are included. Check the list of blog posts to see this.. read more →

New Jersey’s Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics (ACPE) considered the following inquiry: May a lawyer insert, or pay an internet search engine company to insert, a hyperlink on the name of a competitor lawyer that will divert the user from the searched-for website owned by the competitor to the lawyer’s own law firm website. The.. read more →

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility recently issued Formal Opinion 480 which opines on the ethics of lawyers blogging and comment on social media. Formal Opinion 480, entitled “Confidentiality Obligations for Lawyer Blogging and Other Public Commentary,” applies existing ethical rules to new online publications such as lawyer blogs. Excerpts.. read more →

Happy Holidays to clients, supporters, friends and readers. Listed below are the ten (10) eleven (11) posts on the Vanarelli Law Office blog with the highest readership in 2017. After each hyperlinked blog post title, the original post date is included. Check out the list to see this year’s highlights. Our sincere thanks for taking.. read more →

On September 13, 2017, Governor Christie signed legislation known as the “Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.” In doing so, New Jersey joined 23 other states which have already have enacted a version of the law. The new law recognizes a fiduciary’s right to control a decedent’s digital assets. Under the new law, a.. read more →

Nine years ago I wrote the very first blogpost for my website. Here’s my first post, from April 2008: As my blog celebrates its ninth birthday, I’m reflecting on what the blog has meant to me. The task of writing regular postings has provided me with unanticipated benefits, forcing me to reflect on legal and.. read more →

Jay Jason Chatarpau, Esq., a New Jersey employment discrimination attorney, represented Rameena Khan in a lawsuit claiming that her employer, Rite Aid stores, among others, discriminated against her on the basis of age, race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. Hon. Christine A. Farrington, J.S.C., presided over a.. read more →

In a recent blog post, I wrote about Steven Gursten, a Michigan blogging lawyer who published a blog post in 2014 about Dr. Rosalind Griffin, a Michigan psychiatrist who testified as a medical expert for the defense in various personal injury cases Gursten filed. Attorney Gursten claimed that Dr. Griffin was one of the “notorious”.. read more →

Two recent cases are vivid reminders that blogging can be dangerous. Bloggers are being found legally accountable and financially liable for their online postings. The take-away is clear: bloggers, beware: what you write can get you sued, or disbarred. Blogger Found Liable for $600,000 in Defamation Case  A libel lawsuit was filed in Georgia by.. read more →

Happy New Year to clients, supporters, friends and readers. Last month, an article on this blog ranked the 25 most popular blog posts and website articles on the Vanarelli Law Office website in 2015. Since then, I decided to narrow my focus a little. In this post, I focused solely on blog posts, and created.. read more →

Happy New Year to clients, supporters, friends and readers. To celebrate the new year, we’ve ranked our most popular blog posts and website articles from this past year. For blog posts, the original post date is included after each hyperlinked title. Check out the list to see this year’s highlights and tell us what you’d.. read more →

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals  for the Third Judicial Circuit ruled this week that a school district in suburban Philadelphia was within its rights to fire Natalie Munroe, an English teacher in the district who blogged that her students were “rude, disengaged, lazy whiners.”  Munroe v. Central Bucks School District (3d Cir., September 4, 2015) Natalie.. read more →

In May 2010, Anthony Douglas Elonis’s wife of nearly seven years left him, taking with her their two young children. Elonis was an active user of the social networking web site Facebook. After his family left him, Elonis began “listening to more violent music” and posting on Facebook self-styled “rap” lyrics inspired by the music… read more →

On March 10, 2015, the New York County Lawyers Association (“NYCLA”) weighed in on the ethics of using the social media website “LinkedIn” for professional self-promotion by lawyers. Formal Opinion 748 addresses the ethical implications of LinkedIn profiles. Specifically, the opinion addresses (1) whether a LinkedIn Profile is considered “Attorney Advertising,” (2) when it is.. read more →

Trial lawyers must know where the ethical line is drawn between properly investigating jurors and improperly communicating with them. In today’s Internet-saturated world, the line is increasingly blurred. Therefore, the ethics committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) recently issued an opinion describing a trial lawyer’s ethical obligation when reviewing jurors’ information on the Internet in.. read more →

A California appeals court held that a trial court’s order directing a trial attorney to remove posts from her law firm website touting her successes constituted an unlawful prior restraint on the trial attorney’s constitutional right to free speech. Christie Steiner v. Superior Court of Santa Barbara County, 2d Civil No. B235347 (Super. Ct. No… read more →

In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that “liking” something on Facebook is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. Bland v. Roberts, Docket No. No. 12-1671 (4th Cir., September 18, 2013) Defendant, B.J. Roberts, was the Sheriff of the City of Hampton,.. read more →

In a decision that could have a big impact on all bloggers in New Jersey, a New Jersey trial judge ruled a self-declared “citizen watchdog” blogger has the same legal protections as a professional journalist. In re January 11, 2013 Subpoena by the Grand Jury of Union County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Docket No. 12 – 0001. Plaintiff,.. read more →

When I started blogging in 2008, I reviewed many other law blogs in New Jersey and elsewhere in an effort to understand what blogging was all about, who else was blogging, and what subjects were covered by other blogging lawyers. I also tried to compile a list of the top 10 elder and special needs.. read more →

Upholding the decision of a trial judge who quashed a subpoena, New Jersey appellate court ruled that plaintiffs in a defamation suit over anonymous postings on a blog may not obtain the writers’ names via subpoena served on the corporate host of the blog. Somerset Development, LLC v. Cleaner Lakewood, Superior Court of New Jersey,.. read more →

A few years ago I published an article on this blog entitled the “Top 10 New Jersey Elder Law Blogs” = https://vanarellilaw.com/?p=475. At about the same time, I also published a list of the “Top 10 New Jersey Mediation Blogs.” Since I was a new blogger at the time the lists were published, having started.. read more →