The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • SALK Day 20 – Tyler Allen Law Firm

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    Ruth Carter

    Today’s sponsor is Tyler Allen of the Tyler Allen Law Firm, PLLC in Phoenix, Arizona.  He asked me to tell you about his estate planning services for LGBT couples.  This is a topic that is hugely important because LGBT couples need to create legal agreements between the partners in order to obtain a fraction of the rights that are automatically bestowed to their married heterosexual counterparts.

    Photo courtesy of Tyler K. Allen

    Tyler Allen assists LGBT couples in estate planning.  This includes creating wills, living wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare powers of attorney.  Allen takes the time to understand each client’s unique situation and designs an estate plan that ensures that the client receives the maximum benefits for themselves and their loved ones.  His goal is to foresee and prevent problems in determining who should receive your possessions after you pass.

    Arizona is not as cool as Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Washington, DC where same sex marriage is legal.  Therefore, it is imperative that LGBT couples protect their rights and relationships with domestic partnership agreements.  This is a legal document that is similar to a prenuptial agreement.  It declares how property will be owned in the relationship and how it will be distributed in the event of one partner’s death or if the couple breaks up.

    Arizona is also severely lame in that it only recognizes one parent – the biological or adoptive parent – as a child’s parent.  Allen can also create parenting agreements to protect the best interests of LGBT couples’ children.  These agreements state what the couple’s joint rights and responsibilities are.  These agreements are exceedingly helpful to ensure that both parents can continue to be in the children’s lives if couple ever separates.

    Committed LGBT couples need powers of attorney for each other.  A power of attorney lets a person decide who will make decisions for them in the event that they are incapacitated.  Married heterosexuals are automatically given the power to make decisions on their spouse’s behalf under these circumstances.  LGBT couples need healthcare powers of attorney to make medical decisions for their partner and financial powers of attorney to make financial decisions.  Without a power of attorney, the person’s family and not their partner will be given the power to make these decisions, regardless of how long the couple has been together or whether the partner is the only one who knows what their partner would have wanted.

    If you need assistance in establishing an estate plan or domestic partnership, please contact Tyler K. Allen for a free consultation.  He also maintains a fabulous gay rights blog.  If you are not LGBT, you can contact him too – he’s open to heteros too – married and unmarried.

    Sponsor A Law Kid is my endeavor to pay for my last semester of law school. Today’s sponsor is Tyler Allen.   For more information about Sponsor A Law Kid or to see what days are still available for sponsorship, visit my Sponsor A Law Kid page.

  • Social Media Policies That Every Company Needs

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    Ruth Carter

    Kade Dworkin

    Last weekend I attended a talk by Kade Dworkin to business students on social media strategies for companies.  Kade seems to have read every book on this topic and knows the heavy hitters in this area.  He suggested that every company have two social media policies.

    Social Media Policy for Employees
    Is an employee allowed to say who their employer is on their blog?  What about their Twitter profile?  Is there anything wrong with an employee tweeting out, “Grrr…some days I hate my job” or “My clients are making me crazy?”  If there are no rules about what employees can and can’t say online when they’re on their own time, you really can’t get mad at them for what they say, unless there is a blatant violation of client confidentiality or a disclosure of a trade secret.  It’s disturbing that only 29% of employers have social media policies.  Being active on social media sites is part of doing business today, and if you don’t have a social media policy for employees, you’re asking for trouble.

    Social Media Crisis Response Policy
    I had never heard this before, but it makes perfect sense.  In the past, a company had  more time before a bad review is disseminated via newspapers and word of mouth.  Now, a bad review can be spread across the internet in a matter of minutes.  While a company should hope and work towards providing exceptional goods and services all the time, there will always be individuals who are not happy.  When that happens, it’s critical that the company has a plan in place on how it will respond.  The company should already have action plans for dealing with the worst case scenarios that might occur.  Additionally, Kade suggested that whoever is in charge of social media should have a strong relationship with the company’s legal department to avoid any major missteps.

    Recall the fiasco that occurred after Amy’s Baking Company got a bad review on Yelp. The main issue wasn’t that a customer was unhappy, but that the owner did a horrible job responding to the bad review.  It’s hard for an owner to get a bad review about their staff and service, and it’s critical that the response be one that attempts to resolve the problem privately and show that the company is customer-focused.  In this case, the owner’s response caused irreparable harm to their and their restaurant’s reputation.  Many people who read the review and the owner’s response said that they will never patronize that restaurant in the future.  I have never been to Amy’s and now given the choice, I’ll go somewhere else.

    Kade also suggested that companies never let an intern be in charge of social media because it’s important that whoever is in charge is someone who can make decisions on the fly to resolve problems.  This should occur within 30 minutes, not in a few days.  A fast and effective response can do as much to bolster a company’s reputation as providing exceptional service.

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  • SALK Day 8 – Amanda Ellis – The Social Media Connection

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    Ruth Carter

    My sponsor today is Amanda Ellis, attorney recruiter and founder of Amanda Ellis Legal Search.  Her firm assists associate level attorneys in finding jobs.  She is also the author of The 6Ps of the Big 3 for Job-Seeking JDs, a book that provides a detailed overview about how attorneys can use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to develop business or find a job.  She also maintains a blog on this topic with tips and her appearance schedule.  Many professionals are afraid of social networking sites.  Her book does a great job of instructing professionals on how to use these sites and tips for having a professional presence online and building relationships with others.  I’m looking forward to implementing some of her suggestions on how to use LinkedIn to find a job in my upcoming search for post-graduation employment.  When Ellis sponsored today, she asked me to share one of my success stories of being a law student and using social media.  I thought I would tell the social media history of Sponsor A Law Kid.

    One thing I’ve learned about networking through social media is that it is a process, not an event.  It’s about building relationships and seeing each connection and conversation and a potential stepping stone.

    In January 2009, I was a 1L who had just finished her first semester of law school and did not stick out in a crowd.  I attended the first Global No Pants Ride in Phoenix.  I was intrigued by the boldness of Jeff Moriarty for planning such an event and decided that I wanted to meet him.  I purposely stood next to him on the ride and struck up a conversation with him.  By the end of the day we were “friends” on Facebook.  Through Jeff, I heard about Ignite Phoenix, and presented on the legalities of participating in public pranks at Ignite Phoenix #5.  One of the other presenters at Ignite was Kade Dworkin.  Kade and I kept in contact and about a year later, he started his own podcast called Meet My Followers where he interviewed his Twitter followers.  I was on his podcast and listened to his other shows.  One of his guests was Jason Sadler, founder of I Wear Your Shirt.  As I listened to Jason discuss how he makes a living by wearing shirts and creating content, I was inspired to use my blog to fund my final semester of law school.  In November 2010, I launched Sponsor A Law Kid.  This campaign has opened the door for me to connect with attorneys all over the country and opportunities to be a guest blogger for other websites.  It took almost two years and at least seven steps from participating in a prank to being mentioned on Above the Law, The Nutmeg Lawyer, Blind Drunk Justice, and ABAJournal.com.

    Twitter is my primary modality for networking.  It is how I create and maintain connections with people in the legal community.  Along with connecting online, I try to connect with as many people as I can in reality through attending events and inviting attorneys to coffee or lunch.  I have stronger connections with people that I have met in person than with people I only know online.

    Sponsor A Law Kid is my endeavor to pay for my last semester of law school.  Today’s sponsor is Amanda Ellis.  For more information about Sponsor A Law Kid or to see what days are still available for sponsorship, visit my Sponsor A Law Kid page.

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