![Legal News & Trends]()
Antispam bill clears U.S. House
H.R. 3113, approved by the House and
forwarded to the Senate, mandates the inclusion of valid email addresses
on unsolicited commercial email and prohibits sending commercial email
to individuals who have requested removal of their names from the
sender's distribution lists.
With the July passage of the Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act of 2000
(H.R. 3113), the U.S. House of Representatives took a step toward
enabling consumers to say "no" to junk electronic mail (email) or spam
that can waste time, computer disk space, and Internet access providers'
(ISPs') resources.
If passed by the Senate and enacted as federal
law, H.R. 3113 would prohibit sending commercial email to individuals
who have requested removal of their names from the sender's distribution
lists. The measure also would make it unlawful to send unsolicited
commercial email messages unless they contain a valid email address,
conspicuously displayed, that recipients can use to decline subsequent
messages. H.R. 3113 further requires that unsolicited commercial email
be labeled and allows ISPs to set and enforce spam policies. Introduced
almost a year ago by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), the bill had strong
bipartisan support, amassing 50 cosponsors and passing in the House by a
vote of 426-1. "With regular mail, we have rights under federal law to
say, 'I do not want any more of that sent to my mailbox'... But we do
not have that right with Internet communications and with email," said
Wilson. "This [bill] gives us that right, as consumers and as parents,
to say, 'There are some things I do not want to see in my in-box.'"
H.R. 3113 is pending action in the Senate. House proponents of the
bill say there have been indications the Senate may move quickly and are
hopeful of September enactment.
"H.R. 3113 can be viewed as the codification of common sense; most
reputable, competent organizations that use email for solicitation
purposes are already in compliance with the proposed statute," notes
Green Bay attorney Mark Pennow, a member of the Bar's Electronic Bar
Services Committee. "However, the bill also creates a private right of
action and allows lawyers to sue for injunction and or actual monetary
damages in federal court if there is no applicable state statute."
Other bills pending. A companion bill, Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN SPAM) Act of 2000 (S.
2542), requiring unsolicited bulk commercial email messages to include
opt-out instructions and their senders to honor opt-out requests, and
prohibiting the sale and senders' use of false routing information, is
actively pending in Congress.
In March 1999, the Wisconsin State Senate approved a bill (S.B. 33)
extending current law restricting transmittal of unsolicited faxes
encouraging recipients to purchase property, goods, or services to
include transmittal of unsolicited email; however, the bill failed to
see action in the assembly.
Collaborative divorce comes to Wisconsin
No formal discovery, contested court hearings, threats, or
intimidation? What kind of a divorce is that? A good kind, and one that
often makes more sense than traditional adversarial proceedings, contend
a growing number of attorneys, including those who recently formed The
Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin Inc. (CFLCW), a nonprofit
corporation dedicated to nonadversarial, cooperative divorce.
"Collaborative divorce uses negotiation and cooperation to achieve a
settlement with minimal acrimony between the parties involved," explains
attorney Gregg Herman, whose firm, Loeb & Herman, is promoting the
process in Wisconsin. "Ultimately, this reduces the financial and
emotional costs of divorce to clients, lessens stress for everyone, and
results in more satisfied clients."
In collaborative divorce:
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both parties and their attorneys make a written commitment to
settle the case rather than contest it. If the case cannot be settled,
both attorneys must withdraw;
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there is no formal discovery; both sides make full and complete
disclosures and comply with reasonable discovery requests on an informal
basis;
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all appraisals are joint;
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there are no contested court hearings; even temporary arrangements
are negotiated. When the issues are resolved, the case is scheduled as
an uncontested hearing.
"The collaborative divorce process merely formalizes what many
lawyers already try to do before going to court," says Herman.
Wisconsin's collaborative divorce group joins those already
established in California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Ohio, and other
states.
CFLCW initially plans to establish chapters in Madison, La Crosse,
and the Fox Valley, with the goal of expanding the program statewide.
The group's first training program is Nov. 17, 2000, from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
at the Country Inn in Pewaukee. For further information, contact Gregg Herman at (414)
272-5632.
National Labor Relations Board extends
union employee rights to nonunion employees
Employers planning a one-on-one talk with an employee may need to
bring in an extra chair, following a recent National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) decision giving nonunion employees the same rights as union
employees to a coworker's presence in certain interview
situations.
On July 10, 2000, the NLRB issued Epilepsy Foundation of
Northeast Ohio, 331 NLRB No. 92 (2000), extending rights provided
to union employees in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251
(1975), to nonunion employees. In Epilepsy Foundation, the NLRB
held that employees in a nonunion setting have the right to have a
coworker present at an investigatory interview that the employee
reasonably believes might result in disciplinary action. In this
decision, the NLRB reversed its long-standing position that such a right
applies only to union-represented employees.
"Despite contrary NLRB precedent, the current board has now granted
rights to nonunion employees upon its finding that previous NLRB
precedent was inconsistent with the Weingarten decision and the
purpose of the National Labor Relations Act," notes Stacie Andritsch,
labor attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. "Weingarten held that
the right of union-represented employees to representation is grounded
in Section 7 of the Act, which grants employees the right to engage in
'concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.'"
"By extending the Weingarten decision to nonunion employees,
the NLRB seemingly has eroded an employer's ability to deal with its
nonunion employees on a one-on-one basis," says Andritsch.
Until the courts can review this decision, she says employers must be
mindful of its implications. Andritsch offers the following
reminders:
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The nonunion employee must request that a coworker be present at an
investigatory interview; an employer, however, is not required to offer
that a coworker be present.
- The investigatory interview must be an interview where the employee
reasonably fears discipline.
- An employee is not entitled to the presence of a coworker when the
purpose of the meeting is only to present the discipline being
imposed.
- An employer can cancel the interview if the employee refuses to
participate without the presence of a coworker, and continue the
investigation without the employee's input; it cannot, however, take any
disciplinary action based on the employee's request.
For further information, contact Stacie J. Andritsch at (414)
223-2509.
State Law Library Web site features automated catalog
The Wisconsin State Law
Library's (WSLL's) recently redesigned Web site offers a wealth of
legal resources and links to many law-related sites. Accessible at www.wsll.state.wi.us or via WisBar, it provides quick access to
state and federal law-related materials, including the WSLL, Milwaukee
Legal Resource Center, and Dane County Law Library collections.
Visitors start their search by clicking on one of seven broad
categories on the site's revised home page. "Wisconsin Law" and "Federal
& State Government Resources" provide links grouped into legislative,
executive, and judicial subcategories. All state and federal primary
legal sources are accessible, as well as decisions of Wisconsin
officials and agencies, state and federal agency sites, information on
pending federal and state legislation, and state and federal court
directories.
"Law Reviews & Newspapers," "Self-Help Guides," "Directories &
Reference Tools," and "Law Search Tools" provide links to secondary
legal information of interest to the bench, bar, and public.
The "Wisconsin Topics" category links to sites of interest to
Wisconsin legal consumers on topics from alternative dispute resolution
to wills.
Search three libraries. This Web site also features
the library's automated catalog, WISOLL (Wisconsin State Online Law
Library), which covers Wisconsin State Law Library, Milwaukee Legal
Resource Center, and Dane County Law Library materials. The catalog
includes specialized sublists of the WSLL Video Collection; State Bar
Young Lawyers Division Collection, featuring career, professional
development, and management, as well as substantive titles; and more
than 800 "Electronic Texts" of library titles available on the Internet,
many in full text, with hyperlinks for direct connections.
Registered borrowers can click on View Your
Patron Record to review and renew materials on loan, and any viewer
can submit suggestions at "Titles the Library Should Acquire." Other
home page links allow email inquiries to WSLL Reference Services and
connect to other Wisconsin library catalogs. Contact Amy Crowder or Elaine Sharp at (800)
322-9755, with comments regarding the WSLL Web site.
Wisconsin Lawyer