This week we have posts written by legal interns, an update on OSHA’s decision to withdraw the ETS and a couple of pieces about data privacy—today is international Data Privacy Day, after all. Like always, Michelle and Alec from the Publishing team highlight the community’s posts that stood out to them the most from the past week.
Michelle’s Picks
OSHA Announces Intent to Withdraw ETS
We’ll get into the data privacy stuff in a minute, but one of the big stories from the week was OSHA’s decision to withdraw the ETS. Though a big deal, it’s not shocking, Shams Hirji writes. “But although the DOJ may have lost this battle, it has not lost the war on mandates generally.” Hirji penns this informational post, citing another piece that had been published on the blog to further back up the notion that the dismissal was not that surprising. We always need good law bloggers keeping the general public up-to-date on constantly evolving legislation that pertains to COVID, and this is exactly how you do that. Available at Squire Patton Bogg’s Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog.
White House Announces Actions to Attract STEM Talent and Strengthen U.S. Economy and Competitiveness
This was a compelling read and something I hadn’t personally heard about yet. At the beginning of January, the Biden Administration issued Guidance for U.S. Scientific Research Security that Preserves International Collaboration—essentially looking to attract more STEM talent from around the world. Morgan Bailey did a great job covering this and how it relates to the already existing immigration categories since it is not creating any new ones. It’s bulleted out neatly and very digestible and easy-to-understand. Available at Mayer Brown’s The Mobile Workforce.
Texas’ Latest Lawsuit Against Google Challenges Endorsements Made by Radio Personalities
The best blog posts are usually the most interesting ones and this piece written by Victoria Weatherford and Lisa Virgen is no exception. This particular lawsuit occurred because “the State of Texas sued Google in state court for allegedly deceptive advertisements by radio personalities (radio DJs) praising the Google smartphone, the Pixel 4.” A very interesting notion and one that definitely caught my attention. Weatherford and Virgen elaborate on the case and close off their piece with some notes on some important takeaways for readers of the blog. Available at Baker & Hostetler’s AD-ttorneys Law Blog.
Alec’s Picks
DPC Publishes Guidance On Processing Children’s Personal Data
Ever since I learned of the existence of Data Privacy Day last week I’ve been counting down the days. Well, today is the day and what better way to celebrate than by reading this fascinating post from Marie Daly about new guidance from The Irish Data Protection Commission. This article grabbed my attention from the very start by dropping the fact that one in every five people in Ireland are children under the age of 14—the highest proportion in the whole EU. As a result, the Irish have a very strong interest in protecting the personal data of children and the DPC seems to be going to great lengths to do just that. Great usage of subheadings and bullets allow Daly to pack in all the granular details into this blog post. If you’re celebrating with me today, don’t miss this post. Available at Covington & Burling’s Inside Privacy blog.
New Poll Underscores Growing Support for National Data Privacy Legislation
Yes, another data privacy post—indulge me, it’s a holiday. Starting off a story with the result of a public opinion poll is something I did many times as a journalist. There’s good reason for it—it’s a tried a true way to frame a story and it’s done expertly in this blog post. Along with it’s obvious merits as just an all-around well-crafted post, a big reason I wanted to highlight this post in particular is because of its author. This post was written by C. Blair Robinson, a legal intern at Robinson+Cole. If your firm has interns and you aren’t involving them in blogging you are missing out on some major opportunities. These interns will have fresh perspectives and many will have a natural affinity for writing for the web. Interns are true assets to your blogging effort, especially when they’re capable of producing great posts like this one. Available at Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Insider.
Keep Litigation Far Away: Tips for Nonprofits so Volunteers Won’t Be Considered Employees
I’ll give you one non-data privacy post this week—and it’s a good one. I can’t say for certain what inspired Todd Lebowitz to include Jonathan, a nearly 190 year old turtle, in this blog post—all I know is it got my attention. Lebowitz has embraced the medium of blogging and it’s on full display here. While you probably wouldn’t start a law review article with this turtle story, legal blogs do not have to play by the same rules—nor should they. If you want to frame your law blog post around an amusing anecdote or fact, that’s perfectly appropriate and will more than likely engage and delight your readers. Lebowitz does exactly that as he ties the story of Jonathan into this post about nonprofits and volunteers. He delivers some great legal insights on this topic, while keeping the reader entertained. It can be a tough line to walk, but Lebowitz pulls it off flawlessly here. Available at the Who Is My Employee? blog.