Legal Commentary

There?s a new date and return venue for LegalTech West Coast 2011. We?re headed back to the recently-renovated Westin Bonaventure, but a month earlier than in the past: May 17-18 (rather than late June).

Details soon will be posted at www.legaltechshow.com, but we can tell you that David Pashman, who heads up the legal team at Meetup, a social media site, will be the May 17 keynote speaker, at 9 a.m. The website is designed to help individuals organize a local group or find an existing group to join. The website has 7.2 million members, with 79,000 local groups that hold 250,000 monthly "meetups" in 45,000 cities, says the company.

Pashman (left) will discuss the legal challenges Meetup faces as it operates in a rapidly evolving business and legal environment ? including contract principals involved in terms of service, defamation, and other claims under the Communications Decency Act. He'll also discuss copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as well as trademark infringement, government subpoenas, and privacy matters in light of recent Federal Trade Commission (and other government) activity.

Pashman earned his J.D. at New York University, and joined Meetup after a stint at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati. In his spare time, he does low-keyed things wuch as trekking the Indian Himalayans, according to his meetup bio.

Photo: Meetup