Law school finals? The semester barely started. Yet it is never too early to begin constructing the contemporary law school final exam question.

Many a claim is not worth pursuing individually, and will only be brought if a potential class action lurks.  How, though, does the individual plaintiff round up enough others to form the makings of a class in actions such as under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), where potential plaintiffs are given notice and must opt in to form a class? 29 U.S.C. Section 216(b).

Most readers will remember the saga of Broadway Bank and its demise in early 2010 under the hand of the Giannoulias family. The public airing of the bank’s dirty laundry not only sank Alexi Giannoulias’ U.S. Senate bid that November, but inevitably spawned litigation that continues today in Chicago federal court.

It was Napoleon, after retreating from Moscow in 1812, who famously remarked, “There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.”  In a compelling federal appellate opinion issued slightly more than 200 years later, the court found nothing remotely sublime about State Farm and its counsel labeling their opponent’s argument “ridiculous.”

Individuals suing companies, especially those raising personal-injury or employment claims, must recognize that their social media postings are increasingly subject to exploration in discovery. A plaintiff claiming debilitating back injuries, for example, would do well to avoid posting post-accident photos of herself on horseback.