What Are the Common Virtual Meeting Legal Issues?

A virtual meeting is the real-time, interactive sharing of information via computer networks. It can occur without meetings actually taking place; virtual meetings go by many names, including virtual conferences, virtual seminars, virtual workshops, webinars (web + seminar), collaborative learning, and teleconference.

These virtual presentations are sometimes used by companies to train workers around the country or world or to keep them up-to-date on the news in their field. Other common uses of virtual presentations include conducting business negotiations and participating in town hall forums where people can submit questions either publicly or anonymously through the Internet.

What does web based meetings presentation contain?

A virtual presentation is typically conducted with standard presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress. The presenter(s) may use video conferencing software like Neomeet, virtual whiteboards, or virtual pointers for pointing out details on virtual slides, which are projected to larger audiences using projectors.

Some virtual presentations include audio where participants can communicate with the presenter via telephone conference call, radio, Internet voice chat, or computer audio enabled applications such as Skype.

Regular virtual meetings are often more focused on passing information than virtual presentations. These regular virtual meetings may take place through video conferencing software that allows people to see each other and through audio conferences.

Terms and conditions for online events

The courts have not extensively examined virtual meeting legal issues due to their relative newness compared to face-to-face meetings. 

However, virtual meeting legal issues are now becoming an increasing problem for lawyers in court. Recently there has been a virtual meeting in-absentia between two parties in Florida, where the defendant was not present at all. 

The virtual meeting took place through an online video conference with both plaintiff and defendant present on their virtual chat program.

Virtual meeting legal issues

Several virtual meeting legal issues concern virtual presentations or regular virtual meetings. Many of these virtual meeting legal issues have not been addressed by legislation because virtual meetings are still relatively new to the world.

Other legal issues must be handled on a case-by-case basis depending on the situation presented in court. Virtual presentation technology used during virtual meetings is constantly developing, so most virtual meeting legal issues will likely change rapidly over time.

One of the most extensive virtual presentation related legal issues concerns who should pay for virtual meeting technology and equipment. Some virtual meeting legal issues deal with virtual presentations between an attorney or a client and a virtual presenter.

Virtual meeting legal issues may also involve virtual webinars where anyone can participate as opposed to virtual meetings that are moderated by a manager, trainer, speaker, or instructor.

Other virtual presentation related virtual meeting legal issues may involve people who have been added to the virtual audience without their knowledge after receiving spam emails advertising the event.

In 2007, the first case of the Federal Arbitration Act was applied to a virtual contract. In this virtual contract case, a company sued two employees who had conducted a symposium through a chat room by way of instant messaging without any management officials beforehand.

The court ruled that virtual meetings can be binding under certain circumstances.

Virtual presentations are relatively new to the virtual meeting legal issues world, so it is unclear how virtual presentation related virtual meeting legal issues will play out in court.

Are virtual meetings legal?

Virtual meetings are a great way to stay connected and communicate with others even when they are not near. Virtual meetings are different from actual face-to-face meetings as they allow people to participate through technology such as Neomeet, Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc.

As virtual meetings become more common, some are questioning whether or not such meetings are legal. These are some reasons why virtual meetings are actually legal:

Virtual Meeting Laws by State

Many who conduct virtual business or work outside of their state of residence do not realize that each state has strict laws for conducting business within its borders. One must follow the rules associated with their specific state’s law unless it conflicts with federal law.

For example, if you are an Arizona resident but conduct your business out of Texas, the rules will be different for both states.

Virtual Meeting Rules of Conduct

Like all other meetings, there are ground rules that are helpful to keep everyone on the same page by avoiding misunderstandings that could lead to legal actions. These are just a few of many but are some common rules of conduct that are applicable in virtual meeting settings:

• Be sure you have working technology or are prepared with alternatives if it doesn’t work correctly.
• Test your connection prior, so everyone is aware of how long it takes to connect, get everything ready before starting, etc.  You may want to have someone else monitor this while you are participating so they can adjust accordingly if needed.
• Not every attendee prefers the video option therefore, you will need a way to have those on the video conference also be able to attend without being on the call. This helps avoid confusion and allows those not attending the video conference to ask questions during your meeting.
• Make sure you are prepared with any materials you want for your virtual audience, as just like in face-to-face settings, it is easy to forget something and pass it onto someone else.
• Once you are finished, make sure everyone knows how they are getting off the call, whether by phone or internet connection.

Final Words

The virtual meeting legal issues are something new that brewing up in the professional community. There are not many resources to address all of them. However, we have covered some of the most common terms and conditions for online events.

These terms and conditions as well as legal issues will help you to conduct any virtual meeting within the legal framework.