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&lt;p&gt;Like George Clooney&amp;rsquo;s downsizing expert in &lt;em&gt;Up in the Air&lt;/em&gt;, frequent flyer Bryan Cave Chairman Don Lents counsels younger colleagues that some bad news should be delivered in person. Lents told &lt;em&gt;The New York Times&lt;/em&gt;, &amp;ldquo;I tell our younger lawyers, if you think you are going to have a difficult interaction with a colleague or a client, if you can do it face to face that&amp;rsquo;s better, because you can read the body language and other social signals.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://content.screencast.com/users/vera_vault/folders/Jing/media/fe31fa4b-98da-461f-a91e-324649f11ae6/2010-01-26_1654.png&quot; alt=&quot;up in the air&quot; hspace=&quot;10&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Smiley-faces, winks and other emoticons are no substitute for genuine facial expressions and, according to Lents, have no place in business communications. As the &lt;em&gt;Times&lt;/em&gt; piece observes, &amp;ldquo;If you&amp;rsquo;re depending on a smiley face to communicate a thought to a client or a distant colleague &amp;hellip; you should probably step away from the keyboard, get on a plane and communicate in person.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twick or tweet?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In separate news, the dismissal of a landlord&amp;rsquo;s libel suit based on a tenant&amp;rsquo;s tweets about her &amp;ldquo;moldy apartment&amp;rdquo; &amp;nbsp;has prompted an article in &lt;em&gt;The National Law Journal&lt;/em&gt; asking whether Twitter messages represent &amp;ldquo;a stream of opinion and hyperbole that shouldn&#39;t be taken seriously, or a serious form of communication that can expose users to defamation and libel claims?&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line, according to IP attorney Richard Balough, &amp;ldquo;People always need to exercise caution, regardless of whether they are tweeting, talking or writing an e-mail.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;- posted by vera&lt;/p&gt;

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