Depending on what you read, either Dorothy Parker or the daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt is credited with popularizing the expression, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by me.” It’s a clever redo of the rule “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” but its wit diminishes if the person without anything nice to say works for your company.

I could fill this entire page with a list of recent examples of companies and organizations thrown into a PR nightmare because of comments made by an employee. In fact, several have likely already jumped to your mind. Because we live in an internet world, once these words are uttered—whether by post or by tweet, whether made from the office or written from the privacy of the employee’s own home on their own computer—they have implications for the law firm or company who employs the person. An employer will be judged by its response, or lack thereof, and both have practical and legal implications that must be evaluated. Unfortunately, once the words have been uttered, the law firm or company has precious little time to make decisions that could have long-range implications.