Help wanted: Tenured faculty member (preferably at a law school) with two PhDs needed to terrorize recalcitrant admins with WP:OFFICE, and dazzle the occasional Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with tales of dedicated Wikipedians.

We decided to hire Bastique a few days ago as a volunteer coordinator. Bastique will be able to help on such matters. So, not an issue.

On the legal side, I would like to clarify that we are not left alone. We have a network of lawyers helping us. However, we may indeed not have a GC for a while, but we'll probably have soon a legal coordinator. Whether we have a coordinator or not, this will be one of my priority task to find a new lawyer in Florida, in office or not.

Our legal needs go far beyond WP:Office right now :-) For example, most of our contracts or agreements are handled by Lin, a florida lawyer. Trademarks issues are handled in good part by Hugot, a french lawyer. Thorsten, a german lawyer is helping a lot on various issues, such as legal threats in Germany.

Within areas where we need more help are considerations around intellectual property rights, internet law, press law, and international labour law. If you know some wikipedians willing to help on such matters, or lawyers willing to help us pro-bono, please contact me.

anthere

The Foundation evolves. Some are leaving, some are joining and reinforcing the current team.

Rob was not mentionned till now, but Rob is an important part of the puzzle as well, who will become a bit more important.

Rob Halsell has been our part-time data center technician since December 2006, maintaining servers in our Tampa facility on the recommendation of our previous tech, Kyle Anderson. Since January he has additionally been working on securing and improving the office network in St. Petersburg. With 200+ servers to maintain in Tampa and a growing office staff with the attendant IT needs, we needed him available additional hours. Rob will now be working full-time for the Foundation, under the direction of Brion.

Primary responsibility:
* data center technician at Tampa facility.
* Maintaining servers and network.
* Receiving and setting up hardware.
* Diagnosing and returning failed hardware, working with vendors as necessary on RMAs and fixes.

Secondary responsibility:
* office IT technician in St. Petersburg office.
* Maintaining desktop and server computers and wired and wireless networks.
* Technical support for software and hardware issues in the office.
* Setting up and maintaining backup system for in-office desktop computers and file servers.

Rob is a very smily and talkative person, bringing sunlight in the office.

Welcome Rob

Florence

If you know some wikipedians willing to help on such matters, or lawyers willing to help us pro-bono, please contact me.

anthere

Florence was in Florida from approximately March 17 to March 21, according to IRC chatter.

What person in their right mind, having worked through law school to earn a J.D., would join this trainwreck at this time? And who would DO IT FOR FREE?

I think they should just make a WikiProject:Legal Department, and the "volunteer community" can just defend Wikipedia from real-world legal threats.

Greg

The difference is that Brad gave about a month's notice. Danny left last Tuesday with no prior notice. Danny's resignation caused some comment on internal-l. Anthere decided that since we were talking about resignations, this would be a good time to announce Brad's pending resignation, also to internal-l. That is why Brad has chosen this time to make his announcement to foundation-l, simultaneously with Danny's announcement. The close timing is artificial. Brad was careful to make this point on internal-l, so I don't think he will mind me making it here.

-- Tim Starling

So let's leave the gossip and second-guessing behind us and get on with the
real task at hand--building the largest and most reliable repository of
knowledge ever created.
Danny

What person in their right mind, having worked through law school to earn a J.D., would join this trainwreck at this time? And who would DO IT FOR FREE?

Has anyone considered that maybe Wikimedia employees don't get paid that well (most workers there are volunteers) and he left for more money rather than leaving out of shame?

"A board that is tasked with the responsibility of running a 501©3 should have the competences to run a 501©3 and get all the help they can from as many people as they can, including outside people, to do that," Patrick said. "I've said before that the board could just as soon have a pie-eating contest or flip a coin or Tiddly Winks to determine who the next board member would be and it would have the same legitimacy as an election."

The nature of that free-for-all, however, is what has made Wikipedia so popular with its community and users. The idea that anyone can contribute to it and anyone can make suggestions about its direction epitomizes the essence of an interactive, internet community. According to Patrick, however, what worked for the Wiki endeavor in the beginning needs to change now that it's maturing into a powerhouse.

"I hold very strongly to the opinion that what we are doing is the most important work of the 21st century," he said. ""But everything that we're doing to help create free knowledge and share it is too important to get wrong. Who has the hubris to say that it's okay to ... turn a blind eye to the essence of good corporate governance and fiduciary responsibility? The idea that we're different because we're Wikipedia doesn't hold water with me."

Wales, when reached by phone, was confused by Patrick's statements.

For legal advice, The Wikimedia Foundation could just look for editors whose credentials include multiple law degrees, law school professorships, etc.

I'm adding those quals to my user page right now, and I'm trying to strike a good balance between U.S. and foreign degrees, White House Counsel experience, corporate law, trial attorney defending the poor against the depredations of the rich, etc.

Should I tell them I've been a judge, or should I just hint at it?

No point in half measures. Tell them you are on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

I've already got $10 that the Wikimedia Foundation will complain to the powers-that-be that wikipediacontest.com is confusing to internet users that it is an official Wikipedia project when it is nothing of the kind.

I've already got $10 that the Wikimedia Foundation will complain to the powers-that-be that wikipediacontest.com is confusing to internet users that it is an official Wikipedia project when it is nothing of the kind.

For legal advice, The Wikimedia Foundation could just look for editors whose credentials include multiple law degrees, law school professorships, etc.

I'm adding those quals to my user page right now, and I'm trying to strike a good balance between U.S. and foreign degrees, White House Counsel experience, corporate law, trial attorney defending the poor against the depredations of the rich, etc.

Should I tell them I've been a judge, or should I just hint at it?

I would have thought that the resignations of Wool and Patrick would have made more noise here.
That the deaths of Rasputin and Machiavelli would have hit a celebratory chord?
The lack of response is telling.
Those here in Wikipedia Review who were placed and supported in power positions by Wool and Patrick remain quiet. In a state of shock. They will not dare dance on Wool's and Patrick's graves.
The distinction between "Red Coats" and "Blue Coats" now becomes clearer at Wikipedia Review.

Those here in Wikipedia Review who were placed and supported in power positions by Wool and Patrick remain quiet. In a state of shock. They will not dare dance on Wool's and Patrick's graves.

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a legal coordinator to handle the day-to-day legal needs of the Foundation and to coordinate outside help. The position can be either a full-time or part-time position, and either telecommuting or office-based. Please apply with CV or resume attached to jobs AT wikimedia.org with subject line "Legal Coordinator".

Application deadline: 7th of april
All candidates will be notified of the hiring decision via email by 20th of april at most.

Responsibilities

Coordinate pro bono help, international legal services, legal interns, assistance from the project communities, and outside counsel as necessary
Answer legal requests that come in to the OTRS system and by phone
Handle day-to-day legal needs of the Foundation, such as contracts
Evaluate Foundation policies and operating procedures for compliance with relevant laws
Assist Executive Director with operational tasks as needed
Assist Board of Trustees with legal concerns as needed

Requirements

Licensed to practice law in any U.S. state
Ability to make occasional travel to St. Petersburg, Florida and to other meetings as needed
Strong commitment to organizational values of the Wikimedia Foundation
Strong communication skills
Familiarity with the variety of legal issues facing the Wikimedia Foundation (knowledge about intellectual property law, contract law, libel and personality rights especially helpful)

Florence Devouard
Wikimedia Foundation chair

How many attorneys are "licensed to practice law in any U.S. state"? Assuming they mean the successful candidate has to have passed the bar in all 50 of them, isn't that, like, an impossible requirement?

I agree with you, which is why I assumed that she meant "one or more states." That raises another question: If someone from North Dakota gets this job and is a member of only the North Dakota bar, and telecommutes to his Florida job, is that going to pass muster with the Florida bar?

When an attorney works for a corporation that operates in multiple jurisdictions, it's only necessary for an employee-attorney to have one valid law license. The licensing requirement is necessary to protect the Client and if the Client happens to be a large corporation, then there's no need for the usual protections the law requires to protect individual clients. A friend of mine works for a multi-national corporation and is licensed in two states. As it happens, he has worked in a number of different states, but no state where he is actually licensed. If he does go into Court, he usually has local counsel and the Judge grants him pro hac vice status as a matter of course.

Thank you; I never knew that. Now that you've betrayed yourself as 1) a lawyer, and 2) intimately familiar with the phenomenon of Wikipedia, I have to ask: Do you have an opinion on how well Wikipedia would do if they tried to claim Section 230 immunity in defense against a libel or invasion-of-privacy tort, in a case that had the fingerprints of admins all over it for many months, including Jimbo himself? That's a tough one, isn't it?

How many decent bars are there in North Dakota anyway? When I lived there in grade school, my dad was a Lutheran minister and there were lots and lots of Lutherans everywhere, surrounded by wheat fields, but I don't think I ever saw a single bar!

The question as to the applicability of the law is still being digested in the Courts and it's impossible to predict how the Courts will ultimately decide whether Wikipedia, affording complete strangers with the same editing privileges as registered long-term users, would ultimately fare. As it stands, this sort of question would have to go to a jury: Did Wikipedia do everything in its power to prevent the wrongful conduct or, by its policies actually encourage the libel? I know what my answer would likely be.

So then according to Wikipedia policy and its history of allowing and maintaining factual errors, which further encourages libel and conflict, would one then be clear to encourage others to create additional errors in a Wikipedia environment with open intent?