Legal Research

"Coffee Shop Etiquette for the Home Office Shingler"

Posted by Carolyn Elefant: "The Wall Street Journal reports that several coffee shops in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco are restricting laptop use.  With unemployment on the rise, patrons are spending more time and less money in coffee shops, taking up space that might otherwise be occupied by paying customers.

As far as I could tell, home-office shinglers who work out of coffee shops aren't likely to be impacted by the new limits.  Most of restrictions on use apply during busy lunch hours, though in at least one instance, one customer reported that she was asked to put away her laptop and leave a cafe on a Friday evening even though the place was empty.

Even where coffee shops don't impose any restrictions on laptop use, if you're a home office lawyer who uses a cafe to work or to meet clients, you should be sensitive to the needs of coffee shop owners, who like you, are also in business to turn a profit.  Thus, you should abide by certain rules of etiquette when you use a coffee shop as an extension of your office.  Below, are a couple of my own suggestions, but I'd love to have you add yours as well:

1.  Always buy something, preferably more than you would if you weren't using the space...

2.  Don't be a table hog...

3.  Bring an extension cord...

4.  Don't talk too loudly on your cell phone...

5.   Try to repay the favor...

Full text and the active link are available at the source site listed below.

Source: MyShingle, 7 August 2009

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on August 17, 2009 (boomark / email).