BOSTON – Morgan Stanley, the lead bank on Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering, was fined $5 million by Massachusetts over claims the firm gave research analysts information that wasn’t provided to all investors in the sale, Bloomberg News reported last week. more

With more than 618 million active, daily Facebook users, 500 million registered Twitter handles and more than 200 million LinkedIn profiles, it’s easy to see why companies from boutiques to big-box stores have realized the importance of a strong online presence in today’s society. more

Wall Street has increasingly taken up its old habit of blaming junior bankers and traders for what goes wrong, despite the fact that the goal at every firm is always to make more money in any way that is legally defensible – by selling more mortgage-backed securities, by doing bigger and bigger mergers-and-acquisition deals, or by making a larger and larger bet on the direction of an obscure debt index. more

First the good news. more

Eric Mack, an associate in Edwards Wildman’s Providence office, was recently selected to serve on the Rhode Island Supreme Court Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Commission. Mack’s practice focuses on the defense of private employers in a variety of employment disputes. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Urban League of Rhode Island and is on the board of trustees at St. Andrew’s School and the Highlander Charter School. A member of the Federal Bar Association, Mack holds a law degree from Tulane University Law School. more

BOSTON – John Verner, a former assistant district attorney, has been appointed chief of the Massachusetts Criminal Bureau, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last month. more

David M. Gilden made his connection with Providence as a Brown University student, then went to Boston to earn his law degree. But Rhode Island had gotten a hold on this Connecticut native. He recalled it as “a bit of an experiment” when he took a chance on the Ocean State as the place where he would settle. more

PROVIDENCE – Senate Majority Leader Dominick J. Ruggerio, D-Providence, would bar employers from demanding social media-related materials of job applicants, and would establish similar prohibitions for colleges as they consider prospective students under a bill he introduced. more

BOSTON – Massachusetts appealed a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to relicense Entergy Corp.’s Pilgrim nuclear power station 40 miles south of Boston, asking to have the extension canceled pending further review, Bloomberg News reported last week. more

PROVIDENCE – A state representative currently facing charges that he pocketed the proceeds from a life-insurance policy on a friend’s dead daughter was arrested last week for allegedly practicing law without a license, The Associated Press reported. more