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social media, lawyer liability and ethics paper

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Social Media, Lawyer Liability and Ethics By Jett Hanna It should now be a matter of professional competence for attorneys to take the time to investigate social networking sites. Griffin v. Maryland, Case No. 1132, Court of Special Appeals Maryland, May 27, 2010, slip op. at 14 quoting Sharon N elson et al., The Lega l Implication s of Social Networkin g, 22 REGENT U. L .REV. 1, at 13 (2009/2010), online at http://mdcourts.gov/opinions/cosa/2010/1132s08.pdf. An opinion reversing this case is discussed in the text of the article below. The import of the statement above is actually enhanced by the reversing decision. (T)he 2011 American Bar Association (ABA) Technology Survey Report…recorded that 62%...of individual attorneys say they have LinkedIn profiles. Large legal firms need to get smarter about social media to compete, TechJournal, December 23, 2011, http://www.techjour nalsouth.com/tag /legal-services-u se-of-social-media/ . Social media affects t he legal profession in two broad ways. Lawyers are using social media to communication with others, both personally and professionally. The rest of society is as well, whic h makes social media an important source of evidence in more and more cases.  This article outlines selected ethical and malpractice issues that may arise from how lawyers utilize social media in both the business of law and in representation of clients. The paper will look first at social media as evidence generated by clients and adversaries, and then as generated by lawyers. Suggestions will be provided on how best to confro nt the ethical and malpractice issues. As a lawyer for a legal malpractice insurance carrier, I wish to avoid implications that any of my suggestions constitute the standard of car e. Even weak disciplinary suits and malpractice claims can cost lawyers money and time, and some of my suggestions may help to avoid weak allegations. Definition and Characteristics of Social Media Focusing too much on social media as a unique form of communication is perhaps unwarranted. Merriam Webster defines "social media" as "forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content…" http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/social%20media. Key elements of the definition are: 1. Electronic communication 2. Formation of online communities 3. Sharing of cont ent Exactly where social media begins and other types of communication end is not clear. For example, an email subscription list could be thought of as social media, since multiple parties see all communication to the list. Facebook has a private messaging feature that is much more like private

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