1. PITFALLS AND PROMISES OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND MOBILE LAWYERING Prof. Jonathan I. Ezor Touro Law Center jezor@tourolaw.edu jezor@tourolaw.edu @ProfJonathan on Twitter Oneida County Bar Association CLE May 30, 2012

2. Hashtag: #oneidabar jezor@tourolaw.edu

3. Part 1: Ethical Issues of Social Media jezor@tourolaw.edu

4. Electronic Communications Crucial for All Businesspeople Multiple channels of electronic business communication –E-mail –Text messages –Web sites –Videoconferencing –Social media –Others Can be one-way, two-way or multipoint jezor@tourolaw.edu

5. Common Challenges of Electronic Business Communication Addressing and attachment errors Lack of nuance & tone Heightened expectations of responsiveness Informality Compliance Management jezor@tourolaw.edu

6. Attorneys’ Ethical Obligations Add to Challenges Rules of Professional Conduct impact on attorney communication Lawyers must ensure compliance with those as well as with good business practices Confidentiality biggest potential breach jezor@tourolaw.edu

9. Concluding Paragraph from ABA Technology Proposal Technology can increase the quality of legal services, reduce the cost of legal services to existing clients, and enable lawyers to represent clients who might not otherwise have been able to afford those services. Lawyers, however, need to understand that technology can pose certain risks to clients’ confidential information and that reasonable safeguards are ethically required. The Commission’s proposals are designed to help lawyers understand these risks so that they can take appropriate and reasonable measures when taking advantage of technology’s many benefits…. jezor@tourolaw.edu

12. Out of date

13. “Adopting” A Listing Ok, but beware of issues like those discussed in SC Ethics Advisory Op. 09-10 –The lawyer must monitor the “claimed” listing to make sure all comments are in conformity with the ethical rules, especially the rules for attorney advertising writing of things like testimonials and client endorsements that create unjustified expectations, and comparisons Be careful when linking to another site! jezor@tourolaw.edu

14. Recommendations LinkedIn allows parties to “recommend” the work of a another participant. Issues? What about asking a client to recommend your work? jezor@tourolaw.edu

15. Recommendations Be mindful of rules that place limitations on the use and content of testimonials Model Rule 4.1 (duty of candor) prohibits the making of a false statement of material fact to a third person –Beware of possible exaggerations regarding your biography, experience, etc. What about asking a Judge to recommend you? What about announcing on Facebook or LinkedIn that you just won a big jury trial or negotiated a big deal? jezor@tourolaw.edu

16. Recommendations Depending on the rules in your jurisdiction, this could require you to add a disclaimer along the lines of “results will vary in each case” or similar language A related issue, depending on the content of your blogs or tweets –Could they be governed by your state’s restrictions on lawyer advertising? –If so, what are your obligations? jezor@tourolaw.edu

17. Recommendations LinkedIn allows users to provide professional information under “specialties.” Are there any issues with that? jezor@tourolaw.edu

18. Recommendations Depending on the content, it could run afoul of bar rules, such as NY Rule 7.4(a), that prohibit attorneys from claiming they are “specialists” in a certain field Any other risks in posting information about your matters? jezor@tourolaw.edu

19. Lying To A Tribunal Model Rule 3.3 prohibits attorneys from making a false statement of fact to a tribunal New connections via social media provide “channels” for discovery of such statements jezor@tourolaw.edu

22. Investigative Issues How is it being used? –Employment background check? –Information about opposing counsel? Judge? –Information about parties? Witnesses? Jurors? Front page article in The Washington Post (May 29, 2010) about the increasing use of subpoenas to obtain information from social networking sites jezor@tourolaw.edu

29. CPLR §4506 jezor@tourolaw.edu

30. Friending Issues In most jurisdictions, a judge and attorney who appears before the judge can be “friends”; e.g. New York: jezor@tourolaw.edu

31. Other States’ Ethics Opinions on Friending Permissible: –SC Op. 17-2009 (2009) –Ky. Op. JE-119 (2010) –Ohio Op. 2010-7 (Dec. 3, 2010) But NOT in Florida, Op. 2009-20 (2009) –A judge cannot lend the prestige of her office to advance the private interests of others or convey an impression that some are in a special position of influence jezor@tourolaw.edu

32. Friending Issues Other friending issues with judges? –In re Public Reprimand of Terry, Inquiry No. 08- 234 (Apr. 1, 2009) –http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/coa/jsc/ publicreprimands/jsc08-234.pdf –N.C. child custody and support case Judge friended defense counsel and saw information posted by the defense counsel about the case –Asking how he could prove the negative that his client did not have an affair –Noting that he had a wise judge (to which the judge responded that he had two very good parents to choose from) –Asking how long the trial would last jezor@tourolaw.edu

33. Friending Issues Other issues with respect to whom an attorney can friend? –Opposing counsel? –Parties to a dispute in which you are counsel? –Witnesses in an active case jezor@tourolaw.edu

34. “Fake” User Profiles An attorney was reprimanded because he hid his real identity and posed as a teacher and posted on classmates.com that another teacher had engaged in sex with students – In re Carpenter, 95 P.3d 203 (Or. 2004) Fake patient profiles in the healthcare space jezor@tourolaw.edu

35. Blogging And Other Interactive Media LinkedIn allows users to post and answer questions; bloggers and tweeters often address legal issues; and sites like “Counsel.net” and Quora allow users to seek answers to legal questions This is a particularly risky area. Any issues? jezor@tourolaw.edu

36. Conflicts Of Interest With whom are you communicating? –What if it is with a party with an adverse interest to a client of the firm? (Model Rules 1.7, 4.2) Other issues? jezor@tourolaw.edu

37. Inadvertent Creation Of An Attorney-Client Relationship The discussion could lead to a situation where a “prospective” client relationship is formed, which has several consequences Must keep that information confidential (Model Rule 1.18) Obtaining this confidential information could lead to disqualification with respect to existing clients who would have an interest in knowing that information jezor@tourolaw.edu

38. Inadvertent Creation Of An Attorney-Client Relationship An organization needs a well-considered policy to address these issues, including: –Use a disclaimer (“general informational purposes”), but how do you do that with Tweets? –Do not post confidential information –Restrict recipients, followers, etc. Very little risk with passive review, but the more interactive, the more dangerous –Contact with represented party –Do not discuss subject matter of your cases! jezor@tourolaw.edu

39. Inadvertent Creation Of An Attorney-Client Relationship Depending on the circumstances, this could run afoul of rules prohibiting the unlicensed practice of law – or it could inadvertently create an attorney-client relationship An organization needs a good policy to address these issues – things to consider –Keep it general –Restrict recipients –Use a disclaimer (“general informational purposes”) –Do not post confidential information jezor@tourolaw.edu

40. Remember: How and Why Not Twitter is public; remember that all, not just followers, may see/search your tweets Library of Congress, Topsy.com archiving all tweets (even deleted ones) Jurors, clients, judges and colleagues can/will follow you Many horror stories of accidental disclosures, embarrassments; can impact on career and reputation Be a good example jezor@tourolaw.edu

41. Key Question is Why? Media sees Twitter as celebrity hangout, text message alternative (“Having eggs for breakfast”) True but only one side of story “Other” Twitter is tremendous business/knowledge resource Blogs are great model: links, opinions and discussions Ideal is to provide as well as receive value jezor@tourolaw.edu

42. Social Media and Ethics: Best Practices Beware of advertising issues Be careful with judicial relationships Avoid deception and act transparently Keep confidences confidential Establish and follow a policy for interactive contact jezor@tourolaw.edu

43. Part 2: Ethical Issues of Mobile Lawyering jezor@tourolaw.edu

44. Cloud and Other Remote Storage Remote storage and applications newly relevant Connect desktop and mobile devices to enterprise-level resources Ethical concerns particularly over confidentiality jezor@tourolaw.edu

45. http://is.gd/X3j7BP

47. Home Office Ethical Issues Wireless network security Physical security “Bona Fide Office” and residency requirements –NY Judiciary Law §470 –Schoenefeld v. New York jezor@tourolaw.edu

49. http://www.schoenefeldlaw.com/images/pdf/summary_judgment_motions_decision.pdf

50. Mobile Devices & Telecommuting: Additional Confidentiality Risks Attorneys carry entire client files, critical documents on tablets, smartphones & laptops –Easily lost or stolen –Often not protected with passwords Many use unsecured public wireless networks Public computers (hotels, business centers) can store info. in memory jezor@tourolaw.edu

53. Lawyers (and Law Students) Tweeting Badly jezor@tourolaw.edu

71. Knowledge, Policies and Procedures Must Work Together To Minimize Risks Adequate funding of IT staff, including training Make sure attorneys and support staff given proper education Set up systems with legal practice concerns in mind Keep up with legal trade press, ethics opinions jezor@tourolaw.edu

72. QUESTIONS?