Have You Seen Lawyers, Judges Cross Ethical Lines via Social Networks?
With more and more lawyers (and judges) getting on the social network highway, we started to wonder about the potential for conflict-of-interest collisions.
Should lawyers, and judges in particular, join social networks? If yes, are there rules of the road that they should follow?
Answer in the comments below.
Read answers to last month’s Tech Question: Have You Seen an Online Comment Cause Professional Woes?
Featured answer:
Posted by Anonymous: “I testified as an expert witness in an FTC proceeding. Afterward, the FTC lawyer pulled me aside and told me that I should be more careful what I post online; he had marked for exhibit a ‘rap’ that I had posted (on Usenet, back in the dark ages, in response to a post seeking my whereabouts), in case I became a ‘troublesome’ witness.
“The rap itself was innocuous, except that it probably proved that (this) white man can’t jump (or rap).
“I thought it showed more about the weakness of the FTC’s case (they lost) than it did about anything I said. So, in addition to the chilling effect on me, another lesson might be that you can look stupid or weak trying to exploit the innocent foibles of others, instead of sticking to the substance of the dispute.”
