Dec
8
ABA Legal Ethics & Social Networking
Filed Under Industry
The American Bar Association has recently published an “Issues Paper Concerning Lawyers’ Use of Internet Based Client Development Tools” to examine the legal ethics issues of social networking on sites like twitter, Facebook and on blogs. The paper attempts to recruit comments on inadvertent attorney-client relationships, offering legal advice without disclosures via blogs and internet forums, and to establish a line between personal commentary and legal advertising (with the latter requiring attorney advertising disclosures) in blogs, tweets, and other means of electronic communication.
Inadvertent Attorney-Client Relationships
In social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, attorneys are often unable to post disclaimers warning prospective clients against posting information that could trigger ethical obligations. To maintain a safe distance from ABA ethics scrutiny, Consider the following recommendations;
- Professional and personal contacts should remain under separate accounts.
- Post ‘attorney advertising’ disclosures on blogs & websites.
- Above any submit forms on your website, notify potential clients about what kind of information should not be submitted online. Contact forms should not solicit Social Security or other ID information if it is not secured by a SSL certificate and received by secure email – to be safe, it’s just best to avoid this information being transmitted online at all.
- Be sure to review and certify that all information posted on your website and blog is factual and accurate. Any content written by non-attorneys, including assistants and marketing firms or writers, should be reviewed.
- Do not respond to specific questions asked by individuals on the internet. Hypothetical or general questions may be answered so long as they avoid addressing a potential client’s specific situation, which could be construed as legal advice.
- Be very careful when answering legal questions on sites like Yahoo Answers, LawGuru.com or even on your social media (Twitter / Facebook) account. While it can be tempting to use these services to enhance your reputation or gain new clients, it can be easy for a potential client to assume that you have offered legal advice or that you are or will be their attorney.
One point I would like to reiterate and stress; it is your responsibility to ensure the internet marketing firm or individual SEO specialist has your content reviewed by you before posting it online. At times e-marketers have found it easier to go ahead and post a ghost-written article on your website or blog – or a third party website such as HG.org – without your review and approval. It can be hard to get a moment to do this review, but make it a priority in order to ensure you are not offering incorrect information. Incorrect legal information has been widely disseminated in the name of internet marketing (or in the name of your law firm) due to non-lawyers writing legal articles with little or no factual basis.
[5BPWQGGVG4TN]