Ethics Articles on Technology

Ethics Hotliner and Ethics Alerts

• What Are "Friends" For?, Ethics Hotliner, December 2011, Wendy L. Patrick
• Ethics Alert: Internet Scams Targeting Attorneys, Ethics Hotliner January 2011, COPRAC
• New Regulations on Electronic Media Advertising, Ethics Hotliner Spring 1995, Karen A. Betzner

California Bar Journal (CBJ) and other State Bar articles

• Advice for road warriors: Navigating airport security with client secrets intact, California Bar Journal, November 2017, Scott Garner
• Scammers use real attorney IDs to cheat consumers, California Bar Journal, June 2016, Amy Yarbrough
• Scammers continue to target attorneys with check fraud, California Bar Journal, March 2016, Amy Yarbrough
• Ethics Opinion: Assess risks before releasing electronic files, California Bar Journal, August 2015, Amy Yarbrough
• How to ethically handle confidential information received inadvertently, California Bar Journal, May 2015, Richard Egger
• Opinion: Self-promotion in blogging runs fine line of risk, California Bar Journal, February 2015, Amy Yarbrough
• Lawyers on the defensive: the ethical considerations of responding to online reviews, California Bar Journal, November 2014, Drew Dilworth
• The ethics of attorney blogging, California Bar Journal, October 2014, Larry Doyle
• Dishonest clients can mire attorneys in messy bank, Internet scams, California Bar Journal, February 2014, Amy Yarbrough
• Foreign Fee Scammer Target California Bar Journal, October 2013, Diane Karpman
• My connections keep endorsing me.  May I keep them?, September 2013, Larry Doyle
• Web offers pearls of wisdom, but also legal tangles, August 2013, Diane Karpman
• From the chat room to the courtroom: Social media postings as evidence, May 2012, Wendy Patrick
• Mrs. Smith called; she wants her file..., February 2012, Wendy Patrick
• Counterfeit check scams continue to target law firms, January 2012, California Bar Journal
• State Bar Ethics Opinions on Internet and Technology Use, The Bottom Line, LPMT, December 2011, Andrew Tuft
• Ethics Byte: 'Flash sales' for legal services?, November 2011, Diane Karpman
• Ethics Byte: Early client education can prevent big problems later, October 2011, Diane Karpman
• You saw what? Inadvertent disclosure and the attorney-client privilege, August 2011, Wendy Patrick
• Ethics Byte: Internal emails and attorney-client privilege, July 2011, Diane Karpman
• Ethics Byte: R u sure u want 2 tweet?, May 2011, Diane Karpman
• Beware of Online Scams, March 2011, California Bar Journal
• Advertising in the electronic age¸ November 2010, Wendy Patrick
• Why talk when you can text?, October 2010, Wendy Patrick
• With “Friends” like these, June 2010, Wendy Patrick
• Beware the Latest Internet Scam, May 2010, California Bar Journal
• Ethics Byte: Technology offers an E-ticket to a new world of legal practice, March 2010, Diane Karpman
• Email Scams Continue to Successfully Target Lawyers, July 2009, Diane Curtis
• E-Discovery Pocket Guide, August 2008, State Bar Litigation Section
• Embarrassed Lawyers Fall Victim to Internet Scams, July 2008, Diane Curtis

Other articles 

• Cryptocurrency Is a Brave New World for Legal Ethics, ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct, Helen Gunnarsson
• #Denied: US Supreme Court Won't Touch Dispute Over Tweeting Federal Judge,  The Recorder, June 2018, Marcia Coyle
• Ethics opinion stresses lawyers' duty of confidentiality when blogging, ABA Journal, March 2018, David Hudson
• "Linked in" law firm websites, American Bar Association, December 2017, Peter Geraghty
• Judge's Facebook Friendship With Attorney Doesn't Require Recusal, Court Rules, Daily Business Review, August 2017
• Avvo Lawyer Referral Services Rules to be Unethical, Louisiana Legal Ethics, June 2017, Dane Ciolino
• Attorneys: How to Protect Your Small Law Firm Against These New Phishing Scams, CNA, May 2017, Michael Barrett
• Law firms must manage cybersecurity risks, ABA Journal, March 2017, Julie Sobowale
• Social Media and Judicial Ethics: Part 1 - Friending, Judicial Conduct Reporter, National Center for State Courts Center for Judicial Ethics, Spring 2017, Celia Ampel
• Citing twin law firm websites (1 real, 1 fake), bar group urges public to beware, ABA Journal, August 2015, Martha Neil
• When Social Media Marketing and Ethics Rules Collide, Recorder, August 2015, Brian Kabateck and Hrag Kouyoumjian
• Lawyer can't learn identity of anonymous Avvo critic absent defamation evidence, appeals court says, ABA Journal, July 2015, Debra Cassens Weiss
• Ethics and Cybersecurity: Obligations to Protect Client Data, American Bar Association, March 2015 Section of Labor and Employment Law
• The Top 10 eDiscovery Developments of 2014 in the Mountain West and California, The National Law Review, February 2015
• Can Computers Practice Law, Corporate Counsel, January 2015, Nina Cunningham
• Lawyer struggle to reconcile new technology with traditional ethics rules, ABA Journal, November 2014, James Podgers
• Lawyer Conned by Check Scam du Jour, Bank Says, Courthouse News Service, October 2014, Jack Bouboushian
• Basic Measures Law Firms Can Take to Improve Cybersecurity, Los Angeles Lawyer, October 2014, Steven G. Mehta and Adam Ashby
• Free Email and Attorney Client-Privilege, Texas Lawyer, October 2014, Chris Castle
• NSA surveillance policies raise questions about the viability of the attorney-client privilege, ABA Journal, September 2014, David L. Hudson Jr.
• Matchmaking website connects plaintiffs to litigation funding, but is that ethical?, ABA Journal, September 2014, Ed Finkel
• You don't need perfect tech know how for ethics' sake--but a reasonable grasp is essential, ABA Journal, August 2014, James Podgers
• FYI: Blogs, American Bar Association Law Practice Division
• Blog Technology 101, American Bar Association, Joshua Poje
• Controversial Currency: Accepting Bitcoin as Payment for Legal Fees, Orange County Lawyer Magazine, June 2014, Jennifer Bagosy
• Lawyers can look up jurors on social media but can’t connect with them, ABA ethics opinion says, ABA Journal, April 2014, Terry Carter
• Lawyers’ definitions of virtual practice vary, but not when it comes to finding success, ABA Journal, April 2014, G.M. Filisko
• Guidelines Explain How Ethics Rules Apply to Lawyers' Use of Social Media Networks, Bloomberg BNA, March 2014
• Social Media Ethics Guidelines, New York State Bar Association Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, March 2014
• common.sense (What happens to the old firm's web address and URL?), Virginia Lawyers Weekly, February 2014, Paul Fletcher
• Building Blogs and Law Firm Web Sites Ethically, Effectively, Washington Lawyer, January 2014, Walter A. Effross
• Judge removed from divorce case after sending one party a Facebook friend request, ABA Journal, January 2014, Stephanie Francis Ward
• Legal Ethics, Social Media, and the Jury, Orange County Bar Association, November 2013, Carole J. Buckner
• Federal Court Rules E-Mails Are Personal Data Under California Song-Beverly Act, Bloomberg BNA, October 2013
• Lawyer's response to client's bad Avvo review leads to disciplinary complaint, ABA Journal, September 2013, Debra Cassens Weiss
• Bank Entitled to Recover Counterfeit Check Amount From Attorney's Client Trust Account, Lawyers for the Profession, August 2013
• Facebook - Friend or Foe? What are the Ethical Risks of Using Facebook in Your Litigation Practice, Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel Missouri, August 2013, Nancy Ripperger
• Legal Ethicists are Playing Catch-Up to Create Social Media Guidelines for Lawyers, Judges, ABA Journal, August 2013, James Podgers
• Lawyers, but Not Law Firms, May List Their 'Specialties' in Social Media Profile, Bloomberg BNA, August 2013, Samson Habte
• Internet Marketing Raises Ethics Issues but Bar Representative See Few Grievances, Bloomberg BNA, June 2013, Helen W. Gunnarsson
• Keep Your "Friends" Close and Your Enemies Closer: Walking the Ethical Tightrope in the Use of Social Media, St. Mary's Law Journal, June 2013, John G. Browning
• Lawyers May Solicit Clients by Text Messages if Specific Rules on Advertising Are Followed, ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct, April 2013, Samson Habte
• Ethical Rules Require Reasonable Care When Using Technology in the Practice of Law, Los Angeles County Bar Association - County Bar Update, February 2012, Wendy Wen Yun Chang
• E-Mail and Attorney-Client Privilege: Cautionary Tales for Employee and Employer, Los Angeles County Bar Association - County Bar Update, April 2011, Clare Pastore
• A Legal Battle: Online Attitude vs. Rules of the Bar, The New York Times, September 2009, John Schwartz
• Ethical Challenges in the Use of Electronic List Service Communications, Los Angeles County Bar Association - County Bar Update, February 2009, Lisa Claire Miller
• Ethics and Lawyer Blogs, American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, July/August 2005, William Hornsby, Jr.