Social Media

Ethics Opinions

• CAL 2012-186: Social Networking
• San Diego County Bar Association Ethics Opinion 2011-2: Has an attorney violated his ethical obligations by making an ex parte "friend" request to a represented party?
• ABA Formal Opinion 462: Judges Use of Electronic Social Networking Media
• ABA Formal Opinion 466: Lawyer Reviewing Jurors' Internet Presence
• California Judges Association Judicial Ethics Committee Opinion 66: Judges' Participation in Online Social Networking
• New York City Bar Formal Opinion 2010-2: Obtaining Evidence From Social Networking Websites
• New York City Bar Formal Opinion 2012-2: Jury Research and Social Media
• New York State Bar Association Ethics Opinion 972 (2013): Listing in Social Media
• New York State Bar Association Ethics Opinion 1032 (2014): Responding to a former client's critical commentary on a website
• Oregon State Bar Formal Opinion 2013-189: Accessing Information about Third Parties Through a Social Networking Website
• Pennsylvania Bar Association Ethics Opinion 2014-200: Lawyer's Response to Client's Negative Online Review
• Pennsylvania Bar Association Ethics Opinion 2014-300: Ethical Obligations for Attorneys Using Social Media
• Texas Ethics Opinion 2015-02 (2015): Social Media and Attorneys

Articles

• #Denied: US Supreme Court Won't Touch Dispute Over Tweeting Federal Judge,  The Recorder, June 2018, Marcia Coyle
• Judge's Facebook Friendship With Attorney Doesn't Require Recusal, Court Rules, Daily Business Review, August 2017
• Social Media and Judicial Ethics: Part 1 - Friending, Judicial Conduct Reporter, National Center for State Courts Center for Judicial Ethics, Spring 2017, Celia Ampel
• Social Media Ethics Guidelines, New York State Bar Association Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, May 2017
• Avvo Lawyer Referral Services Rules to be Unethical, Louisiana Legal Ethics, June 2017, Dane Ciolino
• Avvo vs. Yelp: where do people want to find attorneys, Lawyernomics blog, January 2016, Nika Kabiri
• When Social Media Marketing and Ethics Rules Collide, The 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
• Social Media Ethics Guidelines, New York State Bar Association Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, June 2015
• Opinion: Self-promotion in blogging runs fine line of risk, California Bar Journal, February 2015, Amy Yarbrough
• Lawyers can look up jurors on social media but can’t connect with them, ABA ethics opinion says, ABA Journal, April 2014, Terry Carter
• Guidelines Explain How Ethics Rules Apply to Lawyers' Use of Social Media Networks, Bloomberg BNA, March 2014
• 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
• Lawyer's response to client's bad Avvo review leads to disciplinary complaint, ABA Journal, September 2013, Debra Cassens Weiss
• Web offers pearls of wisdom, but also legal tangles, California Bar Journal, August 2013, Diane Karpman
• 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
• 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
• Social Media and Attorney Advertising, California Lawyer, June 2012, Josh King
• What Are "Friends" For?, Ethics Hotliner, December 2011, Wendy Patrick
• Ethics Byte: R u sure u want 2 tweet?, California Bar Journal, May 2011, Diane Karpman
• Jurors Gone Wild -  An epidemic of juror blogging, texting, and tweeting infuriates judges and defense counsel--and fuels motions for retrial, California Lawyer, April 2011, Pamela MacLean
• With “Friends” like these, California Bar Journal, June 2010, Wendy Patrick