Comprehensive Ethics Opinion on Lawyers’ Use of Social Media issued in West Virginia

On September 22, 2015, the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel Legal Ethics issued a comprehensive opinion to provide the guidance for lawyers on the use of social media for both business and personal matters.  West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel Legal Ethics Opinion 2015-02 Lawyer Disciplinary Board – L.E.O. 2015-02 The Disciplinary Board provided […]

New York City Bar Opinion 2015-3 on Internet Scams to Lawyers

  In Formal Opinion 2015-3, the Committee on Professional Ethics of NY City Bar opined on the increasing recurrence of internet scams directed to lawyers Digest of the opinion: “An attorney who discovers that he is the target of an Internet-based trust account scam does not have a duty of confidentiality towards the individual attempting […]

Kevin Conneran, Beyond Technophobia: Lawyers’ Ethical and Legal Obligations to Monitor Evolving Technology and Security Risks

21 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 9 (2015) Author argues that because of the evolving security risks brought by e-mail, Internet, and cloud computing, lawyers must reassess their ethical duties of competence and confidentiality. Ignorance of technology may lead to violations of lawyers’ fundamental ethical duties of competence and confidentiality. Mentioned rules: ABA Model Rule 1.1; […]

Nathan M. Crystal, Using Social Media to Investigate Juror

South Carolina Lawyer 10 (Jul. 2014) Author discusses the basic principles that govern lawyers’ conduct while using social media sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, to obtain information in litigation about parties, witnesses, and jurors. From the article: “Several basic principles govern lawyers’ conduct. In dealing with other participants in a proceeding, lawyers must not […]

Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, “Something’s got to give” – Cloud Computing, as applied to lawyers – Comparative approach US and EU and practical proposals to overcome differences – My presentation at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa, Italy) Symposium “Getting around the cloud(s) – Technical and legal issues on Cloud services” (November 30, 2013)

Ms. Giannoni-Crystal provides thoughts on benefits and risks of cloud computing for an American based international law firm. She analyzes the approach of American jurisdictions on cloud computing. She also discusses the implications of privacy laws on a law firm’s adoption of cloud computing. Finally, Ms. Giannoni-Crystal provides some practical tips for an international law […]

Kenneth N. Rashbaum, Forget the Dream on an Analog Retirement: South Carolina Disciplinary Board Issues Sanctions to Retired Attorney For Failing to Maintain Active Email Address

In this digital age, dreams of retirement often include the idyllic concept of never, ever having to root through another email in-box, or respond in the middle of the night to an electronic missive from several times zones away. But in like manner to the way in which a character in a cartoon has his […]

Barry R. Temkin, Michael Stone, Solicitation by Defense Counsel: Ethical Pitfalls When Corporate Defense Counsel Offers Representation to Witnesses

Abstract: “The ban on solicitation by attorneys in ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.3, and its state counterparts, has generally been used to prevent ambulance chasing by plaintiffs’ attorneys. However, a recent New York decision has raised the possibility that a defense lawyer could be disciplined for solicitation when offering his services to a […]

Virginia Bar Association, Legal Ethics Opinion 1791

Ethics Committee Topic: Is it Ethical not to Meet Face-to-face with your Client if You Communicate by E-mail or Telephone Instead? A lawyer (in bankruptcy practice) has “asked the committee to opine as to whether electronic communication, without in-person meetings, can be sufficient to fulfill an attorney’s duties of communication and competence.” The Committee answered […]