1. Breakout 7 - Putting Yourself Out There: Navigating
Ethical and Legal Issues in Social Media
Teacher: Lisa Borodkin, Esq.
2015 Summit – Newport Beach, CA
Twitter: @lisaborodkin
Twitter hashtag: #NAELASummit

2. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Which picture accurately
describes your feelings about
social media?

3. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Option 1:

4. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

5. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Option 2:

6. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

7. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Ethical Issues in:
1. Building Your Profile
2. Interacting with Clients
3. Growing Your Network

8. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Building Your Profile:
When Does Social Media Become
“Attorney Advertising?”

9. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Focus on inbound marketing.
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433
U.S. 350 (1977) – Attorneys may
advertise.

10. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Commercial speech does no
more than propose a commercial
transaction.
Information, entertainment,
education have more than a
pecuniary motive.

11. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
When does a blog post become
Attorney Advertising?

12. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Hunter v. Virginia State Bar (Sup. Ct. Va.
2013)
• “This Week in Richmond Criminal
Defense” part of a law firm website
• Discussed only the firm’s cases
• Not interactive (no comments)
• No disclaimer

13. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

14. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Ethics tips for blogging:
• Keep it separate from your
firm website
• Keep it general
• Keep it interactive

15. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Use Social Media Profiles to
Grow Your Practice
• Facebook
• Linkedin
• Twitter
• Avvo
• Quora

16. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
First, what not to do on social
media . . .

17. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Pennsylvania Bar Association Formal Opinion 2014-300 (Ethical Obligations for
Attorneys Using Social Media)

18. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

19. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
When does a status update become
“Attorney Advertising”?
California State Bar Formal Opinion
2012-186

20. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

21. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
FTFY (Fixed that for you) . . .

22. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

23. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Tips for using social networking:
• Update, but don’t intrude.
• Be positive, but not promising.
• Be informative, entertaining or
educational.
• Be social, don’t sell.

24. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
2. Interacting with Clients

25. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Tips on Interacting with Clients:
• Don’t consult online
• Use disclaimers if unsure

26. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

27. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Yet More Tips on Interacting with
Clients:
• Send an end of engagement
letter/email
• Ask for a review

28. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA

29. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
3. Building Your Network

30. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Quick Tips for Avvo.com:
• Answer questions
• Endorse colleagues
• Use multimedia

31. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Quick tips for Linkedin.com:
• Include Projects
• Update and link to Twitter
• Give endorsements

32. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Quick tips for Quora.com:
• Answer questions in your
niche
• Follow top writers
• Cross-post your answers

33. BREAKOUT 7: PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE:
NAVIGATING ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Quick tips for Twitter:
• Cross-post to other sites
• Be interesting
• Don’t be afraid to delete!

34. 2015 Summit | January 29-31 | Newport Beach, CA
Session Take-Aways
After attending this session, you will be able to use
social media and blogs to market your practice within
the legal and ethical parameters governing social
media. Bring your devices.