This document outlines the agenda and key topics for a presentation on social media and what lawyers need to know. The presentation will cover how the duty of competence extends to social media use, communicating with clients via social media, using social media as evidence, and rules around attorney advertising on social media. The presenters are Joshua Lenon from Clio and Kemp Edmonds from Hootsuite.

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Social Media: What Lawyers Need to Know
Joshua Lenon – Clio
Kemp Edmonds - Hootsuite

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Instructors
Joshua Lenon
• Attorney, admitted in New York
• Lawyer in Residence at Clio
Kemp Edmonds
• Solutions Consultant

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1. Competency Extends to Social Media (15 minutes)
2. Communicating via Social Media (15 minutes)
3. Social Media as Evidence (15 minutes)
4. Attorney Advertising (5 minutes)
5. Questions (10 minutes)
Agenda

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COMPETENCY EXTENDS TO SOCIAL
MEDIA

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1.1 Competence
(A) A lawyer shall provide competent representationto
a client. Competent representationrequires the legal
knowledge, skill,thoroughness and preparation
reasonably necessary for the representation.

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Ethical Requirementsfor Technology
Rule 1.1 Competence
• [Comment 8]
– “To maintain therequisite
knowledgeandskill,a lawyer
should keep abreast of changesin
the law and itspractice,including
the benefits andrisks associated
with relevanttechnology,engage
in continuingstudyandeducation
and comply withall continuing
legal education requirementsto
which the lawyer issubject.”
StatesAdopting Comment 8
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New Mexico
• NorthCarolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia
• Wyoming
Source:.http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2015/03/mass>becomes>14th>state>to>adopt>duty>of>
technology>competence.html..

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CompetencyRequired

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NYSBA SOCIAL MEDIAGUIDELINES
www.nysba.org/socialmediaguidelines/

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Continuous Ethical Duties
NYSBA Social Media Ethics Guidelines
A lawyer has a duty tounderstand
the benefits and risks and ethical
implications associated with social
media, including its use as a mode
of communication, an advertising
tool and a means to research and
investigate matters.
CA Formal Ethics NO. 2015-193
An attorney’s obligations under the
ethical duty of competence evolve
as new technologies develop and
become integrated with the
practice of law.

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Griffin v. State,995 A. 2d 791
- Md: Court of Special Appeals2010
"It should now be a matter of professional competence
for attorneys to take the timeto investigatesocial
networking sites.”
(Quoting Sharon Nelson et al., The Legal Implications of Social
Networking, 22 REGENT U.L. REV. 1, 1-2 (2009/2010))

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Social Media Use
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2/2005 8/2006 5/2008 4/2009 5/2010 8/2011 12/2012 5/2013 9/2013 1/2014
Adult.%.Using.Social.Media

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Social Media Use
Source:.Pew.Social.Media.Update.2013

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“Lawyers, however, need to be conversant with, at a
minimum, the basics of each social media network that a
lawyer or his or her client may use. This is a serious
challenge that lawyers need to appreciateand cannot
take lightly. “
- NYSBA Social Media Guidelines

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COMMUNICATING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

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1.4 Communication
(a) (2) keep the client reasonably informed about the
status of the matter;
(3) promptly comply with reasonablerequests for
information;
[7] A lawyer may not withhold information to serve
the lawyer's own interestor convenience or the
interests or convenience of another person.

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LegalAdvice vs GeneralInformation
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 3.A
A lawyer may provide general answers to legal
questions asked on social media.
A lawyer cannot provide specific legal advice
on social media.

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Soliciting Clients
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 3.B
Public Solicitation is Prohibited through
“Live” Communications
Lawyers may respond to social media inquiries
but do so privately.

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RecordsKeeping
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 3.C
If an attorney utilizes social media to communicate with
a client relating to legal representation,the attorney
should retain records of those communications, just as
she would if the communications were memorialized on
paper.

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Jurors
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 6.A
A lawyer may research a prospective or sitting juror’s
public social media profile, and posts.
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 6.B
A lawyer may view the social media profile of a
prospective juror or sitting juror provided that there is no
communication.

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Confidentiality
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 5.3
Social media communications must preserve
attorney-client confidentiality.

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SOCIAL MEDIA AS EVIDENCE

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Social Media Discovery
• Private is not private
– Cooperating “friends” do not violate 4th Amendment, United
States v. Meregildo, 883 F.Supp.2d 523 (S.D.N.Y., 2012)
• Relevancy as the Threshold Analysis
– Overly broad access is a worry, Offenback v. L.M. Bowman, Inc.
(M.D. Pa., 2011)
• Third-Party Subpoenas
– Stored Communications Act (SCA) limits voluntarily disclosed
information, Crispin v. Christian Audigier, Inc., 717 F. Supp. 2d
965 (C.D. Cal. 2010)

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PreservingEvidence
NYSBA GUIDELINE NO. 5.A
Unless an appropriaterecord of the social media
information or data is preserved, a party or nonparty,
when appropriate,may not deleteinformation from a
social media profile that is subject to a duty to preserve.

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PreservingEvidence
26%
9%
5%
12%
19%
29%
Self>Preservation
None 1>24% 25>49%
50>74% 75>99% 100%
Top reasons respondents do not
rely on self-preservation
1. Cannot always rely on/ trust
individuals
2. Greater certainty/
defensibility, lower risk
3. IT is more effective
4. Automatic storage/back-up
of data
Source:.Norton.Rose.Fulbright.2015.Litigation.Trends.Annual.Survey.

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PreservingEvidence
Dynamicnature of social media necessitates
periodiccollection
Full range of metadataassociatedwith social
media can only be collected with specialized
software
Sedona.Conference.Primer.on.Social.Media

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ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

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Attorney Advertising
NYSBA GUIDELINE 2.A
• Social media accounts used to advertise for pecuniary
gain must comply with advertising rules
• Personal profiles are not subject to advertising rules
• Hybrid accounts must comply with advertising rules

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StatesRules
• DifferentiatebetweenCommunications & Non-
communications
• Disclaimers for previous results
• Record retention for communications versus content
• Contact information requirements

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Which is NOT subject to professional rules?
1. “Case finally over.Unanimousverdict!Celebrating tonight.”
2. “Won a million dollar verdict.Tell your friendsandcheckoutmy website.”
3. “Won another personal injurycase.Call me for a free consultation.”
4. "Another greatvictoryin courttoday!My clientisdelighted.Who wantsto benext?"
5. “Just published anarticle on wageand hour breaks.Letmeknowif you would likea
copy.”
• FORMAL OPINION NO. 2012-186
• http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2013/01/california-rules-on-ethics-of-social-media-postings.html

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“Just.published.an.article.on.
wage.and.hour.breaks..Let.me.
know.if.you.would.like.a.copy.”
Not a Communication

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QUESTIONS?

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Thank You
Joshua Lenon
joshua@clio.com
@JoshuaLenon
Linkedin.com/in/joshualenon