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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Beginner

  • work Practice Area

    Professional Skills

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, June 6, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    60 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 60-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.0 CLE credits.

  • An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.

$147.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will discuss the critical issues relating to the use of social media and legal ethics. The speaker will explore the ABA Model Rules that generally relate to the use of social media and provide tips for how to use these tools and platforms effectively in your practice and avoid misuse or ethics violations.

Faculty

Hilary P. Gerzhoy
Partner
HWG, LLP

Ms. Gerzhoy is Vice Chair of the firm’s Legal Ethics and Malpractice Group. She is also the Vice Chair of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee, and she is a member of the ABA’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. Ms. Gerzhoy represents lawyers and firms in disciplinary investigations, prosecutions, and malpractice matters. She has represented lawyers in front of every disciplinary body at the state and federal level in D.C. and Maryland, before the Virginia State Bar, and before the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline. She represents lawyers and firms in high stakes arbitrations and litigation, and she counsels lawyers regarding conflicts, advertising, fee disputes, the unauthorized practice of law, attorney departures, lateral moves, law firm partnership agreements, and law firm formations and dissolutions.

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Description

Lawyers and law firms are increasingly using social media to market their legal services, stay connected to clients, investigate cases, and research jurors. While social media is a useful tool, lawyers must understand the benefits, risks and ethical implications associated with its use as part of their ongoing duty of technological competence.

The current ABA Rules of Professional Conduct do not specifically address social media. However, the rules, ethics opinions, and cases regarding lawyer communications, lawyer competence, lawyer advertising, and client confidentiality provide important guidance. Lawyers that fail to keep up to date on the rules and maintain compliance risk the potential for discipline. Thus, lawyers must understand the implications of using social media both personally and professionally to avoid missteps.

Listen as our authoritative speaker discusses the ethical considerations surrounding the use of social media and explains how attorneys can effectively use social media as a tool in their practice while also maintaining compliance with ethics rules.

Outline

  1. Overview: ways lawyers are using social media
  2. Familiarity with social media is part of legal competence
  3. Advertising legal services
  4. Furnishing legal advice through social media
  5. Communicating with clients and others
  6. Preservation and spoliation of digital evidence
  7. Researching jurors on social media
  8. Supervision of non-lawyers employed or retained by a lawyer or law firm
  9. Other issues and key takeaways

Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other key issues:

  • What are the key ethical concerns relating to a lawyer’s use of social media?
  • What rules of professional conduct govern a lawyer’s use of social media in their practice?
  • How is familiarity with social media relevant to a lawyer’s legal competence?
  • How can lawyers use social media effectively in their practice and remain compliant with ethical rules?