Page 5 - September October 23 Report

Achieving an
Ethical Balance in Social Media Posting
Lawyers — just like everyone else these days — tweet about legal issues, including their own cases, public events, and other lawyers. As the use of social media to conduct busi- ness continues to rise, this practice will increase in kind. Studies show that as of May 2020, Twitter users sent approximately 6,000 tweets per second. That’s 500 million tweets per day and more than 200 billion tweets per year.1 Roughly 7 out of 10 adults in the United States use social media; about 75 percent of them use Twitter daily.2 Recent studies conducted
by The American Bar Association (“ABA”) suggest that 75 percent of law firms use social media and that lawyers primarily use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for when they want to post on social media.3
On one hand, social media’s vast accessibility provides a necessary vehicle to fulfill an aspirational goal of the profession: to enhance public infor- mation and knowledge about the legal practice.4 The Preamble to the Ohio Professional Rules recognizes as much:
A lawyer should seek improvement of the law, ensure access to the legal system, advance the administration of justice, and exemplify the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. As a member of a learned profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use for clients, employ that knowledge in reform of the law, and work to strengthen legal education. In addition,
Lynne Longtin
a lawyer should further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority.5
At the same time, while attorneys increasingly use social media platforms in their practice, they must remember that the Professional Rules apply online.6 In fact, the same widespread use of social media that allows for greater public accessibility may increase the need for professional vigi- lance, given how a single tweet can
become frozen in time.
For example, confidentiality
issues arise when attorneys post about their own cases. Ohio Prof.R. 1.6(a) provides as follows:
A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client,
including information protected by the attorney-client privilege under applicable law, unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation, or the disclosure is permitted by division (b) or required by division (d) of this rule.7
So, while attorneys may believe they are only speaking
hypothetically when posting about their cases, this does not render them immune from ethical sanctions.
THE REPORT | September/October 2023 | CincyBar.org 5