Real Lawyers Have Blogs

On the heels on Tom Watson’s article on the perils of social media for lawyers (blogged about yesterday) I was reminded of Attorney Josh King’s presentation last week on legal ethics and social media at Avvocating 2012.

King, General Counsel for Avvo, explained to lawyers from around the country that social media was not as fraught with the ethical pitfalls as some may believe. King, taking a reasoned approach to what blogging/social media/social networking really is, also pointed out that much of a lawyer’s use of social media and social networking may not be subject to legal ethics rules.

Watson, a Senior Vice President at Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company and has taken a strong positon in his article and in comments following my post on his article that lawyers need to be warned of the pitfalls of using social media. His point, as I understand it, is that lawyers ought not act unethically or engage in activities online that woud give rise to unintended liability, ie, create an attorney client relationship or give specific legal advice. Continue Reading