E-Professionalism: The Global Reach of the Lawyer's Duty to Use Social Media Ethically

Abstract

We live in an age where technology is revolutionizing the practice of law.1 The recent American Bar Association Commission on the Future of Legal Ser-vices’ Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States (“ABA Future of Legal Services Report”) published in August 2016, noted that “technology, globalization, and other forces continue to transform how, why, and by whom legal services are accessed and delivered.”2 To meet the public’s legal needs for access to justice “the profession must leverage technology and other innova-tions.”3 Despite resistance to change,4 the legal profession is adopting technol-ogy, including social media, at a “staggering rate”5 as part of legal services de-livery. Apart from physical interactions, lawyers now communicate electronically on social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, with other law-yers, clients, and the public more generally in relation to their practice. They also use social media for private communication in their private spaces. The 2015 ABA Legal Survey Technology Report found that 76 percent of respon-dents’ firms participated in social media or online communities.