Attorney-Client Privilege: The Ethical Rules You Need to Know In The Age Of Social Media

The attorney-client privilege protects the ability of a client to obtain legal advice from an attorney based on confidential and non-confidential information known to the client. However, confidentiality is increasingly challenging to maintain in the internet era and the increased importance of social media. Clients post on social media, as do attorneys. Moreover, attorneys often serve as spokespeople for clients. All of this increases the risk of public disclosure of a client’s confidential information or the inadvertent waiver of the attorney-client privilege.

This course will focus on the interplay of ethical rules, the attorney-client privilege, and social media to provide some guidance on how to avoid ethical issues in an age when the traditional role of attorney is rapidly changing. This course is ideal for attorneys of all levels seeking to learn more about ethical rules in the age of social media.

Learning Objectives:

• Master the basic ethical rules governing the attorney-client relationship
• Explore the fundamentals of the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product immunity, including permissible and impermissible advice from an attorney, waivers, scope of a waiver, and affirmative use of advice from counsel
• Examine inadvertent and deliberate waivers of the attorney-client privilege
• Identify the ethical rules governing an attorney's use of social media
• Discern client conflicts with an attorney, including the posting of negative reviews on social media and the filing of a formal complaint with a disciplinary body or a court
• Analyze issues arising from an attorney acting as more than just an attorney, including acting as a spokesperson, surrogate, and republisher of a client’s social media posts

Course Time Schedule:

Eastern Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Central Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Mountain Time: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Pacific Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Alaska Time: 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Hawaii-Aleutian Time: 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM

*This course is not approved for Ethics for Virginia. It is approved for General CLE credit.