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The Researching Paralegal

Category Archives: Social Media

New Jersey Lawyers Use Paralegal to Spy on Facebook and Cross the Ethical Line.

30 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Attorney Discipline, Legal Ethics, Social Media, Supervising Support Staff

≈ Comments Off on New Jersey Lawyers Use Paralegal to Spy on Facebook and Cross the Ethical Line.

Tags

Facebook, Findlaw, Jonathan R. Tung, Legal Ethics, Paralegal Ethics, William P. Statsky

NJ Lawyers Get Sanctioned for Facebook Spying, by Jonathan R. Tung, Esq., Strategist, The FindLaw Law Firm Business Blog (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://bit.ly/1X0X44k

When news came out that two New Jersey defense attorneys had spied on a plaintiff through Facebook, there was obvious buzz within the legal community over bright-line rules and attorney ethics. Just what qualifies as an ‘unauthorized’ communication? Lawyers should always take steps to tread carefully in these ‘novel ethical issues.’ First impression or not, you don’t want to end up being the poster child.

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Jim Calloway’s Recent Technology News and Developments.

30 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Android Phones, Apps, Cell Phones, Family Law, iPad, iPhones, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Social Media, Tablets

≈ Comments Off on Jim Calloway’s Recent Technology News and Developments.

Tags

Androids, Facebook, iPhones, Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, Legal Techonology, Oklahoma Bar Journal

Recent Technology News and Developments for 2014, by Jim Calloway, Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog (Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal , August 9, 2014 — Vol. 85, No. 20.)

http://bit.ly/1peMMYY

I can always depend on Jim to recommend the best practices to keep a law office moving smoothly, as well as a preview of new technology. Although Jim’s home base is the Oklahoma Bar Association, he is in national demand. If you like what you see, I recommend checking out his articles at the ABA web site. Better yet, especially for Oklahoma solo and small firms, the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm Annual Conference is a fabulous event due to Jim’s leadership and connections. You will meet technology experts from all over the country.

Jim has moved his blog to a new address: www.lawpracticetipsblog.com. The old one still works, but I do not know how long it will work. -CCE

There’s been quite a lot of technology-related news over the last several months. Some of it is directly related to the legal profession. Much of it is at least indirectly related to the legal profession. There have also been some interesting court rulings related to technology. Rather than featuring just a few items, I decided to do a roundup of many of these items with a few comments. . . .

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Is It Legal Malpractice If You Are Technologically Incompetent?

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Malpractice, Social Media, Technology, Technology, Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Is It Legal Malpractice If You Are Technologically Incompetent?

Tags

ABA's Model Rules, Law Office Management, Lawyerist Blog, Legal Ethics, Legal Malpractice, Legal Technology, Luddite, Megan Zavieh

Luddite Lawyers Are Ethical Violations Waiting To Happen, by Megan Zavieh, Lawyerist Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lo9fs45

Do you have a smart phone but only know how to make a telephone call? Do you think of a cloud as some white puffy thing in the sky that looks like a ducky? Do you have a computer on your desk but never turn it on? Is the password to your computer actually “password”? Then this article is for you. Technology is here, and it is not going away. Resistance if futile. -CCE

Technological incompetence used to be merely a competitive disadvantage. Now, it is a potential ethics violation — or even legal malpractice.

During my first year of law school, we were not allowed to do computerized research. Instead, we were taught to use the leather-bound reporters, Shepherds, and treatises. It was only during our second year that we were deemed worthy to use Westlaw and Lexis to ‘confirm’ our book findings. (Of course, I doubt any of us ventured into the stacks again.)

This approach reflected the general attitude of the legal profession in the mid-to-late 1990s. Technology was grudgingly accepted, but not required. Lawyers at big firms had online research accounts and solos went to the law library to use the books. Nobody thought anything was wrong with this, although online research did give big firms a competitive edge.

In 2013, email is ubiquitous, and just about every lawyer has some form of electronic research available on his laptop, tablet, or phone. And everyone — lawyers included — uses Google to find everything else. In law practice, that includes research on witnesses, opponents, judges, and anything else not found in a Fastcase, Westlaw, or Lexis database. Technology is an unavoidable part of practicing law.

Ethics rules follow practice

The ethics rulemakers have taken note of this evolution, and the rules have grown to require technological competence.

Lawyers cannot ignore technology

The ABA made it abundantly clear that lawyers must keep up with technology when it amended comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1 on competence. Comment 8 now reads:

To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject.

(Emphasis added.)

As Nicole Black, Director of Business Development at MyCase, puts it, ‘I think it’s pretty clear that […] lawyers can no longer turn a blind eye to technological advancements and their effect on the practice of law.’ . . .

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Is It Time For A “Bring Your Own Device” Policy for Your Law Office?

01 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Android Phones, Apple, Blackberry Phones, Cell Phones, Clouds, Computer Forensics, Confidentiality, Cybersecurity, Disaster Preparedness, Emails, Encryption, Google, Intellectual Property, iPad, iPhones, Law Office Management, Legal Blogs, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Mac, Management, Marketing, Passwords, PC Computers, Social Media, Supervising Support Staff, Tablets, Technology, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Is It Time For A “Bring Your Own Device” Policy for Your Law Office?

Tags

Apple, Blackberry Phone, Cell Phones, Confidentiality, Curo Legal Blog, Cybersecurity, iPads, iPhones, Legal Ethics, Mobile Device Policy, Passwords, Tablets, Will Harrelson

Mobile Device Security for Lawyers: How Solos and Small Firms can Ethically Allow Bring Your Own Device, by Will Harrelson, Curo Legal Blog (with hat tip to Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D. Blog!)

http://tinyurl.com/lrrnp7g

The Start of Bring Your Own Device Policies

It really is the iPhone’s fault. Yes, Apple is to blame for designing the most desirable piece of technology of the last decade. So desirable, in fact, that employees of all stripes requested (and, often, begged) their IT departments to toss the increasingly-‘corporate’ Blackberry out the window and allow the use of their personal iPhones for corporate emails and calls. As a result, we have been living in the age of ‘Bring Your Own Device’ where employees use a single personal mobile phone (or tablet) for both their personal email, texting, and social media while also using it for work email, word processing, and other enterprise applications.

Before the Bring Your Own Device era, a company’s greatest out-of-office security concern was an employee who left a briefcase in a taxi. Today, the worry is an employee misplacing a device the size of wallet containing almost limitless amounts of data that criminals or hackers would easily and quickly exploit if given the chance. Clearly, there is an obvious financial motivation for all businesses to protect their own or customer’s sensitive data.

However, lawyers face particular ethical consequences if they fail to take reasonable efforts to either investigate the technologies that they implement or protect their client’s confidential information. . . .

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Beautiful Young, Dead Paralegal Found in Bathtub of Attorney Boss Who Has Possible Mob Connections.

17 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Criminal Law, Employment Law, Ethics, Grand Jury, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Management, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Social Media, Supervising Support Staff, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Beautiful Young, Dead Paralegal Found in Bathtub of Attorney Boss Who Has Possible Mob Connections.

Tags

A. Charles Peruto Jr., Above the Law (blog), Accidental Death, Alcohol, David Lat, District Attorney Seth Williams, Grand Jury, Julia Papazian Law, Paralegal, Philadelphia, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office

Paralegal’s Death In Boss/Boyfriend’s Bathtub Declared Accidental, by David Lat, Above the Law Blog

http://tinyurl.com/k6fafzo

 Last May, a 26-year-old paralegal by the name of Julia Papazian Law was found dead in the bathtub of her boss and boyfriend, prominent Philadelphia defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. The news set tongues wagging in Philly. It had all the elements of a tabloid tale: a beautiful young woman, a wealthy and successful lawyer, and possible organized-crime connections. (Peruto has represented such prominent alleged Mob figures as Joey Merlino and Nicodemo Scarfo.) . . .

A grand jury was convened, conducted an investigation, and concluded there was no evidence that the paralegal’s death was anything but accidental. I saw no discussion or evidence of an investigation of any ethical or employment violations concerning the employer/employee relationship.

After the grand jury’s investigation, the paralegal’s boss used Facebook to reply to the District Attorney in a direct and explicit statement. -CCE  

http://tinyurl.com/lnbb9gh

 

 

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Robert Ambrogi’s Most Popular 2013 Posts

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Adobe Acrobat, Clouds, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Social Media, Using Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Robert Ambrogi’s Most Popular 2013 Posts

Tags

Adobe Acrobat, Clouds, Dropbox, Legal Ethics, LexisNexis, LinkedIn, Robert Ambrogi, Ross Kodner, Thomson Reuters

My Most Popular Posts of 2013, by Robert Ambrogi, Robert Ambrogi’s Web Sites

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2013/12/popular-posts-2013.html

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Two Million Passwords Stolen from Google, Yahoo, ADP, and Social Media – Make Sure Yours Wasn’t One of Them.

07 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Passwords, Recent Links and Articles, Social Media

≈ Comments Off on Two Million Passwords Stolen from Google, Yahoo, ADP, and Social Media – Make Sure Yours Wasn’t One of Them.

Tags

Facebook, Farmville, Google, LinkedIn, Pony Botnet, Spiderlab, Summary Trustwave, Twitter, Yahoo, ZDNet Blog

Two Million Stolen Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, ADP Passwords Found on Pony Botnet Server, by Violet Blue for Zero Day, ZDNet Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pnw3o72

This website also includes a way to find out whether your passwords were stolen. – CCE

Summary: Trustwave’s SpiderLabs found a Pony Botnet Controller server holding over two million passwords and account credentials for ADP payroll, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and more belonging to victims around the world.

     *        *     *

Interest turned to stunned surprise when the researchers uncovered a Pony Botnet server stabling over two million account credentials and passwords for Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, Linkedin, Odnoklassniki (the second largest Russian social network site) and more.

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