Legal tech: Utilize Internet free speech - but watch what you say

By Shamla Naidoo Social networking provides a proven means to reach consumers worldwide, 24/7. The methods are simple to execute and provide cost-effective marketing with increased visibility and industry recognition at minimal cost. While many in solo practice lack opportunities for collaboration afforded to large firm lawyers, social networking creates greater access to peers for learning and collaboration than any firm could. After all, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, chat rooms, new-groups, message boards, and other social networking sites that specialize in legal topics/practice, are not limited by time zone or geography. Support, information and interaction are always accessible. This is the best of free-speech on the Internet. While this sounds great, what is the price we pay to reach clients conveniently, and to connect with potential clients and peers online? The benefits are so high that you cannot afford to not participate in these forums, however, discretion and thoughtful interaction is essential. Consider the following impact to your law practice as you calculate the cost of your right to free speech on the Internet. Every word you post creates a permanent record. That in itself is not an emerging issue in the practice of law–lawyers create permanent records of most everything we do. The difference is that our permanent record is usually created based on our client’s position and is mostly protected by privilege. In social networking we are generally representing ourselves and personal positions to those we know and/or trust. Web crawlers are specialized programs (popular amongst search engines) which traverse the Internet looking for all available content. The content is archived or indexed and is made available for public searches. This works well if you intend for your content to be found or listed in response to Internet searches. The downside is if you didn’t intend for your writings to be made public. There are many privacy and security features available on social networking sites which must be reviewed, understood and executed. However, do not rely on the security since these controls have failed in the past. Even if the security features operate as intended, once the information is published to the Internet, your trusted recipients may share your information. Your opinion/thoughts/position will spread like wildfire. Always take a long term view of your writing–no matter how brief it is. Consider that every word will be:

1. Repeated for all to see – peers, judges, friends and foe alike
2. Archived forever
3. Debated for decades to come
4. Analyzed and exploited if you should take a different position in the future.

Funny how this sounds like politics as we approach the mid-term elections!