Social Life Now at the Bar

Online social life, that is. Bar rules, that is. Both in Philadelphia and in Connecticut, opinion and advice have surfaced dealing with the use of online social networks in the legal industry. Hat tips to my two favorite daily reads: Legal Blog Watch from incisive media (that’s the way THEY spell it) and ABA Journal Daily Newsletter.

From the former, I learn that A Connecticut Law Blog author Ryan McKeen had received a confusing missive from his state Bar when he asked for guidance on Web 2.0 communications. As he points out, the lack of foresight by the Bar has left the user adrift in Rules designed for paper, phone and fax. I fear this is the norm.

But there is hope. In today’s ABA newsletter, I learn that in Philadelphia, as reported by Doug Cornelius on Social Media Today , the local Bar Association has ventured the advice that “friending” someone on Facebook through a third party meets the “misleading” standard that govern attorney communications. I’m so glad someone asked.

We’ve been discussing online social media with a passion for weeks. No stranger to these pages, Twitter, blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn have enraptured attorney audiences in our offices and out of town. I was glad to meet Wendy Nemitz of Ingenuity Marketing, Kristen Campbell of Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, Steve Baird of Winthrop & Weinstine and DuetsBlog, Larry James, Jr., of Dickenson, Mackaman, Tyles & Hagan and Mark Krueger of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance for a spirited discussion in Minneapolis last weekend.

Stay tuned as Bars tune in to this new world.