Judge Criss has a Facebook page and is known to respond to comments by her "friends" from time to time. I've even got a nice message or two from Her Honor. She said that in order to avoid the appearance of partiality, she will "befriend" any attorney who asks her.
In a talk at the ABA's Annual Meeting she reminded the attorneys in the room that what you put up on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or a blog is out there for all the world to see. She recounted the time an attorney asked for a continuance due to the death of a family member -- the only problem was the attorney had been posting updates on Facebook about quite the rowdy weekend.
Just as I warn my clients to watch what they put up on their Facebook pages while a case is pending, we need to be careful what we put up for the world to see. Much like those pictures your client posted of his drunken weekend on the beach, your comments will linger in the ether of cyberspace long after you've forgotten what you were talking about.
I love how she had to cut off all comments a while back because she was getting people telling her what they thought about her.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the ABA should run an article on how she can ethically preside over asbestos and silica cases where her father was the one who marketed his x-ray services and solicits the cases...