Legal Research

Too Much Information: The Dangers of Blogging About Your Client

By Dan Pinnington

If you are not careful, the Internet can be a dangerous place that can expose you to malpractice claims. LAWPRO Magazine has featured articles on Social media pitfalls to avoid and how there may be no coverage for some online activities: Danger Signs: Five activities generally not covered by your LAWPRO policy.

Another recent LAWPRO Magazine article on Practice pitfalls contains a section on Internet liability, which points out that ?statements that lawyers make on the Internet, whether on law firm or other websites, or on social media sites such as Facebook, are a significant potential growth area for claims.?

On his The Trial Warrior blog, Toronto lawyer Antonin Pribetic has a great post that contains sage advice on the dangers of breaching client confidentiality with a blog post — Too Much Information: Blogging about your client.

Not only does the post contain great practical advice; it backs it up by citing relevant rules and commentary from the Law Society of Upper Canada?s Rules of Professional Conduct.

?In the end,? Pribetic concludes, ?ask yourself this question: why am I writing this blawg post about my client’s case? If the answer is ego-fulfillment, self-promotion or catharsis, stop typing and delete the post. Even if your reasons are altruistic, get your client’s express consent first, and then save your draft and post after the final judgment is rendered and all appeals are exhausted.?

If you have a blog you should read Pribetic’s Too much information: The dangers of blogging about your client post.

Cross posted on Avoid a Claim

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on September 28, 2010 (boomark / email).