Ethics of Tweeting and Blogging

I spoke on a panel today about the ethics issues that lawyers may face when blogging, tweeting or using LinkedIn. One of the panelists, Jeff Geiger, a partner at SandsAnderson in Richmond, VA commented that law firms need to have a policy for employees that use social media and networking. It seemed that most lawyers in the audience did not blog or tweet but were interested in how these tools could be used to market legal services. I talked about whether blogs and tweets were subject to bar rules regarding lawyer advertising and the importance of not revealing client information (without client consent) or giving legal advice through this type of media.