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MCLE

Dec. 1, 2011

What Are "Friends" For?

Although Facebook and Twitter have become mainstream in the legal community, they still entail troublesome ethical issues.

Picture the following: A savvy trial lawyer is busily preparing the defense of a high-profile personal injury case. She has attempted to investigate the plaintiff's post-injury conduct - including on-site surveillance - but has come up empty-handed. Though the plaintiff has a Facebook Web page, his privacy settings let the lawyer see only basic information. But then the lawyer gets a brainstorm: She asks a colleague to send the plaintiff a "friend" request on Facebook, hoping the plai...

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