Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – December 13, 2013 Dear Ethics Committee: The office where I work has a busy collections practice. When I am successful in obtaining recovery for my clients, according to our
Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – September 20, 2013 Dear Ethics Committee: I am a solo practitioner who currently is representing one of several beneficiaries in a contentious, litigated estate administration involving a very prominent
Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – August 23, 2013 Dear Ethics Committee: I have heard about attorneys using cloud data storage services, and, although I don’t know exactly what cloud computing is, it seems like
Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – June 21, 2013 Dear Ethics Committee: I understand that LinkedIn is the leading social networking website for professionals. When I created my profile, and when I updated it, I
Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – May 17, 2013 Dear Ethics Committee: I am a newly admitted attorney and will be doing foreclosure work representing institutional lenders. I understand that New Hampshire is a non-judicial
Ethics Corner Article New Hampshire Bar News – February 22, 2013 In November 2012, the NH Bar Association Ethics Committee published a commentary on the importance of timely pre-employment conflict screenings under Rule 1.10 when hiring a
May a lawyer ethically offer discounted legal services through a “group coupon” or “daily deal” service?
The Rules of Professional Conduct do not forbid use of social media to investigate a non-party witness. However, the lawyer must follow the same rules which would apply in other contexts, including the rules which impose duties of truthfulness, fairness, and respect for the rights of third parties. The lawyer must take care to understand both the value and the risk of using social media sites, as their ease of access on the internet is accompanied by a risk of unintended or misleading communications with the witness. The Committee notes a split of authority on the issue of whether a lawyer may send a social media request which discloses the lawyer’s name – but not the lawyer’s identity and role in pending litigation – to a witness who might not recognize the name and who might otherwise deny the request. The Committee finds that such a request is improper because it omits material information. The likely purpose is to deceive the witness into accepting the request and providing information which the witness would not provide if the full identity and role of the lawyer were known.
A New Hampshire lawyer who uses cloud computing must be certain that such use complies with the Rules of Professional Conduct, including, Rule 1.8(c), 1.0(e), 1.1, 1.6, 1.15, 2.1, and 5.3.