Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, December 16, 2013 will be a discussion of ethical issues in social media. The discussion will be based upon a video presentation available here.  The discussion is designed to help lawyers and law firms understand the professional ethics rules and other state bar regulations governing the use of social media, with a special emphasis on the first amendment constraints around these rules and specific examples of the use (and misuse) of current social media platforms.

Topics will include:

• • Rules of Professional Conduct: The ABA model rules, state-specific examples, what they mean for online communications.
• • The Commercial Speech Doctrine: Understanding lawyer’s first amendment rights, and how the commercial speech doctrine defines how expansively attorney advertising regulations can be read.
• • Social Media: Social media (twitter, facebook, blogging, etc.) raises a host of issues with respect to advertising rules. Topics will include thoughts on ways to use these tools while still complying with advertising and solicitation rules.

All are invited to join us in our discussion during the SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, December 16, 2013 at Noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of California ethics MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Noelle Smith by 9 am Monday morning.