An Update on Lawyers’ Duty of Technological Competence: Part 2 (New York Law Journal)
New York Law Journal, May 3, 2019
An Update on Lawyers’ Duty of Technological Competence: Part 2
“Outside New York, the same rules generally apply to jurors; lawyers are permitted to view the public information posted on a juror or a prospective juror’s social media account unless otherwise prohibited by law or a court order. But lawyers may not send a request to view the private areas of a juror’s social media account or profile, since that would constitute an ex parte communication with a juror….However, the New York City Bar Association has opined that the fact that some social media networks automatically alert a person that their profile has been viewed constitutes an impermissible contact with a juror. See N.Y. City Bar Assoc., Formal Op. 2012-2 (2012). So New York practitioners should determine which social media networks generate these types of messages before even viewing the public social media postings of jurors or prospective jurors.”
