VIRAL TEMPTATIONS: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HAS RESHAPED CIVILITY AND ETHICS IN LEGAL PRACTICE.

The article examines how social media has transformed civility and ethics in legal practice, highlighting the challenges lawyers face in maintaining professional conduct online. It discusses key American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct—such as Rules 1.1 (competence), 3.6 (trial publicity), 8.2 (false statements about judges), and 8.4 (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice)—and illustrates how social media use can lead to ethical violations, including attempts to influence jurors, deceptive online conduct by prosecutors, and anonymous disparaging comments. The article also addresses the duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI), emphasizing that ephemeral messaging platforms like Snapchat and Signal pose new risks for evidence spoliation. Additionally, it reviews instances where lawyers and legal professionals faced career consequences for uncivil or inflammatory political commentary on social media. To address these issues, the article recommends that attorneys develop technological competence, advise clients on digital conduct, pause before posting, maintain professional boundaries online, implement institutional social media policies, and integrate social media strategy into case management. Ultimately, it argues that digital civility is essential to preserving the legal profession’s integrity and public trust in the digital age. [Extracted from the article]