Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility

No. Just Don’t Do. No Googles or Amazons or Siris in A Law Office.

No.

Absolutely not.

Do not do it.

I can’t say it any clearer.

The answer is no.

Don’t do it.

What am I talking about is having Alexa or Google or Siri or any other similar object in your law office.

One attorney I know recently mentioned that it’s very handy to have a Google in his office and that he keeps it there and uses it all the time.… Read the rest

Competence – A crucial requirement for lawyers during, and after, the pandemic

It is incompetent for a lawyer to believe, let alone say or write that “It is illegal [for a lawyer] to text or email anything of substance.” The statement is also completely wrong, legally and ethically.

Yet one lawyer, an ethics “maven” no loss, who writes a column for a major local legal newspaper, actually wrote those completely inaccurate words as part of his lament that – because of COVID-19 – he can no longer work in the same type of law office common in 1973, when he received his law license, you know, when Richard Nixon was President.… Read the rest

When you stick your head in the sand, you get a lousy tasting “sand”wich

The almost overly stale cliché that it is not good to stick your head in the sand applies to so many topics. But for lawyers, or at least a large number of them, mention technology and they want to scream “na na na na na” and ignore you. But more and more, sticking their heads in the sand won’t help lawyers.… Read the rest

New Pennsylvania Policy Will Require Litigants to Remove Confidential Information From Filed Documents

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has adopted a new public access policy for court records that will dramatically change how lawyers file and access documents in all courts in the state. Attorney Daniel J. Siegel, President of Integrated Technology Services, LLC, was a member of the working group whose proposal the Court adopted. The policy, which goes into effect on January 8, 2018, will require litigants to remove confidential and sensitive information from documents filed with the courts in civil, criminal and family law cases.… Read the rest

Dan Siegel to Discuss Social Media & Ethics in Pittsburgh & Philadelphia

Need a CLE credit? Or perhaps you have a concern about your use and your clients’ use of social media? Then Dan Siegel’s upcoming program, “Current Issues in Technology, Social Media & Ethics” is for you.

Dan will present this one-hour program at PBI’s Pittsburgh center on Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 3 p.m. Click here for registration and other information.Read the rest

Pa. Bar Association Ethics Committee Provides Guidance to Lawyers About Social Media

The Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility has released an Ethics Opinion on Social Media, explaining to lawyers what they can and cannot do when posting or responding to information and comments on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Avvo and others. The Opinion, one of the first in the country to broadly address these issues, explains (1) the issues confronting attorneys who use social media, (2) the ethical obligations of attorneys using social media, and (3) what attorneys and their staff may and may not do when dealing with information that their clients post on social networking websites.… Read the rest

Attorney Daniel J. Siegel Lectures About Technology & The Law

Attorney Daniel J. Siegel of Havertown, Pennsylvania, has recently presented a number of programs focusing on the intersection of law and technology. In particular, Siegel is scheduled to present a three hour program, “Android for Lawyers” for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on Friday, April 25, 2014 in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1lNl6fb.

Siegel is also a course planner for and is speaking at “The Technology Institute,” to be held on June 11, 2014 in Philadelphia.… Read the rest