The New York State Bar Association's Committee on Professional Ethics has addressed the issue of the use by attorneys of information mined from social media Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace in a legal case.

The committee issued an opinion (Opinion No. 843) stating: "As long as the lawyer does not ‘friend' the other party or direct a third person to do so, accessing the social network pages of the party will not violate Rule 8.4 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (prohibiting deceptive or misleading conduct); Rule 4.1 (prohibiting false statements of fact or law); or Rule 5.3(b)(1) (imposing responsibility on lawyers for unethical conduct by non-lawyers acting at their direction."

With the explosion in the use of social media (Facebook reports it has more than 500 million active users), questions have been raised as to how far attorneys can go to find and use information gathered from these sites.

With its ruling, the committee is saying that anything found in public view - on a person's Facebook page for example - is fair game. However, adding the person to one's friend list, or in some other way deceptively gaining access to private portions of an individual's social networking information, would violate one or more of the NYS Rules of Professional Conduct.

For the committee's full opinion, visit www.nysba.org/ethics.

Savino to present for state bar

Attorney William Savino will present "How to Conduct the Direct Examination of an Expert" with Louis Cercone, CPA, for the state bar association. It's scheduled Nov. 18 at the Holiday Inn in Amherst and qualifies attorneys who attend to earn 7.0 MCLE credits. Savino, a senior partner at Damon Morey who chairs the business litigation department, will conduct a mock courtroom examination of Cercone as part of the presentation.

"There is no better way to learn how to present evidence than watching it done in person and in real time," he said.

UB GOLD Group to host ethics event

The University at Buffalo Law Alumni Association's GOLD Group, in conjunction with Buffalo State College, will host Carolyn Lamm at a reception and ethics CLE program Oct. 25. She is immediate past-president of the American Bar Association and a partner at White & Case LLP in Washington, D.C. She was named among the 50 Most Influential Women in Law in 2007 and one of Washington's Top 30 Lawyers in 2009. The event will include breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m. followed by an hour-long CLE titled "The Role of Lawyers in Today's Changing World." Location is Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave. It is free and open to the public. Attendees can earn 1.0 CLE credit in the area of ethics and professionalism.

Jaeckle attorney to speak at workshop

Charles Grieco, administrator of the environmental practice group at Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, will discuss Form Based Zoning at the Municipal Dollars and Sense Workshop. The program, sponsored by TVGA Consultants, is scheduled for Oct. 22 at Michael's Banquet Facility in Hamburg. For information or to register, call Jill Sawyer at 716-655-8842.

Compiled by Matt Chandler