By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

The University at Buffalo Law Alumni Association's GOLD Group is presenting the latest in its series of CLE programs: Facebook and Beyond: Discovery in the Electronic Age, Thursday from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Buffalo Club, 388 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

The featured speaker for the event with be Duane Schoonmaker, an attorney with Greco Trapp PLLC and a 1985 graduate of the University at Buffalo Law School. Schoonmacher will address the unique challenges and opportunities presented for e-discovery in the wake of the explosion in social media. Though Facebook has more than 500 million users and sites like MySpace and LinkedIn continue to grow, Schoonmaker says there has been a surprisingly low number of cases involving this type of discovery in New York state.

"I would expect that people are going to start looking at these social media pages and saying, ‘Gee, if someone is claiming they are injured and all you see are happy smiling pictures and talk about going out and doing all kinds of things' (contrary to their alleged medical condition) that will raise some red flags."

Schoonmaker says as these types of discovery issues increase, attorneys need to know how it can impact potential litigation and how to conduct discovery in light of these new mediums of communication.

Though he says there have only been "a couple" of cases involving social media discovery issues in New York state, there is plenty of federal case law on the books. Asked why New York might be lagging behind, Schoonmaker says it could be a generational issue.

"I've been practicing for 25 years now and I'm just beginning to catch up to this," he says. "It is the lawyers who are just beginning to practice now that are all over social media, but for the most part, unless you are 35 and under, it's not been a big part of your world."

The cost for attending the CLE is $15 for UB Law GOLD Group members, $20 for all others. The price includes breakfast, the lecture and all handouts. To RSVP, call the UB Law Alumni office at 645-2107 or register online at www.law.buffalo.edu/AlumniEvent.asp Attendees are eligible to earn 1.0 CLE credit in the area of Skills.