Ethics and The Internet: Chat Rooms, Emails and Advertising

The California Bar Journal has a great article from Ellen Peck, who is an ethics guru of sorts, about advertising via chat rooms and unsolicited emails. Some highlights from this article, which is a must read for internet advertisers:

• Trolling a chat room designed for victims of a certain type is not prohibited, but contacting them may be unethical;
• E-mails delivered to prospective clients are not solicitations because they are not delivered by telephone lines;
• Contacting people in a chat room that is not designed for emotional support is probably ethical;
• You do not have to encrypt emails to a client;
• Listserve communications are not ex parte even if judges may be members.

So those are the highlights. You should still read the article, but let me share some thoughts.

I think any contact in a chat room where you are TRYING to get clients should be questioned. I occassionally stop by a chat room or two to talk about mundane things. Some people there know I am an attorney. If one of those people has a question, they can contact me. But, if I start to contact them, I would feel like a telemarketer. Not that telemarketers are inherently bad, but lawyers should strive for a higher ground.

I think the internet may be the last untapped marketing tool. You can make it work for you, but you should do so in a manner that brings honor to the profession. Do not post anonymous ads. Do not go trolling for clients in any forum. Let people know about your services and they will find you.

----Jonathan

Comments

[Red Gobuty]

Jon:

Thanks for your answers. You always seem to be able to get me going on further pursuits of knowledge so I found Reid's blog, various pages on Reid, websites that mentioned Reid and... 20 minutes later and I came across an interesting article here http://www.netlawblog.com/2004/08/ (see August 7) that dealt with email and security. It seems to have been a precursor to Ellen's email. It sort of told me what I needed to know, and naturally raised another question...which is whether the book "Flying Solo" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?pwb=1&ean=9781570736827 is a good read or not.

As for the Wayback Machine (which I had never heard of previously and which I suppose is actually www.archive.org) it's a pretty darn cool concept though not one I'd rely upon. I couldn't find any of my websites archived up there. I like your idea better since having some control of archiving seems prudent. Of course researching Reid led me to believe that technophiles would probably suggest purchasing a separate data backup machine like one Reid discusses called the mirra personal server http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/tch08051.html I guess I'd do something like the Mirra machine if I changed content often or decided to upgrade from my current system of external hard drive and DVD backup. What was cool about the Mirra was that you could set it to automatically back up for you, and it comes with a free SSL encrypted account online where documents you select can be backed up and accessed remotely. This seems a nice feature. Probably some security issues of course.

I think my time is up for the night, but thanks for the post that started it all.

-Red

[Jonathan]

Red -

Let me see if I can answer some of this.

First, as to how to encrypt, go ask Reid Trautz or one of those techno guys. Its out of my area of expertise.

Second, when would it be good practice? That sounds like a good post topic. Actually, probably not. I would encrypt medical records if I sent them by email. However, since I would NEVER send them by email, it wouldnt be a concern. You might want to do it if you were sending very sensitive materials. But, go read my prior post on the email form that you should have clients sign.

Third, you are not wrong. There is a formal opinion. I think the Wayback machine saves them for you, but it is not too hard to save them on your computer. Its worth it to err on the side of caution when dealing with the State Bar and discipline.

Jonathan

[Red Gobuty]

Jon:

I read Ellen's article. I was most interested by your posting in that you denote client emails do not have to be encrypted. Maybe I'm off my jolly rocker here, but I would venture to guess many (if not most) attorneys are unaware of the actual method to encrypt emails. To wit, I know the technology exists, but I have no idea how to do it. I'd be interested to hear/read about cases where this would be considered good practice, and how someone would do so if they wanted. For instance, would HIPPA rules require medical information about a client (sent to opposing counsel through some discovery process) to be encrypted? Even if not, would it make sense to do so?

Additionally, as I read Ellen's article there is a Calfiornia state bar formal opinion that requires all web pages to be saved for a period of two years. This seems ludicrious. Tell me I'm reading it wrong, or that the ruiling was a private matter. I can't imagine dynamic web page content needing to be saved for two years. I would however, be interested in seeing what I just wrote above two years from now. ;-)
-red-