Should Lawyers be Blogging?

One great thing about blogging is everyone can do it. If you can double-click on the Internet icon you can start your own blog.  But just because everyone can blog, doesn’t mean everyone should.  I am specifically talking about lawyers.  Just read the complaint by Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission against Kristine Ann Peshek.  Ms. Peshek was an assistant public defender and, like many of us, an amateur blogger. On Ms. Peshek’s blog (alongside her fascinating bird-watching commentary) were entries about the cases she worked on. Although no names were ever mentioned, she did a poor job of covering up her client’s identities. In one post she wrote, “#127409 (jail identification number) This stupid kid is taking the rap for his drug-dealing dirtbag of an older brother because ‘he's no snitch.’”

Clearly Ms. Peshek was not paying attention in her Professional Responsibility course during law school (then again there probably isn’t a chapter on blogging protocol).  But perhaps there should be some rules.  The legal profession has confidentiality provisions for a reason.  According to a recent New York Times article, “Frank R. Wilson, a lawyer in San Diego, caused a criminal conviction to be set aside and sent back to a lower court because of his blog postings as a juror.”  The problem is law can be very exciting, and if you are a public defender, there are certainly plenty of blog worthy happenings in the workplace. 

One lawyer's blog postings caused a
criminal conviction to be set aside
and sent back to a lower court.

Most attorneys are smart enough not to blog about their clients. But what about lawyers who write about their fellow associates at the firm or the firm’s partners?  Recently Above the Law ran a 3-part series entitled The Curious Case of Randy.  A young attorney (who remained anonymous) wrote in detail about a small firm (which she renamed “pants down”) where she was an associate.  The blog is mostly about the incredibly strange behavior of a certain partner she calls Randy, the head of the firm’s litigation department.  She describes personal details about Randy, such as his boredom with his second wife, his “freak show daughter,” and (my personal favorite) his rare condition, which causes males to lactate (I have to admit that would really be hard not to blog about).  We may not know who Randy is, but I am sure someone reading that blog knows the true identity of Randy.   Do we as attorneys have a duty to fellow lawyers just as we do to our clients?

I am sure most lawyers desire at some point to tell the world about their horrible bosses, or judges, or clients. But perhaps the most disturbing consequence of lawyers blogging is seen in Ms. Peshek’s story.  Her carelessness broke the trust that is so important to develop between a client and their lawyer.  If a client fears that what she shares with her lawyer may be posted on that attorney’s blog, how forthcoming is that client going to be with that attorney?  So, the question arises when the stakes are so high should lawyers really be blogging at all?