Social Media and the New York Rules of Professional Conduct: Is LinkedIn Attorney Advertising?

Introduction

Lawyers who maintain active social media presences should be aware of recent opinions by ethics committees in New York discussing the extent to which lawyers’ postings on the social media page LinkedIn constitute attorney advertising. These committees have addressed the extent to which lawyers’ social media postings subject them to regulation for attorney advertising within the meaning of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC). N.Y. City Formal Op. 2015-7; N.Y. Cty. Formal Op. 748 (2013). For example, is the mere listing of biographical information on LinkedIn sufficient to constitute attorney advertising such that the copy ...