This area of the LTRC website contains resources concerning the intersection of legal ethics and technology. We have created as complete a reference as possible, but please contact your local ethics body for confirmation of the information you find here and its pertinence to your situation.

Most of the topics below (skip to topics below) are concerned with the use of online technology such as e-mail and web pages in conjuction with the practice of law. Within these topics you will find links to ABA and other bar association resources, as well as other useful websites.

When topics refer to ethics opinions in specific states, the list of opinions is not necessarily complete. It generally will include a selection of ethics opinions available for free from state bar associations or disciplinary bodies.

Current ABA Resources

Ethics and Technology: In Perfect Harmony
An LTRC presentation presented at the 2006 Maryland State Bar Association Solo Conference. Topics discussed include metadata, advertising, disposing of computers, websites, email and other electronic ethical minefields.

Metadata and other things that go bump in the night
An LTRC presentation from 2006. There is data lurking in your data. Some people call it "invisible ink". Microsoft refers to it as "metadata". Either way, the reference is to information in an electronic document that is not always visible. This session will explain the dangers of metadata, how to avoid it, and recent bar association interest in the ethics of exposing or mining metadata.

Ethics and Technology Resources
Resources on ethics and technology compiled by the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility.

ABA Formal Ethics Opinions (Indexed By Subject)
Technology-related index subjects for finding ABA Formal Ethics Opinions include competence, confidentiality, and e-mail.

ABA LTRC Site-tation
The ABA's Site-tation electronic newsletter often has information on ethics and technology topics including metadata and information security issues.

Legal Ethics and Technology
The intersection of technology and legal ethics is the subject of this piece, focusing specifically on competence, confidentiality, and conflicts of interest.

The June 2000 issue of the ABA Journal has two timely articles on ethics and modern technology:

Checkbook Credibility by Terry Carter. With big bucks invested in Web sites designed to pair lawyers with clients, dot-com entrepreneurs are trying to lure legal ethicist to give their seals of approval.

Web Worries of Dot-com Lawyers by David Beckman and David Hirsch. E-practitioners must balance issues of security, ethics, and marketing.

As part of the elawyering task force created by ABA Past President Bill Paul, a conference was held on using technology to enhance legal services in under-served markets. Along with the conference, a Web site was created with links to resources on the future of legal services, case studies, and practice technology.

elawyering: Lawyers Serving Society Through Technology The general home page.

Improving the Delivery of Affordable Legal Services Through the Internet by Will Hornsby. A white paper concerning the ethical implications (and more) of delivering legal services via the Internet by the Staff Counsel of the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services.

Below are links to resources on other technology and ethics-related topics: