September 2023
By: Amber Bevacqua-Lynott
“As lawyers, we are required to operate under a set of ethics rules based upon long-standing principles of acceptable behavior. These rules are highly regimented and not easily or routinely modified. However, we live in a world of rapidly developing technologies—technologies that we are expected to both understand and fully utilize to the extent possible for the benefit of our clients. Yet neither the Oregon State Bar Statement of Professionalism nor the Multnomah Bar Association Commitment to Professionalism speak to the use of technology, let alone the civility that should be employed in its use. That should be remedied.
The present uncertainty
“All the rules that the legal profession relies on to instruct lawyer behavior were forged before the emergence of twenty-first-century technology.” For this reason, it can feel as if the ethics rules fail to keep pace with the real-world requirements of being a lawyer. This is particularly true where these swiftly evolving technologies impact or influence civility in the profession. For example, whereas a dispute between opposing counsel may have been previously hashed out in a telephone call or an exchange of letters, the digital era has facilitated the needless publication and escalation of such disagreements via online platforms. It is as if the cyber medium emboldens people in a way that direct contact, or even direct written correspondence, did not. Add to that the fact that social media and the inundation of extremist viewpoints has desensitized people to consideration of others and their positions, as well as made them comfortable with the disclosure of formerly private information, which is now a routine and voluntary practice. These issues are not addressed under the ethics rules. “