As social media sites including Facebook and Twitter develop into mainstream mediums to promote one’s practice, lawyers and law firms must give thought to the ethical implications associated with social media.
If you have questions about the ethics of using social media and new technology to market yourself or your firm, then you should attend the 2013 Professionalism Symposium.
Another benefit to attending the symposium is the opportunity to earn ethics continuing legal education (CLE) credits. Florida attorneys are required to earn 30 CLE credits every three years, and five of the 30 hours must be in the area of ethics. If you attend the symposium, you can earn four CLE credits in the area of ethics.
The Jacksonville Bar Association will sponsor and host the symposium from 1-5 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Duval County Courthouse.
The symposium is scheduled every two years, and it is intended to provide judges, attorneys, new practitioners and law students a forum to discuss and learn about how members of the legal community can improve ethical and professional conduct. Members of the bench and Bar will present information about current ethical issues that arise both in and out of the courtroom and how to effectively respond to those issues.
The symposium debuted in 2007 and has historically been very successful with more than 400 attendees on average, including more than 60 judges from the federal and state courts. We expect an equally impressive turnout for this year’s symposium. We already have received numerous responses from federal and state judges indicating their commitment to and presence at the symposium and registration forms are starting to flow in.
We are pleased that Tom Spahn will be the keynote speaker. Using hypotheticals, he will provide an intensive and interactive analysis of the ethics rules governing law firm marketing issues, individual lawyer marketing issues, direct mail marketing, solicitation and the use of technology in lawyer marketing.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan of the Middle District of Florida will speak about ethical issues impacting the profession and his observations from the bench.
The symposium will include an opportunity for attendees to participate in one of four interactive breakout sessions. The topics include family, criminal, civil, and government law. During each session, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and get feedback from the panelists. Participants also will be able to attend a judicial panel in which state and federal judges will share their observations from the bench on ethics and professionalism issues.
The symposium is open to law students as well and will be an opportunity for them to meet members of the local judiciary and Bar and to learn about many of the ethical issues facing lawyers today.
You can obtain a registration form from The JBA website, www.jaxbar.org.