Let’s Be Friends? FL Supreme Court Asked to Decide Whether Lawyers and Judges Can Be Facebook Pals

From our good friend, Karen Rubin, at Thompson Hine, writing for The Law for Lawyers Today (which actually isn’t just for lawyers):

The Third District Florida court of appeals got some press this summer when it affirmed an order refusing to disqualify a judge who was Facebook friends with one of the lawyers in a case before her.  The court wrote that “a ‘friend’ on a social networking website is not necessarily a friend in the traditional sense of the word,” and therefore being “friends” was not disqualifying, “without more”  — namely a well-grounded fear of partiality.

Now, the law firm on the losing end of that case has asked the Florida Supreme Court to accept an appeal, citing a split on the issue among Florida state appellate courts.

Cases and ethics opinions — some not very friendly

Some of the cases and ethics opinions on Facebook friendships between judges and lawyers have been friendly to the concept, in a qualified way — that is, when there is no other factor that would suggest impropriety or possible lack of impartiality on the part of the judge.

For instance, the professional conduct board in my home state of Ohio advised in a 2010 opinion that nothing in the state’s judicial code bars a judge from being friends – online or offline – with lawyers, even those who appear before the judge.  However, the board said, a judge should disqualify himself or herself when the judge’s social networking relationship with a lawyer creates bias or prejudice concerning the lawyer for a party.  New York has a similar judicial ethics opinion.

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