11 Great Social Media Videos for Litigators and Litigation Support

by Ken Lopez
Founder & CEO
A2L Consulting

Trial lawyers need to be aware of any viable source of information about law and about trial practice and exhibits. There’s no end to the resources available to trial lawyers and trial consultants on the Web these days. One of the great features of social media is that it is, by and large, free. With this in mind, let's take a look at YouTube, which is a very helpful social network with pages, channels, and subscribers. It has a great many free resources that can help trial lawyers advise their clients on an interesting topic – how social media can and does interact with the law.

Is social media just marketing hype? Is everyone on social media essentially a liar? Here, two experts debate whether social media has anything to add to lawyers’ ability to market themselves and gain legal skills.
Social media and litigation: Social media evidence is becoming increasingly more prevalent in corporate litigation. Here’s an interesting and sprightly account of what evidence can be found on Twitter, YouTube, and the like. Are young people these days less concerned about privacy than people were 30 or 40 years ago?
Social media and the law: Here, an attorney provides a one hour lecture on social media and the law generally. This is a great overview of the issues from intellectual property rights to online torts. When does citation and quotation become plagiarism, for example?
An overview of the current generation’s use of social media: I like this presenter not only because he presents information succinctly, but because he has five-year-old triplet daughters like me. How does “Generation Z,” born after 1995, use social media? They will soon become a significant plurality of lawyers.
Labor and employment law and social media: There are five parts to this talk. You should be able to see all of them if you click through to the video on YouTube. Often, the requirements of human resources law fly in the face of common sense, and that is true when it comes to social media.
Ethics issues for lawyers: Robert Ambrogi, a Massachusetts lawyer and consultant, answers the question, “Are you aware of any cautionary horror stories about the ethics problems caused by lawyers’ use of social media?”
Ethical considerations for lawyers in social media: Some tweets that have gotten lawyers and law students in trouble because they are, well, too honest, and can violate ethics rules or point to embarrassing facts or experiences.
Social media and compliance with basic ethics rules: This 90-minute presentation does a nice job of explaining the various considerations, although the audio could be better.
Divorce and social media: In this area in particular, lawyers and investigators may be mining your personal information to obtain evidence for a divorce case. A lot of personal and highly relevant information can already be out there on Facebook. What are the ethical limitations on this type of activity, and what considerations should lawyers and clients be aware of?
Serving legal documents through social media: Bloomberg covered this interesting topic recently. Will social media change how we litigate? Can service be made via Twitter or Facebook?
Law enforcement has found a new tool to monitor demonstrators and political protesters – social media. Just as Twitter and Facebook are now essential tools for protest movements, law enforcement agencies are monitoring the social media giants and using what they find to make cases against demonstrators.