Ride the Lightning

Louisiana is the 35th State Requiring Lawyers to be Tech Competent

January 7, 2019

Thanks to Bob Ambrogi for his post letting us know that Louisiana has amended its Code of Professionalism for lawyers with two provisions related to technology which provide:

“I will use technology, including social media, responsibly. My words and actions, no matter how conveyed, should reflect the professionalism expected of me as a lawyer.”

“I will stay informed about changes in the law, communication, and technology which affect the practice of law.”

This is a bit different than the way other states have added a duty of tech competence (most states have adopted some variation of Comment 8 to the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct but then Virginia went a bit maverick with the ABA rules as well). The ABA's comment says that a lawyer’s responsibility to keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice extends to “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.”

The changes came about as the result of a Louisiana State Bar Association committee appointed to study and recommend updates to the Code of Professionalism, which was originally adopted in 1992. The LSBA approved the committee’s recommended updates in January 2018 and they were subsequently approved by the Louisiana Supreme Court in March 2018.

Although Louisiana has adopted the ABA Model Rules, it has not formally adopted the comments. Even so, these professionalism pledges create an obligation for lawyers to stay abreast of changes in technology and to use technology responsibly. As Bob points out, the net effect is much the same.

E-mail:    Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Information Security/Information Technology
https://www.senseient.com
https://twitter.com/sharonnelsonesq
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharondnelson
https://amazon.com/author/sharonnelson