Litigators do. Or at least they should care about social media. An astounding number of people and companies are sharing important personal and business information on a variety of social media platforms, every day.

From employment to criminal cases, popular media coverage and court opinions have already demonstrated that social media may be relevant in a wide variety of litigations. And the value of social media as a tool in the evidence arsenal is becoming clearer to many litigants, counsel, judges, and even juries. But I still run across a fair number of attorneys who consider the topic interesting but totally irrelevant to the work they do. By telling real-life stories about social media during our presentation at the ABA TECHSHOW, Ernie Svenson and I intend to convince you that litigators shouldn’t (and can’t afford to) ignore social media evidence.

History is the best teacher. So we’ve decided to share stories of litigations, attorneys, and clients affected by inexperience, bad behavior, or simple carelessness involving social media. Some of these people weren’t savvy enough with social media and e-discovery to “cover their tracks.” Others exercised bad judgment with the information they posted for the world to read—and paid for it in litigation. Finally, we’ll share stories of litigation disputes and practices that are testing the bounds of the public/private information divide and ownership disputes over social media accounts. Social media plays a primary role in most of these cases.

So join us at ABA TECHSHOW, on March 29th, for our “Social Media for Litigators” presentation. We hope this presentation will be informative, and that it will inspire you to roll up your sleeves and continue to learn about this cutting-edge topic. We’ll also offer tips on collecting and managing social media in your own litigation practice.

-Antigone Peyton