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Web 2.0 Discovered?

This article in LAW.COM considers the intersection between Web 2.0 communications and pre-trial discovery.  Requests to produce documents may soon include, in addition to more traditional items such as memos and emails, a  request for social or business networking information.  It might be highly relevant to know what's on the corporate wiki or the corporate blog of the opposing party in your lawsuit.  The question is, will such information be susceptible to discovery? 

Social networking sites as litigation tools

From our director Lisa Smith-Butler comes this article from Law.com, Finding Treasures for Cases on Facebook.

At Malbrough & Lirette in Houma, La., a secretary browses MySpace and Facebook Web sites each day.

She's not checking the online social networking sites for personal reasons, but is performing one of her job duties.

. . . .

In one case, Malbrough said she helped secure shared custody for the father after finding his wife had posted sexually explicit comments on her boyfriend's MySpace page. In another case, a husband's credibility was questioned because, on his MySpace page, he said he was single and looking.

. . . .

Steve Balash of Santa Barbara's Balash & Haaland-Ford said that Jessica Binkerd was sentenced in January to five years and four months in prison after she drove under the influence of alcohol and got into a crash in which her passenger was killed.

Balash said he expected Binkerd to get probation, but she received a prison sentence in large part because her MySpace page showed her wearing an outfit with shot glasses and an alcohol advertisement after the accident.

"That's all the judge talked about," said Balash, adding the outfit was a part of a Halloween costume and his client had not been drinking at the time. "He never got past that. He said she learned no lesson and showed no remorse."

Future lawyers should also be careful about what they post on their social networking profiles.  Here are some resources with tips about limiting public availability of your social networking profiles:

• Common Sense Facebook Advice for Students
• How to clean up your digital dirt
• How to use Facebook without losing your job over it
• MySpace, Facebook, and Job Searching