Social media poses a multitude of challenges for legal professionals. Not only can social media content undermine a party's argument in court, but its growing use in corporations brings up compliance and e-discovery issues as well.

And the issues do not stop there. As speakers at Legalweek West's “Social Media: Ethics and Records Considerations” panel noted, social media can pose the most trouble for attorneys who use it themselves.

This is because those in legal have contend with a hard reality: Attorneys do not become private citizens on social media, and any unethical online behavior will likely be uncovered and lead to reprimands or damage their careers.