While Abraham Lincoln is famously quoted as saying “the best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend,” the computer age has managed to warp even this simple message of conciliation. Today, the age of instant communication has made reaching out and becoming “friends” easier (albeit, perhaps less meaningful) than it has ever been, and has introduced new perils to all human interaction, including in the courtroom setting.
These technological developments have impacted all stages of litigation—from e-discovery to trial. They have affected attorney ethics in terms of how, if at all, an attorney can contact a witness or party on Facebook during discovery; how to obtain the e-discovery related generally to the Internet and social media, such as present and prior postings; and how to authenticate social media.
