Acceptable Use Policy for Employee Use of the Internet & Social Media

This policy sets out guidelines for acceptable use of the Internet and Social Media by employees of Lawpoint.

The primary purpose for which access to the internet is provided by Lawpoint to its employees is to assist them in carrying out the duties of their employment. They may also use the Internet for reasonable private purposes which are consistent with this Acceptable Use Policy.

Employees must not use the Internet access provided by Lawpoint in such a way as to significantly interfere with the duties of their employment or to expose Lawpoint to cost or significant risk of liability.

Employees must not use Social Media in a way which is unlawful, offensive or otherwise brings Lawpoint into disrepute.

Lawpoint may modify this policy upon 30 days’ notice in writing to its employees.

This policy applies to all employees and contractors of Lawpoint, whether full time, part time or casual.

1. Acceptable use of Internet

1.1

Subject to the balance of this policy, employees may use the internet access provided by Lawpoint for:

Work-related purposes;
Sending and receiving personal email messages, provided that if email messages are sent with a Lawpoint email address in the From: or Reply-To: header, Lawpoint may require a disclaimer to accompany the email in the form and manner specified by Lawpoint and such disclaimer shall not be amended or deleted without the express written authorisation of Lawpoint;
Accessing the World Wide Web for personal purposes;
Provided in each case that the personal use is moderate in time, is predominantly undertaken during the employees own time, does not incur cost for Lawpoint and does not interfere with the employment duties of the employee or his or her colleagues.

2. What is not acceptable use of the Internet?

2.1

Except in the course of an employee’s duties or with the express permission of Lawpoint, the internet access provided by Lawpoint may not be used for:

personal commercial purposes;
sending unsolicited bulk email;
disseminating confidential information of Lawpoint including confidential information of Lawpoint’s clients, suppliers, contractors or employees;
any illegal purpose;
knowingly causing interference with or disruption (or being reckless as to the fact) to any network, information service, equipment or any user thereof;
disseminating personal contact information of employees of Lawpoint without their consent;
knowingly causing any other person to view content which could render Lawpoint liable pursuant to equal opportunity or sex discrimination legislation at the suit of that person;
knowingly downloading or requesting software or media files or data streams that the employee has reason to believe will use a greater amount of network bandwidth than is appropriate;
receiving or disseminating material which causes or is likely to cause offence to an ordinary reasonable reader or viewer of the material, whether or not the material is intended to be viewed only by a particular person or persons nominated by the employee or by the employee him/herself; or
publishing by sending any email or making any comment howsoever made, which is likely to defame any person;
receiving or disseminating material which contains pornographic, sexually explicit and/or lewd photographs, video or language (whether written or spoken).

3. Acceptable use of Social Media

3.1

Subject to the balance of this policy, employees may use social media:

for professional purposes including having a LinkedIn account for networking or career development and/or to disclose employment details or for raising awareness about the work of Lawpoint. For example, sharing content from official Lawpoint social media accounts;
for personal purposes provided in each case that the personal use is moderate in time, is predominantly undertaken during the employees own time, does not incur cost for Lawpoint and does not interfere with the employment duties of the employee or his or her colleagues.

3.2

All use of social media must be lawful. That means that the use of social media (whether personal use or professional use) must not at any time be in breach of state, territory or federal laws.

3.3

Use of social media must at all times be in accordance with the terms of use and rules of each specific social media site being used.

3.4

When using social media employees must:

not infringe on intellectual property rights;
unless authorised, not use Lawpoint’s resources;
not create or access content that is or is likely to an ordinary reasonable reader or viewer of the material to be considered:
- racist;
- sexist or of a sexual nature;
- fraudulent;
- threatening;
- bullying;
- obscene;
- defamatory;
- misleading;
- deceptive; or
- profane, whether obscured by symbols or not.
not create or post content which affects confidence in Lawpoint or brings, or has a tendency to bring, Lawpoint into disrepute;
not make any negative or derogatory comment about any staff member, client, supplier, contractor or partner of Lawpoint;
not criticise or otherwise make negative comments about any product of any client of Lawpoint or prospective client of Lawpoint;

3.5

Online participation in social media should reflect and uphold the values, integrity and reputation of Lawpoint. Employees are not authorised to speak on behalf of Lawpoint or its clients unless specifically authorised to do so in their role.

3.6

Employees must not breach this policy in their social media use merely on the basis that the use is anonymous or via a pseudonym. Even if employees do not identify themselves online, they could be identified by other people. Posts can be traced back to individual employees and they can be identified as an employee of Lawpoint even if they were posted anonymously or using a pseudonym. An employee can still breach this policy even if the post was made anonymously or using a pseudonym.

3.7

Employees are to be mindful that even private messages or posts can be saved, screenshot and made public – with little potential for recourse. This policy applies to private messages or posts made on social media that subsequently become public, even if you did not intend them to become public.

4. Ethical Considerations

4.1

Your ethical obligations as a solicitor apply at all times, even when you are using social media.

4.2

As officers of the court, solicitors have less leeway than laypeople when utilising social media. While social media generally involves a less formal and more robust level of engagement, solicitors remain officers of the court even when engaging on such platforms and should refrain from adopting a lower standard of conduct.

4.3

Regardless of the platform used, the jurisdiction in which it is hosted or the ability to anonymise a user’s identity, solicitors remain beholden to their ethical duties in the same way that they are in any other forum. A solicitor must not use social networking sites at any time (whether during or outside work hours) to discriminate, harass, bully or victimise employees, clients or contractors of the solicitor. Breaches of duties which occur on social media platforms or cyber-space are punishable in the same way as breaches which occur in the physical world.

4.4

Colleagues, clients, potential clients and even members of the bench may become aware of comments and posts made by solicitors. The possibility for reputational damage, to a firm, individual practitioner, or indeed the profession as a whole is real and not remote.

4.5

Social media activity has no exemption from the laws of contempt or the duty to avoid bringing the profession into disrepute.

4.6

Under no circumstances is an employee of Lawpoint to:

make public comment, whether on social media or any other forum, providing any running commentary or comment in relation to active files, whether before the court or otherwise;
criticise any judicial officer or court. This does not prevent an employee from analysing a decision in a professional way, which may include disagreeing with the ratio of the decision in a respectful and professional manner;
criticise or otherwise admonish any other legal practitioner with whom the firm is dealing;
disclose any confidential information, including the identity of a client (see below for further guidance);
post any content in which a client or former client’s identity is ascertainable without the express consent of that client.

4.7

The duty to maintain client confidentiality extends to activity on social media, and employees should be aware of the fact that confidentiality can be breached more easily when using social media. For employees of Lawpoint, the very act of updating their status or tweeting their own or their clients’ whereabouts can result in a breach of this duty.

4.8

Prior to any social media activity, employees should consider whether or not they are divulging sufficient information to breach client confidentiality. For example there are seemingly innocent posts such as:

tweeting a photo of a yourself and a client outside a Local Court, on the day of the criminal court sittings, with the comment ‘great result today!’;
an employee posting their joy at securing a particular client;
a post about an important meeting, with a photo of the building in which the meeting is taking place;
a photo of a client with an employee at a social event, whether or not that event is hosted by the employee.

4.9

Each of these scenarios could result in a breach of confidentiality by revealing the client, the nature of the work being done or through telegraphing a client’s likely intent.

4.10

While a client can authorise such disclosures by providing their express informed consent beforehand, Lawpoint policy is that no such posts are to be made by employees during their employment with Lawpoint.

4.11

An employee must not make any post or comment on social media or in any public forum that:

includes a photo of a client;
identifies the client by name;
identifies any relative of a client-particular care should be given to avoid identifying children especially those involved in family law proceedings.

4.12

If testimonials from clients are obtained, the written consent of the client should be obtained first. Any client testimonials which an employee wishes to use must be approved (as to form and content) by the Principal prior to a solicitor making use of those testimonials.

4.13

Statements on an employee’s social pages, including LinkedIn, as to experience, abilities and expertise must avoid hyperbole and be an accurate reflection of the ability and experience of the employee.

5. Offering legal advice on social media

5.1

Employees must not offer any legal advice on social media.

5.2

Care should also be taken in this forum in that an unintended solicitor-client relationship may be created on social media channels where a member of the public or ‘friend’ seeks an answer to a legal or quasi-legal question which is answered by a solicitor.

5.3

Inaccurate or out-of-date information in a post or article may result in an action for negligence against the firm or a complaint to the Legal Services Commissioner against the solicitor.

5.4

Blog posts and technical articles which an employee wishes to publish on social media or other channels such as LinkedIn must be submitted to the Principal for review before being published to ensure accuracy and to ensure that the appropriate disclaimers are included in the posts or articles.

6. Considering of unacceptable use

6.1

Lawpoint may keep monitor logs of internet usage which may reveal information such as which Internet servers (including World Wide Web sites) have been accessed by employees, and the email addresses of those with whom they have communicated.

6.2

Lawpoint may also monitor social media to manage its and its clients’ respective online reputations.

6.3

Responsibility for use of the internet and social media that does not comply with this policy lies with the employee using it, and such employee must indemnify Lawpoint for any direct loss and reasonably foreseeable consequential losses suffered by Lawpoint by reason of the breach of policy.

6.4

Lawpoint will review any alleged breach of this Acceptable Use Policy on an individual basis.

6.5

If the alleged breach is of a sufficiently serious nature then the employee may be summarily dismissed. Other potential action includes:

suspension;
formal warning or reprimand;
reassignment of duties; and
restriction on use of internet and social media during business hours