“Coping with Social Media” BC Council of Administrative Tribunals 2014 Conference Patrick...

“Coping with Social Media”

BC Council of Administrative Tribunals2014 Conference

Patrick CormierQuebec Bar

CCCT CEO (2011 – 2014)VP Business Development & Sales

Solutions Notarius Inc.

Today

• Social Media 201• CCCT IWG Social Media – Introduction• CCCT IWG Social Media – Survey Results• Interactive Questions

S O C I A L M E D I A 2 0 1

Web 1.0:The Webmaster is King!

Web 2.0:YOU are the King (or Queen)!

“The read-writable web”

“The web as a platform”

How is “social media” defined?

“Social Media web sites are a class of web sitesderiving their primary value

from the interactions taking placeon the site”

Facebook

(screenshots removed)

LinkedIN

(screenshots removed)

YouTube

Wikipedia

Flickr

8:45

(screenshots removed)

Twitter

Coping with Social Media?

USE DO NOT USE

- If directed- Getting closer to family- Facilitate hearings - Enhanced effectiveness- Enhanced efficiency- More fun at work and at home!

- No clear advantage for you or your tribunal- Fails « Globe & Mail » test - Creating an appearance of partiality- Reasonable investment of your time will not yeld the expected benefits- No backup of critical information

Technology & Effectiveness

• The judicial officer and effectiveness– Enhance mastery of facts– Enhance legal research– Enhance implicit knowledge of Information Technology (IT)

(e.g. “judicial notice”, framing of legal issuesand findings of fact)

• Day-to-day and effectiveness– Office suites– Family software– Communications and social media

Technology & Efficiency

• The judicial officer and efficiency– Simplify evidence management, reduce costs– Allow remote appearances– Finding information more quickly

• Day-to-day and efficiency– Researching information (e.g. gmail, google)– Synchronisation (e.g. PDA’s, calendars)– Online reference sites (e.g. wikipedia)

So… Ready for Social Media?

1. Social Media is hard to understand without experimenting

2. It is prudent to use social media with the following precautions (tribunal members):- Do not use your real name, do not use your primary email- Facebook, LinkedIN, Flickr…: DO NOT USE DEFAULT SECURITY PARAMETERS!(e.g.: « Friends only » in Facebook, etc.)- Only publish in accordance with the « Globe & Mail test »

Ready for Social Media? (cont’d)

3. Traditional tribunal ethics stands… The right to independent and impartial tribunals remains. Perceptions matter!

4. Chances are that parties, lawyers, paralegls, media and witnesses will try to find information about you!

Vulnerabilities (examples)Account Action Risk Consequence

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Flickr…(real identity & default parameters)

Publication of legitimate content

Contenu re-used in other context without your permission

May create an appearance of partiality and have an impact on the reputation of the author and/or of the tribunal

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Flickr…(real identity & adjusted parameters)

Account hacked

Illegitimate content published under your name

Account holder (and possibly tribunal) reputation affected; hard to get the account back

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Flickr…(real identity & default parameters)

Facebook friends, LinkedIN and Facebook endorsements

You never know what issues and people will come to your tribunal!

May create an appearance of partiality

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, Flickr…

Publishing content

Content stays online (indefinitely)

What is appropriate today may not be in 5, 10, 20 years…

How can risk be reduced?

C C C T I W G S O C I A L M E D I A

October 2011 CCCT IWG on Social Media

Objectives:

- Assess and determine the needs of courts and develop best practices;

- Consider best practices … use of social media.

December 2012 CCCT IWG on Social Media

1st Deliverable:

“National Guidelines Regarding the Use of Electronic Communication Devices In Court

Proceedings”

December 2013 CCCT IWG on Social Media

2nd Deliverable:

Survey on the Use of Social Mediaby Judicial Officers

2014 CCCT IWG on Social Media

3rd Deliverable:

Discussion paper to explore the implications (includ legal, social and technological) of the use

of social media by “judicial officers”.

CCCT IWG on Social MediaMembership includes:

Santina DiPasqualeJuge administrative

Commissions des lésions professionnellesQuébec

Cheryl VickersChair, Civil Resolution Tribunal

British-Columbia

9:00

S O C I A L M E D I A S U R V E Y

“Judicial Officer”

Provincial Tribunal Members Superior Court JusticesFederal Tribunal Members Court of Appeal Justices

Justices of the Peace MastersProvincial / Territorial Court

JudgesProthonotaries

Average age - Commission lésions prof. 54Average age – Federally appointed judges 62

Type of Participant #Federal & provincial tribunal members 205Federal trial & appellate judges +Provincial judges

380

Masters & prothonotaries 18Justices of the Peace 75

TOTAL 678English: 474French: 204

Terminology

Social Media Policies

Out of the 85% of judicial officers who visit social media sites and work in a court or tribunal that does not have a policy on personal use – whether official or unofficial – 42% believe that it would be useful for their organization to develop such a policy (34% disagree, 24% are unsure).

As for the 79% working where there is no policy on professional use of social media, a stronger 73% believe a policy would be useful (13% disagree, 14% are unsure).

Privacy & Security ConcernsIn regards to perceived risks where limited precautions can be taken by the user of social media, the survey results potentially reflect an elevated concern about security and privacy amongst judicial officers.

When asked about major social media websites like Facebook and LinkedIn, 36% of judicial officers feel that their computer and the electronic documents it contains are secure while using such sites (32% disagree, 31% are unsure).

As for the online account itself, only 24% feel that they are secure (45% disagree, 31% are unsure).

In the context of hearing a case, do you research background

information (other than legal issues) on

social media?

If you do conduct such research, do you

disclose that fact to the parties?

The Case of Justice Nicholas

The Case of Justice Nicholas (cont’d)

http://bit.ly/judges-social-media

I N T E R A C T I V E S Q U E S T I O N S

9:20

Canadian Centre for Court Technologyh t t p : / / c c c t – c c t j . c a

Patrick CormierQuebec Bar

CCCT CEO (2011 – 2014)VP Business Development & Sales

Solutions Notarius Inc.