Just saw this in the Philadelphia Bar Reporter, and it's worth at least a brief diary. I'll paraphrase the actual request made of the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Asssociation:
Dear Legal Ethicists:
I just deposed an 18 year old woman as a witness in a case. She's not a party to the litigation, nor is she represented by counsel, and her testimony is helpful to the other side.
During the deposition, she mentioned she has accounts on Facebook and MySpace. [Yes, apparently, people still use MySpace.] I think she has probably posted things that are relevant to the case on her pages, things that I could use to impeach her testimony at trial. But since I'm not her "friend" yet, I can't read what she's posted.
That said, it sure looks like she says "yes" to anyone who sends in a friend request. So can I ask a friend of mine to try to "friend" her so that I can then see what she's posting?
Sincerely,
x
A Lawyer
For the un-paraphrased question and the formal answer, click here. I do think they've got this one right, but I'm definitely curious as to how your trained or untrained eye would explore this one.