In my humble opinion, I really think court reporters and other professionals are sharing a little too much on Facebook and Twitter about their business activities. Every time I see a tweet or a Facebook post where a professional openly discusses their day in specifics, I shutter. I can’t imagine if their client or customer, or even a judge in a courtroom, were to read that post. What would they think? I know I personally would not want to do business with anyone who would share my information or my situation with the Facebook or Twitter world.
What brought me to this blog are a few things I have read recently on Facebook. A real estate professional in my area went into a lengthy discussion about a real estate deal where she represented the buyers that wanted to back out of the deal. This agent, on the Facebook post, went on to explain in detail the buyers’ problem with the property and how ridiculous, she believed, their concerns were. To make this even worse, other real estate professionals chimed in lending their support to her dilemma. In my mind she had been so specific that if the post had been read by these buyers or one of their friends or relatives, there would be no doubt who this “real estate professional” had been representing.
Now, I know I’m up on my soap box, but what really concerned me was reading a post about a reporter who appeared at a deposition and then posted how rude personnel were at the law firm. This reporter even shared the name of the law firm and described the receptionist. That was shocking to me that a “professional” would do this.
I’m obviously using the term “professional” loosely here. I just think a true professional, either in the legal profession or otherwise, has a duty not to share specifics.
For a court reporter this burden is even greater. We are officers of the court and should hold information about cases, law firms, judges, witnesses, et cetera, in the highest regard. I’m no prude and do chuckle when a colleague adds some levity through a post on some nondescript issue, but to go further, I believe, just crosses a line that a true professional should not cross.
Like I said, this is all just my humble opinion. I would love to hear from others what they think is appropriate for a court reporter to share on a post.