Judge's "Friendship" With Attorney on Social Media Does Not Require Disqualification
We have written in the past about how court's have interpreted social media "friendship," particularly in the legal or ethical sense when there is a question about bias or impartiality. A Florida Supreme Court recently issued a ruling weighing in on this issue involving an attorney's Facebook "friendship" with a judge who was assigned to one of the attorney's cases.
A law firm had filed a motion to disqualify the judge in a case because the judge was Facebook "friends" with opposing counsel. The judge denied the motion, ruling that the mere fact that a judge is friends with an attorney appearing before the judge does not, alone, disqualify the judge from a case. That ruling was appealed and made its way to the Florida Supreme Court which upheld the judge's ruling. The Court stated that the fact that a judge and an attorney are Facebook friends, without more, does not provide a basis for a well-grounded fear that the judge cannot be impartial or that the judge is under the influence of the attorney. The Court emphasized that a social media "friend" may or may not be a "friend" in the traditional sense, noting that social media users may have thousands of social media "friends" that are more casual and less permanent in nature than traditional friendships. The Court cited numerous bar association and ethics opinions that also ruled that a social media friendship, without more, does not establish bias or influence that would require disqualification.
You can read the opinion here.
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