Tweeting in the courtroom: Lawyers need to learn about Twitter

With the way Twitter is becoming a part of our culture, I think lawyers should have at least a rudimentary knowledge of what it is and how it works. Now that Tweeting is being allowed in the courtroom, I see even more reason for lawyers to get up to speed on micro-blogging. Even though most lawyers do not appear in court, Twitter is something that more and more of their clients will be using.

Examples of Twitter in the court . . .  Click to see the Tweeting of a reporter from a sentencing trial in Spokane. And just last week a Colorado judge approved Twitter use. From an an article in The Colorado Independent:

Prosecutors and defense attorneys wanted bloggers silenced in the courtroom next week, but a Boulder judge ordered Monday that cell phones and computers won’t be banned from the child-abuse trial of Alex Midyette, the Boulder Daily Camera reports. The attorneys argued that live-blogging and Tweeting the sensational case could tip witnesses to proceedings before they testified, thus impeding a fair trial. “I think there are other manageable options and less restrictive options than shutting down the flow of information during the trial,” Boulder District Judge Lael Montgomery said.

More comments about court Tweeting at Social Media Law Student.