Social Media “Friending” Between Judges and Lawyers -

Law Offices of Herssein and Herssein PA et al. v. United Services Automobile Association, 229 So.3d 408 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2017).

Risk Management Issue: What are the dangers when an attorney is a social media “friend” of a judge?

The Case: A Florida law firm sued its former client, USAA, for breach of contract and fraud. The law firm accused one of USAA’s executives of witness tampering and indicated the executive was a potential witness and potential defendant. USAA hired a former circuit court judge to represent it in the suit. The law firm filed a motion to disqualify the trial judge because the former circuit court judge was Facebook “friends” with the trial court judge. The motion alleged that the law firm had a well-grounded fear in not receiving a fair and impartial trial. The trial court denied and the law firm appealed.