Family Law

Client Criticizes Her Own Lawyer on Twitter

By Ben Stevens

Family law attorneys have to have thick skins.  Think about it – in virtually every case, one of the parties doesn't like you very much.  In contested cases, it can sometimes reach the level of hatred.  Recall that I was called "the devil" by a party in open court several years ago.  However, in light of what has happened to Randall Kessler, I don't feel too bad.

In case you aren't familiar with Mr. Kessler, he is a very well-known family law attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, and he is generally regarded as an outstanding lawyer.  Unfortunately, one of his celebrity divorce clients recently posted the following to her 19,305 followers on Twitter:  "My lawyer = horrible. Need the name/number of a good one in Atlanta."

What makes this even worse is that the tweet was sent just days after Mr. Kessler publicly praised his client as a "faithful wife and loving mother.  The client claims that she did not intend for the tweet to be read by all of her followers, and she later posted a comment on her page with an apology.  When asked whether he still represents this particular client, Mr. Kessler (to his credit) responded "we represent her, and will not comment on attorney-client relationship beyond that,"

The moral to this story is that you should not write (or especially post online) anything that you would not feel comfortable being read in open Court in front of the trial judge.  Folliwing this "common sense" rule should minimize the chances of embarrassing yourself or even damaging your case.

Sources:  "Client Trashes Her Celebrity Lawyer on Twitter" by Molly McDonough, published at  ABA Journal.comLaw News Now; and "Client Dumps Divorce Lawyer on Twitter" by Carolyn Elefant, published at the Law.comLegal Blog Watch.

Full post as published by SC Family Law Blog on July 03, 2009 (boomark / email).