In February, a potential client approached second-year lawyer Jnana Settle with a difficult legal question she couldn't answer: Had an employer violated privacy laws by telling all of the potential client's co-workers that she had been out with shingles?

This would have been an easier question for Settle to handle a year ago when she worked in a big downtown Dallas law firm—a mere walk down the hallway to a more senior lawyer's office for consultation would have lead her in the right direction. But now that Settle is making her way as a solo practitioner in suburban Murphy, there are no other lawyers within shouting distance to ask.

So she turned to Facebook, specifically the Texas Lawyers Facebook group, where she posted the question. Within minutes Settle received answers from 20 different different Texas attorneys—most of them concluding that the illness wasn't embarrassing enough to warrant legal protection. Settle ultimately decided to refer the client to an employment attorney.