Professional Responsibility in the Age of Zoom

The COVID-19 global pandemic has fundamentally altered the shape of the global economy. From countless businesses furloughing or shutting down, to others turning on a dime to a fully work-from-home environment, our notions of how and where work is done have shifted profoundly and at breakneck speed. One of the largest changes has been the rise of video teleconferencing, which has transitioned from an occasional tool of convenience to the backbone of countless modes of human activity, including from social and family interactions, to classes and conferences, and, most importantly, for this article, attorney-client communications.

With the unprecedented rise in the use of platforms like Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Microsoft Teams (e.g. Zoom has grown from 10 million to 200 million active users in the last three months) ("Zoom's daily active users jumped from 10 million to over 200 million in 3 months," VentureBeat (April 2, 2020)), attorneys are increasingly turning to these platforms to provide various legal services to clients, both inside and outside the courtroom. While these technologies have proven invaluable in ensuring a continuity of legal services, as security vulnerabilities continue to be discovered, the legal community must consider the ethical implications of delivering remote legal services at scale.