When I first wrote about “L’Affaire Colangelo,” the social media-based soap opera involving Bryan Colangelo, former-Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations, my focus was on its lesson: that lawyers and their staff should never share confidential client information with family members or others. Otherwise, such “unguarded talk” could lead to very serious consequences, as Colangelo’s demise confirmed.

But as I said then, there were other lessons for attorneys in Colangelo’s rapid fall. These lessons become clear when you consider some of Colangelo’s quotes in response to the revelations that five Twitter accounts linked to him had disclosed sensitive or confidential information about his team and its players.

  • “Like many of my colleagues … I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news.”
  • “I have never posted anything whatsoever on social media.”
  • “I vigorously dispute … that my conduct was in any way reckless.”
  • “At no point did I ever purposely or directly share any sensitive, nonpublic … information.”