The Downside or Upside of the Internet

Legal Blog Watch reports on a blog posting entitled Lawyer's Disciplinary Record Haunts Her Six Years Later  which reports on a lawsuit filed by a disciplined attorney because disciplinary records remain online.

This brings up an important point. The internet has changed everything. Legal records were always public records, but they were difficult to find-particularly for non-lawyers. Now that this public information may be on line, many may see it. It can also remain available for years.

So, is this good or bad. I think that it is a good thing. In my book, if information is open to the public that should mean wide open to the public, not partially open. However, this is definitely a change with respect to what open to the public means and law review commentary on this issue is surely needed.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein