Robert Ambrogi – Above the Law – Having now decided to weigh in on this untimely topic, what does the ABA tell us? [This is a must read] “In the classic short story “Rip Van Winkle,” a man fell asleep in 1769 and awoke 20 years later, having slept through the Revolution. One wonders whether the same is true of the authors of Formal Opinion 480, issued March 6 by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. It tackles the ethics obligations around the “newest format” in online publishing by lawyers, blogs, as well as listservs, online articles, website postings, and “brief online statements or microblogs” such as Twitter. It has been 20 years since the launch of the first blog by a lawyer, which was either in 1998 or 1999, depending who is credited as first. During those two decades, a revolution has occurred in how lawyers publish. This blog, Above the Law, stands as testament to that. Last month, in just 28 days, it had 1.5 million unique visitors [aside – this blog crushes the competition!]. Granted, the ABA has a reputation for being a bit behind the curve on technology issues. But in reading this opinion, one has the feeling that someone at the ABA found it in a desk drawer where it had been lost for a decade and decided, “What the heck, let’s publish it.” Having now decided to weigh in on this untimely topic, what does the ABA tell us?…”