The Philadelphia Bar Association recently issued an opinion stating that it is unethical to have a third party friend a witness on Facebook for the purpose of gaining information about that person.

The advisory opinion called third party friending a “deceptive” practice which violates several Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct like: Rule 5.3 – Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants, Rule 8.4 – Misconduct, and Rule 4.1 – Truthfulness in Statements to Others.

You can read the advisory opinion here.

Source: ABA Journal