Lawyers like to argue about many things. Today I’m picking just one of these - Social Media. To some it’s a life source, to others the scourge of modern society. That, of course, depends on its use, since a knife is a perfect tool for preparing food and eating, and also a perfect tool for causing dreadful injuries and death. Just recently Meta were taken to court and settled for up to $18bn to resolve claims with US states and territories that Facebook and Instagram harmed children. To me that sounds like a positive outcome, even though my understanding was that nobody under 80 used Facebook, although Instagram I am told is definitely still a thing.
Recently it has been suggested to me that I join the social media craze, but actually I realise it’s not a craze. Tulips were a craze in the 1630s (I wasn’t alive then), Hula Hoops were a craze in the 1950s (or even then) and Tamagotchis were a craze in the late 90s, early noughties (by which stage I was too old for them). Social media, however, is beyond a craze. It’s a constant part of life, and I’m being told I should join the party.
Lawyers, especially barristers, get into a riot inside their own heads about social media because of the cab rank rule, which effectively says you must take any case, however dreadful it may appear, provided (here come the escape clauses) it pays enough, is within your own area of expertise and you have enough time in your busy diary. What, goes the argument, would you do if you had espoused strong views supporting environmentalist direct action only to have JR Ewing knocking on your door seeking an anti-eco-activist injunction? (For younger readers ‘JR’ was the head of the Ewing Oil Company in the long-running series ‘Dallas’).
This precise point was picked up by a number of eminent lawyers learned in the law who suggested some years back that the eco fight was existential and therefore the cab rank rule could go f**k and no way would they prosecute such a case. And of course they said this ‘loud’ on social media.
The only problem with such a bold public display was not actually the social media and cab rank rule issue I’ve mentioned, but rather the fact that none of these lawyers even practised in the field of criminal law, and even if they did would never have accepted the low level of fees offered to those who do such work on a day-to-day basis, and who generally keep their views to themselves. So, ultimately, this was not a brave display after all - less a concept of chutzpah and more one which might more aptly described as bullshit. Perhaps what was really happening was the creation of “clickbait” and the wish to emerge among the rich and famous on the Hollywood Boulevard of social media. Or perhaps I'm missing the point: if it further highlighted the issue we all need to care about - the survival of our planet - then fair play to them, and I take it all back.
Having carefully considered the views on both sides I have concluded that I will indeed join social media (bear with me while I find my feet), and I have chosen TikTok and Instagram as my choices for the moment. I’ll do it for the fun of it and not to seek fame and fortune, since I remember well the song ‘Celluloid Heroes’ by the Kinks (1972, so quite a sweet spot for me): “Everybody's a dreamer, Everybody's a star, And everybody's in show-biz, It doesn't matter who you are. And those who are successful, Be always on your guard, Success walks hand in hand with failure, Along Hollywood Boulevard.”
