Why federal judge fined Alston & Bird $10K for conducting jury research on LinkedIn

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Why federal choose fined Alston & Hen $10K for conducting jury analysis on LinkedIn

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 30, 2025, 11:58 am CDT

U.S. District Choose William H. Orrick has fined Alston & Hen $10,000 for violating his standing order that bars legal professionals from researching potential jurors by their LinkedIn pages.

The explanation for the order: LinkedIn sends notifications to customers when somebody has considered their profile, and Orrick considers that to be a prohibited juror contact earlier than trial.

Orrick, a choose within the Northern District of California, imposed the effective in an Oct. 28 order, Law360 reviews.

“To my thoughts, data that an individual discloses in a publicly accessible method is truthful sport for legal professionals getting ready for voir dire,” Orrick wrote. “Attorneys have an moral obligation to not contact potential jurors, nonetheless, in order that they should be cautious to not inadvertently use an investigative approach that notifies a juror that their data is being reviewed.”

When Alston & Hen employed a jury marketing consultant in a patent infringement case towards its consumer GoPro, the regulation agency failed to inform the marketing consultant in regards to the standing order. The marketing consultant employed an investigator who used LinkedIn for analysis in addition to different publicly accessible data.

When a lawyer at Alston & Hen realized the standing order had been violated, she “did the accountable factor,” Orrick mentioned. She notified Orrick and shared the knowledge she acquired with opposing counsel. She didn’t give the knowledge to the lawyer at her regulation agency conducting voir dire.

Orrick let the trial proceed however fined Alston & Hen, saying he stays satisfied that his standing order is acceptable.

GoPro was ordered to pay $8.2 million in damages within the infringement go well with filed by Contour IP Holding, Law360 reviews. The quantity is way lower than the $174 million sought by Contour.

A spokesperson for Alston & Hen didn’t instantly reply to the ABA Journal’s request for remark.

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