In part 1 of this two-part series we discussed how the City of San Jose v. Superior Court (Smith) will forever change the nature of public service. In part 2, we will offer practical suggestions to respond to this change.

Yes we know the way from San Jose, but it’s not as simple as just using the telephone. The City of San Jose v. Superior Court (Smith) will forever change the nature of public service. Luckily, there are some practical suggestions that can be offered to respond to this sea change.

For quite some time, my colleagues and I have been anticipating the San Jose decision. The public discourse in favor of "transparency," whether real or politically expedient, caused sufficient concern for us to advise public sector clients to be leery of their reflexive responses on either email or text messages. As we all know, work email is subject to civil discovery and smarter lawyers than I have advised clients to not put something on email they would not want on the front page of the New York Times.

Originally published in Law360.