Attorneys must watch what they say when responding to negative reviews.

A Florida lawyer who was blasted by what he considered to be an unfair, negative review by a client on Avvo.com, felt compelled to defend himself, and skated awfully close to violating the client confidentiality rule.

Consider it a cautionary tale from Shanell Schuyler, director of ACAP/Intake at The Florida Bar, who reviewed a grievance against the lawyer.

She advises all lawyers to "develop a thick skin," take the high road, and stay professional when confronted by negative online reviews.

As Schuyler described the situation, the case had gone through the review process, and her investigation was complete, when the complainant wrote a negative review on Avvo. com.

The lawyer responded by saying he disagreed, denied the client's account, and went on to detail: "She didn't tell you how I successfully and zealously represented her in another matter." But the complainant's review didn't say anything about defending the other matter.

"He was pushing up against revealing a client confidentiality," Schuyler said. "It went awfully close."

In this case, Schuyler called the attorney and cautioned him about responding to negative reviews.

She explained that Rule 4-1.6(c)(2) says an attorney may reveal client information to the extent necessary "to establish a claim or defense on behalf of the lawyer in a...