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Social Media for Attorneys: Dont be a Luddite Lawyer

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Free Legal Research and Information: Law Firm Management,Legal Technology, Corporate Counsel,

Law Firm Marketing,Cases & Codes,Case Summaries

Social Media for Attorneys:

Dont be a Luddite Lawyer

A Thomson Reuters Business

FOR LEGAL PROFESSION
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Social Media for Attorneys:Dont be a Luddite Lawyer

Concerns Attorneys Have About

Social Media

1. Social Media is not relevant to my practice.

2. I dont even know what I should be aware of.

3. I dont know where to begin.

4. Tere are so many choices out there. What do I need to

think about for each one?

5. With all the other demands that come with my law.

practice, I just dont have time for Social Media.

6. Im worried Ill make a mistake.

7. What ethical considerations do I need to be aware of ?

8. Any other considerations?

1. Social media is not relevant to my

practice.

A. Competent Representation

Have you ever received a call or letter rom opposing counsel,

kindly advising you that they discovered an incriminating

photo on your personal injury clients Facebook page that

shows your client perorming ski jumps at a time when theywere allegedly injured and unable to work? Not a un conver-

sation, at least rom your standpoint. Opposing counsel can

hardly contain their glee as they suggest that you agree to settle

or waiver o costs, while you remain verbally nonchalant and

hope that counsel did not just hear you smack your head on

your desk.

Social media is changing the law. Opposing counsel are not

above trolling through your clients social medial accounts

to find anything to use against them. Tis scenario is not just

limited to personal injury. Family law, workers compensation,employment law, trademark inringement, and deamation are

also areas where social media ofen plays a actor. Attorneys

should not only be aware o clients accounts; opposing counsel

may also look at connected accounts.

Are you a Luddite lawyer? Does the term,

social media, cause you to have panic

attacks about privacy and confidentiality?

Or do you have a list of excuses for why you

dont care for social media? Attorneys went

to law school for a reason, right?

Regardless of the reason, attorneys need to

understand how social media works, not only

to competently represent their clients, but

also to benefit their practice.

This guide will walk you through some of

the top concerns attorneys have about social

media, and provide you with a framework ofwhat you need to know about social media,

what to avoid, and how social media can

help your law practice.

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Social media is even creeping into the world o securities and

corporate law, with the SEC now allowing corporate disclo-

sures via witterand other social outlets.

Obviously, as an advocate, your job is to counsel your client

on the best legal strategies or their case. Some o this advice

will be o the dont lose your case by acting like an idiot, in

the real world or online variety. Lawyers are also ofen tasked

with investigating the other side, such as when a skip trace is

perormed to locate assets.

What i the most valuable evidence you could possibly locate

lies in social media? Are you doing your client a disservice by

not understanding the intricacies o tweeting, the snapshot

streams o Instagram, or the persons pining to pin posts

on Pinterest? Te beauty and danger o social media is thatusers are uninhibited about over-sharing. Instagram now, get

arrested or identity thef later, right?

Te ABA has weighed in on this issue. In 2012, the ABA

amended Model Rule 1.1, Comment 8 on Maintaining Compe-

tence so that it reads:

o maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer

should keep abreast o changes in the law and its practice,

including the benefits and risks associated with relevant

technology, engage in continuing study and education andcomply with all continuing legal education requirements to

which the lawyer is subject.

More and more courtsare allowing discovery into social media

accounts, regardless o whether the accounts are public or

private, so it is becoming increasingly imperative that attorneys

not only understand how social media works, but also how to

conduct their own research on the various sites.

Understanding social media is clearly critical to competently

represent clients. Additionally, social media has marketingbenefits or attorneys too.

B. Marketing Benefits for Attorneys

Social media can benefit your practice in several ways. Social

media is a unique medium which can allow you to interact

with others, set yoursel apart in your field o practice, and

may increase your overall online visibility. As is discussed in

more detail below, activity on social media sites, may make it

easier or potential clients to find you.

Will clients choose you solely based on clever tweets?

Probably not. But, blogs, tweeting, and other orms o online

interaction can lead directly to client inquiries, particularly i

you post on a topic that resonates with a potential client.

For example, look up DUI deense lawyers in your city on

Google. Unless you live in Wasilla, Alaska, there are probablyat least a ew dozen lawyers, each with their own webpage.

Each has experience, most appear mildly non-sleazy, and

none really set themselves apart, at least with their online

presence.

A great blogcan do exactly that. Clients can read your

ramblings on ype I Diabetes as a deense to a ailed Breatha-

lyzer test. Tey can read about Supreme Court decisions on

orced blood draws. Getting the picture yet? Even i they dont

understand hal o what youre writing, you at least give the

impression o knowing what youre talking about.

And while you wont get CLE credits or writing a blog, you

will, however, learn more about your practice areas and stay

up to date with relevant cases. By setting aside even a single

hour each week to prepare and author a post, youll guarantee

that you learn something new every week. Whether your blog

posts are based on novel arguments, noteworthy cases, or

appellate opinions, youll quickly become an expert in your

field by keeping up with the latest legal developments.

Writing posts can also bring about change in your fieldo practice. Tough most bloggers are best compared to

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Page 3 of 1

someone yelling in a orest, using your newly ound expertise

in your chosen practice area to argue or change can be thera-

peutic. And who knows? Maybe youll change the mind o the

person who will eventually make things right. I not, theres at

least something to be said or catharsis.

Another place where these services can truly help is with

proessional development. Become a voice in the legal

community and people will turn to you or advice and assis-

tance. I you have a unique practice area, make that known to

others. Social networking is networking without the booze,

dress shoes, and social awkwardness.

2. I dont even know what I should be

aware of.

Te most common services that will be useul or an attorney

are: a website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, witter, and Google+.

But dont panic just yet Luddite, we will get to each one and

walk you through it.

3. I dont know where to begin.

A. Basics

1. Get a Proper Headshot

First step, get a proper headshot. And beore you

think such vanity! note that your headshot actually

can make a difference in search engine reerrals

to your page, especially i you have Google Authorship

enabled(which your resident tech geek really should).

Still not convinced? Here is some hard and humorous

data rom an SEO experton how variations on his

Google+ profile photo helped his traffic numbers.

So, what does your picture need? Obviously, proessional

attire is a great start. Ten, i you know a great Photoshop

wizard, have them try a ew things with the background.

Even without Photoshop, youll want a ew variations to

try.

Now, were going to assume that you arent an advanced

search engine analytics geek. Tere is an easier way to

pick a picture besides analyzing click-through rates.

Meet MyBestFace, a ree product courtesy o OkCupid!,

an online dating service. Tey created the service to help

your online mating game, but its (a) ree and (b) tells you

which picture is the prettiest.

Te concept is simple. Upload a ew variations. Ten, you

have to vote on others pictures in order to earn your

report. Te report will tell you which o your pictures

scored the highest.

Obviously, this isnt exactly scientific. In act, the margin

o error seems to be higher than the standard deviationbetween scores ran across multiple tests, but i you dont

want to dig through SEO analytics, this is your best bet,

besides asking your paralegals, Does this photo make

me look at?

A ew pictures, twenty minutes or so o judging others

aces, and you have your new online avatar or all o your

social media and website needs.

2. Write a Good Lawyer Bio

Second step, write a good lawyer bio. Here are five tips toget you started.

a. Pedigree.Prospective clients want to know where you

went to law school. Lawyerist recommends listing the

law school you graduated rom, as well as your gradu-

ation year. Clients dont care as much about clerkships,

but they love buzzwords. I you clerked or your states

Supreme Court -- or the U.S. Supreme Court -- include

that inormation in your biography.

b. Practice Areas.Your practice area(s) should be in thefirst line o your biography. Someone looking or a

divorce attorney doesnt want to read three paragraphs

about your dedication to the pursuit o justice beore

finding out that you do trusts and estates.
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Page 4 of 1

in Cityville. Done. You just got a reerral based on your

social circle.

But lets take the hypothetical a step urther. Perhaps

you havent seen Danielle since your high school reunion.

She thinks that youre an attorney practicing in Cityville,

but she was a little tipsy during that what-have-you-been-

doing-or-the-last-however-many-years conversation.

I you include your occupation and city on your

Facebook page, Danielle can confirm that you are an

attorney in Cityville and connect you with om. Without

those two pieces o inormation, you might not receive

that reerral.

B. Strategy

Now that you have some o the basic inormation taken

care o, its time to go to the next level. Here are five

stepstoward launching an effective social media business

strategy or your law firm:

1. Decide what you want.For most solos and smallfirms, the goal is just to bring in new clients. But

your goals may also include expanding your client

base in a certain practice area, targeting an under-

c. Make it Personal. ell a story. Create a connection.

You could list your legal victories as a series o bullet

points, but Lawyerist advises that youre better off with

a short paragraph with a touch o personal.

d. Skip the Jargon.In law school, you learned how to

write like an attorney. Can you please orget that now?

For goodness sake, leave the jargon out o your bio. Cut

the rsum lingo, too. How many times do you have to

read the phrase results-driven challenge seeker beore

you bang your head against your desk? Rsum lingo

doesnt ool anyone.

e. Avoid Passive Voice. Its okay to admit that you orgot

the difference between active and passive voice. Its not

okay to let your ignorance o good grammar intererewith a good attorney bio. Passive voice: Te case was

won by me. Active voice: I won the case. (I you need

a more extensive reresher, check out Grammar Girls

explanation.) Some people think that passive voice

sounds more ormal. In reality, its bad writing and its

hard to read.

3. Include Two Pieces of Critical Information in Your

Social Media Profile

According to a 2012 Nielsen study, people trust their

riends above all other orms o advertising, Te Atlantic

Wire reports. I you are trying to grow a law practice,

you should make it easy or your riends to recommend

you as an attorney by including your occupation and

location in your social media profile.

Lets break this down with a hypothetical. om needs a

lawyer, and posts a status update on Facebook asking his

riends i they can recommend someone in his town,

Cityville. Your riend, Danielle, sees oms question, andremembers that you practice law in Cityville. Danielle

can easily message om -- or introduce the two o you

online -- to say, My riend is an attorney who practices
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Page 5 of 1

served market, or branching out into new geographic

areas. You wont know i youve succeeded unless you

know what youre aiming or.

2. Choose your audience.Once you know what youre

hoping to get rom social media, consider what

kind o audience will help you reach those goals.

Tis typically means either prospective clients with

certain needs, or people who live in a certain region.

Once youve selected your target demographic, you

can then decide on how best to reach this group.

3. Create targeted messages. You know your audience,

so make sure you target your messages to them. For

example, i you think potential clients would want

to know more about particular laws or deenses, youmay want to link them to useul legal inormation or

blog posts on your website. Whatever you choose to

do, make sure you keep your audience in mind when

creating targeted messages.

4. Share on social media.Publicize what youre

doing on various social media platorms. weet it

out, post it on Facebook, and publicize it on your

firms LinkedIn page. Sharing the inormation on

multiple platorms means you can reach more

potential clients. (Tis is where FindLaws SocialMedia Solutions comes in handy, by offering a way

to manage all your social media accounts rom one

simple-to-use platorm.)

5. Interact.It may take a ew months to build the

audience youre hoping or, but once you have them,

take some time to interact with your ollowers.

Encourage comments and respond when you get

direct messages, as long as you stay within ethical

guidelines, o course. Making a personal connection

online can be just as powerul as meeting a potentialclient in person.

Remember that i you are looking to gain new clients and

expose a broader audience to your expertise, then posting

inormative content devoid o legaleseis the way to go.

But how do you do it? Start by looking at the main topics

in your chosen practice area and begin posting around

those topics with the goal o creating inormation that is

helpul and your ollowers will want to share with others.

Crafing consumer-riendly content is easier than

you think and creativity on social networks is always

rewarded. For example, or blogs just talk about an aspect

o the law in plain English. For Facebook, you can craf

status updates around the general definitions in your

practice area. For witter, take some time and find people

looking or legal inormation in your area o expertise

and answer their questions.

4. There are so many choices out there.

What do I need to think about for each one?

A. Website

Te way most clients will find you is by searching on the

Internet or a lawyer. Hopeully theyll narrow their

search by area o law and location, but even then, there

are lots o competitors out there. Having a proessional

and inormational website can be a great way to getclients, but it does not work i no one sees it.

Getting a proessional consultant to manage your

websites search engine optimization can be a valuable

way to improve your online visibility. But you can also

help yoursel by stepping up your social media presence.

Social media posts offer an another way to get more

traffic and may also increase your overall online visibility.

A quick post asking your ollowers a question or linking

to an article on your website may also increase traffic.

With additional traffic to your website, youll hopeully

also get some extra business. But even i your new

audience doesnt hire you right away, at least they are

helping you increase your online visibility.
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Page 6 of 1

B. Blogs

Tere are many things to consider when managing your law

firms blog, rom tone and audience to post type and requency.

1. Audience. Are you writing or other lawyers (to

increase your reputation amongst the seven or

eight lawyers in the world with enough time to read

blogs), to attract clients (by demonstrating your vast

knowledge in an accessible manner), or to rise higher

in Googles search results (harder than it sounds)?

2. Tone.Tis ties heavily into your target audience,

but also depends on your personality. Some lawyerscarry themselves with a constant stoicism and proes-

sionalism, while others use their personality to ingra-

tiate themselves with clients and ellow attorneys.

Your blog should reflect your proessional image.

3. Topic.Tere are many types o blog posts that you

should become amiliar with. Tere are the continu-

ously-relevant posts on a legal topic, such as diabetes

and diet triggering alse positives on Breathalyzers,

or there are news-based topics, such as questioning

why George Zimmermans lawyer told that awul,awul joke. News-based topics can get you traffic

now, but topical posts stay relevant over the long

haul.

4. Writing and Formatting.Te utmost consideration

here is length. Short posts appear spammy. Long

posts will put your readers into a legal coma beore

they reach the end o the page. Aim or somewhere

between 300 and 1000 words, with longer posts being

the exception. MV Generation, olks: we have no

attention span (maybe). Longer posts, o course, willbe easier to read i you break them up with headings

or use lists. Weve ound that our Five Tings posts

tend to be more popular than longer narratives.

5. Frequency of Posting. Tats easy: as ofen as

possible. I you cant update your blog at least weekly,

you either shouldnt have one, or should hire an

intern or clerk to do it or you. Sporadically updated

blogs can appear abandoned, which hurts the

visitors perception, as well as Googles. Per SEOmoz,

Google loves the reshness actor.

C. Facebook

Many attorneys already use Facebook, but that doesnt neces-

sarily mean they all know how to maximize the benefit o

Facebook or lawyers.

Tats the idea behind a book rom the American Bar Associa-

tions Law Practice Management Section, entitled Facebookin One Hour or Lawyers. Even i youre already a Facebook

user, this book does an excellent job o showing ways o taking

advantage o the social network that you may not have thought

about beore.

Still not sure i its worth it? Weve put together a list o our top

five tips gleaned rom the book:

1. Consider your audience. In some practice areas,

your client base will include people who use

Facebook. But i your clients are generally nottech-savvy or dont embrace this social tool, then

you may not find many clients on Facebook. Tat

doesnt mean you cant use it to your advantage, but

it is good to consider your audience when making a

page.

2. Create a personal page.Many attorneys rush to

set up a page or their office and thats a good idea,

but this book reminds readers that personal pages

can be a powerul tool too. People are more likely

to recommend attorneys they know and trust. Tatalso means those people are more likely to come to

you when a legal issue comes up. Connecting on

Facebook gives you another way to show that youre

that kind o trustworthy person.
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Page 7 of 1

3. Encourage interaction. Connect with people online

and encourage them to keep the relationship going.

Post questions or surveys on your profile and upload

pictures when you have them. Photos that arent

law-related may seem like a strange fit, but they show

that you are a real person. Just avoid the ones o you

tossing back drinks at the bar or acting gooy at your

best riends bachelor party.

4. Check the fine print. Teres a whole chapter on

how to manage the privacy and security settings on

Facebook, which highlights how important it is to

read the fine print. Tose policies change ofen and

they can be hard to maneuver. ake the time to read

them thoroughly so you know how your profile is

used and shared.

5. Beware of ethical breaches. Facebook can seem

like a small community i you careully curate your

riends list, but never orget that the Internet is a

public space. Beore you post anything, consider

what kinds o legal advertising and interactions are

permitted in your jurisdiction. Ten make sure what

you say online stays within the rules.

D. Twitter

Here are some tips on how witter can help build your legal

business:

1. Choose an account name. Dont be araid to keep

your personal and proessional lie separate on

witter. While @LawyersAreCool may be clever and

witty to your riends, you may want to select a name

that is more serious or your proessional account.

Tink o yoursel as a legal brand and use your name

as your witter handle.

2. Have a picture.When you create your account its

important to upload a profile photo. Whether its

a photo o yoursel or something abstract, rom a

lawyer marketing perspective its really important

to have some imagery to represent you. witter

accounts without photos uploaded immediately look

like spam accounts.

3. Create a good bio. One o the first things

prospective ollowers read on witter when deciding

whether to ollow you is your bio. You basically have

160 characters to convince weeters to ollow your

account. Make it clever, simple and to the point.

4. Find your voice.Who are you trying to engage with?

Prospective clients? Other legal proessionals? News

media? Keep your audience in mind when crafing

your tweets. Always stay relevant, always stay on

point.

5. Keep it simple. Because o the 140 character limit on

witter, youre basically orced to keep your thoughts

concise. #seewhatimean

6. Use hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to ampliy

your tweets and gain more ollowers with very little

effort. Tink o hashtags as the subject o your tweet

-- once you put a # in ront o that word, anyone who

searches that hashtag will see your tweet.

7. Time your tweets. weeting regularly helps you

build your audience. So what i youre busy and

running rom meeting to meeting? ools like

Hootsuitehelp you schedule posts hours, even

weeks in advance. Scheduling tweets is a great way

to be consistent and efficient because you can draf

a weeks worth o legal tweets in one sitting. Also

schedule your tweets or hot hours -- usually in the

morning or afer lunch time.

8. Interact and engage. Replying to other witterusers is a great way to interact and engage with your

audience. I you are trying to gain more clients or

put yoursel out there as an expert then make sure to

get back to people that write to you.
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Page 8 of 1

Hashtags are a particularly important aspect o witter,

although Facebook has also adopted the practice. Beore you

get too pound-sign happy though, keep in mind that its not as

easy as it looks. Here are some basics rules about hash-tagging

that you may want to know first:

1. Hashtags are an organizing tool. While many do

like to use hashtags as a orm o sel-expression and

not so much to have their viewers click on it, this

shouldnt be your firms goal when using hashtags.

As a proessional organization, your hashtags should

mostly be un-ironic and meant to actually draw

viewers rom a conversation using the tag to your

post.

2. Dont go overboard.Tere is no hard and ast ruleon how many hashtags to insert into your material

-- but, use your best judgment. Obviously hone in

on the more particular keywords that you yoursel

would be looking or. Dont #get #crazy and #hashtag

#everything, it is #quite #distruptive. Focus on what

the crucial #topic actually is. Not only do too many

hashtags clutter up your page, they are an eyesore

and are incredibly unproessional looking.

3. Avoid punctuation. witter and other sites actually

cut off your hashtag i you add any punctuation(periods, commas, apostrophes, etc). While this

may seem like a cause or concern or proessionals

looking to use hashtags, this just means that you

should get creative. Focus on the proper phrases that

dont need punctuation that are still relevant and key.

4. Look for commonly searched or trending terms

to hashtag.Hashtagging not only requires that you

insert them into your own, original content, but its

a two way street in that you may need to ollow suiton certain terms that are already trending. Most

sites have a section listing the trending topics o the

moment -- i any are relevant to your firms content,

pop them into your posts.

5. Stay relevant and on-topic. While you should

be looking at whats trending in your field and

using hashtags as a way o marketing and drawing

attention to your content, its important to remember

that theres a fine line between fleshing out content

and being completely irrelevant.

E. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an increasingly popular social media tool or

proessionals like attorneys.

As you may know, a LinkedIn page is essentially an online

resume, and it makes connecting with work colleagues, ormer

colleagues, clients, and anyone else really easy.

How can LinkedIn help you and your legal practice? Here are

three waysyou can utilize the website or its maximum impact

and potential:

1. Set up your profile to reflect your expertise.Your

LinkedIn profile is relatively customizable. You can

actually add different sections to your profile. Tese

can help highlight what your skills and experiences

are -- and what youre an expert in. You can also use

your profile to demonstrate your expertise in a given

subject by including articles and other updates withregards to your practice area.

2. Get recommendations and connect with past

clients. Many o your ormer clients may be on

LinkedIn. Tey may even want to recommend

you on your LinkedIn profile or the services you

rendered. Tis is a good opportunity or you to

showcase your skills. Its also an opportunity or you

to get a good -- and unbiased -- review. Potential

clients may come across your profile and choose to

contact you based on the glowing words written byyour ormer clients.

3. Find out about events and join groups to make

new connections. You can join groups that are

suitable to your interests. You may be able to
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Page 9 of 1

network online and find new experts that can

help out with your practice. You can also find out

about relevant events on LinkedIn. Te site will

recommend events to you based on your industry,

network, and location. You can also search through

events.

Attorneys on LinkedIn can reap the benefits o the social

network. Maximizing the usage o the site can help your

practice expand. However, with the connectivity o LinkedIn

comes specific dangers or attorneys. Here are three thingsyou

should consider when incorporating LinkedIn into your legal

marketing strategy:

1. Know that everything you write may go viral.

When you publicize things on LinkedIn, like yourwork experience or general competence, you should

assume that everyone in the world can read it. In

addition, you should be aware that your inormation

on LinkedIn is not necessarily available to only those

who actively seek you out. Instead, when you make

changes to your profile or post an article, the social

media site will automatically notiy all your connec-

tions o your updates.

2. Dont expect a lot of privacy.LinkedIn has settings

that allow members to see who has visited theirprofile and when. So i you use LinkedIn to vet

potential clients, opposing parties, or anyone else,

you should be aware that that person will likely know

that youve been looking.

3. Realize the differences between LinkedIn and your

resume.You should not conuse the two, nor should

you simply post your resume on LinkedIn. With a

physical resume, only the people you want to read it

will read it -- so i you exaggerate or make yoursel

seem more important, only a potential employer ora targeted audience will see it. However, i you make

these same exaggerations on LinkedIn, be aware that

a ormer supervisor or a client will be able to see it.

F. Google+

Google+ operates differently than other social media sites,

Instead o adding users to one generic riends list or

ollowers list, you can actually sort different people into

different circles. Circles can be made or people like clients,

riends, ollowers and employees. Basically, i you can think o

a category, you can create it on Google+. And the interesting

thing about the circles is that you are able to share inormation

with specific circles. Want your clients to know about a new

case that can be beneficial to them? Share it to your client

circle.

And, Google+ has a hangout eature that lets you video chat

with multiple people at once.

I you havent already incorporated Google+ Hangouts into

your practice, you should know that it is a videoconerencing

tool similar to Skype. However, Google+ Hangouts offers many

added benefits that can appeal to attorneys. For example:

1. Google+ Hangouts allows users to talk to up to

10 people at once, which can be great or lawyer

teleconerences and client calls.

2. It has screenshare capabilities, so attorneys can show

their screens to clients.

3. Te greatest part? Its all ree.

Google+ Hangouts can act as a great equalizer allowing small

law firms to have the same capabilities as their larger compet-

itors.

5. With all the other demands that come

with my law practice, I just dont have time

for social media.When it comes to managing a law firms social media schedule,

prioritizing is key. From pokes and pins, to tweets and digs,

managing your social media presencecan eel daunting

-- unless you have a solid checklist that outlines your social

media activity.
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Page 10 of 12

In an e-guide by Attorney at Work, author Gyi sakalakis

thinks a schedule will give you a better eel or how much time

to spend on social media.

Heres a (modified) checklist on how sakalakis thinks it best

to prioritize your online activities:

A. Daily

1. Be active. Tis might mean setting aside thirty

minutes per day to check your social media accounts.

Maintaining accounts is crucial; nothing looks worse

than a graveyard or a social media account!

2. Check Google Alerts. Google Alerts can help you

track your name, firm name and topics that are inyour field o expertise.

3. Write an informative comment. Comment on

an article or post that is pertinent to your field o

law. Dont make a shameless plug, let the insightul

comment do the marketing or you.

4. Use a feed reader. A eed reader is an excellent way

to stay on top o blogs, news and industry websites.

O those you skim, pick one to share with your social

networks.

B. Weekly

1. Write one detailed blog post or article. Write on

a resh topic in your field that isnt overly saturated.

ry to keep the word limit to 500 words and be sure

to use subheadings.

2. Comment on fun posts. Its important to connect

with people you know in real lie. Commenting

on random, un posts is a great way to show thatyoure personable, breathe air and eat -- just like real

people! You wont be a aceless law firm when you

comment on a riends breathtaking Big Sur beach

photo.

3. Start a conversation thread. Rather than a standard

blog post, an interactive, engaging and pithy way

to connect with people you know in real lie is to

have a short conversation via social media. Tis goes

without saying, but keep the conversation more open

and engaging, and less snarky or argumentative.

C. Monthly

1. Blast an email newsletter. Send out a newsletter that

discusses hot topics, local events that are relevant to

your field o law, pro bono opportunities, and insider

tips and tricks.

2. Create and share one piece of non-text content.

Te non-text content can take the orm o an e-book,SlideShare, deck, video, webinar or white paper.

3. Arrange a casual event. o meet people youve been

interacting with online, have a small event like a

happy hour. Tat may extend the handshake needed

to pull the relationship rom the 2-D world into 3-D.

D. Yearly

1. Speak to an audience on a topic that involves your

expertise. Publish the slides or video recordingonline. Tis can range anywhere rom a Youube

production to a ancy EDx talk.

2. Write a year-in-review post. Sum up the year

or people both inside and outside o your firm.

Highlight what you all have accomplished this year.

It may drum up some new loyalty.

3. Reflect.Honing your social media habits will require

practice, time and patience. Go back over your

checklist and tweak it. Use what works, axe whatdoesnt and always stay hungry and on the prowl or

new social media tools.
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Page 11 of 12

6. Im worried Ill make a mistake.

Youve fired up the keyboard and are ready to begin blogging

on your firms website. Youve read all about the benefits o a

blog, and weighed the vital considerations o audience, tone,

topic, ormatting, and requency. Youre ready!

Except wait. Wouldnt it be nice to learn rom others mistakes

first? Here are five things youll want to avoid when becoming

the Internet voice o your law firm:

1. Burning Bridges.Perhaps youre writing a post or

other attorneys. Maybe it is a primer on how not

to be a terrible, annoying opposing counsel. It is

very easy to accidently air some dirty laundry on

the Internet. Beore writing online criticisms o aperson in your local community, wed recommend

letting post sit or a day or two, just in case passion

is overcoming reason. Afer all, you wouldnt want

your venting about a local judges idiotic rulings in a

current case to influence uture cases.

2. Client Confidentiality. When discussing cases

online, such as when trumpeting a success, or

discussing a novel legal issue, make sure not to

include too much detail about the client. For

example, i you are deending a pizza delivery driversDUI case, and want to discuss the impact o the

charges on his ability to drive company vehicles,

perhaps consider changing his position to a car

salesman or a taxi cab driver. Even better, go beyond

the case and write a topical post on how a DUI

affects different types o licenses. Tough it may

be legal to discuss client cases in public orums, it

probably wont go over too well with those clients.

3. Speak English. We hate legalese. Judges hate

legalese. Clients? You can be completely sure thatthey hate legalese. Approach your blog topic as i you

were explaining the topic to a 10th grader. Even i

your audience is capable o understanding something

more complicated, they might not want to dig

through verbose, Latin-filled expositions.

4. No Promises, Only Disclaimers.Tis is a big

one. In 2013, the Virginia Supreme Court got the

attention o law bloggers everywhere, holding that

attorney Horace Hunters practice o blogging about

past closed-case clients was protected by the First

Amendment, but that his blog should have had a

results not guaranteed disclaimer. Tough your

states ethical rules may vary, it shouldnt be very

difficult to add a small disclaimer to the bottom o

your page.

5. Double Check Everything. Who are the biggest

jerks on the Internet? Wed guess lawyers that arerustrated by a lack o clients. Youll write thousands

o words about the law -- and your rivals will be

analyzing every bit o it, searching, hoping, and

praying or a mistake that they can call you out on.

Even worse than legal trolls, however, are disen-

chanted clients. In the rare instance that your

mistake misinorms someone, theyll lose trust in

your knowledge and abilities.

7. What ethical considerations do I need to

be aware of?

Attorneys should remember that proessional responsibility

rules apply with the same orce to online behavior. Attorneys

must stay within ethical guidelineswhen using social media,

including maintaining privacy and client confidentiality,

adhering to advertising and solicitation rules, and using

cautionary language to avoid unintentionally orming attorney

client relationships.

In 2012, the ABA adopted clearer guidelines about whatonline behavior is acceptable and what might lead to an ethical

dilemma.
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Page 12 of 12

Te changescover issues o client generation that can come up

with online marketing and deal with managing expectations.

Changes to Rules 1.18 and 7.3 deal with communica-

tions between a lawyer and a potential client. It expands

the definition o who is a potential client to include people

solicited online either with live chat or in the absence o direct

contact, such as through an online orm. Appropriate disclo-

sures are necessary to avoid inadvertently creating an attorney-

client relationship.

Rules 7.1, 7.2, and 5.5, have also been changed to expand a

lawyers duty o honesty. Attorneys now have a duty to the

public, rather than just to prospective clients, when it comes to

not misleading or misrepresenting acts.

It is important to keep apprised o any developments in rulesgoverning this quickly changing area o law.

8. Any other considerations?

For obvious reasons, keep your proessional and personal

accounts separate. While you may receive reerrals rom

riends you are connected to your personal account,

maintaining a division between the two will help ensure that

you present yoursel appropriately to clients, potential clients,

and colleagues.

Firms should alsothink about implementing a social media

policyto ensure that proessional responsibility obligations are

maintained. And finally, have un with it!

Send Us Your FeedbackWere listening! Send us your eedback here.

Disclaimer: This summary is not intended to be exhaustive, as thecommentary and case law on these issues are far reaching. Youshould conduct your own research or consult an attorney for advice

regarding your specific individual situation. Additionally, casesand statutes in this area of law can change, so it is important to

conduct updated research for your case.

Disclaimer| Terms| Privacy
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