Lawyers and Social Media: Benefits, Best Practices, and Ethics

Presented by: Nicole Black

Co-author | Social Media for Lawyers--The Next FrontierAuthor | Cloud Computing for Lawyers

Director | MyCase.com | cloud-based law practice managementWednesday, November 20, 13

Why should you care about social media?

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Consider these trends…Wednesday, November 20, 13

Social Media Factoid #1:

Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web

porn

Source: Socialnomics.com

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Social Media Factoid #2:

If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s third largestthird largest

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Social Media Factoid #3:

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females55-65 year-old females

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Social Media Factoid #4:

As of May 2011, 65% of adult users in the US use social media sites

65%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life survey, May 2011 Wednesday, November 20, 13

Are lawyers and

businesses using social

media?

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33%

50%54%

65%

Social Media Use by Global Fortune 500 Companies

Twitter accounts Facebook pages YouTube channels Corporate blogs

Source: Burson-Marsteller Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study Data collected

between Nov 2009 and Jan 2010

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Your competitors are using social media:

•47% of large law firms maintain a firm blog

•22% of all lawyers maintain law firm blogs

•95% of lawyers have LinkedIn profiles

•38% of lawyers have Facebook profiles

•13% of lawyers use Twitter

* ABA Tech Report 2012

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Lawyers cannot afford to be left out of the loop

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But how are lawyers using social media?

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* Social media is useless without goals

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Determine your goals

• Network and build relationships

• Locate information to support your practice

• Showcase your expertise

• Find clients

• Make it easy for people to find you (SEO)

• Obtain speaking engagements and media mentions

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Multi-task

•Keep up to date on news & generate web presence at the same time

•Meet Feedly, your new best friend

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Text

Catch up on news relevant to you in a magazine-like, easy to read format

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Easily read and share articles and blog posts on your social networks

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* Social and professional networking are not mutually exclusive

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Stand out from the crowd

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50% - links to online content

30% - conversation with others

10% - self-promotional

10% - personal hobbies and interests

The Social Media Formula

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Take off your lawyer hat

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Think before you act

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Remember: Don’t drink and tweet!

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* The Ethics of Social Media

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Sometimes the online world will feel like a maze

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A lot of people will tell you what you can’t do.

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Social media simply changes the medium, not the message

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• No false or misleading information [ABA Model Rule 7.1; LSUC 3.02,NS 3.01(2), BC 3.02(3),FLSC 3.01(2)]

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No false or misleading

information

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• Lawyer Advertising [ABA Model Rule 7.1; LSUC 3.01-3,NS 3.02(2), 3.03(1), BC 3.03]

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Lawyer Advertising: Is it or isn’t it?

Is it advertising? If so, a disclaimer may be required.

Distinction: Informational v. Promotional Wednesday, November 20, 13

• Inadvertently creating an attorney-client relationship (ABA Model Rules 1.2, 1.4, 1.16, 4.4; LSUC 1.2 definitions “client”)

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DON’T Unintentionally create an

attorney-client relationship

(ABA Model Rules 1.2, 1.4, 1.16, 4.4)

(New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics

 Opinion 899 (12/21/11))

Best practices:Keep responses general

Provide information rather than adviceUse disclaimers

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• Disclosing confidential information [ABA Model Rules 1.6, 8.3; LSUC 2.03,BC 2.03, FLSC 2.03, NS 2.03]

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NODisclosing confidential information

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• Improper contact with parties [ABA Model Rule 3.5 (b) & (c); LSUC 4.05, BC 4.05, FLSC 4.05, NS 4.05]

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NO Improper contact with parties

Judicial campaigns

• New York Bar Formal Opinion 2010-2

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Deception: Not ok

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Spying: Sometimes cool

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Relevancy: Always ok

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• Improper client solicitation [ABA Model Rule 7.3; LSUC 3.01, BC 3.01, FLSC 3.01, NS 3.01]

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NOImproper client solicitation

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• Stating a “specialization” [ABA Model Rule 7.4; LSUC 3.03 (this differs slightly, because Certified Specialists are in Ontario only), NS 3.03(1) and FLSC - 3.03(1), BC 3.03(2)]

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?Stating a “specialization”

(ABA Model Rule 7.4)

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How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of one of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?

--Seth Godin

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Thanks for listening!

Nicole BlackDirector | MyCase.com | a cloud-based law

practice management system

www.nicoleblackesq.com@nikiblack on Twitter

Author and co-author of:

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