Post on 22-Jan-2015
description
social media
a primer-for attorneys
Susan Burton LowryVice PresidentStrategic Services square one|consulting
Outline Introductions• Overview of social media platforms• What Are Other Attorneys/Law Firms Doing with Social Media?• Best Practices for Attorneys:
Reputation ManagementVisibility/MarketingResearchIncorporation into Legal Services Portfolio
Privacy Policy incorporationSocial Media Policy development
Tips & Ideas along the way
social media
For attorneys
social media
Should you consider it?
3 out of 4 Americans use social technology People want to hire other people, not businesses
Attorneys who successfully leverage social media tools to communicate, collaborate and network have a distinct advantage over those who don’t
Social Media affects your clients, their employees and their customers:
Reputation managementVisibility & MarketingOther areas such as customer serviceSecurity
social media
Should you consider it?
LISTENING & LEARNING NOT MARKETING
Social media tools and online communities are how and where your clients are talking, researching and reviewing.
It's a conversation that you need to be aware of, understand, and, in some cases, participate in.
social media
definition
Consumers
Producers
social media
definition
Slide courtesy of Brain Solis
Personal Branding Strategy
a little more detail…
350 MM
100 MM
50 MM
7-20 MM
13 MM Blogs84 MM Readers
6 MM members in 45,000 cities
Newer Developments
•LinkedIn has over 60 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world.
•A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second.
•Half of LinkedIn members are outside the U.S.
•Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.
•30% users are savvy networkers who earn nearly $93,500 per year
•28% are senior executives earning a mean of just over $104,000 per year
•20% use LinkedIn because friends convinced them to sign up, earnings are nearly $88,000 per year
•22% are the hard-core job searchers -(most are employed full time, looking for another position- mostly young and female)
•Recruiters
>150 MM Bookmarked URLS
the power of communities
How is the Legal Industry Using Social Media?
Adoption Curve
In–House Counsel Gather News and Information
Greentarget Survey: Legal Industry Finally Warming To Social Media
In-House Counsel Gather News and Information
Greentarget Survey: Legal Industry Finally Warming To Social Media
69 percent of counsel aged 30-39 expect that their new media consumption of business, industry, and legal news and information will increase over the next six months.
The social networking and new media tools that in-house counsel most frequently use for professional reasons (Research, Networking) are:
LinkedInBlogsWikipedia
• The social networking and new media tools that in-house counsel most frequently use for personal reasons are Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube.
In-House Counsel Research Outside Counselfor potential hire
Blogging
Visibility/Personal Branding
Visibility
Top “Blogs”
Top “Blogs”
Blogging
•Should be and is typically done by the firm •Relates to recent events•Used for better visibility (trackbacks and commenting)•Is usually more easily edited and maintained than a web site•Most Blogging platforms are free- don’t buy into the $24/month model that Avvo uses. (the templates are also free)•You can build a blog in an hour- it’s the policies, editorial calendar and resources that are the hard part
For Individual AttorneysUse for information gathering and researchKnow what blogs are and how they work(commenting, trackbacks)
Wikis
What is a Wiki?
As a Research Tool:Wikis can be seen as constantly updated collections of useful information arranged in an encyclopedic or similarly organized way, with hyperlinks to related internal and external information.
Most lawyers will get the most value from using wikis created by others most notably, Wikipedia.
As a Collaborative tool: information or knowledge platform, Ability to gather and manage "unstructured" information easily and quicklyMultiple authors and editors are able to work together Collection of information Collaborative documents
Surprise usage! Law firms using an ad-hoc file systems now using Wiki platforms
Results: Ability to organize its materials far better (a huge success). Makes knowledge management and information in general aking it more useful and easier to locate and share information in true Enterprise 2.0 fashion
Other Law Wikis:Wex (Cornell University Law School) http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex
WikiLaw/JurisPedia http://www.wikilaw.org
Web 2.0 for Laywers Wiki http://weblaw20.wikispaces.com/
Attorney Information Online
Best Practices
• Manage your online information- both personal and professional (they all show up together!)
• This includes your Firm’s website• Lock down your Facebook page • Be curious and cautious• Work hard to get a good reputation
Visibility/Personal Branding
Visibility/Personal Branding
Visibility/Personal Branding
Other information about you online
TIP: Managing Your Online Reputation
• Google yourself• Set up a Google Profile
• Set up a Google alert– On yourself– You can also set one up for – your clients/competitors – industry/legal research
Results: Better awareness, time-saving research
TIP: Managing Your Online Reputation
• Optimize your LinkedIn profileInclude a vanity URL
Include keywords and good descriptionsLink back to your firm’s web siteSee who’s looked at your profile
Results: Better visibility
Join an Online Legal Community
Join Twitter Join Twitter but DON’T TWEETFollow trusted legal publications, your clients and your competitionGood alternative to email alerts
Social Media in the Courtroom• In May of 2008, a jury foreman in a criminal case in West Palm Beach, Florida, used his iPhone during a recess in deliberations to look up the
definition of the word "prudent," which he then relayed to other jurors. The defense attorneys requested a new trial due to juror misconduct. The judge in the case denied the request, concluding that any juror misconduct did not affect the verdict.
• In March of 2009, the defense team for a building materials company requested a new trial after discovering that a juror had sent out posts on
Twitter about the case in February, including one post that stated, "I just gave away TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS of somebody else's money." It is unclear from news reports whether the posts were made before or after the verdict was handed down. Regardless of timing, the defense team is claiming that the Twitter posts display that the juror was "was predisposed toward giving a verdict that would impress his audience."
• In another case in March of 2009, a juror in a federal drug trial admitted to performing research on details of the case on the Internet. The judge
asked the other jurors if they had done the same, and eight others replied affirmatively, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. According to defense lawyer Peter Raben, who had been told by the jury that he had been close to winning the case for his client, “It’s the first time modern technology struck us in that fashion, and it hit us right over the head.”
• In a third case in March of 2009, defense lawyers in a federal corruption trial requested the declaration of a mistrial after discovering that a juror had
posted updates on the trial to Twitter and Facebook. The judge denied the request. • Additionally, since at least 2005, controversies have been caused by jurors posting about trials on blogs. In once case a juror wrote blog posts before
and after jury selection which the defense claimed demonstrated the juror's bias against criminal defendants. In another case, a juror used a laptop and the WiFi connection in a jury waiting room to live-blog about being on jury duty.
• With all of this potential for mistrials and other trial interference, ihabit of posting to Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc--and for judges to repeatedly
remind jurors of the restrictions on discussing and researching trial details during jury trials. t may be increasingly important for lawyers to ask jurors about their use of social media and online research.
General examples of use of Social Media by Organizations
Navigation of Social Media Landscape for your Clients
cisco survey social media policy
• 100 companies surveyed• 75 percent admitted to using Facebook and other
consumer-facing social networks• 50 percent of respondents admitted to using Twitter
extensively in the workplace.
Only one in seven of the companies that participated in the research admitted to having a formal process associated with using consumer-facing social networking tools for business purposes.
social media trends
• Social Media Begins to Look Less Social• Brands/Companies Scaling Up• Social Business becomes Serious• Security, Corporate Risk leads to Policy Making, Greater
Transparency• Mobile• Sharing with Networks (not eMail )
social media
a primer