In an age when you're nobody if you're not networking online, Sofia Lind finds out how tech-savvy lawyers are making social media work for them

Do you tweet? Among journalists the answer is becoming a given, but among City lawyers the question may be considered a little less relevant. Not so, say a host of web-literate legal advisers and in-house counsel.

In-house and private practice tweeters

Melanie Hatton (@in_house_lawyer), head of legal at Latitude Digital Marketing (LDM), started using Twitter as an information resource. "I then realised that because I had so much real-time information I also had a lot of information to share. Following on from that I have been able to build up more of a profile in my industry," she says.

She has been using Twitter for only about a year but is already a well-known name in the sphere of legal professionals who pursue online networking. Not only does she have a very active Twitter account but she also has a blog – "because sometimes 140 characters are just not enough" – and is the founder of Tweagle, a LinkedIn discussion group for lawyers who tweet.

She says in-house lawyers need to be resourceful to find good and relevant information. "I found that Twitter really helps me as I get a constant stream of information based on following a carefully selected group of lawyers in private practice and other in-house lawyers as well as government sources, industry sources and legal publications."

Charles Russell TMT partner Andrew Sharpe has a Twitter account (@TMT_Lawyer) and also blogs on behalf of his firm. He began using social media in a bid to keep up with developments in the IT and telecoms industry.

"I needed to keep track of the trends and know how these things were developing, but Twitter really is your classic social media. Your experience depends completely on what you make of it," he says.

Law firm tweeting

But according to lawyers in the Twittersphere, many big law firms have not quite grasped the concept, instead using the medium as a way to push out information rather than engage with peers.

Sharpe says: "You see law firms putting up a lot of rush accounts on Twitter where they just post information. If nobody is responding then you are missing the 'social' bit of social media. Then it is arguable what the point is."

One major firm which would call itself an exception is magic circle firm Allen & Overy (@AllenOvery). Website manager Christian Walsh says that the firm has taken an active decision not to post deals and other corporate news on the site but instead attempt to provoke and engage in debates online.

He says: "We certainly don't ignore comments on our Twitter page but speak back, although obviously we have policies for how to do that. It applies more widely than Twitter but we want to attempt to use social media the way it was intended to be used, not just to put out our own corporate message."

LinkedIn or logged out

One social medium that has attracted lawyers in larger groups than Twitter is the more traditional business-minded LinkedIn network, where rising numbers of City lawyers have set up accounts.

According to Hatton and Sharpe, updates such as discussion forums and the ability to follow companies have increased the relevance of the site to the point where it cannot be ignored.

Hatton says: "Four years ago LinkedIn was just a glorified address book full of business cards, but it has recently come into its own. LinkedIn groups are a very good way of connecting with your peers. I receive a weekly email update highlighting discussions that have been started which I might have an interest in."

Sharpe is on the same page: "I run various training sessions internally on social media. I try to indoctrinate the trainees early, including promoting the importance of having a profile on LinkedIn. As a lawyer you are also a salesperson and as such you should at least be easy to find, if not actively engaged in social media."

Sharpe also believes in LinkedIn as a tool for winning real life referrals as it allows you to keep track of people as they make new career moves.

"That way it can also be an explicit marketing tool as a move can be used as an excuse to get in contact and you may win new client instructions as a result. LinkedIn should be treated seriously – and I think increasingly it is," he says.

Blog for authority

Meanwhile, blogs can also be a very strong marketing tool, according to many who write them.

Pinsent Masons is among the leading UK firms to have joined the blogosphere with the now 10-year-old OUT-LAW blog providing updates on developments in IT and e-commerce.

It is edited by Pinsents' technology lawyer Struan Robertson (@struan99), who says the blog has helped the firm build a series of important relationships and develop industry respect.

"Law firms tend to be slow adaptors to new technology. The legal industry still relies on face-to-face relationships. OUT-LAW by no means replaces that but it facilitates those relationships," he says.

A competitor to OUT-LAW is Winston & Strawn's Bootlaw blog, which covers legal developments for tech startups. It is written by City partner Barry Vitou (@bazv) and City associate Danvers Baillieu (@danversbaillieu).

"We found that people tended to recommend 'the guys from Bootlaw' after finding the blog via Twitter. It has been incredibly useful from that point of view. I do a lot of work for web clients who use social media themselves. It has been a good way of getting to know people in the business and I have seen actual referrals as a result," Baillieu says.

This is acknowledged at leading lawyer training institution the College of Law where director of multimedia Jon Harman (@colmmu) is attempting to train the City's future lawyers in new media opportunities. The college is working to include social media networking as an integrated part of the Legal Practice Course (LPC).

Harman says: "Social media usage will especially allow individual lawyers to become more prominent in a circle of people. Law firms need to become more aware of this as if you can raise awareness of yourself as a good lawyer, you can take that client base wherever you want. Law firms are only as good as the talent they have on board."

A widened use

But is lawyer tweeting applicable to all industries and practice areas? Some argue that it is mostly relevant in the IT and technology sectors, while others say a rounded knowledge of new media is essential for everyone.

Baillieu thinks that while social media may be less relevant to a corporate or banking lawyer, for anyone in a consumer industry it is certainly of use.

"Social media is about being available, and clients like that. It just shows you are open and happy to take referrals. It has definitely raised my career profile and from a business point of view it has been fantastic," he says.

Despite the potential, use of social media among law firm leaders is proving scarce. One exception to the rule is the managing and founding partner of US-based litigation specialist Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. On his Twitter account, John Quinn (@jbqlaw) posts both personal tweets and tweets related to the firm.

He says: "It is just another way to connect with law students, clients and other lawyers. There are very few lawyers on Twitter and lawyers are not known for being first adaptors of new technology. It is hard to say [if it will catch on more widely] but it does have a lot of potential for lawyers in niche areas."

David Allen Green (@davidallengreen), head of media at Preiskel & Co and writer of the Jack of Kent blog, takes the argument one step further, saying that law firms need to learn the ins and outs of social media to be able to effectively advise clients in the future.

He says: "What is critical is not just how you gain new clients but how you can advise and support them based on your knowledge of social networking. That is what is going to be the really interesting question going forward."

And at the College of Law, the media department has understood this. Harman says: "The way we look at it from a legal education perspective is how we can help students to use it as a tool, not just socially. As such, we are looking at embedding it as part of the LPC."

Tweeting developments

So will all of this lead to more lawyers wising up to the new developments and begin to tweet and take online networking seriously? As a client, LDM's Hatton hopes so. She thinks that we have come past the stages of early adoption and are now at a point where social media can become commonly used in the workplace. "It is a very interesting tool that as lawyers we should take advantage of," she says.

Meanwhile, other parts of the legal industry may also need to face up to the new online social landscape, with Twittersphere lawyers predicting a future era where formerly print-based legal directories could be reinvented for the social media age by, for example, allowing user feedback.

Other new developments could include making deals with clients that you have not met in real life.

Robertson says: "The web is 18 years old so there is a generation that has grown up with it – a generation that puts greater trust in people they have not met face to face. OUT-LAW places our firm in a good position to take advantage of that development."

Make use or miss out

Harman sums it up: "We are coming out of a time where the legal industry has not changed much. That is changing rapidly and social media will be a part of that. It has become such a primary form of communication and if you will not take part then you are missing out."

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The UK's top 10 law firms on Twitter

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