If the U.S. government goes ahead with threats to shut down TikTok, the legal profession will suffer a loss. Some attorneys who use the popular social media platform say they like its ability to educate the public on legal issues, while others embrace its ability to help them generate name recognition.

TikTok has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a law that could ban the social media app. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed into law in April, calls for TikTok's Chinese owner to sell the application to an American company or face a shutdown. The law was prompted by concerns that TikTok is a security risk because it allows the collection of vast amounts of information on Americans.

TikTok was also a hot potato for New Jersey's Supreme Court, which imposed a three-month, unpaid suspension on Bergen County Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox in October for posting a series of 40 TikTok videos, including some recorded in his chambers and while he was wearing his judicial robe. The videos also included songs with profanity, graphic sexual references and racial terminology.

Big Law firms have largely stayed away from TikTok, with a small number of exceptions, according to Law.com's The American Lawyer.

TikTok has more of a presence among lawyers who practice alone or in small firms. Those lawyers seem to be of two minds about its purpose, with some using it to teach a lesson on legal issues while others aim to keep viewers entertained.

Evan Levow is identified on TikTok as a lawyer defending drunken-driving cases. But don't look for any discussion of legal issues on his TikTok videos. All his videos follow one pattern: he visits a bakery or donut shop, orders a few donuts, then steps outside or into his car to sample them. Sometimes things get messy when he bites into a jelly-filled donut.

Levow, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey, solo practitioner, said his website is replete with information about driving while intoxicated laws, but his TikTok videos are all about sampling baked goods. The strict time constraints on TikTok make it hard to pack in a tutorial about the law, he said.

"The TikTok name is Levow DWI Law. I could use it to talk about field sobriety testing, but honestly, I hate those videos," Levow said. "I'm sure this generation gets their information from TikTok but if you're researching DWI and you want the best DWI lawyer, I'm hoping you're on the internet."

"To make a 30-second or 90-second TikTok, I can't give you enough information about me or what I do to make you want to hire me," Levow said.

Levow doesn't post videos on TikTok in hopes of getting clients, but judges and court staff often mention his donut videos. A guest speaker at his municipal law class at Rutgers Law School in Camden brought donuts for the class. Even buttoned-up prosecutors ask him if he's tried any good donuts lately.

"It's an added dimension to my profile or my personality. It's a different level of communication. It's fun," he said.

Levow was urged to try TikTok by a fellow DWI lawyer, Kyla Lee of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who has more than 102,000 TikTok followers.

Lee, who is with Acumen Law Corp., has posted some fun videos, such as the one where she and a fellow lawyer sing "Baby, I'm Fine to Drive" to the tune of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Her videos are a mix of information and entertainment.

"I would probably perform a lot better if I did more of my real-life contents and more videos of my dog. But my intention with TikTok is to educate the public and to make sure people are informed about their rights. That's something I'm very passionate about. I had one video, I think it got over 3 million views, where I test ordinary things you would eat or drink, and see how they affect breathalyzers. So I did a breathalyzer test with sushi, and that one blew up. There are some things that I think people find more universally relatable," Lee said.

Lee advises other attorneys who are trying TikTok to be patient, since it takes a while to build a following. In addition, lawyers on TikTok need to be congenial and interesting.

"People don't go to TikTok for dry legal content of somebody sitting at their desk and explaining the law in a monotonous voice. They want to feel like they're dealing with somebody who's engaging with them on a human level. Be your authentic self," she said.

Lynda Hinkle, who has a solo practice in family law in Turnersville, has posted some educational videos on TikTok as well as others that are purely fun, such as videos featuring her pets. But the fun videos get lots more traffic than the more serious ones. The jury's still out on whether those videos help her firm's bottom line, she said.

Hinkle said earlier in her practice she relied on Facebook to build a clientele, and she is optimistic that the investment in TikTok will bear fruit eventually.

"It's difficult to use as an educational tool. The views are usually more about the fun stuff, and that's valuable for name recognition. I've been experimenting with using it on an educational level, and those are the lowest use and the lowest engagement. But I think you can pepper that in with the fun stuff, and you might get an audience that at least remembers your name," she said.

Grungo Law in Cherry Hill, which lists seven lawyers on its website, posts videos of the firm's holiday party and of its attorneys and staff attending a Philadelphia Eagles game and visiting local establishments to try their Buffalo wings.

"Being part of the community and conveying good feelings is one thing, but also then educating and teaching is another part of it. I think that our strategy is to have a kind of diversified offering," the firm's Richard Grungo Jr. said. The business that is not taking advantage of social media, including TikTok, has a serious blind spot in their marketing plan, period. And I think that whether or not you're a fan of TikTok or social media, you cannot ignore them."

JJJ Law Firm in Manasquan puts on a mix of substantive and lighter fare. One video talked about the television legal drama "Suits" and how it's unlike what happens in a real law firm, while another discussed gores, which are small, irregular parcels of land that are left unclaimed between larger property boundaries.

The firm's John J. Jackson III said the firm lacks the ability to determine whether its TikTok presence brings in new clients.

"Business has been great, but whether it's a result of that or in spite of it, I couldn't tell you," he said.

Jackson said the firm's TikTok presence isn't aimed at getting people to call the firm for representation, but he hopes the endeavor will get people to remember the firm's name.

"It's part of an overall marketing and awareness strategy to create content to put our name out there. And I saw a big advantage of it is it's been fun for our attorneys and for our staff," he said.