Following on from my post below, it seems that Twitter is causing a stir amongst lawyers in more ways than one.
It was only October of last year when Legal Week brought social media use amongst lawyers into the mainstream. For more on that, see The next big thing: is the social media tide turning? If you look at the comments against those original Legal Week articles you'll see there was discussion brewing early-doors about who should feature in reviews of the legal social media scene and for what reason.
Fast forward from October to the present day, and a relative social media scandal has exploded. A scandal so deep it's even worthy of the accolade of a gate. Twitteratigate. The whole story of which can be told no better than Brian Inkster in The Time Blawg.
Finally lawyers are getting it. This is what makes social media work: the ability to make it personal, share your perspective, explore what works and what doesn't, mould the message and the media which carries it.
I do indeed believe that the tide has turned.
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Monday, 24 January 2011
The Times Law Top 10 Legal Tweeter
12:44
I'm proud to be included in The Times Law Top 10 of legal tweeters! What an honour.
The article is behind a paywall, so I had to pay a small fee to see my name in lights. Why its time to open a corporate Twitter account celebrates the rise of Twitter amongst the legal profession and The Times has chosen to describe me as "a social media evangelist". This headline characteristic is a reflection of how rapidly the emphasis of this very blog stepped away from a log of legal events affecting my industry to that of a lawyer experimenting with how lawyers can use social media to its best effect. A year ago, very few people had heard of the in-house lawyer at Latitude, but now I receive a regular flow of professional opportunities which wouldn't have come my way previously and I'm routinely asked for comment on my new niche. I like to think I'm proof of what social media can do for you as a lawyer, so I'll continue to encourage you all to Play the Advantage it has to offer!
The Times Law Top 10 roll of honour comprises:
The article is behind a paywall, so I had to pay a small fee to see my name in lights. Why its time to open a corporate Twitter account celebrates the rise of Twitter amongst the legal profession and The Times has chosen to describe me as "a social media evangelist". This headline characteristic is a reflection of how rapidly the emphasis of this very blog stepped away from a log of legal events affecting my industry to that of a lawyer experimenting with how lawyers can use social media to its best effect. A year ago, very few people had heard of the in-house lawyer at Latitude, but now I receive a regular flow of professional opportunities which wouldn't have come my way previously and I'm routinely asked for comment on my new niche. I like to think I'm proof of what social media can do for you as a lawyer, so I'll continue to encourage you all to Play the Advantage it has to offer!
The Times Law Top 10 roll of honour comprises:
- @Inner_Temple: Provides the latest resolutions plus links to selected legal headlines from across the press
- @Charonqc: The very funny alter ego of Mike Semple Piggot, polymath legal blogger, writer and artist.
- @richardsusskind: Renowned legal IT specialist, academic, writer and Times columnist
- @davidallengreen: Insightful media lawyer, blogger and legal correspondent for theNew Statesman
- @RichardMoorhead: A legal academic and blogger specialising in writing about legal services and access to justice
- @in_house_lawyer: Social media evangelist who also tweets regularly on issues around commercial and digital law
- @copyrightgirl: Often responds directly to inquiries from followers on issues around copyright law and intellectual property
- @legalfutures: Very good on matters of compliance and competence for lawyers
- @LegalBizzle: The irreverent and personal thoughts of a lawyer, although on professional matters
- @TheNakedLawyer: Solicitor-turned marketer often tweeting on how lawyers can get the most out of social media
Well done everyone who features.
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Karma Communities
13:16
No, I haven't gone all hippy-chick.
I've been reading Twitter Power by Joel Comm lately. In fact, thats incorrect. I'm a 2.0 reader, so I've been listening to the audiobook.
Image is Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm, Gildan Media Corp, presented by Audible.co.uk
Joel Comm gets to the nubb of social media in the first chapter of his book where he describes traditional media publishers as the few who broadcast their news to the many, as against the new social media phenomenon where the many have the power to communicate the news, views and experiences to each other, resulting in the creation of communities with a common interest.
To me, the community is the most important aspect of social media. And because there are little, if any, barriers to entry into the social media world, its much simpler to become part of your chosen community and influence that community than it is to become part of a community in the offline world, such as, say, falling in with the cool kids at high school, the mums at the school gate or the clique of personnel who might have your CEO's attention. Social media is a great leveller.
But for a community to operate it needs to communicate. Communicating means listening as well as speaking, it means building relationships. You'll read a lot about social media being all about communication and relationship building, but once you truly understand that it actually is, it is an epiphany moment.
And so I was surprised today to come across a tweeting lawyer who followed zero people. Why would you join a social media community and not be part of the conversation? Even if it your goal is to promote yourself as a lawyer or a firm, how can you achieve that goal effectively without monitoring the conversation around you and understanding the impact which your broadcasting/marketing is having?
As an in-house lawyer, through social media you have the ability to become part of a number of communities which feed into your world: the community of the industry which your employing company operates in, or those of your company's suppliers or clients, the legal community, your specialism within the legal community, other in-house lawyers, legal service providers. Communities are being built, and the members of these communities are being generous with their information and advice. In-house lawyers can benefit from this: pop a question into your Twitter status such as "Does anyone know whether there are unfair dismissal rights in Germany?", and you'll receive several tweets in reply from practising employment lawyers pointing you in the right direction. The more you give back to the community, the more you'll receive from it too. There's a lot of good karma in circulation on social media sites.
I've been reading Twitter Power by Joel Comm lately. In fact, thats incorrect. I'm a 2.0 reader, so I've been listening to the audiobook.
Image is Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm, Gildan Media Corp, presented by Audible.co.uk
Joel Comm gets to the nubb of social media in the first chapter of his book where he describes traditional media publishers as the few who broadcast their news to the many, as against the new social media phenomenon where the many have the power to communicate the news, views and experiences to each other, resulting in the creation of communities with a common interest.
To me, the community is the most important aspect of social media. And because there are little, if any, barriers to entry into the social media world, its much simpler to become part of your chosen community and influence that community than it is to become part of a community in the offline world, such as, say, falling in with the cool kids at high school, the mums at the school gate or the clique of personnel who might have your CEO's attention. Social media is a great leveller.
But for a community to operate it needs to communicate. Communicating means listening as well as speaking, it means building relationships. You'll read a lot about social media being all about communication and relationship building, but once you truly understand that it actually is, it is an epiphany moment.
And so I was surprised today to come across a tweeting lawyer who followed zero people. Why would you join a social media community and not be part of the conversation? Even if it your goal is to promote yourself as a lawyer or a firm, how can you achieve that goal effectively without monitoring the conversation around you and understanding the impact which your broadcasting/marketing is having?
As an in-house lawyer, through social media you have the ability to become part of a number of communities which feed into your world: the community of the industry which your employing company operates in, or those of your company's suppliers or clients, the legal community, your specialism within the legal community, other in-house lawyers, legal service providers. Communities are being built, and the members of these communities are being generous with their information and advice. In-house lawyers can benefit from this: pop a question into your Twitter status such as "Does anyone know whether there are unfair dismissal rights in Germany?", and you'll receive several tweets in reply from practising employment lawyers pointing you in the right direction. The more you give back to the community, the more you'll receive from it too. There's a lot of good karma in circulation on social media sites.
Friday, 29 October 2010
5 More Reasons for In-House Counsel to Use Twitter
04:00
I attanded a law firm seminar yesterday evening discussing social media for in-house lawyers. It was an informative and very well-received event, yet I was amazed to find that save for myself and the presenters, nobody else around the table had ever used Twitter.
Twitter is so ingrained into my working day, I thought everyone else was using it too, but it appears not, and more evangalising is required by the rest of us! So following on from my previous 5 Reasons for In House Counsel to Use Twitter and 5 Twitter Best Practice Tips for In-House Counsel, here are 5 more reasons for in-house counsel to use Twitter:
1. Community: Twitter is highly effective at creating communities. There's a growing legal community on there, and we're already starting to see sections of that community specialise, in particular lawyers focussing on technology, IP, IT cloud computing, and, of course, social media are growing and prospering by creating communities within the larger legal circle.
Being an in-house lawyer can be a lonely experience professionally, especially if you're sole in-house counsel in, say, a firm full of engineers or scientists. So, lets face-it, some daily legal banter wouldn't go amiss. Twitter allows you to become part of a community very easily, and the more you put into that community, the more you'll get out of it.
2. Easily incorporated into your day: One of the reasons I've heard for lawyers not getting involved in social media or twitter activities is because they can't find the time. Well, that's no excuse in my book. With Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite , its so simple to have Twitter running unobtrusively on your desktop as you're completing other tasks; and very quickly you'll become accustomed to spotting the avatars or hashtags of your favourite follows as your tweetfeed pops up in the corner of your screen.
3. The Next Generation: Social media is already the communication choice of the next generation. Your business is going to have to prepare itself to accommodate this sea-change in communication preference, and if you want to communicate with the next generation of lawyers, its a tool you'll have to get to grips with pretty quickly too.
4.140 characters only: Twitter helps you to hone your writing skills. You need to get your point across in 140 characters or less. As an in-house lawyer in commerce and industry, this skill is particularly valuable where you're dealing with individuals not interested in the legal niceties, but who just want to get to the point.
5. Fun: As my good tweeting companion and fellow in-house lawyer @junecasalmir quite rightly points out, tweeting is actually quite good fun, its enjoyable to meet, network with and read tweets from some great people who you wouldn't have the opportunity to meet in the real world.
Have I convinced you yet?
The event I attended yesterday evening was hosted by the wonderful @stevekunkewicz and @paulcarruthers (to whom I thank for the insight into my point 3 above).
Twitter is so ingrained into my working day, I thought everyone else was using it too, but it appears not, and more evangalising is required by the rest of us! So following on from my previous 5 Reasons for In House Counsel to Use Twitter and 5 Twitter Best Practice Tips for In-House Counsel, here are 5 more reasons for in-house counsel to use Twitter:
1. Community: Twitter is highly effective at creating communities. There's a growing legal community on there, and we're already starting to see sections of that community specialise, in particular lawyers focussing on technology, IP, IT cloud computing, and, of course, social media are growing and prospering by creating communities within the larger legal circle.
Being an in-house lawyer can be a lonely experience professionally, especially if you're sole in-house counsel in, say, a firm full of engineers or scientists. So, lets face-it, some daily legal banter wouldn't go amiss. Twitter allows you to become part of a community very easily, and the more you put into that community, the more you'll get out of it.
2. Easily incorporated into your day: One of the reasons I've heard for lawyers not getting involved in social media or twitter activities is because they can't find the time. Well, that's no excuse in my book. With Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite , its so simple to have Twitter running unobtrusively on your desktop as you're completing other tasks; and very quickly you'll become accustomed to spotting the avatars or hashtags of your favourite follows as your tweetfeed pops up in the corner of your screen.
3. The Next Generation: Social media is already the communication choice of the next generation. Your business is going to have to prepare itself to accommodate this sea-change in communication preference, and if you want to communicate with the next generation of lawyers, its a tool you'll have to get to grips with pretty quickly too.
4.140 characters only: Twitter helps you to hone your writing skills. You need to get your point across in 140 characters or less. As an in-house lawyer in commerce and industry, this skill is particularly valuable where you're dealing with individuals not interested in the legal niceties, but who just want to get to the point.
5. Fun: As my good tweeting companion and fellow in-house lawyer @junecasalmir quite rightly points out, tweeting is actually quite good fun, its enjoyable to meet, network with and read tweets from some great people who you wouldn't have the opportunity to meet in the real world.
Have I convinced you yet?
The event I attended yesterday evening was hosted by the wonderful @stevekunkewicz and @paulcarruthers (to whom I thank for the insight into my point 3 above).
Thursday, 21 October 2010
The Next Big Thing: Is the social media tide turning?
14:26
Today's Legal Week has focussed on the use of social media tools by the legal profession. It ran two pieces today:
New ideas in Law: The geek shall inherit... a wonderfully well researched piece of journalism by Alex Aldridge summarising the history of the legal blogging scene at home and abroad and introducing the new, rising talent in the UK blawgosphere. I was thrilled and honoured for this very blog to be included in the article, quote:
Irreverent and candid. Heck, I hadn't realised! But I can roll with that. Alex's article is a suberb blawg round-up, culminating in his blawger roll of honour list. It makes my job of hosting this quarter's ukblawg round-up next week quite a challenge!
Tweet Disposition: the tech-savvy lawyers making social media work for them is written by Sofia Lind and introduces a selection of in-house and private practice tweeting lawyers. I was over the moon to be mentioned in this article along with other tweeting companions I know, and some which I didn't but I no doubt soon will. Sofia's article also takes a look at blogging and Linked-in and interestingly identifies what the Top 10 law firms are doing (or not doing) about social media, confirming what I suspected, i.e. that its the individuals, independents and smaller firms in the UK which are getting to grips with social media a lot more quickly and effectively than the larger firms.
These two articles have brought the UK's legal social media scene to the fore, their angle very much that social media is here to be embraced and not policed, and I predict we'll now see the tide changing with more of our profession surfing the social media waves.
Cartoon courtesy of Geek & Poke
New ideas in Law: The geek shall inherit... a wonderfully well researched piece of journalism by Alex Aldridge summarising the history of the legal blogging scene at home and abroad and introducing the new, rising talent in the UK blawgosphere. I was thrilled and honoured for this very blog to be included in the article, quote:
"Then there's In-House Lawyer, a more serious, non-fictional, yet still distinctly irreverent insider account of life as an in-house lawyer, authored by Melanie Hatton, a former Mayer Brown lawyer who is now head of legal and company secretary at Latitude Digital Marketing. In it, Hatton reflects candidly on issues facing in-house counsel, with recent posts including a piece drawing attention to the friction between in-house legal departments and sales teams in companies and an admission that she always leaves anything litigious to a Friday, the day of the week when "opposing counsel seem much more inclined to strike a deal with less antagonism".
Irreverent and candid. Heck, I hadn't realised! But I can roll with that. Alex's article is a suberb blawg round-up, culminating in his blawger roll of honour list. It makes my job of hosting this quarter's ukblawg round-up next week quite a challenge!
Tweet Disposition: the tech-savvy lawyers making social media work for them is written by Sofia Lind and introduces a selection of in-house and private practice tweeting lawyers. I was over the moon to be mentioned in this article along with other tweeting companions I know, and some which I didn't but I no doubt soon will. Sofia's article also takes a look at blogging and Linked-in and interestingly identifies what the Top 10 law firms are doing (or not doing) about social media, confirming what I suspected, i.e. that its the individuals, independents and smaller firms in the UK which are getting to grips with social media a lot more quickly and effectively than the larger firms.
These two articles have brought the UK's legal social media scene to the fore, their angle very much that social media is here to be embraced and not policed, and I predict we'll now see the tide changing with more of our profession surfing the social media waves.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Turn On, Tune In, Tweet Out
01:16
If you turned on Twitter on Thursday evening, and tuned into the #22twts hashtag, you'll have seen me tweet out.
#22twts is the inspiration of Lance Godard (of the The Godard Group) and comprises a weekly live Twitter interview of tweeting lawyers "helping them to tell their stories one tweet at a time".
I was Lance's first in-house interviewee, and I was slightly nervous to begin, but the experience was great fun and I'd thoroughly recommend that any lawyer using Twitter contacts Lance if they'd like to feature on #22twts.
The transcript of my interview appears on www.22tweets.com.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Guardian Angel
03:15
This is an example of how Twitter can "do something for you" very simply and very quickly.
Last week I saw this tweet:
I responded with this tweet:
And this one:
Next thing I saw this tweet:
And this article in The Guardian referencing my tweet:
People talked about it:
And nice people said nice things:
Simple.
Last week I saw this tweet:
I responded with this tweet:
And this one:
Next thing I saw this tweet:
And this article in The Guardian referencing my tweet:
People talked about it:
And nice people said nice things:
Simple.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Branded Part 4: It's Lawyering, but not as we know it
04:58
Well, things are finally starting to move forward on the personal brand quest front. I was delighted to speak with Legal Week recently in relation to a peice which they're writing on Tweeting Lawyers (I'll link to the piece once t goes live); I have an interview lined up for late September with 22Twts (a real time Twitter interview which asks 22 questions of tweeting lawyers, and I have the honour of being their first interview of an in-house lawyer), and finally I have myself a press deadline (scary) as I've been asked to provide an opinion piece for the Solicitors Journal on the recent Akzo Nobel case decison on privilege and the in-house lawyer.
It's lawyering, but not as we know it.
It's lawyering, but not as we know it.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
5 Reasons for In-House Counsel to use Linked In
13:51
In the style of the popular 5 Reasons for In-house Counsel to use Twitter, and having noticed that I'm spending more time using Linked In lately, it seemed only right and proper to set out my 5 reasons for in-house counsel to use Linked In:
1. In Branded I discussed the benefits to all lawyers of creating a personal brand online. Linked In is a credible, professional online network which is designed to provide you with the the tools to establish your online professional persona quickly and simply on a canvas which Twitter and, say, Facebook can't provide:
3. Linked In groups offer you a members-only style form for you to connect with other in-house professionals. To get you started, here are a selection of Linked In groups focussed on in-house lawyers:
4. Linked In groups provide you with the opportunity to, not only connect with other in-house counsel, but to also learn from, join in and create discussions on your group's specialist subject area. Members of groups share information resources, survey data and pose questions on topics of interest, and if you choose to subscribe to your group's email update (on a daily or weekly basis) all of that valuable information and discussion-based material can be delivered direct to your in-box.
5. Lawyers are one of the professions which are traditionally dragged into technology. My real-life contacts from law firms are under-represented on Linked In and, those law firm contacts who are there, have the least active profiles. As in-house counsel, I like to think we're more connected with the way the rest of business uses technology and we should prove to the professional community that lawyers can have a social (networking) life too!
And, if you're a lawyer who does embrace technology, Linked In is one of the venues where you'll come across other tech-savvy lawyers.
I'll see you on Linked In then: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/melaniejhatton
1. In Branded I discussed the benefits to all lawyers of creating a personal brand online. Linked In is a credible, professional online network which is designed to provide you with the the tools to establish your online professional persona quickly and simply on a canvas which Twitter and, say, Facebook can't provide:
- Your Linked In profile page acts as an online CV
- The profiles of those who you are connected with are stored in an easily-searchable Contacts list
- Links to your website, blog and Twitter account can be easily incorporated into your profile page to showcase your wider online presence
- Status updates, activity timelines, group links and recommendations showcase your business impact
3. Linked In groups offer you a members-only style form for you to connect with other in-house professionals. To get you started, here are a selection of Linked In groups focussed on in-house lawyers:
4. Linked In groups provide you with the opportunity to, not only connect with other in-house counsel, but to also learn from, join in and create discussions on your group's specialist subject area. Members of groups share information resources, survey data and pose questions on topics of interest, and if you choose to subscribe to your group's email update (on a daily or weekly basis) all of that valuable information and discussion-based material can be delivered direct to your in-box.
5. Lawyers are one of the professions which are traditionally dragged into technology. My real-life contacts from law firms are under-represented on Linked In and, those law firm contacts who are there, have the least active profiles. As in-house counsel, I like to think we're more connected with the way the rest of business uses technology and we should prove to the professional community that lawyers can have a social (networking) life too!
And, if you're a lawyer who does embrace technology, Linked In is one of the venues where you'll come across other tech-savvy lawyers.
I'll see you on Linked In then: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/melaniejhatton
Thursday, 10 June 2010
The Essential Tool-Kit for the In-House Lawyer
13:10
Throughout my experience as an in-house lawyer, I've had a requirement for the following 3 items over and above all else:
- A magic wand (to right wrongs and generally make things not the way they actually are)
- A crystal ball (to predict the future of course)
- A healthy stash of contracts that stretch to 2 sides of paper only (I don't know why, but when it comes to contracts, non-lawyers require them to be on 2 sides of paper only. Its a mystical quality which seems to keep everyone warm, comfortable and happy about any situation with a potential legal repercussion. I'm happy to oblige.)
Today on Twitter, I decided to ask my fellow tweeting in-house lawyers what they considered to be the essential items they needed to get through a day in the life of an in-house lawyer. I concurred with all of their replies, and so I'm now pleased to reveal the Official Essential Tool-Kit for the In-House Lawyer:
- The three items mentioned above
- A time machine (presumably for situations where the magic wand and crystal ball fail to function as required)
- A pair of reality glasses to loan out to people as and when needed (so in reality, a huge stash of reality glasses)
- A "10 minute" gun to shoot someone and they die for 10 minutes (I'm thinking @gamingcounsel was having a particularly bad day when he suggested this item, and I'm sure he doesn't really mean to shoot any of his co-workers)
- An effigy of a sales manager to stick pins in (heck, we in-house lawyers are displaying a fair bit of pent up rage aren't we? Although I could write several blog posts on the...hmmmm....challenges which arise between in-house legal and sales. Yes we're all on the same "company team" but essentially our functions are diametrically opposed and always will be)
- Two large red stamps (a) APPROVED and (b) DENIED (interesting this one, anything I "deny" tends to land on my desk the next day in disguise if I'm lucky, if I'm unlucky, "denied" activities tend to happen anyway under the cover of darkness)
- A repeat button (must be hard wearing)
There were some behavioural and physical traits which were suggested as essential also:
- The patience of a saint
- A sense of humour
- Open eyes and ears (I took this to mean alertness. Pro-plus and caffeine can assist with this)
- 2 feet and 2 hands (although it did strike me that if we were going to get this particular about the tool-kit, an extra pair of hands and feet and some "go faster" stripes are most definitely required)
Some of the more sensible suggestions also hit a chord, and there was a consistent message that in-house lawyers need:
- A quiet office (a haven, particularly for the in-house lawyer in an open-plan space shared primarily with non-lawyers who don't always share the same requirement for quiet review of papers or the keeping of matters confidential)
- A decent PC and a full complement of software and internet access
- Twitter!
- The internet (an absolute essential for lawyers operating without access to the informational resource of a traditional law firm library and professional support lawyer team)
- An accurate, complete and up to date contracts register recording all commercial agreements in the company (plus a paralegal to help run it)
- Trained co-workers with access to self-help guidance (working on the theory that a stitch in time saves nine)
- Black's Law Dictionary (I don't know what this is but mention of it it caused quite a stir amongst tweeters on the other side of the Atlantic)
Interestingly, no in-house lawyer mentioned either of the following:
- External counsel
- iPads (the one teccy item which is generating a huge amount of road-testing, blogging and commenting on by tech-savvy lawyers the world over at the moment)
Thank you to all of my fellow tweeting lawyers who took the time to share their thoughts with me today on this subject: @richard_russeth @philcylaw @jcasalmir @gamingcounsel @jamesbarnesesq @legalbizzle @jds @TM_Association @AlexandraHa @TMT_Lawyer
I'd love to hear from you if you have any experiences with items in the Essential Tool-Kit listed above or any other items to add to it.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Play the advantage
15:19
Working in the digital media industry I see first-hand every day the benefits to individuals and businesses from taking advantage of the newest technology, social media and web 2.0. An industry was born of it, trailblazers lead it, those who participate in it are cutting-edge, engaged with their customers and reap the rewards. They also have a bit of fun with it.
Hold on a minute….what was that you said? What’s web 2.0? Ah yes, social media it’s a risk isn’t it, you need rules to prevent your employees recklessly libelling their boss on Facebook. I don't give staff access to social media sites, its counter-productive. I can’t Twitter, it would be a breach of confidentiality. Anyway, my firm has a website.
Sorry. I forgot. You’re a lawyer. Risk-averse. You hear "social media". You think "policy". Go on, admit it.
So, I was delighted to read about this excellent symposium being organised by lawyers for lawyers. It’s a fresh and quirky look at how technology is affecting the practice of law. Sessions include: “Up in the Air and the Cloud”, ”Would Lincoln get Linked In? Or would he Tweet?” and, my personal favourite, “What’s your Avatar? How social media is changing the way we work and how to take advantage of it”.
If you're lucky enough to be attending this symposium, you just know you’re going to be able to listen to people excited about their subject and come away feeling inspired to get your personal lawyer brand online, out there and competing with the best of them.
Contrast those sessions with an in-house lawyer forum I’ve been invited to recently by a regional law firm. How could I not want to find out: “How to control social media in the workplace”, “How to prevent online defamation” and “How to control your risk online”.
Yawn.
It gets worse. An entirely separate conference I was invited to bears the ominous title “The Internet: What can go wrong and how to avoid it”. It includes sessions entitled “An Online Survival Guide”, “Avoiding Problems” and “How to Perform a Legal Operation”.
No, I don’t get the relevance of the last session either. But it’s a conference about the internet so….err…I guess it needs some scary sounding items that lawyers can warn their clients about. Maybe the organiser got a byte from a mouse when he was younger.
Anyway, I know which conference, I mean, symposium I’d rather be at. Go on law firms, I dare you, when it comes to social media and web 2.0, be a trailblazer and get your profession excited about the possibilities new technology and media offer us; don’t blow the referee’s whistle, play the advantage.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Are you talking my language?
08:55
The need to use the right communication method to keep in touch with your audience was never better exemplified than in yesterday’s parliamentary wash-up process for the Digital Economy Bill which enticed very few MPs to engage in debate on the subject in the Commons; juxtapositioned against the tirade of simultaneous Twitter debate at #debill from the outraged constituents of those MPs who will be looking for their votes at the general election in just over 4 weeks time.
Here’s another example of an organisation failing to hit the mark with the right communication method for the subject matter. A couple of weeks ago there was a landmark judgement on a case in my industry (digital marketing) and a big player was involved (Google). The law has always struggled to keep pace with technology, and so we love legal developments which do affect us and this was news we’d all been waiting for. Twitter alerted me to the result of the case. I used Twitter to convey the information I had received myself about the judgement, and to find out the information which everybody else had. I had a blog up and running for my company on the subject just after lunch time and, fair dues, several law firms, legal and industry bloggers achieved the same.
On the day, Twitter was invaluable for exchanging information and more importantly current thinking attaching to the issues which were raised in the case. Given the case related to the digital marketing industry, the real time communication was all the more appropriate.
Two days later, I received an e-mail from a law firm with the heading “Breaking News”. “How exciting” I thought “What a busy week this is turning out to be for new legal developments...
Oh the disappointment! The e-mail contained a briefing of the judgement from 2 days prior. It contained no insight or new angles on the case, and was clearly not in touch with the comments about this judgement case which were circulating on Twitter, the blogosphere and the industry generally.
In my view this was not breaking news. Technically, it was not even yesterday’s news. It would have been hard-pressed to be that day’s fish and chips paper.
Law firms, take note! and engage more actively with your target audience, use the tools which we use to communicate your message and you’ll have our attention. We may even talk back to you. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
Here’s another example of an organisation failing to hit the mark with the right communication method for the subject matter. A couple of weeks ago there was a landmark judgement on a case in my industry (digital marketing) and a big player was involved (Google). The law has always struggled to keep pace with technology, and so we love legal developments which do affect us and this was news we’d all been waiting for. Twitter alerted me to the result of the case. I used Twitter to convey the information I had received myself about the judgement, and to find out the information which everybody else had. I had a blog up and running for my company on the subject just after lunch time and, fair dues, several law firms, legal and industry bloggers achieved the same.
On the day, Twitter was invaluable for exchanging information and more importantly current thinking attaching to the issues which were raised in the case. Given the case related to the digital marketing industry, the real time communication was all the more appropriate.
Two days later, I received an e-mail from a law firm with the heading “Breaking News”. “How exciting” I thought “What a busy week this is turning out to be for new legal developments...
Oh the disappointment! The e-mail contained a briefing of the judgement from 2 days prior. It contained no insight or new angles on the case, and was clearly not in touch with the comments about this judgement case which were circulating on Twitter, the blogosphere and the industry generally.
In my view this was not breaking news. Technically, it was not even yesterday’s news. It would have been hard-pressed to be that day’s fish and chips paper.
Law firms, take note! and engage more actively with your target audience, use the tools which we use to communicate your message and you’ll have our attention. We may even talk back to you. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
5 Twitter Best Practice Tips for In-house Counsel
04:25
In my previous post 5 Reasons for In-house Counsel to use Twitter I encourage in-house lawyers to embrace Twitter. Now here’s some best practice advice on making the most of Twitter specifically for in-house counsel:
1. By its nature, Twitter is a personable and informal means of communication, but be careful not to let your professional standards drop. This is particularly important if your Twitter profile identifies you as a lawyer and more so if it identifies the link to your employing company. For instance, whereas a lawyer for a private practice firm might be able to comfortably tweet “worked on defence to a fraud case today” and the lawyer/client privilege is not necessarily breached; but tweeting about your exposure to a fraud case as an in-house lawyer might not be the best PR you could be giving to your company.
2. On Twitter you represent yourself, your legal skills and profession and your employer. How do you balance these 3 potentially conflicting interests? Personally, I manage this risk by running two separate Twitter accounts: one protected account for my personal Twitter feed and a public account for my @in_house_lawyer tweets which I keep strictly professional. (Does this make me a Twitzophrenic?). Other users of Twitter merge their personal and professional tweets side by side. Twitter is a flexible tool, so experiment to find the best way for you of balancing your individualism and professionalism.
3. Twitter is a great information resource, yes. But, as a lawyer, rely on it with caution. No matter how authoritative your fellow Twitterers appear, Twitter is not a source of legal authority. Your information stream is limited to the people whom you follow, their quality of resource, accuracy and currency and also their “take” on a piece of information. Not to mention disseminating all of that into just 140 characters.
4. Connected with the previous point, very often you will see a tantalising tweet luring you to click on a link to a helpful article – you review the full article and then see the date at the bottom, its 6 months old! Twitter prides itself on being “real time” and as such there is an expectation of currency of information to be available on Twitter, and largely that is true, but that doesn’t always manifest itself in tweets and re-tweets of information sources. Top tip: when clicking on a link to a third party PDF or article the first thing you should do is check the date of that piece of information, not forgetting the jurisdiction it relates to (Twitter is a worldwide information stream).
Also beware the tweeters who post links to sites which appear to contain helpful information which is bang up-to-date, but which you then have to pay to download that information. These types of tweets are few and far between, but just one to watch out for.
5. To make the most of Twitter as a networking tool and information resource you need to mange who you follow with some regularity. Don’t feel compelled to follow back everyone who follows you, likewise don’t be offended if someone you follow doesn’t follow you back. Everyone uses twitter differently. The value of Twitter as an information resource for you lessens if your information stream becomes diluted with irrelevant or unhelpful information. Refresh who you follow every once so that you don’t miss out on new Twitter users who it might be mutually beneficial to follow. Having said all of that if a user directs a comment to you, it is Twitter etiqueete (Twitiquette?) to respond, even if you don’t follow that user.
More generally, I recommend reading Twitter’s own best practice tips for general use of Twitter, and The Creation of Twitter Best Practices on Ogilvy PR (an older article (see advice in point 4 above!) but the advice still rings true). I’d love to hear your best practice advice for in-house counsel using Twitter.
1. By its nature, Twitter is a personable and informal means of communication, but be careful not to let your professional standards drop. This is particularly important if your Twitter profile identifies you as a lawyer and more so if it identifies the link to your employing company. For instance, whereas a lawyer for a private practice firm might be able to comfortably tweet “worked on defence to a fraud case today” and the lawyer/client privilege is not necessarily breached; but tweeting about your exposure to a fraud case as an in-house lawyer might not be the best PR you could be giving to your company.
2. On Twitter you represent yourself, your legal skills and profession and your employer. How do you balance these 3 potentially conflicting interests? Personally, I manage this risk by running two separate Twitter accounts: one protected account for my personal Twitter feed and a public account for my @in_house_lawyer tweets which I keep strictly professional. (Does this make me a Twitzophrenic?). Other users of Twitter merge their personal and professional tweets side by side. Twitter is a flexible tool, so experiment to find the best way for you of balancing your individualism and professionalism.
3. Twitter is a great information resource, yes. But, as a lawyer, rely on it with caution. No matter how authoritative your fellow Twitterers appear, Twitter is not a source of legal authority. Your information stream is limited to the people whom you follow, their quality of resource, accuracy and currency and also their “take” on a piece of information. Not to mention disseminating all of that into just 140 characters.
4. Connected with the previous point, very often you will see a tantalising tweet luring you to click on a link to a helpful article – you review the full article and then see the date at the bottom, its 6 months old! Twitter prides itself on being “real time” and as such there is an expectation of currency of information to be available on Twitter, and largely that is true, but that doesn’t always manifest itself in tweets and re-tweets of information sources. Top tip: when clicking on a link to a third party PDF or article the first thing you should do is check the date of that piece of information, not forgetting the jurisdiction it relates to (Twitter is a worldwide information stream).
Also beware the tweeters who post links to sites which appear to contain helpful information which is bang up-to-date, but which you then have to pay to download that information. These types of tweets are few and far between, but just one to watch out for.
5. To make the most of Twitter as a networking tool and information resource you need to mange who you follow with some regularity. Don’t feel compelled to follow back everyone who follows you, likewise don’t be offended if someone you follow doesn’t follow you back. Everyone uses twitter differently. The value of Twitter as an information resource for you lessens if your information stream becomes diluted with irrelevant or unhelpful information. Refresh who you follow every once so that you don’t miss out on new Twitter users who it might be mutually beneficial to follow. Having said all of that if a user directs a comment to you, it is Twitter etiqueete (Twitiquette?) to respond, even if you don’t follow that user.
More generally, I recommend reading Twitter’s own best practice tips for general use of Twitter, and The Creation of Twitter Best Practices on Ogilvy PR (an older article (see advice in point 4 above!) but the advice still rings true). I’d love to hear your best practice advice for in-house counsel using Twitter.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
5 Reasons for In-house Counsel to use Twitter
06:18
I’ve been tweeting as @in_house_lawyer for a couple of months and already I’ve built up a new network of legal acquaintances through that profile; however despite an increasing take-up of all manner of legal service providers using and contributing to Twitter, I’ve found very few in-house counsel out there. So, if you are in-house counsel using Twitter or you know of in-house counsel amongst the Twitterati please point them in my direction!
Here are my 5 reasons why in-house counsel should use Twitter:
1. Twitter is a great information resource. Choose which Twitterers to follow carefully based on content which is of interest to you, and you’ll have a constant stream of helpful data and links on the subject areas you want to keep up to speed with. Twitter users who are looking to appeal to lawyers are incredibly keen to be the first to inform you of a new legal development or to offer a different view on that development. As an information resource it’s flexible, easy to access and free. All very important to the resource and time strapped in-house lawyer.
You can also follow tweets on subjects from outside of the Twitterati you follow by creating tweet columns. Using a service such as Tweetdeck, you can create tweet columns to supply you with tweets on your favourite hash-tagged subject matters.
2. The Twitter environment offers the in-house lawyer an opportunity to forge new relationships with people who might otherwise be outside of their network. Link up with law firms, law graduates, legal researchers, companies offering legal training and development, and key-players in your company’s specialist industry or service line. Follow these people, re-tweet, reply to their tweets and contribute tweets which they’re likely to find useful and you’ll soon find yourself receiving direct messages, emails and Linked-In invitations to connect from the real people behind the Twitter accounts you follow.
3. “If you’re not online, you don’t exist” said Internet Strategist Nathan Snell back in March 2009, and in 2010 that warning rings more true than ever. Twitter offers a simple gateway to improving your online presence and your personal brand which is just as key to an in-house lawyer as to any other profession out there. See my earlier post Branded on the importance of establishing yourself as a specialist in your field via social media.
4. As more and more companies and individuals explore social media, so social media presents the legal community with the need to analyse and advise upon the legal implications of it. Many corporations choose to regulate the way in which their employees use social media and many have introduced social media policies. (For those of you considering introducing your own, Social Media Governance provides an online database of social media policies and guidelines from a number of organisations for research purposes). There’s nothing like familiarising yourself with the social media tools which your company and its staff are using to understand the benefits and risks which it brings to a business and which you’ll be asked to take a legal (and of course practicable and commercial) view on.
5. Under pressure to deliver a value-add to your company? Your Twitter presence is not only an opportunity to market your personal legal brand online, but once out there you’ll be a representative of your company. Use your Twitter platform to raise awareness of legal developments affecting the industry which your company and its customers operate in.
Here are my 5 reasons why in-house counsel should use Twitter:
1. Twitter is a great information resource. Choose which Twitterers to follow carefully based on content which is of interest to you, and you’ll have a constant stream of helpful data and links on the subject areas you want to keep up to speed with. Twitter users who are looking to appeal to lawyers are incredibly keen to be the first to inform you of a new legal development or to offer a different view on that development. As an information resource it’s flexible, easy to access and free. All very important to the resource and time strapped in-house lawyer.
You can also follow tweets on subjects from outside of the Twitterati you follow by creating tweet columns. Using a service such as Tweetdeck, you can create tweet columns to supply you with tweets on your favourite hash-tagged subject matters.
2. The Twitter environment offers the in-house lawyer an opportunity to forge new relationships with people who might otherwise be outside of their network. Link up with law firms, law graduates, legal researchers, companies offering legal training and development, and key-players in your company’s specialist industry or service line. Follow these people, re-tweet, reply to their tweets and contribute tweets which they’re likely to find useful and you’ll soon find yourself receiving direct messages, emails and Linked-In invitations to connect from the real people behind the Twitter accounts you follow.
3. “If you’re not online, you don’t exist” said Internet Strategist Nathan Snell back in March 2009, and in 2010 that warning rings more true than ever. Twitter offers a simple gateway to improving your online presence and your personal brand which is just as key to an in-house lawyer as to any other profession out there. See my earlier post Branded on the importance of establishing yourself as a specialist in your field via social media.
4. As more and more companies and individuals explore social media, so social media presents the legal community with the need to analyse and advise upon the legal implications of it. Many corporations choose to regulate the way in which their employees use social media and many have introduced social media policies. (For those of you considering introducing your own, Social Media Governance provides an online database of social media policies and guidelines from a number of organisations for research purposes). There’s nothing like familiarising yourself with the social media tools which your company and its staff are using to understand the benefits and risks which it brings to a business and which you’ll be asked to take a legal (and of course practicable and commercial) view on.
5. Under pressure to deliver a value-add to your company? Your Twitter presence is not only an opportunity to market your personal legal brand online, but once out there you’ll be a representative of your company. Use your Twitter platform to raise awareness of legal developments affecting the industry which your company and its customers operate in.
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