ethical social media marketing for lawyers

Ethical Social Media Marketing for Lawyers:

Tips and Strategies

When: June 20, 2013 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST Speakers: Natalie Alesi and Samantha Collier

Agenda 1.  Social Media for Law Firms Overview 2.  Which Social Media Platforms to Focus On 3.  Social Media Scheduling 4.  Social Media Ethics for Lawyers

Social Media Overview for Lawyers

Your potential clients expect to find you online via your website and social

networks.

Lawyers are using social media to build their reputation AKA social influence.

Social media is different than traditional legal marketing.

Your competition is using social media, trust me.

Conversations must be authentic when using social media.

Lawyers are using social media to super-charge their event attendance.

What are law firms doing in 2013?

Video Bios & YouTube Channels Engaging on LinkedIn & Twitter Publishing Content Via Blogs

Social Media Platforms and Scheduling Tools for Lawyers

Lawyers Use LinkedIn Because:

•  Their  clients  are  using  LinkedIn.  According  to  Kevin  O’Keefe,  9  out  of  10  use  execu@ves  oAen.  

•  Clients  and  poten@al  clients  want  to  research  you  on  LinkedIn.  

•  It’s  known  as  the  “business”  social  network  and  people  are  joining  at  a  rate  of  two  people  per  second.    

Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Profile:  ü  Professional  picture  you  wouldn’t  mind  your  

grandmother  seeing  ü  A  catchy  headline  that  describes  your  prac@ce  ü  U@lize  your  summary  sec@on  and  include  keywords  

describing  the  type  of  work  you  want  (SEO)  ü  Add  all  of  your  contact  informa@on    ü  Customize  your  URL  hSp://www.linkedin.com/in/

yourname  ü  Add  your  previous  employment  and  educa@on  ü  Join  some  groups    

Lawyers Use Twitter Because:

•  Keep  up  to  date  regarding  news  and  current  events  •  Network  with  colleagues,  poten@al  clients  and  referral  sources  

•  Share  your  blog  posts,  3rd  party  ar@cles  and  other  interes@ng  content  to  build  expert  reputa@on  

•  Engage  in  real  @me  conversa@on  

Lawyers Use Facebook Because:

•  The  number  one  source  of  work  is  word-­‐of-­‐mouth  referrals  and  recommenda@ons.  Your  Facebook  network  is  full  of  family,  friends,  school  chums,  colleagues,  etc.  

•  You  can  easily  share  work  related  content  a  couple  @mes  a  week  so  if  the  need  arises  for  your  services,  your  name  comes  to  mind.    

•  You  should  create  a  Facebook  Page  for  your  firm  at  the  very  least.    

Lawyers Use Google+ Because:

•  It  has  become  the  second  largest  social  network.  •  The  audience  is  different  than  the  other  social  channels.  •  You  can  create  Communi@es.  •  It  helps  with  your  Author  Rank  and  establishes  Authorship.  

Social Media Management Tools:

•  All  you  to  easily  filter  conversa@ons  based  on  your  interests.  

•  You  have  the  ability  to  schedule  posts  during  the  week  when  you  have  the  @me  to  manage  your  accounts.  

•  You  can  access  these  on  your  mobile  devices  for  quick  easy  reading,  sharing  and  having  those  conversa@ons.    

Social Media Ethics for Lawyers.

What do the rules and ethics opinions say about lawyers use of social media?

Bland v. Roberts – A Facebook

“like” is not constitutionally protected speech

Six states passed legislation regarding employers' access to employee/applicant social media accounts

Despite lawyers’ fears, states are receiving few, if any, bar complaints arising out of lawyers use of the Internet for marketing and business development. Grievances related to lawyers’ marketing efforts are arising out of non internet-based activities. ~Kevin O’Keefe

PhoneDog LLC v Noah Kravitz

Employer-­‐employee  li@ga@on    over  ownership  of  social  media    

accounts  

Virginia Court: First Amendment protection for lawyer-bloggers

Can lawyers friend a judge on Facebook?

AND Is being connected to opposing

counsel a problem?

California  Rules  of  Professional  Conduct  

ASorney  may  post  informa@on  about  her  prac@ce  on  Facebook,  TwiSer,  or  other  social  media  websites,  but  those  pos@ngs  may  be  subject  to  compliance  with  rule  1-­‐400  if  their  content  can  be  considered  to  be  “concerning  the  availability  for  professional  employment.”  Such  communica@ons  also  may  be  subject  to  the  relevant  sec@ons  of  California  Business  and  Professions  Code  sec@ons  6157  et  seq.  

CONCLUSION  

Do LinkedIn Endorsements

Violate Legal Ethics?

What constitutes dispensing advice on social channels?

Can a lawyer advise a client in litigation to delete their profile?

If you do use social media for promoting your law firm or yourself, you must comply with the general regulations set forth in lawyer advertising rules…

If you protect your tweets and someone has signed up to receive your information, do the rules apply?

Internet Defamation—What Can You Do When You Are the Target?

List of Dont’s

Don’t post misleading information: past results, promised results and testimonials

Don’t make statements that characterize the quality of your legal services

Lawyer is responsible for the content for the information they post on their page but is not responsible for information posted on their page by a 3rd party, unless the lawyer uses the 3rd party content to break advertising rules.

Mobile State Bar Apps

Hawaii,  Maryland,  New  York,  Ohio,  Virginia  and  more  recently  Arizona  

References •  hSp://www.floridabar.org/eb/TFBLawReg.nsf/9dad7bbda218afe885257002004833c5/a502e8b302def7a5852576e3004fc685!OpenDocument  •  hSp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media  

•  hSp://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubAr@cleCA.jsp?id=1202585881253&Social_media_and_legal_ethics&slreturn=20130517093024  

•  hSp://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publica@ons/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_table_of_contents.html  

•  hSp://ethics.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/9/documents/Opinions/CAL%202012-­‐186%20%2812-­‐21-­‐12%29.pdf  

•  hSp://kevin.lexblog.com/legal-­‐marke@ng/ethics-­‐blogging-­‐law/  

•  hSp://www.legalethicsinmo@on.com/category/social-­‐media/  

•  hSp://www.lawsitesblog.com/2013/05/do-­‐linkedin-­‐endorsements-­‐violate-­‐legal-­‐ethics.html  

•  hSp://www.lawsitesblog.com/2013/01/california-­‐rules-­‐on-­‐ethics-­‐of-­‐social-­‐media-­‐pos@ngs.html  

•  hSp://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?ar@cle=1138&context=lawreview  

•  hSp://www.myrlandmarke@ng.com/social-­‐media-­‐ethics-­‐regula@ons/  

•  hSps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-­‐york-­‐state-­‐bar-­‐associa@on/id490365840?mt=8  •  hSp://kevin.lexblog.com/2013/05/11/nine-­‐of-­‐ten-­‐execu@ves-­‐using-­‐linkedin-­‐oAen/  

•  hSp://www.natlawreview.com/ar@cle/internet-­‐defama@on-­‐what-­‐can-­‐you-­‐do-­‐when-­‐you-­‐are-­‐target  

•  hSp://kevin.lexblog.com/2012/06/15/virginia-­‐court-­‐first-­‐amendment-­‐protec@on-­‐for-­‐lawyer-­‐bloggers/  

•  hSp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_advice  

•  hSp://theneighborhoodentrepreneur.com/lawyers-­‐bar-­‐associa@ons-­‐get-­‐onboard-­‐with-­‐mobile-­‐apps/  

•  hSp://socialmediatoday.com/lizgross144/1516661/how-­‐add-­‐live-­‐twiSer-­‐feed-­‐your-­‐powerpoint-­‐presenta@on  

Natalie  Alesi  LegalersWelcome,  Inc.  

m.  609.447.1020  nalesi@legalerswelcome.com  

 Connect  with  me  

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Samantha  Collier  Social  Media  for  Law  Firms  &    ShiA  Digital  samanthataracollier@gmail.com    Connect  with  me  Blog  LinkedIn  Facebook  Google+  TwiSer  

Thank  YOU