Law Firm Social Media Strategy: Social Media Advice Straight From The American Bar Association

Since 1878, the American Bar Association has been one of the best sources of information for legal professionals. Unsurprisingly the organization has a lot of valuable things to say when it comes to social media usage. So to begin our new three-part series, in which we’ll dive into the best law firm social media practices to follow, we figured we’d share some advice straight from the most experienced and trustworthy legal voice there is. Below, we’ll answer four questions regarding how attorneys should go about their social posting, giving both an expert take from an ABA published piece, and our take.

Question #1: How can attorneys with a limited amount of time make the most of their social media strategy?

The ABA Expert’s Take:

Here is what director of law practice management and technology at the Chicago Bar Association, Catherine Sanders Reach, had to say in an ABA piece:

“Determining the best social media platform for focusing the limited time and resources of a busy attorney’s client development efforts is the first step. Each platform has a culture, and there are ways of effectively using it to engage and create a positive reputation. For instance, tweeting, “Sickened by recalled cantaloupe? Call us to find out your legal rights” may be direct, but people don’t follow ads. Instead consider providing good information so that you become a trusted source. Instead, tweet “Get alerts on food recalls from the USDA and FDA,” and provide a shortened link.”

Our Take: Be in the right places and give people reason to engage with your firm

For busy law professionals, being on as many social networks as possible should not be the goal. Just being on a social network means very little if you do not properly know how to use it, or there isn’t an audience on that network for your firm to connect with. The goal should instead be finding social networks where you can most effectively engage with potential clients, and establish your firm as an authority source of knowledge for your particular field of law.

If you’re looking for a good starting point, here are the big three social networks we think lawyers need to be on.

Facebook

A platform that attracts a wide audience and is great for sharing visuals and telling stories. It’s paid advertising boosts also make it easy to get the word out about your business.

Facebook’s paid boosts make it easy to get eyeballs on your content, and are simple to set up. Image via Social Media Examiner

Twitter

Full of users on the hunt for the latest news and information, and offers plenty of opportunity for engagement.

Sharing content on Twitter, allows firms to get instant feedback from their readers, and have their stories quickly reach new audiences. Image via Career Sherpa

LinkedIn

Great spot for connecting with law professionals of all fields, and sharing your legal knowledge.

LinkedIn allows you to easily put together engaging company pages, and share the latest on what is going on with your firm. Image via nettl

As Sanders Reach notes in her ABA piece, the way you utilize each platform also matters a great deal. Just posting an ad on social media for your firm isn’t likely to be effective, if people are not at all familiar with your business. The better approach is to earn the trust of online viewers by posting and sharing high value content.

In order to create a piece of trustworthy high value content, your goal should be to do one of the following:

• Teach the reader something
• Give the reader an interesting take on a current event
• Tell the reader a story
• Inspire the reader to do things a different way

Posting this kind of content helps you prove to online viewers that you are a knowledgeable and capable legal mind, rather than just telling them that you are. Creating and sharing high value content is the key to grabbing people’s attention in today’s overcrowded online world.

Question #2: Can social media posting create ethical dilemmas for attorneys?

The ABA Expert’s Take:

Here is what VP of Risk Management for the Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, Todd C. Scott had to say:

““For many attorneys using social media, having happy clients and trusted friends engage with you publicly in an online forum is advertising gold that can’t be matched by any number of pre-paid print ads...But if used incorrectly, the same features found on a social media web platform can create an ethical nightmare for an attorney who may not be aware of the implications. For example, if a lawyer invites the public to post legal questions on his or her Facebook site, is a client-attorney relationship formed once and a web reader takes the lawyer up on the offer? According to the ABA Ethics Opinion 10-457, such an invitation may trigger the ethical duties owed to prospective clients, and the attorney may be conflicted out of representing other parties related to the prospective client’s matter.” ”

Our Take: Social media can create ethical dilemmas, so engage carefully

Attorneys must always be wary of doing things on social networks that can put their practice in hot water, like disclosing confidential information, making false statements, “friending” people like judges, and communicating online with parties involved in the case they are working.

Directly answering people’s legal questions on social media is another area that often raises ethical concerns. What if an attorney gives a person bad legal advice? Can the lawyer be held responsible? While answering law related questions online may come across as somewhat risky, there are some legal professionals like DUI Lawyer and Criminal Defense Attorney, K. Lawson Wellington, who believe that doing so can still be worthwhile.

“I think it is good in a sense, to give the consumer and the potential client something of an incentive, and to say ‘listen, it’s not always about the money’,” Wellington said.

We agree with Wellington that answering the questions of online users can be a great way for lawyers to engage with potential customers. Wellington is of course quite experienced in online marketing matters, so those who are new to social media may struggle to answer client questions with the level of professionalism that he manages to.

Those who lack experience engaging with people on social media, may instead want to begin by sharing their legal knowledge through blog posts and video posts, in which they can control what the topic is about and choose a specific message they want to get across. Doing so allows attorneys to prove their legal competence to prospective clients, without the risk of getting in a dispute with an online follower.

Question #3: Is it worth it for attorneys to get involved on social media, given all the risks that come with it?

The ABA Expert’s Take:

Here is what Law Practice magazines writers, Simon Chester and Daniel Del Gobbo, had to say in their co-written ABA piece:

“The generally cautious and conservative nature of law firm management means that in many cases the decision makers often see only the real (or alleged) dangers, often without an understanding of the tools or an appreciation for their potential. Now that the use of social media is becoming so widespread, disengagement is not the answer. The issues are not insurmountable, and being a wallflower lets others gain a competitive advantage.”

Our Take: Social media is too important to sit out on

Social media mistakes can often bring negative consequences for a firm, as they have the ability to seriously damage a firm’s reputation, on-going cases, and clients. With all this being the case, it’s hard to blame attorneys for being hesitant to join in on the social media party. But, as Chester and Del Gobbo state in their piece, the benefits of using social media far outway any potential dangers. And with the law world being made up of more and more millennial era attorneys and clients, sitting out on the social networking game is simply no longer an option for firms.

Attorneys should still proceed with some caution when posting on social platforms. Maintaining a professional appearance is always a must, as otherwise you’re likely to scare off potential clients from wanting to represent them. Perhaps most important, is making sure that all members of your law office have a clear understanding of how your firm expects them to behave on social media. That way you can encourage employees to be at their most creative and innovative when posting, while knowing that your firm will not be at risk of any possible embarrassment. This can be achieved by creating a firm wide social media policy.

Question #4: Is it worth it for attorneys to get involved on social media, given all the risks that come with it?

The ABA Expert’s Take:

Here is what former CEO and Founder of New Media Strategies, Pete Snyder, and LinkedIn Expert and Author, Viveka von Rosen, were quoted as saying in an ABA piece:

“You don’t swing at every pitch out there,” says Snyder. “Sometimes engaging is a bad thing because it adds credence to the situation.”
“In most cases, you can get a sense of who the person is by looking at his content,” says von Rosen. “If someone is slandering you online, chances are most of his content is negative, and if this is the case, it is best to just ignore him.”

Our Take: Know when to not respond

Even if you execute your social media strategy to perfection, and avoid making careless errors, you’re still bound to run into the occasional piece of negative online feedback. It is still the internet after all. In some cases a critic of your firm or something your firm posted may be justified, and in those cases attorneys may want to consider issuing a public or private response, letting the person who posted it know that their feedback as been heard and is being taken into account. However, offering a response is not always the right decision.

As Snyder and von Rosen say in their piece, many times not engaging is the best move a law office can make. This is especially true when the negative feedback comes from a user who appears to be volatile and unreasonable. While defending your firm will understandably always be your first instinct, going back and forth with certain users, especially in a public fashion, can make your firm come across as petty and unprofessional. Always aim to take the high road.