Jay Strother’s article, Just Being Social, takes a very comprehensive look at professional responsibility for lawyers and law firm employees, offering great practical advice from a number of lawyers and legal industry professionals.
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Jay Strother is the former editor and associate publisher of Legal Management. He is now a Chicago-based independent writer, editor and marketing consultant. Reach him at jstrother@wowway.com.
Just Being Social | Article Excerpt
Regardless of their opinions about the timing and usefulness of the formal ABA Opinion, marketers and administrators agree that websites create a lot of gray ethical boundaries – and firms must be ready to address these issues. “This rule said to me that firms have to take every precaution,” said Navarre, who published the book Social.Lawyers: Transforming Business Development. “There is interaction and immediacy inherent in the web. Firm managers must ensure they are filtering the website through layers of protection.”
Websites themselves may be easier to keep under control. The real issues come from the new technologies. Practitioners are creating their own blogs. They are active on Twitter. They have LinkedIn and Facebook accounts that reflect their employer and profession. These media open up new challenges, ones that Navarre said require you to have really honest lawyers who tell the firm how they are using these tools. “Social media: That’s where the line gets a little fuzzy,” she said.
“When we interact online, are we providing legal advice? When someone reads an article online there is a disclaimer.” But Twitter posts and blogs are independent of the firm’s site. Navarre’s solution is to ensure that lawyers and staff know how to handle requests that come in via these media.
BE SURE TO CATCH JAYNE NAVARRE’S SESSION, “IS THE MEDIUM THE MESSAGE? SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING” (LI34) AT THE ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON MAY 25.
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