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/[email protected]?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://[email protected]/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-‐[email protected]

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

•  hSp://[email protected]/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 [email protected]

Connect with me

Blog LinkedIn Facebook Google+ TwiSer

Samantha Collier Social Media for Law Firms & ShiA Digital [email protected] Connect with me Blog LinkedIn Facebook Google+ TwiSer

Thank YOU