“Read the EULA” is a common phrase among security and privacy groups. EULA = End User License Agreement. This is the case since so many Web 2.0 sites have EULA’s where all IP rights go the the provider. I recently posted on this issue re: LinkedIn and its less-than favorable EULA for its users.

Well … that got me thinking. What about the EULA for Google’s Blogger tool (a.k.a. the one we use for 3 Geeks Blog)? I vaguely recall reviewing this when we first set up the blog, but last night falling asleep I got to thinking about it.

Your Intellectual Property Rights. Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services.

I should have looked this up last night. I would have slept better.

Kudos to Google and remember, Always Read the EULA!

I’ve previously noted that keyword searching has seen better days. Numerous recent e-discovery court cases and KM blogs provide worthy critiques of keyword searching as an inadequate way of retrieving knowledge.

Recently I have taken a more in-depth view of the next-generation of search, known as concept, natural language or semantic search. The basic goal or purpose of semantic search, is creating structure out of chaos – thus the title of this post.

In the e-discovery world the challenge is finding the right knowledge within massive data stores. A lawyer can only present a relatively finite set of information at trial. So the trick is getting to the best information cost effectively. Given terabyte and larger discovery challenges, this is no small feat. An effective semantic search tool is the next answer to this question.

At its most basic level, semantic search tools are able to analyze human language and make sense out of it (like a human does). For instance, they can determine what a period is in a sentence versus a decimal point. For us humans this is a simple task. But this is well beyond a keyword search engine’s ability.

At this point in my thinking, I am crossing from one paradigm into another. For so long we have been focused on extracting structured data from data bases and making that knowledge universal. This has been the promise of XML. But the real magic comes when technology can find structure in unstructured data. This may sound very geeky, but it is definitely a real world problem.

For KM, it may be THE real problem. Most of the knowledge we seek to manage is buried in unstructured BLOBs. Tools that makes sense of this chaos and deliver the results in human-understandable ways will be very powerful.

More to come on this topic I’m sure, as my research continues.

Here’s a different look at the law firm marketers that I’ve listed on an earlier posting. These are the web sites that they’ve listed on their Twitter profiles. Some are marketing blogs, some are personal blogs, some are firms or businesses they work for, and, some are just personal web pages that they seem to like. So, don’t take this as the definitive resource for law firm marketing web pages… just enjoy the view and see if you luck across something of use!!

Searchme View in searchme: full | lite

In a press release on Thursday, Contact Networks (now owned by Thomson Reuters) annouced that it is adding LinkedIn data into its Enterprise Relationship Management (ERM) software. Here’s the meat of the press release:

ContactNet automatically maps a firm’s entire external relationship network, uncovering whom the firm knows and calculating the strength of each relationship. This relationship knowledge is of critical value to professional services firms seeking to win new business, retain clients in a difficult market, cross-sell services, or collect competitive intelligence. With the new LinkedIn integration, ContactNet now also includes the relationships that a user has within their personal LinkedIn network. Companies are now using ContactNet’s powerful enterprise software to find and rank relevant relationships firm-wide while leveraging employees’ LinkedIn networks, accelerating their ability to reach all the most valuable contacts and key business introductions.

Now, as interesting as this is, I actually got to see a demo of a few of the Thomson Reuters products (that are now in Beta or Alpha production.) The new version of West Monitor (aka Firm360) has some good functionality for competitive intelligence purposes, and they have sped up the reports considerably. The new release (scheduled for around the first of ’09) also is supposed to integrate Web Part functionality for SharePoint integration (this will be a very, very good function for things like client pages.)

The best demo I saw was one for Contact Networks that is scheduled for release around April of ’09. Contact Networks is developing a web browser plug-in that will look that the web page and create hover windows for information that matches your Contact Networks ERM data. In other words, if a client’s name appears in the web page, you can hover your mouse over that name and you’ll get a pop-up window showing some basic information about the client and who the contacts are within your firm. You could then click on the information and launch a report from Contact Networks giving you additional information. Apparently, this will also work on people names as well (but I’m imagining that this may have some quirks that may need to be worked out first.)

This sounds like a great enhancement, and a very useful function to pass information quickly to the attorneys or others within your firm. From what I could see in the demo, it looks like it is set up to work in Internet Explorer (but could possibly work in other browsers as well.) But, most firms are IE focused, so it may be an IE only tool.

So, if you have Contact Networks, it looks like there is some great additions coming your way next year.

One of the new LinkedIn Apps is a monitor of Twitter postings that lets you know when someone has posted a Tweet on your company.  LinkedIn is naming this app “Company Buzz.”  This sounds like a great idea, but I have to admit that at this time, the app leaves a lot to be desired.
Here’s what LinkedIn says about the app:

Ever wonder what people are saying about your company? Company Buzz shows you the twitter activity associated with your company. View tweets, trends and top key words. Customize your topics and share with your coworkers.

The basic structure of the app is that it allows you to look for the keywords of your company’s name.  Say your company is “Widgets USA” — LinkedIn would set up a simple Twitter feed that would search “Widgets” and “USA” and give you back the results.  Very simple process, and you can modify the terms to help narrow or expand the results as you need.  However, the edits only allow you to add words that have to show up in the post.  So, if your company is spelled a couple of different ways, or has an acronym as well as a full name, then you would have to set up different searches for each of the variations.  

In other words, you couldn’t have it look for either “UPS” OR “United Parcel Services”.  So, that’s kind of a bummer, and kind of a big deal that can really limit the functionality of a pretty good idea.  I’ve fired off a question to the LinkedIn Customer Service group, so hopefully, they can either show me how to do it, or can get this message up to the powers-that-be and add this functionality to the app.
I also couldn’t find a way to “share with [my] co-workers” as the promo tells me I can do.  (If I’m overlooking the way to do this, someone let me know!!)
I do like a couple of the things that LinkedIn’s Company Buzz does do:
1.  Buzz Words –  Simple resource that points out the words that are mentioned the most in the results list.  Click on any of these, and it will limit the Tweets to those that have the buzz word in them.  
2.  Trends – Another simple tool, but useful as well.  This shows the timeline of Tweets and how many were posted on each day during that timeline.  
Now, neither of these makes up for the lack of search functionality, but I think that this is a good idea in the making, and hopefully will get better with time.
Listservs vs. Twitter

I’ve subscribed to a number of e-mail listservs over the years, and have found that these are becoming less and less useful. Although I’ve hung on and still subscribe to a few choices, I find that I use them more for generic topical information, than I do for specific topic resources. What has changed?? I thought of a few things that are wrong with Listservs and how Twitter might be a better option:

1. Lazy Research:
Some of the law library listservs that I have subscribed to in the past have become what some call “lazy researcher” listservs. Those are the places where you ask for an Interlibrary loan to a list of 2500 people for an item that you probably could have requested from your local library.   Don’t get me wrong, these listservs are great resources for finding these types of things, but it seems that this type of activity breeds more of this type of activity.  Pretty soon, people forget that the listserv was set up to be an online community for idea sharing, question asking, and resource gathering.  The last item can tend to overwhelm the first two (which I find most important.)

2. Too Many People:
For anyone that has posted on a listserv on a Friday afternoon, or God forbid, during the week between Christmas and New Years, you will get a ton of “out of office” replies.  Now, this type of thing is easily ignorable, but sometimes you get the reply a few days after you sent the message — not sure how that happens, but it does.  Having too many people can also contribute to the “Interstate Effect.”  That’s the effect that makes the participant of a listserv thing that “someone else will surely come along and answer that question.”  Too many people can also contribute to a watering down of the list.  You want to ask a specific question for a few select people on the list, but you’re afraid that the other 99.8% will blast you for it.
3.  Too Diverse
I know… diversity can spring forth new creations and find patterns that can link separate ideas together, but sometimes, you can just have too many and you end up spoiling the list.  So, it is kind of like the fact that I like ketchup, and I like chocolate cake — but, I don’t necessarily like them mixed together.  Listservs aren’t set up to separate the different ingredients; you just get them all and you hope that it ends up not tasting too bad.
4.  Bad Apples Spoil the Listserv
Sticking with the food theme…  When I taught at a law school, I used to tell my students at the beginning of the semester this:
“There will always be one in every class.  If you do not know who that one is, it is probably you!”
The same goes for listservs.  There is always one (sometimes more) that feels that a listserv is a place where you can spout off with whatever it is that has ticked you off that day.  Or, talk about the latest political, or religious item that was posted on the Drudge Report, NPR, or CNN.  Then, the flame wars begin.  I have removed myself from lists specifically because the flame wars became too impossible to skip over, and frankly were clogging up my in-box.
5.  Email Is Sooo Last Century
Speaking of clogging up the email in-box…  I think we have come to a place in the Age of the Internet that we have to ask if listservs are dinosaurs?  Frankly, it is highly inefficient to have the same message going to hundreds or even thousands of in-boxes.  It is just not a good use of your e-mail — especially work e-mail.  For example, I subscribe to a few ILTA email lists, and since April, I have received nearly 4,000 e-mails from these lists alone.  Plus, I’m one of those people that the IT department will contact every so often to empty my email because I’ve reached my limit.  Although this last point is my laziness, you can immediately see that e-mail listservs may be one of the most inefficient ways of mass communications that we have at our disposal today.
Can Twitter Replace the Listserv?
Short answer – probably not.  Mostly because listservs are easy, convenient, and occasionally pretty useful, despite examples 1-5 above.  Listservs also stay (mostly) on topic.  With Twitter, the same person that posts a link to a great blog entry, will also send 15 tweets about the football game he is watching.
The biggest plus with Twitter right now is that you can start fresh and remember why it was that you wanted to connect with others in the first place.  You wanted to bounce those ideas off of others to see what they think about it.  You wanted to spur the conversation and find out if others out there have better ways of doing things.  You wanted to find a select group of people that you could eventually call your “peers” and create a lasting relationship with them so when you moved your way up the ladder of your profession, they would be moving right along with you.  Twitter can help you recapture that original concept by letting you start all over and selecting those that you think will truly be your peers.
Twitter also allows you to select peers that are outside your profession, without having to take everyone else with them.  In other words, you truly get to pick and choose your peers.  I have people I am following on Twitter that have nothing to do with law librarianship, but are some of the strongest “idea generators” out there.  Being in touch with these folks allows me to see things from a different perspective, but at the same time, not lose touch with what I’m doing in my day to day profession.  
Now, the bad news is that not everyone that is on your listservs are on Twitter.  The good news is that not everyone that is on your listservs are on Twitter!!  So now you get to select those that are, incourage those you would like to join, and ignore those you don’t want to follow.  
My suggestion is to use a tool like TweetDeck to help you organize your groups.  Here’s how:
1.  Follow your friends
2.  If your friends list gets too big, start splitting the group into subgroups and follow them that way.
3.  Use TweetDeck’s search feature to follow certain keywords that are of interest to you.
4.  Contribute, contribute, contribute.  See something that you like, mention it.  See a website you like, post it using tinyurl.com.  Read a tweet that you think others will like, then Retweet it.
5.  Remember, unlike e-mail, you’re limited to 140 characters, so is everyone else.  
If you haven’t begun to Twitter, or you need to better understand how to Twitter properly, then look at this blog by Darren Rowse about Twitter Tips for Beginners.  

After posting yesterday on LinkedIn Does KM, I went back to further investigate the Company Groups tool to see what else I could learn about it. But it was gone! I came up with five possibilities.

1) Someone had flagged me as not employed by The Firm. Possible, but not likely since relatively few people had formally joined the group. I contacted my co-bloggers and the link had disappeared from their pages as well.

2) Another company had reacted to the tool and “suggested” it be removed. Again … possible, but so few people knew about it, not likely.

3) A developer uploaded code to the production server instead of the development or testing servers. Possible, but again not likely since companies like LinkedIn typically have very well-defined protocols for software process management. And they wouldn’t leave it up for five days.

4) The Company Groups tool was supposed to be loaded only on the “for fee” side of things. Maybe. If anyone who is paying for premium service can see this function, please let us know.

5) The Marketing and Programming departments don’t communicate well. This would mean the programmers followed their software development protocols, but didn’t keep marketing in the loop. Again … possible but doesn’t make sense.

In the end, I am left quite curious. The only information I have is what I found when I went into my History and found the Group page:

You are not authorized to view this page LinkedIn takes privacy and security seriously. We want to provide spaces for groups of professionals to discuss news, ask questions, and share information. To find out more, you may contact LinkedIn customer service.

Thanks for your understanding.

I also sent an e-mail to one of the few addresses I found on LinkedIn’s site asking about this. No word back yet.

Halloween was yesterday, but we’re still left with a mystery.

We’ve been keeping our eye on LinkedIn with the basic assessment that it
has great potential, but needs more tools. A network of valuable
contacts becomes truly valuable when you can actually do things with it.

Recently LinkedIn took another step in adding just these types of tools.
When I logged in I noticed some new items on the left-hand nav menu.
Near the top is “Company Groups” followed by the name of my firm.
Following the firm name link, I am greeted with a higher functioning
LinkedIn Group that is already populated with firm contacts. Tabs
across the top include: Overview, Q&A, News, Updates, Members and Settings. The
Q&A tool allows Fulbright contacts to ask and answer questions within
the group. This is a basic KM sharing tool, allowing information
requests to be posted and shared.

So LinkedIn has deployed a KM tool to our firm. Makes you go …
Hmmmmmm. My first reaction is positive at having a great tool available, but then reason takes over. From the LinkedIn User Agreement:

You do not have to submit anything to us, but if you choose to
submit something (including any user generated content, ideas, concepts,
techniques and data), you must grant, and you actually grant by
concluding the Agreement, a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide,
perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and
royalty-free right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve,
distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, and use and commercialize, in
any way now known or in the future discovered, anything that you submit
to us, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or
any third parties.

Fitting for a Halloween theme. I know I’m scared after reading that.

So now I have a powerful KM tool sitting under the nose of 407 firm
employees. And if they use it, we risk giving a license to firm IP away
to LinkedIn. Now I’m conflicted.

Another possible red flag – when you select the “Members” tab you are greeted
with the following:

Security Reminder: Only current employees of (the Firm) should
appear below. If you see a person that does not belong to this company
group, click “Flag this person as…” to anonymously remove them from
the group.

Again, I start off with a positive thought. We can remove anyone
falsely claiming to be part of the firm, especially if they appear as an
attorney. But then reality comes back. This means the false contacts
can flag me for removal. Crap.

Which leads us to the bottom line. Even though these are great tools,
they are in full control of LinkedIn and not our firm. For lawyers,
with a duty to protect client information, this arrangement is
problematic.

I have to do some more thinking about all of this since I hate to pass
on good (and free) technology. Maybe there are ways to resolve the issues I raised.
In any event, LinkedIn is charging ahead and taking steps to expand its
value to its true potential. We’ll keep watching with anticipation, but
also with a dose of common sense.

P.S. LinkedIn added an “Applications” option too. More on that later.

There has been a lot of traction from @jdtwitt’s posting of 145 Lawyers (and Legal Professionals) to Follow on Twitter — which there is now almost 400. So, I thought I’d build a similar list of Marketing Professionals and Consultants in the legal industry.
There have been a lot of us praising the attributes of Twitter as a marketing tool, but I couldn’t find a good list of Marketing Professionals out there who are actually using Twitter. So, stealing jdtwitt’s idea, here is a list of those I’ve found (by surfing around Twitter.) And, if you know of more, or want to be added to the list, please contact me at @glambert on (where else…) Twitter!!
The initial list is in alphabetical order. I’ll add new folks to the end of the list (that way they can always say they are #__. So, without further ado… here we go:
  1. @azita99 – azita houshiar, New York City I like art + technology. Have a thing 4 robots + work @ http://www.tacitknowledge.com/ web

  2. @bentleytolk – Bentley Tolk, Salt Lake City, Utah As a practicing lawyer, I also provide marketing advice, client development advice, advice on billable hours, and consulting to lawyers and future lawyers. web

  3. @bobambrogi – Bob Ambrogi, Rockport, Mass. Lawyer, writer, consultant. web

  4. @carlgrant – carlgrant, Virginia Senior Vice President, Business Development, Cooley Godward Kronish web

  5. @carolynelefant – carolynelefant, DC area Practicing lawyer, marine renewables expert, avid blogger, Solo by Choice author, CEO (MyShingle.com), mom web

  6. @cfast – Colin Fast, Winnipeg College marketing guy from Canada web

  7. @citinoal – Allison Citino, Dolanco Junction, California pr and marketing guru. In my sparetime, I eat cheezits and watch law and order (GO STATE) web

  8. @colinokeefe – Colin O’Keefe, Missoula, MT University of Montana journalism student and Montana Grizzlies sports blogger. LexBlog utility infielder. Interested in marketing. web

  9. @david_bilinsky – david_bilinsky, Vancouver BC Canada Law Practice Management Consultant web

  10. @dbruns – dbruns, San Francisco Director of Marketing, Legal Marketing, Dad, Owner of Chickens web

  11. @dkennedyblog – dkennedyblog, St. Louis, MO The Microblog Version of DennisKennnedy.Blog web

  12. @DougJasinski – DougJasinski, Vancouver, Canada Canadian legal marketing guy web

  13. @ewinters – ewinters, Dubai Marketing Manager for largest independent legal firm in the Middle East. web

  14. @gerkmana – Alli Gerkman, Denver, CO CLE professional, attorney, blogger, social media enthusiast, event manager… and you can also find me twittering @ecorazzi web

  15. @GinaRubel – GinaRubel, Doylestown, Pa. PR (public relations) strategic planning adict, mother, recovering attorney, author, publicist, blogger & wannabe photographer / yogi web

  16. @godthedj – James Austin, UK – Birmingham Online Marketing Exec working for Birmingham based Law Firm web

  17. @heathermillian – heather milligan, Los Angeles, CA Director of Marketing, Barger & Wolen legal marketer, mom, wife, girl scout leader, tired. web

  18. @ijh – I.J. Hudson, Wash, DC area Former NBC4 broadcaster. Love to follow new technology- gadgets and social use of the Internet. Currently doing communications/marketing work for a law firm. web

  19. @jaynenavarre – jaynenavarre, Florida Digital marketing geek for lawyers. That’s why I live in the sunshine. web

  20. @jasonmilch – Jason Milch, Chicago, IL I provide public relations and marketing services to law firms and their attorneys. If you are a reporter and need a legal source, chances are I’m your guy. web

  21. @JDTwitt – Adrian L, Mill Valley, CA Communications Director, JD Supra. Poet. All-around word guy. Blogging at http://scoop.jdsupra.com/ Bookmarking at http://www.socialmedian.com/adrian_l web

  22. @jeffbob – Jeff Yerkey, San Francisco, CA Law firm marketer; graphic designer, web 2 geek web

  23. @JeffTBerman – Jeff Berman, Chicago, IL Disengaged Worker turned Passionate Entrepreneur. Marketer for Lawyers. SEM and SEO Enthusiast. AttorneySync is like eHarmony for legal services. web

  24. @jonathanfields – Jonathan Fields, NYC Father, husband, career renegade, lifestyle-entrepreneur, marketing/copywriting maven, blogger, social-media explorer, recovering lawyer and…yoga dude web

  25. @jordan_law21 – Jordan Furlong, Ottawa, ON Lawyer, editor, blogger, collaborator, innovator, and occasional Jeremiah for the legal profession. web

  26. @joshfruchter – joshfruchter, New York Joshua Fruchter is the founder of eLawMarketing and publisher of LawyerCasting web

  27. @KBWhit – KBWhit, Greensboro, NC Wife to Gabe, Mom to Hannah, Legal Marketer web

  28. @kevinaschenbren – Kevin Aschenbrenner, Langford, British Columbia Media/PR consultant for law firms in North America and the EU. If you’re a reporter looking for an attorney source, Tweet me. Attorney looking for PR? Same. web

  29. @kevinokeefe – Kevin OKeefe, Seattle – web

  30. @lawfirmseo – Laurie Williams, Washington, DC Legal Internet Marketing Consultant web

  31. @legalmarketing – legalmarketing, West Chester, PA Entrepreneur, female small business owner, legal marketing coach and consultant to personal injury lawyers web

  32. @legalresources – legalresources, Florida Virtual Assistant, Social Media Marketing Coach, Writer, Author web

  33. @lieslglogan – lieslglogan, Fort Worth, TX Legal marketer, wife, mom, Christian, Democrat, Texan, lover of all things haunted web

  34. @LindsayGriffith – LindsayGriffith, Barnegat, NJ Marketer & Events Planner Extraodinaire International Lawyers Network web

  35. @lizbardindley – lizbardlindley, NY Metro area I do PR and writing for Law Firms web

  36. @marsha – Marsha Keeffer, Silicon Valley Social Media PR Expert web

  37. @matthomann – Matt Homann, St. Louis, MO Big Thinker. Innovational Speaker. Creative Facilitator. Dad. web

  38. @mbeese – Mark Beese, Evergreen Colorado web

  39. @melitaz – melitaz, San Francisco, CA New media explorer Traditional PR expat. web

  40. @michaelzucker – michaelzucker, Los Angeles business writer, lawyer, marketing & communications consultant web

  41. @minasirkin – minasirkin, Los Angeles, CA and Woodland H Trusts / Estates Lawyer, Legal Expert, Mom, Blogger, techno serial entrepreneur. http://www.MomsRules.com web

  42. @nancymyrland – Nancy Myrland Professional Marketing Advisor web

  43. @newsucnuse – newsucnuse, Long Island, NY (work in NYC) Marketing director, mother of twins, writer, former reporter web

  44. @nikiblack – Nicole Black, Rochester, NY I am a lawyer, legal writer & avid blogger http://nicoleblackesq.com I’m also a newly indoctrinated social media geek & wine and food fanatic. web

  45. @paul177 – paul177, Philadelphia, PA Associate Vice President, Gregory FCA, PR rep for law firms, public companies, and financial institutions web

  46. @paulmckeon – Paul McKeon, Sydney, Australia Former IBM and Dell flack, now with law firm Deacons (http://twitter.com/Deacons). web

  47. @Remarkikkin – Nicole Kramer Living Law Firm Marketing web

  48. @Riskin – Gerry Riskin, Anguilla, B.W.I. Lawyer/Consultant, http://www.gerryriskin.com/cat-about-gerry.html web

  49. @rocketmatter – rocketmatter, Florida The web generation of legal practice management web

  50. @SeanMcGinnis – SeanMcGinnis, Eagan, MN Manager, Search Marketing at FindLaw web

  51. @shodes – shodes, Maryland Marketing Director for the Baltimore law firm of Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC web

  52. @stephenfairley – Stephen Fairley, Phoenix, AZ Law Firm Marketing Expert, Legal Marketing, Lawyer Marketing web

  53. @StephenLudwig – StephenLudwig, Denver Metro Dir of Public Affairs, Metzger web

  54. @StephKimbro – StephKimbro, Wilmington, North Carolina Attorney and Owner of Kimbro Legal Services, a Virtual Law Practice in N.C. Owner of VLOTech, a tech company providing SaaS virtual law office software web

  55. @SteveWorrall – Steve Worrall, Marietta, Georgia USA Marietta and Atlanta estate planning, divorce and family law attorney and Personal Family Lawyer. Enjoys the law and learning about marketing the practice. web

  56. @st0rmshadow – Garth O’Brien, Seattle, Washington Search Engine Optimization, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Internet Marketing, Gamer, Scuba Diver, Ski, Networking, Attorney, Comics, XboxLive = Stormshad0w web

  57. @thblaw – Tamera Bennett, Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Entertainment Law, Music Publishing Attorney, Branding, Blogger, Speaker, Cub Scout Den Mom web

  58. @TMighell – Tom Mighell, Dallas, Texas web

  59. @tsfranklin – Travis Franklin, Boise, Idaho An aspiring author and proud dad. Oh and a marketing director for a law firm for my day job. web

  60. @vivianhood – vivianhood, Jacksonville, FL I do law firm PR and media relations for national law firms. Need a legal source? web

  61. @JERaasch – JERaasch, Denver, Colorado Writer and ghostwriter for lawyers, law firms and consultants. web

  62. @donnafryer – donnafryer, In front of computer! Teach others how to find info, people, job candidates & create and deliver enticing webinars for the executive recruiting, law marketing, & CLE industr web

  63. @melby_az – Melanie Green Legal marketing & business development, information soaker, student of twitter! web

  64. @3rddeadline – Russell Thomas, ..deboarding a plane in D.C… I hear he handles PR and business development for a law firm Somewhere, there’s a 5pm news deadline to beat. web

  65. @ChristinePilch – Christine Pilch, Massachusetts Marketer specializing in positioning and branding. Social media networking junkie enjoying new connections and reconnects with old friends. web

  66. @allisonshields – allisonshields, Long Island, New York practice management and business development consultant for lawyers web

  67. @pstessel –
    Philippe Stessel, Manager, Marketing Technology at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

    pstessel, NYC Manager of Marketing & Business Development IS web

  68. @lawfirmblogger – Amy Derby, Chicago Law Firm Blogger : helping busy lawyers write better blogs web

  69. @monicaesmith – Monica Smith, Winter Park, Florida publicist focusing on local and national PR for law firms web

  70. @briancarter – Brian Carter, Myrtle Beach/San Diego Optimizer. “The funniest married white male keynote speaker on Twitter who also likes Yanni”. Director PPC, SEO, Social Media. Speaking next at PubCon 08. web

  71. @Law1389 – Law1389, Seattle WA web
  72. @TimV57 – Tim V, Chicago, IL – Marketing Technology Manager web
  73. @Adrianos – adrianosfacchetti, City of Angels attorney/blogger/defamation enthusiast/mnemonist/ web
  74. @michaelzukewich – michaelzukewich, Washington, DC Legal Marketing Coordinator web
  75. @ericpursh – ericpursh, Pittsburgh web
  76. @Laurie2 – Laurie Bloom, New York Marketing Director in a major law firm. web
  77. @leecomms – leecomms, Near NYC I handle comms and media for a variety of legal pubs, inc. American Lawyer web
  78. @RainmakingLady – Margaret Grisdela, President and Author Legal Expert Connections, Inc. web
  79. @LisaHenry1 – LisaHenry1, Jackson, Mississippi Legal Marketer Criminal Defense(Most want to know what exactly I do, so I describe what I am doing as it happens) web
  80. @Msdahmenor – Gayle Panter North Metro Atlanta, Georgia Bio Marketing/Paralegal-does that make me a Legal Marketer??? web
  81. @george_murphy – george_murphy, Baltimore, MD SEO/SEM manager for attorneys at Foster Web Marketing, Journalist for Yanks-Abroad.com, soccer coach and player, Man U fanatic, dog owner, etc… web
  82. @KarenMenard – KarenMenard, New England Marketing professional, legal marketing, high tech, social media, future blogger, walker, geneologist web
  83. @arethagaskin – arethagaskin, US Dynamic virtual professional and owner of The Virtual Legal Assistant! web
  84. @Fresh00 – Parviz, Los Angeles, CA Love: fun, global integration and Bollywood movies, Human Rights, MMA, Web 2.0 stuff, Business, Travel, and Law. web
  85. @cml868 – Chris Leporini, Chicago I am a Web Editor for the American Bar Association with a journalism background and an interest in social media. web
  86. @AlexisNeely – Alexis Martin Neely, California Mom, Better TV Family Finance and Legal Expert, Revolutionizing the Legal World web
  87. @tmarman – Tim Marman, 84 Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, NY Entrepreneur, Developer, J.D., Blogger. Founder of Notches. web
  88. @corporatetool – Josh King, Seattle VP, Biz Dev & General Counsel at Avvo. Bike commuter, as long as it’s not raining too hard. web
  89. @Undercover_Lawr – Undercover_Lawr, The Beautiful Northwest, USA Bringing legal strategies of big business and mega firms to individual people, so they can take back control of their work life. Also dig cigars, Sbucks, &a web
  90. @Lola0901 – LauraA, Columbus, Ohio – Marketer, mommy and recovering lurker. web
  91. @corporette – corporette, New York, NY Corporette is a fashion and lifestyle blog for women lawyers, bankers, MBAs, consultants… web
  92. @conradsaam – Conrad Saam, Seattle Online marketer * dad * homebrewer web
  93. @internetlawyer7 – erik syverson, Los Angeles Erik Syverson is a business and internet law attorney operating an internet law firm. web
  94. @badijones – Badi Jones, Charleston, SC, USA I am a web developer from Charleston, SC. I like search marketing and programming. Made myIPneighbors.com, dnScoop.com. More @ BadiJones.com web
  95. @jlns – JLNS, Washington, DC The longest-running online source of attorney sources and law firm news. web
  96. @chuckwilkins – chuckwilkins, Washington, DC – Media contact at Venable LLP, a large DC law firm. web
  97. @Cheryl528 – Cheryl528, Kansas City Marketing Administrator at a law firm web
  98. @wpollak – Bill Pollak, New York, NY – CEO-North America, Incisive Media web
  99. @scartierliebel – SCartierLiebel, Connecticut, USA – Coach/Consultant Teaching Lawyers How to Open Their Own Solo Practice. Creator of Solo Practice University http://solopracticeuniversity.com web
  100. @karasmamedia – Kara Smith, Harlem, New York, USA Principal & Founder Karasma Media the first Harlem based boutique specializing in social media public relations campaigns for the legal marketing industry. web
  101. @cycleattnynetwk – Tina McQuirns, Philadelphia, PA Director of Business Development for Niche Website web
  102. @wesowsley – wesowsley, Alabama, USA I am a Practice Management Consultant and IT Freelancer. Currently finishing my first Internet-based product web
  103. @kaplanmyrth – Andy Kaplan-Myrth, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Lawyer working in technology law and new media. web
  104. @Darrin_Mish – Darrin Mish, Tampa, Florida Attorney, Public Speaker & Trainer, Author, Entrepreneur, Husband & Father web
  105. @internetcases – Evan Brown, Chicago  Lawyer, blogger, philosopher, social media enthusiast, dad, husband, son web
  106. @elizabethsosnow – Elizabeth Sosnow, NYC/CT  Manage B2B PR firm with personal focus on professional services, pop culture fanatic, mom to 3 mad men web
  107. @bgray53 – bgray53 – BTW, I’m a marketing coordinator at a law firm in Kansas City, MO web
  108. @brotha64 – brotha64 – Thomson Reuters / FindLaw.com. I am working with lawyers/attorneys helping them dominate the internet with legal marketing web
  109. @lawyertweet – lawyertweet – Attorney/Web Designer :: Internet marketing solutions for lawyers and law firms. web
  110. @weilgotshal – weilgotshal, 20 offices worldwide web
  111. @fulbright – Fulbright & Jaworski, Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Riyadh, St. Louis, San Antonio, Washington, D.C. The International Law Firm of Fulbright & Jaworski web
  112. @JW_Law – JW_Law Jackson Walker L.L.P. has over 100 years of experience in providing legal counsel to clients throughout Texas, the United States, and internationally. web
  113. @WCSRtwit – Womble Carlyle, Representing Your Business. Innovators @ Law! web
  114. @nyrichard – RichKlein, Hoboken, Manhattan and Bethel, PR and Crisis Communications Specialist web
  115. @cindyspeaker – Cindy Speaker, iPhone: 39.954293,-75.516243  marketing coach to personal injury attorneys web
  116. @kathryncobb – Kathryn Cobb, Chicago, IL Communications editor at a top 20 global law firm web
  117. @Bankruptcyatty1 – Norma Duenas, Southern California, Bankruptcy Attorneys in Southern California and assisting attorneys in writing content for marketing. web

I’ve been monitoring some of the Twitter posts that attorneys across the country are doing, and it got me to thinking about where the ethical line is (or should be) drawn.  Now, my good friend Toby Brown told me that a good rule of thumb for judging ethical rules when it comes to the “virtual world” is to think of the question this way:

  • “If it’s ethical with paper, then it’s ethical.”
Simple enough concept on the surface, but once you start getting into the weeds of what some are posting, it sure makes for some interesting “issue spotting.”
Take this Twitter post from an attorney in New Hampshire:

I’m wondering if this type of advertising is:
1.  Legal in New Hampshire? (higher standard)
2.  Ethical in New Hampshire? (lower standard)
3.  Does posting things like this on Twitter expose him to restrictions in other states (since Twitter is obviously not limited to reaching New Hampshire)?
Or, how about a more direct approach to using Twitter to advertise your legal services:
This one seems to be testing the boundaries a little more than Mr. Steven’s previous posting that tells you about his updating his Squidoo page.  The LawyerTweet posting isn’t simply redirecting you to an updated web page, it is actually encouraging you to get some free answers to your legal questions from a licensed attorney.  Going back to Toby’s comment earlier, if this is ethical in a newspaper or legal publication, it is probably ethical here as well.  
I’m still a little hung up on the fact that Twitter is micro-blogging, or in these cases, micro-advertising, in an instant world-wide market.  In print, you usually have a select audience, but with a resource like Twitter, your audience is not as well defined.  If someone from Oklahoma tweets the attorney licensed in California, based on his or her Squidoo or Twitter posting, could this open up the attorney to issues before the Oklahoma Bar??  
It is broad questions like these that make me miss my academic days where I could stand in front of a group of law students and ask questions like these without having to give an answer.