Law Firm Marketers – Twitter'ers

By Greg Lambert on October 30, 2008

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:

@azita99 – azita houshiar, New York City I like art + technology. Have a thing 4 robots + work @ http://www.tacitknowledge.com/ web

@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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@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

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

@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

@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

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

@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

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

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

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

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

@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

@kevinokeefe – Kevin OKeefe, Seattle – web

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@mbeese – Mark Beese, Evergreen Colorado web

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

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

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

@nancymyrland – Nancy Myrland Professional Marketing Advisor web

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

@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

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

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

@Remarkikkin – Nicole Kramer Living Law Firm Marketing web

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

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

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

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

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

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

@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

@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

@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

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

@TMighell – Tom Mighell, Dallas, Texas web

@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

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

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

@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

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

@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

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

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

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

pstessel, NYC Manager of Marketing & Business Development IS web

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

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

@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

@Law1389 – Law1389, Seattle WA web
@TimV57 – Tim V, Chicago, IL – Marketing Technology Manager web
@Adrianos – adrianosfacchetti, City of Angels attorney/blogger/defamation enthusiast/mnemonist/ web
@michaelzukewich – michaelzukewich, Washington, DC Legal Marketing Coordinator web
@ericpursh – ericpursh, Pittsburgh web
@Laurie2 – Laurie Bloom, New York Marketing Director in a major law firm. web
@leecomms – leecomms, Near NYC I handle comms and media for a variety of legal pubs, inc. American Lawyer web
@RainmakingLady – Margaret Grisdela, President and Author Legal Expert Connections, Inc. web
@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
@Msdahmenor – Gayle Panter North Metro Atlanta, Georgia Bio Marketing/Paralegal-does that make me a Legal Marketer??? web
@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
@KarenMenard – KarenMenard, New England Marketing professional, legal marketing, high tech, social media, future blogger, walker, geneologist web
@arethagaskin – arethagaskin, US Dynamic virtual professional and owner of The Virtual Legal Assistant! web
@Fresh00 – Parviz, Los Angeles, CA Love: fun, global integration and Bollywood movies, Human Rights, MMA, Web 2.0 stuff, Business, Travel, and Law. web
@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
@AlexisNeely – Alexis Martin Neely, California Mom, Better TV Family Finance and Legal Expert, Revolutionizing the Legal World web
@tmarman – Tim Marman, 84 Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, NY Entrepreneur, Developer, J.D., Blogger. Founder of Notches. web
@corporatetool – Josh King, Seattle VP, Biz Dev & General Counsel at Avvo. Bike commuter, as long as it’s not raining too hard. web
@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
@Lola0901 – LauraA, Columbus, Ohio – Marketer, mommy and recovering lurker. web
@corporette – corporette, New York, NY Corporette is a fashion and lifestyle blog for women lawyers, bankers, MBAs, consultants… web
@conradsaam – Conrad Saam, Seattle Online marketer * dad * homebrewer web
@internetlawyer7 – erik syverson, Los Angeles Erik Syverson is a business and internet law attorney operating an internet law firm. web
@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
@jlns – JLNS, Washington, DC The longest-running online source of attorney sources and law firm news. web
@chuckwilkins – chuckwilkins, Washington, DC – Media contact at Venable LLP, a large DC law firm. web
@Cheryl528 – Cheryl528, Kansas City Marketing Administrator at a law firm web
@wpollak – Bill Pollak, New York, NY – CEO-North America, Incisive Media web
@scartierliebel – SCartierLiebel, Connecticut, USA – Coach/Consultant Teaching Lawyers How to Open Their Own Solo Practice. Creator of Solo Practice University http://solopracticeuniversity.com web
@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
@cycleattnynetwk – Tina McQuirns, Philadelphia, PA Director of Business Development for Niche Website web
@wesowsley – wesowsley, Alabama, USA I am a Practice Management Consultant and IT Freelancer. Currently finishing my first Internet-based product web
@kaplanmyrth – Andy Kaplan-Myrth, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Lawyer working in technology law and new media. web
@Darrin_Mish – Darrin Mish, Tampa, Florida Attorney, Public Speaker & Trainer, Author, Entrepreneur, Husband & Father web
@internetcases – Evan Brown, Chicago Lawyer, blogger, philosopher, social media enthusiast, dad, husband, son web
@elizabethsosnow – Elizabeth Sosnow, NYC/CT Manage B2B PR firm with personal focus on professional services, pop culture fanatic, mom to 3 mad men web
@bgray53 – bgray53 – BTW, I’m a marketing coordinator at a law firm in Kansas City, MO web
@brotha64 – brotha64 – Thomson Reuters / FindLaw.com. I am working with lawyers/attorneys helping them dominate the internet with legal marketing web
@lawyertweet – lawyertweet – Attorney/Web Designer :: Internet marketing solutions for lawyers and law firms. web
@weilgotshal – weilgotshal, 20 offices worldwide web
@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
@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
@WCSRtwit – Womble Carlyle, Representing Your Business. Innovators @ Law! web
@nyrichard – RichKlein, Hoboken, Manhattan and Bethel, PR and Crisis Communications Specialist web
@cindyspeaker – Cindy Speaker, iPhone: 39.954293,-75.516243 marketing coach to personal injury attorneys web
@kathryncobb – Kathryn Cobb, Chicago, IL Communications editor at a top 20 global law firm web
@Bankruptcyatty1 – Norma Duenas, Southern California, Bankruptcy Attorneys in Southern California and assisting attorneys in writing content for marketing. web

Twitter… Squidoo… Attorneys… Ethics???

By Greg Lambert on October 28, 2008

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.

Got KM?

By Toby Brown on October 27, 2008

Last week I was able to meet with Dan Ranta. Dan is the KM guy for ConocoPhillips. I had seen him give a presentation on KM in the energy industry and followed up with a personal contact. As a result I spent some time at his shop, picking his brain, seeing his stuff and learning a ton about KM.

The bottom line here is that KM in the energy industry (and many others) is light-years ahead of legal KM. Dan has been into KM for over a decade and driving ConocoPhillips KM for going on five years. Where legal KM is in its infancy at best, Dan’s KM project is well beyond mature.

Some thoughts about where Dan is and how legal KM can benefit from his experience.

1) KM is KM. An interesting observation is that oil companies can be viewed as professional services firms (engineers to be specific). Their KM needs are the same as legal’s. They have professionals who store tacit knowledge in their heads and need to share and catalog this knowledge.

2) The billable hour sucks (again). Dan’s team has cataloged $1.5 billion in savings this year (and it’s only October). Their KM team takes stories submitted and confirms the cost savings of specific knowledge sharing. If an engineer in Alaska discovers a method for cutting production costs by modifying a design, the sharing of this knowledge across the network replicates that savings across the organization. Law firms will struggle with this concept, as ‘savings’ means less time to complete legal work, which means lower billables and revenue. A key piece of Dan’s system is compensation rewards for those who save the company money. Law firms will actually benefit from more efficient work processes, but since the efficiencies benefit clients and are not rewarded via compensation, law firms will struggle to drive this type of knowledge sharing and change.

3) Culture always wins. Dan had a great slide showing the Pacman of culture devouring the Dot of strategy. A point well made. Pushing a great KM tool in a lawyer’s face won’t change the way the lawyer works. For Legal KM to succeed, it must find a way to work within the culture of firms, which also means the billable hour.

4) Dan pointed me to a great resource. Although ILTA puts on a great show, next year I’ll be attending the APQC conference instead. This show is about our clients’ KM. And it’s KM a number of steps ahead of where legal is. To borrow a phrase from the recent Iron Man movie, “Sometimes you’ve got to run before you walk.”

Kudos to Dan for sharing his programs and ideas.

Twitter and "The Practice of Law"

By Greg Lambert on October 26, 2008

There have been some good posts lately on how lawyers can leverage the use of Twitter in their practice of law. Here are a few that I’ve seen lately, and some of the highpoints of each:

Is Social Media Incompatible with Billable Hours? – Bentley Tolk

Given the realities of the billable hour system, where do social networking and new media fit in for lawyers? It can be difficult to carry on a stream of conversation through Twitter or Friendfeed when a lawyer is billing time. Is it even ethical for an attorney who is “on the clock” to check Twitter every 15 minutes?

Bentley Tolk hits some good questions about the dynamics of the law firm, and the way the billable hour method of business can cause some initial discouragement of using Twitter (because it obviously cuts into the lawyer’s time that should be billed in 6 minute increments!!) However, once you look at both the structure of Twitter, and the smart use of it that doesn’t cut into the billable time, a good lawyer can use Twitter as an additional resources to keep up with the information he or she gathers from their Twitter conversations.Brian Herrington was interviewed on his use of Twitter and the practice of law by Mississippi’s The Clairion-Ledger newspaper:

He also uses Twitter to keep up with colleagues. “A lot of us blog now, so if people are writing about topics I litigate, it’s a quick exchange of useful information.”

In other words, Brian is using Twitter as a “micro-blog” source, or in a way, more as a short email service that keeps him up-to-date with what his friends in the legal industry are talking (or rather Twittering) about. Then there are some that seem to miss the boat on what Twitter actually can do to help a lawyer in the practice of law. CalLaw’s blog, LegalPad, put out a recent article entitled Twitter: As Silly for Lawyers as for Anyone Else? It was cute, and a little funny, but Brian McDonough should probably stick to subjects that he is more familiar with. Granted, Twitter can be difficult to “get your head around”… but, it is a resource that can help with keeping attorneys informed on recent trends, good articles, and current awareness issues dealing with legal issues. Probably just as good, or maybe better than CalLaw’s weekly news reports.

While I can’t imagine that, say, Quinn Emanuel is going to be landing any nine-figure, bet-the-company litigation because someone in their extended twit family “tweeted” out something like, “ne1 kno a gud atty 4 IP lit pls thx?” I do suppose that attorneys on the boutique and solo scale might find better uses for any convenient and inexpensive opportunity to network.

Brian seems to place Twitter as a Text-Messaging service for 16 year olds. I’m afraid that he’s missed the point. Luckily, there were lots of good responses to Brian’s posting, and hopefully, he has been better informed on the methods behind using Twitter in a legal practice specific way (not as a resource to text your BFF.)I’m not saying that Twitter is the do-all to end-all, but, when done right, it can produce a good resource to keep you informed on some of the latest trending and issues in the legal field. For a good overview of using Twitter, see Heather Milligan’s posting on the Legal Water Cooler.

Did You Know 2.0

By Lisa Salazar on October 23, 2008

Its a great time to be a marketer and an English major . . .

Check out this fascinating video about technology and its impact on the world.

The Googlization of CLE

By Toby Brown on October 23, 2008

Taking a rough and conservative estimate of 3 free CLE programs per week by large firms, then multiplying that by the 100 largest firms in the country, you get (3 x 52 x 100 =) 15,600 hours of free CLE per year. Next we’ll estimate that on average 35 lawyers attend each of these. This may seem high to some, but I know of telephone web seminars that easily draw 200 attendees. So now we have (35 x 15,600 =) 546,000 hours of CLE being given away each year by these large firms.

546,000 might seem like a lot, because it is. But consider that the rest of the AmLaw 250 and beyond and even legal market vendors give away CLE everyday, then 546,000 is not such a big number. But let’s work from it.

For a Bar association CLE program with $30 as the typical baseline of a per hour CLE price, this number would equate to ($30 x 546,000 =) $16,380,000 in annual CLE revenue. I’m guessing I just got the attention of any CLE Directors reading this. I know when I was the CLE Director for the Utah State Bar, this number would have lead to a cold sweat.

On Friday, I had the pleasure of sharing a beer and conversation with the Executive Director of the South Carolina Bar. Bob Wells is a gentleman and an enjoyable human in general. On this topic, he is (as usual) ahead of the game. His Bar is pushing for a larger facility to house CLE programs. He rightfully is questioning this path. He knows in the not-too-distant future his members will be getting CLE for free online. And why wouldn’t they? In addition to the obvious cost savings, Bob knows online CLE gives his lawyers the opportunity to take the subject matter they want, when they want it.

After the second beer, we concluded that CLE content will likely follow the Google model. Give it away and make money on ads and partnerships.

In the end, it’s really a question of who will figure this out first. Large law firms are already there, with them being the content provider and the advertiser. CLE providers would be smart to start looking down this path now instead of waiting for others to get in front of them.

Large Law Firms Begin Using LinkedIn Groups

By Greg Lambert on October 22, 2008

The value of Online Social Networks, such as LinkedIn are becoming more of a mainstay in the large law firm arena. Usually the taboos that follow these types of “outside the control of the firm” technologies prevent the use by lawyers or staff of the firm. However, I am seeing a shift in the attitude of some of the firms, and an embrace, although a weak embrace, of some of the functionality that these types of services can bring to the firm.Law Firm Alumni Groups
I broke out my “researcher” cap and started delving through the LinkedIn Groups page to see how many of the top 100 law firms had some type of Alumni or Employee LinkedIn Group. I found that 35 firms out of the top 100 had a LinkedIn Group page. Most of them were Alumni groups, but there were a few that had current employee groups along with the Alumni, or specific groups just for employees. And, a few were apparently rouge employees that created a group at some point, but never did anything with the group after it was created.
Here is a list of the 35 firms, ranked highest to lowest by the number of members, and the type of LinkedIn Group:

Firm Name	Members	Type
Skadden, Arps , Slate, Meagher & Flom	839	Alumni
Heller Ehrman	323	Alumni
White & Case	281	Alumni
Baker & McKenzie	278	Employee & Alumni
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	183	Employee & Alumni
Troutman Sanders	159	Alumni
Fish & Richardson	88	Alumni
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice	61	Current Employees
Dewey Ballantine (Dewey & LeBoeuf)	53	Alumni
Morgan , Lewis & Bockius	52	Alumni
Cooley Godward Kronish	51	Alumni
Venable	51	Alumni
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft	45	Alumni
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman	45	Alumni
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	40	Alumni
Goodwin Procter	40	Employee & Alumni
Duane Morris	31	Alumni
Holland & Knight	21	IP Attorneys
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan	17	Employee & Alumni
Mayer Brown	15	Derivatives Lawyers
Bryan Cave	10	Alumni
Jones Day	10	Washington Alumni Group
Hunton & Williams	9	Alumni
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal	9	Alumni
Drinker Biddle & Reath	8	Alumni
McDermott Will & Emery	5	Current Employees
Sullivan & Cromwell	4	Employee & Alumni
Davis Polk & Wardwell	3	Alumni
Baker Botts	2	Current Employees
Baker & Hostetler	1	Current Employees
Gibson , Dunn & Crutcher	1	Alumni
Kirkland & Ellis	1	Current Employees
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis (K&L Gates )	1	Current Employees
Seyfarth Shaw	1	Alumni
Steptoe & Johnson	1	Current and Former Paralegals

LinkedIn Profiles For Each Law FirmWell, these results got me thinking about the number of LinkedIn profiles that are also linked to these specific law firms. I decided to take a look at the LinkedIn Company data for each of these 35 firms, and jotted down some stats for each. For this portion I looked at the following information:1. Number of profiles linked to the firm (LinkedIn max is 500+)
2. Percentage of these profiles that had an “Attorney” title (associate, partner, counsel, etc.)
3. Median Age of the LinkedIn profile members
4. Percentage Male
5. Percentage FemaleHere is the results:

Firm Name	Number of LinkedIn Members	“Attorney” Titles (%)	Median Age	Male (%)	Female (%)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom	500+	60	30	55	45
Heller Ehrman	500+	42	34	57	43
White & Case	500+	60	29	54	46
Baker & McKenzie	500+	57	29	52	58
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	500+	55	31	56	44
Troutman Sanders	454	67	33	59	41
Fish & Richardson	500+	49	32	60	40
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice	323	56	36	59	41
Dewey Ballantine (Dewey & LeBoeuf)	359	61	30	56	44
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius	500+	60	32	57	43
Cooley Godward Kronish	500+	56	33	58	42
Venable	357	71	34	59	41
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft	283	66	31	65	35
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman	500+	62	34	55	45
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	470	58	28	59	41
Goodwin Procter	500+	62	31	50	50
Duane Morris	500+	60	37	60	40
Holland & Knight	500+	69	35	57	43
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan	224	64	33	53	47
Mayer Brown	500+	64	32	58	42
Bryan Cave	500+	65	33	58	42
Jones Day	500+	62	32	54	46
Hunton & Williams	500+	50	33	53	47
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal	500+	57	34	57	43
Drinker Biddle & Reath	468	62	33	53	47
McDermott Will & Emery	500+	57	33	60	40
Sullivan & Cromwell	500+	53	29	55	45
Davis Polk & Wardwell	457	56	28	52	48
Baker Botts	500+	59	31	60	40
Baker & Hostetler	323	61	34	57	43
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher	500+	62	30	54	46
Kirkland & Ellis	500+	56	30	58	42
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis (K&L Gates)	500+	61	34	57	43
Seyfarth Shaw	500+	60	35	50	50
Steptoe & Johnson	373	52	33	57	43

From these results I was able to calulate the following:

% 500+ Members	68%
Avg. % Atty Titles	59%
Median Age	32
Avg. % Male	56%
Avg. % Female	44%
Avg. “Group” Members	78

No Surprises…. Well, Maybe OneOf course, there are a lot of things that pop out of these results that are interesting, but not all that unexpected. Things like the average age being in the early 30’s isn’t surprising, or that a majority of those profiled are male (just look around your firm.) The one thing that did surprise me, was the large percentage of those profiled that had “Attorney” titles. I would have thought that there would be more “administrative” profiles (IT, Library, KM, Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, etc.) So, it would seem from this initial overview, that there are a lot of attorneys that are actually creating LinkedIn accounts. Granted, this doesn’t say whether or not they actually used the LinkedIn account after they created it, but nonetheless, it does show that there is an interest in using this sort of Online Social Network.

Topic Monitoring – (LinkedIn OR Twitter) AND ("law firms")

By Greg Lambert on October 20, 2008

SEARCH: (LinkedIn OR Twitter) (lawyer OR attorney OR “law firm”)

Perhaps the greatest thing I learned in Library School is the understanding of Boolean Searching. When put in the right context, understanding the proper use of “AND”, “OR”, “BUT NOT” and the proper placement of parenthesise “()” can make your searching a lot better. Even in the age of Googling, Boolean is still a skill that is needed.

I’ve been testing some of my searching skills while reviewing the TweetDeck software that I evaluated last week. I noticed that good old Boolean searches work better in the TweetDeck than they do when you search in Twitter’s search interface. At the same time, I was seeing A LOT of decent information that people were sharing via Twitter. Blogs they just read, conferences they were attending, articles, new websites, new software, etc. And, if the right type of Boolean search is set up, TweetDeck will chime in and let me know when someone has mentioned the topics I’m interested in. All without clogging up my email.

So, I can get updates like Kevin O’Keefe telling me how many people have viewed his LinkedIn Profile in the last 4 days:

Or, I can see my recent posting on my search using twitter search:

This updates about every minute. I’m liking what I’ve seen so far. Although it isn’t perfect, it is a nice search tool to have. One big problem that I haven’t been able to find a “fix” for, is the fact that if you re-do your search, any previous postings that have been returned to you before, will no longer show up in your search. So, during the tweaking process, you’ll feel a little frustrated that some of the good twitter postings no longer appear in your results. I’ll post a note on this blog if I find a way around that issue.

Of course, this got me thinking of different ways to use Boolean searching, and then having automated ways of searching Internet resources. Then I tried to mash some different RSS feeds into my Google Reader to see how that works. Creating a RSS feed using the Google Blog Search, and another RSS feed using the Twitter Search, I created a Widget for my iGoogle account and had the results feed to me there.

Plugging in the RSS feeds, I created my own gadget that displays the results of both Twitter and Google Blog Search. And, the flexibility of the gadget allows me to modify it as I see fit.

Florida Supreme Court Law Library Damage; Or, "How Do Smart People Do Dumb Things?"

By Greg Lambert on October 17, 2008

“The Florida Supreme Court has erected a safety fence outside its building and is beginning repairs to its basement, where water seepage has destroyed some 12,000 books during the last two years.”

Two years?? Really??

This is one of those stories that just beg for the question of “what did they think they were doing??” Putting valuable items in a basement, and then acting surprised by the laws of physics (you know, the one that states that water runs downhill! — something else runs downhill… but, this is a family-friendly blog.)

I’ve worked on projects to replace library collections in the past, and it is amazing how often that good people, with good intentions, can assume that bad things just won’t happen to them. They put some of their most unreplacable treasures in places that are exposed to natural disasters, and assume that it will be safe there until we have the time and money to give it the care that it needs.

Here’s a suggestion: Only put furnature from IKEA in the basement! At least that can be replaced at a pretty reasonable cost. If you put something of value in the basement, then expect that something bad will happen to it. And, when it does finally happen to you, please remember that you are not the victims of the situation, but rather a contributor to the situation!

There's Something in the (Adobe) Air

By Greg Lambert on October 15, 2008

I’ve been hearing some rumblings about the Adobe AIR product, and its ability to make web products work in a desktop environment.

The boys over at WebResourcesDepot (WRD) put out a snapshot of 27 Adobe AIR products — a posting that became so popular that it caused their site to go down. (If only the GeekLawBlog would be so lucky!!)

So, I thought I’d go over a few of these, and see if they hold any promise.

TweetDeck This one has been blogged about pretty extensively, and seems to be a good mash-up of the different things you can do with Twitter. I get to see: a)all the tweets of those that I’m following b) any Replies c) all Direct Messages d)Global and Local Searching e) Create Sub-Groups from those that I follow f)TwitScoop for all the Buzz Tweets g) 12seconds.tv updates (which I have no idea what that is, and it doesn’t seem to interesting enough to research This one is definitely worth a look.
Google Analytics Reporting Suite My fellow GeekLawBlogger, Lisa, gave me the story on using Google Analytics to monitor web traffic and the importance of tracking certain bits of information for Search Engine Optimization and other important (read “geeky”) stuff. Since I have a couple of NINGs for thelibrary community, I’ve been using Google Analytics to monitor traffic. I was content with the interface that Google has for its analytics, but once I pulled that same information up using this Suite, I really began to understand all of the in’s and out’s of what Analytics had to offer me. I like the layout of this suite, and it really puts the information out there in a way that I can better understand the trending of my site visits. If you use Google Analytics, you’ll want to look at this sweet, suite.
uvLayer If I were 15, I’d probably think this was one of the coolest apps ever. Products need to be careful about saying it is something similar to the UI wall in Minority Report… I’ve seen Minority Report… Having access to the UI Wall in Minority Report is my dream… You, my friend, are no UI Wall in Minority Report! (But, my hero Johnny Chung Lee is going to create one for us!!) Enough ranting about the UI Wall…. The uvLayer product is actually cool, but only if you are into online video and chatting about online video. You can connect to your Facebook or AIM or some other IM products and share these videos in a cool way. But, again, I’m not 15, and I don’t really need this product. So, if your 15, check it out… otherwise, it is just not something I’d suggest.
ConceptShare Okay, this one is kind of cheating by putting it in the Adobe Air category because it is mostly a web-based product, and they have a Desktop Companion that uses Adobe Air. However, I’m impressed with the overall concept (pardon the pun) of this product. ConceptShare allows you to collaborate with others on projects – ranging from web site design to video commercials, or pretty much any project you need to collaborate. ConceptShare is very interactive, it allows multiple users to work on projects simultaneously, and is very, very visual. Think of it as a mix of Web Page Development, SharePoint, Extranets, and interactive conferencing and chat software. It is a professional-grade product, and not exactly the easiest thing to use straight out of the [virtual] box. But, if you are a marketer, or someone that needs to collaborate on visual products (marketing projects, engineering projects, web page development, etc.) then this might be the product you’ve been looking for. Very, very slick. Oh, and it isn’t free, either. Guess I should have started off with that statement. But, it does have a 30-day trial that will let you kick the tires and see if it fits your needs. If you are a heavy collaborator on graphical design projects, then you might find this product is exactly what you need.
WebSnapshot This one I like a lot because of its simplicity. Type in an address to a website, and it will give you an image of that website. There are a number of times that I wanted to add a snap shot of the website in my research results, and this product makes it quick and easy. There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles, and that can be a good thing. One enhancement I would like to see, is the ability to load mulitple websites at one time. This one is I definitely will take advantage of in the future.

If you would like a review of any other Adobe Air products, just let me know. If you want to see what else is out there, you can go to the Adobe Air Marketplace. Note: Per comment suggestions, there is also a website called Refreshing Apps that also has review of these products and more, and you can comment and score the apps.