Written by my colleague Eric Getsfred
Over the last half-dozen years,
social media has evolved from an online novelty into a powerful marketing tool.
There’s a reason why companies as diverse as accounting firms, opticians, hotel
chains and department stores are on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter: to get and
stay in front of their customers.
You’ve probably heard the numbers before, but
they bear repeating. According to the Pew Research Center, 67 percent of all
U.S. Internet users are active in social media. That figure climbs to 77
percent for the 30- to 49-year-old age bracket, and 83 percent for 18- to
29-year-olds. In other words, your clients and potential clients are using
social media. Want to connect with them? You should be, too.
And yet many law
firms have been hesitant to dive in. One reason why: concern that social media
usage might violate ethical guidelines. That’s not surprising, since there are
relatively few guidelines governing the topic. The American Bar Association’s
Model Rules of Professional Conduct don’t address the topic, and the recent ABA
Commission on Ethics 20/20 report essentially concluded that no new rules were
needed on social media—other than to categorize it as a form of advertising.
Given
the lack of specific guidelines, it’s okay and even sensible to be cautious.
But that doesn’t mean you have to ignore or abandon social media altogether. In
fact, it’s possible for law firms to benefit from social networking without violating
ethical guidelines. Here are ten practical tips that can help direct your
efforts.
1. Remember: Anything
you post has the potential to go viral There’s a reason why the medium is called “social.” People use it
to share material with their peers and contacts. That provides you with
tremendous potential. For example, say you write a thoughtful blog post on a
new law related to your area of practice and then post it to your Facebook, LinkedIn
and Twitter accounts. If you’ve built up an audience on those channels, it can
spread quickly. At the very least, you’ll extend your firm’s online footprint,
showcase your expertise and position yourself and your firm as a thought
leader.
On the flip side, there’s little margin for error. Criticize a past
client online and you risk offending not only that person, but the millions of
others who might read the post. Regularly make blatant sales pitches for your
firm and you’ll lose credibility. Make offensive comments, and, well, there’s no
telling what can happen. Case in point: In 2011, an Indiana deputy attorney
general tweeted about protests being held at the Wisconsin state capitol. The
crux of his message was that the police should use live ammunition rather than rubber
bullets against the protesters. He lost his job shortly afterward.
2. Don’t share
confidential client information While you certainly don’t want to disclose names, keep in mind
that it’s also possible to betray a client’s confidence even if you don’t
directly identify the person. Post a comment that includes even a few key
specifics, and it could be possible for someone to trace them back to one of
your clients. Good rule of thumb: avoid posting anything about clients unless
you have written permission from them. Even then, you should think twice about
it.
3. Don’t accidentally
form an attorney-client relationship Chances are good that you use restraint when a friend or
acquaintance asks you for legal advice. Adopt the same behavior when someone
asks you a legal question on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
4. Don’t directly
solicit business Social
media is an effective way to publish information about industry news and new
laws and rules. You can even use it to promote news about your firm and
achievements by your partners and associates. But there’s a big difference between
those sorts of posts and ones that target and offer legal services to a
specific client or potential client. Tip: refer to your bar association’s
position on the matter, along March/April 2013 11 with any applicable ABA guidelines.
5. Adhere to
established advertising, marketing rules Items two through four all point to a key consideration: To be on
the safe side, assume that your social media initiatives fall under the same
bar rules that govern other types of advertising and marketing.
6 Maintain the same professional
ethics online and offline Just as with advertising and marketing, the same ethical rules
that govern your everyday professional behavior also apply in cyberspace. Don’t
deceive clients or exaggerate your qualifications and experience. Respect your
jurisdictional boundaries, particularly if you receive an inquiry from someone outside
your state. Refrain from getting involved with issues that are outside your
scope of representation.
7. Be careful who you
link to, friend and follow A recent ABA article noted this statistic: 40 percent of all U.S.
judges have Facebook accounts. What happens if you get a Facebook friend
request from one of them? Different states have different rules. For example,
the Florida Supreme Court has flatly banned the practice. Ohio allows friending
as long it doesn’t diminish public confidence in the judge’s objectivity. The
Kentucky Judiciary’s Ethics Committee has taken a similar stance, noting that
friending is acceptable as long as it doesn’t “cast reasonable doubt on the
judge’s capacity to act impartially as a judge.”
Here’s another example: Two
years ago, a California lawyer representing a client in a wrongful termination
lawsuit sent Facebook friend requests to people who still worked at the client’s
former company. The San Diego County Bar Association ruled that the move
violated ethical standards, noting that “the attorney’s duty not to deceive
prohibits him from making a friend request even of unrepresented witnesses
without disclosing the purpose of the request.”
What about friending past or current
clients with your personal Facebook account? Opinions vary. On one hand, it
allows you to retain connections, cultivate personal interactions and show your
human side with clients. At the same time, the nature of Facebook profiles—which
are meant to let people into your personal sphere—raises the possibility of confidentiality
issues or unintentionally misrepresenting your qualifications. One option is to
limit client interactions to your firm’s Facebook page or LinkedIn, both of
which are designed as more professional venues. Another approach is to use
Facebook’s privacy settings to control how much access a friended client can
have into your personal Facebook realm.
8. Set firm policies
for social media use It’s
a good idea to create a policy that explicitly spells out what your employees and
attorneys can and can’t do with social media. A solid policy would cover some
of the points above:
• Don’t identify clients by name without written
permission.
• Avoid criticizing clients or getting into online arguments.
•
Before posting anything to a social media channel, think about its impact on
your clients and the potential repercussions of presenting the information to
the world.
• Pay attention to copyright restrictions.
• Think twice before
addressing potentially controversial or inflammatory topics. Here’s a good
example of why it’s important to have a policy in place: Last year a paralegal
in a New Jersey law firm that was serving as the defense in a personal injury
lawsuit friended one of the suit’s plaintiffs in an attempt to gain inside
information. The firm’s partners are now facing ethics violations charges.
9. Pay attention Given that the world is watching your
firm’s social media usage, it makes sense for you to keep tabs on it as well.
The simplest way is to search for yourself or your law firm with Google, Bing
or another search engine. You can also set up keyword alerts and RSS feeds for
mentions of your name on the Web. There are a variety of more sophisticated
approaches, including dashboard-style tools that notify you when your personal
or firm information appears on the Web and in social media mentions.
One final
takeaway from all of this is that social media is not a fad. Think about how
quickly it’s grown and how deeply it’s become enmeshed into our personal and
professional lives. It’s not going to fade away, and all businesses— including
law firms—will eventually need to embrace it if they want to connect with
prospects and remain relevant. Yes, there are ethical concerns of which you
need to be aware, but you face many of those same considerations every time you
run a print advertisement or even speak with a client. With a little common
sense and strict adherence to all relevant guidelines, you can make social
media an established and robust part of your overall marketing strategy.
— Eric Getsfred is a Louisville-based FindLaw
Client Development Consultant. He works with law firms around the state to
develop customized Internet marketing solutions, and has more than 20 years of
experience in the marketing and advertising realm. You may reach him at (651)
687-6495 or eric.getsfred@ thomsonreuters.com.
