Listening to a law firm administrator explain how he handles internally sensitive issues at his law firm over a business dinner one evening, I remarked, “You’re a benevolent dictator! Sounds like it’s working for you! Management by consensus may be an easier path, but it is a sure path to confusion, or worse, inaction, right?” He agreed, but added that it wasn’t for the weak of heart because it did not come easy. A few days later I was contacted by book publicist Kevin Small, requesting a review of an advance copy of a new book, The Benevolent Dictator, by Michael Feuer, co-founder of OfficeMax and founder of Max-Wellness. What a coincidence! I eagerly agreed and dove into the book with relish, hoping to glean some nuggets to be passed along to my clients and colleagues in the legal profession. I was not disappointed. I hope you’ll too find lots of encouragement and ideas. Then, share them with the readers of the VMO blog.

This book is a gem. There are practical lessons that we already know but will benefit from re-visiting and others that were entirely new to me. Here’s the short list of what this book has to offer:

• Always be prepared to turn to Plan B…and sometimes C and D.
• Learn how to make every dollar last
• Manage by the three P’s: Persistence, Perspiration, and Performance
• Pot stirring 101: The key to continuous reinvention
• How to put lightning back in the bottle again and again

One of my favorite chapters.

Anyone who has a role in launching ideas in their law firm will totally relate to Chapter Six: “GOYA—The only way to really test an idea.”

“You should… begin by undertaking a process in which I’m a big believer: GOYA, or, Get Off Your Ass. …Take that idea and start testing it. …Go to places where people shop and buy. Walk around and watch how they do it. You envision how your idea would make it better, easier, and faster for people to do something that they’re currently doing poorly, with difficulty, or slowly. You see if your concept has legs.”

Now, you might argue that in the law firm it’s not about shopping and buying. And I would counter: It is! Nothing will get you to the table quicker than if you truly understand how your clients (i.e, partners, management, bosses, etc.) work in order to get them to buy into a new idea.

Have you ever been on the line for a client’s success, been responsible to bring in a million dollars in revenue, or felt the demands on the one commodity lawyers have to sell—time? If not, before you present that new idea walk a mile in a lawyer’s shoes—it ain’t easy. How busy lawyers juggle multiple clients, stay up to date on the law, and find time to develop new business can be a herculean task! (Not to mention family, philanthropy and oh yeah, personal time.) A CEO, COO or CMO (Director, Administrator or manager–whatever your title) with an idea and only a vague concept of the impact the idea will have on the practicing lawyer is certain to be less effective. The Benevolent Dictator will inspire you!

When Communicating, Cut to the Chase.

“One size never fits all, and events must dictate your tactics. This means that as the boss, you must instinctively understand when to be an observer and when you must get your hands very dirty, very quickly—in order to survive, succeed, or excel.”

Assertions that start with a negative followed by a litany of unpleasant consequences will be counter productive. (Avoid being forced to focus only on the risk factors!)

“It’s certainly true that you must tell your team members what they need to know, not just what they want to hear. Sprinkling perfume on a smelly problem doesn’t make the fragrance better. …But, starting with statements like, ‘If we don’t increase sales in the next month, we might have to let go of many of you,’ or, ‘We either save money on expenses, or we go down the tubes’ …is counter productive.”

It’s common sense, but we get into bad habits. Feuer suggests that you can jump start acceptance by explaining the issue and the anticipated fix by using a logical, positive tone and focusing on the good rather than the bad. However….

“If some of your people ignored this first sweet-laced mandate, then home in on those who might need a trip to the woodshed to understand what you really meant. Target your second message to the noncompliant laggards with the old school, stronger-style message, as in, “What part of ‘no’ didn’t you understand? If all else fails…a ton of bricks will get the job done, too.”

Ah…the Benevolent Dictator! I love Feuer’s writing style and I think you will too. There’s great advice on handling crisis, growing your company (i.e. law firm), and gaining trust and respect from your employees (and your own bosses!). Seriously, I know I recommend a number of business books from time to time, but this one is a must read. Truly practical, sensible advice that everyone in the legal profession needs to read—lawyers, managing partners, marketing partners, administrators, COOs, IT, Human Resources, and of course CMOs!  Do yourself a favor. READ THIS BOOK. Then come back and drop a note about a nugget you found and share the wealth!

Michael Feuer co-founded OfficeMax in 1988, starting with one store and $20,000 of his own money. During a 16-year span, Feuer, as CEO, grew the company to almost 1,000 stores worldwide with annual sales of approximately $5 billion before selling this retail giant for almost $1.5 billion in December 2003. In 2010, Feuer launched another retail concept, Max-Wellness, a first of its kind chain featuring more than 7,000 products for head-to-toe care. Feuer serves on a number of corporate and philanthropic boards and is a frequent speaker on business, marketing and building entrepreneurial enterprises. “The Benevolent Dictator,” chronicles his step-by-step strategy to build business and create wealth. Published by John Wiley & Sons in late spring 2011.

ISBN: 978-1-1180-0391-6
Hardcover/US $24.95

Order from The Benevolent Dictator website @ $16.95.

How are you preparing to take your law firm into the “Social Business” era?  Perhaps this is the first time you’ve heard the term used?  Here’s a definition:

Social Businesses combine fully integrated sets of tools, channels, and processes with people that embrace and cultivate a spirit of collaboration and community throughout the organization—both internally and externally. It’s not B2C or B2B, it’s P2P – that’s People-to-People or Peer to Peer.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could fluently and seamlessly communicate and collaborate with people both inside and outside the law firm on your most important matters? Wouldn’t it be great to deliver such value to clients and in turn build even stronger internal relationships between every department, from HR to marketing, to time and billing and information technology? Then become a social business!

While you may already be accessing some of the more popular social media channels to reach out to the marketplace—maybe you’re using Facebook for employee and attorney recruiting, or you’re proactively managing your LinkedIn Company Page, have a “push” presence on Twitter and posted some educational videos on You Tube—there’s more involved in becoming a “social business.” You’re not a Social Business until all the moving parts integrate people, communications and work product to deliver a meaningful outcome. This is the one thing that truly distinguishes a social business model from a traditional business model—social integration for results.

Now, before you say “our law firm will never be a social business,” or start worrying that you’re already behind the curve, take a deep breath, relax, open your mind, and learn how you can become a social business.

Corporations Take the Lead.

As is usually the case, law firms aren’t going to be first. Corporations have already taken the lead in becoming social businesses—many have been in the social media space long before law firms even knew social media existed. They are integrating their social channels and moving human capital into place, getting closer to the mark. Granted, it’s a work in progress, or so it seems, as I’ve heard no report of anyone having perfected a formula yet, but they are getting close. And, I predict that it will be sooner rather than later that savvy clients will look for their service providers to join the revolution and become social businesses. Here are some case studies of social businesses from the IBM website.

Attributes of a Social Business

What are the attributes of a social business? An early adopter, IBM, weighs in about this topic on their website:

• A Social Business is engaged—deeply connecting people, including customers, employees, and partners, to be involved in productive, efficient ways.
• A Social Business is transparent—removing boundaries to information, experts and assets, helping people align every action to drive business results.
• A Social Business is nimble—speeding up business with information and insight to anticipate and address evolving opportunities.

I see glimpses of start-up law firms becoming social businesses. But wow! Can an established law firm become a social business? Maybe a better question is: What happens if they don’t? What happens when their best clients become social businesses and they are focused elsewhere?

Transitioning to Social Business

Michael Brito, Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital, believes that “…organizations cannot have effective, external conversations with consumers, unless they can have effective internal conversations first.” He prescribes “the three pillars of social business as the process and foundation with which businesses will transition into social businesses: People, Governance and Technology.

• Organizations begin humanizing business operations.
• Organizational models are formed to include social media.
• Organizational silos are torn down between internal teams.
• Governance models and social media policies are created.
• Social becomes an essential attribute of organizational cultural.”

More ideas from Michael’s forthcoming book, The Evolution of Social Business, can be found here. I especially like his diagram on slide #2.

Social Business Tool Box

Everything a social business does is focused on helping team members; business partners, colleagues and customers, solve business problems and be most effective. To do this, social businesses need tools that allow people to easily find and collaborate with colleagues, customers and partners, essentially increasing efficiency and efficacy. Those tools need to store, manage and deliver in real time all resources, people, information and channels so that work product can be easily accessed and shared from anywhere. [Hello cloud!]

To save you time, I did a little digging around to identify a few items a social [law firm] business might consider in setting up their social business toolbox.  Here are my top four.

1. Social CRM
2. White label, private social network (collaboration software or cloud computing)
3. Listening tool(s)
4. Web channels for distribution and brand exposure

Social CRM:

Traditional CRMs (Customer Relationship Management software) typically manage client details such as contact and marketing information.  For example, they track what newsletters and invitations go to whom, who knows who, and so forth. Much of what a social business does has a marketing play too—building the right human resources, gaining exposure for offerings, anticipating client needs, attending to important client details. But, a traditional CRM is not enough for a social business–they need social CRM. Social CRM moves beyond the straightforward, strategic tactics used to organize, automate and synchronize.  A social CRM provides innovative ways to interact with their customers and prospects by taking into account the new ways people communicate and interact via cloud, social media and social networking sites. Google+ is one new tool that is aiming for this market in a big way. Salesforce.com bought the social media monitoring service Radian6 last spring and is leaping ahead in social CRM strategy. Of course there are others. Read more here.

White Label Network:

A white label network is essentially an enterprise collaboration solution enabling personal and organizational effectiveness. One component of enterprise collaboration invokes social networking technology. This technology gives fast access to everyone in an individual’s professional network, including colleagues, clients and partners, enabling them to access and interact with the people, information and project materials they need to get their work done. These private networks facilitate communications among teams helping them work together and build stronger relationships across organizations. I’ve long been a proponent of private social networking technology for the law firm environment and do not believe enough firms are taking advantage of it.

No matter the size of your budget or size of the network you wish to create, there is something for everyone. If you’re looking for a software solution you might consider Microsoft Sharepoint or IBM Sametime.  For a more economical, web-based solution, one of my favorites right now is BloomFire. Follow this link to a description of nine other white label social networking solutions tested by TechCrunch. Or, for small firm or individual needs, check out Google’s Cloud Apps. It may be just the right fit when it comes to cloud collaboration. You might even opt to create a small, private discussion group on Facebook, which would meet the needs of certain lawyers who already have a presence and network on the site.

Listening Tools.

There is no substitution for a face-to-face client interview and I’m not even suggesting that social comes close to that kind of listening, however, social listening can provide insight into customer needs, competitive intelligence, and identification of prospective clients who have problems you can solve. Social listening will help you find and engage with customers. It will help you anticipate and meet their needs in ways that should differentiate you from the competition. At the very least, a simple social listening tool like Google Alerts can be used to track primary client names, companies, and issues. If you have a lot of listening to do and are willing to pay for this information, you could deploy a solution like Manzama. Manzama was created specifically for the listening needs of law firms. There are of course many others. Here is a wiki of 201 social media monitoring solutions.

Distribution and Exposure.

A social business needs a social public face. Luckily, we are in an era where content marketing is valued. There is no end to the types content law firms can create. But writing and distributing educational content to gain exposure is just one part of the equation. Social businesses go beyond pushing out press releases, white papers, and articles—they engage in the public dialogue. Dialogue in the social marketplace can build presence and alignment with valuable constituencies, including clients, prospects, referral sources, the media, politicians, and others—worldwide. Engagement in the social marketplace typically leads to greater business development opportunities and stronger relationships. Therefore, a social business will have a thoughtful and professional presence on websites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It will post useful content on blogs, SlideShare, and You Tube. And, I repeat, it will engage in the marketplace dialogue. This of course is the most time consuming and perhaps difficult piece of the social business model to integrate, but also the most necessary for proper exposure and positioning.

Social Media Integration.

There is no magic to setting up a social business system. There is, however, some magic involved in successfully removing organizational silos between internal teams and creating permission based governance models and policies that everyone can agree upon and live with. Ultimately, shifting the organizational culture to a distinctly social culture requires not only a bit of magic, but also leadership, consistency and an unwavering desire to use technology to create a stronger law firm.

Your turn; what do you think? Are we ready? How soon do you think we’ll see the first truly “social law firm”? Who will be first?  Is anyone even talking about social business in your firm? Is it too soon? Are any of your clients asking for a more social work model? If so, what are you going to do to make it happen?

If you’re looking for the latest “buzz” about social media ethics and professional responsibility for lawyers (and their employees), I highly recommend Jay Strother’s article, Just Being Social, published in the March/April edition of Legal Management, a publication of the Association of Legal Administrators.  In addition to offering an excellent primer on the issues, the article highlights the responses of legal marketing leaders and attorneys who share some terrific practical tips. This article would be of interest to anyone in law firm management, marketing, and human resources, as well as lawyers generally.

Download PDF ” Just Being Social”

[Disclaimer: I am quoted throughout the article]

Just Being Social | Article Excerpt

THE ABA ETHICS OPINION

As law firms’ use of the Internet evolves well into its second decade, websites’ inherent pitfalls and opportunities for legal organizations have crystallized. Late in 2010, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility addressed the problems law firm administrators, marketers and ethics attorneys had already wrestled. Formal Opinion 10-457 cites differences between Internet-based business development and its non-electronic predecessors:

• immediacy of access
• direct interaction with legal providers
• disclaimers
• depth of information available

Firm websites are much more than ads. They can be educational tools. They can house very real information. The opinion cites how problems can arise from website marketing and provides guidelines for how to avoid these issues. (Read the complete opinion on the ABA website. An additional resource is ABA’s Ethic SEARCH division. Search the ABA site for “Recent ethics opinion: Lawyer websites” by Peter Geraghty.)

“I can’t imagine why it took the ABA so long to issue this opinion,” [Ross] Fishman said. “The application of old-media ethics rules to the Internet and new media tools has been confounding law firm marketers for a long time. It allowed individual states to create their own conflicting rules and created more confusion than necessary.”

Indeed, some states are ahead of the bar – and their guidelines are even more restrictive, said the director of marketing and business development at Hunton & Williams in Washington, D.C., Kim A. Perret. “There’s a lot of frustration right now and it is going to take some discussion to get the right formula [for restrictions and policies],” said Perret, who is also a former president of the Legal Marketing Association. “Prospective clients want to get the information they need on the web, but protecting the firm from liability or ethical breeches may keep that from happening.” However, Perret thinks that – especially for corporate firms – there exists a sophisticated level of firm website user: They can discern among real information, marketing language and advertising.

But even if some states are more restrictive of web-based marketing and information, those state bar organizations may have the ability to more nimbly react to changes and new media. Many of these entities already had clear website guidelines. Now they are tackling the emerging tools that are causing legal administrators to fret: social media.

THE EXPOSURE

Regardless of their opinions about the timing and usefulness of the formal ABA Opinion, marketers and administrators agree that websites create a lot of gray ethical boundaries – and firms must be ready to address these issues. “This rule said to me that firms have to take every precaution,” said Navarre, who published the book Social.Lawyers: Transforming Business Development. “There is interaction and immediacy inherent in the web. Firm managers must ensure they are filtering the website through layers of protection.”

Websites themselves may be easier to keep under control. The real issues come from the new technologies. Practitioners are creating their own blogs. They are active on Twitter. They have LinkedIn and Facebook accounts that reflect their employer and profession. These media open up new challenges, ones that Navarre said require you to have really honest lawyers who tell the firm how they are using these tools. “Social media: That’s where the line gets a little fuzzy,” she said.

“When we interact online, are we providing legal advice? When someone reads an article online there is a disclaimer.” But Twitter posts and blogs are independent of the firm’s site. Navarre’s solution is to ensure that lawyers and staff know how to handle requests that come in via these media.

-end excerpt-

If you’re attending THE ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE in Orlando Florida next month, I hope you’ll attend my SESSION, “IS THE MEDIUM THE MESSAGE? SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING” (LI34) ON MAY 25.

Today a package of materials from a new client of mine arrived overnight, first AM delivery. The delivery surprised me and exceeded my expectation as our scheduled meeting is weeks away. There was nothing urgent about me receiving the materials, but it sure was nice to have them in hand so far in advance. Then I recalled how earlier communications with the managing partner and his staff had clued me in that I was dealing with a first class organization with great respect and value for everyone they do business with, even those outside the direct revenue stream. Their treatment of others goes beneath the surface and is the heart and soul of their success.

They are successful not only because the firm has excellent, experienced lawyers, though they do. Not because they discount services or offer alternate fee arrangements, they don’t. They are successful because they have a law firm culture that operates on mutual respect, consideration, and honesty. CLIENTS like that. A successful firm will not take for granted the impact their internal culture has upon its success.

Culture is a law firm’s DNA.

Truth be told, you can actually tell A LOT about a law firm’s culture by the way they treat their vendors. When someone told me this, years ago, I thought it was absurd. Now, after 15 years in the legal profession, both as an employee and a vendor, I can tell you its true. [Too bad more prospects don’t know this or they’d be interviewing a firm’s vendors, not their lawyers, to uncover what they might expect from the client/attorney/law firm relationship.]

I can now predict, with accuracy, client satisfaction levels in almost 100% of cases simply by my dealings with the firm as a vendor. I have found that there is a direct correlation between the degree to which I am treated respectfully and the degree of the law firm’s success.  Weird, I know….well, maybe not.

In a new book by Barry Libert of Mzinga, “Social Nation. How to harness the power of Social Media to attract customers, motivate employees and grow your business,” (Wiley, 2010), Libert posits that the power of culture is not to be underestimated where business and community intersect. (Yes, your clients are a community!) Among many golden nuggets the book has to offer (full review to follow shortly*), Libert proposes that clients can sense when your culture is a healthy one, and a healthy culture is a healthy company.

“If the DNA is healthy, the company is healthy. If it is not, the company, just like your family, will falter and eventually fail. In business, it means your customers will leave in pursuit of a competitor that will care more about them and better meet their needs.”

I couldn’t agree with Libert more. To wit, I’ve worked inside law firms that had a DNA of respect, honesty and action. They respected their employees and their vendors, i.e., valued their expertise, engaged in fair contracts, didn’t haggle, returned calls, and paid invoices promptly. Not surprisingly, they also had a lot of loyal and happy clients and are still going strong today. Conversely, I’ve also worked where it was exactly the opposite. Ironically, in once such instance, the law firm no longer exists!

Observations from the vendor trenches. [ Or, what shoppers can learn from vendors.]

It starts in the evaluation stage. When a prospective client law firm and I are getting to know one another I’ve noticed that the best firms have taken the time to prepare good questions. They might also have an idea for how they want to proceed, and they have determined a range of fees they’re willing to pay.  Some even have an idea of the specific results they are seeking. (They’ve done some homework or they tell me up front that they are clueless. Honesty is always a good start.) Though this often evolves as we talk, their preparedness is a sign that they take the project, my services, and me seriously. Following the logic, these law firms would also be those that are not afraid to tell one of their prospective clients the truth about the prospects for their case. They would reasonably estimate fees and, if necessary, refer them to another attorney or law firm that is better suited for the matter. In essence, they are prepared and preparation is a hallmark of great law firms and great cultures.

Alternately, I can immediately tell when an evaluation call is a fishing expedition for FREE expertise. In these cases I can fairly accurately assess that the firm is not successful enough to pay for expertise or that they believe their own expertise is the only kind worth paying for; both are bad. Avoid these firms and you avoid disappointment.

After the evaluation stage, I learn a lot about the firm by the length of time it takes to return phone calls or respond to emails. It is illuminating.

For example I am often asked to submit a proposal TOMORROW, i.e., “This is an urgent project for the firm. Can you get that to me tomorrow?  Our committee is meeting on Friday.” “Sure,” I say and work through the evening hours to deliver on my word only to hear silence for weeks. Now, I know that my proposal is not always at the top of the list, but is it too much to ask for a quick email response to say; got the proposal, the committee did not have time to discuss it on Friday, but it’s on the agenda for next month? Non-responsive behavior from a firm that has an URGENT need is likely to be a firm that communicates poorly (or even dishonestly) with their clients. (Note: a distinction should be made between lawyer and law firm, i.e. the law firm may be unresponsive but an individual lawyer can be very responsive. However, when you hire a lawyer you essentially hire their law firm. It’s a 360-degree relationship, and it takes both to make it work.)

The pricing stage is also often a very telling sequence. Being the Pollyanna that I am, I assume that once past the evaluation and the proposal there is sufficient understanding of the value of my services and respect for me as a business owner; that I’ve priced my services competitively and that I intend to deliver value along with the price tag. If I say my day rate is X, it is X. If there is variation in what you’re asking me to provide there may be room for a discount, but if the project is as quoted you can be sure that is what I believe the project will cost—and for me to remain in business to help you in the future. The law firm that doesn’t understand this equation distrusts me. And, not in all cases of course, but such a law firm could actually be over charging or under-delivering their services and they are projecting their behavior on me. [Note to shoppers: There are some firms that just can’t help themselves from negotiating everything! While that’s fair, beware; they will likely be tough negotiators when it comes to writing down your legal bill too!]

Finally, much can be read from the payment process. As a responsible contractor I always include terms of payment in my letter of agreement.  When a client signs that agreement I believe they, in good faith, intend to conform to the terms. (Lawyers must understand this, right?) But to my surprise, even when the situation is black and white, i.e. product or service delivered and approved, there are some law firms that purposely sit on the payment for months, ignoring the terms of our agreement. How this reflects a firm’s culture is crystal clear. In one example, I waited over a year to get paid! It was no surprise to me when I learned that the named partner of that firm was found guilty of fraud and his license suspended.

If clients aren’t raining from the sky…

Word of mouth marketing can be the life-blood of a law firm, i.e. referrals. It can also be what’s standing between success and failure. In today’s social marketplace,  people are talking. The insight we receive from social interactions and communications that take place among and between our clients, employees, vendors, and partners reveal a lot. Decisions about purchasing products and services are more frequently based on how the outside sees our “inside” culture. If clients aren’t raining from the sky for you or your law firm, you may want to step away from the sunshine and look inside at your culture.

“Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”– Mark Twain

Perhaps I could have saved a lot of words and simply said “actions speak louder than words.” Or, perhaps corporate culture, like the weather, is impossible to change for anyone but the Heavens. So, our only recourse is to talk about it and make us feel a little bit better-though totally not in control.

Whatever the case, weather happens. So does culture. Only difference is you can influence your law firm’s culture. Like it or not, how you do business with others outside your revenue stream will impact how you do business with your revenue stream, i.e. clients. And, as Libert suggests….”take good care of your personal values and you will energize your customers, partners and employees.”

__________________________________________________

*Disclosure: I was given a complimentary copy of this book to review.

There are several things law firms can learn from the recent publicity of the JetBlue incident, particularly in the context of the social Web and reputation management, but three stand out.

1. Your stakeholders want you to succeed. They want to believe that you, their law firm, do the right thing; that you’re a valuable asset to their team and that others believe as they do.
2. Align your law firm with stakeholders, via engagement on the social Web, BEFORE a crisis strikes to give you access to, and credibility with, your stakeholders if and when an incident needs to be addressed.
3. Transparency on the social web is critical for law firms, especially in times of high media interest, and so it must be handled with care, for both the law firm and all involved parties.

Address crisis or rumor with effectiveness and style via the social Web

The recent Steven Slater/Jet Blue “Beer Slide” saga has had everyone in a tizzy lately; especially the media, JetBlue fans, executives at JetBlue who are normally quite chatty on the social Web, and their lawyers.  It appears that their legal counsel prompted Jet Blue’s silence in the early aftermath of the incident. Three cheers for the step-away-from-the-microphone advice during the initial brouhaha. In this case it turned out to be great advice.

Despite the negative squawking that penetrated the net – Where are they? Why aren’t they telling us what’s going on? – JetBlue pulled away from business as usual on the social Web until they gathered the essence and then posted a brief, but highly effective, entry on their corporate blog, BlueTales. They presented a side of the story with a compassionate, yet lighthearted, persona addressing the issues they were facing. They asked their online stakeholders to hold on.

What JetBlue did right.

In a simple blog post, they covered the issue with transparency –at least as much as legal considerations would allow at this early stage of the investigation— and the blog tool was the perfect delivery channel. (Note: they had already established a loyal following – see Lesson Two)

Lesson One: We love you!

In response to the blog post (193 comments so far), here’s what a few readers had to say

• …i love you jet blue
• …this is your chance to rise above all the nasty comments left online, by being gracious and forgiving. Offer his job back; don’t worry, he won’t take it; give him a stern lecture; and remind all passengers they MUST obey, by federal law, the orders of flight attendents, who are NOT just glorified waitresses and waiters. Here’s your chance: don’t blow it!
• Thank you for acknowledging your fine employees at this time. My family and I have always been very true, loyal customers of JetBlue.
• I think JetBlue should show the world, yes the world, that there is a lot of abuse in the service industry. Please show the world that there is a company that has empathy for their loyal employees. I feel your company is in the best position to teach the world it needs to be polite to people in the service industry and people in general. The world needs this lesson. Show us your empathy.
• This is a goldmine opportunity. You should definitely hire this guy, and have him make a bunch of funny YouTube videos about the dos and don’ts of carryon luggage. Have him try to shove a size 10 carry-on into a size 9 over-head, sideways. At the end he could have a little sign off (think Dan Rather’s “Courage!”) and then take the chute out of the plane, like Batman. If you don’t somebody else will, why not get the credit for being fair to someone who is viewed by many as a hero, and at the same time turn some lemon-like bad publicity into some earned advertising lemonade.
• I’ve flown with Jet Blue and I have nothing but good stuff to say! I don’t think this story will tarnish ur reputation. Your a great little airline keep doing what your doing it works I really like that Google maps thing that says where the plane is that is so cool!
• Jet Blue…..the most polite officers and crew. I only fly Jet Blue. Only had one tiny set back on Blue….No TV for 3 hours of my flight. But I lived. Thank you Jet Blue for being the best Airline to fly with…

Okay, okay, so we don’t expect law firm clients to be in love with their law firms in the same way they might love their preferred airline. BUT, take for example today’s headline story on the National Law Journal site.

Hunton & Williams has been hit with a $150 million lawsuit in Wisconsin claiming that the law firm maliciously squeezed a broker out of a contract and should pay up for the company’s losses.

The Richmond, Va.-based law firm issued a statement through a spokeswoman in response to the action. “This suit was filed by an adversary of one of our clients,” it said. “These allegations have no merit, and we plan to vigorously defend against them.” [Emphasis added]

What if, in a circumstance like this, there was a social channel (blog, website, discussion board, Facebook page, whatever) where the law firm laid out, after careful examination and with some transparency, the situation to the extent allowed by ethics and privilege? What if loyal clients added their comments? How would that impact the reputation of the law firm? How would that impact the clients’ perception that their voices mattered? How would it give readers what they wanted to hear and give them understanding?

Before you say, “noooo way would we open up the pipes and let people trash us,” I say, why is that? Why do you think you’d get trashed? Don’t you know you have clients who really do depend on you? Sure there might be people who would use the opportunity to grind an ax, but I’m going to take a guess that, over all, sophisticated readers would see right through that. Especially if you were being transparent, i.e. human, rational, reasonable business professionals who practice law and deliver value to clients.

Lesson Two: Align with stakeholders before the crisis hits.

For JetBlue, their social Web presence started long before Steven Slater, a veteran flight attendant, had maxed out on his tolerance for rude passengers, chugged a few beers, opened the evacuation slide, exited his job in dramatic fashion and entered the Internet media spotlight. They were there, amidst their stakeholders before the crisis hit. They were active on Twitter, Facebook, and their blogs. They were not only posting news releases and canned messages, they were engaging.  They had positioned themselves positively in the minds of their stakeholders. They were a “human” entity. (Which is also why there was shock when they didn’t give an early response. A two edged sword that had a happy ending.)

Law firms that are still on the ledge or are not taking the social Web seriously may be in for a surprise the next time they need to communicate with a broad base of share stakeholders. (See also Toyota Recall) Best to be proactive and get a social media presence now.

Lesson three: Be transparent, but handle with care.

I am not suggesting that law firms or anyone should try cases in the media. We all know that strategy. Sometimes it works and other times it hurts. However, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared and the social Web needs your attention.

When something dramatic happens, the media is looking for a story. They’ll get it where ever and however they can. In the pre-Internet days they would pull quotes and sentiment from passersby. That hasn’t changed, only now they have access to those sources 24/7 without leaving their desks, thanks to user generated content. To make matters more intense, passersby are telling their stories without the filter of the media.

Prepared statements from public relations departments and executives are becoming passé where the social Web is involved. Canned statements are ineffective unless they are handled with transparency and human perspective. The social Web demands it. Woe to the law firm who ignores it. Eventually it WILL catch up to you. On the flip side, speaking too early or too loudly may come back to haunt you. It’s a new PR approach, best to be prepared to handle it carefully.

Bottom Line:

Maybe if we–law firms–were more transparent, within ethical boundaries, people could be educated in the subtleties of the profession and attitudes would shift. After all, aren’t most civil disputes and legal actions the result of misunderstandings? The law is immense and difficult to interpret. What is your law firm doing to engage with their constituencies on the social Web so that you will have ready access to manage your reputation proactively?

How realistic is it for a law firm managing partner to publish a blog? Maybe a better question to ask is “How would a managing partner’s blog better serve the law firm’s clients, or not?” Too dangerous? Too time consuming? What for?

I recently sent out a Tweet and queried my networks seeking examples of law firm managing partners who blog and was disappointed by the response. Zero.  Maybe it’s my network or maybe there aren’t any. I know a number of small firm and solo lawyers rely heavily on blogging as a tool for broad exposure. Ironically, I often hear that fact used as a reason for larger firm leaders not to be blogging. “It’s fine for boutique and solo practices but it doesn’t fit in the corporate law firm model.”

Do you agree? Is it possible there is a place for a managing partner to blog? How would that tip the scales in a positive direction?

If you were (or are) a managing partner, how do you think blogging might fit in your role managing your law firm? What sort of blog would it be? Topical, special interest stuff?  Would you write for your management colleagues, clients, corporate counsel, prospects or whom? Would you be afraid of transparency? Why would you want to share your thoughts and insights? What would you fear most; the competition or your clients learning more about you and your firm?

Here’s a list from the NewPRWiki.com of corporate leaders in the U.S. that are blogging. There are many more on the list from around the world, but by far the U.S. takes the lead. I haven’t had time to check each one. But of those I browsed, it made me think…there is a place for law firm leaders in the public blogsphere, outside of walled-garden peer-to-peer networking blogs. Do you? What are your ideas? Should a managing partner stick out their neck and buck the status quo?

United States of America

• Joe Agliozzo, CEO, BetterPPC – blogging since May 10, 2004
• Paul Allen, Founding Partner, Infobase Ventures – blogging since May 2004
• Robert Amberg, Cushman/Amberg Communications, Vice President – blogging since April 17, 2006
• Scott Anderson, Director of shared content, Tribune Publishing and Interactive – blogging since April 28, 2004
• David Armano, Creative VP, Digitas
• Marc Babej, President, Reason Inc. – blogging since July 28, 2005
• John Bailey, President, John Bailey & Associates, Inc.
• Jeff Barson, CEO, Surface Medical Spas – http://www.medicalspasonline.com/
• Randy Baseler, VP of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes – blogging since January 17, 2005
• Tiger Beaudoin, Vice President, Coalition Marketing, The Business Improvement Company – blogging since [[May 15, 2005]]
• Tom Berquist, CFO, Ingres
• Brock J. Blake, CEO, FundingUniverse.com
• Philip Blumberg, founder and CEO, American Ventures
• Matt Blumberg, CEO, Return Path – blogging since May 10, 2004
• Carole Brown, Chair, Chicago Transit Board – blogging since [[April 15, 2005]]
• Buzz Bruggeman, Founder, ActiveWords – blogging since January 10, 2002
• Harold Burson, Founding Chairman, Burson-Marsteller – blogging since February 15, 2006
• Jason McCabe Calacanis, Co-Founder & Chairman, Weblogs, Inc.
• Mark Carlson, CEO, SimpleFeed – blogging since September 24, 2004
• Brian Carroll, CEO, InTouch – blogging since Oct 31, 2003
• Jonathan Carson, CEO, BuzzMetrics – blogging since May 13, 2005
• Beth N. Carvin, Founder and CEO of Nobscot, blogging since August 23, 2002
• Karen Christensen, CEO, Berkshire Publishing Group – blogging since December 15, 2004
• David Churbuck, VP, Global Web Marketing, Lenovo – blogging since October 12, 2004
• Jeff Clavier, Managing Partner, SoftTech VC – blogging since July 22, 2004
• George F. Colony, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Forrester Research
• Henry Copeland, Founder, BlogAds – blogging since September 05, 2001
• Bob Cramer, President & CEO, LiveVault – blogging since June 3, 2005
• Colin Crawford, VP/Online, International Data Group – blogging since March 1, 2005
• Mike Critelli, Executive Chairman, Pitney Bowes, Inc. – blogging since June 12, 2007
• Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University President: The President’s Post – blogging since December 1, 2005
• Steve Cody, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Peppercom – blogging since July 11, 2005
• Marc Cuban, HDNET & Dallas Mavericks – blogging since March 12, 2004
• Dave Dargo, CTO, SVP, Ingres Corporation – blogging since March 31, 2006
• Ross Dawson, CEO, Advanced Human Technologies – blogging since October 5, 2002
• Brian Dear, Founder & CEO, EVDB, Inc. – blogging since February 1, 2002
• Joseph DePalma, CEO, Vertora, Inc. – blogging since February 17, 2005
• Chad Dickerson, CTO, InfoWorld – blogging since January 25, 2003
• Ed Dodds, Founder & CEO, <e-dodds.communications/> – blogging { in a manner of speaking } since December 23, 1996
• Scott Dow, founder, The Empower Network, blogging since September 14, 2004
• John Dragoon, Chief Marketing Officer, Novell
• Michael Dunn, VP, Hearst Interactive Media – blogging since January 19, 2002
• Tim Dyson, CEO, Next Fifteen, blogging since November 11, 2004
• Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman – blogging since September 29, 2004
• Demian Entrekin, CEO, Project Arena – blogging since july 20, 2005
• John Estafanous, President, Estco Medical – blogging since December 16, 2004
• Brad Feld, Mobius Venture Capital – blogging since May 4, 2004
• Bill Flitter, CEO of Pheedo – blogging since February 29, 2004
• John S Flowers, Founder, nCircle Network Security & kozoru, Inc. – blogging since Feb 1, 2003
• Gil Friend, CEO, Natural Logic – blogging since June 11, 2002
• Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist, Weber Shandwick
  • reputationXchange – blogging since May 20, 2006
  • reputation*watch (November 18, 2005–May 20, 2006)
• Scott Gatz, Senior Director of Personalization Products, Yahoo! – blogging since October 1, 2005
• Bahar Gidwani, CEO, Index Stock Imagery – blogging since June 24, 2004
• Frank Gilbane, President and CEO, Bluebill Advisors, Inc. – blogging since January 8, 2005
• Kathleen Gilroy, CEO, The Otter Group – blogging since February 20, 2004
• David Geller, CEO, WhatCounts, blogging since February 15, 2005
• Frank Gens, Senior Vice President – Research, IDC
• Terry Gold, CEO, Gold Systems – blogging since November 12, 2004
• Steve Goldstein, CEO, Alacra – blogging since March 23, 2004
• Dave Gray, Founder & CEO, XPLANE – blogging since August 21, 2005
• Diane Greene, President, VMware, Inc. – blogging since April 2, 2006
• Rex Hammock, President of Hammock Publishing, Inc. – blogging since August 28, 2000
• Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs – MarketingProfs Daily Fix
• Christopher Hannegan, SVP, U.S. Director of Employee Engagement, Edelman – blogging since May 18, 2005
• Dick Hardt, Founder & CEO, Sxip Networks – blogging since May 1, 2004
• Peter Himler, President, Publicity Club of New York, Principal, Flatiron Communications, LLC – blogging since June 2004
• Gene Hoffman, Co-founder and CEO, Vindicia – blogging since September 5, 2001
• Bradley Horowitz, Director, Technology Development Group of Yahoo! Search & Marketplace – blogging, since February 16, 2006
• JB Holston, CEO of NewsGator – blogging since June 4, 2003
• John Honovich, CEO/President, MaxPPS (maximum level physical protection systems) – blogging since April 7, 2005
• Michael Hyatt, Thomas Nelson Publishers
  • Working Smart – blogging since April 28, 2004
  • From Where I Sit – since March 29, 2005
• Kingsley Idehen, Founder and CEO, OpenLink Software – blogging since May 5, 2003
• Salim Ismail, Chairman and Co-founder, PubSub – blogging since December 13, 2005
• F. Nicholas Jacobs, President & CEO, Windber Research Institute and Windber Medical Center – http://windberblog.typepad.com/
• Jeff Jaffe, CTO, Novell – blogging since April 3, 2006
• Jeff Jarvis, President & Creative Director of Advance.nett – blogging since September 23, 2001
• Leslie Jump, CEO, Jump Walker International Group – http://www.marketerblog.net/
• Adam Kalsey, VP, thinkSMALL Advertising Network – blogging since March 11, 2000
• Sab Kanaujia, VP, NBC Digital Media group – blogging since December 2, 2006
• Dave Kellogg, President and CEO, Mark Logic Corporation – blogging since August 22, 2005
• Michael Kempner, President/CEO, MWW Group
• Denise Klarquist, VP of Operations, Cheskin – blogging since March 4, 2003
• Eric Kintz, Vice President, Global Marketing Strategy & Excellence, Hewlett-Packard Company – blogging since April 5, 2006
• Joe Kraus, co-founder and CEO, JotSpot, blogging since September 14, 2004
• Pran Kurup, President & CEO, Vitalect Technologies, blogging since July 8, 2004
• Jim Lejeal, CEO, Oxlo Systems – blogging since Sept 1, 2004
• Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman, America Online, blogging since January 4, 2006
• [1]Paul Levy, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA
• Jamie Lewis, CEO and Research Chair, Burton Group
• Phil Libin, CEO, Corestreet – blogging since February 2, 2004
• Bob Liodice, President and CEO, Association of National Advertisers – blogging since March 18, 2004
• Randy Littleson, VP, Marketing, Kinaxis – blogging since august 2005
• Steven Lubetkin, Managing Partner, Lubetkin & Co. Communications LLC, blogging since February 24, 2005.
• Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman, General Motors Corporation – blogging since January 5, 2005
• Kevin Lynch, Chief Software Architect, Macromedia – blogging since February 2, 2003
• Don MacAskill, CEO and Founder, smugmug – blogging since November, 1994 (entry lost to bitrot )
• Kenneth D. Makovsky, President, Makovsky + Company – blogging since January 9, 2006
• John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market – http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jm/
• David Manaster, CEO, ERE Media, Inc – blogging since June 8, 2005
• Pat Matthews, CEO and Co-founder, Excedent Technologies & Webmail.us – blogging since October 7, 2004
• Tom Markiewicz, President & CEO, EvolvePoint, Inc. – http://www.tmarkiewicz.com/
• J. Willard Marriott Jr., CEO, Marriott International – http://www.blogs.marriott.com/
• Ross Mayfield, CEO, Socialtext – blogging since October 14, 2002
• Alan Meckler, CEO, Jupiter Media – blogging since December 6, 2003
• Robert Mendez, CEO, NetHawk Interactive – blogging since April 5, 2004
• Christopher Mengel, Razorwest: http://razorwest.typepad.com/marketing/
• Chris Mercer, CEO, Mercer Capital – blogging since April 2, 2005
• Lisa Meyers Brown, VP for Marketing, American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division, blogging since March 9, 2005
• Greg Milliken, CEO, Alibre, Inc.
• Ryan Money, CEO & Founder, HireVue, blogging since February 11, 2006
• Marty Morrow, CEO and founder, Quovix.com – blogging since 2002
• Vassil Mladjov, founder and CEO, Blogtronix – blogging since May 11, 2004
• Craig Newmark, customer service rep and founder, craigslist.org – blogging since September 11, 2003
• Ray Ozzie, former Founder, Chairman & CEO, Groove Networks – blogging since August 1, 2002; currently Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft, blogging at http://spaces.msn.com/members/rayozzie/Blog/
• Justin Rattner, CTO, Intel
• Tom O’Neill, CEO, Exodus Capital Advisors – blogging since April 25, 2005
• Kirsten Osolind, CEO, re:invention, inc. – blogging since July 11, 2003
• Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO, KDPaine& Partners, LLC – blogging since March 8, 2005
• Greg Papadopoulos, CTO, Sun Microsystems, blogging since February 7, 2005
• Bob Parsons, President, godaddy.com – blogging since December 16, 2004
• John R. Patrick, former Vice president of Internet Technology at IBM, on the boards of many organizations, including Opera Software, Jupiter Media and the Global Internet Project – blogging since August 17, 1997
• Michael Powell, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – blogging since July 7, 2004
  • … but is it a blog? Om Malik says it’s not. What do YOU think?
• Bob Pritchett, President, Logos Bible Software – blogging since August 14, 2003
• Jeff Pulver, CEO, Pulver.com – blogging since July 6, 2003
• Paul Purdue, President, iFulfill.com – blogging since May 2, 2005
• Kate Purmal, CEO, U3 – blogging since July 7, 2006
• Michael Pusateri, VP of Engineering, Disney ABC Cable Networks Group, blogging since January 21, 2000
• Peter Quintas, CTO, Silkware – blogging since April 21, 2004
• Darrel Rhea, Principal and CEO of Cheskin, blogging since April 9, 2003
• Glen Reid, CEO, Five Across – blogging since July 3, 2004
• Ed Roberto, CEO, Newmerix – blogging since Sept 30, 2004
• Will Ruch, Versant CEO and Managing Partner, blogging since March 1, 2005
• Eric Rudder, SVP Servers and Tools, Microsoft Corporation (the most senior Microsoft blogger?) – blogging since May 20, 2003
• Scott Ryan, CEO, architel – http://pd.architel.com/
• Andy Sack, CEO, Judy’s Book – blogging since Sept 17, 2004
• John Scherer, CEO & Founder, Video Professor, blogging since February 25, 2005
• Jonathan Schwartz, COO, Sun Microsystems – blogging since June 28, 2004
• Mark E. Seremet, CEO, Spreadshirt US – http://www.spreadshirtmedia.com/weblog/
• Steve Shu, COO, 21Publish – blogging since February 23, 2005
• Mark Sieczkarek, CEO, Conceptus Inc. – http://blog.conceptus.com/subtext/
• David Sifry, Founder and CEO of Technorati – blogging since January 8, 2002
• Steven Silvers, Principal and Director, GBSM – blogging since June 14, 2005
• Michael Smith, CEO, EntertainCom – blogging since March 10. 2005
• Anne Stanton, President and CEO, The Norwich Group – blogging since May 3, 2004
• Roger T. Staubach, chairman of the board and CEO, The Staubach Company – http://roger.staubach.com/
• Joshua Steimle, CEO, MWI – blogging since June 5, 2003
• Steven Streight, President, Streight Site Systems – blogging since May 31, 2004
• David Teten, CEO, Nitron Advisors – blogging since February 27, 2004
• Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat
• Mena Trott, Co-founder and President, Six Apart – blogging since April 3, 2001
• Greg Verdino, VP/Emerging Channels, DIGITAS LLC
• Jeff Weiner, Senior VP of Search and Marketplace, Yahoo! – blogging since March 27, 2005
• Will Weider, CIO, Affinity Health Systems – blogging since June 7, 2003
• Alan L. Weinkrantz, President, Alan Weinkrantz And Company – blogging since December 1, 2004
• Joe Wikert, Vice President and Publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Professional/Trade division, blogging since February 19, 2005
• Steve Wilson, Senior Director of Global Web Communications, McDonald’s – blogging since September 18, 2005
• Charlie Wood, VP of Enterprise Solutions, NewsGator Technologies
• Bob Wyman, CTO and co-founder, PubSub, blogging since September 2, 2003
• Lester Wunderman, Chairman Emeritus and Founder, Wunderman – blogging since September 20, 2006
• Hu Yoshida, VP and CTO, Hitachi Data Systems – blogging since October 20, 2005
• Scott Young, President and CEO, UserLand Software – blogging since November 17, 2003

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Does blocking access to social networking sites at the office really work? Are social networking sites the only places of risk for companies and law firms on the new social Web? 

If your firm blocks Facebook and not LinkedIn;  why one and not the other? Business vs. personal? Bandwidth demands? Liabilities? Don’t know, just seems right?

Do you know that if your partners and employees can access blogs and other sites that allow commenting,  reviewing, or streaming content (e.g. news videos or podcasts), via the firm Internet connection, you are, by default, giving them permission to participate in the social web.

We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.  Our use of the Web in a social manner to communicate is only going to grow, and will eventually replace the old model of a destination based, transactional Web – including the way we search and use email.

Law firms need viable responses to the new way in which people are using the web. Shutting off access to social networking sites isn’t the last decision you’ll make.

People will find ways around being blocked off from social sites – one example comes to mind. All smart phones now have social networking applications. Whether a firm owned device or a personal device, employees can and will likely participate in online social networks while at the office from their mobile devices.

If you are just now starting to look into what the social web means to your firm, it’s business practices, and employees’ access to social sites, here a few things to consider.

1. The whole Internet is becoming social; even traditional media sites like the local paper and the Wall Street Journal.
2. Almost every shopping site has reviewing features. Product reviews on Amazon are the first place many people go when making a purchase.
3. University alumni Web sites are getting into the social networking craze.
4. The President of the United States indirectly endorsed the social Web as a political communications tool when he ran his campaign on blogs and Twitter.
5. Can you police every site?
6. Can you shut the whole Internet-at-the-office thing down?

Who knew the Internet would become what it is today when firms started opening access to the Internet on every desktop? It’s too late to take Internet access away from employees. There are many critical business and legal processes using the Internet today, so you can forget that option.  Who knows where the social Web is headed?  It’s not too early to start taking a proactive approach, with a permission based policy.

So what should law firm leaders do? Here are a few suggestions that I recommend.

1. Get your arms around the social web both philosophically and behaviorally. It’s not about technology, it’s about the new way in which we are using the web that’s important here. Find outside help if you don’t have someone in-house that can get you up to speed quickly.

2. Don’t resist. Be smart. Be proactive. Be educated. Stay informed. When law firm leaders show employees that they are paying attention, there are fewer problems.

3. How well do you trust your employees and partners to deploy good judgment in all speaking and writing activity whether online or offline? A lot, not much? Although your firm culture may be trust-based,  you still want to be sure you’re all on the same page, so clearly communicate, via education and policy, what’s expected.

Remember: participation on the social Web is a personal activity. And that requires personal responsibility.

4. If the law firm does its job educating employees and partners on appropriate and ethical use of social web activity now, you’ll be ahead of the curve.

5. Be a good role model.

In the late 90’s, there were still firm leaders in corner offices who didn’t have computers on their desk. They dictated emails for their secretaries to send.  It took only a few years for email to become standard operating procedure.  And, those beige boxes appeared more frequently in the corner office. So, it goes for the social Web. It will evolve, and will eventually be so tightly integrated in business processes that you won’t know what the Web was like without it.

Yes, social networking can be a real time waster and a major distraction. I don’t want my assistant playing around on Facebook while there’s work to be done and you don’t either. But, the web is evolving and we’re not sure where it’s going yet. We can be sure it isn’t going away.

So, everyone in your organization should know what the firm expects of them. Everyone should treat their time on social media sites, during business hours, just like personal emails and personal phone calls –except for emergencies, social networking is best left for lunch hours or break time. That’s an easy requirement. Who ever heard of a social networking emergency!

UPDATE:  Steve Matthew’s blog  Law Firm Web Strategy, has a good post about Face-blocking that I neglected to mention in this post originally. Steve’s post has a link to the LegalWeb 2.0 Column on the ABA’s LegallyMinded that summarizes findings from an informal survey produced by Doug Corneilius. In addition to the results (copied below) Doug gives a good breakdown of why blocking isn’t a good strategy. Definately good reading for anyone responsible for social media in the law firm.

SOCIAL NETWORK BLOCKING SURVEY (from Doug Corneilius)

RESULTS OVERVIEW

Size of respondent’s firm
10 lawyers or less 9%
10-50 lawyers 13%
50-200 lawyers 19%
200-500 lawyers 19%
500 or more lawyers 41%

Does your firm block access to social networking sites?
Yes, our firm blocks access to some social networking sites 45%
No, we have unfiltered access to the Internet 55%

Does your firm block access to any of these sites?
Facebook 85%
MySpace 77%
Twitter 26%
LinkedIn 14%
YouTube 55%
Blogs 22%

Methodology. This survey was conducted in January 2009 on Zoomerang.com. A total of 231 individuals responded.

A law firm administrator contacted me asking for feedback on the social media policy their firm had drafted. The administrator had pulled ideas from the Web, and was considering the addition of an “approved blog/site” component to the policy. The approved sites were very restrictive and limited to legal cases, legal discussions, legal developments and legal-business related topics.

10 Suggestions for a Balanced Approach to Social Media Policy.

1. Before you write a policy, get educated in the medium. Traditional approaches to social computing policy are not the most effective. Why? The medium has a mind of it’s own –the user’s, and it continues to evolve and gets more complicated each day.

2. You know your culture better than anyone, so use that as a filter for decision-making. Every firm is different. It certainly is the administrator’s job to look for the loopholes and the worst-case scenario, BUT if you make something a bigger deal than it is, it will become exactly that. Permission based policy works better than restrictive policy.

3. Like a parent that says “don’t touch the stove burner it’s hot” and the little kid does it anyway, such will be the result you’re going to get by restricting your policy to specifics. The key is to educate users in doing the right thing. Have a strong set of guidelines. Train everyone in what they mean in context.  Then, have oversight via a regularly scheduled social media audit. With those actions in place, you should be ready to trust your attorneys (and staff)?

4. Restricting participation, or even the reading of sites, to legal media only cuts off potentially valuable resources. Besides being impossible to police, you’re still leaving the decision to comply up to the user and there will be much hairsplitting on what qualifies as legal this or that. Within reason, non-legal media sites may be related to work and fall into other industry categories or general news and information.

5. Limiting visits to networks that are primarily entertainment or stream media such as facebook, My Space or You tube during business hours can be prudent, especially for staff. Lawyers should know better. Can they bill that time…no! So it’s their grave they dig if they waste time on entertainment sites.

6. Definitely lay down the game rules, communicate management’s position on best practices, ethical and legal liabilities, but policing attorney activity communicates mistrust.

7. For staff, much like personal emails and shopping sites, they should be restricted to lunch hour usage. Perhaps have a free day once a month, kind of like the “jeans day” that was popular in the past decade. It makes it a treat. But only do this when you are sure your employees understand the boundaries. You can always take it away if it is abused. Say …. tank top, ripped jeans and flip flops?

8. Visits to political sites and leaving imprudent comments is an issue for some firms. I’ve never known a law firm not to have political positions on both sides. Again, it is all about communication and training in ethics, business etiquette, and not bringing harm to the firm or the firm’s clients.

9. Common sense rules offline and online; it’s no different than the conversations lawyers have at events or cocktail parties. Don’t offend anyone. Best to stay away from religion and politics when in the general public. Lawyers must understand that their online personality, and the positions they take on hot topics do AFFECT their business development prospects and reflect on the firm. After that, they should be trusted.

10. To recap, permission based policies are ALWAYS received better and result in fewer transgressions. Permission based policy needs a contextual training component to be understood. It is an investment in something that is not going to go away.

Law firms have, basically speaking, one thing to sell –TIME. Their inventory is determined by the number of bodies in the “warehouse” multiplied by the hours available within those bodies.

Here are a few scenarios of how firms are managing their inventory in 2009.

• Firm #1 is downsizing to clear the warehouses of unused inventory. They hope to absorb the initial loss of income over the next year.
• Firm #2 is reducing prices. They hope to sell more time at lower prices and maybe break even.
• Firm #3 is working harder to move the product off the shelves because they know clients still need what they’re selling. They’re brushing off the value statement, making it relevant to today’s marketplace. They’re working smarter and investing more in their people, supplying them with tools to build their books of business. And, they’re still in the business of making a profit come hell or high water.

How will Firm 3# do it?

Editorial note: In the spirit of transparency, it is not my intention to make this blog a place for self promotion…at all, ever. But in this post I advocate for the value of using outside consultants to help move product. Whether for strategic management decisions, IT infrastructure, human resources, or marketing, these times demand new ways of doing business. Some of our most creative minds exist in the consulting sphere. Follows are just a few.

I’m not exclusively advocating Internet strategy consulting; such as I do at LawGravity or Renee Barrett does at Awareness Action, Accountability, though the social Internet continues to become a more critical tool every year. Here’s a timely Miami Herald Story on the growing importance of social computing in political fund raising.  And that’s all I’m going to say about it in this post.  I am going to suggest a few other resources that Firm #3 and everyone else would do well to consider.

Now is the time to consider consultants such as my friends at Wicker Park Group or Linda Hazleton Consulting, that train CMOs, Managing Partners and lawyers, helping them develop the skills necessary to effectively interview their clients –to improve and solidify those relationships. I think we can all agree that clients want to be heard and appreciated beyond the annual holiday gift giving time.

Or, you might consider professionals that coach individual lawyers in business development and sales skills, such as my friends at Hildebrandt International or David Freeman Consulting. Every lawyer can benefit from more focus on structuring strategy and execution for the acquisition of new clients.

And don’t forget exposure. Marketing consultants and agencies come in with an objective perspective. They have a fiduciary duty to the law firm, not to the publications or search engines that clamor for your advertising dollars. Pros like the team at Herrmann Advertising Design and Communications are great at helping with the big picture in this regard and they are worth every penny.

Networking? Consider bringing in the fine folks who created the Legal Mocktail to conduct a lively and productive workshop session to train or refine bricks and mortar networking skills. This is the bread and butter of building relationships that lead to new business.

I’m not suggesting for a minute that law firm CMO’s and Directors aren’t savvy in these areas or capable of leading these initiatives with in-house teams. But, sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day. And, the depth of knowledge that outside experts bring, along with fresh ideas, can compliment in-house expertise and stimulate the process.

How many times have you needed to drive home a message to your firm that something needs to get done? An outside voice that brings an industry wide perspective into the mix can help law firm #3 move product off the shelf.

If you are using outside consultants in this challenging market, I’d love to hear from you. Leave your comments, plus or minus.