This is from a mid-2013 presentation that I gave to the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar Association.

1. Lawyers and Social Media: Benefits, Best
Practices, and Ethics
Presented by:
Nicole Black
Co-author | Social Media for Lawyers--The Next Frontier
Author | Cloud Computing for Lawyers
Director | MyCase.com | cloud-based law practice management
Wednesday, November 20, 13

2. Why should you care about social
media?
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3. Consider these trends…
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4. Social Media Factoid #1:
Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1
activity on the Web
Source: Socialnomics.com
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5. Social Media Factoid #2:
If Facebook were a country it would be the
world’s third largest
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6. Social Media Factoid #3:
The fastest growing segment on Facebook
is 55-65 year-old females
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7. Social Media Factoid #4:
As of May 2011, 65% of adult users in the
US use social media sites
Source: Pew Internet & American Life survey, May 2011
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8. Are lawyers
and
businesses
using social
media?
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9. Social Media Use by Global Fortune 500 Companies
65%
54%
50%
33%
Twitter accounts
Facebook pages
YouTube channels
Corporate blogs
Source: Burson-Marsteller Fortune Global
100 Social Media Study Data collected
between Nov 2009 and Jan 2010
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10. Your competitors are using social media:
•47% of large law firms maintain a firm
blog
•22% of all lawyers maintain law firm
blogs
•95% of lawyers have LinkedIn profiles
•38% of lawyers have Facebook profiles
•13% of lawyers use Twitter
* ABA Tech Report 2012
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11. Lawyers cannot afford to be left out of the loop
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12. But how are
lawyers using
social media?
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16. * Social media is useless without goals
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17. Determine your goals
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Network and build relationships
Locate information to support your practice
Showcase your expertise
Find clients
Make it easy for people to find you (SEO)
Obtain speaking engagements and media
mentions

18. Multi-task
•Keep up to date on news &
generate web presence at the same
time
•Meet Feedly, your new best
friend
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19. Text
Catch up on news relevant to you in
a magazine-like, easy to read format
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20. Easily read and share articles and blog posts on your social
networks
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21. * Social and professional networking are
not mutually exclusive
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22. Stand out from the crowd
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23. The Social Media Formula
50% - links to online content
30% - conversation with others
10% - self-promotional
10% - personal hobbies and interests
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24. Take off your lawyer hat
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25. Wednesday, November 20, 13

26. Think before you act
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27. Remember: Don’t drink and tweet!
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28. * The Ethics of Social Media
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29. Sometimes the online world will feel like a maze
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30. A lot of people will tell
you what you can’t do.
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33. Social media simply changes the
medium, not the message
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34. •
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No false or misleading information
[ABA Model Rule 7.1; LSUC 3.02,NS
3.01(2), BC 3.02(3),FLSC 3.01(2)]

35. No
false or misleading
information
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36. •
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Lawyer Advertising [ABA
Model Rule 7.1; LSUC
3.01-3,NS 3.02(2), 3.03(1), BC
3.03]

37. Lawyer Advertising: Is it or isn’t it?
Is it advertising? If so, a disclaimer may be required.
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Distinction: Informational v. Promotional

38. •
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Inadvertently creating an attorney-client
relationship (ABA Model Rules 1.2, 1.4,
1.16, 4.4; LSUC 1.2 definitions “client”)

39. DON’T
Unintentionally create an
attorney-client relationship
(ABA Model Rules 1.2, 1.4, 1.16, 4.4)
(New York State Bar Association
Committee on Professional Ethics
Opinion 899 (12/21/11))
Best practices:
Keep responses general
Provide information rather than advice
Use disclaimers
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40. •
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Disclosing confidential information
[ABA Model Rules 1.6, 8.3; LSUC
2.03,BC 2.03, FLSC 2.03, NS 2.03]

41. NO
Disclosing confidential information
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42. •
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Improper contact with parties [ABA
Model Rule 3.5 (b) & (c); LSUC 4.05,
BC 4.05, FLSC 4.05, NS 4.05]

43. NO Improper contact
with parties
Judicial campaigns
•
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New York Bar Formal Opinion 2010-2

44. Deception: Not ok
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45. Spying: Sometimes cool
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46. Relevancy:
Always ok
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47. •
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Improper client solicitation [ABA
Model Rule 7.3; LSUC 3.01, BC 3.01,
FLSC 3.01, NS 3.01]

48. NO
Improper client solicitation
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49. •
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Stating a “specialization” [ABA Model
Rule 7.4; LSUC 3.03 (this differs slightly,
because Certified Specialists are in
Ontario only), NS 3.03(1) and FLSC 3.03(1), BC 3.03(2)]

50. ?
Stating a “specialization”
(ABA Model Rule 7.4)
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51. Wednesday, November 20, 13

52. Wednesday, November 20, 13

53. How can you squander even
one more day not taking
advantage of one of the
greatest shifts of our
generation? How dare you
settle for less when the world
has made it so easy for you to
be remarkable?
--Seth Godin
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54. Wednesday, November 20, 13

55. Thanks for listening!
Nicole Black
Director | MyCase.com | a cloud-based law
practice management system
www.nicoleblackesq.com
@nikiblack on Twitter
Author and co-author of:
Wednesday, November 20, 13