publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/221442
SOCIAL MEDIA AND ATTORNEY ADVERTISING: STILL TRYING TO GET IT RIGHT News' 2013 Associate Tech Survey demonstrated that 94 percent of associates use LinkedIn, while growing numbers are leveraging sites like Instagram, Google Chat and Pinterest for marketing. The efforts appear to be paying off: A BTI Consulting Group survey on "How Clients Hire" revealed that 70 percent of in-house counsel and staff regularly use social media profiles to identify, evaluate and/or validate the credentials of outside counsel. RESULTS ARE IN There is no doubt that legal marketing via social networking platforms is playing an increasingly A NEW FRONTIER IS HERE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA COLLECTION important role in lawyer advertising as a whole, even if the results are still anecdotal. One New York attorney has leveraged her activity on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and JD Supra, as well as her blog on agriculture law and policy, to gain national prominence as an agricultural and environmental lawyer. A solo attorney in Texas developed a practice focusing on the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and spreading the word about it through Twitter, LinkedIn and a blog has resulted in engagements from major corporations. Numerous other practitioners have seen their social media presence lead to engagements from out-ofstate attorneys searching for local counsel. DIFFICULTIES REMAIN Yet at the same time, attorney marketing via social platforms has presented difficulties — both for lawyers trying to use them ethically and for state bar regulators attempting to police such use in the Wild West of the Internet. For example, consider South Carolina lawyer Dannitte Mays Dickey, a 2008 law graduate who was admitted to the bar in May 2010. Dickey set up profiles on sites like LinkedIn, Lawyers.com and LawGuru.com. Unfortunately, he falsely stated in his profiles that he had graduated from law school in 2005 and had handled matters in federal court and in as many as 50 practice areas (when he had little or no practice experience). Some of his profiles used a variation of the word "specialist," contrary to South Carolina's strict rules requiring specific certification before a lawyer can boast having specialized skills in a given area of law. Dickey was reprimanded in 2012 by the South Carolina Supreme Court for a variety of ethical breaches, including "misrepresenting facts regarding his legal skills and experience" and "making statements likely to create unjustified expectations about results." Sometimes it's not even the attorney's own advertising that causes concerns, but his reaction to another's. In fact, one attorney in Minnesota was