Legal Marketing & PR

Social Media for Lawyers ? a Lesson in Technology and Humanity

By Amy Derby

Yesterday on Twitter, I caught a tweet from @ErikMazzone of Law Practice Matters.

I had been working on a difficult project and was in the mood for a humor break, so I clicked through to read Erik?s post Social Networking Humor From My New Favorite Blog, which led me to spend a few minutes taking in the cartoons ? ahem - Courtoons, a blog of hand-drawn humor by David Mills of The Mills Law Office. 

courtoon by David Mills, republished with permission

Of course, I had to tweet about Courtoons. From there, I went on to email David Mills to tell him he?s my new favorite cartoonist. From that email conversation with David, I got permission to share one of my favorite Courtoons with you here, and I quickly learned that ? in the best that irony has to offer ? David Mills is on Twitter @MillsD. I quickly followed and told all my friends how funny he is. (And as it turns out, others are atwitter about David?s Courtoons too.)

There’s a lesson here, and it’s not about how to link your facebook account to your twitterstream to be the most efficient lawyer on the planet.

Whether or not David Mills becomes the next Scott Adams ? creating his own Dilbert of the Legal Profession ? he is using social media in a way that is getting him positive attention. I assume I?m not the only one who clicks through at David?s Courtoon?s blog to learn about what he does over at http://www.millsfederalappeals.com.

And let?s face it, as Legal Geek Superhero as I am ? I?ve been told by several lawyers that I need a cape and a crown ? not even I would have likely been inclined to buddy up with someone who introduced themselves to me as ?an appellate lawyer with civil and criminal experience as a litigator in an international law firm and as law clerk to two federal judges.?

But I met David through a mutual chuckle, via social media. Whether he intended to or not, he branded himself in my mind as a funny guy I?d like to have coffee with sometime.

That?s how social media will help you, folks. Ordinary non-lawyers like me will remember you first as human, and second as a lawyer. If I ever need a lawyer, I am going to be more inclined to hire one I think of as a person first and a businessperson second. Why?

Social Media is changing more than how technology works. It?s changing how people see people, and how people hire people. People online are looking at more than your qualifications; they?re looking at YOU.

Are you out there, being human? Where might people like me find you? And when we do, what is it we?ll remember about who you are that might make us care about what you do?

Full post as published by Law Firm Blogger on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).