Legal News

Social Media for Lawyers: Legal OnRamp

By Brian Harris

I?ve been hearing a lot about Legal OnRamp lately, so I decided to check it out.

According to the homepage of the Web site, LegalOnRamp is a collaboration system for in-house counsel and invited outside lawyers and third-party service providers. There are lawyers participating from more than 40 countries, and a rapidly growing collection of content and technology resources.? It says, ?Basic services are free, so all members are expected to contribute to the community as a whole.?

Wikipedia says, ?the site was created in part by Mark Chandler, general counsel of Cisco Systems; the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe; and attorney Paul Lippe, currently the venture's CEO.?

In an InsideCounsel magazine article, titled, ?Net-Working: Web 2.0-enhanced sites get in-house counsel talking,? Lippe is quoted as saying, ?Lawyers, to a very substantial degree, live in the cloud; they live in their network. For GCs, that's people in your company, law firms and other companies. So you want to be as energized and engaged with that network as much as possible. And Web 2.0 is clearly a better way to do that than e-mail."

And in a recent post about Legal OnRamp on the blog ?Adam Smith, Esq.,? Bruce MacEwen, said, ?Part of my fascination with Legal OnRamp stems from an observation many have made about our profession: That law firms won't fundamentally change until clients demand it. Legal OnRamp invites firms to change?at least in some respects?in anticipation of where clients are going: To go where the puck will be, if you will.?

When asked about Legal OnRamp, Kim R. Jessum  of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young said, ?What is interesting is that I discovered Legal OnRamp through an article about the General Counsel of FMC Technologies using Legal OnRamp to solicit applications from firms open to alternative billing arrangements. After researching what Legal OnRamp actually is, i.e., a professional social networking site of in-house counsel and limited outside counsel, I decided to request an invitation.? Jessum is still research the myriad of opportunities Legal OnRamp may deliver.

Timothy Corcoran with Altman Weil Inc. said that he?s a member and he has ?spent a good deal of time working with firms as they ramp up their Web 2.0 and social media efforts, including Legal OnRamp.? Corcoran calls it a ?vibrant community that?s not for everyone.? He said, ?It's definitely not a good use of time for lurkers or those who establish a profile but never visit.  Those who engage, who participate in discussions, who link and invite colleagues, will generally have a better experience.  Just as with live networking at client and industry events, active participation is critical.?

Jayne Navarre, owner of www.LawGravity.com and www.virtualmarketingofficer.com agrees with Corcoran 100 percent. She adds, ?You have to not only show up, you must contribute for it to be valuable. While it's certainly possible, it's not always practical to join and participate in every group in your city, likewise in the social networking space.? Navarre says, ?Attorneys should pick one or two [social media outlets] and focus on consistency of engagement. Legal OnRamp's demographic is attorneys, both private practice and in-house counsel. If that audience fits into the attorney's client base or referral base, then it's good placement. So, once you have placement, then you need to structure a strategy to brand your content.? She says, ?The key is to have branded content.?

For those of you who are on Twitter, you can follow the quoted experts at http://twitter.com/tcorcoran, http://twitter.com/jaynenavarre and http://twitter.com/kjessum -- and you can follow me at http://twitter.com/GinaRubel.

With all of the social media tools, it is about taking the time to explore them. Then make educated decisions about which tools will benefit you the most.

You can?t join them all and still practice law. So play it smart. And if you feel overwhelmed, check out www.NeenJames.com. You will find plenty of social media productivity information from Neen James who is also a contributor to The Legal Intelligencer blog.

Social media engagement is a give and take. You have to be willing to engage: hence why I call it social media engagement. It is about two-way communication: providing information and anecdotes of value for others and vise versa: then engaging in valuable dialogue and building relationships.

Gina F. Rubel, Esq., is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications, Inc.,a public relations and marketing agency with a niche in legal communications. A former Philadelphia trial attorney and public relations expert, Gina is the author of Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers and the co-author of 6 Essentials for Success in Business and Life. Gina and her PR firm have won numerous awards for legal communications, public relations, media relations, strategic planning, corporate philanthropy and leadership. She maintains a blog at www.ThePRLawyer.com and is a regular contributor to The Legal Intelligencer Blog. You can find her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/ginafuriarubel or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ginarubel.  For more information, go to www.FuriaRubel.com.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on July 21, 2009 (boomark / email).