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Social Network Review: Counsel.Net

By Rex Gradeless

Counsel.Net claims to be the ?first name in attorney-to-attorney connections online?. Counsel.Net has an attorney chatboard, a place for new attorneys & solo practitioners, attorney marketing, and several other attorney forums.

This social network is basically a mixed bag of forums to posts legal questions, hypotheticals, job openings, and pretty much anything you want. Attorneys can, and do, contribute in the attorney forums often posing legal questions that garner responses.

There does not seem to be any signing up required for this network. Instead, you simply ?post a response? to a question and submit your information in the following window (click to enlarge).

This site is open to everyone. There are attorney forums, law student forums, and public forums where people can seek out legal services. There?s also a live chat service built into the website.

Interestingly, there seems to be a reasonable degree of participation. On an initial inspection, one forum had 6 different replies on a single day.

Becoming an involved member within your niche?s forum may help you stand out as a leader in your particular specialty. Answering questions for others in these public forums may lead to new business opportunities.

The legal jobs section seems to be on fire! There are several job posts seeking lawyers with various degrees of experience. Much like posting a job on Craigslist, applicants should be cautious when applying since this is a public forum and some of these jobs may be scams.

All in all, this site seems to have good participation but there is no way to manage new contacts obtained from the site. This is basically like a giant post-it board with various discussions occurring at one time. The search button seems to be one of the only ways to find a specific topic and you can also narrow by practice area.

Little to no networking occurs on this site (or so it appears) ? it?s acting as a public information resource. You may only be able to connect with others if they post their real email address and contact information ? which some attorneys on here are doing.

There seem to be some useful pieces of information buried within these forums. You could probably skip this network if your time is limited. However, answering questions within these forums may be a way to get noticed within your niche and expand your network.

Pros:

No password to remember.

Seems like a good amount of participation, could lead to business if you participate.

Lots of information.

Cons:

No filters for knowing who actually responding or communicating with you.

Lacks familiar social network characteristics. (i.e. no ?friending?, personal profiles, or place to display your contact information)

Somewhat difficult to find specific information.

Have you used this site? If so, comment about your experience below.

Here are some of their categories:

Counsel.Net Nav

? Attorneys

? Law Students

? Practice Areas

? Classifieds

? Legal Jobs

Attorney Forum

? Attorneys

? New Attorneys

? Solo Practice

? Defense Attorneys

? Plaintiff’s Attorneys

? Trial Lawyers

? Appellate Law

? Lawyer Marketing

? CLE Forum

? Bar Review

? Legal Ethics

? Legal Software

Practice Areas

? Family Law

? Immigration Law

? Insurance Law

? Employment Law

? Worker’s Comp

? ADR/Mediation

? Patent Law

? Trademarks

? Copyrights

? Criminal Law

? DUI Defense

? Misdemeanors

? Criminal Defense

? Due Process

? Property Law

? Real Estate

? Landlord/Tenant

? Torts

? Personal Injury

? Product Liability

? Medical Malpractice

? Toxic Torts

? Business Law

? Contracts

? Tax Law

? Bankruptcy

Law School Forum

? Law Students

? Torts

? Civil Procedure

? Criminal Law

? Contract Law

? Property

? Evidence

? 1st Amendment

? 2nd Amendment

? Privacy Rights

? Due Process

? Equal Rights

? Pre-Law Forum

? Distance Learning

? Law Clerks

Classified Ads

? Legal Jobs

? Attorney Ads

? Legal Experts

? Paralegals

? Investigators

? Court Reporters

? Process Servers

? Legal Transcription

? Court Reporters

? Legal Insurance

? Attorney Insurance

? For Sale

? Items Wanted

? Books for Sale

? Books Wanted

? Computers

? Legal Software

? Office Space

? Bar Preparation

? Continuing Legal Ed

? Distance Education

Most Popular

? Set Your Quick Links

? Chat Center

? All Chatboards

? Classified Ads

Related posts:

1. Social Network Review: Legal OnRamp
2. Craigslist Bartering Chickens for Legal Services?
3. A New Social Network for Legal Community: JD Diversity

Full post as published by Social Media Law Student on January 10, 2010 (boomark / email).