I recently wrote an article titled “Hate Everything or Risk the Consequences,” in which I lamented that law firms restrict the social medial activity of their lawyers. But then I spoke to Tony Albrecht, who knows a lot about this stuff and I now realize that I understated the problem.
I thought that this was all about law firms being gutless and not wanting to risk upsetting partners or clients, or doing damage to their brand. And that is certainly some of it.
But wait, there’s more!
Some firms are worried that if people are posting on LinkedIn, they must be looking for a job. Of course, there are lots of ways to encourage people not to jump ship, but most of those involve listening, empathy, paying more money, and other things which can be downright inconvenient, so why not just try to keep them from looking?
Even if people are not actively looking for a job, if they establish a network and a reputation on LinkedIn, jobs may find them. Again, not a good thing in the minds of some law firm owners.
And then, of course, there is the attitude that we pay people to bill, and if they are posting, they are not billing.
But law firms also need clients, and establishing a profile and a community using LinkedIn can help lawyers build a client base, so how could any law firm possibly be against that? Strangely enough, they can be, because some firms take the attitude that they have rainmakers to make rain and billers to bill, and never the twain shall meet.
There are different ways to deliver a message, and lawyers are nothing if not skilled communicators. Which of the following two approaches do you think that they are most likely to take?
- We pay you to bill, not to bring in business. In fact, we don’t want you to waste your time trying to bring in business for many reasons. For one thing, it will interfere with your billing. For another, if you develop a great reputation on social media, you might get poached. Also, if you develop a book of business, you won’t have to put up with some of our nonsense anymore, and may just leave. We want you to stay, because we genuinely like you and respect you, but mainly because, if you leave, we will have to find another grunt to do the work; or
- It is very important to the firm that we put out a consistent message to our clients about who we are and what we stand for, especially in these divisive times. That is why it is for the benefit of all of us that only the marketing department should be posting on social media.
The bottom line? In the private practice of law, the best route to success is by having a client base. You get one of those by becoming known. In today’s world, that means posting on social media. It is possible that your firm may care about you, but it is also possible that they may only care about themselves.
As a partner once quipped as I walked out of the office just after 5 pm in my second week at the firm, “It’s your career.”
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.