How Social Media Infiltrates the Practice of Law

Understanding how to harness social media in the practice of law is a hot topic. From marketing your law practice and trying a case in the media to discovery and jury instructions, social media has infiltrated the way we practice law. It is no longer something that can be ignored or all-out blocked.

There are many firms that prohibit access to social media sites at work. Some actually block entrée, while others simply discourage it. Many claim that social media sites are time-wasters. But social media is not just a productivity issue.

"That's really the language that masks the larger generational issue," said Kim Huggins, the author of "GENerate Performance." According to Huggins, there are four generations of legal practitioners in the workplace: Traditionalists (born before 1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980) and Generation Y (1981-2000). Of them, a large majority of the managing partners and judicial decisionmakers fall into the Traditionalist and Baby Boomer categories.

Then there's the group into which I fall: Generation X. I went to law school before e-mail or cell phones were mainstream. In fact, my first cell phone was the kind that came in a bag the size of a small suitcase and plugged into the car adapter.

While the Traditionalists and Baby Boomers continue to believe that social media is a fad, Generation Y'ers and other early adopters are changing the world virally. If you don't believe me, just Google (verb) "Wael Ghonim," Google's (noun) head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa. He's the one who organized the Egyptian revolution in February, forcing the country's 30-year-long dictator, Hosni Mubarak, to step down

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Source: Legal Intelligencer
By: Gina Rubel