Certain professions have oversight that limit or completely prohibit both traditional and online marketing. One of these is the legal profession. In the State of Texas, for example, the The State Bar of Texas provided advertising rule clarifications in 2005 which included section 7.07c which requires that websites adhere to a set of standards and pass a review. Further clarification was provided in 2009 with regard to video sharing websites used to promote advertisements.
Clip from the State Bar of Texas Website
Still, Internet editorial such as blogging and micro-blogging (Twitter) does not require State Bar oversight unless it is blatant advertising. To further complicate things for the legal industry, attorneys are held accountable by behavioral codes of conduct that extend well beyond advertising rules.
John Schwartz’s September 12, 2009 New York Times article entitled “A Legal Battle: Online Attitude vs. Rules of the Bar” highlighted several stories where blogging and social media sites like Facebook had actually gotten lawyers into hot water. In one case, a lawyer lashed out at a judge over a ruling and was reprimanded by a State Supreme Court. In another example, a lawyer who had requested and received a trial delay due to a family matter was promptly called into question by the issuing judge who observed continuous Facebook updates that indicated the attorney was up to everything but dealing with the family issue.
In my recent conversations with two Dallas trial attorneys, they both concurred that the Internet has become a tactic in modern day litigation. Class action attorneys are using the Internet to create “call to action” postings on consumer vigilante websites and trial attorneys are using search engine optimized press releases to publicize the details of litigation in an attempt to place pressure on the opposing party. Website analytic software can be used to gather insight as to when opposing law firms access a firm or client’s website as well as visits by other subcontractors such as private investigators or expert witnesses. And, Facebook and MySpace pages are often brought into evidence during family law trials.
Per Schwartz’s article, as new attorneys enter the profession, they bring their online usage habits with them.
“Twenty-somethings have a much-reduced sense of personal privacy,” Professor Gillers said. Younger lawyers are, predictably, more comfortable with the media than their older colleagues, according to a recent survey for LexisNexis, the legal database company: 86 percent of lawyers ages 25 to 35 are members of social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, as opposed to 66 percent of those over 46. For those just out of law school, “this stuff is like air to them,” said Michael Mintz, who manages an online community for lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell Connected.” (NY Times, September 12, 2009 A Legal Battle: Online Attitude vs. Rules of the Bar)
As law firms adapt to changes brought by the Internet, they also have to keep up with how the law and case rulings are impacted by this new world media. Whether it be interpretations of The Communications Decency Act which has kept search engines and consumer vigilante websites an arms length from slander law suits to admissibility of email and social media site evidence, lawyers who want to stay at the top of their game are having to keep up.
My top 5 recommendations for attorney’s in today’s Internet landscape are:
- Use the web including blogs and micro-blogs to establish professional credibility and your passion toward the legal field. There is no value in telling the world what you had for lunch.
- Use current events and case law to stay on top of how the Internet is impacting your area of practice. Embrace the Internet as it is here to stay.
- Utilize resources from your bar association(s) and other professional organizations to keep up to speed and avoid annoyances and fines.
- Incorporate a web analytic program into your website to understand why visitors, including prospective clients, visit your site.
- Inform your clients on the aggressive online tactics opposing firms can and will use in a trial situation.
