THREE GEEKS AND A LAW BLOG: “THAT’S GREAT, BUT WHAT DO I DO NOW?” Legal Innovation Track: The Adaptable Lawyer Special Events Program Toby Brown Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P Fulbright Tower 1301 McKinney, Suite 5100 Houston, TX 77010-3095 Ph: 713-651-5516 Fax: 713-651-5246
Greg Lambert King & Spalding 1100 Louisiana Street, Suite 4000 Houston, TX 77002-5213 Phone: (713) 751-3200 Fax: (713) 751-3290
Lisa Salazar Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P Fulbright Tower 1301 McKinney, Suite 5100 Houston, TX 77010-3095 Ph: 713-651-5516 Fax: 713-651-5246 Thursday, June 10, 2010 9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Toby Brown is a client teams manager at Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P (www.fulbright.com). Toby’s primary role is working with firm clients and partners in developing and negotiating alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). In his past roles at Fulbright, he drove marketing efforts and various knowledge management initiatives, including competitive intelligence, client relationship (CRM), and firm expertise. Prior to joining Fulbright, Toby served as the Communications Director for the Utah State Bar (www.utahbar.org). Toby presents nationally and is well published on marketing, legal technology, and law firm management. He received the Peer Excellence Award, the President’s Award and the Anne Charles Award from the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE – www.nabenet.org). Toby received his BS and MS in Economics from the University of Utah and can be found on Twitter: @gnawledge, LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tobinbrown and on the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog: www.geeklawblog.com.
Most importantly, Toby knows Lisa Salazar and Greg Lambert. Greg Lambert is library and records manager at King & Spalding (www.kslaw.com). Besides managing the research and records teams, Greg works as a liaison between many departments at King & Spalding on issues of business development, competitive intelligence, knowledge management, and firm wide initiatives. Before joining King & Spalding, he was contract project manager working with the University of Houston on a $34.5 million FEMA project to rebuild the law library collection after Tropical Storm Allison, and he was the library and information director at the Oklahoma Supreme Court where he was responsible for the court's online research tool OSCN (www.oscn.net). Greg has presented at national library, records, and competitive intelligence functions and is the past president of the SLA Texas Chapter. In 2008 he was awarded the Excellence in Marketing for "Best Use of Technology" from AALL and Thomson Reuters. Greg received his BA from Cameron University, and his Masters in Library Science and JD from the University of Oklahoma and can be found on Twitter: @glambert, LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/grlambert and on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog: www.geeklawblog.com
Most importantly, Greg knows Toby Brown and Lisa Salazar. Lisa Salazar is the internet marketing manager at Fulbright & Jaworski (www.fulbright.com). Besides managing the virtual world of Fulbright, Lisa liaisons with firm leadership and IT to research and develop advanced online solutions for Fulbright. Having worked on both sides of the fence as a lawyer and staff professional, Lisa has more than 20 years of experience in the legal profession. Starting her legal career at Weil Gotshal & Manages in records management, Lisa then practiced law with the Texas Attorney General's Office and in private practice. Returning to big law, Lisa worked in Andrews & Kurth's marketing department before moving on to Fulbright. Lisa's web work has won numerous awards from PRSA, AMA, and WebAwards. Receiving a full academic scholarship from the University of Texas, Lisa received her BA in English Literature and her JD from South Texas College of Law. She can be found on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lisasalazar and on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog: www.geeklawblog.com
Most importantly, Lisa knows Toby Brown and Greg Lambert. Crackberries 4 Lawyers Toby Brown Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
A recent ILTA survey (www.iltanet.org) showed that 89% of the lawyers and firms surveyed have Blackberry as the mobile device platform of choice. Why? Quite simply RIM (the Blackberry Company) has been highly focused on the enterprise for years and has made core productivity applications its business. Email, contacts and calendaring are the lifeblood of lawyers. And Blackberry has made security and reliability a priority. However, Blackberry is facing some serious challenges from the consumer market, namely iPhone from Apple, the new Android platform from Google, Windows Mobile and even Palm.
Jumping ahead to the conclusion that Blackberries (BBs) still make sense for lawyers based on their functionality, stability and security, let’s focus on getting the most out of a blackberry device, be it the simple Pearl or the newer touch-screen Storm 2. Borrowing the old saying, “We only use 10% of our brains” we’ll approach this discussion from that angle. Like most technology, you are likely only using 1/10th of the functionality the Blackberry you should already own (or will soon).
Core Productivity
What follows are some tips, ideas and resources (in no particular order) related to our core productivity applications.
BBs can handle one or multiple email accounts. These accounts can be set up under one icon access or spread out and reviewed individually.
Email tips and tricks: http://www.rickysays.com/blackberry-email-shortcuts Short videos on speed dial, short cut nav, etc. http://www.eaccessinc.com/blackberry_tips_&_tricks.htm Power Users 121 Tips http://www.insidecrm.com/features/121-blackberry-tips-021408/ 6 email short cuts http://dotconnectorblog.com/2008/03/22/6-blackberry-tips-for-reading- emails/ Most popular tips ‘n tricks http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/blackberry101/tips/
The bottom line is with a little bit of knowledge, you can significantly improve how you access email and how quickly you run these applications. My favorites are the short-cut keys (e.g. “T” for go to top of list) which allow quick and easy navigation through my email and other applications.
Extended Core
Beyond messaging, other core applications enable document and file access. In this area, focus on working with the various Microsoft file types.
Techshow BB.doc - 1 - Documents To Go ($50) http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/blackberry/. View, edit and create MS files and view PDFs. eOffice – ($30) http://www.dynoplex.com/eoffice.shtml. View and edit MS Office app files Operate your BB with voice commands (thanks to Google): http://www.google.com/mobile/google-mobile-app/
Add-on Applications
THE place to go for adding various applications to your BB is Blackberry App World - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/appworld/. Although not on the scale of the iPhone universe of apps, this site will have all the popular add-on apps you need. Here are some ideas and references to check out:
Blackberry Software list http://www.blackberrysoftwarelist.net/Blackberry/Software/blackberry- office.aspx
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2254487659. Pandora - http://www.pandora.com/blackberry. Internet radio. UberTwitter - http://www.ubertwitter.com/. Latitude – Google maps - http://www.google.com/mobile/maps/index_.html. Online tracking of cell phone users. Flickr - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/social/flickr.jsp. Photos. MySpace - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/social/myspace.jsp. Gmail - http://www.google.com/mobile/mail/. VZ Navigator - http://vznavigator.vzw.com/app.html Poor man’s GPS. Yahoo Messenger - http://mobile.yahoo.com/messenger/blackberry. AIM - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/im/aim.jsp. Google Talk - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/im/google_talk.jsp.
A back-up url to check out is App World at http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/.
Legal Specific Applications
Obviously when talking about productivity, we need to cover legal specific applications that help lawyers be better lawyers.
Time keeping applications: APS DTE InHand - http://www.aps- soft.com/Products/DTEAxiom/DTEInHand/tabid/264/Default.aspx (mobile time entry) Law Pod – Federal Rules series ($2.99 each) - http://download.cnet.com/The-Law-Pod- Federal-Rules-of-Bankruptcy-Procedure/3000-2073_4-10928833.html. BizTrackIt –Timekeeping ($19.99) - http://download.cnet.com/BizTrackIt/3000-2066_4- 10916871.html. MyTimehseet ($9.99) - http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Business/Time- Tracker/MyTimesheet-BlackBerry-89199.shtml.
Techshow BB.doc - 2 - TimeAndExpense ($99.99) - http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/2177. nTime ($2.99) - http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/1490 .
Office Management (all at App World) UPS Mobile (free) Cortado Flight mode – offline email ($2.99) Evernote (free) Viigo – SM mashup (free) Bloomberg / AP / Thomson Reuters / TIME / etc (free)
Fun (and useful examples) TiVo Scheduler (free) Bank Of America – Mobile (free) GoodFoodNearYou (free) CarFinder - where you parked (free) Yelp (free) Games – Galore (free to $4.99) cubs.com - as in Chicago Cubs (free) eBay (free) Flashlight (free) Turn your BB into a flashight. TheWeatherChannel (free)
InterAction for BB For larger firms that use InterAction - http://www.calvis.com/partners/interaction/default.aspx
General Resources
Crackberry.com http://crackberry.com/ http://forums.crackberry.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93 http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/blackberry-platform.aspx
Wrapping it Up
They’re called crackberries for a reason. With instant and secure access to the content that matters most, it’s easy to become addicted to them. Blackberries offer lawyers serious productivity in a stable, technologically mature environment. What they lack in sizzle they more than make up for in functionality. Follow the tips, download the most applicable apps and your blackberry will continue to bring value to your practice
Techshow BB.doc - 3 - TEXAS STATE BAR CONVENTION – 3 GEEKS Greg Lambert
1. Legal Publishing on eBooks 2. Gathering Intelligence in a Web 2.0 World 3. iPhone Apps are Nice… If Your Intention is to Exclude Everyone Else 4. If Gartner Does It Why Can't Your Law Firm Do It? - Giving Your Professionals Their Own Blog Space
1. Legal Publishing on eBooks
In the past 25+ years, there have basically been three types of electronic legal publishing. First there was the "terminal" publishing, where the print material was transcribed into a vendor locked format that could only be accessed through a specific machine that you purchased directly from the publisher. Next, the vendor "program" publishing where the resource was no longer locked into a specific machine, but rather ran on your personal computer through a vendor supplied program and accessed the information through an Internet connection or through locally based CD-ROM resources. Finally came what we know refer to as the "Cloud" computing model, which is simply the latest buzz word for accessing the information with a standard Internet browser through a secured connection. Many of us think that the first two methods of publishing have gone away, but if you think about it, both seem to be finding a resurgence in popularity, and publishers are wondering if they can exclusively move some of their products away from print and survive solely on a vendor locked format like the iPad. Like it or not, it does seem that the idea e-publishing finally reached a tipping point with the Amazon Kindle where people (including myself) finally bought into the idea that they could actually read an entire book in electronic format. In my opinion, there were three or four reasons behind the Kindle succeeding where other e-publishing formats failed.
1. E-ink made the text readable 2. Having the support and backing of Amazon made me comfortable 3. Downloading books wirelessly made it easy 4. No monthly fees to maintain the Kindle satisfied my 'cheap' side
Let's face it, the Kindle represents a paradigm shift in how readers view the traditional publishing world, but it was simply the first transition in what will probably be a decade’s long shift. The biggest complaints I've heard about the Kindle is the fact that there is no backlighting, the e-ink is black and white only, the size is too small (Kindle I and II) or too bulky (Kindle DX), and that although the text looks like the print in a book, the "look and feel" of the book is just not there. Now with the iPad, it seems that all of those issues are answered. So was the Kindle simply an opening act, simply warming up the crowd so that Steve Jobs could swoop in with his iPad and wow the crowd with what they really paid to see? Probably... but it is too early in the game to know for sure. How about on the publisher's side of the issue? Does the iPad give them something that the Kindle, or PDF, or other forms of electronic publishing not offer? If you think about it, most legal publishers completely ignored the Kindle publishing phenomenon. Why was that?? What exactly does a legal publisher need from an e-publishing format in order to be comfortable putting their material out there? My basic knowledge tells me that they want the following things.
1. E-publishing should be cheaper than print publishing. 2. The publisher must be able to set the price. 3. E-publishing should allow me to protect the Intellectual Property of the publisher's work. 4. There has to be a public acceptance of the e-publishing format. 5. There has to be a de facto publishing standard that all legal publishers adopt.
For legal publishing, the Kindle probably came up short in all of these topics; maybe with the exception of number one (cheaper to publish). How many of these do the iPad answer?? Perhaps all of them... although it may be too early to tell on number four's public acceptance issue and number five's vendor format adoption. The biggest problem with legal publishers relying on the iPad as their platform for electronic publishing is that they are really locking themselves into a partnership with a company that is extremely proprietary --closed systems vs. open. There is also such a cult of personality surrounding Steve Jobs, which you have to wonder what will happen to it once he is no longer around to guide it. Legal publishers also have to consider what to do when the next big product is released... say the HP Slate. Pretty much all of that work that was put into making the publication work in the iPad format will have to be done all over again to make it work in the 'next big thing.' Same as with all those companies that created iPhone apps who then wanted to make it available in other formats. They basically had to start from scratch to make it work for a Blackberry or Android or Palm. Most didn't even bother to convert it, thus locked themselves into a single vendor format with a small but vocal user base. If legal publishers go with the iPad, will they find themselves locked into a closed format and simply not port their product over to other formats simply because doing so creates tips the scale of issue number one above? It's definitely something they'll need to think about. The e-publishing revolution has definitely begun... it will be interesting to see which side the legal publishing world decides to join.
2. Gathering Intelligence in a Web 2.0 World
The Internet has always been a great resource for law firm competitive intelligence (CI) analysts. When companies and law firms began creating their own websites, CI analysts began watching for any information that could create a competitive advantage for the firm. As the Internet matured, so did the CI operations within law firms. Analysts could monitor competitor firms’ attorney rosters, watch for changes in the attorney bios and identify trends within other law firms based on the press releases or other publications posted on the firm’s website. Clients’ and prospective clients’ websites were tracked to identify any new products, potential litigation issues, and changes within the companies that a firm might be able to use in order to bring in new work. There was a lot of information being presented, but for the CI analysts, the disadvantage was that the information was so heavily filtered that it was of very little value.
• Traditional web sites (Web 1.0) allowed CI analysts to get answers to questions like:
• What is the firm across the street publishing?
• Are they starting any new practice groups? Industry groups?
• Were they quoted in the media?
• What potential legal issues are clients or potential clients facing? All of these are great things to know, but CI analysts are there to find and evaluate trends in the legal industry, competitors, clients and potential clients, not to track generic press releases. The development of Web 2.0 technologies created an opportunity for CI analysts to monitor information that didn’t go through a filter before publication. Resources like LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, wikis, Twitter, and other social networking sites encourage the free flow of information. Individuals who were once hidden behind the company’s firewall were now given the ability to have conversations outside those walls. For the law firm CI analysts, the advent of Web 2.0 ushered in a new era of competitive intelligence and expanded the analysts’ abilities to find valuable information that could give the firm a competitive advantage. Take the Web 2.0 resource LinkedIn as an example. If the firm wants to bring in a company as a new client, an analyst could easily go to LinkedIn and find that specific company under the LinkedIn “Companies” heading. From here, there are a number of pieces of information that the analyst can compile, such as how many employees have LinkedIn accounts. From this basic information a good CI analyst can then build a list of the employee names, titles, locations, and types of activities the employees do for their company. New employees or recent promotions can be identified along with where former employees are now working. LinkedIn also gives you an easy way to identify certain employees that are being mentioned in the news, referenced on
blogs, or active in other LinkedIn networks. Having information like this can help you identify some of the key players within the company. By going to the “related companies” section of LinkedIn, the analyst can start looking for other trends within the company that could lead to a competitive advantage for the firm. Indentifying the top universities the employees attended, or spotting trends on the companies the employees came from or left to join can identify competitors or other relationships that can help your firm better know the company you are targeting. The “jobs” section can point an analyst to areas in which the company is hiring, perhaps showing areas the company is expanding, or perhaps is having difficulty keeping employees. Web 2.0 tools like LinkedIn can also help you identify relationships between attorneys and their clients. Once the analyst locates an attorney’s LinkedIn profile, the attorney’s relationships can be uncovered a number of ways. Even if the attorney has made his or her connections private, there are alternative methods to identify some of the contacts, especially if the attorney likes to have recommendations written by the clients. Those recommendations help open the door to additional information on the attorney and his or her clients. Although LinkedIn is one of the best Web 2.0 resources for business and professional information, there are many more Web 2.0 tools, such as Facebook, that CI analysts have at their disposal. Facebook profiles tend to be much more personal in nature, but can still be a great resource for intelligence gathering. Companies are starting to use Facebook as a way to have a two-way communication with their customers. Information found on a company Facebook page can let an analyst see new products a company is releasing, or advertising campaigns a company is trying out on its customers. It can also let an analyst see what the company’s customers are saying about the company through their comments. If the comments are negative about a product, or something going on in the company, an analyst can identify potential risk factors that the company is facing. Information like that can help a law firm land new business by being aware of issues as they are developing. Of course, Facebook is better known for the millions of individual profiles more than the company pages. Even when the Facebook profiles are set to “private” there can still be useful information found on the profiles such as a list of their Facebook friends. If the person has not set their profile to “private”, then there can be an enormous amount of personal information available to the analyst. Facebook groups are another useful resource that can identify individuals that have specific interests. The members of groups can post messages, write on the group wall, and upload photos, links and videos. By browsing through the groups page, an analyst can search for comments made by individuals, related groups, and events held by the group. MySpace is similar to Facebook in that it is generally much more personal in nature. Typically, if an attorney has a MySpace page at all, they are usually young and just starting out in the practice. One valuable aspect of MySpace is that you are compiling competitive intelligence on a firm or a company, you’re more likely to find lower-level staff members on MySpace than attorneys or executives. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any competitive intelligence to find on these profiles. In fact, staff members can sometimes reveal important details of events going on within their organization through their MySpace page comments. There are a number of online communities that CI analysts can research to find information on individuals, companies or firms. LinkedIn is a great resource for law firm and company alumni groups. Nings are online communities that generally focus on a very specific topic and allow the
members of the Ning to post almost anything they want to the community. Nings can be open or closed communities, so some information may not be accessible to the analyst. However, if the Ning is an open community, there can be a large amount of useful information that an analyst can take advantage. Professional associations and Trade Groups may also have online communities for its members. Analysts should identify attorneys or staff within the firm who may belong to certain associations or groups in order to call upon them if research is needed within that organizations online community. However, both the analyst and the individual member should stay within any ethical guidelines that apply to that community. In the legal industry, there are a number of online communities an attorney can join. Analysts should join online legal communities such as Legal OnRamp, JD Supra, and Martindale Hubbell Connected, if they can. Some industry specific online communities are designed to be “gated communities” and are much more restrictive on who they allow inside the “gate”. Again, analysts must comply with the ethical guidelines of the firm and online community. These industry specific online communities can expose valuable information about its membership. Analysts can find key relationships between members of the community or identify important issues being discussed within the community. One of the oldest Web 2.0 tools is the blog. When analysts are researching companies or individuals, special attention should be made to identify any bloggers. Blogs provide a longer format for individuals to discuss the issues that are important to them. If the analyst is researching a potential lateral hire, and discovers that the attorney is a blogger, it opens the door for the analyst to get a better understanding of the individual. Even if the blog is not related to the attorney’s practice, it still gives the analyst an inside look at how the attorney writes, and by monitoring the comments section, it can expose how the attorney interacts with others when their opinions are challenged. When analysts are researching prospective clients and bloggers are identified within the company, it can expose details about the inner workings of the company and give the firm an opportunity to better position itself when presenting itself to the company. Microblogging resources, such as Twitter, can be extremely useful tools for the CI analyst to monitor. The information posted by individuals on Twitter generally discusses what a person is doing, reading, watching, listening to, or working on at a specific moment in time. Analysts can identify who the person is following and who is following them back. Statistics can be compiled on how often a person tweets during the day, what websites they link to, and who they pay attention to through their “re-tweeting”. The information found on Twitter (as well as most Web 2.0 resources) can be irrelevant information most of the time. It is the analyst’s job to sift through and identify the information that is beneficial to the firm. These are some of the major Web 2.0 resources that are out there. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds more resources that provide an outlet for people to express their opinions, and connect with friends, family and colleagues. For the CI analyst, these resources provide an opportunity to uncover information and trends on competitors, current clients, potential clients, and lateral hires without the filter that is placed on a company or firm website. For the firm, this information can create the competitive advantage it needs to accomplish its goals and beat the competition.
3. iPhone Apps are Nice… If Your Intention is to Exclude Everyone Else
There are now at least two major law firms that have now launched their own iPhone Apps. Canadian law firm Torys LLP and Morrison Foerster (MoFo2Go) both have new iPhone apps that I think are great public relations tools and will get a lot of attention as early adopters of a new technology. Apart from the great PR, however, I'm not sure if approaching the market through an iPhone app is really the best way for firms to get to their clients smart phones. I, for one, own an Android phone... Toby and Lisa each have a BlackBerry... so; there are 3 Geeks already that are shut out from using the app. I guess we could all cut our contracts with Verizon or Sprint and jump over to AT&T to get an iPhone, but I really don't think any of us are going to. Toby will also have to add a caveat to his saying of "my Blackberry can do anything your iPhone can... only slower" and now add "except access your firm's iPhone app."
I've mentioned before that iPhone Apps (and Android Apps... and Palm Apps) contribute to what is being called the "Splinternet". That is the fracturing of what used to be a somewhat organized way of putting information out on the web without having to write a different code for every application that accesses the information. Firms that create iPhone (or any other smart phone 'app') are basically telling their clients that the firm prefers a specific technology. What kind of message does this sent to your clients who don't have this technology??
Q: Why not just build a mobile web page that works for all smart phones?
Jeff Richardson (iPhone J.D.) thinks that MoFo's app is a marketing tool that has been "done right." I actually agree with Jeff on the fact that MoFo2Go, and even Torys iPhone apps are actually good resources for iPhone users, but at the expense of excluding everyone else. Doug Cornelius also reviewed the MoFo2Go app and brings up the same point I'm trying to make. Why in the world would you develop something like this and exclude a large portion of the marketplace? Contributing to the Splinternet is going to be a massive headache sometime down the road. But, I assume that the 'flash' of an iPhone app for some firms may be too hard to resist. I think that having a great mobile web site that works on all phones is a much better way to go.
Granted, it may mean that the MoFo Maze game may have to go away, but really... do your clients need a game to play? Do your clients really need to buy an iPhone in order to feel connect to your firm? Developing apps for specific smart phones will get you some press, but what are you going to do when you go into a meeting with your clients and tell them to download your new iPhone App and they all whip out their Blackberrys and ask when are you going to release the app for their phone? Welcome to the world of the Splinternet... your contribution has been noted.
4. If Gartner Does It Why Can't Your Law Firm Do It? - Giving Your Professionals Their Own Blog Space
I stumbled across the Gartner Blog Network this morning while searching for legal news. For some reason I've never visited the Gartner blog before, but I was immediately impressed by what I saw, and the underlying concept of the network.
There are 69 Gartner analysts that contribute to the blog network, and according to Gartner, all of their analysts can contribute if they so desire. What an amazing concept!!
I dug into the FAQ section and was also amazed that they lay out the template of the Gartner Blog Network, and even include the guidelines they give their analysts. The FAQ lists the rules for posting' what are appropriate topics; policies on posting comments; where blogs fit within their analysis reports; republication or quoting guidelines; and how complaints are handled. Basically they give you a template to take to your attorneys and administrative officials showing them how a firm-wide blog can be handled.
They even give you a canned disclaimer:
Comments or opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual contributors only, and do not necessarily represent the views of Gartner, Inc. or its management. Readers may copy and redistribute blog postings on other blogs, or otherwise for private, non- commercial or journalistic purposes. This content may not be used for any other purposes in any other formats or media. The content on this blog is provided on an “as-is” basis. Gartner shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the content or use of this blog.
With some minor changes, you can even present the guidelines for your firm on what is appropriate material to post on a blog:
1. All [insert law firm name here] policies apply: Know and follow [law firm] policies. 2. Think before you post: Use sound judgment and think about reactions to your post before you post it. 3. Respect your audience: Avoid negative personal comments or inflammatory subjects. 4. Have productive conversations: For [law firm] and its associates, the primary benefits of Web participation are for others to learn about [law firm] and for [law firm] to learn from others. 5. Don’t “give away the farm”: Avoid posting the kind of information and advice for which clients pay [law firm]. 6. Protect and enhance the value of the [law firm] brand: Present [law firm] in a positive light and avoid making derogatory comments about [law firm], our products, services, management, employees, or systems. 7. Protect confidential information: Protect [law firm's] and our clients’ confidential
TEXAS STATE BAR CONVENTION – 3 GEEKS Lisa Salazar
1. Ethics a. Advertising b. Attorney-Client Privilege c. Client Confidentiality d. The use of the word “Expert” e. General Communication and Solicitation 2. Censorship a. China b. Italy c. Brussels 3. Twitter a. Average usage b. Best practices 4. SEO
ETHICS
Advertising
This March, the Texas State Bar added a comment to address social media. Interpretive Comment, No. 17, “The Internet and Similar Services Including Home Pages” (March 1996, revised May 2003, revised March 2010).
In essence, it states that, unless it is a directory as described in Texas Bar Rule 7.07(e), a publicly available web posting that describes a lawyer’s services must be filed with the State Bar.
Forms, addresses and instructions are available at the Texas Bar Site.
Attorney-Client Privilege
Generally speaking, it is best to refrain from posting legal advice or opinion. Legal standards can be discussed but they should not be applied to any fact situation. As a best practice, include a disclaimer on your Twitter site. Also, be careful when “friending” someone; it could be taken as an establishment of attorney-client privilege. It is best to only “friend” those you know. And by no means should you friend a judge.
Client Confidentiality
Issues concerning confidentiality are two-fold: confidentiality pertaining to the client and the privacy of a law firm.
For clients, lawyers and their staff should not divulge any information relating to a client’s matter. In particular, the clients’ name should not be disclosed unless you have written permission.
For lawyers and their staff, neither should disclose the law firm’s business, its processes or intellectual property. Also, limit your use of geo-locating sites such as FourSquare when on firm business.
“Expertise”
StBar.doc - 1 - Be aware that LinkedIn recommendations can lead to issues if your colleagues state that you are the “the best” or “an expert” or the like. Under the new Interpretive Comments, lawyers are now required to monitor these comments for potential risks and edit accordingly. According to Rule 7.04, lawyers cannot state they are a specialist unless they are Board Certified.
General Communications and Solicitations
In an effort at maintaining accuracy and truthfulness, be sure to annotate with either cites or links all copyrighted material. Also, the use of aliases by lawyers are frowned upon in social media sites. And, remember, your postings are representative of you and your firm, so do not be inflammatory, offensive or insensitive in your postings. And, of course, good grammar and spelling are a must.
Lastly, do not engage in communication that could violate state or federal laws or be construed as solicitation. By Lisa Salazar
Bibliography
State Bar Advertising Rules: http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Advertising_Review&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&Content ID=1960
Interpretive Comment 17: http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Advertising_Review&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=26561
CENSORSHIP
2/9/10 When the Court Jester Becomes King
The Financial Times reported at the end of January that "Evan Williams, the chief executive and co- founder of Twitter, which has been credited with helping anti-government protesters in Iran to organise resistance, said software developers were working on 'interesting hacks' to stop any blocking by foreign governments."
Is it just me or did this bother anyone else?
To me, there just seems to be something intrinsically wrong with a company essentially declaring war against a country. Basically, Evan is saying he and all of Twitterdom were going to flame China.
Let me say this again: Twitter is going to flame China.
Think about that. Why is that any different from someone from some former Eastern Bloc country sending a trojan horse into all of the banking firms in the United States and essentially crippling our economy?
We would not tolerate it. Commerce would be screaming with outrage. The Hill would be holding forth on the dastardly deeds of these horrible hackers.
So why didn't any one step over to Mr. Williams' office and tell him to tone it down? Maybe they did. We will never know.
But this is exactly the point that I keep making over and over again: the web is a brave, new world. In this virtual world, there are no sheriffs, no boundaries, no laws. And the people that rule are the ones that can break and make the secret code the acts as the DNA that creates the protoplasm that is the base of all the organisms in this new world.
StBar.doc - 2 - So watch these tech companies. Don't be so naive to think that their ambitions are singular. Just like Tears for Fears said not so long ago, "everybody wants to rule the world." Posted by Lisa Salazar
BIBLIOGRAPHY Financial Times Twitter plans technology to stop censorship Twitter, the internet social network, is developing technology that it hopes will prevent the Chinese and Iranian governments from being able to censor its users. Evan Williams, the chief executive and co- founder of Twitter, which has been credited with helping anti-government protesters in Iran to organise resistance, said Twitter was working on ”interesting hacks” to stop any blocking by foreign governments. http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/PRRI16/J9GFH/8A4OAX/NS9G5U/ID/h
Google CEO: We Hope China's Censorship Will Change Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt defended his company's recent decision to stop obeying government censorship rules on its Chinese search site.
"We like what China is doing in terms of growth ... we just don't like censorship," he said, speaking at the World Economic Forum annual summit in Davos, Switzerland. "We hope that will change and we can apply some pressure to make things better for the Chinese people."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703389004575033100778834196.html?mod=djemalertN EWS
8/21/09 Google and Privacy, cont'd.
Interesting turn of events: Vogue model Liskula Cohen won the right to force Google to unmask a blogger who defamed her character.
Taking a turn from Toby's previous post on Google's Gmail, I have to raise an eyebrow.
On the one hand, Google claims that they have a right to scan all of your e-mail for advertising opportunities but then when someone uses their blogging forum to castigate someone, the big old "privacy" walls come down.
You can't have it both ways, Google.
Turns out that we the people have bought into "the man" now called Google.
Oh. Yeah. Our blog is on Blogger. I guess we are biting the hand that feeds us. Oh, wait, is that dog food ad I see? ;) Posted by Lisa Salazar
2/2/09 Censoring Social Networking: Can You Program Justice?
We are watching the beginnings of the media giants taking over social networking.
I got an inkling of this when I heard that LexisNexis, an online research service, bought Martindale Hubbell, an online legal directory, who in turn partnered with LinkedIn, an online networking site.
Lexis has partnered with Chambers Global, a UK business that ranks lawyers and law firm's proficiency, to display the Chambers rankings on Martindale. Lexis is owned by Reed Elselvier, one of the world's largest providers of online information. RE employs 35,000 around the world and reported revenues of £4,584m/€6,693m/$6,625m.
StBar.doc - 3 - Which brings me to my story.
Flickr has censored a Spanish psychologist's collection of photos and art because of his offensive content.
He was told, "Use your common sense to determine if your content is appropriate or not to a global audience (emphasis added) ... you must know that if we receive another report about your content or conduct, it is very likely to cancel your account."
The offending content?
Smoking.
Now, certainly, we should be outraged at the topic of this censorship; it is as offensive as it gets no matter what side you weigh in on.
But let us, instead, look at the larger issue.
The authority, and the manner in which Flickr--now owned by Yahoo--weilds its authority, in determining what content is acceptable to a global audience.
I ask you: who is this site to determine what is globally acceptable? How can one online community, scattered hither and yore, determine what is globally acceptable?
Flickr's solution--more rightly, Yahoo's--is to establish an indiscriminate discriminating program that automates the intake of complaints, then sends out an automated warning to the content holder to straighten up and fly right. If they don't, they are censored to an "adult-only" section. If they receive too many complaints, they are booted.
It is nearly impossible to appeal this process to a human. Its like spotting a unicorn--rumoured to exist and any successful attempt is regarding as myth.
With these sorts of problems, I have witnessed another solution: have human admins troll the site.
I remember AOL employed such folks back in the day when chat rooms were booming. I saw this type of policing just recently on a LiveJournal site called Vintage Photographs. They employed this method to mediate between posters when the worthiness of a photo was called into question. When a comment fight ensued, the mediator would step in, make a judgment then put the offending participants on a week-long vacation. If it happened too many times, the participant was banned.
The danger in these types of situations is that admins are either too lax or revel in their meaningless authority and go power-crazy.
Meh.
But can't you see it now? What are the long-term results?
In a Yahoo-type environment, the program becomes the power and Hal2000 takes over.
In a VintagePhoto environment, we end up creating a hierarchy of online judges that fall under no jurisdiction.
My guess? By the year 2020, we will have a virtual jurisdiction. We have to. With the likes of Reed Elsevior and LexisNexis and LinkedIn now entering the arena, social networking is taking a decidedly serious turn.
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Lord knows who will rule this virtual world . . . Posted by Lisa Salazar
11/10/09 What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs
I read a great study about the difference between Generation X and Generation Y female online activity.
According to PopSugar Media—isn’t that a great name, by the way?—two-thirds of female Gen Xers rely on female Gen Yers to define pop culture trends. And female Gen Yers are twice as likely as female Gen Xers to rely on social media to identify new brands and products.
YAY me. :)
I am right on the cusp of Gen Y. And I am in a position of influence. And I’m in charge of social networking for my firm.
That means if a law firm is smart—and aren’t they all?—they would put a woman in the middle of her career in charge of their online strategy and let her rip. Arm her with the firm’s online social media policy, heck, maybe even let her craft it, then let her develop a web presence on behalf of the firm.
I am watching a good friend of mine @KatDeLia do this for her segment of her professional services firm. I don’t think that either she or the firm realize what is going to happen.. But the results are inevitable.
Mark my words, in a few months she is going to hit everyone’s radar in her office and in her industry. She’s out there every day, conscientiously tweeting about her firm. One tweet at a time, she is going to turn eyes her way. And the pay off is going to come. Because she is a likeable, attractive face in the crowd of professional services.
And that is important because one of the points that the study made is that Gen Yers are extremely skeptical and seek genuine and authentic messaging. Interestingly, @KatDeLia and I were talking about this very issue last week. We have both discovered that on Twitter, if you talk “occasionally” about funny, family, quirky stuff, you are more likely to get read.
And that is the point. In the overcrowded sphere of social media, you need every edge you can get.
So, as we girls like to say, if you got it, flaunt it. Because it doesn’t last forever (this is me speaking from the far end of the Gen Y cusp). And you don’t just have to be a female to make this work for you. Be adorable. Be cute. Be attractive. Then talk business.
Because, as @KatDeLia likes to say, “a girl’s gotta eat.” Posted by Lisa Salazar
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4/24/09 Twitter Really Can Get You Legal Business. Well, If They Pay...
I have a real-life success story with Twitter: I actually called a lawyer that I met on Twitter to discuss a legal issue. Really.
The back story: @kentnewsome and I go back a ways. He, along with another partner, were the final word on all web decisions. After a few years, he decided to leave the firm for greener pastures.
Fast forward a couple of years.
I am bouncing around on Twitter, look at friends and followers. Who do I spot but @kentnewsome. Of course, we hook up. We tweet back and forth, I write a post about his technology blog, he updates me on his kids.
Then trouble hits.
As some of you may know, I am in the midst of buying a house. My first house. A custom-built house. Of course, as many of you more experienced home-buyers may know, pandemonium strikes: questions arise, trust is tested, integrity is challenged.
I need a real estate lawyer!
I am unsure if my issue merits hiring an attorney. So I need to talk to someone that I can trust to give me a fair assessment of my real estate issue.
Ah-ha! I remember that @kentnewsome is a real estate lawyer. And not just any real estate lawyer, but the head of the real estate department at a well-respected law firm. And not just the head of the real estate department but someone that I trust to have sound judgment and integrity.
So I call @kentnewsome. He was ever so kind to me. He allayed my fears, gave me reasonable legal advice and a common-sense solution.
So, you see, Twitter can lead to real legal business.
Its just in this case, @kentnewsome was kind enough to give me some free advice.
By the way, it's all good. I'm getting the house :) Posted by Lisa Salazar
2/12/09 Do "Real" Journalists Twitter?
I posed this question on Twitter but got no responses. I suppose that answers that.
But, I think I just got lost in the Twittersphere so I raise the question again.
Do "Real" Journalists Twitter?
You see, I have been having this long-standing debate (well, ok, a 4-month debate) with a former reporter who claims that no reporter worth his/her salt would deign to use Twitter as a story source and that there are no reporters at reputable papers using Twitter.
Hmm.
StBar.doc - 6 -
Well, if that were true, I wouldn't be able to follow @jsnell, @pogue, @Tracyo42, @stephditta, @jenleereeves, @judywriter, @brianstelter and many, many more.
And then on Twellow, an app that works like a yellow pages for Twitter, there is a category devoted to reporters.
I guess for some, ignorance is bliss . . . Posted by Lisa Salazar
SEO
4/17/09 Why Ask Why: Building Law Firm Web Sites
Online marketing for professional services, and in particular law firms, is a difficult proposition. Not only do legal online marketers have the challenge of overcoming lawyers' sensibilities about legal advertising, we have to contend with 50 states bar's advertising rules.
Then after dodging these two bullets, we are called to measure what may, at first blush, seem to be immeasurable: reputation, influence and persuasiveness.
Neil Mason's ClickZ article, "Metrics for Non-Transactional Web Sites" brought me back to the early days of my web's development when I would ask lawyers, "why do you want a web site?"
In those days of yore (!), law firm web sites appeared to be knee-jerk reaction to what their peers were doing.
But, if lawyers wanted a successful web site (or in this day and age, a successful blog), we had to decide where we were going. If there is no end-game in mind, we will just be wandering around.
This is even more true in the vast wasteland of the web.
Many law firms and lawyers struggle with this question: why do we have a web site?
In a nutshell, the answer is one, or a combination, of the following:
1. Sell a product 2. Display an online brochure 3. Generate leads
Once the decision, it will color a site's lay-out, design and content. And it will determine how we measure a site's success. Posted by Lisa Salazar
3/17/09 Behavioral Search Engines and Privacy Laws: Are You Sure You Want to Go There?
The NYTimes reports that Virginia Democrat Representative Rick Boucher, who now chairs the House Subcommittee on telecommunications, technology and the internet, wants to write a law to require web surfers to "opt-in" to share personal information with trafficked web sites.
I'm sorry, but I just don't think that is necessary.
Think about it: less than 10 years ago, people were spooked because Amazon knew their book selections and was suggesting related books. Now-a-days, if a site doesn't have the "suggested items," users get
StBar.doc - 7 - really crabby and want to know why the site is so "unsophisticated."
In fact, according to a TRUSTe survey, site visitors are getting less paranoid about online tracking: last year, 57% found online tracking "disturbing". this year, it dropped to 51%. OPA Intelligence Report, 3/16/09.
Sure, people are "saying" that people are squeamish about Google tracking social behavior to figure out what ads are more interesting to them.
Interestingly, though, Yahoo! rolled out their own version of social behavior targeting called "Search Retargeting" on February 24 with barely a whimper from privacy advocates.
Think about it: its no different than merchandising at a grocery store. Kroger's and other grocery stores display the Kraft's parmesan cheese next to the frozen pizza. Nobody's griping about that. Kroger's and other grocery stores have their little "frequent flyer" cards hooked on shoppers' key rings to get "substantial savings" in exchange for letting grocers know what kind of food shoppers are buying. Nobody's griping about that.
So go ahead, make our overworked, over-bloated, nothing-better-to-do government wrangle over this "privacy" law that requires all of your favorite ISPs, search engines, e-mail accounts and web sites to post little check boxes so that you have to click to allow them access to your online excavations.
But I can guarantee you that in 5 years or less, you are going to be clicking every single one of those boxes because, doggone it, it's a hassle to reload your personal data into each of your favorite sites.
Because I can guarantee you that Google and all the other search providers--Sear's included--is going to figure out a way to make you WANT to give them your personal surfing information. Maybe something like, if you follow the scavenger hunt from Sears to Disney to Netflix, you will get a free movie. Or if you go from Google to NASCAR to TicketMaster, you will get a 3% discount.
Or, even better, if you go to Google to Medweb to your doctor to the hospital, all of your medical files will follow you.
Just imagine the future. Do really you want to slow it down? Posted by Lisa Salazar
3/13/09 But its free!! Oh, no, my little grasshopper . . .
Two articles in yesterday's Financial Times struck my fancy:
Retailer buys ‘social’ search engine
Google to match online adverts with web users' viewing habits
What Google and Sears--yes, Sears, the seller of all things American--are heading towards behavioral search engines that look at a person's online activity and social networking profiles to determine their interests and thereby producing more customized search engine results. And, consequently, more tailored ads to serve up items that the user may be more likely to buy.
Now what is interesting to me is that "privacy" groups (isn't that an oxymoron?) are outraged that these ISPs are going to be tracking online activity.
Hello?!?
First of all, nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, is free. You think Google is free? You think they just let you use their search engine out of the goodness of their heart? That they are the benevolent
StBar.doc - 8 - oracle of all known human intelligence? Umm, no.
Your privacy is the price you pay for using Google. When you decided to use Google, or any other search engine for that matter, you clicked a little box, ignoring that plain-text box that contained 20 scrolls worth of legalese, because you were in a hurry to find out last night's football scores, tonight's TV schedule or the cheapest deal for those dozen roses that you had to send to your mother/girlfriend/wife.
So if you don't want your privacy invaded and your interests assessed, don't use search engines. Or Amazon. Or Netflix. Or Blockbuster. Or Victoria's Secret.
Let's see how long that boycott lasts.
Besides, Rick Boucher's busy trying to convert all of our TVs to digital right now. You don't want to stop him from working on that, do you? Posted by Lisa Salazar
StBar.doc - 9 - information. 8. Be personable and have fun: Web participation is about enjoying personal interactions, not delivering corporate communications. Check out the full explanation of the Gartner participation guidelines to see the details behind the guidelines.
Again, I was amazed and thoroughly impressed with how Gartner enables, trusts, but still guides its analysts in its blogging network. Perhaps you can leverage this information within your own firm to "enable", "trust" and "guide" your attorneys to create and participate in its own firm-wide blogging network.