The Importance of Social Networking to Today's Young Lawyer

By: David C. Courreges, De Leon and Washburn, P.C.
Texas Young Lawyers Association eNews, March 2009
http://www.tyla.org/newsitem_detail.cfm?NewsItemID=473

I remember when the internet came to the Courreges household. It was December 1993, I had just installed a sweet 1800 bit/s modem on my brand new Compaq Presario, and I could not wait to try out this new AOL 1.5 that I just got for free in the mail. After thirty minutes of listening to the agonizing pinging and scratching of the modem as it struggled to connect, I could not anticipate that the four words that I was about to hear come out of my computer's speakers would change my life forever. “Welcome! You've got mail!” From that point on, I was introduced to a universe of instant messaging, interest groups, chat rooms, email, on-line profiles, and espn.com; the world was at my finger tips! In fact, now that I think about it, I was then engaging in my first-ever online social networking experience, and it was my very first time online!
Then it happened, in the second that it took my mother to pick up the phone to call her sister, the most revolutionizing experience of my then-young life ended. That was also the first time that I would yell “mom, you knocked me off America Online, a future registered trademark of Time Warner, Inc.!”

You don't know how good you kids have it today with your dedicated phone lines, high speed broadband, and your 3G networks! When I wanted to connect with my friends, I had to invest time into it. I've been “social networking” since before your parents met on match.com! Get a haircut!

Over the next 15 years a variety of social networking tools would become a staple in my day-to-day life. For instance, I found out that I was going to attend the University of Texas via e-mail. I learned of the severity of the A&M bonfire collapse through Yahoo! Instant Messenger. My best friend informed me that he was getting married via text message. I learned that passed the bar while on MySpace… and then confirmed it, of course, on the BLE website over and over and over again. At this very moment I am reading a blog by a state representative on the debate over the Voter Identification Bill in the Texas Senate, while composing Twitter updates, uploading photos to my Firm's LinkedIn page, and talking to another state representative on Facebook about higher education issues currently under consideration by the House.

How important have the above applications become? How well did your office operate the last time the internet service was down?

Last week I posted requests on several of the more popular social networking sites asking young lawyers to share their experiences with social networking and the importance to their law practice. The response was tremendous, and a testament in itself as to how popular these services have become. I have included several of the responses below:

F. Scott de la Garza – DLG Luce, LLP, San Antonio , Texas – [W]e launched our new website a couple weeks ago. On our website we have a nice legal blog, and we have already established our firm Facebook page. Our vision is to combine the best aspects of the traditional law firm, such as client accessibility/communication, with the best that modern technology offers (like social networking). Part of our vision is to bring the best of the DLG Luce blog, which as of now is being updated at least bi-weekly, and incorporate it with our facebook page.

Web blogs and social networking sites really provide a different and fresh way to engage with our clients and give them a good idea of what the DLG Luce LLP experience is. While we as attorneys must be cognizant of the type of information that we post to any web-based medium, we think that the additional methods of communication that social networking sites provide are important, and can be beneficial to both the client and the firm.

Emily Chick Miller – Solo Practitioner – Austin, Texas – … just this week I referred a case to a very well established lawyer who was kind enough to friend me on Facebook. I hadn't seen him in six or seven years.

Jenee Gonzalez -- Director, Senator Committee on Veteran Affairs & Military Installations – Austin, Texas -- Other than a great way to network with old friends from high school and college, [social networking] a great way to keep in touch with family and law school friends. It's helpful to be able to refer friends to attorneys who practice in a particular field. I really appreciate having the social network as a tool for work. It allows me to link up with folks I work with. I've even used it to communicate setting up a time to discuss a bill. Needless to say I'm a big fan and look forward to the next technological advancements in social networking!

Joseph Hoffer -- Feldman, Rogers, Morris & Grover, LLP, San Antonio, Texas -- You know you are doing a decent job when shortly after a heated exchange with opposing counsel, you receive a friend request on Facebook. When attorneys act professionally and honor professional courtesies, while zealously representing their client's best interest, as professionals, we can set aside our differences and get along. This helps the legal system operate more efficiently and social networking provides these opportunities, if used appropriately.

T. Jason Smith – Huron Consulting Group, Houston , Texas -- Social networking is the next generation of cocktail parties and business conferences. These sites are useful alternatives to the old rolodex as well. Rather than a flat file of basic name, rank and serial number of contacts, social networking sites offer a three-dimensional view into your contacts current activities (both professionally and sometimes, personally) and past activities. They also act much like the old CRM (customer relationship management) tools of the 90s did, being able to not only keep tabs on your own contacts, but their contacts and their contacts' contacts. I use the sites to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and seek and research potential business leads.

Gerald M. Goldhabert, Goldhaber Research Associates, New York , NY -- I believe sites such as Linkedin have become very important both for business development and the exchange of information among potential and current clients as well as professionals in a similar field of interest. I have researched most of the internet sites that claim to be for these purposes and believe that Linkedin is, by far, the most effective site for business and professional networking. In addition to posting an appropriate business profile, I have joined several groups relevant to my field of expertise, warnings and safety communications (mostly comprised of audiences of lawyers who would use my services as an expert witness) AND I regularly contribute to their discussion blogs in order to keep the members informed about my current work. Additionally, I have started my own group to attract other Linkedin members to be in regular contact with me and my work. I regularly follow-up with telephone calls to anyone who responds to my discussion postings or invitations to "connect" with on Linkedin. In short, although I am a relatively new member of Linkedin, I have immediately recognized its value to introduce me and my company to potentially thousands of professionals who might avail themselves of my expert services or who may know of other professionals/lawyers who might like to contact me.

Stephanie Chandler, Jackson Walker L.L.P., San Antonio, TX -- A significant portion of my practice in assisting clients with developing social networking strategies to attract interest to their companies. I similarly utilize a number of sites to connect with peers, easy transmit information in relation to community-service related projects and find resources of use to my clients.