News & Press

My view is that it can actually be both and much more besides.

The level of UK legal content on Twitter has expanded hugely this year. Most solicitors would find that at least one or two of their client businesses are using Twitter. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce [twitter.com/Lpoolchamber], the Law Society Gazette [twitter.com/lawsocgazette] and Liverpool Law Society [twitter.com/LpoolLawSociety] have accounts.

On the other hand celebrity gossip and feuds abound as do fictional film stars and there is a cat with over one million followers [twitter.com/Sockington]. Not really the stuff of business networking meetings?

The key point is that your Twitter feed (the people whose updates you view) is what you make it. More and more businesses in the UK have realised that, used appropriately, there is great potential to build your brand, strengthen the relationship with your customers and harness the power of a network of relevant contacts.
The more progressive law firms have also seen the potential in the service and a number of UK firms are now members.

Merseyside seems to have been poorly represented, but I hope that the Lees Solicitors LLP account which we set up a couple of weeks ago will help to redress this at least for the Wirral.

Small businesses on the Wirral have embraced Twitter and we see it as a great way to engage with them and to network with our existing clients who already tweet. Wirral-based networking groups are also getting heavily involved (such as Juice Networking which is launching in September with a large proportion of its membership recruited through Twitter [twitter.com/juicenetworking] and LinkedIn [http://www.juicenetworking.com/]).

We have also found that it is a powerful addition to a search engine optimisation strategy and can give you a great audience for articles and legal updates. If the content is interesting and topical enough that some of your audience chooses to share (or "retweet") with their own followers then the eventual readership grows exponentially.

On the flipside, there are risks and even lawyers who advocate a total ban on Twitter and all social networking sites in the workplace [http://www.thestar.co.uk/business/Lawyer-backs-web-block-on.5583840.jp].
Clear rules and guidelines are needed to ensure that all content is appropriate and enhances (rather than detracts from) your hard earned reputation. However, my view is that a more common-sense approach is appropriate. Excessive personal use is easily monitored and most firms have policies in place to deal with this.
Partners and fee earners are trusted to act professionally and as ambassadors for your firm at traditional events and appropriate business use of social networking services is no different.

A blanket ban is difficult to enforce anyway (what about your staff whose mobile phones can run a Twitter client?) and the impact on network bandwidth is tiny compared to the reams of emails and attachments sent and received every day.
Our view is that the benefits greatly outweigh the risks. If you agree you can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LeesLLP.

Jon Bloor

This article was recently featured in the Liverpool Daily Post, click here to see the article. 

This article provides a summary of a recent case/change in law/news item. It is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be relied upon. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated under any circumstances as a substitute for legal advice. Lees Solicitors LLP does not accept any responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance upon the information contained within this article. The copyright in this article is owned by Lees Solicitors LLP and permission must be sought before reproduction or publishing.

News Archive