InsideLegal

ILTA Social Media Channels - Must Have Resource

With ILTACON 2015 (new name, same amazing programming) just around the corner (46 days and counting), we figured the timing was right to share our recently updated ILTA Social Media Cheat Sheet. You'll find all ILTACON/ILTA-specific social channels and links as well as useful search and analytic tools. With the conference's new branding, there are a few changes/updates from years past, so whether you are attending ILTACON in late August/Early September or participating from afar, this resource will help.    

  

Download InsideLegal's 2015 ILTA Social Media Cheat Sheet

 

 

LOMAP’s 5th Annual Super Marketing Conference To Be Held June 4th

The 5th Annual Super Marketing Conference 2015 - co-sponsored by Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) and the American Bar Association Law Practice Division (ABA) - will focus on the theme "Social Marketing Strategies" and will be held June 4, 2015 at MCLE, Milstein Hall in Boston. If you are in Boston, you can register now to attend this conference (online or as a walk-in) ($100-120 fee) that will feature nationally-recognized legal marketing experts, including:

• Kevin O’Keefe (@KevinOKeefe), CEO of LexBlog
  
• Larry Port (@LarryPort), CEO of Rocket Matter
  
• Leigh McMillan (@LeighMcM), Senior Vice President of Marketing at Avvo
  
• Ed Walters (@EJWalters), CEO of FastCase
  

Conference will focus on       (Download program brochure here)

Law firm marketing, in 2015, is a whole different ball of wax—especially compared to what it was, even five years ago. Before web-based marketing mastered the public consciousness, lawyers could 'hang shingles' and expect client traffic to commence; law firms could place advertisements in paper publications, without ever reconsidering self-publication alternatives; attorneys viewed websites as luxuries. The rise of the internet, most especially social media, has led to a sea change in the way in which professionals market their services. Traditional advertisements have morphed into two-way conversations; engagement is the new touchstone. Law firms no longer need to uncover publication sources, when blogs have become a standard medium in legal, and where the reach of those blogs can be expanded through leveraging social media accounts. The revised shop front is an effective website, buttressed by a robust, continually expanding social presence. Time was, lawyers could count their marketing efforts on one hand; but, modern law firm marketing is a Hydra. The question is how to master the beast, and convert it into an efficient selling machine.

Conference agenda

9:00 - 9:45 A.M.     What Works and Doesn't Work: Online Law Firm Marketing in 2015 

9:45 - 10:30 A.M.   Online Law Firm Marketing Panel Discussion 

10:30 - 11:00 A.M. Networking Break 

11:00 - 12:00 P.M. Top Tips for Marketing a New Law Practice Panel Discussion 

12:00 - 12:15 P.M. Lunch (Sponsored by the ABA Law Practice Division) 

12:15 - 1:00 P.M.   Lunchtime Speech: A Start-Up Marketing Success Story 

1:00 - 1:30 P.M.     Networking Break 

1:30 - 2:45 P.M.     Surviving and Thriving in Social Media 

2:45 - 3:30 P.M.     Panel on Social Media 

3:30 - 4:00 P.M.     Networking Break 

4:00 - 4:45 P.M.     How Blogging Will Help You Realize Your Dreams 

4:45 - 5:30 P.M.     Niche Marketing Panel Discussion 

Afterparty-Boston Solo/Small Firm Legal Meetup

If you are attending the conference (or not), you are also invited to join the Boston Solo/Small Firm Legal Meetup later that night hosted by Lisa Solomon and Carolyn Elefant. This event will serve as the ‘official’ conference wrap party, but it’s also open to any solo and small firm lawyers in and around Boston — regularly, or on that night in particular. The fun starts at 5:30 at Scholars on School Street.

Not able to attend?

If you aren't able to attend in person, you can follow the conversation through its hashtag #LHLM, through @InsideLegal or through LOMAP's social media guru @JaredCorreia.

 

[InsideLegal is a media sponsor of the 5th Annual Super Marketing Conference]

InsideLegal's Social Media Blueprint Series - Step 1: Setting Up Accounts

 

 

Social Media 101 - InsideLegal's Step-by-Step Guides

Setting Up a Twitter Account

Setting Up Google Alerts

Setting Up a HootSuite Account

 

 

Maximizing the ILTA Speaking Experience Through Social Media

It's one thing to land a speaking 'gig' at ILTA's annual conference - it's another to properly promote it and share it with other ILTA speakers as well as the general conference attendee base. With over 200 sessions taking place over the 4 days, the competition for the attention of the attendees can be tough. This is where smart yet tactful use of readily available social media tools comes in. To that end, we were recently invited to present on the ILTA Speakers/Conference Committee Webinar hosted by ILTA's Conference Co-Chairs Skip Lohmeyer and Rachelle Rennagel, on "Promoting Your ILTA Session Through Social Media (While Growing and Engaging Your Audience)". 

Below are the files from the presentation:

• #ILTA13 Social Media Plan Cheat Sheet
• Presentation - "Promoting Your ILTA Session Through Social Media"
• Audio Recording - "Promoting Your ILTA Session Through Social Media"

We have been working with legal professionals (firms, vendors and consultants) for close to 8 years on enhancing their social media presence (back then this meant blogging) and shared tips for pre-engaging session audiences, offering collaboration and promotional advice during the sessions, and ensuring the post-conference buzz remains strong long after the Vegas dust has settled. At the conclusion of our presentation, we had 3 social media flash case studies - David Hobbie, Charles Christian and Mary Abraham - who shared their tips and tricks for leveraging social media to establish relationships and make connections. Lastly, ILTA's IT Director Clay Gibney discussed the avenues available to speakers and all ILTA members within the ILTA Connected Community to promote and add value to their sessions. 

LegalTech NY 2013 Agenda Word Cloud (& Comparison to Past Years)

Next week, a few thousand people will convene at LegalTech New York for 3 days of exhibitions, networking and technology sessions. To give an overview of what will be covered in those sessions, we have again created the LegalTech New York agenda word cloud, visually displaying the words/themes included in the event's agenda of sessions. Size of selected words dictate how often they have been mentioned or referenced within the agenda. [Click on image to enlarge]
 

This is the third year we have turned the event program into this type of word cloud and it's quite interesting to take a look back and compare 2013, 2012 and 2011 (see previous LTNY clouds below). Here are our thoughts...

• Big data makes a big showing this year, but didn't appear in 2012 or 2011.
• There seems to be a new focus on corporate with more sessions and topics focused on corporate legal as well as a focus on data – how to search it, capture it, review it, store it, share it and even legislate it.
• The cloud keeps on shrinking … cloud ‘2.0’ is definitely here with the initial buzz of what the cloud is and who ‘is doing it’ over and more focus on real world applications and realities including security, jurisdictional concerns and true costs.
• Overall, based on the 2013 Legal Tech World Cloud, the most interesting pairings have to be ‘eDiscovery’, ‘corporate’ and ‘cost’: LegalTech is increasingly becoming the hub for eDiscovery services and technologies in the legal space; corporations are increasingly struggling with how to manage litigation beginning with the legal hold management component of the e-Discovery Reference Model; and related to that, costs associated with eDiscovery are still an unwieldy beast.

As a comparison, we have included the LegalTech NY Agenda Word Clouds from 2012 and 2011.

Subscribe to InsideLegal for LTNY updates and market information and follow us on Twitter at @InsideLegal for timely updates. 

Not Twitter savvy but don't want to miss out on the LegalTech NY buzz?

There is a wealth of information and industry buzz that takes place on Twitter around tradeshows, but we realize not everyone is active on or comfortable with Twitter. We've created a webpage on InsideLegal that will allow you to follow the LegalTech buzz without having a Twitter account or any social media experience. This page will constantly update and you can view this page any time between now and two weeks after LegalTech. Hope this helps!

View InsideLegal's LegalTech NY Twitter Activity Page

 

Unofficial Guide to Legal Technology - LegalTech NY Edition

Here are a few tips and resources that will help you stay in the know for LegalTech NY - whether you are attending the show or following from your office.

LegalTech NY Twitter Activity Page
Not everyone is active on Twitter, but you shouldn't miss out on all the information that happens there, especially during an industry event. We've created a simple page that you can go to throughout the day and read the tweets regarding LegalTech NY. 

Free Pass for LegalTech NY
This free pass gives you access to the exhibit hall, keynotes and general sessions.

LegalTech Mobile
The iPhone app didn't make it in time for the show, but LegalTech did launch LegalTech Mobile, a website that is smartphone compatible and allows you to review the sessions, lookup exhibitors and create a schedule of your desired classes. 

InsideLegal
Jobst and I will be in meetings throughout the show and also meeting with many of the vendors as well. We will be compiling post each day on the recap covering who we met, what vendor announcements we heard, etc. Let us know if you would like to tell us about any new significant announcements you may be making. 

LegalTech NY Agenda Word Cloud
Know what LegalTech is all about? We turned the agenda into a word cloud so you can see for yourself. We'll also be doing daily word clouds that will judge the truth of what people talked about and had on their minds. Should be interesting...

LegalTech NY Sessions
The complete LegalTech New York agenda can be found here.

 

"In Their Own Words": MyLegal.com's Lisa DiMonte

Last month, InsideLegal was invited to cover MyLegal.com's inaugural social media conference "Making the Case for Social Media". As reported in our event recap, MyLegal.com's founder and event brainchild Lisa DiMonte, put to great use her 30+ year court reporting and litigation support experience and delivered a value-added first time event. We wanted to follow-up since we were particularly curious about Lisa's passion for social media and to what extent the legal community has embraced her emerging MyLegal.com social network for legal professionals. Here is Lisa "in her own words" to provide more insight...

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your passion for legal and especially social media?

I’ve been in the legal industry for over 33 years and became a court reporter because I loved the idea of learning something new every day and meeting new and interesting people. During my court reporter training, I was fascinated by technology and utilizing technology to be more productive. As I gained more experience as a court reporter, I became more intrigued by technologies that were designed to help lawyers and other legal professionals become more efficient. My passion for people, technology and continual learning is being fulfilled by my work at MyLegal.com, where we help legal professionals use simple social media tools to get more clients and build professional relationships.

What is MyLegal.com and how do you see it helping lawyers meet their objective of running a successful practice?

MyLegal.com is a social network for all legal professionals, not just lawyers. So whether you’re a lawyer or a legal vendor, everyone seems to want the same thing - more clients. But there’s so much competition amongst firms of all sizes and there are so many choices, that many legal professionals are confused about where to start with social media or what to do, so they do nothing. I also think that many attorneys and legal professionals are risk averse. If you couple aversion to risk, with some of the state restrictions on advertising for lawyers, it’s no wonder that many legal professionals find it easier and safer to be in the stands as a spectator, rather than participating “on the field.”

That’s where MyLegal.com comes in. We help legal professionals use simple tools to increase their online presence and visibility in a professional and ethical way. Legal professionals create a professional profile on MyLegal.com and then associate their content with their profile. This content can include press releases, blogs, podcasts and videos that are geared at educating and not advertising. The more content that is associated with your profile; the more likely it is that you are going to be found by someone who is in need of your services. We eliminate the barriers to create and distribute the content with our easy-to-use tools, by providing our members with a simple template to create a blog or press release, or, alternatively, the ability to simply browse and upload their content or insert a link and tag it for search engine indexing.  

We are an all inclusive community and believe that one of the ways lawyers can be successful and competitive is by keeping abreast of new technologies and methodologies. Legal vendors are in the best position to keep lawyers informed in this regard because they are the ones who provide solutions to those problems. On the flip side, legal vendors need to know the issues and obstacles that interfere with lawyers' ability to practice law efficiently and effectively.

How does MyLegal.com interact and partner with the legal technology vendor community?  

As discussed, we provide the same tools and services for legal vendors as we do for lawyers. We help legal vendors promote themselves and their products through the posting and distribution of product demos, press releases and interviews on our talk radio show, “The Legal Exchange.” We also provide the online portal for vendor groups so they can share intellectual insights and develop best practices through the discussions and wikis associated with each group.

Once they start engaging with social media, what can or should lawyers expect? What should they not expect to happen?

Before lawyers and other legal professionals engage in social media, they need to understand that social media is not a silver bullet. In order to see results, the legal professional has to be authentic, consistent and committed. Authenticity is at the core of all relationships, whether online or face-to-face. Consistency is important because people want to know what to expect from you. And, finally, you need to be committed to your social media plan and goals because it takes time to build your network, establish your credibility and achieve your professional goals.

Lisa DiMonte 
MyLegal.com
Twitter: @mylegal

"In Their Own Words" Legal Thought Leaders Spotlight: Adrian Dayton

InsideLegal recently had a chance to briefly catch-up with Adrian Dayton at MyLegal's Making the Case for Social Media event where he was asked to speak on 'how to bring in business with social media'. When the dust settled, Adrian shared some more thoughts ... "in his own words".

Who are you?  Who is your organization?       What is your role?
I am Adrian Dayton, attorney, author of of Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition, consultant to large law firms, and weekly columnist for the National Law Journal. My organization is the Adrian Dayton Company - I am the Founder and CEO, but at this point is is a small organization with just me and a couple of others.

How did you get your start with social media?
I have been using discussion groups since 2000, but I was turned me on to blogging and social media after creating a manuscript that I wanted to get published. A friend of mine that handled social media for Adobe and now for Symantech told me, "get on Twitter, start a blog." So I did. Within a few weeks, I brought in a client to the mid-sized law firm I was working with at the time. After that, I was hooked.

Your book "Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter edition" has been very well received. Why is this a must read? 
"Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition" is not a technical manual, it is a basic step-by-step guide of how professionals can start using Twitter. I think it has been successful because it is easy to read, written in a conversational style, and provides plenty of practical take-aways. It has been out a year now, and the Amazon.com reviews have been extremely positive for the book.  

Please provide one ‘real world example’ of how one of your clients has made more money with social media?
Roy Ginsburg who authors the blog, Quirky Questions?, brought in a six-figure client through his blog. Many others have brought in smaller matters through Twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook. It isn't really about social media though, it is about engaging people offline after making the first connection online. 

As you know, InsideLegal works closely with the legal technology community. How can legal technology vendors work with you or approach you as a resource?
Great question. I have worked with a number of vendors on product launches and making sure they get the most out of their new whitepapers/events/ projects. I am pretty picky about who I work with though, they need to have a compelling product that I believe, or I'm not going to share it with my network. That would be an easy way to lose the good will and credibility I have built up over the last couple of years engaging very regularly online.

What online resource (website, blog, etc.) is most useful to you (i.e., you use it every day)?
I love a few tools that I believe are an absolute must for anybody serious about using social media:

• TweetDeck - for Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook
• Bit.ly - to shorten links and track progress
• WordPress - by far my favorite blogging platform
• Google Analytics - to track traffic flow and sources of traffic

There are other variations of each of these, but these are the ones I use.

How can people contact you?
People can email me - [email protected] or shoot me a message on Twitter @adriandayton. I reply to all messages personally and am also available anytime by phone at (716)568-7695. 

Adrian Dayton ([email protected])
Adrian Dayton Company
716.568.7695
Twitter: @AdrianDayton

Making the Case for Social Media ... MyLegal Social Media Conference Revisited

[CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT]

Last week, we had the opportunity to participate in MyLegal's inaugural social media conference "The Case for Social Media" that focused on helping attorneys establish and manage their online presence and social media profile. The well crafted agenda included a mix of social media 101 and practical how-tos and showcased several well established speakers spanning social media, eDiscovery compliance and solo lawyering. Lisa DiMonte, the event's brainchild and 32 year court reporting/litigation support industry veteran, pulled off a great 'first time' event by putting her own social media prowess to work - it turns out many of the session speakers first linked up with Lisa online and via various social media avenues. 

The 7 sessions were definitely assembled with much thought to how a lawyer looking for guidance and answers on social media could get the most out of the day. Many of the attendees we talked to made the trip to DC's Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center specifically to gather tips and tools to execute their very own social media strategy. While we managed to catch snippets of the first few speakers (Avvo's Conrad Saam and Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black) via the online remote stream, our first full onsite session was Sharon Nelson and John Simek's expert take on the ethical, compliance and eDiscovery implications of social media. This session was in our opinion the most dynamic, eye-opening and practical lecture of the day thanks to the many 'no way' examples of social media litigation pitfalls presented by the very charismatic and knowledgeable Sharon Nelson and John Simek of Sensei Enterprises, a Fairfax, VA-based computer forensics/IT/IS Security consulting firm. While many of the presented social media usage facts indicate that corporate America especially, can no longer ignore employees use (and abuse) of social networks, the biggest 'a-ha' moment for us was the discussion around social media data preservation and archiving. Per Nelson's insight, social media archiving - basically locking down all the historical data generated by Facebook, websites, Twitter, company blogs, etc.) is increasingly becoming a major corporate concern and action item warranting consideration for any social media compliance policy. Nelson and Simek recently discussed the topic on their popular Ride the Lightning electronic evidence blog and are hosting an invite-only, C-level-focused product demo and discussion seminar for UK web archiver Hanzo Archives early next month. After being scared (hopefully not scared off) with these social media compliance and regulatory realities, attendees settled into an afternoon focused on what many consider the sole purpose of effective social media ... business and client development.

While legal business development advisor Larry Bodine focused on LinkedIn and how the 1 million lawyers already using it can get more out of their profiles, connections and recommendations, Adrian Dayton, author of "Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition" and legal social media marketer, zeroed in on broader marketing and business strategies leveraging Twitter, blogs and content. Designed to appeal to social media newbies, Dayton's session covered Twitter basics but also made the connection of how stellar content (via blogs and websites) and strategic distribution (via Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks) can lead to direct sales leads and new business. Other sessions covered the use of trademarks in social media marketing (speaker-Matthew Asbell, Associate at Ladas & Parry LLP) and attorney Steve Crandall wrapped-up the busy day with his 'Social Media and the Law' session. Editors note: We spoke to Steve earlier in the day but we were unable to attend his session so we encourage readers to look for his streaming video on MyLegal.com.

All in all, Lisa DiMonte and her crew deserve a hand for giving attendees a taste of the ever expanding social media pie and staying true to the seminar title "Making the Case for Social Media". Mission accomplished!