Comments on Authority advises social networking and blogging for starting solo law practice | Real Lawyers Have Blogs http://kevin.lexblog.com/2008/05/articles/social-networking-1/-authority-advises-social-networking-and-blogging-for-starting-solo-law-practice/ Carolyn Elefant, author and leading authority on solo law practice, recently advised a current federal court clerk to turn down a $50,000 large law bonus and follow their dream of starting their own law practice. And among some other great... en-us Copyright 2012 Tue, 27 May 2008 06:43:11 -0800 Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:59:44 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss elefant@myshingle.com (Carolyn Elefant) Kevin,
Thanks for the link. To me, social networking sites a pretty much a no-brainer way to get a presence on the Internet if only because they are free. To be honest, many of these sites haven't directly resulted in work in my unique practice area, but they look nice, they take no time and they're a good way to always let people know what you're up to and increase online visibility. Also, because the reader is a law clerk, he is a bit constrained in what he can do now (in my view) to get a practice going but social networking seems to be a low key way to get started. Two other sites that I didn't mention in this context are JD Supra and docstoc, where you can upload documents.

]]> http://kevin.lexblog.com/2008/05/articles/social-networking-1/-authority-advises-social-networking-and-blogging-for-starting-solo-law-practice/#1052130 http://kevin.lexblog.com/2008/05/articles/social-networking-1/-authority-advises-social-networking-and-blogging-for-starting-solo-law-practice/#1052130 Tue, 27 May 2008 04:37:48 -0800 kevin@lexblog.com (Kevin OKeefe) I'm advising lawyers that though these social networking sites may not bring in work directly, there's no doubt they have an effect on how you are seen.

Networking by its very nature gets you seen by more people who then learn what you do. Whether you meet someome online or offline that's another source of work or reference for you.

In addition, when it comes to a site like LinkedIn, a sinificant number of people will look at a lawyer's profile on LinkedIn during the lawyer selection process. An incomplete profile speaks volumes.

And when it comes to blogging, social networking sites have been a boon to me. By sharing information and points of dicussion with folks via social networking, my blog content gets seen by more people, a large number of whom are also bloggers who then cite my content for their audience.

]]> http://kevin.lexblog.com/2008/05/articles/social-networking-1/-authority-advises-social-networking-and-blogging-for-starting-solo-law-practice/#1052239 http://kevin.lexblog.com/2008/05/articles/social-networking-1/-authority-advises-social-networking-and-blogging-for-starting-solo-law-practice/#1052239 Tue, 27 May 2008 06:43:11 -0800