Social Media Overview

by David J Bilinsky

Who is using social media? One great example is Erik Magraken and his blog: http://bc-injury-law.com/blog. Not only does Erik list how to subscribe to his blog using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) he lists nice icons that allow you to link to him on LinkedIn, Twitter, JDSupra and Facebook. Furthermore, he has gone further by offering free video consultations via Skype on his blog. Now you may ask – how does this fit with the LSBC’s Client ID rules? Rule 3-92 (2) (b) (ii) provides that Rules 3-93 to 3-1010 do not apply when a lawyer provides legal services that do not involve a financial transaction in the circumstances where this is in the form of pro bono summary advice. To be prudent I would record client ID information (name, contact number etc.) as you would want a record of the advice given and the person to whom it was given for future reference – such as potential conflicts. But certainly the use of video and audio communication via Skype represents a new way for lawyers to reach out to potential clients in innovative ways. Hats off to Erik for being one of the first to incorporate this into his blog!

Where do you find the icons that Erik used on his blog to link to his social networks? www.theistudio.com/muse/5-nifty-free-social-media-icon-sets has five sets of icons that are free for use in blogs and web pages.

Kevin O’Keefe, whose company builds blogs for lawyers, has a great FAQ section and definition of a legal blog on his website: www.lexblog.com/cat-law-blogs-defined.html. A nice review of developments in legal blogging can be found at: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com. A great blog on how to use social media in your practice can be found at: http://lawyerist.com. A wonderful listing of the web pages and blogs built by our own Doug Jasinski’s Skunkworks Creative Group for lawyers in B.C. can be found at: www.skunkworks.ca/portfolio_web.php.

And of course, the B.C. Courthouse Library Society has just completely revamped their website and incorporated a blog within it: www.bccls.bc.ca.

Social media sites include the following:

• Twitter (www.twitter.com) a micro-blogging site.
• LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) and Plaxo (www.plaxo.com) which are professional networking sites.
• Facebook (www.facebook.com) which is perhaps the greatest social networking site today.
• YouTube (www.youtube.com) where attorney Bruce Flint has produced a rap animated car accident commercial (http://tinyurl.com/yfnf92b). You can find other law firm commercials as well.
• JD Supra (www.jdsupra.com) where lawyers upload documents, filings, articles etc. as a way of demonstrating their expertise in their chosen market area.
• Last, but certainly not least, Rex Gradeless, a self-dubbed “Social Media Law Student” has a great listing of different social media sites on his blog: http://socialmedialawstudent.com.

David J. Bilinsky Blog: www.thoughtfullaw.com.

This article originally appeared in the December 2009 issue of BarTalk and is reproduced here with permission of both the author and the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch.