Continuing Legal Education Today

Four Reasons Why Lawyers Should Use Twitter

Graham Beckwith — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:51:17 -0800

Professionals of every sort can be found on Twitter, including attorneys. But the vast majority lawyers prefer Linked-In to other social media platforms, according to a recent ABA survey, because it serves as both a popular legal directory and a way to contact clients.

Below I list four reasons why lawyers should strongly consider Twitter either as an addition—or alternative—to other social media platforms.

1. Twitter is easy to use, and holds more benefits (including CLE benefits) than you initially realize.

Unlike Facebook, Linked-In, and other social media platforms, Twitter is proudly built on open-source software. This means software developers can easily develop tools to make your Twitter experience simpler and more efficient.

In the time it takes to learn how Twitter’s site works, you can easily master any number of third-party social media applications like HootSuite, Tweetdeck and Twaiter, all of which allow you to schedule Tweets well in advance or manage multiple social media accounts at once. The average Internet user should be able to manage an entire day’s worth of social media activity in one sitting.

Managing messages, followers, and user content will continue to get easier, because software developers all over the world will continue making it so.

Logging in some consistent Twitter time could even make you better informed about continuing legal education. In addition to tracking updates about requirements in your state, or CLE providers in your area, Twitter can used to communicate which seminars interest you or bore you to tears.

2. Promoted Tweets.

In case you were wondering why Twitter wasn’t profiting off of it’s burgeoning popularity, the company is sitting on more than $57 million in venture capital. Last April came Twitter’s announcement they would soon be launching the first phase of Promoted Accounts, which would have a similar look and feel to Google advertisements.

How exactly does this work for law firms and other businesses? After you pay for sponsorship, Twitter places your promoted account at the top of search results on Twitter and promoted Tweets will appear on users’ feed of recent Tweets as if they had been following you.

Twitter will match up promoted accounts/tweets with users who share similar interests. Twitter has promised a higher standard for its ads, which should benefit both businesses and customers. Twitter CEO Biz Stone even said in a blog post Twitter would make it a policy to remove promoted Tweets that don’t resonate with customers in some way.

Not every legal professional can afford to market services online, due to monetary restraints or advertising retractions. But for lawyers and law firms who are already capable of using social media to interact with clients, promoted tweets has new potential for generating leads.

Below I list four reasons why lawyers should strongly consider Twitter either as an addition—or alternative—to other social media platforms.

1. Twitter is easy to use, and holds more benefits (including CLE benefits) than you initially realize.

Managing messages, followers, and user content will continue to get easier, because software developers all over the world will continue making it so.

2. Promoted Tweets.

3. Twitter can improve search engine optimization results for you, your firm or Web site.

Expect more social media pages to appear in search engine results as time progresses. Google, Yahoo! And Microsoft Bing love Twitter, which is why they paid over $10 million this year for the privilege of archiving Twitter posts. (link to article)

Social media marketing obviously connects your business with others in the social media realm. Search engine optimization is the icing on the cake for anyone who wants to generate as much Internet buzz as possible for a brand. In theory, the more you tweet about your subjects of expertise, the greater impact

Mashable created a how-to guide for including the right content in your Tweets if you are interested in improving your SEO.

As Twitter develops over time, I also expect more of the public to use social media as their primary news source and or search tool. Perhaps in ten years it will be more important for your brand to be displayed prominently on Twitter than on Google.

4. Twitter is extremely popular, but not among lawyers.

An ABA survey from earlier this year indicated more lawyers are using social media than ever before. Of the survey respondents, however, only 2 percent of the legal professionals said they used Twitter regularly.

In the survey, 83 percent of respondents maintained a presence on Linked-In, and 68 had done so on Facebook. If you are a legal professional hoping to interact with the public through social media, Twitter has ideal conditions: a simple platform with millions of users around the world, and for some reason there is a relative lack of legal professionals.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams predicted the micro-blogging site would amass one billion users by 2013, while speaking at an event earlier this month.

Jessica Faye Carter, who works at Nette Media, wrote an interesting column recently about Twitter’s cross-cultural influences. Since the site architecture is so easy to use, and the 140-character limit makes producing and translating content simpler, a wider array of social groups are logging on to Twitter.

If you or your firm has made the initial decision to utilize social media as a means of staying in touch with contacts or generating new business, Twitter may be the best means of reaching your target audience.

How Can A Lawyer Become a Public Speaker?

Faith Pincus — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:50:55 -0800

Earlier this week someone on Twitter asked me a question that I have often liked answering: How can an attorney get started in public speaking?

Below I put together a how-to guide, which I hope can be of use to any new legal speakers out there. For new speakers, I would also check out my Top 10 CLE Speaking Tips.

1. Decide on a specific topic you really like to talk about, and know really well.

This absolutely essential for any public speaker, which is why it’s both worthy of repeating and put at the top of the list. The subject-matter of your speeches will set you apart from so many established public speakers, but you must commit to studying this topic on an ongoing basis.

People attend speeches not just to be entertained, but to be informed on the latest trends and techniques in their industry. If you were to focus on social media in your speeches, for instance, you would be on a never-ending quest for information.

2. Decide which type of speaker you want to be: paid or unpaid.

Speaking engagements can serve different purposes. Some public speakers draw the majority of their income from paid gigs, and have done very well doing so. Many other professionals speak publicly to get referrals and clients, promote a product, raise awareness of a brand or cause.

Plenty of lawyers have transitioned from a career in practice to a career in public speaking, while other lawyers have used public speaking as means for building their firm’s profile.

3. Be prepared to speak for free. For a good long while.

It doesn’t matter if you are planning on being a paid or unpaid speaker. Beyond even honing your craft, building your speaking career can take very long before significant progress is made. By taking free speaking gigs, you can get positive testimonials from an increasing list of satisfied customers.

Speech and meeting planners with paid jobs require speakers with a proven track record of success, and a speech topic that audiences will care about. For some speakers, this process of “courting” with free speaking can take months or years but will hopefully generate long-term business.

4. Target your audience. Lawyers: look at bar associations.

Think again through all of the above-mentioned steps, and find the groups that would be interested in your topic. For lawyers, the first place to look should be state and local bar associations, as well as ABA events. Bar associations hold events each year, regardless of recessions, and are always looking for new speakers for MCLE programs.

Beyond that, look at MCLE providers, and study the differences between those companies.

Pincus Professional Education has one owner who personally decides upon speakers and is heavily involved in the CLE planning process, Faith Pincus. Other CLE providers offer greater or fewer number of events each month, but are managed entirely differently.

Some CLE providers are picky about hiring or even scheduling new speakers; some are not. Many private CLE provider Web sites maintain “Become a Speaker” links, normally accompanied by a form you can submit.

Lawyer and non-lawyers can look outside the law for their opportunities: rotary clubs, counting associations, unions functions, conventions, colleges, corporate meetings, and elsewhere.

5. Join the National Speakers Association to improve your marketability. Join Toastmasters to become a better live speaker.

I would recommend most new speakers, including lawyers, to become members of both of these organizations at the start of their careers. If you are a new speaker, it at least puts you in a room with experienced speakers who have fashioned a variety of career paths. Toastmasters will help you hone your skill at less expense than hiring a speaking coach like Faith. NSA will teach you how to market yourself and create products.

Relationships you develop in the NSA or possibly even Toastmasters can lead to future business.

6. Since times are tough for public speakers, you must be diligent.

The recession has hit public speakers extremely hard, because speaking engagements are a luxury to be sacrificed when a company or organization is on hard financial times. And yet, you can find thousands of speakers who have weathered the storm, and some have even increased revenue since 2007.

Starting a public speaking career can be extremely arduous, but you won't have to look hard to find experienced speakers who love what they do and don't want to stop doing it. Even a 20-year attorney can stumble towards becoming a speaker, so feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions. And remember – to have a successful speaking career – you really have to be a good speaker, so hone your speaking skills at every chance you get.

7th Circuit Bootcamp - 30% Off For All Registrants

Faith Pincus — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 06:59:36 -0800

Pincus Professional Education is pleased to offer a 30% discount on our 7th Circuit Boot Camp: A Beginning and Intermediate Guide to 7th Circuit Practice (IL) , valid on all new orders through the day of the program on September 24.* Individuals, for example, will save $113.

This deal is especially valuable to new attorneys or attorneys who aren't experienced with the Federal Court of Appeals, because there is no better way to learn the ins-and-outs of 7th Circuit practice. Pincus Pro Education has gathered together a 7th Circuit judge and a career law clerk at the circuit, the Illinois Solicitor General, and a handful of expert litigators. Unless you are a thirty-year veteran of the dynamic Federal Court of Appeals, you will benefit from this program's panel of experts.

For those of you who need at least 20 hours of CLE training before 2012—and I'm looking at you, Illinois Lawyers—then our 7th Circuit Boot Camp kills two birds with one stone. In addition to your CLE Credit, no other program will better prepare you to practice before the 7th Circuit: what the court expects, oral argument tips, briefing best practices, common pitfalls, and big (but easy to make) mistakes that you want to avoid at the 7th Circuit.

This program has been presented in CA and WA for the 9th Circuit for four years in a row and is a winner - i.e. great evaluations - every time!

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*How to register with the discount:

Visit www.Pincusproed.com or CLICK HERE to register.
While completing your transactions online, enter the following discount code: 7CIRC30

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If you like this discount, later on this month we will also be announcing a deal on our "Bankruptcy Boot Camp" Webinar. As always, we appreciate your comments whether they are discount-related or not.

Please contact info@pincusproed.com or twitter.com/pincusproed for any questions or additional information.

Lawyers and Social Media: The Times They Are A-Changin'

Faith Pincus — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:46:20 -0800

The legal community at-large was a bit more skeptical of social media than the general public, as recently as a few years ago.

If you are unsure as to why this is, ask any legal professional. Social media is designed to break down divisions and privacy, which can lead to conflict when used by lawyers and judges.

A recent study by the National Law Journal found 40 percent of state judges polled to by users of Facebook, Twitter, or a similar social media platform. But of the same group polled, more than half believed any use of social media at their work would be a violation of ethics.

Besides this, an average law firm is nothing like a southern California Subway franchise. (@socalSubway) Law firms need to market to specific groups in order to cull clients, but will not dive into any means necessary—including social media—to get people’s attention.

Thanks to Kevin O’Keefe at LexBlog for discovering, and posting some interesting social media-related findings from the American Bar Association’s Legal Resource Center Survey.

For those who do not subscribe to this ABA survey, the results are of interest because they highlight the social media use among attorneys. More importantly, the ABA studies why lawyers use social media in the workplace, since American attorneys and judges appear to be adopting these platforms at the same rate as other Americans.

Here are is the data:

Why do lawyers maintain a presence on social networks?

Professional networking (76%)
Socializing (62%)
Client development (42%)
Career development (17%)
Case investigation (6%)

What social networks do lawyers use?

LinkedIn (83%)
Facebook (68%)
Plaxo (18%)
Martindale.com Connected (4%)
LawLink (2%)
Twitter (2%)
Avvo, LegalOnRamp, and LegallyMinded (1% each)

Approximately 56 percent of lawyers personally maintain some form of an account, or moderate presence, on an online social media platform—such as Facebook, Twitter, and the others listed above.

Two years ago, only 15 percent of lawyers were on social media sites. What could have accounted for such a dramatic change?

Last March for the first time, Facebook surpassed Google for a full week as the most popular Web site on the Web.

Even Twitter, which is not yet as popular among the lawyer crowd, has amassed nearly 200 million monthly visitors as of this summer.

Some lawyers and law firms, I am sure, have joined Facebook with average curiosity among the millions of other Americans. Other lawyers and firms, however, must realize that these social media platforms contain any number of potential clients.

For decades law firms have used many different means of creatively keeping in touch with clients—newsletters, e-mails, Christmas cards, and many other paper-wasting ideas. This would all have fallen into “professional networking” category of the firm’s activities. Many firms have discovered recently most of their clients were on Facebook and or LinkedIn, and this was an easier means of communicating more news about the firm.

Let’s say you or your firm specializes in an area of federal law, and your potential client list is scattered throughout the country rather than in a specific jurisdiction area or city. Without social media to stay in touch with all those people, including people you have not yet discovered, would be a time-consuming and expensive process.

There is no way of knowing how a social media platform will trend even next month, let alone next year—just look at Myspace. But two surprises in the data, which we should perhaps expect to change over the next year or two, are the low number of Twitter and Avvo users.

As mentioned above, Twitter—like Facebook and LinkedIn—is too big of a resource to pass up for long. Avvo, which was only founded in 2006, is gaining a new popularity among lawyers because it is a cheap and easy way of getting some online presence without devoting future time to social media.

With social media (still) being so knew for lawyers, it is always interesting to hear success and horror stories from firms implementing it.

Regardless of how lawyers decide to spend their social media hours this year and the next, the legal community is certainly addressing social media—as a communication and marketing tool, it appears to be here to stay.

My top ten CLE speaking tips to help you be a hit with the audience

Faith Pincus — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:47:48 -0800

It's been a while, I know! I am trying to get the hang of this whole blogging thing and have lots of ideas for the future.

And while the post below might not start any hot conversation, it will hopefully help a few speakers do a better job, and help a few CLE attendees enjoy a program more (if the speakers do a better job! :-) ).

So for right now, below is list of my top ten CLE speaking tips that I just emailed a bunch of my speakers who are teaching at my Federal Court Boot Camp in Chicago this friday (sold out!). I thought I would share it here as well, since it is something I send out to the attorneys and judges who speak at my CLE programs.

Here are my top ten CLE public speaking tips to help you be a hit with the audience:

1) Spend the 20 – 30 minutes before your program starts mingling with the audience members (instead of sitting on the dias).

Introduce yourself to at least 10 different people (more if possible).
Get their names. Jot their names down if you can on a note pad/seating chart, so you can remember during the program and mention them by name (or call on them by name).
Find out why they are there and about what they hope to learn. I usually ask, literally, “so.. .why are you here?... what are one or two things you would really like to learn about in this program.”
Why do all this? It helps make you more approachable, will endear you to the audience, will give you a small representative idea of what some folks want to hear about, and if you are a practitioner, it is an excellent networking tool (even if they are associates) with people who may, down the road, refer you business. Remember, some of these folks will also be experienced practitioners who are just new to federal court.

2) Don’t read off your outline. Use your speaking outline to prompt your memory about what you wish to teach (have keywords/phrases about your teaching topics).

Make sure you are prepared re: what you wish to teach, i.e. have multiple points and stories/examples written in your outline to cover re: each subject matter/topic, as appropriate.

3) If you are going to cite a case for any reason, cite it slowly and repeat it. If you plan to cite more than one case and they are not in the outline, please bring enough copies of a case cite list to handout to everyone, so they have the resource and don’t have to rely on getting it down properly (think of them as court reporters).

4) Try to know your stories/examples in advance – it is always hard to come up with them on the fly when speaking in public. Stories and examples are great teaching techniques, as are metaphors. Just make sure your stories are not super lengthy.

5) Don’t let any one audience member hijack the program with questions that are off topic, too detailed/particular to their case, or too many questions about a particular case.

The best way to handle this as soon as it starts is to tell them some version of the following, “It looks like you have a lot of questions about a particular issue/case, or it looks like you know a lot about this specific issue, can you write down your questions and see me on the break? I’d really like to discuss this further with you, but we need to move on right now. Thanks!”

And of course, answer their questions at the break of possible and if not, get their email to answer them later.

6) Make sure you either repeat your audience member's questions, or they use the audience microphone.

7) Try to stay on time - we have an ambitious agenda!

8) Despite #6 above, give them details/specific information, tips, advice whenever you can. They typically don’t like broad brush generalities.

9) Meet their needs – you know generally why they are here based on our topics, and more specifically if you do # 1 above, so make sure your goal is to meet their needs and answer the question, “what’s in it for me” that is on all their minds.

10) Smile and have fun! Believe it or not, many of these programs can be a lot of fun if you interact with your audience (hence knowing some of their names, as discussed in #1 above) and let your own spontaneous humor flow – or tell humorous stories. And that helps lighten things up and make it more interesting!

Top Tips Part II: Improving your Oral Argument

Faith Pincus — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:33:13 -0800

Here are a few more tips from my interviews and conversations with judges, as well as from our programs:

Don't just grab that brief that your (or someone else) wrote and filed months ago and skim it before going in to court. Study the facts and the cases like you're going to be taking a test on them.

That way you can respond to questions about anything in the brief, not just what you thought was important.

Create a one page cheat sheet with issue, case cite, holding and page in brief

This allows you to respond to questions quickly, competently and professionally without having to search for cases in your brief while your judge(s) wait for you.

Practice, Practice, Practice

A summary judgement motion is just as important as trial. Practice your argument, have someone moot you, be prepared. A frequent complaint hear from judges is about attorneys who come in and wing it off their briefs.

And for a great short read about the other side of the coin, see "Five Oral Argument Tips - For Judges" on Howard Bashman's How Appealing.law Blog by the Hon. Michael W. Mosman,U.S. District Judge, District of Oregon on how judges could behave better when hearing oral arguments.

My Shingle on Passion - passing it along

Faith Pincus — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:26:29 -0800

Just a quick entry to say check out Carolyn Elefant's post on passion and enjoying yourself.

Gave me a nice lift today as I find myself distracted by the (at last!) fabulous So. Cal. weather and wanting to take one of the dogs to the beach instead of working on work.

Go Carolyn and thanks for the boost!

How to ensure you aren't invited to speak again at an event

Faith Pincus — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:51:22 -0800

In the spirit of David Letterman's Top Ten... here are the top10 ways to ensure you are not invited back to speak at an event:

10. Spend the entire time you are on the panel eating snacks.

9. Interrupt the other speakers and monopolize the program (when on a panel).

8. Spend so much time reminiscing with your war stories you don't cover all, or even most, of your topics.

7. Come unprepared and wing it.

6. Bow out of an event after committing to the program, without providing a replacement speaker of equal credentials and quality.

5. Present a canned Power Point that you use all the time, but doesnt really fit your topic.

4. Arrive at the event a few minutes before you present with a Power Point presentation without having made any Power Point arrangements in advance.

3. Read your outline or Power Point to the audience.

2. Present on a topic other than what was agreed upon.

And the number one way......

1. Show up late.

Top Tips Part I: Improving your Oral Argument

Faith Pincus — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:22:57 -0800

This is the first in a series of Top Tip posts I’ll be making on litigation and presentation skills, culled from Pincus Professional Education CLE programs by judges, staff attorneys and practitioners, as well as the public speaking and oral argument courses I teach.

Improving your Oral Argument, Part I:

Presentation skills are critical to the success of any attorney. We need to be good at presenting in the board room, the court room, the office and even in the community, because that is what the job demands.

And, the better one is at public speaking, in any context, the more that person is perceived as an expert and a leader and the more that person advances in her or his career.

Below are five quick tips to improve your public speaking skills in the court room – but I could go on forever, and will provide more later on. These tips come straight from judges and court staff attorneys.

Find out who your audience is and meet their needs: in this case – the judge(s) or Justice(s)

Make sure your presentation is right for your audience – your trial or appellate judge. Who is the judge and what is her or his (or their) approach on the bench? Should you expect a lot of questions, a quiet judge, a hot panel? Instead of approaching the argument from your perspective, approach it from theirs.

How do you do this?

• ask around;

• most importantly, take the time to go see your judge(s) / justice(s) in action, on multiple days;

• think you don’t have time for a and b above?

You really do, you just have to give something else up – one less lunch, one less day at the gym, or a few less billable hours that month … whatever it is you have to give up, it is worth it to not be surprised the day of your argument.

And you will be amazed at how much you learn just by watching other attorneys do well, or not so well.

For a quick post on finding out more about your judge, regardless of where the court is located, see "Well, You’re Better Than You Look.” by Eileen Burkhalter Smith on the Young Lawyers Blog for more ideas on this topic.

Organize, Organize, Organize

One of the biggest problems attorneys have when presenting is being disorganized. That includes trying to cover too much.

In an oral argument, you have time to cover, at most, 3 important issues. Pick your top three issues, and practice arguing them in any order possible.

For an excellent, detailed post on the how to organize, the judge's perspective, and what to expect, see Andrew Frey's article, "Preparing and Delivering Oral Argument" on Mayer Brown's Appellate Net site.

Don’t read your brief or your presentation.

First rule of oral argument: never read your brief. Assume the judge and her lawclerks have read it.

Second rule, don’t write your presentation out word for word and read it. I know some of you love to do this, but it is a habit you have to learn to drop.

Oral argument is your opportunity to have a conversation with your judge(s).

It’s one of the most exciting, rewarding parts of litigating (really!). This is your chance to engage on an intellectual level with your judge and it’s their chance to get their questions answered (see #4 below) and learn what they need to learn to decide the case.

None of that happens if you read a presentation. On top of that, it really annoys judges.

I once heard a 20+ year career staff attorney for an appellate court describe oral argument this way:

“the most effective advocate imagines he or she is a law clerk in chambers explaining why a judge should go a certain way. They are not argumentative; instead, they focus on having a conversation about why judge should make the desired ruling.”

Many courts provide tips on their website and also post post oral arguments for you to learn from. For example check out the Florida Supreme Court's information, "Information about Oral Arguments."

Answer the question.

I watch attorneys make this mistake all the time. And it is probably the #1 complaint I get from judges, justices and law clerks.

When your judge/justice asks you a question, think of it as a red flag waving in front of you – this is what they are interested in and want to know more about. Stop. Listen. Listen to the whole question – don’t answer it in your head while they are still asking. Take a moment to compose your answer (they will respect that), and then answer it concisely and directly.

And if you don’t know the answer, admit it, and offer to provide a written answer by brief supplement the following morning. Don’t fake it – they can smell that a mile away.

Don’t argue with opposing counsel.

This tends to happen a lot at the trial level. Despite what you see on TV, attorneys arguing with each other in court during oral argument is a big no-no. Why? It doesn't’t accomplish any of your goals and it hampers your credibility (see my first post about "Attorney Credibility" on this blog):

• First, the other attorney is not’t your audience;

• Second, you’re not engaging with your judge or answering his or her questions;

• Third, you can’t make a record by arguing with opposing counsel;

• And finally, Judges find it worse than annoying – they think it is stupid.

Remember – public speaking and oral argument are an acquired art. Not everyone is a natural born speaker, but everyone can improve by learning how to do it better.

Oh, and don't forget to make sure your travel plans allow you to show up on time. In her post: "My Young Lawyer Experience: “That’ll be $50!” Eileen Burkhalter Smith writes about when she got fined by the court for showing up late for an argument.

Mobile Technology for Lawyers

Faith Pincus — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:14:31 -0800

It’s time to update my mobile technology, so I decided to read a few posts on the latest options. I recommend this post by Ryan McKeen and Finis Price at the ABA Law Journal comparing the Droid v. the IPhone.

That does it, I’m getting a droid!

Lawyerist has a quick post about how an attorney can put an IPad to use. I'm not convinced it's enough reason to buy one, but he has a few good ideas.

On the other hand, the ABA is talking about publishing an interactive version of my upcoming public speaking for attorneys book in a IPad platform - complete with links to video and audio samples of public speaking and oral argument do's and dont's. If a lot of publishers go that route with their books, it makes the IPad a lot more interesting.

Motion to compel lunch granted: why opposing counsel should cooperate

Faith Pincus — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:14:50 -0800

I just found this great post by Vicky Pynchon, at her www.negotiationlawblog.com blog on a judge who ordered counsel to have lunch (with thanks to Roger Wood, at Association Law Blog).

The judge's tongue in cheek order shows a great sense of humor. It also cleverly demonstrates just how ridiculous judges belive attorneys are when they behave like idiots.

This one goes in my "it's about your credibility column." The attorneys involved will never live this one down.

Are lawyers of a Certain (or any) Age using social networking yet?

Faith Pincus — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:13:04 -0800

Just last week a speaker at the American Continuing Legal Education Association's mid-year conference in Orlando stated that he thought attorneys over a "Certain Age" (capitals intended!) were not using social networking as a means of communication, networking or finding out about legal community events, such as continuing legal education programs.

What? Are you kidding me?

OK, I'm thinking to myself, I'm probably on the (much) lower end of his Certain Age scale (if I'm on it at all) so I probably don't count. So, just for fun, I took a casual poll (a very scientific casual poll, I promise) of my attorney friends via Twitter and Facebook and, go figure, they disagreed.

I know, skewed poll, they're using social networking.

Need to poll folks the old fashioned way, by email. But still, many of my friends who pipped up said they were of a Certain Age and they couldn't imagine business or personal life without social networking.

Where am I going with this?

On Friday Larry Bodine, of Law Marketing Blog, wrote in his blog about a Hubbard One survey of Managing Partners and General Counsel, announced at a Managing Partner Forum in Florida, and guess what they found? Yep, law firms, and attorneys, are not strangers to social networking:

Facebook Today

•          Firm Page

–      35% of top 20 American law firms have FB page

•          Firm Employee Groups

–      40% of top 20 American law firms have FB groups

–      60% of top 20 Fortune 500 firms have FB groups

•          Individual Profiles/Pages

–      0% of top 10 GC’s, 10 Managing Partners have public FB profiles

Unfortunately, no demographics are discussed, so it doesn't really prove or disprove the Certain Age theory. But it's an interesting enough survey to bear repeating.

What was most interesting was that Attorneys in law firms use LinkedIn far far more than General Counsel at corporations. I suppose the logical answer is that firm attorneys are more into networking, the means of getting new business. But still... is that all?

Based on the results, I'd say Facebook may rock the legal world, but Twitter has not yet made much of an impression, at least on General Counsel. Well, no kidding. If they're not checking linkedIn - an easy platform to figure out - they're certainly not going to tweet. Heck, I can barely keep up with Twitter!

Twitter Today

·         Clients tweeting? 0 of top 20 Fortune 500 General Counsels are tweeting

·         Law firm leaders tweeting? 0 of top 20 AmLaw Managing Partners are tweeting

·         Law firms tweeting? 5 of top 20 AmLaw firms are tweeting

Not surprisingly, blogs, have made significant inroads into the legal community:

Blogs Today

• ~45% of AmLaw 200 Blogging

And if you think of blogging as having extended conversations on the net, as Kevin O'Keefe describes, then attorneys of a Certain Age probably really are using social networking to connect with others. (unless they're all in the other 55%)

Enough social networking for the evening, if I don't leave soon I will be of a Certain Age before I stop! I'm off to feed the dogs.

Announcing the addition of Finz Advance Tapes to the Pincus CLE line-up

Faith Pincus — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:42:33 -0800

I'm excited to announce that I have recently added Finz Advance Tapes to the Pincus CLE line up.

Brought to you by Pincus Legal Education, Inc., I will continue to deliver the excellent, informative and fun audio summaries and analysis of Torts and Civ Pro/Evidence cases in CA that Professor Steven Finz was known for these past 18 years.

In the tradition of Professor Steven Finz, Professor Pat Cain and other well respected law professors will continue to analyze and summarize the latest case law in CA related to the two available series topics: Torts and Civ Pro/Evidence.

I have already listened to one of Pat's Cd's and her humor and tone is as charming and easy to listen to as Steve's was. The next monthly CD release will include Professor John Diamond from UC Hastings and Professor Pat Cain discussing the latest torts cases.

We will announce the Civil Procedure/Evidence professors to take over in a bit.

Please see www.advancecollege.org or www.pincuslegaled.com for more information.

Getting to know the Pincus behind Pincus Professional Education

Faith Pincus — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:17:17 -0800

Tim Baran of uMCLE, mentioned in a few prior blogs, was sweet enough to interview me recently.

If you are interested in knowing more about my background and what drove me to create Pincus Professional Education, you can read all about it in Tim's interview with me, published on his blog: "My Interview with @faithpincus That Turned Into a Primer for CLE Presenters and Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/7AWjjv ."

Check out Lawyerist.com's take on why teaching makes you a better attorney

Faith Pincus — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:28:41 -0800

I just came across this post via my linked-in Legal Marketing group. Nena Street makes some good points about why teaching makes you a better laywer.

I would add that you need to make sure you are prepared when you do go out and teach.

Some good suggestions on CLE changes that would help attorneys keep costs down

Faith Pincus — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:38:04 -0800

Thanks to twitter, I came across an attorney, Donna Seyle, who happens to both practice in my state (CA), teach various social networking related seminars, and blog about topics near and dear to my heart! She also has guest bloggers and this most recent post of interest is by one I have met via Twitter: Tim Baran, of uMCLE.

In a recent post, "Helping Lawyers Meet the Cost of MCLE Requirements," Tim discusses how changes to CLE governing rules could help keep down CLE costs for attorneys.

The top two suggestions are:

All CLE Boards should allow for reciprocity, letting attorneys get CLE credit in multiple states for the same course. All attorneys with multiple state licensing could benefit from this practice.
Remove limits on the number of credit hours that can be earned via on-demand programming such as streaming video or DVDs.

One item Tim didn't mention, but would also help, would be for CLE boards/regulators to focus on the quality of CLE provider seminars and reduce exorbitant fees that are charged providers and then passed on to attorneys. The fees charged by CLE boards throughout the country vary widely, from $300 in California to up to $6,000 in Illinois. When a state bar governing board is charging a CLE provider thousands of dollars, they are doing so to make money off the provider, they are not doing so because their cost of policing that provider is some how more expensive than any other state's costs.

Social Networking: Interconnections and the Future of CLE

Faith Pincus — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:57:29 -0800

Ok, I admit it.

Today I launched my blog, so I'm a bit more excited than usual and a bit more socially active than usual. Social networking active that is.

Not that I don't have Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In open on a daily basis, it's just that I don't always look at them. It takes so much time... whine whine...

Anyway, today I am excited. And today I saw a post at legalinformatics about CLE and Social Networks that got me even more exicted.

Legalinformatics Blog mentions that:

Of particular note in recent months is the use of social networks by CLE providers. Many CLE services and content creators are using social media to market their programs and connect with lawyers and other customers.

Yes, that is true. Though this has actually been going on for a bit more than recent months. I think I met the handsome Tim Baran of uMCLE (@umcle) via twitter pretty early in 2009. And I've been staying in touch with Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA , #aclea) members Mark Rosch (internet for lawyers @MarkRosch ) and Sean Carter (professional CLE speaker, @lawhumorist) via twitter instead of email, for the most part, for almost least a year.

All three of these CLE related folks have been posting CLE announcements, interesting legal news tidbits and connecting with folks for much longer than I have, and I've been at it since Christmas 2008.

Many of my competitors have been posting announcements about their upcoming CLE seminars on twitter for quite some time as well, though I have to admit that just posting your own CLE seminar announcements on your twitter account gets a bit boring for your followers.

Me, I haven't quite gotten into the swing of that form of twitter posting - yet. I still abide by the "provide value, don't just advertise" twitter manners mantra found on Mashable and elsewhere. And I can't point to a single customer I have gotten via twitter - yet. But I have made some great CLE contacts!

Some of my speakers have posted upcoming CLE events on Linked-In and Facebook (for example, see Nikki Mehrpoo Jacobson's linked-in post about an Pincus upcoming immigration CLE and Vickie Pynchon of www.negotiationlawblog.com @vpynchon).

And while I haven't met him yet, @Richards1000, a law librarian in PA, posts about upcoming CLE all the time.

But what is most interesting about Social Networking and CLE is...

how providers like myself (and CLE speakers like Sean, Mark, Irwin Karp and others) will be integrating Social Networking applications such as Twitter and Facebook during our CLE seminars.

This is a topic that has been discussed among professional public speakers (people who get paid to speak in public) on linked-in a bit. Some speakers have complained of seeing audience members "twittering" during presentations. The response has been mixed and may be slightly generational (that's my non-scientific impression).

I have invited people to "tweet" at our CLEs about the CLE a few times recently, though I don't know the results. I have tweeted tips from my speakers as they are speaking at a Pincus CLE and seen these tips re-tweeted.

I am currently talking with some of my techies on how to intentionally integrate Twitter and Facebook into live CLE seminars and especially in conjunction with our webinars.

I noticed that Peach New Media already appears to be doing stuff like this.

Maybe it is time for Tim Baran to do another Survey? Since he has more followers on Twitter, I'll let him do it - but Tim, you have to send me the results!

And, if you are looking for a primer on using Twitter for your own business (CLE, law firm or othewise) I recommend Mashable's Twitter Guidebook and also Twitter 101 for Business.

And please, feel free to follow me at @PincusProEd (CLE conversations) and/or @faithpincus (public speaking tips and quotes)

Merry Twittering and Happy Facebook everyone.

Use unbillable time wisely: develop speaking skills & speak at CLE programs

Faith Pincus — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:46:55 -0800

I recently read a couple of posts at Above The Law detailing the drastic reduction in average billable hours for associates in 2009.

Their survey showed average associate billing for 2009 at less than 1600 hours (no surprises there). The pithy follow up post by Kashmir Hill discusses what's left for associates to do (besides Facebook and Mafia Wars) - she's pretty funny actually.

Suggestions provided by legal recruiter Dan Binstock, include:

Write articles.

Write speeches and present at conferences.

Help partners with business development.

Write articles, speeches and present at conferences really should just be one big bullet point. This list is missing: hone your skills and increase your knowledge base. But I'll get to that in another post.

My focus in this post is on Dan's second suggestion: create presentations and speak at CLE conferences.

It's an important, but often overlooked, suggestion, especially at the big law firms.

I get approached by solo and small firm practitioners to speak at my CLE programs on a regular basis. But I can't remember ever hearing from a senior associate (or any associate) at a large law firms. It's an interesting trend.

Solos and small firm practitioners - painfully aware of their need to market their services to get paid - know how valuable it is to speak in public.

For solo / small firm practitioners, the benefits include:

more exposure in the legal community, which leads to...
client and consulting referrals, as well as...
reputation building, and of course,
networking, etc.

For associates at larger law firms, the benefits are the same, plus:

good "corporate citizen" points when it comes time for bonuses, reviews and partnership (i.e. it helps answer the perennial question: what have you done for the firm lately)
resume building for lateral moves,
and, ultimately, all of the above help tremendously if it ever comes time jump ship (voluntarily or not) and seek employment elsewhere.

So... kudos to Kashmir and Dan for reminding associates that when they have a few extra hours available, or a few hundred extra hours, they should be working on potential instructional presentations and pitching local, state and national bar associations, niche bar associations and CLE companies.

And for you procrastinators... follow the Nike method ... just do it.

How to improve CLE programs: speakers focus on their audience

Faith Pincus — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:37:17 -0800

When it comes to an attorney creating a CLE program, or any presentation, there is a right way and a wrong way to speak and teach. The right way: focus on the intended audience.

Who are they? What do they want? What’s in it for them?

Good speakers - CLE or otherwise - tailor their presentations to their audience - no matter how many times they have given it.

Speakers on auto-dial are the ones who phone it in. They may be top notch litigators or corporate attorneys at the peak of their game, but unless they tailor their presentation to the audience at hand, it just doesn’t matter. It does not cut it to whip out an old, tried and true Power Point and try to make it fit with the program theme. I've seen quite a few speakers do this and they may get through the presentation unscathed, but they do not make a great over all impression with their audience.

One of the fundamental rules of public speaking is that it is about your audience, not you. Meet their needs, and do it in a logical, and hopefully, somewhat entertaining fashion and you’re good to go.

In the CLE context you can find out from the provider who is attending, who is the typical audience, or get the registration list and have your assistant google them. You can ask the provider to send a short survey to the attendees to better tailor your program.

And for peet’s sake – when you get to the CLE the day of the event – mingle with the audience before the program starts. Introduce yourself. Ask attendees about their practice. Ask them why they are attending, if they have any particular concerns.

Don’t just go sit up on the dias and flip through your notes for 20 minutes until the program starts. Use the pre-speech time as an opportunity to:

Get to know your audience personally and better
Network
Make any last minute adjustments to your presentation based on the feedback you get

Remember, it’s always about your audience.