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Tweet, your Honour

26 July 2010

On the front page of The Scotsman today you were enticed into the Law & Legal Affairs Section with 'Tweet, your honour: "If Scottish lawyers are not listening to all those tweets, who is?" How Social media is changing law'.

On page 48 the headline is "It's time firms get tweeting to find potential new clients". David Lee (@davidleemedia) writes that "more and more lawyers are using Twitter as a powerful business tool". His article takes a look at tweeting by Michelle Hynes McIlroy, marketing manager at roadtrafficlaw.com who tweets at @legaleaglemhm, @roadtrafficlaw and @legaleaglettes. Michelle says that there are two possible paths for lawyers to take: "The first one is being adopted already and that is to simply ignore it and in my opinion rather appears to be like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Or we can be brave and reach out our hand to the virtual world, learn its language and talk, engage and do business with its inhabitants."

The article acknowledges that Inksters were one of those brave firms being "the first legal firm in Scotland to use Twitter". David Lee refers to Inksters different Twitter streams and in particular @CroftingLaw and @ScotsFamilyLaw.

Brian Inkster is quoted as saying: "I have made many good friends on Twitter over the past year and am meeting and connecting with new ones on a regular basis.

"Twitter is great for making connections with like-minded people and exchanging ideas and information. Many of these connections are other lawyers or people involved in the world of law. This has lead to a lot of profile-raising opportunities, all of which could indirectly result in potential clients finding me and my firm.

"It has also resulted in the direct referral of clients to me and my firm by people I tweet with. This doesn't happen overnight but takes time to develop once you have built up the connections and trust necessary. I have likewise made referrals to other tweeting lawyers in areas of the law or jurisdictions that my firm does not operate in."

Comments are also included in the article from Gillian Meighan (@GillianMeighan) and Neil Stevenson (@StevensonLaw) on the Law Society of Scotland's tweeting at @lawscot. Gillian, the Society's head of corporate communications, says: "We went through a little of the 'should we shouldn't we' debate before realising you just have to jump in and do it. We are pleased we did as it has linked us up to many contacts and become an important communication channel within a year." Neil, the Society's Director of Representation and Professional Support, points out that "the enthusiasm for social media still tends to come from individuals, rather than the overall business and many are still sceptical. I suspect even some of my colleagues wonder why on earth I would chose to use my time doing this, but the response is that I've made contacts and had conversations I would have just never had through other medium."

Read the full article at The Scotsman online: 'It's time firms get tweeting to find potential new clients'.

Download a PDF of the article: 'The Scotsman: It's time firms get tweeting to find potential new clients' (891KB)

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