To Tweet Or Not To Tweet? 5 Tips For Doing It Right 
By Linda Chiem
Law360, New York (August 14, 2013, 7:40 PM ET) -- Twitter’s status as a powerhouse in quickly disseminating information to a large audience may be off-putting to attorneys worried about the pitfalls of oversharing, but the social media platform can help attorneys effectively build their brand, establish expertise and connect with new or existing clients, experts say.
While there are no absolute set rules for the most effective use of Twitter’s 140-character format, firms and lawyers who are embracing it for professional marketing or social engagement purposes are using it well by staying knowledgeable, disseminating relevant information and engaging with their audience, legal and marketing consultants say.

“The Internet and social media, in particular, are echo chambers,” said legal consultant Peter Zeughauser of Zeughauser Group. “In many law firms today, they’ve made the decision as part of their strategy on building breadth and depth and establishing ‘go-to’ or ‘known-for’ status, and they’re marshaling their social media choices to support them.”

According to experts, here are five ways lawyers can effectively use Twitter to generate business and avoid potential pitfalls that may come with the microblogging format.

Rules for Attorney Tweets
If they haven’t already done so, law firms should adopt a social media policy or at least guidelines laying out how their attorneys are expected to conduct themselves when on Twitter and establishing when tweets can be attributed to the firm.

For example, are the attorneys tweeting out their own thoughts and opinions or are they purporting to represent their employer, the law firm?

There has to be a clear line separating the individual attorney from the law firm, which should maintain a centralized system — overseen by a few individuals or a marketing department — for tweeting messages under the firm’s Twitter handle, according to Elizabeth Lampert, president of Elizabeth Lampert PR, a public relations firm for national law firms.
“I’m an advocate for centralization because of the potential ramifications,” Lampert said. “When you’re representing the brand, I do believe there should be some internal training and some internal guidelines saying [that] if lawyers do tweet on their own, they’re representing their own opinions.”

On the other hand, Kevin O'Keefe, a trial attorney who now is CEO and publisher of law blog LexBlog Inc., says that for tweets to be most effective, they have to come from individual attorneys, so he supports what he calls a decentralized system.

“Individuals tweet; organizations do not tweet,” O’Keefe said. “I can certainly build a relationship

with you — an individual lawyer.”

Tweet with Substance
Establishing expertise in a particular practice area is a lawyer’s bread and butter, so spreading the message out to an audience over Twitter can only help build a lawyer’s individual brand. Attorneys should share links and comment about important news developments that affect their practice in order to position them as thought leaders, says Vivian Hood, managing director of client services for Jaffe PR, a public relations firm for law firms.

Zeughauser pointed out that law firms for years had sent out newsletters to their clients to keep them updated on relevant case developments and new industry regulations. Twitter allows lawyers to quickly spit out that information to a targeted audience who proactively decided to follow them.

“You’ve got to create value in that initial 140 characters so people understand it’s worth looking at,” Zeughauser said. “Only speak when you have something highly relevant to say. It has to be a topic of moment.”

Dan Gerber, a partner at New York law firm Goldberg Segalla, who co-chairs the firm’s global insurance services practice group, said he frequently stays on top of news in the insurance and reinsurance market by tweeting and retweeting current happenings or articles.
“Twitter is all about a discrete message, and law firms or even users tend to be all over the place,” Gerber said. “There has to be a focused use of Twitter, which can be a great resource for driving people to additional information.”

Go All In
Firms should tweet with frequency, which requires a commitment, Hood says. The goals can be small, just once daily or a few times a week, but establishing an online presence that has meaning and provides useful information takes repeated effort. Tweet, and followers will come, she says.

O’Keefe said it was important for attorneys to follow companies and decision-makers that are connected to their line of work because it forms a base from which lawyers can cull knowledge, identify potential clients or reach key influencers.

“If I’m a lawyer in Silicon Valley, I’m following every startup company, every venture capitalist partner, every business journal,” he said. “It’s about building [social media] equity. You have to listen and share stuff with people, and this is not about you just pushing your information out at other people.”

Lampert said people who are using Twitter well, attorneys included, know how to cultivate followers by figuring out who they want to be reaching out to and putting out information in a timely fashion that’s interesting to that group of followers.

Hood agreed, describing the platform as an easy and cost-effective way for lawyers to build their online reputations and directly connect with a relevant audience.

“The ability to choose whom to follow and to decide what content to share gives every tweet incredible potential,” she says. “It's a powerful tool for building deeper relationships with existing clients and contacts, on both a personal and professional level.”

Show Some Personality

Leave bland and boring to the legal briefs, because it has no place on Twitter, where personality and wit have to shine through in a 140-character tweet or else it gets lost in the fast-changing

news feed, consultants say.

“Lawyers should use Twitter as a way to show individual personality — avoid using generic marketing speak or legalese. Try to insert personality into your tweets,” Hood said. “But don't go too far. Behave online as you would in any professional situation — at a conference, in a meeting or on the golf course.”

While many lawyers are concerned about separating their professional and individual personas, giving your Twitter audience glimpses into your life outside of work, such as your weekend hobbies or family activities, can enhance your relationships with your followers, experts say.
“Being a lawyer is a lifestyle — it’s a decision you made, and who you are as a person is all one in the same that makes you attractive or unattractive,” O'Keefe said. “If you’re a good lawyer, you’re going to act professionally.”

Adhere to Ethics Rules

The most conservative of legal consultants would say there are many potential pitfalls associated with lawyers using Twitter, mainly when it comes to protecting client confidentiality, the perception of offering legal advice and attorney advertising — all of which are governed by rules of professional conduct for attorneys.

“Above all, if I were the chairman of the law firm, my biggest concern is that confidential proprietary information would be walking out the door,” Lampert said. “Someone can write something — not maliciously — but just because they don’t know.”

To avoid falling into such traps, it’s essential for individual attorneys to be careful and make clear that they’re not speaking on behalf of the firm as a whole, according to Lampert. They can also clarify that their tweets should not be construed as them offering legal advice by labeling their online profile with a disclaimer.

--Editing by Elizabeth Bowen and Richard McVay.