1. Integrating Social Media
Into Your Law Practice
Sara Foskitt (@foskitt)
D. Todd Smith (@dtoddsmith)
Michelle Cheng (@foodiethenew40)

2. Major Social Media Platforms for
Lawyers
• Blogs • Texas Bar Circle
• Twitter • Lawyers.com
• Facebook • Legal OnRamp
• Google Plus • Martindale-Hubbell
• LinkedIn • LawLink
• YouTube • Justia
• Avvo • Yelp
• JD Supra
Examples…

7. TWITTER

11. Why Use Social Media to
Promote Your Practice?
• Establish firm brand and market reach
• Share expertise and news
• Increase firm visibility and traffic
• Inform clients about upcoming seminars and
events
• Create goodwill by pointing to helpful
resources
• Explain laws relevant to practice area

12. The Power of Social Media
• More than 800 million active Facebook users –
over half log on to FB on any given day.
• 20% of all internet users use Twitter or another
service to share or view updates
• Business use: Twitter up 250%, Facebook up
192% since Spring 2009
• No fad—a fundamental shift in communication

13. Social Media Etiquette
• Don’t sell
• Don’t over-post
• The more positive you are, the more people
will want to do business with you
• Be careful who you add as your friend
• Know what you want to be known for and
focus on that area
• Use common sense

14. What Not to Post on Social Media

15. Ethical Considerations
• DR 7.07(a): Must file advertisements before or
concurrently with first dissemination
• In 2005, SCOTX expressly applied the Advertising
Rules to electronic or digital communications
• Blogging took root shortly thereafter, followed by
Facebook, Twitter, and others
• No one knew for sure how the ARs would apply to
new media
• Issue has reached new importance, since new
statute treats violation of ARs as barratry

16. The Bar’s Take: Comment 17
• In 2010, the Advertising Review Committee
released Interpretive Comment 17
• Purpose was to address issues with different
kinds of Internet-based advertisements,
including blogs, social media, and web-based
display ads
• Focus is whether they are advertisements
subject to filing requirements, but helps guide
behavior on social media for all purposes

17. IC 17 on Blogs and Status Updates
“Blogs or status updates considered to be
educational or informational in nature are
not required to be filed with the Advertising
Review Department. However, attorneys
should be careful to ensure that such
postings do not meet the definition of an
advertisement subject to the filing
requirements.”

18. IC 17 on Landing Pages
“Landing pages such as those on Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. where the landing
page is generally available to the public are
advertisements. Where access is limited to
existing clients and personal friends, filing
with the Advertising Review Department is
not required.”

19. What Does This Mean?
• Electronic communications like social media
posts are advertisements in the public media
subject to the filing requirements of DR 7.07
unless exempt
• DRs protect the public from false or misleading
information
• Violate the filing requirements without
meeting an exemption or making false or
misleading statements = exposing oneself to
barratry under new statute

20. Where Is the Line?
• Exercise caution about providing information beyond
what is exempt under DR 7.07(e)
• But the ARC says filing is not required for blogs or
status updates that are merely educational or
informative in nature
• The most common types of legal-related blog and
social-media posts do not trigger filing requirements
or related rules, as long as the content would not
otherwise be considered an advertisement and is not
false or misleading
• Not a safe harbor per se, but a good rule of thumb

21. LinkedIn Example of Issues
Caution: 7.02(4) prohibits comparisons to other lawyer’s services,
unless substantiated by verifiable objective data. This is probably
ok.

22. • DR 7.03(a)
violations?

23. Not unethical. Good marketing, until she says “hire me.”
Could be breaching
confidentiality?