The Business Of Law

Machiavelli’s “Prince” wisely observed: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” but when it comes to social networking sites, some experts are recommending that bosses keep their subordinates at arms’ length.

As social networking expands at lightning speed, faster than even mores and ethical rules can keep up, employment lawyers are warning that bosses who “friend” their subordinates on social networking sites are exposing themselves to legal risk.

Tresa Baldas over at the National Law Journal had a great piece recently about the risk.  She writes:

Managers sending friend requests to staff via Facebook, Twitter and other sites constitute a growing trend in the workplace. And it’s one that needs to stop, the lawyers stress, because online relations between boss and employee can trigger or exacerbate a host of legal claims, including harassment, discrimination or wrongful termination, as well as touch off cries of favoritism if the boss friends only a select few subordinates.

The problem, of course, is that social networking sites often contain piles of highly personal information about one’s family, religion, sexuality, hobbies, lifestyle, you name it.  What if a worker is fired for a performance issue, and then later claims that the termination was because of some kind of discrimination?

Ordinarily in employment law, the plaintiff would have to prove that as the basis of the claimed discrimination, for example, the employer knew that the employee was gay, or was of a particular ethnicity, or religious group, or had a health condition of some kind, which was known to the employer. Now with the advent of social networking, plaintiffs may be able to prove “knowledge” not because it was said in the office but because it was simply posted. All they must prove is that the boss and subordinate were connected on Facebook.  That could be enough to prove knowledge and it would bolster the plaintiff’s claim.

The bottom line according to the article:

“Bosses who “friend” their subordinates on social networking sites may seem warm and harmless, but they’ve got liability risk written all over them.”

So should we stop any social networking between bosses and subordinates?
No. If companies wanted to shield themselves from employment liability they should in my experience first say goodbye to the office party, night shifts and small satellite offices staffed only by salespeople.  So instead, I am suggesting that companies consider the issue and whether some sort of sensible guidelines could be found to allow for collegiality.

Well, this is not my legal opinion, but I suppose each company is different, and the thing that likely makes the most sense is for companies to get their legal and HR departments together and come up with sensible guidelines that protect both management and employees.

Additionally, as a general rule, think of social networking as a giant cocktail party.  If you wouldn’t pull out pictures of your bachelor party at a cocktail party with your colleagues and subordinates there, then it likely doesn’t make sense to do it on Facebook either.

Evan Brown, who’s a well known legal blogger recently published a great piece over at Law.com.  He outlines 5 reasons why lawyers should use social media.  His list is as follows:

1.     TO LEARN
2.    TO EXPAND AND MAINTAIN A NETWORK
3.    TO BECOME A BETTER COMMUNICATOR
4.    TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE PROFESSION
5.    TO HAVE FUN

You’ll notice that Brown leaves off one obvious one: “To get clients”.  That might seem a bit counter-intuitive given the importance of digital and social media to the marketing world.  But let me explain a bit (with Brown’s help).

Here’s what Brown says:

“(Getting clients) is intentionally absent from the list because all the other reasons merge into that one. By learning, networking, helping others, communicating better and having the appropriate amount of fun, you will become a better lawyer. Clients want good lawyers. You see the connection.”

He goes on to write:

“Avoid thinking of — and using — social media strictly as a means to get clients. This looks phony, and your readers and contacts will see through it. Just be yourself. Be genuine and authentic, and people will read and follow you.”

To be sure, he’s 100% correct on both of these points, but I’ll take it a step further.  I would add to Brown’s list “Connect with your customers”.

As I’ve said before, as Sokolove Law, social media is a vital part of how we stay engaged with the two audiences who matter most to us, our co-counsel firms, and our clients.  Social media allows for an engagement and exchange of ideas that was simply not possible before.  That’s why it’s so valuable.

But to be fair to Brown, lists always sound better in groups of five not six!

As the Chief Marketing Officer at Sokolove Law, I spend a good deal of my day thinking about the two audiences we care about most.  Our co-counsel firms—essentially our customers, and the people who come to us seeking legal assistance—our clients.

As the largest marketers of legal services in the country, we know a lot about how to reach potential clients, and that’s why so much of our marketing is now done online.  Whether it’s through traditional internet advertising, or community sites like our award winning Mesothelioma Resource Center, of the hundreds of thousands of potential cases we vet each year, more enter the pipeline from the internet than from television advertising.  That’s pretty astounding when you think about it.

But Internet marketing is about more than just web sites and banner ads.  Instead, social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and emerging technologies like Google’s recently launched Sidewiki are changing the way people get their information, make their purchasing decisions and how they interact with companies.  Consider some statistics:

Facebook
•    There are more than 200 million active users of Facebook.
•    100 million of them log on at least once a day.

•    All told Facebook users spend 2.6 trillion minutes on Facebook daily. source

YouTube
•    There are more than 70 million videos on YouTube.
•    It would take 412 years and 4 months to view all the videos on YouTube.
(sources here, here and here)

Blogs
•    There are more than 346 million people who read blogs.
•    77% of active Internet users read blogs.
•    There are more than 900,000 blog posts in a 24 hour period. source

Twitter
•    There have been more than 1 trillion Tweets to date, (see an up to the minute count here)
•    There are more than 3 million Tweets per day.

While these stats are enough to make any marketer pay attention, the real value of social media is a little more nuanced.

There’s a great article that I came across recently that makes a very basic point about social media:

“Social media is more than just communication, it’s customer engagement. If you’re not engaging with customers using social media, you’re not maximizing your effort.”

That really is exactly the point.  Social media has made it possible for savvy companies to engage and interact with their customers instead of just communicating at them.  And that can make all the difference.

One of the things that makes the Sokolove business model unique is that we seek to develop deep relationships with our co-counsel and our clients rather than just churn the lead machine.  These relationships are based on trust and partnership.  For our clients, we are the trusted source of legal advice and the last safety net in a system that has likely failed them tremendously.  For our co-counsel we are a valued partner providing them with the marketing tools to grow their practice and expand their business.

Over the past thirty years, our success has been built on these relationships, and they are critical to our growth, which is why we are constantly on the lookout for new ways to interact, not just broadcast at them.   If you’re engaging with your customers, and in our case our clients, then you’re deepening that fundamental relationship.