59% of Lawyers Have Joined Online Social Networks

By Larry Bodine, Esq., a business development advisor in Glen Ellyn, IL.  He has helped law firms nationwide earn millions of dollars using strategy, business development training and individual attorney coaching. Larry can be reached at 630.942.0977 and www.larrybodine.com.

In a significant new trend, almost two out of three in private practice are now using online networks for professional and business development purposes. In-house counsel have joined the trend too, with 48% of in-house counsel becoming a member of an online social network.

The 2008 Networks for Counsel Survey, conducted by Leader Networks – a consultancy that helps businesses foster online social networks – and commissioned by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell – an online directory with law firm marketing features – is the first survey of its scope to examine the social networking practices of legal professionals. 

“The legal profession is traditionally slow to adopt new technologies, so attorneys’ readiness to use online networking tools represents a significant shift in behavior," said Vanessa DiMauro, president of Leader Networks and author of The 2008 Networks for Counsel Survey.

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Predictably, it's the lawyers aged 25-35 who have adapted most quickly.  67 percent of 25-35 year olds, 49 percent of 36-45 year olds, and 36 percent of 46-55+ year olds reported membership in an online social network.

Use of online networking for professional purposes (as opposed personal uses like staying in touch with friends) increases with age.  Interestingly, corporate counsel are more than three times more likely to use their network for professional reasons.

But what lawyers really want is an online social network for lawyers only, like the members of the State Bar of Texas have. 41% of lawyers in private practice, and 48% of in-house lawyers are interested in joining a lawyers-only network.  The younger the lawyer, the greater the interest. However about 40% of lawyers said they "didn't know," meaning there is the typical "wait and see" attitude among lawyers. (Predictably, the study reported that Martindale-Hubbell was seen as being best positioned to create this lawyers-only network. Ralph Calistri, CEO of Martindale-Hubbell and senior vice president of Global Client Development at LexisNexis said Martindale-Hubbell plans to launch a global network for the legal community later this year.)

Business development

The research found that lawyers use online network to hire counsel, to find answers to key questions and to engage in topics of interest. A substantial proportion of both corporate counsel (45%) and lawyers in private practice (45%) believe that online network are likely to change the business and practice of law in the next five years.

The reason is that networking is a primary source of new business for lawyers. Private practice attorneys rated client referrals or recommendations first (59 percent) and peer referral or recommendation second (55 percent) as the most effective means of networking.

The most effective means of getting referrals is in-person networking, which I strongly advocate to the law firms and lawyers I advise.  However, it takes effort, and there's the rub:

• 52 percent agreed or strongly agreed that it is harder to stay connected with colleagues and peers.
• Only 16 percent of respondents felt that they had the time or resources to leverage current opportunities to network with their peers.
• More than 60 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it is hard to connect at conferences.
• 61 percent reported networking internationally is difficult. 

So the high-tech solution has become online social networks, as well as blogs, e-newsletters, websites and listservs. The top five attributes considered when corporate counsel are deciding to join a professional legal network, are:

• Access to information not found anywhere else (46 percent);
• Ease of exchanging information/experiences (45 percent);
• Ability to identify, evaluate and select private practice attorneys quickly (29 percent);
• Finding the “right” attorney directly (26 percent);
• Speed of collaboration (21 percent).

The Networks for Counsel study investigated three core sets of questions: (1) How and why do lawyers network? What challenges are they finding? (2) How much networking is done online vs. offline? Why? Is it for personal or professional reasons? (3) What do they expect from an online professional network? What attributes are critical to active use? Does this differ by role (private practice vs. corporate counsel?)

The study used a broad-based sample to ensure the ability to segment:

• A representative sample of 673 lawyers – 224 Private Practice attorneys and 449 Corporate Counsel, enabling comparisons between these two groups
• Global representation across 22 countries
• Broad base of industries, with Financial Services, Manufacturing and Healthcare the top three
• Range of company sizes from 100 to greater than 10,000 staff
• Wide distribution of age and responsibility, with the greatest proportion in the 35-45 age range
• Majority of respondents either decision makers or influencers