Young Lawyers Are Using Social Media to Gain Authority - and Business

Though it may seem as if everything about the way lawyers market themselves today is changing, one thing remains constant - work is still gotten based on authority.

An authority is someone others look to as experts when they need help. In past days young lawyers just starting out were largely removed from the arena of attracting new business because it may have appeared as if they just weren’t ready to be authorities. An authority was the older, more established partner. They had paid their dues - both at the workplace and the country club - and knew how to demonstrate their knowledge in order to have earned that trust. Eventually, the word spread and the business followed.

Back then, and it wasn’t much more than a mere two years ago, younger lawyers may have been just as authoritative; they just didn’t have the ready means to demonstrate their passion and expertise.

Web 2.0 changes the equation.  Anyone today, even young lawyers fresh out of law school, can quickly become trusted authorities. They can do it by contributing answers to questions on LinkedIn, by adding their profile on TweetLaw.com, by keeping a blog, by posting on Twitter, and by joining conversations and communities for lawyers and legal issues that have sprouted on the web.  They’ll be demonstrating just how knowledgeable they actually are.

The lawyers participating in the web conversations are not only making solid contributions to the general knowledge base and becoming authorities, they’re also establishing a lot of connections and they’re making them quickly. Their referral networks are growing at a much faster rate than they would be if they simply took people to lunch, joined a committee at church, or stayed active in their local bar association.

The challenge, of course, remains, getting to yes. Will ageism come into play once the legal services buyer realizes that the authority is not as, ahem, “established,” as his or her contributions to the conversation suggest?  After all, the buyers of legal services are typically more senior and used to purchasing legal services from their more senior peers.

I don’t think, in the long run, that age will play a factor. The web is tearing down many things, including boundaries to authority and the route through which it is established.  Right now, every young lawyer fresh out of law school is leaving with a plump list of friends and contacts on their Facebook pages, and migrating them over to their LinkedIn profiles.  They’ve already begun cultivating their network, and are establishing the means to bring in business now and down the road as their careers progress. By casting a wide net and participating in the online conversation, they’ve skirted gaining entry to the club via the approval of the old man on the membership committee.  They don’t need his approval, because they’re already on the inside.