Social media can be a liability for attorneys. Yet, many have yet to master the rules to stay out of trouble. Using social media in a legal setting is a serious issue that it is being researched. A study was conducted titled “Ensuring an Impartial Jury in the Age of Social Media” for the Duke…
LinkedIn is the most effective platform for business development, networking, and professional development for attorneys. According to an In-House Counsel survey, “LinkedIn leads all other social networks in professional usage and perceived credibility….” While LinkedIn may seem complicated to navigate, here are some ways to use profiles more effectively. 1 – Clean it up. Your photo should…
Recently, prominent Pittsburgh defense lawyer James Ecker passed away. Usually attorneys don’t get so much media coverage, especially if they’re just known locally. However, Ecker had a long relationship with the media because of the way he communicated with reporters and how he described his high-profile clients who were accused of horrible crimes. He was…
Attorneys know that they have to be careful about what they put online, and they usually use social media sparingly, if at all. I’ve noticed that attorneys limit their social media activity to LinkedIn because they think it’s the safest. However, everyone has to be careful, no matter how professional a website might seem. One…
When I saw this news piece on Fox Chicago about a strip club opening next to a convent and school, I was surprised that the Mayor of Stone Park ran away from Dane Placko and shut the door on him, right on camera for all of Chicago (and the world online) to see. After all,…
I came upon an interesting article in Businessweek about“Argentina’s Dollar-Sniffing Wonder Dogs” and how they’re sniffing for US currency to prevent “capital flight” from that country. That’s the first time that I’ve seen something about dogs sniffing for money, not drugs, but I guess countries have to get creative to prevent disasters. It’s too bad…
Inside Counsel has an article called “37% of people say lawyers have ‘very low’ ethical standards” and the title really says it all: too many attorneys do not have a good reputation. The article gets that statistic from a Gallup poll that was conducted earlier this month, and even though we’re almost at a new…
There has been a lot of media coverage about what’s going on at Penn State, which has resulted in thefiring of head coach Joe Paterno. Actually, Penn State didn’t use the word “fire”, but I am, because that’s what happened. He was planning on retiring from that position, but they showed him the door. I’d…
A lot of men have bald or thinning hair, some have a potbelly, and others aren’t thrilled about getting older. You can make money from that! Or at least from being bald. No, this isn’t a sales pitch to grow your hair, but a way a lawyer is pitching himself to get new clients in…
I read an interesting post at Above the Law about judges who have “punished” misbehaving attorneys by inviting them to a “kindergarten party” and “a ‘special’ emergency refresher course in first year ethics and civility.” It’s an obvious case of a “shame-on-you” discipline program, and both of those special “invites” sound like harsh reactions to immature…
