The Courtroom’sAll-A-Twitter:Social Media’s Impact

on the Legal Community

Michael SommermeyerCourt Information Officer, Clark County Courts

sommermeyerm@clarkcountycourts.us

About Your Speaker

Twitter & Facebook “WordyMouth”Twitter & Facebook “WordyMouth”

Former News Anchor/Journalist.

Created first website in 1993.

Live Journal-er turned Blogger.

Social Media Early-Adopter.

Public Relations and Marketing Strategist.

Social Media and the use of social media tools by the judiciary and the legal community.

What I Did Today!

Social Media Impacts the Law

A juror in Arkansas tweeted after a $12 million verdict.

Nine jurors in Florida searched Google for more information resulting in a mistrial.

Bar Associations Twittering and Blogging.

Attorneys mixing Facebook with Billboards.

I just had to tell

someone!

Can the genie be put back into the bottle?

A Social Media Channel For Everyone

In A Sea of Social Media Tools

A Popularity Contest

Attract someone to say “Hi!”

Make Them Like You, and

Obtain Their Trust for life.

Get Into Their Heads

Bar Associations uniquely

positioned to Lead, Teach and Advise members on the power and misuse of Social Media.

Measure MomentsMeasure Moments

A Kind Word A Kind Word Can Warm Can Warm Three Cold Three Cold Winter Winter Months.Months.

Japanese ProverbJapanese Proverb

But How Do You Measure a Feeling?

But How Do You Measure a Feeling?

Have You Recently...Have You Recently...

connected with friends or business partners with useful contacts?

sent business to a friend/partner?

recommended them for something?

helped them get ahead in some way, shape or form?

answered some question they had?

If You’re Not Talking, Someone Is

People using social media to ranking good and bad judges.

People complaining about bad customer service.

Competitors encouraging positive feedback.

Sour types complaining just to complain.

Social Media Opens Doors It’s human nature to talk about people,

services and events.

Ignore social media at your own peril.

Engagement leads to better relationships.

Traditional media less relevant.

Reach new engaged and empowered audiences.

Choose Tools For Specific Objectives

Legal Social Media Presence

Text Me!

Never Leave Without a Map

Some channels are better than others.

Strategy dictates the channel (tactic) used.

Engagement leads to better relationships.

Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Choose channels according to strategy.

One channel may not work for every goal.

Certain channels require content creation – others require content monitoring.

Filling the Bucket Requires Planning

Time Commitment.

Trading Dollars for Time.

Marketing, PR and Branding Resources Must Be in the Same Bucket.

P.O.S.T. Your GoalsP.O.S.T. Your Goals

People – Assess Customer Social Media Behaviors

Objectives - Decide What You Want to Accomplish; Performance Goals.

Strategy - Plan For How Relationships With Customers Will Change.

Technology - Decide What Social Tools to Use.

Possible ObjectivesPossible Objectives

Increased Awareness

Customer Satisfaction

Improved Reputation

Improved Influence

Repeat Business

Define MeasurementsDefine Measurements

Increase Awareness of Law Firm Specialization by 25% in the next 12 months.

Improve retention of new clients by 60% at year’s end.

Improve Pro Bono participation rates from 55 to 75% in the next 12 months.

Don’t Count ...Don’t Count ...

Number of Followers

Number of Clicks

Page Views

Facebook Page Fans (Likes)

ReTweets

Do Count ...Do Count ...

Number of new customers.

Number of influential people talking about your organization/business.

Things you learn about your customers.

Number of people who fill out online form or text.

Reduction in phone support costs.

Twitter.com – Build community.Facebook.com – Involve constituents.Wordpress.org – Create/Distribute Blog content.Linkedin.com – Career relationships.Lextweet.com – Professional Networking.Google Alerts – Monitor Social Media.TweetBeep.com – Monitor Twitter Mentions.

Basic Social Media Tools

Social Media allows for instant monitoring, opens up communication and can extend other efforts.

Ignore at your peril.

Tell your story directly to many audiences.

Time intensive and requires diligence.

Rapid response needed to be effective.

The Least You Need to Know

Social Media opens doors when used appropriately.

Rules and strategies required – limits are needed for certain forums.

Social media tools encourage communication.

Use social media tools to engage communities, clients and customers.

The Least You Need to Know

• The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists, Gregory Curtis, Random House, 2007, ISBN 1-400-07887-3, p. 230

• Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis, Esther Herrmann, Josep Call, María Victoria Hernàndez-Lloreda, Brian Hare, Michael Tomasello, Science Vol. 317. no. 5843, pp. 1360 – 1366 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/317/5843/1360

• Jurors: Keep Your E-Fingers to Yourselves, Eric Sinrod, FindLaw, September 15, 2009 http://blogs.findlaw.com/technologist/2009/09/jurors-keep-your-e-fingers-to-yourselves.html

• A Legal Battle: Online Attitude vs. Rules of the Bar, John Schwartz, The New York Times, September 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13lawyers.html?_r=1

• http://www.22tweets.com/• http://www.lvcourtsblog.com• http://www.twitter.com/NHCourts• http://www.facebook.com/ClarkCountyCourts.NV