Not convinced?

This week, in an effort to teach lawyers how to effectively utilize this “emerging new media” the Canadian Bar Association hosted a webinar called “Social Media for Lawyers”.

Consider the following:

-          the emergence of law-targeted sites such as Legal OnRamp, JDSupra, MH Connected, and others;

-          the decision of Ontario’s Chief Justice to allow live blogging and “twittering” from the courtroom of the Ottawa mayor’s bribery trial;

-          court decisions which take note of, or actually rely on, evidence from Facebook;

-          numerous law schools (Harvard, U of T) and Canadian law firms (the “seven sisters” are represented) are engaged in the use of social media, including Twitter and Facebook;

-          the prevalence of large Canadian corporations on various social media sites – business development anyone?

Still not convinced?  During the webinar, the following statistics were provided:

Facebook: the #5 top global website boasts 132 million unique visitors per month and 300 million active users

Twitter: the fastest growing social network

LinkedIn: 43 million strongly business-oriented users

With targeted, consistent, appropriate use (lawyers must ensure they are compliant with their Rules of Professional Conduct), social media is an invaluable marketing tool – particularly for those practicing in a niche legal market (like Wortzman Nickle!).