These are slides from a panel presentation webinar for the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism which has published a book called Essential Qualities of the Professional Lawyer, edited by Paul Haskins. I wrote the chapter entitled "eProfessionalism."

1. Chapter on eProfessionalism
By Stephanie Kimbro
July 24, 2014
Webinar panel presentation for ABA Standing
Committee on Professionalism

2.  What comes up when you Google your name
or your firm’s name?
• Online presence matters – Control yours, be findable
• Content generation
• SEO
• Brand building
• Keeps you updated
• You become a resource
• For professional development
• For client development

3.  Geographic locale
• Some applications are more popular in certain areas
 Practice areas and target audiences
• Ex. LinkedIn viewed by businesses and higher-income
clients. Avvo generates a lot of consumer traffic.
 Personality and preferences
 Your state(s)’ ethics rules
 Remember the importance of building a personal presence
online
• Be genuine and transparent
• Provide useful content and share
 Think of the Internet as a conversation. As lawyers
we need to be engaged in the conversation around
legal services that takes place online.

4. Find the balance of the professional and
the personal. Learn to use privacy settings
and restricted lists to protect personal
content.
What “voice” do I want to have online?
How will I balance the personal and
professional in applications where I have a
mix of contacts?

5. Where are my prospective clients?
Who will I connect with? Who will I allow to
connect with me?
What content do I want to share?
What value can I provide to the online
conversation around legal services?

6.  Head straight to the privacy setting
immediately after registering on a social
media application.
 Be aware of the terms of the user agreement
with the service provider.
• Know what information the site is able to share from
your profile and how the flow of data is controlled,
recorded, regurgitated, etc.
• Know if others are able to post messages, ads, photos
or other items on your profile or site that could reflect
negatively.

7.  Expect to run into your clients & their family & friends within
different social media applications.
 Be prepared for how you will respond to them.
 Let clients know your policy towards social media.
• Include in your engagement agreement that you will not
“friend” or “follow” clients if you choose this policy
• Or take a different approach to this and invite with
disclaimers
 On your static site consider:
• Explaining the risks and importance to client of protecting
the confidentiality of their information.
• Teach restraint in posting information online related to their
legal matters.

8.  Educate rather than restrict.
 Create a social media policy for your practice so that your employees
understand your intentions and expectations.
 Disclaimers
• Recommend that your employees use disclaimers if they are providing
general legal advice on any social networking sites or posting on their own
blogs.
• Remind employees not to post names of clients or even hypothetical client
situations.
 It could be possible that the client or someone who knows the client is
reading.
 Require that employees include a disclaimer on their personal blog and other
profiles stating that their views are personal and not those of the firm.
• Remember their right to free speech.

9.  Stephanie Kimbro
 skimbro@burton-law.com
 virtuallawpractice.org
 @StephKimbro
 My books:
• Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services
Online, ABA/LPM, October 2010.
• Limited Scope Legal Services: Unbundling and the
Self-Help Client ABA/LPM, March 2012.
• Consumer Law Revolution: Lawyer’s Guide to Online
Marketing Tools, ABA/LPM, June 2013