The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers just released its latest study -- and it's fascinating. Seems that 81% of top divorce lawyers in this country report that since 2005, they've experienced an increase in family law (divorce) cases using social networking evidence.
And by "social networking evidence," they mean Facebook.
Facebook, according to the divorce attorneys responding to the AAML survey, was the source of this divorce case evidence 66% of the time. (Tweets on Twitter became evidence in only 5% of the lawsuits.)
Apparently, savvy divorce lawyers are checking the Facebook pages of both petitioner and respondent, and more likely than not, they're discovering useful information there. Specific case examples weren't provided with the survey, but it's easy enough to imagine the kinds of things that "social networking evidence" involves.
This impacts more than family law matters, of course.
Looks like savvy attorneys in lots of cases other than family law matters should be - and probably already are - checking social media sites for possible evidence to use in a variety of matters. Defense attorneys in personal injury matters will be reading social media for evidence of fraudulent personal injury claims. Personal injury attorneys will be reading social media for evidence of advance warning of product defects. You get the idea.
Now, savvy law firms will be looking not only at entering Web 2.0 (social media) for their own marketing purposes, but they'll be surfing around Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. as part of their standard discovery practices, as well.
Looks like the need for law firms to master social media just became a lot more clearer to lots of folk.
6/29/10
Twitter Nuts & Bolts 4 Lawyers: A How-To Guide for Law Firms - My New Free E-Book
Ten Step Twitter Primer for Lawyers.
I'm offering this short primer on how attorneys and law firms can get started on Twitter for free on the web; you can download it or print it here.
Why bother with Twitter?
Not only are leading law firms already adopting sophisticated tweet strategies as part of their online marketing campaigns, more and more law firm clientele are using Twitter in their daily operations. Jackson Walker, Fulbright, and Vinson & Elkins are just three big firms that are heavily involved in the Twitter Universe. Large corporations like Ford Motor Company actually employ workers to do nothing but keep up with daily social media conversations (@ScottMonty).
Why read this e-Book?
Many attorneys and law firms still have not opened a Twitter account (much less more than one -- Jackson Walker had 14 at last count). And while there are numerous materials available online and in print that explain advanced communication methods and marketing techniques using Twitter, there are very few that take a professional step by step through the process of opening an account, adding the appropriate background, finding followers, and initiating dialouge via Twitter.
Be Tweeting in 15 Minutes or Less.
Which is exactly what Twitter Nuts n Bolts 4 Lawyers: a How-To Guide for Law Firms does. From Step 1 (Join Twitter) to Step 4 (Plan Your Tweeting Strategy) to Step 10 (Scheduling Tweets), this e-book gives lawyers the basic information they need to become proficient on Twitter, in a time-efficient way.
Hopefully, my short (12 page) complimentary e-book will help meet that need. Please feel free to read and use Twitter Nuts n Bolts 4 Lawyers: A How-To Guide for Law Firms with my compliments.
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