Go Out and Friend Someone Today by Jennifer Bicknell

Larry Rice has many opportunities to lecture throughout the country but sometimes he does not have to travel too far from home. In this case, he only had to travel up one flight of stairs to conduct his latest Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) Seminar where Larry hosted lawyers from the Memphis area Wednesday afternoon. The topic of the CLE was “How to Love Social Media.” It focused on how to use social media to your advantage in your law practice. While lecturing on Facebook, Larry focused first on how to get “friends” on your Facebook site because the more friends on Facebook the greater your visibility. Next, Larry spoke about the ethics involved with Facebook and a lawyer’s duty under the Rules of Professional Conduct. Besides name-recognition, Larry also discussed the tools on Facebook that a law firm can use in advertising. Larry talked about how to utilize these tools to reach the maximum number of people. After discussing how to use Facebook to your advantage, Larry gave some helpful tips on the use of Facebook such as when the best time to post is and the types of posts that earn the most “likes.” After discussing Facebook, Larry also spoke about Linkedin and Avvo and the professional networking opportunities available on these sites. As times change, the way attorneys used to get clients (yellow page ads mainly) just do not cut it anymore. More and more, people look to the web for advice and if they find a name that they are familiar with they are more likely to choose that person. The moral of this story; go out and “friend” someone today.