Canadian Lawyer 4Students

there are basically two jobs of a law student and social media can help you with both. no. 1 is to build and maintain networks with people who are going to be your future colleagues in the profession, and no. 2 is to get a job — and social media can help any student with both of these. sIMOn BORYs early in their careers. "There's nothing that says a student has to wait until they become a practising lawyer to engage in legal debates of the day," he says. Not only can social media help you get ahead as a law student, it can also come in handy when you become a practising lawyer. WCEL's Gage says an increasing number of law firms are using social media to communicate with their existing and potential clients. "Any law firm that doesn't have a presence in social media is getting somewhat left behind. So it's important for students to know these tools," he says. Untitled-2 1 Furlong and Geist both acknowledge their online presence has advanced their careers. Furlong's blog opened up a whole new career for him. It was so successful, he became a consultant two and a half years after launching it and now a bulk of the work he does is paid speaking engagements about legal issues that arise on his blog. For Geist, social media has become "a major tool for disseminating some of my ideas. It's great for interaction with the public because I have posts that sometimes generate hundreds of comments, and so I get some real feedback that way. Some of what I'm trying to do is take a closer look at trying to take the ideas and research that I work on and turn it into advocacy-related issues, and social media is critically important in that regard." If you're just starting out, Furlong offers this advice: "Create a blog or a web site, make that the core of your online presence, then use these other services [Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.] to circulate and distribute it, and also become an informed re-broadcaster of other people's observations and breaking news in the area." Borys says it's no longer enough to apply to a law firm with just a law degree, so students should really take advantage of what social media has to offer. "There are basically two jobs of a law student and social media can help you with both," he says. "No. 1 is to build and maintain networks with people who are going to be your future colleagues in the profession, and No. 2 is to get a job — and social media can help any student with both of these." ■ C A N A D I A N Law yer 4 students S p r i 12-07-18 1 9:53 AM ng 20 3 9

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