Canadian Lawyer

LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT The Facebook conundrum Is there really value for law firms in having a page on a social media site populated by more than 800 million people? BY KEVIN MARRON work of more than 800 million people, many of whom build their online lives around Facebook and would see exclu- sion from it as something akin to a social death. Or to assume that those people aren't your clients or, if they are, they don't want to friend their law firm. "It's not where our clients are right T now. We don't find Facebook to be an effective business tool for the legal pro- fession," says Sean Pratap, digital man- ager at Norton Rose Canada LLP, one of many large firms that have chosen not to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. Pratap says he can see the value of using Facebook for communicating with students and this has been done suc- cessfully by a couple of Norton Rose practices elsewhere in the world. It is not, however, the social media platform his firm has chosen to put its efforts into. "We have to pick our spots," he says, noting that the firm's Twitter feed is very successful. "Our Twitter strategy is more tied to where our clients are and how they want to communicate with us." The same question was keenly debat- ed at Torys LLP before it launched its Facebook page (facebook.com/TorysLLP) in October 2010, at a time when few large firms had taken this route. "Lawyers are risk averse," says the firm's marketing manager Maureen Peets. "People were hesitant to do it because they weren't sure o be on Facebook or not to be. That is a question now facing many law firms. Whether to put up your shingle on a net- that it was the right forum for informa- tion about Torys." What Torys decided, however, was to use its Facebook page to post the kind of content that wouldn't appear on the firm's official web site, such as information about pro bono work, student programs, social events, and community involve- ment. "It's more casual. The photographs are funny, with people wearing goofy hats and pink wigs, that kind of thing. It shows visitors that there is a human side to Torys," says Peets. 22 A PRIL 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com The page is particularly popular with students and it also provides an oppor- tunity, not only for lawyers, but also for Torys' staff and law clerks to make a con- tribution. This differentiates it from the web site that is mostly about the lawyers and what they do professionally. This is typical of the Facebook pages of larger law firms, according to Jordan Furlong, senior consultant with Stem Legal Web Enterprises Inc. "A law firm web site needs to be professional, respect- able, buttoned-down. Facebook allows MATT DALEy

• Cover