Leading a large law firm is similar to steering a ship. If you navigate in the wrong direction, or don’t have a clear idea of your destination you may never arrive. It is difficult but not impossible to lead when headed into the unknown (think Christopher Columbus). Creating a social media policy presents a challenge for leaders like you because you may lack the time to become completely versed in all the technology that exists. So to make it easier, I have simplified social media policies by comparing them to three classic films. Which movie does your social media policy most closely resemble?
Footloose (1984): Complete Prohibition
In Footloose, Kevin Bacon’s character moves to a small, conservative town that has outlawed dancing and rock music. The town has clearly gone too far, but it isn’t until the local Reverand (played by John Lithgow) sees townsfolk burning books that he realizes his policy needs a rethink.
Does this prohibition sound like your firm’s policy towards social media? I remember when I first starting writing about social media over two years ago and spoke with a friend at a top law firm in Manhattan. I asked him, “What’s your firm’s policy towards social media?” His answer, “No social media.”
You can call this the “Footloose” policy, or if you prefer the movie “Witness” the “Amish” policy, but whatever you call it, it’s not an an effective policy for a modern law firm. Statistics from Greentarget, the ABA, and ALM Media all demonstrate that large communities of in-house lawyers across all ages use social media. A complete prohibition of these tools is archaic at best.
A Few Good Men (1992): Too Much Control
Led by an all-star cast of Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore A Few Good Men involves a trial in which two soldiers stand accused of murdering a fellow Marine of their unit. The two soldiers hazed a soldier who had failed to respect the chain of command by blowing the whistle on his superiors.
In the military, chain of command is extremely important to keeping our country safe. In the film (without ruining the ending for those who haven’t seen it yet), the chain of command fails to protect an innocent soldier. In law firms, “chain of command” means “control the message.”
“No tweets, posts or messages may be shared without approval by a partner level attorney and a review by the Public Relations, Communications, and Marketing Committee.”
Does this rule sound like your firm’s social media policy? I call this policy “A Few Good Men” because only a few individuals in your firm are allowed to speak or approve speech of those using social media. I’ve compared this policy to a cocktail party at which an associate must text the managing partner before making any comments or engaging in conversation to make sure everything he says is approved.
Such a policy would be impractical, nonsensical, and serve no purpose. You trust your associates to attend social gatherings without revealing client confidences, inadvertently creating attorney-client relationships, and violating ethics laws with regard to solicitation. So why not trust your associates online?
Perhaps the permanence of the online world terrifies you. But that’s just a matter of proper training to ensure that your lawyers can handle social media.
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003): Sensible Guidelines
4 Comments. Leave new
Great post Adrian! Liked the “Amish policy” metaphor!
Thanks! No offense to Amish people of course.
Great categorical comparisons…. We just need to get some updated movies to help the younger folks, who handle Social Media, out.
That’s true, the older ones are much more fun to write about though.