A few days ago, Benzinga.com reported on a survey that asked corporate execs and their in-house counsel about their hiring practices when it came to retaining outside law firms. The survey was conducted by Greentarget Strategic Communications, ALM Legal Intelligence and Zeughauser Group and underscored a growing trend among a large number of the attorneys who serve in these corporate legal departments, particularly those responsible for vetting and hiring law firms. Strikingly, one of the factors taken into consideration and a determining one in who gets the company’s business is whether the law firm has a blog.
In addition to the blog factor, the Benziga piece pointed out social platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter, as tools that are being utilized in the hiring process.
All this points in one direction – the lines between personal and professional use of traditionally “private” web-based social forums are becoming more indistinct. Attention firms: on your mark, get set and tweet.