Indian Law: How Lawyers and Interns Can Use Social Media Effectively

Social media has made a fresh, new arrival in the field of Indian law. The buzz is that India has over a million lawyers and 80000 law graduates annually. Most lawyers are not interested in social media networking. Typically, lets face it – lawyers are disliked and distrusted by ordinary people because there is very little visibility or transparency about the profession and how it really works. Law is perceived as a system that works against ordinary people and this makes it more important for lawyers to build public trust. Social media is an effective way for lawyers, interns and law students to connect with people from all walks of life and involve them to initiate dialogue and boost social interaction with them.

Indian Law: How Lawyers Can Regain Public Trust through Social Media Networking

Indian law is complex but social media networks make it easier and faster for lawyers and students to interact and build contacts professionally and personally. Social media interactions enable lawyers and law students to spread the word online about what they do professionally, link readers to their blog or website and become active on popular social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon. Such online interactions can:

• boost a lawyer’s visibility to the rest of the world.
• bring in more business.
• build his/her credibility to prospective clients.
• get others on the friends’ networks interested in starting a conversation.
• make it possible to connect with people from all walks of life and help them develop trust in what you are doing.

A word of caution - a wrong word can tarnish one’s image completely. Judicious use of social media is a good way to provide correct, factual information about your work as a legal professional.

Indian Law: How Your Social Media Profile Can Enhance Your Bread and Butter Story

Reaching out to communicate to a huge audience is every lawyer’s dream because it enables them to showcase their skills to a staggering number of people. Without a sales pitch, or an ad, this is possible through word-of-mouth on your social networks. The power of social networking starts with your friends. Not only is social media networking faster and more interactive but it enables you to mold other people’s perception about your persona every day. The online visibility you will build is immense; the outcome will definitely be beneficial.

Lawyers and interns can use their platforms to talk about their experience and expertise online and give opportunities to others to discuss it in an interesting way.

Suppose you have a Facebook profile. You can add your friends, colleagues and other contacts. You can update your FB status  in the box that reads, “Whats on your mind?” by writing something like, “Meeting schedules with telecom experts on a case is as exciting as watching FIFA” or something like, “Teleconferencing with corporates to finalize a draft agreement on ….”You can also make your profile more interesting by adding famous quotes in the box or funny jokes that get your friends and contacts to comment on.

Indian Law: Daily Social Media To-Do List for You

First, it is essential to create your membership in popular social media networks such as  Twitter, Orkut, Facebook and Linked In.

Here is your daily to-do list to get the best out of exploring social media to build your relationships with others:

• Be a regular visitor, comment on updates of those in your network and respond to their questions if directed towards you.
• Make contacts with people having similar interests and interact with them on common issues. Talk about yourself, your work and perspectives to discuss or debate in a friendly way.
• Build, compile and curate information about a particular industry. It could be on corporate banking, PILs, medical professionals and so on but this kind of information gives you the opportunity to see how you, as a lawyer, can contribute your services and build more contacts online.
• Join popular forums or groups where lawyers are active as a community and make it a point to interact regularly
• Create your own blog or website with informative content on your business and areas of specialization
• Write columns that answer the queries of the general public.

Remember, all you have to do is be yourself to delight the friends that you already have, impress the prospective clients who are ready to reach out to you for your services and boost your visibility online to work your way up. Finding the right path in social media networking is all about taking simple steps, one at a time, by reaching out to your friends.  Good luck!