In our hyper-connected world, it feels like we are constantly advertising ourselves. We write about our beautiful children and exotic travels on Facebook and Twitter, and we promote our professional achievements to our colleagues and potential clients on our firm’s website. Some of us even blog or post to Pinterest or Flickr regularly. LinkedIn can sometimes feel a bit dull — like a recycled firm biography. I cannot blame anyone for throwing up their hands and saying “I’ve had enough. Do I have to do this?”
The answer is unequivocally, YES! Every year that goes by m
ore and more compelling studies are done about LinkedIn and how the legal profession is using it. At this point, there is overwhelming evidence that you absolutely, positively have to be on LinkedIn. I thought it might be useful to list some of the recent statistics that I have run across. If this isn’t enough to convince you to post or update your profile, come by my office and we can continue the debate. These statistics come from a variety of recent studies by the ABA, Greentarget and the Hinge Research Institute.
1. 60% of in-house counsel vet attorneys via LinkedIn
2. 95% of ABA members say that they have LinkedIn profiles
3. 78% of business decision makers review a LinkedIn profile before making a hiring decision
4. 84% of in-house counsel rate LinkedIn as a very credible or somewhat credible source of legal, business and industry news
5. 53% of in-house counsel connect with outside counsel with whom they work on LinkedIn
6. 56% of in-house counsel who use LinkedIn contact and/or build connections with outside counsel
7. 42% of in-house counsel who use LinkedIn join and participate in groups that outside counsel lead on specific legal practices and specialties
8. 37% of outside counsel who use LinkedIn access content that outside counsel are pushing out via LinkedIn or other channels
9. 37% of in-house counsel have used LinkedIn in the past 24 hours
LinkedIn is just too big to ignore, and there aren’t that many lawyers using it effectively, so you have an opportunity to really stand out. In my next post, I will talk about how you can use LinkedIn to interact with your contacts and potential contacts in new ways that will really make you and the firm stand out.