Travisthetrout's Blog

Law Firm Fan Pages on Facebook February 20, 2010

I was having a nosy round my Law School’s Alumni page on Facebook. It’s is now a couple of years since we all graduated and I decided to have a look to see what fellow classmates were up to these days. Turns out, they were up to a wide variety of things, some expected, and some not – but nothing all that exciting.

What I did come across which got my interest was DLA’s fan page aimed at graduates and those of us seeking training contracts. Maybe I’ve just been ignorant but in my experience law firm pages on Facebook are usually unofficial groups created by employees to mix or by trainees prior to the commencement of their training contract so they can get to know each other. Any “fan page” is put to limited use. But maybe they have gotten better since I last looked?

So having a closer look at DLA’s Fan page.

Well the fan page appears to be a good thing because it gives the general factual information about the firm, tells you about open-days, deadlines and their current trainees – but the most useful (and interesting) aspect is the discussion board( as the rest can be found on their website already).

However, I am unsure whether I’d ever “become a fan” of them. Why? Well you can still access the discussion board without being a fan. It’s a great interactive resource, but I’ve got to ask if I really want it published on my Facebook page? Also, realistically, as a prospective trainee you are going to be interested in a wide range of firms, do you want your friends (and potentially the other law firms) knowing what other firms are on your wish list. And there are of course also issues of alerting your current employer you are dreaming of pastures new (if you are already working rather than still being a student). Thoughts?

Having found the DLA Piper one, I was trying to find if there was an easy way to find other law firm fan pages that were aimed at prospective trainees. It wasn’t that simple. But here are a few I found:

• Linklaters – who have a basic fan page giving a link to their website. Their wall action is also limited and there are people basically posting their credentials and begging for an opportunity. Allen & Overy have a similar set up with just the basic information.
• Eversheds LLP – seem to have a great set up like a mini website with links to their blog, twitter and even flickr. Also a very interactive page with lots of links and videos. However, their discussion page has nothing on it, which is disappointing.
• Clifford Chance – they have a lot of wall activity made by them (none by fans), nor is there any discussion – so I feel it is of limited value. Plenty of factual information and videos, but I see no reason why they can’t be accessed on their website.

I’ve also got to wonder if it is worthwhile from the firms point of view. Do we equate value with the number of fans – Ashford’s appear to have only five fans, Pannone LLP has none.

There is also the need to maintain and update the fan page like any other form of social media. Done well, they seem to be great pages, but I feel the effort would be better spent on their website, particularly if they could incorporate the interactive and somewhat beneficial aspects into their graduate website.

Of course I have been talking about the big firms here. There is no reason why a bit of Facebook interaction couldn’t be worthwhile for the smaller firms to help raise awareness about themselves. There appears to be a lot of small firms with a handful of fans, that I can find. Downside, you need to search, or know of them to find them – therefore in my view a service like twitter is much better for getting some publicity because everyone links, and shares stuff and it is more interesting content – not me, me, me all the time (despite what those who fail to understand twitter tell us) and therefore present more of an opportunity for smaller firms to interact – many of course, already do.