Social Networking And Legal OnRamp

It's tough to gain clients. It's even tougher to stay connected with those clients and maintain consistent lines of communication.

True to all the hype, social networking tools are posed to be the next stage in the evolution of effective client communication.

You've been under a rock if you haven't been confronted by the buzz about MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. These are the most popular online social networking communities, but none of them are specifically targeted to the legal profession (unless your clients enjoy gaudy, blinking Web pages or virtual flowerpots).

For Lawyers, from Lawyers

An example of a social networking community in the legal profession is Legal OnRamp (www.legalonramp.com), although it is certainly not alone in this space. In fact, the recognizable Martindale-Hubbell/LexisNexis recently announced their Connected service (www.martindale.com/connected).

Legal OnRamp is the brainchild of a small group of in-house counsel and outside law firms. Mark Chandler, General Counsel of Cisco, wanted a resource that he could use to better connect with internal lawyers at other major corporations. Once the site started catching on, the consortium enlisted the help of Paul Lippe to lead the development of the project and the site was opened to external lawyers and law firms.

Membership in Legal OnRamp is by invitation only. This may sound contrary to the open, “social” aspect of the site, but the restriction operates to keep participation healthy. If the site allowed anyone and everyone to be a member, it would dilute the focus on law and legal services.

Aimed at In-house Counsel

Legal OnRamp has a slight bent towards corporate, in-house lawyers. It is obvious that the site is designed for in-house lawyers to network and communicate with each other, as well as peruse materials and information posted by outside lawyers and law firms.

For example, one section on Legal OnRamp is entitled “Updates & Publications” and functions as a clearinghouse for participating law firms that want to post updates and “client alerts.” While the section features expected firms such as DLA Piper, Baker Botts LLP, and Patton Boggs LLP, I would guess that many in-house lawyers find this one-stop funnel helpful rather than having to visit individual firm Web sites.

Another section, called the “MarketPlace,” doesn't seem to be that active, but it holds a lot of promise for posting jobs and for inviting outside law firms to bid on legal work.

Perhaps the most active areas of Legal OnRamp are the Forums and Groups. Members are invited to participate in the forums by answering questions, offering advice and generally discussing relevant topics. This may sound like a potential time waster, but there are some very pertinent discussions occurring in the forums on topics that are significant to the members of Legal OnRamp.

Members can also create targeted groups to help in networking based on criteria such as specific industries or school alumni. These groups can be public or private

The current Member Directory numbers above 8,200 which is extraordinary. In my un-scientific exploration, the list was heavily peppered with representatives from law firms. If Legal OnRamp intends to bolster its ranks of inside counsel, it seems like there is work to be done to balance the ranks.

On the other hand, having a large pool of outside counsel seems to be one of the main advantages for inside counsel to participate. Through Legal OnRamp, they have the ability to ask questions and pose hypothetical dilemmas to the hive mind. The best responses could get rewarded with a new connection, or even some lucrative legal work.

Size Doesn't Matter

It's important to note that Legal OnRamp is not limited to large law firms. Any attorney is welcome to join as long as they receive an invitation. Legal OnRamp levels the proverbial playing field when it comes to large corporate clients. While large law firms have always enjoyed a presumptive reputation for dealing better with corporate client concerns, Legal OnRamp can be an avenue for smaller firms to show they can handle certain niches of work better than their large firm counterparts.

For example, anyone can contribute to a Wiki topic or upload a helpful article or presentation to the “File Repository.” Legal OnRamp also pulls in feeds from relevant blogs around the Web. These are opportunities to share knowledge and build a healthy reputation. Not everyone is comfortable with this notion, of course, but those that are willing to participate in the community can quickly get recognized as an expert on a particular topic.

That last point is key to making Legal OnRamp a successful community ' members must participate or the site will become meaningless. Just like so many other ventures in life, the value gained from Legal OnRamp will be proportional to the time put into the site. If you don't network, join a discussion, or reply to questions, you will not gain anything from being a member.

Some members have reported that Legal OnRamp is better than a formal CRM (customer relationship manager) system and others view it as a valuable marketing tool. Law students are welcome to participate to start building their professional network early.

Whatever your stance toward Web 2.0 and social networking may be, services like Legal OnRamp are offering viable avenues for client communication. If you can get motivated to participate in the community, the results can be profitable and rewarding. It will be exciting to see where services like Legal OnRamp and Martindale-Hubbell Connected will take the legal profession, but you better start merging on to the ramp before you get left behind.

It's tough to gain clients. It's even tougher to stay connected with those clients and maintain consistent lines of communication.

True to all the hype, social networking tools are posed to be the next stage in the evolution of effective client communication.

You've been under a rock if you haven't been confronted by the buzz about MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. These are the most popular online social networking communities, but none of them are specifically targeted to the legal profession (unless your clients enjoy gaudy, blinking Web pages or virtual flowerpots).

For Lawyers, from Lawyers

An example of a social networking community in the legal profession is Legal OnRamp (www.legalonramp.com), although it is certainly not alone in this space. In fact, the recognizable Martindale-Hubbell/LexisNexis recently announced their Connected service (www.martindale.com/connected).

Legal OnRamp is the brainchild of a small group of in-house counsel and outside law firms. Mark Chandler, General Counsel of Cisco, wanted a resource that he could use to better connect with internal lawyers at other major corporations. Once the site started catching on, the consortium enlisted the help of Paul Lippe to lead the development of the project and the site was opened to external lawyers and law firms.

Membership in Legal OnRamp is by invitation only. This may sound contrary to the open, “social” aspect of the site, but the restriction operates to keep participation healthy. If the site allowed anyone and everyone to be a member, it would dilute the focus on law and legal services.

Aimed at In-house Counsel

Legal OnRamp has a slight bent towards corporate, in-house lawyers. It is obvious that the site is designed for in-house lawyers to network and communicate with each other, as well as peruse materials and information posted by outside lawyers and law firms.

For example, one section on Legal OnRamp is entitled “Updates & Publications” and functions as a clearinghouse for participating law firms that want to post updates and “client alerts.” While the section features expected firms such as DLA Piper, Baker Botts LLP, and Patton Boggs LLP, I would guess that many in-house lawyers find this one-stop funnel helpful rather than having to visit individual firm Web sites.

Another section, called the “MarketPlace,” doesn't seem to be that active, but it holds a lot of promise for posting jobs and for inviting outside law firms to bid on legal work.

Perhaps the most active areas of Legal OnRamp are the Forums and Groups. Members are invited to participate in the forums by answering questions, offering advice and generally discussing relevant topics. This may sound like a potential time waster, but there are some very pertinent discussions occurring in the forums on topics that are significant to the members of Legal OnRamp.

Members can also create targeted groups to help in networking based on criteria such as specific industries or school alumni. These groups can be public or private

The current Member Directory numbers above 8,200 which is extraordinary. In my un-scientific exploration, the list was heavily peppered with representatives from law firms. If Legal OnRamp intends to bolster its ranks of inside counsel, it seems like there is work to be done to balance the ranks.

On the other hand, having a large pool of outside counsel seems to be one of the main advantages for inside counsel to participate. Through Legal OnRamp, they have the ability to ask questions and pose hypothetical dilemmas to the hive mind. The best responses could get rewarded with a new connection, or even some lucrative legal work.

Size Doesn't Matter

It's important to note that Legal OnRamp is not limited to large law firms. Any attorney is welcome to join as long as they receive an invitation. Legal OnRamp levels the proverbial playing field when it comes to large corporate clients. While large law firms have always enjoyed a presumptive reputation for dealing better with corporate client concerns, Legal OnRamp can be an avenue for smaller firms to show they can handle certain niches of work better than their large firm counterparts.

For example, anyone can contribute to a Wiki topic or upload a helpful article or presentation to the “File Repository.” Legal OnRamp also pulls in feeds from relevant blogs around the Web. These are opportunities to share knowledge and build a healthy reputation. Not everyone is comfortable with this notion, of course, but those that are willing to participate in the community can quickly get recognized as an expert on a particular topic.

That last point is key to making Legal OnRamp a successful community ' members must participate or the site will become meaningless. Just like so many other ventures in life, the value gained from Legal OnRamp will be proportional to the time put into the site. If you don't network, join a discussion, or reply to questions, you will not gain anything from being a member.

Some members have reported that Legal OnRamp is better than a formal CRM (customer relationship manager) system and others view it as a valuable marketing tool. Law students are welcome to participate to start building their professional network early.

Whatever your stance toward Web 2.0 and social networking may be, services like Legal OnRamp are offering viable avenues for client communication. If you can get motivated to participate in the community, the results can be profitable and rewarding. It will be exciting to see where services like Legal OnRamp and Martindale-Hubbell Connected will take the legal profession, but you better start merging on to the ramp before you get left behind.