Book review: Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition

Review by Christopher J Sherliker

Author: Adrian Dayton
Publisher: Ark Group
ISBN: 978-1-906355-63-0
Date: September 2009
Price: £145 plus p&p

Adrian Dayton’s timely book on Twitter for the legal profession, Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition, is a must-read for all law firms.
Indeed, it should be studied avidly, not only by lawyers, but also by any professional service firm that wants to grow its business fast using Web 2.0 techniques.
As a successful New York attorney turned social media guru, Dayton deals with his subject comprehensively and with an easy authority.
He begins by dismissing, with an unanswerable charm, the main excuses that the legal profession commonly gives for avoiding Twitter. Indeed, in a world where the High Court in London has recently authorised the service of formal legal proceedings by Twitter, it is difficult to understand how anyone can now fail to see the relevance of Twitter to the legal profession.
The author goes on to explain, with a kindly guiding light, how to set yourself up on Twitter, including how to find people to follow and how to establish your own following. More importantly, the book bursts with practical advice and tips on lead generation and marketing and the secrets of how to turn ‘tweeps’ into clients.
The depth and power of Twitter is not immediately apparent to new tweeters. Many people just do not ‘get it’ at all. This book gives you the do’s and don’ts upfront and shares the inside secrets that will save you weeks of trial and error.
If I have one criticism, it is that the cover image of a hectoring lawyer announcing himself by megaphone does not really capture the subtleties of participating in the Twitterstream, which is more akin to a global cocktail party conversation than a global PA system.
Nonetheless, it is both an honour and a pleasure for me to endorse this book in the week when my own firm’s Twitter following has surpassed 5000. It is also an act of great selflessness on my part that I may live to regret. In the vernacular of the Twitterstream:
@London_Law_Firm: MEMO TO UK LAWYERS.
Follow @adriandayton. He rocks. His book is a gem, a veritable Twitter-piece of Web 2.0 wisdom. Read and learn.

Christopher J Sherliker is a partner at Silverman Sherliker LLP. He can be contacted by e-mail at cjs@silvermansherliker.co.uk, on Twitter at @London_Law_Firm, or through the firm’s website at www.silvermansherliker.co.uk.