On October 11th, I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 LMA Technology Conference West in San Francisco, which attracted attendees from all over the U.S. as well as Canada, the UK and Asia. Over the course of the day, the sessions were divided into three tracks: small & solo, technology trends and driving value. A big thanks to Adam Stock, Clare Ota and the rest of the team responsible for pulling together such a great event. Here’s my shot at a recap.
To kick off the conference, John Corey, Founding Partner & President of Greentarget Global Group shared key findings from the 2012 In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey, which included:
- 55% of in-house counsel say a law firm’s blog can influence hiring decisions
- 84% of in-house counsel perceive law blogs as credible (as much as those by professional journalists)
- 88% of in-house counsel perceive the content they contain via LinkedIn as credible
John’s presentation was a great segway to the In-House Counsel Session moderated by Nat Slavin, Principal of Wicker Park Group. For me, this was the session that I found the most valuable as it gave us a chance to “hear from the horse’s mouth.” I also enjoyed this one because I tend to prefer the moderated panel style of presentations. Below are some of my takeaways from the panel comprised of: Connie Brenton, Chief of Staff & Senior Director for Legal Operations of NetApp, Inc.; Gregg Melinson, Vice President, Government Relations & Deputy General Counsel of Hewlett-Packard Company; Jason Romrell, President & Chief Legal Officer of Budget Van Lines and Jon Stueve, Vice President & General Counsel of Glam Media.
- General Counsel generally do not care about lawyer or law firm rankings
- Law firms willing to change their infrastructure and the way they operate could see serious gains
- Social media can intersect with so many areas of the law so at the very least lawyers should understand the basics of how it works
- Being a great lawyer might get you in the door but having a deep understanding of your clients’ business will set you apart
- General Counsel receive hundreds of emails a day, titles are extremely important
- MY FAVORITE TAKEAWAY: Jason Romrell shared that he has hired outside counsel as a result of following/interacting with the attorney on Twitter
- The most important thing you can do online is listen (via Kevin O’Keefe)
- Quality content will help build trust, community and relationships (via John Corey)
- Build social media equity by sharing other’s information, not your own (via Kevin O’Keefe)
- The most critical piece to driving business is relationships. Think outside of the box (via Connie Brenton)
- Was the #LMATech conference hashtag hijacked or just some honest heckling? (via 3 Geeks and a Law Blog)