Associate Life Survey: Your Online Networks
We received 629 responses to Monday's ATL / Lateral Link survey on social networking, and it looks like most of you are avid surfers.
Overall, 81% of you use at least one social networking site or maintain a blog. Facebook was the overwhelming winner, as 94% of attorneys who use social networking sites have an account there. LinkedIn was a distant second, used by 46% of these respondents. Myspace was third with 21%.
A surprising number of attorneys are also blogging. Just over 9% maintain an account with blogger, and just under 3% use Livejournal. One percent wrote in that they use Wordpress.
Despite the occasional employer attempts to block access, about 91% of social networking attorneys log in from the office at least once or twice a month, and 61% log in at least daily. One in three attorneys logs on to his or her Facebook or LinkedIn accounts, from the office, more than twice a day.
While they may do it from the office, however, most attorneys are using their online accounts for fun, not for profit. Almost 97% of respondents with social networking accounts are using them "to keep in touch with friends", 56% are using them "for fun", and 9% are using them "to look for new friends." But less than 7% are using them "to look for jobs", and only 5% are using them "to look for clients."
More findings, after the jump.
More attorneys may be using Facebook to complain about their professional experiences than further them. Eleven percent of respondents with social networking accounts say they use them "to vent."
And even if they aren't saying anything in particular about their employers, most attorneys think that there's at least some content in their online profiles that they wouldn't want to share. Just over 51% say they would scrub their online accounts before starting a new job search.
Even so, a fair number of associates and summer associates will add their colleagues to their networks. About 71% will let their law school classmates join their networks (vs. 85% who share with "close law school friends"), and about 56% share with their fellow associates or summer associates.
Bosses, however, are not particularly welcome. Only 9% of attorneys with social networking accounts will share their networks with partners, a number which drops to 4% among attorneys without LinkedIn accounts. And only 6% of attorneys -- and only 2% of attorneys without LinkedIn accounts -- will add clients.
Meanwhile, legal bloggers are slowly winning friends in online social circles. Just over 4% of respondents on Facebook say that they'll add a legal blogger.
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Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.
(25) Comments
FIRSTIES.
I heard Skadden was laying off peeps in its Columbus and Toledo offices. Comments in 3, 2, 1...
#2 - I also heard you used to work at CWT and now have nothing better to do than start useless arguments on ATL.
That said, I used to work at Dechert and now have nothing better to do than start useless arguments on ATL.
ATL to unemployment checks!
ATL = Assholes Talking Law
4: Happy to have you with us...and your self-description seems apt.
First to say this is the only remotely funny LOL cats. this does not make them acceptable. they still suck ass.
My gimp used to have a Facebook account. It was no big deal.
He works in Dechert's Peoria office.
Why Lawyers use Facebook and not MySpace:
"For a brief period of time, MySpace was the site where everyone kept their profile and managed their friendships. But soon, the service began to attract fake profiles, the wrong kind of white people, and struggling musicians. In real world terms, these three developments would be equivalent to a check cashing store, a TGIFridays, and a housing project. All which strike fear in the hearts of white people.
White people were nervous but had nowhere else to go. Then Facebook came along and offered advanced privacy settings, closed networks, and a clean interface. In respective real world terms, these features are analogous to an apartment or house with a security system/doorman, an alumni dinner, and a homeowners association that protects the aesthetics of the neighborhood. In spite of these advances, some white people still clung to their old MySpace accounts. That was until they learned that Facebook started, like so many things beloved by white people, at Harvard.
Within a matter of months, MySpace had gone from a virtual utopia to Digital Detroit, where only minorities and indie bands remain."
-Stuff White People Like
I didn't know Dechert had a Peoria office. I thought only Cravath was there.
Are there any London firms that hire 1Ls? I have an itch to go out there next summer.
10 - Try the ABA International Internship Listings. It got me a job in Paris this summer. http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/internprofiles.html
11: very helpful. Do these internships pay? More loans trouble me.
Skadden doesn't have Columbus or Toledo offices - loser...
You're just trying to stir shit up.
12 - Depends. Most seem not to, some offer housing, some a little money. As a 1L if you're not in a position to get a BigLaw summer job, and most aren't, it's not too likely you'll find a London firm that wants to pay for a US law student who doesn't know much about UK law (or US law for that matter).
But you could also ask your career services. If you're at a top school things are probably a bit malleable.
14: define "top" law school.
Brilliant, 13. I'm sure you'll go far.
15 - Harvard, Yale, you know, places that firms would make exceptions for.
On the ABA site there is a UK internship with a scholarship available, why don't you apply to that?
OMG!! A cat!! In a photo!! Doing funny things with a funny caption!!! This is amazing!! The internet is magical!!!
17: How far does this list extend? Can you tell me where they draw the line?
19 - Are you f'n serious or just dense? Do you go to Yale, Harvard or Stanford? Could you have but went to CLS, NYU, Michigan, etc. for free? Then maybe you have a chance. Otherwise, target V100's for 1L summer associate jobs and wait until next year.
20: no, CCN. Do firms still make similar exceptions for a school like Columbia or Chicago?
Yes, those are solid schools and they might. It's worth a shot. Good luck.
8:
Wasn't Facebook around before MySpace? I remember getting Facebook in the Fall of 2003 and I'm pretty sure MySpace wasn't around then...
19:
Don't listen to 17. Many UK firms will interview for people for their US offices (not to mention the UK offices of US firms). These places want to hire some US trained lawyers. In fact many offices of US firms in London have no barristers and don't do any UK law.
Still these spots are in high demand so you probably want to be at a good school with decent grades. I'd say from any good school (whatever you people call down to the Northwestern, UC, Columbia, NYU range) you should be able to get one of these jobs if you really commit to it.
23 - you're right on your reply to 19 with respect to full-time jobs (I regularly get recruiters asking about London, but even more about Asia), but I think he was asking about 1L jobs (which is hard enough to do for most law students even at the Decherts of the world).
Horray for the LOL cats!