What To Do After You've Been Shamed On ATL

Biglaw social media Dos and Don'ts

Picture it: you’re a Biglaw managing partner, and running the firm is going swimmingly. Then one day you find out one of your partners maintains a Twitter feed, and there’s some… questionable content. And the Twitter account gets picked up by a legal industry blog. Not a good day at the ranch.

That is just the situation Gordon & Rees found themselves in earlier this week, when the content of IP partner Richard Sybert’s Twitter feed went viral. His delightful online feed included musings that homosexuals are not “natural or normal” along with a healthy mix of xenophobia. Now the offending Twitter is shut down (though the internet never forgets) but how to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

Gordon & Rees sent out an All Attorney email, gently reminding everyone how not to be an a**hole online. And it is quite the fun read:

While recognizing all of our rights to express personal views and opinions while not working, we nonetheless think it appropriate from time to time to remind everyone of the firm’s Internet Postings Policy… Even though you may  be posting on a personal account with no reference to the firm being made, it is still very easy for people to enter your name in a search engine and figure out that you work at Gordon & Rees.

Yes kids, everything online is traceable, and will inevitably come back to haunt you at the least opportune moment.

While we are free on our personal time to express views or opinions on various topics, we ask that you still keep in mind that if your postings can be interpreted as demeaning or threatening to classes of people, it can have a negative effect on the firm. Those people may turn out to be clients, potential clients or recruits, or a legal news organization may pick up on the comments, connect them to a firm attorney and publicize them.

Oh, I’m so glad the people at Gordon & Rees liked my previous article on Sybert. At least that’s how I am choosing to take this little bit, since, you know, it was the entire point.

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And, it’s a point that bears repeating: In a service industry, you cannot be successful when you go around insulting groups of people.

We know of one instance in which a partner at another major national firm on his personal blog made derogatory remarks about the involvement of a Native American tribe in a memorial service following a well publicized shooting incident. What the partner did not realize was that the tribe was a significant client of the firm. The remarks were forwarded to a leader of the tribe who took great offense.

You know I heard a similar story the other day, except it was about GORDON & REES.

Gotta love the Biglaw doublespeak. Pretend the firm rumor mill hasn’t been working double time rehashing Sybert’s foibles, and the curious timing of this memo is related to troubles at some other law firm. We believe you.

Read the full email on the next page.

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