“It’s more complicated than 140 characters” as LCF take social media by storm

YORKSHIRE law firm LCF Law is making strides in its use of social media, having just been shortlisted in the 2016 Managing Partners Forum Awards.

The legal profession, by its nature can be a little bit slower to catch up with technology, but LCF is made in a different mold; they “made history” becoming the first legal practice in the UK to offer free legal advice via Twitter.

The MPF awards, In association with Harvard Business Review and The FInancial Times, highlighted the firm’s ‘novel’ use of social media.

The firm runs bi-monthly Legal Hour sessions for their 8,000 followers, and tweets a legal glossary regularly, as well as interacting with followers as they give out free advice.

Ajaz Ahmed, chief executive of Legal365.com, which is part of the LCF Group, spoke to TheBusinessDesk.com. He said: “With social media, we looked at what other law firms were doing and we found that their content was just a bit boring. It’s not just law firms that talk about themselves and their industry, no one understands what makes an interesting social media presence. It’s like the television, there are all these TV shows on, and nothing to watch.

“It doesn’t make you want to tell your friends, like you would discuss what happened on Dragons’ Den last night.

“Your social media presence has to be interesting, you have to feel empathy and be able to put yourself someone else’s shows.

“At LCF we’ve worked out a different formula. We rarely talk about ourselves in our social media posts.”

Simon Stell, managing partner at LCF Law said “We use social media to write about things we’re interested in, answer questions we don’t think people will know the answer to. We answer questions on corporate, commercial property, private client and tax issues. That way we can help and also gain credibility as a legal firm online.

“We can build that relationship and trust online and then transfer it into real life. At a certain point you need more detailed advice; it can get more complicated than 140 characters.

“It’s a long game, but people have said to us they come to us because of social media, so it’s worth it,” he said.

Mr Stell coninued:”A lot of people in our industry think they should have a social media presence but they have no strategy. People don’t realise how important it is to profile-raising. People have heard about LCF because of our presence there.”

Mr Ahmed said: ” There is no limit to advice, unlike retailers who have poor social media game, getting people to follow them for daily deals and special offers. The way LCF do it, you are giving out a lot of free advice, which is readily available online, but needs to be verified by a proper legal firm. This builds loyalty to your brand, but don’t expect a full answer for free.”

“Lawyers don’t like change,” Mr Stell said, “but we are moving to a more cooperative way of practicing law. The future isn’t for firms who do everything, but rather the more niche practices. We at LCF will become increasingly niche and have interest in specific sectors.

“Lawyers are trained to solve legal problems rather than in customer service. At LCF we try and be more like a retailer in the way we approach our marketing.

“It’s also important we bridge the gap between law and technology, so the law becomes more attractive to the younger generation.”

You can find LCF Law tweeting at @LawFairSquare