Two Twittering Lawyers: The ABA President and an IT Buff #ABAChicago
Should lawyers use Twitter? ABA President H. Thomas Wells apparently thinks so. He’s Twittering from the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Wells’ followers can learn that he takes the budget-friendly Southwest Airlines and that he spent the day Monday working on speeches and finalizing his calendar. His initial posts tend to be upbeat: “Law Student Division Career Fair at Marriott—great example of how ABA serves members,” he writes. Wells also has an ABA blog where he writes about everything from his professional activities to a recent traffic jam that delayed a babysitting gig for his newest grandchild.
Another Twittering lawyer, Francis “Frank” Taney Jr., spoke to the Am Law Daily about his Twittering under the name “Scary Lawyer.” Taney is information technology litigation chair for Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, and he uses Twitter to communicate with clients.
Like Wells, Taney talks about his professional appearances on Twitter. “It’s a good way to get out there,” he tells the Am Law Daily. He also uses the microblogging service as an outlet for self-expression.
“I like to talk about music, the Phillies, and other things I find interesting,” he tells the Am Law Daily. “So it’s a mix. I don’t use it in a hardcore, professional way, but I’m pretty active.” But he does screen himself—some things are off-limits, he says.
Taney’s tweets have discussed why Tom Petty’s “Apartment Song” is a lost classic and how his son’s Lego set compares to his childhood toy, according to a story in the Philadelphia Business Journal (sub. req.).
Should other lawyers use Twitter? Taney says it depends. “I’d say know thyself and know thy client base.”
More on the Annual Meeting ‘09 Here:
Why is #ABAChicago in our Annual Meeting headlines? Check out our hashtags post: “ABA Annual Meeting 2009 on Twitter”
ABA Journal’s Annual Meeting coverage at this link.
Flickr Slideshow: ABA Journal snapshots from Annual Meeting.
Interactive updates on the Annual Meeting from ABA Media Relations at ABANow.org.
