Two of Hartford’s leading law firms are battling for the title of top social media practice, even poaching talent, as more businesses face legal issues on Internet sharing sites.
The moves by Pullman & Comley and Shipman & Goodwin are more about marketing than an emerging legal practice. Clients still are facing problems with employment, intellectual property, brand protection, and cyber security, but they increasingly are confronting those legal issues on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, experts say.
Therefore, if law firms can earn reputations as strong social media practices, they will be well-positioned to grab new business as social media concerns grow. Pullman and Shipman join firms like Day Pitney in trying to be ahead of the game.
“I don’t think there is anything that is social media law today,” said Rob Morris, chairman of Pullman. “It is taking any of the skill sets we use in other contexts and thinking about them differently.”
The heart of the Pullman-Shipman battle is employment litigation attorney Daniel Schwartz, author of the Connecticut Employment Law Blog. Schwartz was one of the four founding members of the cross-discipline social media practice at Pullman & Comley. But in early August, Schwartz bolted to join Shipman & Goodwin, to shore up that firms social media group.
“This is a very new area, and one in which Dan is, frankly, the man,” said Brian Clemow, Shipman’s current practice area chair. “He has a great deal of exposure on social media and with his blog.”
Schwartz’s expertise in social media will not only draw clients to his practice area of employment litigation, but also give Shipman expertise on other legal problems occurring on social media, Clemow said.
“These issues require knowledge of the law and a knowledge of the technology,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz said sites like Facebook and Twitter don’t necessarily cause legal issues themselves but provide a community where problems arise. Employees, for example, can complain to their Facebook friends that they don’t like their boss, or workers can divulge trade secrets on Twitter that might violate company policy or a contract.
These issues were around before social media, but since these posts often are public, it creates new problems for employers, Schwartz said.
“If Facebook were a country, it would be the second or third largest country in the world,” Schwartz said. “It is an all-encompassing thing.”
Despite losing Schwartz, Pullman is forging ahead with its social media practice, which was launched in April.
“We are a full-service firm,” said Aimee Wood, partner in Pullman’s litigation department. “We would be remiss if we didn’t provide the social media aspect.”
Pullman created the practice after four of its partners noticed clients in multiple areas were having issues on social media. Wood and Schwartz joined from the litigation department; Timothy Ronan from cyber security; and Steven Bonafonte from privacy and corporate compliance.
“A lot of people are still trying to figure out what it means for them,” Bonafonte said. “People are still in the issue-spotting phase.”
Companies are learning social media is not going away, and they will have to deal with it sooner rather than later, Bonafonte said. Businesses — as custodians of information that should be kept behind closed doors (medical records, defense contracts, etc.) — need to learn how to handle it responsibly in a world with Tweets and Facebook posts.
As businesses are learning the ups and downs of social media, regulatory bodies are finding out the same, said Clemow of Shipman. The National Labor Relations Board, for example, recently ruled employers can’t ban their workers from using social media, or even stop them from speaking poorly of their companies.
“Employers should take a look at their policies,” Clemow said. “The social media issue is interrelated to a lot of other employment problems.”
Despite losing Schwartz to Shipman, Pullman still will benefit from having a social media practice up and running now, as the issues continue to grow and most law firms aren’t caught up yet, said Mark Dubois, president-elect of the Connecticut Bar Association.
“It is a large and untapped market,” Dubois said. “Social media and electronic communications, ‘Wow, what a new and exciting area.’”
Even though the social media group grew organically out of Pullman’s other work, simply having the practice as part of the firm’s marketing already is paying dividends, Morris said.
“We have had a lot of calls as a result of it,” Morris said. “People are intrigued by it. I think it will be a good practice area for us.”
