LinkedIn For Associates and Junior Attorneys

I was on a podcast with Alan Berkson and Jeff Gomez a few weeks ago where we were talking about career trajectories, and I remarked that I really focused on working for the first several years at my current firm, over-and-above doing a huge amount of “thought leadership” type activities. I regularly wrote blogs for the firm website and I moderated a fair number of panels, but I was far less active on LinkedIn than I am today. For the past couple of years, I've posted on LinkedIn several times a week (or often daily) and I feel that I get quite a lot of value from the platform. I've built and strengthened relationships, met clients, and been invited to appear in articles and podcasts based on my LinkedIn presence. However, as a junior attorney, building a LinkedIn presence was one of the last things on my mind most of the time.

The conversation with Jeff and Alan got me thinking about what associates and junior attorneys can and should do on LinkedIn, because I do think it can be underutilized. While I see a few junior attorneys and law students doing a fantastic job of leveraging the platform, I think a lot of people only think to post when they receive an award or get promoted, which is a missed opportunity.

To be clear, there is no possible kind of business development activity that can help an associate during their first five years or so as much as showing up and doing the work. Attorneys should absolutely be focused on learning their craft and servicing partners and clients in those formative years, and the best way to do that is to work. Be first in the office, last to leave, take ownership over and pride in your work. Disregard what your peers are doing. Set your standards high. If you take two people of comparable intellect and soft skills, the person who works harder will typically outperform the other handily. There is no better preparation for growing your professional reputation and subsequently your practice than putting in the work to hone your skills and become an excellent attorney. I don't want anyone to think that can be circumvented by becoming good at marketing yourself.

With that said, I do think that there is value in establishing a professional brand and there are things that an associate can do on LinkedIn that will be beneficial and may yield career dividends:

1.?????Be An Aggregator. One of the best and simplest things that junior attorneys (and law students) can do on LinkedIn is to share articles from the trades that may be of interest to others. In my business, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and occasionally legal sites like Law360 are all good candidates - they all publish articles daily with industry news and insight of interest to anyone working in a legal or business capacity in entertainment. You don’t even necessarily have to add any analysis or commentary – simply sharing articles (or books, or podcasts) can help you stand out as an interested person and facilitate you building your network. Moreover, while I am not an expert in the LinkedIn algorithm, I have to think that if I am clicking, reading and "liking" someone's news aggregation posts every day, I am more likely to see their other posts - such as when they are looking for a new job or other professional assistance.

2.?????Recognize The Successes of Others. As stated above, a lot of people use LinkedIn to publicize their own successes (passed the bar! New job! Won an award!). While you absolutely should promote your accomplishments without fear or reservation, you should also look for opportunities to celebrate others for their successes. Look for opportunities to sincerely praise and recognize others – this will build rapport and relationships, and will predispose others to want to help you. Congratulating others is also an amazing way to reconnect with people - you might find that your simple "congrats!" becomes a coffee catchup meeting, and the rekindling of a friendship and valuable professional relationship.

3.?????Self-Promote Unapologetically. I wasn’t originally going to include this, but in writing the bullet above, I think it’s important to emphasize. A lot of people are brought up culturally to feel uncomfortable or even embarrassed to talk about themselves. Growing up in the UK, it was a cardinal sin to “brag” or “boast.” However, I think it’s important for everyone to become somewhat comfortable sharing their accomplishments – because if you can’t or won’t, it makes it harder for others to support you, and you may also miss professional opportunities. If you feel uncomfortable, one technique might be to share the praise – focusing on the successes of your team, clients or firm, and not just yourself. On this subject, I might recommend the book “Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It ” by Peggy Klaus.

4.?????Take it Offline. If you can, it’s a good idea to try to build relationships that extend beyond the internet. LinkedIn can be a good way to find people with similar professional interests and priorities, but there are limits to online interactions. If someone you follow is giving a speech or participating in a panel, consider attending and introducing yourself afterward. If the person is more of a peer, then suggest getting coffee. One in-person meeting could be far more valuable for building a relationship than dozens of posts or comments.

5.?????Present Opportunity. This is an obvious one, and something I’ve spoken about quite a lot. One of the best ways to build relationships and establish professional value is to help others. That could be as simple as bringing articles to the attention of others based on professed interest, or finding opportunities to make mutually synergistic introductions. Sometimes, where appropriate, it might mean forwarding a job posting or recommending someone in your network for a job. The more you put others first, the more value will come back to you in the long-run. LinkedIn is a really great platform to help you do that.