LawLink.com offers professional and social networking for lawyers

Post a public profile or set up a group to share documents privately. Market, network and get questions answered in forums on this innovative legal site, the brainchild of an Oakland trial attorney.

2009 April

Social networking – or “Web 2.0” if you prefer – is no longer just for kids who spend every waking hour on Facebook or MySpace. Business people and professionals can now network on general business sites such as Linkedin.com or on vertical sites such as Lawlink.com.

Lawlink, according to founder Stephen Choi, is the “first and largest international online social and business network for attorneys, law students and law professionals.” Founded in 2007 by Choi, a California attorney who still maintains a personal injury practice in Oakland, the site’s mission is to promote communication among lawyers on both a social and professional level. LawLink consists of three separate but interconnected social networks: attorneys, law students and other legal professionals.

Public profiles

Lawlink offers attorneys a public profile optimized for Google searches. “With the proliferation of Web sites that allow anyone to post a review about you and that even purport to rate you, it is increasingly important to be able to protect your professional identity online,” explains Choi. LawLink allows you to create a public profile that is search-engine optimized. A Google search on your name should return your Lawlink public profile near the top of the search results.

Document sharing

LawLink makes it easy to upload, find and share legal documents. You can showcase your expertise by uploading articles, press releases, motions and pleadings and any other type of document.

Not only are your documents accessible to all LawLink members, your documents are also submitted to Google and other search engines. Thus, anyone doing a search on your document subject will be able to find your document in the search results.

You can also create a private group and share private documents, which can be useful for multi-party litigation.

Law discussion groups

One of the easiest ways to begin to network with other attorneys is to join one of the over 100 existing law groups. The groups are categorized by common interests, such as personal injury or elder law, or by practice area, geographic region, law school, bar association or law firm. If you don’t see a group that addresses your interests, you can create your own. Every group has its own private messaging system, forum, document sharing, calendar and group status updates.

When you create your group, you can set it up so that it is open to all, by invitation only or completely secret (a private group.) Both the Alameda County and Santa Clara County Bar Associations have formed private law groups on LawLink.

Moderated forums

LawLink also offers moderated forums. Moderating your own forum is a great way to demonstrate your legal expertise on subject. If you are looking for nationwide exposure and recognition, become a forum moderator. Some of the current forums on LawLink include sexual harassment, personal injury and lawyer marketing.

Even if you don’t join a forum, the Answers feature of LawLink allows you to ask a question and get fast answers from fellow legal professionals. You can also demonstrate your expertise by answering a question.

Law Blogs

If you already have a law blog, Choi suggests that you add it to LawLink’s interactive Law Blog Directory. The Lawyer Marketing blog is especially useful to solo practitioners and small law firms.

How to sign up on LawLink

To start networking now, go to http://LawLink.com and create your own account. The process is simple and straightforward and your efforts will be soon be rewarded.