Employers Counsel Network 2012 Conference

May 2012

by Celeste Blackburn

Every year, attorneys from our Employers Counsel Network (ECN) meet in the spring to network, socialize, and brush up on topics pertinent to the state-specific Employment Law Letter newsletters they write for BLR. Every third year, the ECN conference comes back to Nashville, and it is a real treat to get to join the group. This year, because of my work on our tech blog, I really looked forward to the second day’s sessions, which mostly focused on apps, iPads/tablets, and social media.

In his presentation “Apps for Professionals: Where Your World Is Heading Now,” President of Newstex Larry Schwartz spoke about trends in app development, the work his company did for LexisNexis, and how the “third screen” (tablets) will change the way business is done (hints: all websites should be optimized for mobile use and apps are a really big deal). ECN member Teresa Shulda followed Schwartz’s presentation by talking specifically about how the iPad and its apps have become essential in her work. See a list of 10 useful apps for work that I compiled from Shulda’s and Schwartz’s presentations

As part of her presentation, Shulda told one story that I found particularly relevant to our goal at BLR to make our products a bigger part of our customers’ everyday work flow. Recently, a colleague of Shulda’s completed a whole trial using only his iPad in court. While he did have a backup iPad as well as a laptop loaded with everything he would need in case his primary iPad had problems, he never needed the backups. As one example of how the iPad was a game changer, Shulda told how the attorney was able to have the witness on the stand circle where he was standing on a map that was pulled up on his iPad. The jury watched him do it, and then the attorney was able to send that document to the “jury book” with a simple click – no more crazy stacks of papers and folders to be shuffled through.

In another example given by Shulda, opposing counsel brought up a case the attorney wasn’t familiar with. He was able to request a short break, read up on the case on his iPad, and then address the argument in a timely manner. It was obvious from the room full of iPads (there was one Android tablet in attendance) that Shulda’s colleague isn’t the only attorney to integrate the Apple tablet into his work flow.

The speakers for the final session Friday, “The ROI of Social-Media Awareness,”  included:

Molly DiBianca, who is an attorney with Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP and frequent contributor to Delaware Employment Law Letter. Molly writes for two blogs, The Delaware Employment Law Blog and Going Paperless.
John Vering, who is a partner with Armstrong Teasdale LLP and chairman of the firm’s employment and labor practice group in Kansas City, Missouri, and an editor of Missouri Employment Law Letter.
Michael P. Maslanka, who is a partner with Constangy Brooks & Smith, LLP, and editor of Texas Employment Law Letter.  Mike’s blog is Work Matters and he leaves his Facebook page open to the public.

All three admitted that it was almost impossible to measure the ROI (return on investment) on the hours they have invested in blogs and other forms of social media since they have never had a client say “I read your blog, so I am bringing you this case.” However, they all said they believe that their online efforts have helped boost their credibility and presence in this emerging field. In fact, NPR featured an interview with DiBianca in a story about what employees can and can’t place online about their employers.

Maslanka added that by using social media to create an Internet presence, you can create a sort of brand recognition because your name will come up organically in Google searches related to the topic. He also made an important point: because information is so readily available because of the Internet, to be truly effective posts need to include “useful information with an intelligent filter.”  A good goal for all our content, I think.