McDermott Lawyer Is Glad Firms Are Slow to Embrace Twitter

McDermott Will & Emery partner Peter Townshend is glad that law firms are slow to embrace social networking sites like Twitter.

Townshend, who focuses his practice on corporate, private equity and emerging companies, relies on Twitter to keep up with clients, the San Jose Business Journal reports. He’s glad he’s part of a select group that uses the microblogging website, where users post updates of 140 characters or less.

“I’m happy my competitors are slow, and I would love their firms to adopt dumb policies about forbidding use of social networks,” Townshend told the Business Journal. “The temptation is to adopt don’t-use-it policies without thinking about the client benefit. It’d be great for me if that was adopted because they obviously don’t understand the technology and completely whiff on the marketing opportunity.”

The article also talked to other lawyers who use Twitter, including antitrust and technology litigator Glenn Manishin of Duane Morris, and corporate lawyer Cindy Hess of Fenwick & West, who represents emerging companies. Manishin said he uses Twitter to foster relationships with clients, who contact him through Twitter rather than e-mail. He also said at least half a dozen clients retained him after learning about him through social media.

Legal Blog Watch notes the article—and the fact that most of the big-firm lawyers interviewed represent start-ups or emerging technology developers.