Vernis & Bowling :: Attorneys At Law

The first company I talked with was Vernis & Bowling, a law firm that focuses mostly in insurance law. I spoke with Robert C. Bowling one of the Managing Partners of the law firm and asked him a few questions.

Background:

Vernis & Bowling is a law firm that has been around for 40 years, opening their first firm in Miami. They have 13 firms, 10 of which are in Florida. They focus mainly on insurance law, but also practice in admiralty/maritime, alternative dispute resolution, appellate practice, bankruptcy, commercial & complex litigation, construction law, corporate transactions, criminal law, director & officer liability (D&O)/Errors & Omissions (E&O), elder law, employment related practices & civil rights, family law, insurance fraud defense/special investigation, labor law, liability defense, local government law, Medicare set-asides and Medicare compliance, real estate and workers compensation.

Analysis:
Vernis & Bowling currently is not involved in any kind of social media, according to Mr. Bowling it is not something that their target marker or decision makers utilize in selecting what legal counsel to use. And they see no reason to get involved.

This is a common misconception that many companies have. Although it may not be appropriate for a law firm to have a Facebook or Twitter, because of client confidentiality, this doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be able to utilize other social media sites, a more professional social media site, especially if it is business-to-business transaction.

When plugging in some of Vernis & Bowling’s information in the Groundswell Forrester B2B Profile Tool, they have 74% Spectators and 37% Joiners and Critics.

Spectators read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch video from other users, read online forums, read customer ratings/reviews and read tweets. Joiners maintain profile on social networking site and visit social networking sites. Critics post ratings/reviews of products or services, comment on someone else’s blog, contribute to online forums and contribute to/edit articles in a wiki.

I think that the best plan of to get involved with social media would be a open forums, podcasts, or even a company blog that the founders of the firm could update while still adhering to client confidentiality and getting pre-approved consent from the Florida-Bar.

Conclusion:
Those are just a few ways for a growing firm to get involved in the social media craze and utilizing those things could help them see return on investment, which is what every law firm is looking for.