Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts

Prominent London Legal
Firms and Their Twitter

Accounts
Written by Rachel Murray of
Online Ventures Group, an Inbound Marketing Agency onlineventuresgroup.co.uk

of 2 63 Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts
The Role of
Social Me-
dia in the
Legal Sec-
tor

In the fast-paced and ercely competi-
tive world in which legal rms operate,
its easy for Twitter to seem like an af-
terthought.

Whether your expertise lies in real es-
tate, litigation, or intellectual property;
there is often very little time and man-
power available to dedicate specically
to implementing an effective social me-
dia strategy. This is a challenge that all
legal rms must face - and yet many are
overcoming this problem with remark-
able efciency.

Twitter, for example, has the intrinsic
ability to elevate legal rms and rein-
force their business strategy. When done
well, a great Twitter account has the ca-
pacity to generate leads, entice
prospects, recruit employees, increase
brand awareness, promote corporate
news, and develop client relationships.
And all with one click of a button.

Theres no doubt that London legal
rms are paving the way for other busi-
nesses across the world in terms of their
social media strategy. Many of the rms
in this report have demonstrated enor-
mous skill and dedication to creating
great social content. Others, however,
are still struggling to compete with their
contemporaries and maximise their
business potential on Twitter.

This report will examine 20 of the most
popular and interesting Twitter accounts
of the London legal sector. There will be
an in-depth summary of individual rm
strengths, weaknesses, and potential ar-
eas of improvement.

Whether your rm is already convinced
about the merits of Twitter, or is yet to
be swayed, this report will aim to
demonstrate how legal rms can benet
from implementing an effective social
media campaign.

Slaughter
and May
@slaughterandmay
Few can deny that Slaughter and May
are one of the most established and
revered legal rms in London. Founded
in 1889, Slaughter and May have
demonstrated their success by opening
multiple ofces in Hong Kong, Brus-
sels, and Beijing.

Unlike other London-based legal rms,
Slaughter and May have distinguished
themselves with their seemingly unwa-
vering domestic focus. They are also no-
table for their conservative outlook.

Throughout their existence, Slaughter
and May have maintained a traditional
partnership and preferred to develop
their own lawyers rather than recruiting
externally.
Unfortunately, this conservative outlook
has managed to seep into their social
media campaign. While Slaughter and
May have a strong presence on Twitter,
their outreach is limited by their pro-
tected account. Furthermore, they dont
have a company account on LinkedIn.
This means that prospective clients and
leads are strongly prohibited from learn-
ing more about Slaughter and May.

In a digital age where brand awareness
and customer acquisition is paramount -
Slaughter and May are not reaching
their social media potential.

Why has Slaughter and May made
their account private?

On the one hand, the limited access of

their Twitter account means that Slaugh-
ter and May retain their reputation for
exclusivity. They have complete control
over their audience and enjoy virtual
privacy while communicating with oth-
ers.

However, this then begs the following
question: can a business sustain social
media without being social?

Exclusivity
Exclusivity and privacy limit Slaughter
and Mays outreach capacity. One of the
key goals of social media is to increase
brand awareness and generate client in-
terest in your business. With a closed
Twitter account, Slaughter and May fail
to do this on a popular and widespread
level.

To make matters worse, they also dont
have a comprehensive LinkedIn ac-
count. There is a somewhat informative
LinkedIn page about Slaughter and May
- but there is no actual company ac-
count.

This is surprising, especially consider-
ing that over 5,800 users follow the
page. There are no updates, no an-
nouncements, and no information detail-
ing Slaughter and Mays recent success-
es.

Its not the case that theres no demand
for Slaughter and Mays social media
presence (5,800 people would agree) -
but there simply isnt a consistent effort
to do so.

Internal promotion
Given that Slaughter and May produce
their own regular news items, its unfor-
tunate that they dont have a public plat-
form from which to promote their work.

In the world of digital marketing, it
would be wrong to assume that content
will automatically promote itself based
on a companys prestige.

Like all forms of content marketing, its
paramount to have an accompanying so-
cial media campaign. Only by doing so
can you ensure that your content will be
widely seen.

What can Slaughter and May do to
improve their social media presence?

Be more open
As one of the most prestigious legal
rms in London, its of paramount im-
portance than Slaughter and May devel-
op a comprehensive and consistent so-
cial media strategy.

It would be wrong to think that Twitter
should be used primarily as an exclusive
and private tool for businesses in the le-
gal sector. When used properly, social
media has the capacity to generate leads
and develop customer relationships.
This is hugely important for any legal
rm - especially in London, where com-
petition in the sector is particularly
erce.

Use social media to build on client rela-
tionships
For Slaughter and May, its vital that so-
cial media is used in a constructive and
positive way. An open Twitter account
would allow the rm to promote their
news updates to a far greater client net-
work. It would also be a useful way to
build relationships with Slaughter and
Mays international client base.

In addition to this, Slaughter and May
would benet from using social media
on a more consistent level. If you want
to develop meaningful relationships
with your clients, then it can be very
benecial to use social media to develop
a consumer following. Regular, useful
tweets are invaluable way of achieving
this.

Unlike other rms in this report, Slaugh-
ter and May do not have a Twitter ac-
count specically for graduates. This is
disappointing, especially considering
how revered the rm is amongst stu-
dents.

Slaughter and May are the only rm in
this report who have privatised their
Twitter account.
Allen and
Overy
@AllenOvery
Allen and Overy are one of the most
important and inuential legal rms in
the city of London. They have been op-
erating for over 83 years and are truly
international, with 43 ofces worldwide
- including in Casablanca and Istanbul.

In terms of social media, Allen and
Overy have excelled in establishing for
themselves a strong and multifaceted
Twitter campaign. Unlike other legal
rms in London, Allen and Overy actu-
ally have multiple Twitter accounts ded-
icated to different client needs. This in-
cludes an account for graduates (@Al-
lenOveryGrads), prospective employees
(@AllenOveryJobs), and eco fundrais-
ers (@AllenOveryCSR).

Unlike Slaughter and May, Allen and
Overy have a public Twitter account
which promotes their content for every-
one to see. There are several good as-
pects about Allen and Overys Twitter
campaign, but there is also room for im-
provement.

With 16.4k followers, Allen and Overys
Twitter is surprisingly large - something
which well examine later in this report.

What do Allen and Overy do well?

There are a variety of components
which make the Allen and Overy Twitter
campaign particularly effective.

Quality Content
Allen and Overy succeeds in using its
Twitter account in a meaningful and
valuable way. Most of their content in-
cludes a mixture of news updates and
article shares. As you would expect,
these tweets have been created with a
specic legal audience in mind.

Allen and Overy are very good at using
Twitter to promote their own news up-
dates. The law rm have their own dedi-
cated publication section on their web-
site which is predominantly used to dis-
cuss legal news and corporate matters in
an in-depth and meaningful way.

Its refreshing to see that Allen and
Overy use their social media presence to
actively advertise their publications -
rather than relying on their prestige to
promote the material in the rst place.
This would be a good lesson for many
London-based legal rms, especially
those who wish to generate more leads.

For those who work in the legal sector,
the Allen and Overy account is a very
useful tool for keeping up to date with
the latest legal news in the world. For
this reason, the Allen and Overy Twitter
account would be a good example of a
law rm providing their followers with
valuable content.

Nevertheless, there is certainly room for
improvement. If you visit the Allen and
Overy page, the rst that thing strikes a
user is that theres no images. Every-
thing is very text-heavy and the Twitter
account isnt immediately eye-catching.

Consistency
Consistency is one of the most impor-
tant characteristics of any Twitter ac-
count. Allen and Overy are good at up-
dating their tweets - usually every day -
but this has slowed down in recent
weeks. At the current rate, Allen and
Overy are sending out tweets at least
once a week. This is far from ideal, es-
pecially if Allen and Overy want to in-
crease public awareness concerning
their news updates.

Nevertheless, this law rm should be
commended for its brand consistency on
Twitter. It doesnt take very long to gain
a clear understanding of who Allen and
Overy are, where their interests lie, and
which type of audiences theyre target-
ing. Their tweets are somewhat regi-
mented and their followers will quickly
learn what to expect from the Allen and
Overy Twitter account.

Consumer segmentation
One of the other reasons for Allen and
Overys social media success is their
separate, audience-driven Twitter ac-
counts.

There are ve Allen and Overy accounts
dedicated to different purposes and dif-
ferent online users. This might seem too
much, but there is a lot of merit in ap-
proaching social media in this structured
and audience-driven way.

Allen and Overy have recognised that
their online users follow them for a va-
riety of purposes and (crucially) for dif-
ferent lengths of time. Their graduate
account, for example, is primarily tar-
geted at students (undergraduate and
postgraduate) who are interested in
learning more about the rm. This Twit-
ter account is much more engaging, with
plenty of photographs and a more per-
sonal business-consumer relationship
dynamic.

However, the Allen and Overy graduate
account provides the rm with a fantas-
tic opportunity for recruitment. For ex-
ample, it doesnt take long to notice that
Allen and Overy are creating close-
working relationships with prospective
employees from Kings College Lon-
don. This gives Allen and Overy a fan-
tastic opportunity to cultivate their fu-
ture interests and promote their compa-
ny as the number one location for future
graduates.

In this sense, Allen and Overy are very
good at exploiting social media for its
commercial and corporate potential.

Their corporate responsibility Twitter
account is as equally interesting. In con-
junction with their wider business strat-
egy, Allen and Overy have a clear set of
corporate, moral, and ethical duties that
they abide with. This includes raising
awareness about important issues, but
also taking part in various charity events
and mentoring underprivileged young
people in developing countries. All of
these efforts are very admirable - but so
is their dedicated Twitter account.

The Allen and Overy CSR Twitter ac-
count is used primarily to promote these
efforts, whilst simultaneously increasing
their brand awareness. At this moment
in time, for example, Allen and Overy
are currently taking part in the Legal
Walk to raise money for several differ-
ent charities. Their dedicated Twitter ac-
count is lled with advertisements for
this event; encouraging their staff and
stakeholders to take part in the walk.

This is a great example of purpose-dri-
ven social media by Allen and Overy.
Unlike other accounts created by the
rm, the CSR Twitter account is much
more personal and consumer-orientated.
Through the necessity to raise money
for important causes, Allen and Overy
have created a Twitter account which is
much more engaging on an emotional
level.

How can this be replicated?
If other legal rms wish to replicate this
success, then there are plenty of lessons
to be taken from Allen and Overy. The
decision to make audience-driven, sepa-
rate Twitter accounts for different pur-
poses is extremely effective. Its more
user-friendly and helps to reinforce
Allen and Overys unique brand identity.

As like any good Twitter account, Allen
and Overy are efcient at creating and
regularly distributing quality social con-
tent. This could be done better, especial-
ly in the case of their primary account,
but overall Allen and Overy are doing
well.

How can Allen and Overy improve?

Use Twitter regularly
In addition to updating their main ac-
count more regularly, Allen and Overy
could benet from interacting more with
their followers. Their interactions are
very one-sided and there lacks signi-
cant personal engagement with online
users.

This is somewhat surprising because
Allen and Overy have over 16.4k fol-
lowers. On the surface, this appears in-
credibly impressive and elevates Allen
and Overys Twitter following way
above their competitors.

However, a quick scan using the soft-
ware programme Twitter Fake on Allen
and Overys primary account reveals
some interesting statistics.

10% of their following can be attributed
to fake accounts. Furthermore, 47% of
Allen and Overys Twitter followers are
from inactive users. This is alarming, to
say the least, and drastically cuts down
their audience reach by nearly 60%.

Evidently, this is something which needs
to be addressed by Allen and Overy. Its
much better to focus on gaining quality
followers, rather than simply relying on
fake and inactive accounts.

Overall Allen and Overy have taken sig-
nicant steps to thoroughly establish
themselves on Twitter, but more still
needs to be done.

Taylor
Wessing
@TaylorWessing
Taylor Wessing are one of the most es-
tablished and uniquely-cultured legal
rms in London. They are very much an
international business, with ofces in
(amongst others) Beijing, Dubai, Paris,
and Vienna.

Overall, Taylor Wessing pride them-
selves in being a large company with a
small-business mindset; valuing excel-
lence service, professional development,
and copious amounts of charity work.
With a 7% increase in prots between
2013 and 2014, they obviously have a
business strategy which works for them.

However, unlike other legal rms in
London, Taylor Wessing benet from
having an independent brand image be-
yond their legal services. Many people
know the law rm from their continuing
sponsorship of the National Portrait
Gallery. This has a huge marketing po-
tential for Taylor Wessing - allowing
them to attract a much greater audience
than traditional law rms.

As a result, its not surprising to learn
that Taylor Wessing have a signicant
Twitter following and an established so-
cial media presence.

What do Taylor Wessing do well?

Consumer segmentation
Like Allen and Overy, Taylor Wessing
have separate Twitter accounts for dif-
ferent purposes - their main account, for
example, is dedicated primarily for news
updates and sharing useful articles.
Their second account (@TWMediaTe-
ch), however, was created for the
lawyers themselves to interact with their
followers. This isnt just general conver-
sation, though; the account is utilised to
discuss various business and technologi-
cal developments in the industry.

This is a great use of social media and is
obviously very popular with their fol-
lowers. In fact, Taylor Wessing has
some the largest numbers of Twitter fol-
lowers than any other London legal
rm.

Quality Content
One dening characteristic of Taylor
Wessings Twitter updates is that they
are interesting and immediately engag-
ing. They dont just use Twitter to tell
their followers about the latest company
news. Their @TWMediaTech account is
also utilised to share other interesting
articles and retweet useful content.

This might seem mundane, but it shows
that Taylor Wessing isnt just interested
in using Twitter to promote their own
material. Instead, they actively engage
with other online users and create a per-
sonal platform for their employees to
make a valuable contribution to the
companys public image.

In addition to this, Taylor Wessing is
quick to use Twitter for a very practical
purpose: recruitment.

This is a good use of social media, espe-
cially considering that it allows Taylor
Wessing to communicate with prospec-
tive employees on a personal level.

Nevertheless, this isnt always utilised
to its fullest potential. Like many law
rm Twitter accounts, Taylor Wessing
could benet from being dynamic in
their social content. The use of images
and more interaction would go some
way to achieving this.

Consistency
One of the ways that Taylor Wessing
succeed in using Twitter efciently is
through regular use and distribution
consistency. In fact, Taylor Wessing are
very good at sending out tweets several
times a day. This is in stark contrast to
many other London legal rms who
simply dont afford time to pursuing so-
cial media.

produces consistent social content is by
promoting its Guardian blog. The Media
Tech Law blog is a fantastic resource for
Taylor Wessing to discuss important in-
dustry issues on a public platform.
However, it wouldnt be nearly as suc-
cessful without the law rm actively
promoting it on Twitter. This is some-
thing that Taylor Wessing is incredibly
good at achieving.


If other legal rms want to achieve the
same success as Taylor Wessing, then
there are several steps that they should
follow.

tweet engaging social content
First of all, Taylor Wessings separate
Twitter account is a fantastic platform to
promote their lawyers and their individ-
ual interests. Legal rms often suffer
from owning overly-conservative Twit-
ter accounts. However, Taylor Wessings
account is more engaging and gives a
personal edge to the companys public
image.

Promote regularly
One of the most signicant aspects of
Taylor Wessings success is that they
promote quality content on a frequent
basis. Rather than updating their Twitter
feed once a day, or less, they make a
consistent effort to provide their follow-
ers with useful information. This is an
important lesson for any rm who wants
to improve their social media status.

How can Taylor Wessing improve?

Interacting more with users
could improve is by interacting more
with their users. Unfortunately, their
Media Tech account is continually up-
dating their newsfeed but they receive
very little in the ways of replies. This
means that their content, while popular,
might not be engaging with users to its
fullest potential.

Given that their Twitter account also
contains very little in terms of visuals,
Taylor Wessing could benet from cre-
ating a more image-heavy social media
campaign. This would be more appeal-
ing to users and help them to increase
the rms social media outreach.

Take full advantage of their business
connections
In addition to this, Taylor Wessing do
not currently take advantage of their sta-
tus as an avid supporter of the arts in
London. If they had a separate Twitter
account dedicated to this topic, for ex-
ample, Taylor Wessing would succeed in
accessing a far greater audience reach.
At this moment in time, no other Lon-
don legal rm is doing this - giving Tay-
lor Wessing a uniquely advantageous
position.

If Taylor Wessing want to increase their
brand awareness and diversify their so-
cial media following, then they should
exploit their unique position within the
arts sector.

Nevertheless, Taylor Wessing obviously
have a strong Twitter presence. Their
Media Tech account, moreover, is a
great example of consistent and useful
social content being distributed to a far-
reaching audience. Its just their primary
account that requires further work.

DLA Piper
@DLA_Piper
DLA Piper are undoubtedly one of the
biggest names in the London legal sec-
tor. They have endured enormous nan-
cial success and have been a major
competitor in various areas of expertise,
including banking, corporate nance,
and real estate. DLA Piper are also one
of the largest legal rms in London,
with ofces in over 30 countries
throughout the world.

In terms of Twitter, DLA Piper have
managed to cultivate for themselves a
substantial following. They also update
their social content regularly and have
created individual accounts dedicated to
different topics.

What do DLA Piper do well?

Consumer Segmentation
DLA Piper have realised that online
users turn to Twitter for different rea-
sons. Thats why theyve created indi-
vidual accounts to suit separate purposes
- such as their news account
(@DLA_Piper_News) and dedicated
real estate account (@DLARealEstate).
This should allow them to promote dif-
ferent types of content with the separate
audiences, but there is an immediate
problem.

Their @DLA_Piper_News account is
entirely inactive - in fact, there has only
ever been one tweet. Even though this is
almost entirely useless for consumers,
there are still nearly 4000 people follow-
ing this Twitter account. This would
strongly suggest that theres an audience
who wants to hear about DLA Pipers
news updates, but they simply dont
have the energy or resources to com-
plete this.

Unfortunately, this reects very badly
on DLA Piper and its a wonder why
theyve maintained the account this
long.

Nevertheless, the DLARealEstate ac-
count is a good example of Twitter be-
ing used in an audience-driven way.
With nearly 2000 followers, DLA Real
Estate has managed to attract users who
turn to the rm specically for news and
shares. However, this relationship isnt
just one-sided; this account also follows
a substantial number of users and fre-
quently retweets useful updates.

Sharing Content That People Want

Like some other legal rms, DLA Piper
is good at sharing relevant and useful
articles with their followers on Twitter.
Not only are they just concerned with
legal matters, they also distribute con-
tent relating to the media, entertainment,
and technological industries.

This might seem like DLA Piper lack
any focus on social media, but its actu-
ally very useful for improving their con-
sumer outreach. Even if an online user
isnt interested in buying services from
the rm, they might still follow the ac-
count because of its interesting shares.

All of these efforts help to make DLA
Piper a thought-leader in their industry
and reinforce their brand image across a
multi-sectored platform.


There are several key points for busi-
nesses who wish to replicate the success
of DLA Piper and their social media
strategy.

Know your audience
DLA Piper have legal expertise in a va-
riety of industries, but they have chosen
to create a Twitter account dedicated to
one of the most competitive sectors -
real estate. This serves the double pur-
pose of allowing DLA Piper to solidify
their status as a premiere provider of le-
gal real estate advice; while also in-
creasing their brand awareness and
skills amongst the general public.

By creating a Twitter account which is
driven entirely by the audiences needs,
DLA Piper have succeeded where many
could not. Their account has a strong
following and exists purely to provide
useful and meaningful content to people
who are interested in real estate.

Achieve consistency
One of the most important ways of
building brand awareness and develop-
ing long-term consumer relationships is
through regular social media interac-
tions. Consistently producing tweets is
much more useful for users who want to
learn more about a company. If your
brand is boring, then theyll simply
move on elsewhere.

Build Trust
Although there are many commendable
areas of DLA Pipers Twitter activity,
there is still the issue of trust. The inac-
tive DLA_Piper_News account suggests
that the rm doesnt have the energy to
complete the task it set out to do. This
gives an incredibly bad impression and
doesnt reect on the rms elite status.

How can DLA Piper improve?

Be less conservative
DLA Piper suffer many from the same
social media problems as their competi-
tors. Their tweets are somewhat conser-
vative and lack any immediate sense of
personality. Overall, there is very little
in the way of photographs and visual
engagement.

Develop quality followers
In addition to this, DLA Piper have an
issue with their follower numbers like
Allen and Overy. 10% of the followers
which subscribe to their primary ac-
count are fake. Furthermore, 45% of the
rest are inactive accounts. This is ex-
tremely bad for DLA Piper because it
means that their customer outreach is
much lower than previously anticipated.

To improve this problem, DLA Piper
should develop meaningful relationships
with their consumers to build upon their
customer base. Other than making your
brand look better, fake accounts achieve
nothing for a company from a business
and marketing perspective. Quite sim-
ply, theres no point in creating social
content if over half of your followers
wont even see it.

Engage better with prospects
In terms of their content on Twitter,
DLA Piper could benet from engaging
better with their consumers. Although
nearly all of DLA Pipers tweets are al-
ways retweeted, they receive almost no
replies on a regular basis. Users are see-
ing their Twitter updates, but they sim-
ply arent interested in engaging with
the brand on a meaningful level. This is
a huge problem for their
DLA_Piper_News account - in which
the administrators only follow one user.
As a result, the communication is entire-
ly one-sided and lacks any basic interac-
tion.

With regards to their main account, this
shortfall in the business-consumer rela-
tionship is extremely detrimental. They
are failing to maximise the potential of
their customer outreach and promote
their content in the most effective way.

Its not the case that DLA Piper doesnt
have enough followers - they have thou-
sands - however, the rm need to pro-
duce social media content that entices
people. Regular interaction would go
some way in achieving this.
Freshelds
@freshelds
Freshelds is a somewhat unusual case
for a large-scale legal rm with regards
to their presence on social media. Al-
though the company is frequently re-
garded as within the top 5 legal rms in
London, it doesnt have the same sub-
stantial Twitter following as its competi-
tors.

On the face of it, this seems extremely
problematic for Freshelds. However,
the rm produces some of the best
tweets amongst London legal rms.
They dont have a disproportionate
number of fake followers, unlike other
companies, and they produce genuinely
engaging social content.

What do Freshelds do well?

Great content
Freshelds is one of the few legal rms
in this report who have a genuinely in-
teractive and interesting Twitter account.
Its much more engaging with its fol-
lowers compared to other accounts; with
plenty of catchy headlines such as:

This might seem like a small point to
dwell on, but this is a rare example of a
legal twitter account directly communi-
cating with a user. Its much more en-
gaging than simply sharing an interest-
ing article with no comment or personal
opinion.
Furthermore, Freshelds uses Twitter to
promote video content; creating an en-
gaging platform to communicate with its
followers. Many Twitter accounts from
the legal sector are somewhat conserva-
tive and fail to create visually interesting
content that users want to share.

This is not the case with Freshelds.

Useful shares
Its always refreshing to see a profes-
sional Twitter account which actively
followers other users too. It suggests
that the account isnt just used as a
waste bin for news updates, but is
utilised in a more meaningful way.
Freshelds is continually retweeting ar-
ticles and news items that its followers
might nd interesting.

Overall, this is a much more useful and
engaging way of utilising social media
content.

Communicating with followers
In addition to this, the Freshelds Twit-
ter account is good at replying to users
who contact them.

There is more of a dialogue between
Freshelds and its consumers compared
to other legal Twitter accounts. This
helps to inject some personality into the
rm - but more still needs to be done.


If companies want to create a Twitter
following based on real accounts and
distributing meaningful content, then the
Freshelds example is a useful place to
start. Here are some useful tips on how
to replicate Freshelds success.

Engage directly with users
As has been previously suggested, the
Freshelds Twitter account is quite
good at enticing people to communicate
with them. For instance:

This is a positive example of social me-
dia being used in a much more engaging
way than simply sending out news up-
dates. It directly communicates with the
audience and offers a useful way to do-
nate for their charitable cause. All
round, this is a good and meaningful
tweet.

Create content that audiences want
Freshelds has a good understanding of
who their audience is and what they
want from using Twitter. Thats why
they often advertise their vacancies and
job opportunities to graduates.

They have also helped to establish
themselves as thought-leaders through
their promotion of how to videos on
Twitter. Here is an example:

Videos are incredibly useful for engag-
ing with users and encouraging them to
share your content with their followers.
Theyre easy to understand, cheap to
make, and much more memorable than
written text.

If you are a business who wants to culti-
vate your Twitter following, then videos
and quality content are an excellent
place to start.

How can Freshelds improve?

Achieve consistency
As you can guess by now, regular tweet-
ing is extremely important for business-
es who want to develop long-term and
meaningful relationships with their cus-
tomers. While Freshelds do well in
creating interesting content, they simply
dont tweet enough.

Its a common problem in the legal sec-
tor that not enough time is devoted to
maximising the business potential of so-
cial media. Freshelds Twitter account
is updated roughly once a day; meaning
that they dont dedicate enough energy
to increasing their brand awareness.

This is problematic for several reasons.
Users who follow a business online do
so to receive regular updates regarding
news and events. When this doesnt
happen, they are less likely to develop a
relationship with that business and in-
vest in their product. In turn, legal rms
are less likely to attract the best recruits
and generate leads.

Create audience-driven accounts
In many ways, there are unique advan-
tages for Freshelds because they only
have one Twitter account. They are able
to focus their energy in one place and
they can develop their audience all un-
der one roof.

However, this is also somewhat messy.
It doesnt take long to scan through
Freshelds account to realise that there
are 3 key areas of corporate interest:

Recruitment
Communication (news updates)
Promotion (charitable events)

If you were a graduate looking a job at
Freshelds, for example, then you might
be deterred from contacting them via
Twitter. There are lots of tweets con-
cerning different things, but very little
focus in terms of overall theme and con-
sumer targeting. This is confusing and
arguably appears unprofessional.
To tackle this problem, Freshelds
needs to create separate accounts and
target its audiences more thoroughly.
This will help to improve their con-
sumer reach and ensure that their con-
tent is noticed by the right people.

At this moment in time, Freshelds has
signicantly less Twitter followers than
its main competitors. This advice would
go some way in rectifying this problem.
Clifford
Chance
@CC_UK_PR
Clifford Chance are undoubtedly one of
the most established and prestigious le-
gal rms in London. They pride them-
selves on being a global brand with a
client-focussed approach to working -
meaning that they are a genuine
thought-leader in legal sector.

Clifford Chance have a wide area of ex-
pertise, including in nance, real estate,
and litigation. Their success has allowed
them to open several different ofces
across the world - from London, to Mo-
rocco, and even Brazil.

Overall, Clifford Chance have a very
good Twitter strategy and they have
succeeded in creating multiple inuen-
tial accounts across the world.

What do Clifford Chance do well?

Different accounts per country
Clifford Chance are one of the largest
law rms in the world, so it makes sense
that they have separate Twitter accounts
for different locations. This is a fantastic
way for Clifford Chance to segment
their customers and meet their needs in
a more pragmatic way.

For example, their UK account
(@CC_UK_PR) is used primarily to
promote interesting corporate and legal
news based in Britain. This means that
they arent sending out irrelevant infor-
mation to their followers who dont nec-
essarily attach value to non-UK news. In
doing so, Clifford and Chance are able
to target prospects in a more effective
way.

This system obviously works; their ac-
count has over 8.5k followers at this
current point in time.

In addition to this, Clifford Chance are
one of the few legal companies to have
an overseas Twitter account which isnt
written in English. To compliment their
ofces in Amsterdam, they have a Dutch
Twitter account which is used to pro-
mote EU and international news up-
dates. The account is somewhat success-
ful, with roughly 2000 followers, and it
sends out social content on a much more
regular basis than its US and UK coun-
terparts.

Valuable content
Clifford Chance are very good at using
social media to effectively promote their
newsletters and corporate updates. Their
individual accounts are used for differ-
ent purposes, meaning that they typical-
ly share content which is specic to that
country. This is much more useful than
sending out articles and newsletters
which arent relevant to that locale.

They make a relatively consistent effort
in doing this, but they need to use Twit-
ter more than once a day if they want to
see real results.

Regular distribution
In recent weeks, the UK Clifford
Chance account hasnt been updated as
regularly as it has been in the past.
However, last month, Clifford Chance
were sending out tweets several times
everyday. This is a much more effective
use of social media and helped to gener-
ate more interest in the Clifford Chance
brand.

One of the reasons that Clifford Chance
have such a strong following on Twitter
is because of their regular and useful so-
cial content updates.


If other companies want to replicate this
success, then there are several useful
tips they can follow.

Target your audience directly
Although there is room for Clifford
Chance to improve, they have succeeded
in establishing for themselves several
prominent Twitter accounts across three
countries. This is no small task and
demonstrates the rms commitment to
producing quality content and distribut-
ing it effectively.

Overall, Clifford Chance have realised
that different audiences (across separate
continents) have individual customer
needs. By segmenting their customers
according to geography, Clifford Chance
can promote content which is relevant to
the client.

Other international legal rms should
consider doing the same.

Update your content regularly
One of the key methods in increasing
your Twitter following is through regu-
lar content distribution. This helps to
build client relationships and develop
consumer trust - when regularity is
pushed to the side, that trust begins to
deteriorate.

How can Clifford Chance improve?

Create more engaging tweets
Like many legal Twitter accounts, Clif-
ford Chance could benet from being
less conservative in their social content.
Take this tweet, for example:

This tweet is being used to promote a
company newsletter written by Alastair
Mordaunt, a Partner at Clifford Chance.
This is obviously an important piece of
content and should be promoted through
various social media channels in an at-
tempt to entice readers. However, the
tweet is uninformative, uninteresting,
and lacks any enthusiasm. As a result, it
generated very little engagement with
audiences.

To combat this problem, Clifford
Chance need to use social media to its
fullest potential and generate meaning-
ful social content. Only by doing so can
they maximise their sharability and de-
velop client relationships.

Achieve consistency across the company
One of the challenges for Clifford
Chance is to produce social content
which is consistent in quality and distri-
bution across their accounts. The UK
and US PR accounts are a good example
of this problem.

Both are intended to promote articles
and news updates related to Clifford
Chance, but they vary considerably in
terms of quality output. The UK account
is updated roughly once every few days,
whereas the US counterpart only tweets
around once a week. This means that
neither account is being used to its
fullest potential. Furthermore, it sug-
gests that the company cannot achieve
consistency across the board.

Engage better with prospects
Like many of the legal rm Twitter ac-
counts in this report, Clifford Chance
could benet enormously by actively
engaging with their prospects. Too often
their tweets are used primarily to give
news updates. This is very useful infor-
mation, but it lacks any personal in-
volvement between the business and its
customers.

If Clifford Chance want to increase their
lead generation, then they should make
a consistent effort to communicate di-
rectly with their prospects. Clifford
Chance could send their newsletters to
specic individuals who are interested
in their work; helping to increase their
status as a thought-leader and potential-
ly generate more business.
Linklaters
@LinklatersLLP

Linklaters are one of the rst companies
that people imagine when they think
about legal rms in London. They work
on a variety of multi-jurisdictional cases
and have won a variety of awards for
their excellent work; including Law
Firm of the Year (Poland) over this past
year.

Overall, Linklaters carry this profes-
sional excellent into their social media
campaign with rigour, enthusiasm, and
commitment. They have one of the best
Twitter accounts of this report and con-
tinue to set a positive example for their
competitors to emulate.

What do Linklaters do well?

Exciting interactions
Linklaters are one of the few companies
in this report who dont embrace con-
servatism in their tweets. Their updates
are frequent, consistent in quality, and
very engaging. In addition to this, the
Linklaters Twitter account is good at
communicating with other people -
rather than just sharing interesting arti-
cles.

Here is an example:

Unlike many other legal rm Twitter ac-
counts, theres much more personality to
Linklaters social content. The same can
be said for their Graduate Twitter ac-
count which has plenty of engaging up-
dates:

Its not simply the case that Linklaters
have more time to create exciting and
regular tweets. Instead, they have
recognised that personalised social con-
tent is much more likely to grab a users
attention. In fact, Linklaters is so good
at tweeting quality content, its worth
following their account even if you have
only a slight interest in the legal sector.

Targeting graduates
People use social media for a variety of
purposes. For legal rms, its vital to
create a public platform so that prospec-
tive employees can contact you. Its also
a useful way to keep close contact with
prestigious universities and get involved
with local events.

The Linklaters graduate account is a
very good example of a legal rm tar-
geting graduates in a meaningful and
productive way. For example, Linklaters
frequently produce webcasts in conjunc-
tion with the international University of
Law:

This is a great example of Linklaters
utilising social media to its fullest poten-
tial. The tweet is useful, informative,
and demonstrates the very reason why
separate graduate Twitter accounts are
vital: to target young audiences directly.

This type of tweet isnt useful for
prospects or building prestigious client
relationships. Its for future recruitment
purposes.

Frequent tweeting
In addition to this, the Linklaters Twitter
accounts are excellent at producing fre-
quent updates. They tweet several times
a day, over both platforms, and engage
directly with audiences. This is some-
thing that many legal rms fail to do.

In this sense, Linklaters are paving the
way for London legal rms in terms of
social content and online communica-
tion.

Quality Content
Dont be fooled, however; Linklaters
dont just use social media to chat with
other online users. They also provide
their followers with very useful content.
The main account, for instance, is used
to advertise any publications or newslet-
ters that the rm produces. Its also used
to share other interesting articles; help-
ing to increase Linklaters status as a
thought leader.
Their business strategy is obviously
working; both accounts currently have a
combined following of over 7000 users.


There are many lessons which can be
taken from Linklaters use of social me-
dia. Here are some of the most impor-
tant points to consider:

Encourage users to get excited about
your brand
Linklaters excel at using social media to
entice users and get them interested in
their brand.

Create dialogues
In addition to this, Linklaters have set a
high standard for taking the time to re-
spond to online users. This is problem
that many other legal rm Twitter ac-
counts struggle with. However, Lin-
klaters have a much more personalised
approach to social networking and excel
at communicating with others online:

Its much easier to build client relation-
ships and develop prospects if compa-
nies take the time to communicate with
their online audiences.

Linklaters are one of the best legal rms
at doing this; so many other businesses
could learn from their example.

Give a platform to students
Its now common policy for legal rms
to develop close working relationships
with many of the most prestigious uni-
versities throughout the UK. This is ex-
tremely protable, for a variety of rea-
sons, but it cannot be achieved fully
without a comprehensive social media
campaign.

Twitter is a great tool for students to
contact prospective employers and learn
more about a rm. Linklaters have re-
alised this and created a separate Twitter
account just for their graduates. To make
things even better, they update it regular
and communicate directly with their fol-
lowers. You couldnt ask for more.

How can Linklaters improve?

Overall, Linklaters have a very good
presence on Twitter (on both of their ac-
counts). They are consistent in their dis-
tribution and have a genuinely engaging
online demeanour.

There is not much that Linklaters can do
to improve their social content, but there
are some points they may wish to con-
sider.
Consider creating more accounts
For example, Linklaters are a global
brand with 29 different ofces based the
world; from Germany to Hong Kong.
However, they only have a Twitter ac-
count for their London base - meaning
that theres no Linklaters platform to
communicate with their international
clients. This is unfortunate and poten-
tially limits the rms global reach.

Other than this, Linklaters just need to
continue with their social media strategy
and increase their brand awareness con-
sistently across the globe.
Herbert
Smith
Freehills
@HSFlegal

Herbert Smith are an elite legal rm in
London, specialising in a variety of
practice areas including corporate, regu-
lation, and real estate. The rm pride
themselves in building excellent client
relationships and being one of the most
ambitious legal rms in the city. With
ofces on 5 different continents, they
have a comprehensive social media
campaign and a good standing on Twit-
ter.

What do Herbert Smith Freehills do
well?

Excellent Follower-Following ratio
The Herbert Smith Freehills Twitter ac-
count is one of the few examples of a
legal rm actively following other use-
ful accounts too. More often than not,
legal Twitter accounts are just used as a
platform to distribute content. However,
this account takes an active interest in
promoting a wide range of topics from
many different sectors.

Given that Herbert Smith Freehills in a
variety of different sectors, its not sur-
prising that they use Twitter to keep up-
dated with the latest news and events.

This is an important component of any
good Twitter account; something which
Herbert Smith Freehills realise and use
to their full advantage.

Quality content
Many legal rms use Twitter to share
interesting articles and news updates -
and Herbert Smith Freehills is no differ-
ent. They regularly produce video posts
which helps to inform their followers
about a variety of legal topics. As you
would expect, Herbert Smith Freehills
utilise Twitter to promote this content on
a regular basis. This is much more en-
gaging than merely sharing an article
and helps to elevate Herbert Smith
Freehills status as a thought-leader in
their industry.

In addition to this, the rm is good at
sending out content that people want to
read and share. Here is a good example:

The tweet is informative and helps to
give followers a good idea about the
companys ethical and moral pursuits.
Its also much more engaging than other
types of tweets sent out about legal
rms (which are often dull and conserv-
ative). In this sense, @HSFlegal are
good at engaging with their followers
but there is still room for improvement:
This type of Tweet could benet from
being more informative. There is no in-
formation about who wrote the article or
what type of content it is. By and large,
the majority of Herbert Smith Freehills
Tweets are very good, but they could
prot from applying this skill across the
board.

Consistency
The @HSFlegal Twitter account is up-
dated on a regular basis; sometimes
even several times a day. Its incredibly
important for businesses who want to
increase their lead generation to produce
social content frequently. This is some-
thing that Herbert Smith Freehills excel
at; setting a high standard for their com-
petitors to match.

There is also consistency in the overall
quality of the tweets too. With the odd
exception, the updates are informative
and useful - helping to develop long-
term relationships between the rm and
its clients.


Send out useful content
If users want to develop a substantial
Twitter following and increase their dia-
logue with prospects, then it would be
benecial to give audiences content that
is actually helpful to them. Sharing in-
teresting articles, with a personal spin, is
much more useful than simply tweeting
news updates. This something that Her-
bert Smith Freehills have proven their
competence in.

However, for those who want to give
themselves an edge, its important to at-
tach images to your tweets. This makes
your social content much more eye-
catching and memorable.

Update your tweets regularly
It cannot be stressed enough how impor-
tant it is to send out tweets on a frequent
basis. Herbert Smith Freehills dedicates
time and attention to ensuring that their
social content is updated at least once a
day. This helps to improve their status as
a thought-leader and potentially gener-
ate more interest in the brand.

How can Herbert Smith Freehills im-
prove?

Improve their graduate account
Herbert Smith Freehills have a separate
Twitter account for prospective gradu-
ates, but its used in a very poor way.
They only send out Tweets once a week
(or fortnight, in some cases) and the rm
fails to interact with students in a mean-
ingful way. Their social content is also
somewhat uninspired:


The Advocacy Competition should be
an exciting event, but Herbert Smith
Freehills fails to effectively promote it
in an engaging way. The tweet is infor-
mative but it lacks any of the personality
it deserves.

The main problem for Herbert Smith
Freehills, however, is there lack of con-
sistency is distribution. Their graduate is
poorly managed and reects very badly
on the company; suggesting that they
lack the energy or resources to properly
maintain the account.

Online users are obviously aware of
this, which is why the account has very
little social reach:

Include more images
Like many of the legal rms in this re-
port, Herbert Smith Freehillss Twitter
account lacks visual engagement. There
are almost no photographs or images at-
tached to the tweets - meaning that their
tweets fail to catch as much attention as
they deserve.
This is not a problem for the rms main
Twitter account, which is actually very
good, but unique to their separate grad-
uate account.
Hogan
Lovells
@HoganLovells

Hogan Lovells is one of the most estab-
lished legal rms in the UK. They work
with a variety of businesses, including
large corporations, governmental de-
partments, and nancial institutions. In
addition to this, they have over 2,500
employees throughout the world - oper-
ating primarily in Washington, London,
and Hong Kong.

Hogan Lovells has a unique approach to
their social media strategy. They are one
of the few rms to create separate ac-
counts for their individual departments;
something which has its own advantages
and disadvantages.

What do Hogan Lovells do well?

Hogan Lovells have a substantial Twit-
ter following and use their account pri-
marily to share updates and interesting
news articles. However, their main area
of success can be attributed to their divi-
sion of Twitter accounts according to
different industries.

Purpose-driven accounts
Hogan Lovells have 8 different ac-
counts; each created to suit a unique
purpose and reach its own targeted audi-
ence. This includes:

Payment Innovations team (@HLPayments)
Privacy team (@HLPrivacy)
Intellectual Property team (HoganLovellsIP)
Corporate responsibility (@HLCitizenship)
General matters (@HoganLovells)
UK Press ofce (@HoganLovellsUK)
US Press ofce (@HoganLovellsUS)
Spanish ofce (@HoganLovellsES)

The great thing about these accounts is
that they allow Hogan Lovells to seg-
ment their customer base and target
prospective clients accordingly. The
payments account, for example, is used
to promote content relating to nancial
matters in the wider legal industry.

Furthermore, Hogan Lovells is one of
the few rms to have a foreign Twitter
account dedicated in a non-English lan-
guage. This is something which will ar-
guably become more important as rms
continue to open ofces across the
world.

Engaging content
In addition to this, the Citizenship ac-
count is incredibly engaging and enjoys
a large Twitter following. Some of their
tweets are particularly enticing, such as:

One of the problems with many legal
rm Twitter accounts is that they lack
any images or friendly faces. This is not
the case with @HLCitizenship - where
there are regular updates with interest-
ing and useful pieces of content.

How can this replicated?

Create separate Twitter accounts for dif-
ferent departments
There is an immediate challenge facing
legal rms who want to create a Twitter
account based on their corporate inter-
ests. As the magic circle continue to ex-
pand their ofces across the world, its
difcult to manage a unied social me-
dia campaign which effectively reects
their values and industrial practices.

One of the ways that Hogan Lovells
combats this problem is through sepa-
rate Twitter accounts for different sec-
tors. There are downsides to this
methodology, as will be explored short-
ly, but it allows the rm to segment their
audience and its interests more effec-
tively.

It also gives staff at Hogan Lovells the
opportunity to try new things and exper-
iment with social media.

Share content from reputable sources
Hogan Lovells is good at sharing con-
tent from trustworthy and informative
sources; helping them to build upon
their network of client relationships
across the world.
Of all the Hogan Lovells Twitter ac-
counts, the US general account is by far
the most successful. One of the reasons
for this popularity is because they fre-
quently tweet about news events and ar-
ticles which are specic to its targeted
audience. For example, there is plenty of
information for their clients and
prospects who work in the public sector:

This type of content would be largely
un-useful for Hogan Lovells European
market, but its perfect for their clients
in the US.

If other legal rms wish to replicate this
success, then they should consider dis-
tributing content which has a pragmatic
use for their clients.

Tweet regularly
Although Citizenship isnt the most
popular Hogan Lovells Twitter account,
it is updated regularly and is consistent
in quality:

The language is emotional and is much
more engaging than simply sharing
news stories with very little personal
comment. This is something that Hogan
Lovells frequently succeeds in; helping
them to improve their client relation-
ships and increase their sharability.

How can Hogan Lovells improve?

Overall, Hogan Lovells have made a
very good attempt at creating a compre-
hensive and consistent social media
strategy. However, there are still some
areas which could be improved upon.

Achieve consistency
The separate Twitter accounts for Hogan
Lovells are very useful, but they are not
consistent in their popularity.

The main account has a signicant fol-
lowing on Twitter:

Alternatively, when you look at the
payments account, there is much less
buzz surrounding the rm:

This problem is less apparent for the
privacy account, but there is still a
large discrepancy:

In order to combat this problem, its
highly important that Hogan Lovells
dedicate an equal amount of time and
attention into improving their social
media accounts.

Consider Consolidation
If this fails to work, then Hogan Lovells
may wish to consider consolidating their
individual Twitter accounts into smaller,
more manageable accounts. This would
take less time and energy - helping the
rm to focus their efforts on one target
market. In addition to this, they
wouldnt need to utilise so much of their
employees time on social media inter-
action.
Ashurst
@ashurst

Ashurst might not be the largest legal
rm in this report, but they have estab-
lished themselves as a well-respected
and esteemed business in the centre of
London. They have 24 different ofces
across the world and focus specically
on mergers, nance, and acquisitions.

In terms of social media, Ashurst have a
strong following on Twitter but they do
not update their content regularly
enough. They are known for sharing
quality content but it seems to attract
very little in the way of attention.

Nevertheless, their account is undoubt-
edly successful and Ashurst have an in-
teresting approach to their Twitter strat-
egy.

What do Ashurst do well?

Useful information
Ashursts Twitter account is primarily
used as a vehicle to advertise their
newsletters and briengs. As this report
will soon discuss, these updates are reg-
imented but they are also advantageous-
ly concise. Nearly all of the tweets are
structured in the same way:

Although there are downsides to this
approach, Ashursts account makes it
easier for online users to access useful
information in the quickest way possi-
ble. You simply have to scroll down the
screen and nd Read our latest X to
access your document.

Consistency
In addition to this, Ashursts Twitter ac-
count is consistent in sharing the same
type of content on a weekly basis. In
terms of their social content, Ashurst are
good at being reliable and distributing
their content at a regular time slot. This
is something that many legal rms could
benet from implementing.

Overall, its tempting to speculate that a
partial reason for Ashursts Twitter suc-
cess is due to having one social media
account. They dont have separate ac-
counts dedicated to different topics and
client segments. Everything is in one
convenient location, allowing for greater
ease of access and potential communica-
tion. Its difcult to prove this notion
beyond pure speculation, but one thing
remains clear: Ashursts signicant
Twitter follow is a testament to their sta-
tus as prominent intellectual leader in
the legal sector.


Ashurst have two-pronged approach to
their social media strategy: consistency
and quality. Unlike many other legal
rm Twitter accounts, they use their
platform purely to advertise their corpo-
rate publications. This is immensely
useful for their followers who are inter-
ested in newsletters written on litigation
and commercial matters. However, it
also runs the risk of alienating other au-
diences who arent as well versed in
these legal matters.

Although Ashurst must increase the reg-
ularity of their tweets, they have already
established a positive benchmark for re-
leasing updates at a (roughly) set time
each week. This means that their fol-
lowers know what to expect and can an-
ticipate when the next Ashurst publica-
tion will be advertised. Overall, this is
an incredibly useful tactic and helps to
reinforce the rms status as a thought-
leader.

If there any lessons to be taken from
Ashursts example, its that legal rms
must achieve continuity across the
board. Great content, with consistent so-
cial media promotion, cannot necessari-
ly be enough to generate long term
client relationships. Instead, publication
should be promoted in conjunction with
other interesting shares and useful
tweets.

How can Ashurst improve?

Update their content more regularly
Its evident from Ashursts Twitter ac-
count that they dedicate roughly once a
week to distributing content on social
media. There are clear patterns in the
updates - every 5-7 days, there will be a
morning set aside for sharing Ashurst
articles and newsletters. Furthermore,
there is very little evidence of the com-
pany account being used to contact
prospects or share other examples of in-
teresting content.

To combat this problem, its paramount
that Ashurst begin to use social media
with regularity and commitment. They
have a substantial Twitter following, but
there is hardly any evidence of commu-
nication between the company and other
leads. This is a signicant business
blunder; after all, social media is intend-
ed to bring people together, not drive
them apart.

Mix things up
One of the other problems with
Ashursts Twitter account is that theres
no real engagement with prospects and
other online users. The dialogue is one-
sided and consists of sharing corporate
material. Although this is undoubtedly
useful, its somewhat conservative and
lacks any overt sense of personality. The
overall impression that this Twitter ac-
count gives is that someone is merely
going through the motions.

If Ashurst want to improve on this prob-
lem, then they should consider sharing
and distributing more unusual content.
This would help them to shed their con-
servative persona and create content that
excites people. For example, much of
their briengs are based on data. They
could create eye-catching infographics
to draw the attention of readers and in-
crease their Twitter following.

Communicate with others
One of the challenges facing Ashursts
Twitter account is nding a way to
communicate better with online users.
Overall, their tweets receive roughly 1-3
retweets each and the occasional
favourite - but hardly anyone ever
replies to them. This is a shame because
the lack of dialogue indicates that users
simply arent engaging with the social
content.

In the legal sector, business is built upon
lead generation and client relationships.
Social media is an extension of that
process and should be maximised to its
fullest potential.

Thats why Ashurst should make a sys-
tematic attempt to create interesting so-
cial content that people want to read,
share, and (most importantly) discuss.
This is how you help to develop long-
term communication between a business
and its clients.
Pinsent
Masons
@PinsentMasons

Pinsent Masons are one of the most
revered legal rms in the city of Lon-
don. They have over 350 partners and
employ more than 2,500 staff across the
world - allowing them to establish of-
ces in various cities, such as Hong
Kong, Munich, and Shanghai.

Pinsent Masons are unique in that they
focus on four main sectors in the legal
industry: nance, infrastructure, energy,
and manufacturing. In terms of their
company ethos, Pinsent Masons pride
themselves on building their company
directly upon the needs of their clients.

To reect this diversity and dedication,
the rm have two Twitter accounts - one
for general matters (@PinsentMasons)
and the other specically catered to-
wards graduates (@PMgrads).

What do Pinsent Masons do well?

tweeting quality content
Pinsent Masons Twitter account is one
of the few in this report which tweet out
non-legal matters on a regular basis. For
example, their press ofce frequently
publish commentaries on important
news events:

There is an obvious advantage for Pin-
sent Masons by frequently sharing non-
legal articles: their social content is in-
stantly accessible, regardless of a users
sector. This means that the account isnt
just useful for people who are a lawyer,
partner, or trainee. It has universal ap-
peal.

Good communication
The Pinsent Masons graduate Twitter
account is good at nurturing dialogues
between the company and its potential
new employees. They provide graduates
with genuinely helpful advice and are
always quick to reply when an online
user has a question. Furthermore, they
actively attempt to engage with young
adults frequently:

This is something that many legal rms
could benet from practicing more
widely. Its vital for members of the le-
gal sector to communicate directly with
aspiring lawyers. This helps them to
generate potential leads and cultivate
any future recruitment opportunities.

In addition to this, Pinsent Masons
graduate account is very good offering a
personalised approach to social media
interaction:

Overall, the tone is friendly and ap-
proachable; exactly what users want
from communicating with a law rm
over the internet.

Visually engaging content
One of the other reasons for Pinsent
Masons success is that their social con-
tent is visually engaging. Their reports
often include images and photographs
which makes their account appear more
eye-catching and dynamic. Here is a
good example:

Although this is something that the rm
need to do more often, they have already
set a good precedent for using striking
visuals in their tweets. This might not
seem important, but its vital for legal
businesses to make themselves stand out
from their competitors in the context of
social media. One of the ways to
achieve this is through exciting and en-
gaging visuals.


Pay attention to students
If other companies want to enjoy the
same success as Pinsent Masons, then
they should create a separate Twitter ac-
count for graduates. This is a fantastic
opportunity for legal rms to shed their
conservative image and engage directly
with users in a more friendly way. More
often than not, legal rms are very good
at using their graduate accounts to
communicate directly with people.

Take an interest in non-legal content
One of the challenges facing legal rms
and their Twitter accounts is nding a
way to appeal directly to non-legal fol-
lowers. The very nature of the legal in-
dustry means that lawyers must engage
directly with a variety of businesses
across a limitless amount of sectors.

To combat this problem, many legal
rms could look at the example from
Pinsent Masons. They successfully
manage to tweet about a variety of top-
ics and appeal to a wider range of audi-
ences than other legal rms. This is in-
credibly important for raising brand
awareness and generating leads for any
business.

How can Pinsent Masons improve?

tweet more regularly
Pinsent Masons are very popular on so-
cial media, but they arent maximising
Twitter to its fullest potential. Their
main account is only updated once every
few days - meaning that they aren't
communicating enough with their
clients and prospects. This is a huge dis-
advantage for the rm, especially con-
sidering how effective regular tweeting
can be useful for improving any digital
marketing strategy.

Use their main account to its fullest po-
tential
The Pinsent Masons graduate account is
very good at communicating with others
and developing meaningful relationships
with Twitter followers. However, less
can be said for their main account. It has
hardly any interaction and is used pri-
marily as a vehicle to promote corporate
content. Although its vital to advertise
corporate publications on Twitter, users
appreciate variety too.

Pinsent Masons could benet from at-
tempting to engage directly with their
followers on a regular basis. For exam-
ple, they could send their content direct-
ly to the people who want to read it.
This would allow them to develop rela-
tionships with their clients and even
generate more interest in their business
brand.

In addition to this, their main Twitter
account could benet greatly from using
more visuals and videos. This would
help them to distinguish their brand
from their competitors and establish
their own unique corporate identity on
Twitter.

Follow more Twitter accounts
Given that Pinsent Masons are being
followed by considerably more online
users than they follow themselves, it
would strongly suggest that the rm is
considered a thought-leader in their sec-
tor.

However, one of the problems with Pin-
sent Masons account is that they dont
communicate enough with other users.
Their lack of engagement is a testament
to the fact that they use Twitter primari-
ly as a promotion tool. This is all very
well, but it means that the rm arent
using social media to its fullest poten-
tial.

To combat this problem, it might be
benecial for Pinsent Masons to take
more of an interest in sharing content
from other useful accounts. As a result,
the rm would appear less conservative
and actively demonstrate their social
connections throughout the world.
Norton
Rose
Fulbright
@NLegal_Global

Norton Rose Fulbright are undoubtedly
one of the most successful legal rms
based in London. They have over 50 of-
ces throughout the world spanning
across 5 different continents. Further-
more, they specialise in a wide range of
legal sectors, including nance, energy,
and regulation.

Norton Rose Fulbright is a truly global
brand; something which is effectively
reected in their Twitter campaign. They
have a large number of Twitter accounts,
each divided according to region. There
is also one main account used by their
London ofce to promote newsletters,
corporate events, and international legal
news.

This is a very popular account, as is
made evident by their signicant fol-
lower base:
What do Norton Rose Fulbright do
well?

Regional accounts
As a global brand network, Norton Rose
Fulbright have created a chain of Twitter
accounts to reect their diversity and
bring their audiences directly relevant
content. They have 5 separate accounts,
which include:

General corporate (@NLegal_Global)
Canadian ofce (@NLegal_CA)
American ofce (@NLegal_US)
Australian ofce (@NLegal_AU)
South African ofce (@NLegal_ZA)

This might seem like a lot of work, but
each account is managed directly by the
press ofce in that particular country.
There is a lot of merit to this system and
it suggests that the rm are approaching
social media from the perspective of
their clients.

Each of their followers, no matter where
theyre based, is able to access informa-
tion which is directly relevant to them.

Content promotion
Norton Rose Fulbright are very good at
using Twitter to promote their corporate
materials. For example, they product a
wide range of arbitration reports cover-
ing different sectors. This would seem to
be one of the primary reasons for the
Twitter account.

In addition to this, Norton Rose Ful-
bright also tweet out a variety of corpo-
rate news updates relating to their of-
ces across the world. This is much
more sporadic, but overall the rm are
well versed in providing their followers
with a diverse range of social content.


Find an audience and target them
There are potential downsides to Norton
Roses regional Twitter accounts, such
as inconsistency, but its an incredibly
useful strategy for businesses who oper-
ate on an international basis. Norton
Rose Fulbright have realised that differ-
ent clients value different types of con-
tent depending on their location. To
combat this problem, they have created
individual accounts which segment their
audience and allow the rm to target
them more effectively.

Although this might not work for every
rm, its denitely something that could
benet many businesses who have of-
ces across the world. It requires a lot of
time and energy, but the rewards are
promising.

Promote everything you publish
Its not simply enough to publish great
content and expect it to promote itself.
Norton Rose Fulbright are very efcient
in ensuring that their corporate materials
are always advertised on Twitter for
everyone to see. For those who work in
the legal sector, this type of promotion
is incredibly useful and helps to ensure
that the rms content reaches a much
wider audience.

If other rms wish to replicate this suc-
cess, then they should consider allowing
employees to share company content on
their own accounts. This will increase
page views and help to raise brand
awareness across a much broader social
spectrum.

How can Norton Rose Fulbright im-
prove?

Use their global account more regular-
ly
Norton Rose Fulbrights US Twitter ac-
count is updated regularly and with re-
markable efciency. However, this is
not replicated across the board and their
global account is updated (roughly)
once every 1-2 days. This is not enough;
especially if the London rm want to
increase their brand awareness through-
out Europe. The Americans are currently
paving the way, but theres no reason
why London cant achieve the same re-
sults.

Engage directly with users
This is a theme that is frequently recur-
ring throughout this report. Not enough
of the London legal rms are making a
systematic effort to build up client rela-
tionships through active Twitter en-
gagement. This isnt just mundane chit-
chat; these efforts help to develop mean-
ingful and useful contacts for a rm.

Its great to see that Norton Rose Ful-
bright use Twitter to promote their con-
tent, but they could also make more of
an effort to engage directly with users.
Overall, this would help the rm to
achieve a universal social media strate-
gy that saw success throughout the Twit-
ter accounts - not just primarily for their
US version.

Consider opening a graduate account
It might seem like the last thing that
Norton Rose Fulbright need is another
Twitter account, but they should consid-
er opening a graduate account. This
would be an effective way of communi-
cating with potential employees on a
much more focussed platform.

At this current point in time, their global
account is dedicated primarily to sharing
corporate content. Much of this content
is too sector-specic to be informative
to students.
CMS
Cameron
McKenna
@CMS_Law

CMS Cameron McKenna are one of the
largest legal rms in this report, with
over 3000 employees in total and 58 of-
ces across the world. They specialise in
8 industry groups, including commercial
law, real estate, and dispute resolution.
In terms of their company ethos, they
pride themselves on focussing on client
relationships rather than ideals - mean-
ing that they offer a personalised service
while maintaining a multinational com-
pany throughout the globe.

Overall, CMS Cameron McKenna are
very well established and have endured
signicant success in their social media
strategy. Their numbers speak for them-
selves:
What do CMS Cameron McKenna do
well?

A great graduate account
CMS Cameron McKennas graduate
Twitter account is a great example of a
legal rm providing useful social con-
tent to students. Their tweets are engag-
ing, informative, and are genuinely
helpful to anyone who is considering en-
tering the legal profession.

Here is an example:
Rather than just linking to the bursary
page, CMS Cameron McKenna have
made their content much more engaging
by using Twitter in a friendly and ap-
proachable way. They are also good at
appealing directly to users and giving
them articles that are actually useful:
Altogether, these efforts help to make
this graduate account one of the most
useful and engaging Twitter feeds of its
kind.

Regular updates
One of the reasons for CMS Cameron
McKennas success is that they tweet
very regularly. They have a much more
established social presence than other
legal rm accounts. On any given day,
you can expect to see their Twitter feed
several times with useful and interesting
content. This means that their account
has greater value to its followers; it also
helps to increase the brand awareness of
CMS Cameron McKenna on a daily ba-
sis.

Sharing content from established publi-
cations
Unlike many legal rms in this report,
CMS Cameron McKennas primary
Twitter account is very good at sharing
great content. Many rms simply use
social media to promote their own cor-
porate materials, taking very little time
to show interest in other Twitter ac-
counts.

However, CMS Cameron McKenna ex-
cels at sharing quality content from
prestigious accounts on a regular basis.
Retweeting might not seem important,
but it shows that a rm has a good
knowledge of their sector and takes an
active interest in their contemporarys
work. All of this contributes to a busi-
ness status as a thought-leader in their
eld.


Make an effort to update Twitter regu-
larly
To replicate the success of CMS
Cameron McKenna, its important that
legal rms tweet regularly and make a
consistent effort to engage personally
with online users. Although this is
something which CMS Cameron
McKenna havent achieved across the
board, they have made a signicant step
towards achieving this with their gradu-
ate account.

By regularly updating their Twitter ac-
count and taking the time to respond to
followers, the rm is able to offer a per-
sonalised service which is in-keeping
with the companys wider set of beliefs.
This also helps them to increase their
brand awareness and build upon their
already well-established client relation-
ships.

Create a graduate-driven Twitter ac-
count
This has been mentioned already in this
report, but its an important business
strategy that many legal rms fail to im-
plement. CMS Cameron McKennas
graduate Twitter account has forged
great relationships with London-based
universities and has succeeded in estab-
lishing the rm as a premiere choice for
ambitious graduates.

To emulate this success, its important
that legal rms take the time to commu-
nicate directly with prospective employ-
ees.

How can CMS Cameron McKenna
improve?

Improve the quality of their tweets
The account occasionally suffers from
being overly conservative and uninfor-
mative.

A good tweet should entice the reader
and simply beg to be clicked on and
shared.

Overall, however, CMS Cameron
McKenna have a good social media
strategy and already tweet with impres-
sive regularity. However, they need to
develop their online relationships fur-
ther.
Wragge
Lawrence
Graham &
Co.
@WraggeLaw

Wragge Wragge Lawrence Graham &
Co. and Co. are one of the oldest and
best established legal rms in London;
their founding company, Wragge
Lawrence Graham & Co., can be traced
back over 300 years. They have gone
through many changes in recent years,
but they continue to go from strength to
strength in the London legal sector.

Overall, the rm employ roughly 1200
people and have opened 10 ofces
across the world.

In terms of social media, Wragge
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. & Co.
have a strong presence on Twitter and
have implemented a very effective busi-
ness strategy to maintain their success.

At this current point in time, here are
their crucial statistics:
What do Wragge Lawrence Graham
& Co. do well?

Sharing useful content
In the same manner as many legal rms
in this report, Wragge Lawrence Gra-
ham & Co. use their Twitter account
primarily as a promotional tool for cor-
porate publications. Their legal updates
frequently appear on the company Twit-
ter feed - meaning that they have a com-
prehensive social media strategy to
promote their publications.

The great thing about Wragge Lawrence
Graham & Co.s Twitter account, how-
ever, is that there is so much variety in
their content. Their social content is use-
ful for a plethora of sectors and carries
weight across multiple social media
channels:

Tweeting regularly
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. excel
at using social media on a regular basis
and giving their followers useful and in-
teresting information. In fact, they send
out new tweets several times a day with
remarkable consistency. This indicates
that Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.
have the time and resources available to
execute their social media strategy ef-
fectively.

Taking an active interest in other ac-
counts
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. have
an engaging and dynamic Twitter ac-
count partly due to their substantial fol-
lowing numbers. By actively taking an
interest in other users, and sharing their
content, the Wragge Lawrence Graham
& Co. account is much more useful to
their followers. Their account acts as a
general guide to everything important
going on in the legal world.

Variety of content
In addition to this, this Twitter account
is also useful for people who arent nec-
essarily employed in the legal sector.
For example, they tweet about news
events which interest them personally
and may have value for their followers:
These publications and promotions on
social media demonstrate that Wragge
Lawrence Graham & Co. are well-
rounded and carry signicance beyond
their immediate professional periphery.
It also means that their Twitter account
can prove useful to people who arent
employed in the legal sector. This helps
to increase their brand awareness over a
much larger social platform than before.


Inject some personality into your tweets
One of the interesting things about
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.s
Twitter account is that it contains more
corporate personality than other rms.
Their tweets can often be engaging and
offer snippets into the corporate culture
at the company:
Create a fantastic Twitter account dedi-
cated to students
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. are
very good at maintaining a useful Twit-
ter account dedicated for the use of
graduates. They provide their followers
with plenty of information about how to
develop skills and prepare their CV for a
potential career in law. This type of uni-
versality has mass appeal and means
that online users can turn to them for a
variety of reasons.

If other rms wish to emulate this suc-
cess, then they might want to consider
creating a graduate account which dis-
tributes genuinely helpful content for
students. Not only this, but its so im-
portant that graduate accounts have a
friendly and personable tone - some-
thing which Wragge Lawrence Graham
& Co. supply in abundance.

Communicate with clients regularly
In addition to this, they make a consci-
entious attempt to update their Twitter
account regularly. This is something
which many rms overlook; especially
if they only publish corporate materials
once every few days.

Instead, its vital that legal rms distin-
guish their digital brand from their com-
petitors through frequent tweeting. This
helps rms to reinforce their online
presence and develop client relation-
ships in the process.

How can Wragge Lawrence Graham
& Co. improve?

Open the channels of communication
with prospects
Overall, Wragge Lawrence Graham &
Co. has a very good Twitter account but
they fail to instigate dialogues with their
followers. Their tweets are generally of
a high quality - and yet there is very lit-
tle evidence of the rm speaking direct-
ly with online users. This is potentially
problematic because they are not max-
imising the opportunities of social me-
dia.

If a legal rm wants to increase their
brand awareness and improve on their
client relationships, then its important
to make a systematic effort to speak
with followers. Sending reports and
newsletters directly to prospects will in-
crease your chances of it being read and
shared.

Its much easier to sign on new clients if
youve already established a long-term
relationship via Twitter.

Improve brand awareness
For an established London legal rm,
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. dont
have as many Twitter followers as you
might expect. This could be due to a va-
riety of reasons, but its apparent that the
rm need to do more to increase their
brand awareness in the digital sphere.

Overall, however, Wragge Lawrence
Graham & Co. have a very good pres-
ence on Twitter and have established for
themselves an effective social media
strategy. They are consistent, in terms of
quality and quantity of output, and have
a strong following (even if there is room
for improvement).
Eversheds
@Eversheds

Eversheds are one of largest legal rms
in London - both in terms of size and
annual prots. They have a plethora of
ofces across the world, like many of
the rms in this report, but Eversheds
are truly diverse. You can nd their of-
ces everywhere from Germany, to
Tunisia, and even Iraq.

As a reection of this diversity, Ever-
sheds dont have one area of expertise
and instead cover a breadth of practice
areas, including:

Corporate nance
Employment
Government
Litigation

Given the scale of Eversheds, it seems
logical that the rm have a substantial
following on Twitter:
What do Eversheds do well?

With nearly 14,000 followers at this cur-
rent point in time, Eversheds have one
of the largest followings of any legal
rm in this report. However, it should be
noted that over 50% of their followers
are either fake or inactive:

This is a common problem in any large
Twitter account, but it means that Ever-
sheds following should be considered
to be roughly 7,ooo.

Nevertheless, this is still very impres-
sive and is a testament to Eversheds sta-
tus as thought leader in their sector.
There are a variety of reasons why the
rm has enjoyed so much success up
until this point in time.

Variety of quality content
Eversheds have realised that their ser-
vices are applicable to a wide range of
industries, so their Twitter account and
its content reects this diversity too:
Eversheds are very good at sending out
content which has mass appeal and can
be used by a wide range of online users,
even if they dont work within the legal
sector. This is a huge advantage for
Eversheds and goes some way in ex-
plaining why the rm have been so suc-
cessful on Twitter.

In addition to this, the content itself
originates from the rms press ofce
and is widely popular due its high quali-
ty. Given how regularly this content is
distributed, Eversheds has managed to
establish itself as a consistent provider
of useful and engaging content.

Frequent distribution
Eversheds are also very good at updat-
ing their Twitter account regularly and
providing their followers with the most
current news available. The account is
used primarily to promote corporate ma-
terials, but the tweets themselves are
very diverse and make this fact less ap-
parent.

Regardless of the legal rm, in business,
its vital to use Twitter in a frequent and
consistent manner. This is how you
build meaningful customer relationships
and increase brand awareness.

Event promotion
In addition to these points, Eversheds is
very good at utilising their social media
account to effectively advertise their
corporate events. Their Twitter page is
lled with useful information about up-
coming events and other interesting oc-
casions:
This type of social content is helpful,
engaging, and very informative for
Eversheds Twitter followers. It also
helps to break-up the more general
tweets which promote corporate materi-
als.


Devote quality time to updating Twitter
Eversheds are procient at tweeting to
their followers on a consistent basis,
both in terms of frequency and quality.
fail to do; meaning that they arent max-
imising the opportunities of social me-
dia to its fullest potential.

For those rms who want to update their
Twitter more regularly, then its impor-
tant to establish your social media pres-
ence through informative and entertain-
ing tweeting. This is how you help to
build up meaningful relationships with
clients.

Nurture universal appeal in social con-
tent
Although there are potential downsides
to Eversheds only having one Twitter
account, they have managed to over-
come this problem in a very effective
way. Their social media content isnt
dedicated to one particular topic or tar-
geted at an individual sector. Instead, the
account has universal appeal through
sharing a variety of different interesting
articles.

How can Eversheds improve?

Communicate more with clients
Eversheds could improve upon their
Twitter presence by making a real effort
to engage directly with users. Although
their social content is always well-re-
ceived, the rm fails to communicate
with their followers on a regular basis.
This is unfortunate because Eversheds
are potentially failing to maximise the
business potential of Twitter.

To combat this problem, Eversheds
could consider sending their publica-
tions directly to their followers who
need it the most. This would increase
their chances of generating leads and
help them to reinforce their brand
awareness across a wider platform.

Create a separate account for different
countries
As a global brand which spans multiple
continents, its surprising that Eversheds
dont have more than one Twitter ac-
count. At this current point in time, their
account is designed to appeal to a mass
group of individuals across the world
from multiple sectors. This is somewhat
problematic because not all of their so-
cial content can be universally relevant.

If Eversheds want to change this, they
might want to create separate accounts
which target different audiences in a
more direct way. For example, Ever-
sheds have three ofces in China alone.
They also have multiple ofces in the
Middle East. If they want to appeal to
foreign prospects more directly, then it
would be useful to create Twitter ac-
counts which segment and targeted these
individuals in an efcient manner.

Devote time to students
Many of the rms in this report have in-
dividual accounts dedicated specically
to graduates and cultivating potential
recruitment opportunities for the future.
Although Eversheds is a popular choice
for prospective employees, the rm
doesnt have a Twitter account created
for this purpose. This is an unfortunate
omission because it means that gradu-
ates might be dissuade from contacting
Eversheds for this very reason.

Their main competitors have graduate
accounts, so it makes sense that Ever-
sheds should do.
Skadden,
Arps, Slate,
Meagher &
Flom
@SkaddenArps

Skadden Arps are a London-based legal
rm who have gone from strength to
strength in recent years. They have 23
ofces across the globe, including in
every major nancial centre, and they
are continually rated highly in terms of
professional excellence.

In addition to this, the rm also have a
bold approach to social media as part of
their wider business strategy.

The Skadden Arps Twitter account is
undoubtedly successful; for a company
that does not follow a single user, they
have amassed over 6000 followers at
this current point in time.
Overall, this a testament to the rms
status as a respected leader in their eld.

What do Skadden Arps do well?

Consistency
One of the reasons for Skadden Arps
success is that they are consistent in de-
livering quality tweets to their followers.
On the pragmatic level, all of their so-
cial content serves a very practical pur-
pose: to share corporate materials with
online users. As a result, the Skadden
Arps Twitter account is very useful em-
ployees and investors in the legal indus-
try.

Universal content
Given that Skadden Arps are a global
legal brand, they have used their Twitter
account to communicate a variety of
topics which are relevant around the
world. Although there are potential
downsides to this method, as this report
will soon explore, this also gives Skad-
den Arps a signicant advantage.

Arguably, one of the reasons for their
success is that their content has such
universal appeal. It doesnt matter what
sector you work within, or where youre
based, this Twitter account is very useful
for gaining a clear understanding of the
legal climate on an international level.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that
having this level of general appeal can
also be problematic too. By attempting
to appeal to everyone, its possible that a
rm wont create any meaningful rela-
tionships in the process. This might
partly explain, therefore, why the rm
never engages in active dialogue with
other Twitter users.


The numbers speak for themselves - the
Skadden Arps Twitter account is hugely
popular across the world. If other rms
wish to emulate this success, then there
are certain lessons they can take from
the Skadden Arps example.

Always promote your publications on
Twitter
The bread and butter of any good corpo-
rate Twitter account is using it to pro-
mote corporate material. This is some-
thing that Skadden Arps excel in doing;
in fact, they are able to update their so-
cial content once every few days to
achieve this task.

If your rm is looking to appeal directly
to others in the legal industry, then ad-
vertising your publications on Twitter
can both convenient and very easy to do.
It doesnt require much energy and your
content can reach a huge audience num-
ber within the click of a button.

Know your audience
Its difcult to say whether a generalised
Twitter account, which has mass appeal,
is a good example of a business know-
ing what their audiences want. Howev-
er, this system obviously works for
Skadden Arps who have amassed a sig-
nicant following on Twitter.
Although there is denite merit in seg-
menting your audience and targeting
them individually, it would seem that
the opposite approach can also work.
Creating a Twitter account which has
popular appeal achieves exactly what it
sets out to do: accrue a large following
over a range of customer types.

How can Skadden Arps improve?

Tweet more regularly
Generally, the Skadden Arps Twitter ac-
count will only tweet when they have a
new publication to promote. This means
that their followers can expect to hear
from the rm once every few days.

To create a more substantial and loyal
following on Twitter, then it would be
benecial for Skadden Arps to commu-
nicate with their followers more regular-
ly. This means taking the time to com-
municate with clients and prospects
when not self-promoting.

Overall, this may help the legal rm to
increase their following further and im-
prove their brand awareness.

Communicate with others
The Skadden Arps Twitter account is
only being used to inform followers
about publications and news events sur-
rounding the rm. The account does not
follow any other users and there is no
communication whatsoever between the
rm and its clients.

This is a signicant problem. One of the
main reasons that companies turn to so-
cial media is to improve their business
relationships. Twitter provides legal
rms with the opportunity to share con-
tent directly with individuals who are
invested in the brand. Over long periods
of time, this helps to generate leads and
increase brand awareness over a large
social platform.

However, this is an opportunity that
Skadden Arps is not currently maximis-
ing to its fullest potential. At this current
point in time, their Twitter account is
more like a bulletin board, rather than a
social media platform.

If the rm wants to improve upon this
problem, then they should consider
making a systematic effort to develop
meaningful business relationships over
Twitter.

Mix things up
Skadden Arps Twitter account could be
improved by being less conservative in
its demeanour. The account is currently
being used as a promotional tool to ad-
vertise the companys corporate publica-
tions. This is incredibly for useful for
Skadden Arps clients and prospects, but
the overall account lacks any overt sense
of personality.

The content itself is of incredibly high
quality, however, the tweets are other-
wise unengaging and not always infor-
mative enough.

Here is a good example of this problem:
The tweet isnt descriptive enough to
catch the readers attention. There is no
indication about what the report will en-
tail or who it was written by. For this
reason, the rm could benet from en-
suring that all of their social content is
consistent in quality and its usefulness
to the reader.

Rather than just tweeting about their
publications, Skadden Arps should con-
sider communicating about a variety of
different (related) topics and sharing
useful content from other sources.

Its much easier for prospects to recog-
nise a clients prestige if they can imag-
ine the brand within a wider business
context. At this current point in time, the
Skadden Arps is entirely cut off from
communication with other thought lead-
ers.
Simmons
and Sim-
mons
@SimmonsLLP

Simmons and Simmons are a very pres-
tigious and established London-based
legal rm. They employ over 1,500 in-
dividuals across the world and have es-
tablished 22 different ofces on multiple
continents.

The rm has a diverse range of expertise
and is widely regarded as excelling in
challenging projects, including in sec-
tors such as dispute resolution, nance,
and corporate matters.

What do Simmons and Simmons do
well?

Simmons and Simmons are a prestigious
legal rm, but they dont have the sub-
stantial Twitter following that you might
expect. This is somewhat surprising be-
cause overall their account is very en-
gaging and useful for those in the legal
sector.

Personalised approach
Simmons and Simmons are very good at
utilising social media to encourage users
to think of their rm in a more friendly
and approachable way:

This is a refreshing change from many
legal rm Twitter accounts which can
often be overly conservative and less
communicative. However, Simmons and
Simmons have a much friendlier tone in
their social content and seem to take an
active interest in communicating with
others. They also include plenty of im-
ages in their content, meaning that their
tweets are very engaging and sharable:

Sharing quality content
In addition to this, Simmons and Sim-
mons take an active interest in sharing
useful content from other Twitter ac-
counts. One of the problems with sever-
al accounts in this report is that legal
rms will often not take the time to
speak with others. However, Simmons
and Simmons are very good at distribut-
ing content from other reputable
sources:

By taking the time to show an active in-
terest of other users accounts, Simmons
and Simmons help to demonstrate that
they have a wide knowledge of the legal
sector around them. This is incredibly
important because it also reinforces the
rms status as a thought-leader in the
industry.

Engaging content
Overall, the Simmons and Simmons
Twitter account is very good at includ-
ing plenty of images and visuals in their
content. This might not seem particular-
ly useful, but many legal rms fail to
make their social content visually ap-
pealing.

The Simmons and Simmons Twitter ac-
count gives their followers a much more
tangible understanding of their corporate
culture. They use plenty of images and
actually promote their employees on so-
cial media:

Altogether, these efforts help to give the
rm a unique brand identity which can
translate into the wider digital marketing
strategy. Certainly Simmons and Sim-
mons have one of the most memorable
Twitter accounts of the rms in this re-
port.


Develop client relationships through
positive communication
cess, then its important to use social
media in a visually engaging and inter-
active way. Simmons and Simmons
have made a consistent effort to distin-
guish their social media content from
the other conservative social content
which is available on Twitter. This helps
to reinforce the brands overall aware-
ness and potentially generate long-term
interest in the rm.

Using emotive language and visuals go
a long way in achieving this. However,
the most important part in achieving this
is taking the time to produce great social
content on a regular basis.

By doing this, a rm will potentially
improve upon their client relationships
and develop long-term business rela-
tionships. This process also goes a sig-
nicant way in generating leads too.

Take an interest in other Twitter ac-
counts
Simmons and Simmons excel at getting
involved in the latest trends and topics
which are affecting their industry. They
will frequently share interesting articles
and news updates with their followers;
meaning that they offer something gen-
uinely valuable to their clients and
prospects.

could learn from. Its an important way
of proving to your followers that you
have a good general understanding of
the industry around you. These types of
efforts will also help to potentially in-
crease a rms status as a thought-
leader.

How can Simmons and Simmons im-
prove?

Although Simmons and Simmons have
a good Twitter account, they are not cur-
rently being followed as much as you
would expect.

This could be for a variety of reasons,
but most likely they have no succeeded
in raising awareness about their brand
on a digital platform. There are several
ways of achieving this:

tweet consistently
The quality of Simmons and Simmons
tweets are very good, however, they
simply dont do this frequently enough.
Their account is updated roughly once
every few days - meaning that they are
failing to maximise the potential of us-
ing social media.

If businesses want online users to re-
member their brand, then its important
to raise your public prole on a frequent
level.

tweeting regularly is a good way of
tackling the common problem of big
businesses not having enough followers
on Twitter. Rather than buying fake ac-
counts, which is expensive and super-
cial, it would be better to take your time
and build up meaningful interactions
through frequent tweeting. This is cer-
tainly a long-term task, but its more
likely to pay off than only updating your
account sporadically.

Send content directly to prospects
In order to raise their brand awareness,
Simmons and Simmons would benet
from sending their publications directly
to the prospects they wish to target. This
would allow them to start a dialogue
with the individuals that matter most to
them. Furthermore, it would potentially
increase the chances are their content
being shared across a wider platform
than before.

Communicate more with other online
users
While Simmons and Simmons have en-
gaging social content, their tweets dont
always attract as much attention as they
deserve. This could be partly due to the
fact that Simmons and Simmons dont
communicate directly with online users.
Overall, their conversations with poten-
tial clients via Twitter are few and far in
between.
Bird and
Bird
@twobirds

Bird and Bird are a truly diverse and
global brand, with 26 ofces based
across the world and a wide range of le-
gal expertise. Their projects in the past
have involved working within a plethora
of sectors, including in banking and -
nance, media, and even the automotive
industry.

In terms of social media, Bird and Bird
have an established presence on Twitter
and have amassed a strong following:
What do Bird and Bird do well?

Frequent updates
One of the reasons that Bird and Bird
are so successful on Twitter is because
theyre good at updating their account
regularly. In fact, they will often send
out new tweets once every few hours.
This takes up a lot of time and energy,
but the rm are denitely seeing the re-
wards.

Its vital for rms who want to develop
their clients relationships and lead gen-
eration to tweet regularly. Regular social
updates help to increase brand aware-
ness; something which is vital for any
rm who wants social media to work for
them.

In this respect, Bird and Bird are paving
the way for other legal rms to follow
suit.

International appeal
Bird and Bird have ofces across the
globe and they use the same Twitter
which actively reects this diversity. For
example, the rm will commonly tweet
out updates in either Italian or Spanish:
This is very unusual for a legal rm, es-
pecially considering that separate ac-
counts can be created to target foreign
audiences directly. However, this
method obviously works for Bird and
Bird. It means that their Twitter account
has mass appeal and can used by a wide
range of audiences from across the
world.

In doing so, Bird and Bird help to en-
sure that their corporate material is
shared over a large social platform. This
also goes some way in increasing their
brand awareness throughout a variety of
countries.

Engaging content
Overall, Bird and Bird are consistently
good at producing tweets which are in-
formative and engaging. The language
they use on Twitter is intended to be
very personable:

This type of social content is a welcome
change from many other legal rms and
their use of Twitter. Bird and Bird dont
possess the overly-conservative and de-
spondent tone of voice that many other
businesses do. This is one of the reasons
for their success on Twitter.


If other legal rms which to emulate this
type of success, then there are several
useful tips they should consider.

Communicate with international users
Bird and Bird are one of the few rms in
this report which tweet in languages
other than English. This helps to ensure
that the brand has mass appeal over a
much wider audience than just those in
the UK and US.

There are potential downsides to this
approach, as this report will examine,
but Bird and Bird have fully taken ad-
vantage of their global appeal on Twit-
ter.

As many rms continue to open more
ofces abroad, they may wish to consid-
er creating different accounts which ap-
peal to their most prestigious foreign
markets.

Take the time to speak to prospects
Bird and Bird are well versed in using
social media on a frequent basis. This is
something which is incredibly important
and helps to establish a business on a
global network.

Overall, Bird and Bird are very consis-
tent in updating their account regularly.
There is still room for improvement but
this is something that nearly all the rms
in this report need to replicate across the
board.

How can Bird and Bird improve?

Create different accounts for different
ofces
Its difcult to measure the success of
Bird and Birds attempt to appeal to in-
ternational clients on one main Twitter
account. However, they may wish to
consider creating separate accounts if
they want to ensure that all their content
is readable.

Although the majority of their Italian
and Spanish clients will be able to speak
English, its less likely that rms British
counterparts will be as well-versed. As a
consequence of this, there is a good
chance that much of the social content
written in Italian and Spanish wont be
legible by all their followers.

To combat this problem, it would be a
good idea for Bird and Bird to create
separate accounts for some of their in-
ternational ofces. This would allow the
rm to target these audiences more ef-
fectively and ensure that all content can
be understood throughout the corpora-
tion.

Increase their brand awareness
Although Bird and Bird have a solid
Twitter following, they dont have the
same volume of numbers as their com-
petitors. This could be due to a variety
of reasons, but the rm could benet
from sending their content regularly di-
rectly to prospects. Overall, this type of
marketing strategy could potentially in-
crease their publication shares and make
the brand more widely known across
Twitter.
Latham
and
Watkins
@lathamwatkins

Latham and Watkins are undoubtedly
one of the largest legal rms in the
world. They have over 2,000 lawyers in
their employment and have a wide range
of ofces, including in New York and
San Francisco.

For this reasons, the legal rm have
amassed a signicant following on Twit-
ter and continue to be major thought-
leaders in their industry.

What do Latham and Watkins do
well?

News bulletin-style updates
Latham and Watkins are very good at
frequently tweeting useful and informa-
tive updates for their followers. This
type of social content can be charac-
terised as very much like a news bul-
letin:
In this sense, their tweets are always
useful and have mass appeal; not just for
those in the legal sector. Like many le-
gal rms in this report, Latham and
Watkins use Twitter primarily as a vehi-
cle to promote their own corporate ma-
terial. This means that the rm is very
good at consistently producing high
quality content on a daily basis.

Frequent updates
One of the other reasons for Latham and
Watkins success is that theyre good at
updating their Twitter page on a regular
basis. At the very least, the rm will
usually tweet out new social content at
least once a day. This means that their
followers can rely on and trust the rm
to produce quality content regardless.

As a result of this effort, the rm are
able to develop a long-term following
which helps to build on their current sta-
tus as a thought-leader.

When rms fails to do this,they are less
likely to develop a relationship with
prospects and encourage them to invest
in their product.

International appeal
In addition to these points, Latham and
Watkins occasionally tweet updates
which are intended to appeal directly to
foreign markets:
Although this doesnt happen too often,
it demonstrates how popular and widely
regarded Latham and Watkins are across
the globe. By tweeting in different lan-
guages, it also helps the rm to have in-
ternational appeal and help them to
reach a much greater audience.

Its much easier to build on international
business relationships when rms take
the time to understand foreign cultures.


Update Twitter regularly
cess, then they should consider setting a
timetable in place so that they can up-
date their social media accounts on a
regular basis. This is vital for develop-
ing good prospect relationships and en-
suring that brand awareness is max-
imised.

Appeal to a mass market
Taking the time to communicate with
non-English speaking clients in their na-
tive language demonstrates commitment
on behalf of the rm. Many legal rms
in this report have ofces across the
world but only communicate directly
with those who speak English. This is
very unfortunate and potentially limits
the outreach of their publications.

How can Latham and Watkins im-
prove?

Share other publications
Given that Latham and Watkins use
their account primarily to promote their
own publications, they dont spend a lot
of time sharing interesting content from
other sources. This is unfortunate be-
cause there are a variety of advantages
for legal rms who do this.

Sharing great content from prestigious
publications help to solidify a rms sta-
tus as a thought leader in their industry.
It demonstrates that the business have a
good knowledge of the events which are
currently effecting the legal sector.

Communicate with individuals
If one looks through Latham and
Watkins Twitter account, it quickly be-
comes evident that the rm are good at
sharing quality content. However, they
receive very little back in terms of re-
sponse. Their content is useful but it
doesnt entice clients or encourage them
to start a dialogue with the rm. This is
a common problem for many legal rms
and Latham and Watkins are no differ-
ent.

To overcome this issue, it would be a
good idea for Latham and Watkins to
create social content which communi-
cates directly with users. This would in-
volve using more emotive language and
asking questions. These efforts could
help the rm develop meaningful rela-
tionships with their clients and nurture
them for longer periods of time.

Give a platform to students
Its now common policy for legal rms
to develop close working relationships
with many of the most prestigious uni-
versities throughout the UK. This is ex-
tremely protable, for a variety of rea-
sons, but it cannot be achieved fully
without a comprehensive social media
campaign.

However, this is something that Latham
and Watkins have not yet implemented.
Twitter is a great tool for students to
contact prospective employers and learn
more about a rm.
Berwin
Leighton
Paisner
@BLPLaw

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) can be
described as a full service legal rm
who have established for themselves a
prestigious reputation across several
continents. With 11 ofces in total, they
provide a wide range of services for
their clients, including in nance, intel-
lectual property, and real estate.

Overall, BLP are continually ranked
amongst the top 20 legal rms based in
the UK. They hire over 850 employees
across the globe and have ofces in Eu-
rope, Asia, and the Middle East.
What do Berwin Leighton Paisner do
well?

Engaging content
BLP are very good at making their legal
reports more accessible to the average
user through engaging social content.
Here is an example:

The tweet is useful, informative, and is
much more memorable than an ordinary
update which merely promotes a publi-
cation. Overall, BLP are very good at
producing social content which helps to
engage with users from a wide profes-
sional background.

Sharing great content from quality pub-
lications
In addition to this, BLP make it com-
mon practice to share useful publica-
tions from esteemed Twitter accounts.
This helps to provide BLPs followers
with plenty of variety and helps to es-
tablish the rm as a respected thought-
leader in their industry.

For example, the BLP Twitter account
frequently shares tweets from Legal
Week; helping to keep their followers up
to date with the latest news affecting the
industry. This a very useful tactic in
helping to raise brand awareness across
a large audience platform.


Send out useful content
If users want to develop a substantial
Twitter following and increase their dia-
logue with prospects, then it would be
benecial to give audiences content that
is actually helpful to them. Sharing in-
teresting articles, with a personal spin, is
much more useful than simply tweeting
news updates. This is something that
BLP have proven themselves very good
at doing.
Be friendly on Twitter
BLP have succeeded in making their so-
cial content much more accessible by
using personable language on Twitter.
Many legal rms struggle to strike the
balance between formality and friendli-
ness on Twitter; meaning that their Twit-
ter accounts can feel too conservative.
This is something that BLP denitely
dont do and they are good at creating
engaging content that people actually
want to read.

tweet regularly
One of the most signicant reasons for
BLPs success is that they promote qual-
ity content on a frequent basis. Rather
than updating their Twitter feed once a
day, or less, they make a consistent ef-
fort to provide their followers with use-
ful information. This is an important
lesson for any rm who wants to im-
prove their social media status

How can Berwin Leighton Paisner
improve?

Communicate more with prospects
Its very important that legal rms take
the time to communicate directly with
their potential clients. BLP share lots of
interesting content, but they hardly ever
prompt dialogues between the rm and
its business associates.

This is potentially problematic. One of
the main reasons that companies turn to
social media is to improve their business
relationships. Twitter provides legal
rms with the opportunity to share con-
tent directly with individuals who are
invested in the brand. Over long periods
of time, this helps to generate leads and
increase brand awareness.

Use more images
tweeting out visuals is important for
users who want to give themselves an
edge. By doing so, it makes it much eas-
ier for legal rms to create more eye-
catching and memorable content. Over-
all, BLP need to use more visuals to
help to distinguish their brand from their
competitors.
Executive Summary

The legal rm industry is one of the most competitive marketplaces in the UK.
Britain is paving the way for performance excellence, with a few of the law rms in
this report featuring among some of the best social accounts globally.

Nearly every single one of these businesses has achieved a following of at least one
thousand followers on Twitter. In addition to this, each of these accounts is being
used as a promotional vehicle for corporate publications.

Overall, there is a tremendous amount of diversity in these Twitter accounts.

Nevertheless, there is still signicant room for improvement. There are no obvious
blunders which stand out, but there are consistent mistakes being made across the
board. Some of these issues include a lack of:

Brand awareness
Client dialogues
Consistent tweeting
Student-focussed accounts
Engaging content
Friendly communication

Nearly all of the rms in this report could benet from improving these issues at one
point or another.

Thank you for reading my report. If you would like to discuss anything within,
please call myself or James Welch on 0844 871 7291.

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Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts

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Prominent London Legal

Firms and Their Twitter

On the one hand, the limited access of

Communication (news updates)

Promotion (charitable events)

Payment Innovations team (@HLPayments)

Privacy team (@HLPrivacy)

Intellectual Property team (HoganLovellsIP)

Corporate responsibility (@HLCitizenship)

General matters (@HoganLovells)

UK Press ofce (@HoganLovellsUK)

US Press ofce (@HoganLovellsUS)

Spanish ofce (@HoganLovellsES)

General corporate (@NLegal_Global)

Canadian ofce (@NLegal_CA)

American ofce (@NLegal_US)

Australian ofce (@NLegal_AU)

South African ofce (@NLegal_ZA)

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