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Legal OnRamp -- the leading online social network for general counsel and in-house lawyers -- is adding 14,000 additional corporate lawyers to its membership, as part of a deal with Corporate Executive Board Co. ("CBE"), an executive network based in Arlington, VA.

“Our mission is not to be simply a Facebook for lawyers, but to be as compelling for a 49-year-old general counsel as Facebook is for a 19-year-old college student,” said attorney Paul Lippe, CEO of California-based OnRamp.

“Because knowledge in law comes from many experts, a profile-based system that allows each expert to share his knowledge is the most efficient platform to reduce costs and improve quality. The purpose isn’t to network. It’s to do your job better.”

The agreement links 9,550 Legal OnRamp members to CEB’s 14,000-member general counsel division, which advises corporations on how to manage legal departments and outside counsel. Publicly traded CEB advises 4,700 businesses, including more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500.

Legal OnRamp has 4,458 in-house members and 5,000 lawyers in private practice, who can request an invitation online to join OnRamp. The site was created by Mark Chandler, General Counsel of Cisco Systems; the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; and Paul Lippe.

Legal OnRamp allows members to create profiles, e-mail each other, join group discussions, read blogs and post content such as articles, speeches and draft contracts. Discussion topics range from the future of patent litigation to anecdotes about the difficulties of working out alternative fee arrangements. 

“Smart clients are increasingly using non-traditional interactive approaches to find and reward the law firms that deliver the most value,” said FMC Technologies General Counsel Jeffrey Carr. “OnRamp is a great platform for these sophisticated processes.”

Carr used Legal OnRamp this year to solicit proposals from firms such as Greenberg Traurig and Kirkland Ellis -- as well as many small and mid-size firms --  which bid for pieces of FMC’s litigation work. FMC provides technology for oil and natural gas fields.

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According to Steve Matthews and Reid F. Trautz, social networking sites are free services to connect to others through your existing relationships in order to obtain business referrals and build new alliances for future business.

"Know that every time you participate in your network you make small deposits into relationships in order to maintain them and have them grow," they said.

"Becoming involved in social networks helps us manage our existing relationships and build new ones. Spending time through social networks is an investment in future business. Increasing communication is an important aspect of social networking -- more frequent, more varied to deepen your relationships. However, like so many marketing activities, many lawyers are loath to invest that time, preferring to “just be a lawyer.” Social networking is more fun and less drudgery, especially if you are not comfortable in face-to-face interactions."

• Illustration: An often untapped source of quality referrals is an individual's past, and sometimes distant past: childhood friends, elementary and secondary school classmates. While most people will think to reconnect with University peers from their past, one of frequently told benefits of social networking is 'the excuse' to re-connect with people we've known in the early part of our lives. Interestingly, these bonds can be exceptionally strong; and can be especially beneficial when an individual comes from affluent background.
• Illustration: If you represent businesses, use your social network connections to add more to your client roster. As part of your overall marketing efforts, identify businesses that you would like to represent and find the names of their top decision-makers. Then search for those names across social network websites (all of them provide this simple service), then find people in your own social network to help you get an introduction to the decision-makers.

Visit the LawMarketing Portal to read the 7 benefits of online social networking, and their take on LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Legal OnRamp and Plaxo.

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Today’s post on getting new business out of online social networking is part of a series coordinated by Martindale-Hubbell Connected.

So far we've heard from bloggers Bob Ambrogi of LawSites, Monica Bay of The Common Scold, Sean Doherty, Rees Morrison, and Kathleen Delaney. Despite the Twitter about it, we are not receiving payment or any other gratuity for participating in this series. Today it's my turn. 

Whenever I train or coach lawyers to become rainmakers, I remind them to polish their online profiles, invite every client and lawyer they know to connect with them, list their blogs, and use the app to answer "What are you working on now?"  59% of lawyers have joined an online social network and 48% of in-house counsel have also joined, according to Leader Networks.

I've been a fan of LinkedIn and have just started using M-H Connected. I don't bother with Naymz, Spoke, or Plaxo because they have too little traffic. I skip Myspace because it has 90,000 registered sex offenders on it. I don't use Facebook, but law firms like Curtis Mallet-Prevost have created nice recruiting and alumni sites there.

One trick to getting new business is to join groups. For example, I moderate the Chief Marketing Officers Forum on LinkedIn. It's a great way to meet new connections and comment on topics like legal fees, the recession and hot practice areas.  To be viewed as a thought-leader, however, a lawyer should start a discussion.

Another trick is to send questions to your connections.  Oddly enough, you must click on the Answers link to find the "Ask A Question" box. Then you pose your query and follow the pages until you get to selecting to whom to send your question.  Lawyers can distinguish themselves by the quality of their questions.  It also works as a nice promotional device, because there's no rule against sending a news alert or announcement to your own contacts.

Finally, lawyers need to weed out irrelevant connections they've made along the way. I'm not impressed with people who have 500+ connections, because they accept invitations from anyone. I'm over my limit with 293 connections, so I'll need to click on the Remove Connections and trim down my network.

Here's wishing you "happy hunting" in the quest for new business.  See tomorrow’s post on the Martindale-Hubbell blog, 

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News Alert: the ABA has launched an online social networking site – Legally Minded – at LegallyMinded.com

Benefits include:

• It offers ways for lawyers to generate referrals by making connections online.
• One twist is that it has a “people map” that displays other members who have similar interests, or are looking for what a lawyer has to offer.
• It’s free.
• No ABA membership required. It’s public.
• You can view most of the site without having to register.
• There’s less “noise” than you’ll find on LinkedIn and Facebook.

It’s a “public beta” site, so the ABA is aware it’s not perfect. Full details are now available on the LawMarketing Portal at http://www.lawmarketing.com/pages/articles.asp?Action=Article&ArticleCategoryID=7&ArticleID=831

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