The Reasonably Prudent Law Student

So, once again, I’ve said things. And I’ve said them online, where they’ve been published in a post on a website. Only this time, instead of talking about garden gnomes, and why they are the greatest world threat of 2010, I’m talking about Twitter and how I use it as a law student.

Today’s web edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin includes an article entitled, “Tweeting Lawyers Find Serious, Fun Connections,” by Allison Petty, and yours truly makes an appearance toward the end.

I’m sure y’all expected me to say something like “OMGZ TWITTER IS REVOLUTIONARY AND WILL CHANGE THE WAY WE PRACTICE LAW AND ZOMG ONE DAY JURIES WILL TWEET VERDICTS AND COURT RULINGS WILL BE 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS AND CASEBOOKS FINALLY WON’T BREAK THE BACKS OF FUTURE LAW STUDENTS AND THE PEOPLE REJOICED!”

I did not say that.

The article includes only a tiny snippet of what I said, duh, because Ms. Petty talked to lawyers that actually do things instead of scour message boards for the most recent sightings of rabid garden gnomes come to take back what’s theirs. If you turds are interested, here are some of the relatively more important snippets in my email response to Ms. Petty about things that are not important. Like Twitter.

“…[Meeting the attorneys I follow on Twitter at dinner the first night of the 2009 ABA Techshow in Chicago] was a great exercise in networking, which I never really had to do before, and I emerged unscathed and even confident, with some great contacts.

…Initially, I used Twitter mostly for networking and reading up on different areas of the law that interested me. For example, I really found myself enjoying Labor Law, so I’d follow employment lawyers and read the articles and links they posted, which was how I found one of my favorite law blogs, “That’s What She Said,” which focuses on employment issues and violations on NBC’s “The Office,” starring Steve Carell and John Krasinski.

…I started using my Twitter account more informally. I’d tweet silly observations and funny TV/movie clips and music I liked and all that. I’m pretty sure I lost a number of followers among the attorneys that followed me, but that didn’t really matter. I didn’t pay attention to follower count anyway.

…[After exchanging a couple of direct messages with one of his law clerks,] I showed up and was let into the office of Judge Wayne Anderson, where I met up with @LawWriter, and Judge Anderson’s other clerks. We talked for a long while and when Judge Anderson’s settlement conference was over, he came out and introduced himself and invited me to quite literally ‘hang out’ in his private chambers. That part was pretty awesome. Judge Anderson is a delightful person, and one of the first things he said to me after we’d all gotten comfortable was, ‘so, are you going to show me how to use this…Twitter?’

…My blog and Twitter presence actually helped me score a few interviews, too, at the smaller firms in my town. The partners that interviewed me for possible openings at their firms heard about my blog and the things I write about (our little area of Naperville is surprisingly close-knit), and were interested in what I was doing with my web presence in relations to the law, law school, and the things I was interested in.

…I don’t take Twitter all that seriously, but I’ve learned that I get far more use out of it when I don’t just use it for silly personal things and following my friends…I don’t think it’s going to change our world, much less the practice of law or how lawyers work, but for now, it’s a neat little conversation tool that can help you get your name out there, emphasize your strengths, and better convey your personality as opposed to an 8.5×11″ piece of paper with a list of achievements.”

So…that’s about the size of it.

(That’s what he said.)