Q1 2025 Q&A
When did you decide to start to use LinkedIn to share posts and why?
I joined LinkedIn as an enthusiastic Trainee back in 2009, right after it became truly global in 2008.
We were emerging from the Great Recession and I was working as a Paralegal, hoping to secure a Training Contract.
I knew I wanted more from my career than was available to me then. I was living on a council estate, had no contacts in the law and no real experience outside of my role as a retail manager.
It was a way for me to connect with people, I had no hope of ever bumping into on the street or at an event.
Did you have any fears about being authentic and sharing your opinions in your posts at first?
Absolutely.
Lawyers have fragile egos, are desperate to be liked and we're terrible at receiving any sort of criticism.
I used to try to shield myself from that by adopting three core rules; don't stray too far from the fence, don't mention politics and never swear.
I do put a lot more of myself out there, now that I've matured and settled into who I am, which happens naturally I think, as you grow older. It's only since doing that, that the magic has started to happen.
Why do you think your posts encourage your followers to comment and engage?
Your vibe attracts your tribe and I think ultimately, a lot of my followers care about the things I do; family life, doing a good job, championing those who need or deserve it, social mobility. My posts are generally grounded in kindness.
Someone once said to me to avoid trying to be cool and instead to look for the warm people. That has definitely stuck.
I also think being a man who isn't afraid to share how he is feeling is, sadly, a rare thing.
It's nice to be noticed and received positively for that. I hope others follow.
Has your firm been supportive of what you’re doing and - assuming it has - what lessons could others learn from your approach?
Not always.
In the past I have had bosses in promotion interviews tell me it's "a bit much" and to "tone it down".
There has been a real culture among law firms not to allow individuals to have too much capital.
I used to understand that – the idea the corporate brand needed to be front and centre. It's become a bit outdated now. Consumer habits have shifted and we're very much in the era of the personal brand.
The statistics speak for themselves; individual profiles outperform law firm profiles by a country mile.
Confining people and talent simply limits opportunities for firms to maintain visibility and form those prized relationships with clients.
We shouldn't be afraid of having too many stars in the sky. Shine bright, I say. Or retire.
Do clients ever say anything about your posts to you?
I do get a lot of referrals via LinkedIn and the first approaches often say things like "I know you will look after them" or "I feel like I can rely on you not to make matters worse". Those insights can only come from my content.
There's this perception of divorce lawyers, that we're out for blood. It's misguided. Most of us really do care.
There's limited opportunity to showcase that in mainstream media – the press only wants to know about the juicy stuff, often synonymous with bitter divorce battles.
It's good to be able to let people see the more human side. If that has some sort of magnetic factor, it's a bonus.
Has your success on LinkedIn inspired other colleagues to start using the platform?
There's still a lot of fear and over-thinking going on when it comes to using LinkedIn among law firm colleagues.
When I speak to them the comments are always the same; "I can never think of anything to post" or "I don't have the time".
People worry that their lives are dull and no one will be interested, or they use it, wrongly, as a way to sell their wares.
I tell them people are interested in people – warts and all. Share the good and the not so good.
Most of my content is just me brain dumping. There's no master plan or curation involved.
As for not having the time – most of my posts are pulled together in the time it takes to boil the kettle.
What would you say to others that are thinking of adding their voice on this platform?
It was only last year that I started to make a more concerted effort to improve my LinkedIn reach and that came from a desire to connect with more senior leaders both in and outside of the legal sector.
I set myself a relaxed target to see if I could hit one million impressions across the whole of 2024.
Last month I had over 1.2 million impressions across a 28 day period. That’s over a million organic chances to connect with people in a single billing cycle, and it's free.
If there's something you care about or if you have a voice and you want to say something, where else could you gain access to a million people in a month at little to no cost? If you don't value the community aspect, don't ignore the obvious commercial one.
What’s the most surprising result that you’ve produced due to your posting on LinkedIn? Or, have you had any breakthrough results?
I've met some amazing people through LinkedIn.
Post-covid, where "real" life activity has become more limited, I value the online relationships I've formed and the community I've become a part of.
There are people I've grown to care about, look up to and whom I support.
My favourite post of late was about a young solicitor I came across in a case who'd really impressed me. It blew up and she called me to say the managing partner at her firm had personally sought her out to say well done. That will have made her day – I remember what it was like at the start, when praise and validation mattered more than anything.
Have you found real life networking easier as a result of your profile on LinkedIn?
Any knowledge of the room before you walk into it is an advantage. I often ask for a guest list before going to an event. What's really great about having this platform is that you get to skip the intro. No more elevator pitch. You can dive straight into the good stuff.
No one wants to listen to a condensed sales pitch. Networking is about getting to know people, gaining trust, and forming genuine connections. New work coming from it is just a happy byproduct.
Which creators would other legal sector professionals be wise to follow?
I'm really interested in the work Sophie Pender is doing over at the 93% Foundation. As an ex-corporate lawyer and someone who now works solely to support state educated talent gain access roles to top firms, I think what she and her team are doing is really important.
More than ever, law firms need to be drawing from a wide range of talent pools if they are going to overcome the challenges they're bound to face in the near future. I also love Henry Nelson-Case for his brutally honest depiction of how sometimes life in the law isn't always what it's cracked up to be.
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