2023 Q&A
When did you decide to start using LinkedIn to share posts and why?
I have been using LinkedIn since 2004, though in the early years was not very active.
Back then, LinkedIn was not as widely used by as many people. However, it has increasingly become more and more important and as the years have gone on I have been posting with greater frequency.
Did you have any fears about being authentic and sharing your opinions in your posts at first?
Yes, there was always a fear about whether anyone would actually be interested, but as I have been active for many years now I can be reasonably confident of good levels of engagement on my posts.
That fear has therefore diminished, though I don't think it ever goes away. For many years, there was also a strong message that people would regularly refer to in comments on posts that "LinkedIn ≠ Facebook" which created a level of anxiety about going beyond anything very directly work related.
However, as a platform LinkedIn is constantly evolving. Post pandemic it is clear that many more people are posting about a broader range of topics, some of which are less directly related to work if at all. I now rarely come across any "LinkedIn ≠ Facebook" type comments.
I have also learned from consistent past experience that posts directly related to work which you may think are brilliant may well tank with little engagement, whereas posts indirectly related to work or not work related at all are sometimes the ones which generate huge interest and engagement and go viral.
This is difficult to predict in advance and frankly I have given up trying. I think just being yourself and true to your own values and interests is always a good plan which yields results.
That said, I also sit as an arbitrator and a deputy district judge from time to time, as well as being regulated by the Bar Standards Board. I am mindful that it is important to remain professional at all times: I always take the view that if it is something that would embarrass you if it came up later in professional context, then do not post it.
Has chambers been supportive of what you're doing and - assuming it has - what lessons could others learn from that approach?
It is interesting, and perhaps unsurprising, that there appears to be a difference in mindset between generations (at the risk of generalising). Some of my senior colleagues spent their formative years during a time when barristers were prohibited from advertising and were not allowed even to have business cards (and email and the Internet did not exist). It is understandable that instinctively they find it harder. On the other hand, younger millennials and gen z colleagues are much more at ease with social media, including for business purposes.
People have seen what I have been doing and the tangible and intangible benefits it has very clearly had to my practice. They often ask me for tips which I am happy to share, but I do think that attempting to follow an overly prescriptive plan or routine for LinkedIn risks coming across as lacking authenticity. I therefore encourage everyone to take an individual approach which works for them and which they are comfortable with.
Has it become more supportive over time?
Yes and in fact I have previously posted about this:
So this happened yesterday and really got me thinking about the power of LinkedIn:
2007: "What is this LinkedIn thing then Ravi?"
2012: "Why are you spending time on LinkedIn Ravi? Just do your work and do it well, nobody really cares about your posts!"
2022: "Could you do some LinkedIn training for us Ravi so that we can learn about how you have used it so well to the point of it generating work for you?"
I have been advocating the benefits of LinkedIn to anyone and everyone for almost 20 years now. One of the trends I have seen in the last 5 years, especially during and post-pandemic, is a massive growth in the number of users, and the proportion of those users becoming more active, with LinkedIn now recognised across most industries as a vital part of marketing. In tandem, LinkedIn has been rolling out a number of innovative new features in recent months.
Some of my most cherished professional relationships have started here or evolved at least in part through this brilliant platform. Two of my arbitrations in 2021 were instructions from lawyers / clients who had not previously worked with me, and when our relationship had developed sufficiently for me to ask the question of why they came to me, in both cases it was because they had been following me on LinkedIn and, to quote them, "We like your style Ravi" and "We think you are the sort of person we can trust with our case and would enjoy working with".
What are the most surprising results that you've produced as a result of your posting on LinkedIn?
I have on more than one occasion been instructed by a hitherto unknown client and solicitor with LinkedIn eventually being revealed as a common interest.
In each case, when our working relationship developed sufficiently for me to ask the question of why they came to me, it was because they had been following me on LinkedIn.
I drilled down a little more on this and the insights I heard were eye opening.
Clients (I am reliably told) can take some reasonable comfort in instructing anyone from a recognised Chambers (and/or who is ranked in the legal directories), knowing that they must be a solid lawyer otherwise the fierce competition to find a place at the bar would have filtered them out — they know there are very few if any barristers in practice who are not competent.
However, being good at black letter law is necessary but not sufficient to secure instructions — clients want to know a little more about you, your values, what you would be like to work with, and whether they can trust you with their case.
Those (still relatively few) barristers who are using LinkedIn to create a personal brand for themselves and have awareness of that brand in the wider community have a massive head start on (the majority of) barristers relying exclusively on traditional methods such as the reputation of their chambers and their clerks putting in a good word.
Those things are also important of course, but to an extent generic because everybody does it.
Do you get involved in training others on how to use the platform?
Informally, yes, though several people have recently mentioned whether I could do something more formal for my colleagues so that may happen in 2024.
I actually thought it was a joke about my regular use of LinkedIn at first that I was being "asked" to train others, but I have realised now that over the past two decades I have managed to learn quite a lot about it! The request was in fact entirely serious and I am only too happy to share some tips with my colleagues!
Which creators would other legal sector professionals be wise to follow?
There are many people who are doing great things, and at the risk of omitting fantastic people from this list, I always enjoy reading content from the following (not all are necessarily specific to the legal sector):
Baldev Bhinder
Helen Burness
Chris Campbell
Elizabeth Chan
Dana Denis-Smith
Sahar Farooqi
Justin Farrance
Mino Han
Emma Haywood
Jodie Hill
Akima Paul Lambert
Amanda Lee
Shaun Lew
Mahnaz Malik
Sophie Pender
Mary Prior KC
Lara Quie
Catherine Rogers
Krishnayan Sen
Hasit Seth
Jen Shipley
Tania Singla
Alice Stephenson
Sultana Tafadar KC
Mohammed Talib
Anahita Thoms
Lea Turner
Sami Unrau
Baiju Vasani
Chrissie Wolfe
Why do barristers tend to use X (formerly Twitter) more than LinkedIn?
I am not entirely sure. I suspect it is much easier and spontaneous to put out short tweets but there is an inherent limit on the level of detail you can go into with such small character limits.
How does barristers' self-employed status affect their usage of LinkedIn? And their broader marketing?
That is an interesting one! On the one hand, there is less of a collective identity as a chambers than there would be in a law firm, though in commercial law chambers are increasingly marketing themselves more collectively and more along the lines of commercial law firms. Still, there is usually a less strict policy or common line required.
On the other hand, that does sometimes mean that barristers are left finding their own approach with less guidance or oversight than might happen in law firms.
The Bar Standards Board in September 2023 issued social media guidelines which are worth reading:
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/static/61d13750-880c-4423-a4bf80cf96d3f06c/802d53c2-c9b5-4917-a03c0984e5006cfb/BSB-social-media-guidance-September-2023.pdf
Anecdotally, we are all aware at the bar of episodes where an individual has found himself or herself in difficulties with their chambers and/or the BSB itself as a result of going arguably too far on social media.
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