Best practices for updating your online biography

A best practice is to list representative matters in which you have been involved on your biography on your law firm website.

The test for that list being most effective for referring and retaining lawyers is:

1. The representative matters shows familiarity with a potential client’s industry, say, oil and gas
2. The list shows familiarity/experience with the claims, legal issues, regulatory schemes involved

Who the clients were is not critical, until you are contacted and get to the conflict check, of course.

This information comes from several past surveys of in-house counsel appearing in publication including Corporate Counsel Magazine.  All those surveys showed industry knowledge, so the client doesn’t have to explain the jargon of their business, and familiarity with the legal issue at hand are the two most important criteria for lawyers hiring or referring other lawyers to you.