Most people by now have had experience purchasing or using a coupon from Groupon, Living Social, Plum District and similar websites. Aside from a couple of incredibly annoying experiences with two purchases from Living Social, I have been a content consumer of these coupons.

Recently, the ABA Journal provided an overview of ethics opinions on lawyers and law firms using these services. The state bar associations in North Carolina, South Carolina and New York have issued opinions suggesting it’s OK for lawyers to jump on the deal-of-the-day coupon bandwagon. As this phenomenon spreads, I am willing to bet that more bar associations will also opine on the issue. Here are three main concerns discussed in these opinions:

1)  Does this kind of payment arrangement amount to fee splitting with non-lawyers, which is prohibited by Rule 5.4 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as the ethics rules of all the states?

2) Are advertisements for discounted legal services using this “couponing” method inappropriate for attorneys to use from a professionalism or appearance standpoint?

3) Is a “couponing” for business a good business model for attorneys?

One analysis of the fee-splitting issue says it does not amount to more than a payment of reasonable advertising costs. The South Carolina Bar’s advisory opinion states the fee charged by the website operator amounts to payment of the reasonable cost of permitted advertising by a lawyer rather than sharing the lawyer’s fee.

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I just finished putting together my materials for the MSBA Annual Meeting. I will be speaking Thursday morning during the conference about how lawyers can use social media effectively and without getting themselves into trouble. My presentation will be part of a broader session that will also include technology tips and online resource pointers. It will be in the morning, but yes, I have been promised that there will be coffee. (Pastries too, I hear.)

My presentation will focus on how social media can be used effectively by lawyers. From blogging to LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter, social media can help you find new audiences for your work and can put you in control of your professional reputation. There are a few lawyers who have perfected the art of using these social media platforms for professional purposes.  Check out the Connecticut Employment Law Blog, the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, and The Employer Handbook.

My materials include, among other things, a list of tips on how lawyers can use social media effectively. I think one of the most important is, “don’t be afraid to show your personality.” Tastefully and professionally, of course, and in moderation.

We spend so many of our waking hours thinking about work and do so much of our communication and networking electronically that it is far too easy for us, the online generation of lawyers, to lose who we are as individuals. We may not think about it, but in divorcing our personal lives from our professional lives so completely, we are losing the things that set us apart and that can help us naturally identify with colleagues, potential clients and referral sources.

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As of a couple weeks ago, I am no longer a solo practitioner. Although I’m joining a great firm, there are many things I’ll miss about solo practice, including the opportunity it gave me to grow as a leader, test myself in new and unexpected ways and help people I would otherwise not be able to.

As a solo attorney, you are the one leading your law practice, which is a business, just like any other professional services organization. You are frequently the CEO, CFO, CTO, and marketing director all rolled into one, and how you balance those roles will determine your business success. But while you’re juggling all those things, you first have to do good legal work and give your clients great customer service.

Fortunately for me, I had a number of years of experience before I went solo. This not only gave me a level of comfort with the legal work, but it also allowed me to tap into a network I had cultivated over that time.

These days, times are hard and a lot of lawyers are hanging their own shingle fresh out of law school. My advice for those young lawyers is to carefully prepare and consider writing a business plan that includes answers to the following: what resources do you need (office space, phone, computer, etc.), what area of law will you practice, how will you attract clients and market your services and how much income do you need to survive.

There’s plenty more to think about but also plenty of resources to help you figure out the answers to your questions and help you develop a successful business plan. One place to go is the Law Office Management Assistance department of the Maryland State Bar Association. There you will find a wealth of resources to help you develop and design your law practice. While it will not always be easy, it will be liberating.

My own experience as a solo was both rewarding and challenging and took me to places I’d never thought of, including the opportunity I have now to be a part of a new office within long-established, reputable firm.

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When I began preparations to go solo four months ago, the most important thing I did was to create a business plan. I didn’t think I had time to do it— I would have rather continued to prepare my forms, create procedures and protocols, work on the website and try to secure more referral sources.

I do mostly plaintiffs’ personal injury (auto accidents, workers’ compensation and medical malpractice) and I was of course wanting to hit the ground running because of the long lead time for income in those cases. Settlements don’t typically happen for about nine-to-12 months in a routine auto case, and it can take longer if a lawsuit needs to be filed.

Four months out, however, the business plan is something I refer to at least once a week and I’m glad I made it.

My bank required one to accompany my application for a business line of credit. They told me to hire an accountant, an expense that was not in my budget (even before I made a budget), so I did it myself. Creating a business plan took me a full week of work and my line of credit was approved (I haven’t tapped into it yet, and I don’t intend to; it’s a nice safety net). An accountant probably could have made it better, but this is where the law of diminishing returns comes into play.

My business plan followed the pattern of “worst-case scenario.” (Worst case except for abject failure, anyway.) I tried to be conservative with all of my expectations; I deliberately underestimated the number of new cases I expected to receive every month, the amount of time from intake to resolution and the likely fee for each of those cases. I tried to overestimate my expenses. This is the plan I submitted to the bank.

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A friend of mine mentioned recently that people generally either don’t use social media at all or use it as a replacement for traditional networking. (Actually, she will now be writing an article on that hypothesis for an upcoming issue of the MSBA YLS’s Advocate. Keep an eye out for that.)

That said, we’re all aware of social media as a “hot topic” for the year. Most of us use social media of some kind, for better or for worse. Most of us also wonder why and how to use social media. There are plenty of articles out there about how to conduct yourself online, how to develop relationships online and how to use social media in connection with litigation.

With all the excitement surrounding social media, it’s easy to forget about the dangers. To name a few, the Federal Trade Commission is starting to investigate bloggers who receive benefits for namedropping in their posts. Obviously, unscrupulous posts can put your reputation in question (it can also help you repair your reputation). There are security risks. And, yes, what you say online can still be used against you in a court of law (if it is properly authenticated, that is).

Despite those dangers, we seem to have become generally comfortable in this new way of communicating and are now focusing on how to most effectively exploit it.

What we lawyers cannot forget is that the rules of our profession still apply. For example, the American Bar Association’s Rules of Professional Conduct provide guidelines on advertising, providing information about legal services, maintaining confidentiality and communicating appropriately with opposing parties, whether they are represented or not.

And state bars are enforcing these ethical guidelines. A state court judge, for instance, was reprimanded for “friending” a lawyer” in a case he was presiding over.

In practice, it is even more complicated than you might think.

While social media provides us young attorneys with many great opportunities — to highlight risks and benefits of developing technologies for our colleagues and our clients; to network from the comfort of our couches; to maximize the reach of our marketing efforts—we cannot use social media now like some of us used to.

Now, we need to think before we friend someone, before we post, before we comment on someone else’s post and even before we “like” something. We must anticipate the unintended consequences of what we do and say online.

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I was at a networking event last week, carefully attempting to balance my plastic glass of wine while simultaneously eating enough of the hors d’oeuvres off my plastic plate to make it “dinner.” Just as I was stuffing a piece of bruschetta into my mouth, an older gentleman sauntered over and greeted me pleasantly. I returned the greeting and asked him how he was doing.

We got to talking, and he asked what I did… which, frankly, is why I come to these events. Since I work at a full-service law firm, I approach business development and networking events like this one with the mindset that everyone I meet can be a client or refer me to a client — if someone needs an attorney, my firm can handle it.

I told this gentleman that I was an attorney. He immediately made a face as though he just taken a bite out of a lemon.

“Ewwww,” he said as he grabbed a piece of yellow pepper off his plastic plate and took a bite. “You know what Shakespeare said,” he grinned while chewing on the pepper.

“Yes, ” I told him, “I do know, but I and my firm do a lot of important work for our clients.”

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, although I was pretty sure that was a mistake.

He stopped chewing long enough to reply.

“Yes, but you lawyers ruin everything. I mean, how many people really need an attorney?” he asked, dragging it out so that it was clear what he thought.

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