Life is Tweet for Ashurst social media junkies
Related images
Ashurst has bowed to pressure from the Twitterati in its ranks and lifted a ban on staff using social media websites during work hours.
Previously staff firmwide were blocked from sites including Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail and Gmail.
But these are now all accessible from office workstations. YouTube remains blocked to staff, but Ashurst still uses it for sending videos to clients.
The firm insisted that work computers were still primarily for business use and that networking sites could be used for communicating with clients.
“Our business is built on relationships and there’s no doubt that social media is a helpful tool for relationship building,” a spokesperson for the firm said. “We want to do all we can to help people organise their work and personal lives, which social media allows.”
Rival firm Stephenson Harwood, meanwhile, is considering tightening its restrictions on such sites.
Chief executive Sharon White said: “We don’t have restrictions on access to social networking sites - we rely on people being sensible. However, it’s something we have under review. We may have some more specific policies about access in the future.”
Readers' comments (5)
Anonymous | 11-Jul-2011 8:57 am
interesting. the progressive attitudes at Gateley state that "facebook" is not for us.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 11-Jul-2011 9:55 am
This goes to show how backward many law firms have been with new technology. Reputation isn't owned by the brands any more, but by the users online, and it needs to be managed. Law firms can't take a "it's not for us" attitude, they don't have a choice.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Lord Rothemere | 11-Jul-2011 12:38 pm
A policy that applies equally to anything that could be described as 'social media' is not just old-fashioned but ignorant and stupid.
Facebook might just be a site where teenagers can show off their latest trainers, but how can you ban, say, a media lawyer from using Twitter, which is increasingly becoming people's primary source of news.
Stories like this show that, despite the internet moving into its middle-aged years, many people are still unable to see the difference between content and the way that content is provided...
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
pacelegal | 11-Jul-2011 1:00 pm
Lord,
I have news for you. My name was googled by my qualifying body for making a comment on a radio station talkback show. No proscribed speech. No client conflidentiality. Completely unrelated to anything to do with practice. Yet deemed inappropriate. Believe it or not.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Ashley Balls | 11-Jul-2011 10:37 pm
I hope Ashurst and others who have access to social networking sites monitor usage. My company has been tracking this for two years and social networking, email and DDI telephone lines are clearly the greatest interruption to lawyer productivity in a generation. Whilst acknowledging the benefits of social networking - as a communications tool - to make this and other 'comms tools' work to the employer and employees' advantage try the following:
Switch off the email pop up and only log on 3 times a day
Divert all telephone calls to a secretary who can act as a filter
Use social networking to ocommunicate with clients if that is what they have requested but otherwise restrict personal access
Result:
4-8 extra chargeable units a day!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment