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21A Laura Thalacker Lionel Sawyer & Collins Matthew Friedman Dawson F keting services suggested a high level of reliance on broadly defined social media and marketing programs, with 81 percent of respondents reporting that they currently utilize social me- dia marketing tools and another 10.1 percent indicating that they plan to deploy social marketing elements in the near future. The study further revealed that the majority of participants consider so- cial media an important component of their marketing strategies, with nearly half (48.5 percent) reporting that social media is "somewhat im- portant" and 31 percent indicating that online networking methods are "extremely important." ord & Friedman Derek Jamison Armstrong T Todd Moody easdale Hutchison & Steffen "Social media is here to stay, and in this competitive world, if attorneys and law firms don't utilize and em- brace social media as part of their marketing mix, they will be left be- hind," Neighbors said. "We really want our clients to stay on the cutting edge of the social media revolution." Of course, the legal profession is governed by confidentially issues, but if the platform is thoughtfully uti- lized, it can serve as a source of out- reach, according to Moody. "A large part of my practice is adop- tion law, and I really can't think of anything law-related that would in- clude more use of social media," he said. "For example, when people go Darcy Neighbors CIM Marketing P artners in and finalize their adoptions, they usually take pictures that they post online so they can share their great experience with their friends and family. And then adoption day comes along with more pictures and there's maybe not just one family, but 30 of them creating this great synergy and enjoying the day together, and before you know it, social media has explod- ed the fun, feel-good story." By contrast, family law attorney Friedman noted, "In the area of law we do, it's not necessarily something a client will need on a daily basis, be- cause people don't get divorced every day," he said. "But we want to be the name they think of when they do." Laura Thalacker, a shareholder rep- resenting employers in the area of la- bor and employment law with Lionel Sawyer & Collins, which is among the largest firms in the state, uses Twitter and LinkedIn for professional pur- poses and Facebook exclusively for personal purposes, and is adamant about maintaining the distinction, a principle perhaps fueled by her area of practice. "On a daily or near-daily basis, I advise employer clients on dealing with social media use by employees, which has become so pervasive in the workplace," said Thalacker, who has practiced for more than 17 years solely in Nevada. "I also have a blog where I post ex- clusively about social media in con- text of employment relations and how it affects employers and employees. In my view, it's better to train employ- ees on proper social media use rather than after the fact when an embar- rassing post has gone out worldwide that could undermine your carefully cultivated brand image. Once it's out there, you can't 'un-ring' the bell."