PRESS RELEASE

Toronto, Canada (October 4th, 2018) – 

Finally! A social media group for lawyers that’s actually social.

There’s a new group coming to LinkedIn this October. ‘Keeping it Social: Practice Development for Lawyers TORONTO’ brings lawyers together to learn practice development tips.

But there’s a twist.

This isn’t yet another thinly-veiled exercise in self-promotion. This group’s reason for being is to establish an online membership for offline gatherings. That’s right. This group will actually meet in-person. Of all the LinkedIn groups targeting Canadian lawyers, it will be the only one that’s actually social.

When you search for lawyers in Toronto on LinkedIn, you get a whopping fourteen thousand, four hundred and fifteen results! A number that continues to grow. Daily.

“It’s really great, that (after more than a few years of skepticism!) lawyers are now embracing social media. But are they doing so at the cost of networking, in-person?” asks Sandra Bekhor, Practice Development Consultant. “Lawyers have limited hours, minutes even, to devote to marketing. To deliver impact, they need to use the right tool for the right task. Social media is the right tool to reach a large niche audience. Only, it doesn’t replace the good old-fashioned smile and handshake, the right tool for genuine connection. Lawyers who master both, will be the real rainmakers of our time.”

The Toronto Lawyers Association recently held a summer patio pub event. “The energy was palpable,” says Joan Rataic-Lang, Executive Director, “people loved having an opportunity to make that human connection, to speak to their peers in person. While studies tell us that 50% of LinkedIn members are more likely to purchase products or services from their network on the site, you can’t beat the human touch.” It’s not about choosing to be either online or off. It’s about finding a balance that delivers greater value than either one would have on its own.

Sandra Bekhor’s inspiration was ‘Toronto Plein Air’, a Facebook artist group she founded in 2011 (as a hobby artist herself). The group still thrives today, with volunteer administrators from its 278-strong membership. There are weekly outdoor gatherings throughout the summertime (and on occasion into the frigid autumn!) that have resulted in real friendships, along with generous mentoring that has strengthened the local art community.

Bekhor Management, in collaboration with Toronto Lawyers Association, will be launching ‘Keeping it Social’ as a real-time, case study of combining the best of both worlds, online and off. Lawyers across the Greater Toronto Area are welcome to join and become vocal and active participants.

Meet you at the Court House:

Courtesy of Toronto Lawyers Association, the first ‘Keeping it Social’ event will be held at the 361 University Avenue Court House, TLA Lawyers Lounge, 2^nd Floor, on Thursday, November 22^nd from 5:30-6:30pm.

Sandra Bekhor, Practice Development Consultant, and Joan Rataic-Lang, Executive Director/Library Director at Toronto Lawyers Association, will be co-presenting at the kickoff event, ‘A roadmap to reach your goals, for your law firm’. Participants can expect to learn a little and laugh a little, all while expanding their personal networks and collecting CPD hours. For more information about this group, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8697121/. Registration for the first event can be found here: https://www.tlaonline.ca/event/Roadmap2018.

Bekhor Management:

Bekhor Management is a Toronto-based consulting firm that provides strategic, marketing and management services to help build and enhance small to mid-sized, Canadian law firms and other professional practices throughout Canada. For more information, visit www.bekhor.ca.

Toronto Lawyers Association:

Toronto Lawyers Association is the voice of 3,500 members who practice law in all disciplines principally in Toronto. Our mission is to provide knowledge, advocacy and community to all Toronto Lawyers. For more information, visit www.tlaonline.ca.

Media contact:

Sandra Bekhor, President of Bekhor Management

Telephone: 416-969-9600

Email: [email protected]