A law firm has said it was persuaded to award a training contract to a paralegal in part because of her rising profile on LinkedIn.
Xiao Pan has significantly increased her online presence in the past year and was last month named 15th in a list of the top legal Linkedin influencers.
Her firm, national practice Witan Solicitors, stressed her subsequent promotion to trainee solicitor was on merit, but said her online presence significantly added to her credentials.
Qarrar Somji, a solicitor-advocate and director of Witan, said the social media platform had become a place where lawyers can build credibility, start conversations and even generate business.
‘When someone like Xiao shows they can contribute to thought leadership, build trust externally and spark conversations in the industry, it gets noticed,’ he said. ‘Senior leaders are watching, and in Xiao’s case, it helped to confirm that she was absolutely ready for the next step. Of course, Linkedin isn’t a direct path to promotion. But when someone is already delivering excellent work and then shows they can elevate the firm’s visibility and voice, that makes a difference.’
University of Law graduate Xiao was listed by marketing firm TBD in a ranking of the most influential independent legal professionals who work in smaller practices and boutique firms.
The list is produced through a set formula: TBD adds up people’s likes and comments to give a power score per post. It then adds up the total power score for each quarter to rank everyone: from April to June this year Xiao’s score was 7,948.
Somji added: ‘For junior lawyers at larger firms, it can be tough to get on the radar of senior decision-makers. LinkedIn can help you put yourself on the map and share what you’re about.
‘But it’s not about chasing likes and followers, that’s a trap. The key is to create content that’s authentic, on-brand and has the potential to start real conversations or even convert into business.’
Xiao said she had treated Linkedin as a way to boost her confidence and help people to understand what she was passionate about.
‘I realised that LinkedIn could be more than just a digital CV for me. I started writing about the realities of being early in your legal career, what I was learning, and what I was questioning. The response was unexpected and encouraging.’
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