Book excerpt: This Special Report provides a practical introduction to social media for lawyers. By avoiding technical details and jargon, it offers a pragmatic guide on how all lawyers - irrespective of industry sector, firm size or client base - can successfully integrate social media into their marketing, business development and client relationship management programmes. Containing essential information on the benefits and risks of social media in the legal sector, this report examines the social media platforms used by many law firms (LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook) and gives an overview of those less frequently used - enabling lawyers to make an informed choice. As well as featuring practical advice for setting up and using social media as an integral part of a lawyer's business development activity, this report also offers guidance on: * how to write great blogs and social media posts; and * how to integrate social media into a structured content management plan that supports business development objectives. The report also addresses how central systems, technology and support can be used to ensure that social media plays an effective part of a firm's business development programmes. In addition to lawyers, this text will be essential reading for marketing and human resource professionals in law firms who want to ensure the effective and sustainable use of social media.