Rogue employee blogger beats management to the punch

When law firm collapses, anonymous employee blogger fills the communication void

Social media tools like blogs are “ideal for internal communications about the economic crisis,” says Geoff Livingston.

The top reason, says the author of the award-winning book on new media Now is Gone, is that such tools offer an opportunity for employees to provide feedback and air concerns.”

Employers should be the ones giving their workers that opportunity—if they don’t, employees will take it upon themselves to speak up, often with much more inflammatory results.

The contentious dissolution of the 118-year-old global law firm Heller Ehrman is a perfect example. Though firm leaders say the disbanding won’t be complete until the end of November, it became obvious that such a conclusion was likely in mid-September.

Employees were understandably anxious; company communicators and management were … silent.

(Just check out www.hellerehrman.com … the site’s main page is still an embarrassment of congratulatory headlines about the firm’s successes.)