At first, I was very resistant to the idea of joining.  Then my friend @jonimueller, who I originally met because of her WordPress web workings, kept at me long enough that I finally decided to try it out.

I’m glad I did.  Although I still think the idea often floated about how Twitter will help your business is primarily hype, there is some indirect truth to the idea: I’ve met a number of practitioners of law and some marketing gurus who have given me some good pointers on drumming up new business.  While none of those people has asked — nor is likely to ask — me to represent them in any criminal cases, tips from at least one helped me move my website from a Google position on page 8 to a Google position on page 1.  For two of my websites.

Twitter has another positive effect on my life.  Since my “day job” is operating a solo criminal law practice in Fresno, Twitter helps me to get a “human fix” whenever I start to feel too isolated.  I’ll just pop open a browser window and exchange a few 140-word comments with what has become my own small band of connected comrades.

So special thanks to @jonimueller for pushing me to join Twitter.  And a shout to fellow lawyers @minasirkin, @nikiblack, @HouCrimLaw, @ScottGreenfield, @MIAMICRIMLAW, @lisasolomon, @gideonstrumpet, @PaulBKennedy, @VBalasubramani and a whole host of others who help this solo feel connected via the virtual water cooler that is Twitter!