My wholly unscientific poll about LinkedIn has confirmed what I already thought: i.e. no one is really getting clients directly from LinkedIn

Almost 1/2 of the respondents make minimal use of the tool. But the poll also shows that about 1/2 of my respondents have found it to be a useful way to strengthen relationships.

There were also some interesting comments posted.

My own conclusion is that the true value of LinkedIn is yet to be realized by most of us who use it. There is actually a lot of useful information that can be gleaned from reading people’s updates and as more and more professionals post information on LinkedIn, it will only grow in usefulness.

This guest post by Jim Rhyner, Worldwide Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance Product Manager, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, is part of an effort to diversify the voices and opinions that appear in Counsel to Counsel.

From pro athletes to Wall Street executives, big paychecks beget big egos – and the same is often true in the legal profession. And while there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the lifestyle that’s been well-earned, some law firms can run into big problems when a lawyer’s desire to live large eclipses his or her better judgment.

Sensational news stories about individuals raiding corporate funds are increasingly featuring attorneys at law firms. Just recently, the founding partner of a South Florida law firm was charged with raiding the law firm’s treasury for his own personal use. He allegedly used the firm’s money (reportedly up to $500 million) to fund a lavish lifestyle including the purchase of beachfront property, Lamborghinis, private jets and other trappings typically associated with extravagant lifestyles.

In the South Florida case, as well as the case of a prominent New York firm that experienced a similar scandal last year, it is noteworthy that both firms enjoyed huge growth just prior to these incidents. While in most instances, a steep increase in profits is a good thing – occasionally, it can unfortunately become a trigger for greed. In firms where only one or two senior people hold the exclusive authorization and access to law firm funds, it can become much easier for fraudulent activity or theft to slip through the cracks, unnoticeable by a firm’s other attorneys until it may be too late.

I’ll share some tips for checks and balances at law firms in my next post – in the meantime, what are your best practices for keeping law firm employees honest?

Posted by Jim Rhyner, Worldwide Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance Product Manager Chubb Group of Insurance Companies

I’ve posted a poll on LinkedIn to find out how people in my network are benefiting from using LinkedIn (if at all). Click here if you would like to participate. If I get back any interesting results, I’ll post the results on this blog.

Social media helps us to greatly expand our reach. Through Web 2.0 tools, we can connect with professionals who we might not otherwise come in contact with (because of geographic distance or simply because we travel in different circles) and communicate with them over time.

But connecting through LinkedIn, through a LinkedIn group, through Twitter or through any other social network is no substitute for in-person (or telephone) contact.

In other words, although social media has given us a host of new communication channels, it supplements, not replaces, the traditional way of doing business.

“Three Cups of Tea” (a new book by a mountain climber who strayed into a remote Pakistani village in 1993 and since then, has built 55 schools) highlights the importance of building the relationship in person. I heard an interview with the author on WBUR the other day (my local public radio station), and realized that in many ways, business has always been based on relationships and will always be.

Here (in Pakistan and Afghanistan), we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything–even die.