Both Blake Dawson and its latest recruit Kelly O'Shaughnessy will be learning as they go as they break into previously untapped territory with a newly created social media role.

THE STRATEGIST: Kelly O'Shaughnessy, social media strategist, Blake Dawson

Quickly finding her feet having joined the legal industry only five months ago, O'Shaughnessy is well versed in the social media space but joins the legal industry from a recruitment and employment brand background.

"We have a few different areas that we look to use social media in," explains O'Shaughnessy, who's been in the role since March this year. "One is in the recruitment and employment-branding space: looking at attracting top talent directly to the firm from the brand perspective, and also being able to go out and use search methodology and professional networks, like LinkedIn, to go out and find great people and bring them in."

Another function is on the marketing and business development side, according to O'Shaughnessy, which involves teaching the firm's partners to use social media tools for client contact and networking.

Adding to this is the use of social media within the firm, to generate greater accessibility. "Implementing social technology behind the firewall to make our people more accessible to our other people, so that geography doesn't become an issue, and we make sure we can be asking questions and getting answers from anywhere within the firm," she explains.

While there's a lot going on for a social media strategist - including engaging senior stakeholders, talking through the whys, hows and business drivers of the activity, producing content and creating videos as well as campaign analysis, O'Shaughnessy admits to the fun side of her job. "There is a bit of playing around on Twitter and Facebook," she laughs.

But while she's 'tweeting', 'liking' and building the firm's following, O'Shaughnessy is faced with the challenge of keeping up with such a rapidly developing area.

"The biggest challenge in this space is keeping up! In the last three weeks another social network has popped up. I've got to be across what is Google + and how it works and how we can use that for the business," she says. "The challenge is keeping up with the technological world so I can relate that to the business of being a law firm."