Natural progression
The site was launched in the UK by barrister and Queen's Counsel, Bill Braithwaite QC and over the last three months, thousands of lawyers and firms have signed up and are now mooting. Rather than being restricted to 140 characters, Moots can be up to 500 words. Videos can be uploaded and polls can also be conducted.
In South Africa, users will be able to sign in as individuals while advanced company profiles are also available. All aspects of the site are free of charge and users can register or connect with LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. A dedicated App will be launched next month.
Commenting on the launch, Bill Braithwaite QC said, "Since launching in the UK, we have received a great deal of interest from lawyers in South Africa so it is a natural progression to launch a dedicated platform.
"One of the advantages of Mootis is that users can follow firms and individuals by location as well as their specialist area of law, so it can be tailored to specific countries or used as a global resource."
In terms of the legal profession, he says the site will appeal to two audiences - those already registered with sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn - and those who are yet to engage with the world of social media.
In developing the site, the Mootis team analysed social media sites throughout the world. As a result, it has a range of features regular users of social media will be familiar with as well as some unique aspects.
• Upload and share video blogs, documents, images and audio.
• Register as a new user on the Mootis sign up page or log in through Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
• Register as an individual or organisation. Organisations can invite all their people to join their Mootis page.
• Keep on top of all the very latest trending legal topics.
• Search and connect with people by name or import existing contacts from other social media networks / invite contacts via email.
• Send and read other users updates - either publicly, or privately.
• Integrate with other main social media sites.
• Daily updates from Mootis direct to user's email account.
• Create polls and surveys.
• Professional verification to establish authenticity of identities of key individuals and companies
• Privacy features
