Category: Communication Media & Internet

LinkedIn: A Lawyer’s New Best Friend

Linkedin LawyersWhile there are plenty of books written about social media, I’ve found that most attorneys have little time to invest in such trivial pursuits. I’m sure you’ve rolled your eyes a few times when perusing Facebook or Twitter and reading some of the material on those sites. Many of these negative opinions stem from reality, whereas others come from a disappointing lack of knowledge as to the sites’ benefits.

In order to effectively utilize social media, it’s important to recognize what you want social media to do for you. Are you looking to grow originations, develop a cult-like following, or brand yourself to get speaking engagements? By answering this question first, you can focus on investing your time in the most effective social media forums.

There are literally hundreds of social media channels to choose from. Being selective and focused on the right one will help you get results more quickly. For most attorneys, developing your brand in the business community is most important. In addition, you’re most likely to get results from a social media channel that allows you to be proactive in developing new contacts and ultimately new business. In my experience, the best and fastest way to get results using social media is through LinkedIn.

Over the past 10 years, LinkedIn has become the number one resource for helping brand and generate new business for service-based professionals. In many ways it’s better than Google because it’s a business networking platform rather than a general search platform. The ability to search and target people and organizations is unlimited.

LinkedIn is a fantastic brand-building tool that allows you to literally post your resume online. LinkedIn also helps you leverage your best contacts to make inside connections. Done properly, this can create a massive universe of followers, possible connections, and, most importantly, a cast of personal advocates willing to make quality introductions on your behalf.

Imagine being able to look at your client’s list of friends, vendors and associates prior to asking for a referral. You can search through LinkedIn’s 50 million users to find the best inside connections for you.

While there are hundreds of different tools on LinkedIn, I want to give you the top three keys to effectively using LinkedIn. As with anything that’s worthwhile, it’s imperative that you try to have an open mind and invest a few hours exploring the site to see where the value is for you.

The first key to effectively using LinkedIn is to create a complete profile that best represents your expertise and experience in your field of practice. The second key is to develop your LinkedIn universe by adding the right contacts. The third key is to leverage those contacts and turn them into quality introductions. These three keys should initially take only a few hours to implement, and then as little as an hour a week to start producing results.

The First Key: Writing a LinkedIn Profile That Represents You Beautifully

In order to be effective on LinkedIn, you must have a professionally written and completed profile. Think of your LinkedIn page as your online resume and personal website. If the information online is incorrect, incomplete or poorly written, it might stop someone from reaching out to you.

Imagine you’re looking online for a remodeler for your home. The first site that comes up on Google looks fantastic. You click through to see some of the remodeling work the company has done, and the site says, “Sorry, cannot open this page.” So you try another one. The same message comes up. If you’re like me, you’re done at that point. You just move on to the next search result. This is exactly what happens on LinkedIn without a skillfully written and finished profile.

Here are three tips to ensure your LinkedIn profile makes you look your best to potential clients and strategic partners:

Tip #1: Use a recent professional photograph on your LinkedIn page.

Most people are visual and want to see whom they’re going to be speaking with. As important as content is on a website, you’ve never seen an exceptional one without images to back it up. Use the photo from your website if it’s good, or get a headshot taken right away. It’s not hard to do and it can make all the difference when someone is checking out your profile. This may seem obvious, but don’t post a cutesy picture with your kids, pet, or Halloween costume.

Tip #2: Have a professionally written background/summary.

Since your LinkedIn profile will be someone’s first impression of you, failure to capture the reader’s attention can move the reader quickly away. Personally, I like to see a summary written in the third person. It has the appearance of someone else boasting about your successes and best qualities without seeming egotistical.

If possible, keep your profile to three solid paragraphs. I enjoy reading profiles that read a little like a story. The first paragraph pulls you in. The second gets you familiar with the character. The third wraps things up and motivates you to take action. It might make sense to look up some other attorneys in your practice area to see what they’ve written. This will help you identify the best profile style for you.

Tip #3: Develop a strong list of skills that best represents your expertise.

If you take a few minutes and search some of your colleagues and competitors, you can quickly begin to formulate such a list. For example, an estate planning attorney would want to have the words “wills,” “trusts” and “estate planning” listed among his or her skills, thus enabling people searching for an estate planner to more easily find the attorney.

Once your skills are posted, people in your network will then have the ability to endorse you. Essentially, when you have a skill that someone agrees with, they’ll endorse you for that skill. While this might seem like “fluff,” it’s an important factor that people use to determine who are experts and who are not. For example, if you had to choose between two referred doctors, one who has hundreds of positive endorsements on LinkedIn and one who has none, which would you choose? While this might seem insignificant, in the competitive legal environment everything counts.

Read Part 2 here: LinkedIn for Lawyers – Strengthening Your Circle by Establishing the Very Best Connections Part 2

Read Part 3 here: Effectively Using LinkedIn for Lawyers: Going Beyond Connecting and Turning LinkedIn Relationships into Better Introductions Part 3

ARTICLE BY Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.

Copyright @ 2016 Sales Results, Inc.

Why You Need Law Firm Data Breach Response Plan

Law Firm Data BreachHacking was once again prominently in the news when it was announced right before the Democratic National Convention that Democratic Party emails had been compromised. This comes after an incident earlier this year when it was announced that hackers broke into the computer networks at a number of well-known law firms, including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, which represent Wall Street banks and Fortune 500 companies.

Sadly, we have grown accustomed to, and possibly numb, from the almost weekly announcements that major corporations, organizations and government agencies have been victims of cyberattacks. The potential vulnerability of law firms is raising concerns among their clients, who are conducting their own assessments of the firms they hire.

Law Firms in the Crosshairs 

Law firms now recognize that cybercriminals are constantly looking for easy targets and sources of potentially valuable data that can be used to steal identities. Since law firms act as warehouses of extremely sensitive client and employee data, they are prime targets for cyberattacks. In the new, highly connected reality we operate in, law firms must consider the risks these cyberthreats pose and take the data protection steps necessary to reduce those risks. Otherwise, the oversight may prove costly.

It should be noted that, historically, most data breaches experienced by law firms are related to the loss or theft of a laptop, thumb drive, smartphone, tablet or other mobile device that contains sensitive client information. Such theft can be an open door for cybercriminals to gain easy access to a firm’s corporate network and steal confidential information. All that said, cybercriminals are much more savvy than ever before and have developed means of hacking into protected networks without using a piece of the organization’s hardware.

For example, according to a March 19 article in the Wall Street Journal, in February of this year, “a posting appeared on an underground Russian website called DarkMoney.cc, in which the person offered to sell his phishing services to other would-be cyberthieves and identified specific law firms as potential targets. In phishing attacks, criminals send emails to employees, masked as legitimate messages, in an effort to learn sensitive information like passwords or account information. As a result, security firm Flashpoint issued alerts to law firms in January and February about the threats and has acquired a copy of a phishing email that is aimed at law firms, according to a person familiar with the alerts.”

Communicating a Data Breach 

Since no one can fully prevent the risk of a data breach, it’s important to have a crisis communication plan in place to inform stakeholders in case one occurs, and the media should they cover the story. The goal of the plan should be to address the situation as quickly as possible and restore trust with stakeholders. Tactics should include:

  • Identify a spokesperson for the firm.

  • Prepare written statements for employees, clients and media.

  • Craft message points for any media interviews.

  • Call key clients to inform them personally of the breach.

  • Post a statement on the firm’s website where it can be found easily.

As for the media, law firms should avoid the instinct to take a “head in the sand” approach. The conversation in the media, especially over social media, will take place whether you participate or not. It’s important to be honest and direct when telling your story. This will allow the law firm to better control the narrative.

The risk of your law firm’s computer network being hacked can never be completely eliminated. As the threats continue to increase, it’s critical to create a crisis communications plan to mitigate the fallout and reduce the likelihood that it will have a long-term negative impact on your firm’s reputation or bottom line.

ARTICLE BY Carlos Arcos of Jaffe

© Copyright 2008-2016, Jaffe Associates

5 Ways to Use Email Drip Campaigns to Convert Leads [INFOGRAPHIC]

Is everyone who calls your law firm ready to hire you right away? If someone downloads a free report from your website, does that mean they are ready to commit to hiring you? Not likely. In fact, research shows that more than half of leads are not ready to buy at the time of first contact, which is why you need to nurture those leads along a specific path to becoming a client using email drip campaigns.

We have used drip campaigns for years for our clients for one simple reason: they work! Research shows that companies that are good at nurturing leads enjoy 50% more sales at a 33% lower cost than companies that put no effort into lead nurturing.

Since email is a one-to-one communication, it can be personalized for whatever stage your lead is in the buying cycle. It is much more effective than blast email campaigns that don’t take your prospect’s buying journey into account. In fact, personalized emails generate up tosix times higher revenue than non-personalized (blast) emails.

This infographic from Eliv8 provides five different email drip campaign opportunities to help you increase your lead conversion rate:

5 Ways to Use Email Drip Campaigns to Convert Leads

ARTICLE BY Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute

© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved

Telecommunication Leases: Battle Over Subleasing Rights

Telecommunication leases can be a unique animal due to the nature of the tenant’s use and business model. In negotiating these leases, the telecommunication leasesparties can run into difficulties negotiating the subleasing rights. Landlords are typically reluctant to agree to a tenant’s ability to freely assign or transfer. In the context of telecom leases, however, it may be worthwhile to consider why these rights, particularly subleasing, are so valuable to tenants and may even be beneficial to landlords.

The Business Model

Several tower companies act as operators and managers of the telecom infrastructure, in other words the “cell tower”, and are often not wireless carriers themselves. Therefore, for these tenants the ability to freely sublease becomes integral to the success of their business, the value of the tower, and the landlord’s ability to reap the benefits. The reason being is that carriers, both nationally recognized like Verizon and AT&T and smaller companies such as a local radio station, seek to sublease space on the tower for which to locate their telecom, wireless or broadcast equipment for the operation of their business. Unlike the standard sublease, the original tenant typically remains an active party, facilitating the operation and management of the tower as permitted under the lease. In this model, the carrier pays rent to the tenant under the sublease of the lease, and the landlord typically receives a base rent and often times a revenue share of the carrier rent or flat fee per carrier as additional rent from the tenant.

The Valuation of Tower Sites

The most desirable towers, aside from location, are those on which carriers can most efficiently install their equipment and become operable. Carriers don’t want to be held up while the tenant obtains written consent for the sublease from the landlord; when they want to locate, they want to locate immediately.  Time is money! Carriers don’t want to worry if consent cannot be obtained for weeks or more because it got lost in the mail or the landlord is on vacation. Instead, the carrier may look for a different tower to locate on altogether eliminating both the tenant’s and landlord’s ability to benefit. Therefore, these desirable towers often become the most valuable since they sublease to multiple carriers. The benefit to the landlord is sustained lease term and base rent, since most telecom leases allow the tenant a unilateral termination right of some sort, and in addition, larger amount of revenue share payments or flat rate payments.

From a landlord’s perspective, however, landlords want to give careful consideration to the effect of such expansion rights, particularly on roof top towers as this expansion may undercut your ability to further lease other roof top space to other telecom users. Roof top agreements have become beneficial sources of revenue for building owners and a landlord will want to ensure that its roof top agreements provide the ability to manage and preserve these revenue rights, and of course roof top space for building’s tenants and occupants.

Subleasing Language

Does this mean a landlord should agree to free subleasing without conditions? Not necessarily. What it means is landlords should consider the impact that the ease of doing business on their tower will have on its attractiveness to carriers. Instead of requiring “prior written consent”, as an alternative, a landlord could seek “prior notice” or “notice” or even a “deemed consent” concept after “flag” notice and a brief period of time. In this alternative, the carriers are able to locate easily and quickly, yet the landlord is still aware of the additional carrier on the tower. Moreover, the landlord’s awareness of how many carriers are on the tower can be useful when it comes time to renegotiate the lease; with an understanding of the value of the tower based on the amount of subtenants present, the landlord may be able to negotiate a higher rent. With easier subleasing rights, it is important that the lease contain adequate installation and alteration provisions (along with insurance and indemnity provisions) to protect the building and its infrastructure and other tenants and occupants. Moreover, with these more liberal subleasing rights, revenue sharing should be investigated.

Consideration and Potential Benefits for Landlords

Landlord considerations to subleasing:

  • Less restrictions on subleasing is more attractive to the potential carrier/sublessee of the tenant;

  • More carriers increase the value of the tower benefiting the landlord’s ability to receive ongoing base rent, and an increase in revenue share or flat rates per carrier received;

  • “Notice” versus “consent” can be a satisfactory alternative to both parties, and one that still provides the landlord with knowledge of how many carriers are on the tower and ultimately how valuable it may be when negotiating rent in the future.

While each party will inevitably push and pull in different directions on the issue of subleasing, from a landlord’s perspective it may be worthwhile to consider why the tenant may be seeking these rights and how the landlord stands to benefit.

ARTICLE BY Samantha A. O’Malley of Sherin and Lodgen LLP

© 2016 SHERIN AND LODGEN LLP

Microsoft Acquiring LinkedIn as Move into Enterprise Social Media

Linkedin MicrosoftMicrosoft has announced that it is buying LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, one of the largest tech acquisitions in history, and that it intends to use the business social media giant to put Microsoft at the center of our work lives.

Currently, LinkedIn has 433 million members in 200 countries. Microsoft has 1.28 billion Office users worldwide. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview with Bloomberg:

“This is about the coming together of the leading professional cloud and the leading professional network. This is the logical next step to take. We believe we can accelerate that by making LinkedIn the social fabric for all of Office.”

Nadella said that Microsoft’s vision is to place your LinkedIn profile at the center of your online work life, connecting it with Windows, Outlook, Skype, PowerPoint and other Microsoft products.

For example, Cortana (Microsoft’s digital assistant) could provide users with information on other participants in an upcoming meeting by pulling data from LinkedIn profiles. Members working on a project could pull up LinkedIn articles concerning their project or use LinkedIn profiles to search for an “expert” to help with the project.

Microsoft also sees LinkedIn playing a major role in developing a new customer relationship management (CRM) tool for sales organizations. LinkedIn analytics could be integrated with Microsoft’s Dynamics tool, which competes with Salesforce.com, to assist companies with managing their customers.

Here’s a CNBC interview with Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner explaining the opportunities.

ARTICLE BY Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute

© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved

Employee Error Accounts for Most Security Breaches

security breachesA recent study by a well-known information security company captures one of the most common information security fallacies: that information security is a technology problem. Most businesses view mitigating information security risks as falling squarely in the purview of their information technology department. However, this study reports that human error actually accounted for nearly two-thirds of security compromises, far exceeding causes like insecure websites and hacking.1 While technological measures (e.g., anti-virus software, access controls, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems) are clearly important, their effectiveness pales in comparison to the benefits gained by effective security awareness training.

Just as troubling, another recent study found a 789% increase in e-mail phishing attacks containing malicious code, including ransomware, in the first quarter of 2016 over the final quarter of 2015.2 Phishing, which is an attempt to obtain confidential information or access by fraudulently posing as a legitimate company seeking information via e-mail, instant message or other electronic communication, specifically preys on employees who have not been trained to recognize the scam. A successful phishing expedition can result in the loss of confidential and financial information, system disruption and consumer litigation exposure. Every industry is impacted and at risk.

The results of these studies should serve as a clarion call to businesses. While we have long known that the human component is the key to improved security,3 it is also one of the most neglected areas in many business’ information security programs. Security awareness training for employees is one of the most important and effective means of reducing the potential for costly errors in handling sensitive information and protecting company information systems. Regardless of how much money and effort a business spends on its technological security measures, it cannot achieve an adequate level of security without addressing the human component.

Awareness training can ensure employees have a solid understanding of employer security practices and policies, as well as the tell-tale signs of an attempt to gain improper access to computer systems and confidential information. In contrast, uninformed employees are susceptible to mistakes, malware, phishing attacks, and other forms of social engineering. They can do substantial harm to a company’s systems and place its data at risk. The recent spate of ransomware attacks highlight just how critical the human element really is, as almost every one of those attacks resulted from human error.

First and foremost, it is critical that training programs have the participation of and include input from all relevant stakeholders at the company, including Human Resources, IT, Information Security, Legal, and Compliance.

Key aspects of any successful training program should also include the following:

  • Train on an ongoing basis. Avoid limiting training to when an employee is first hired or assigned to a new role in the organization

  • Train creatively, not just in a non-interactive classroom setting

  • Look for means to introduce interactivity into the training process

  • Have a means of measuring progress

To be truly effective, a security awareness program must provide “multiple methods of communicating awareness and educating employees as well (for example, posters, letters, memos, web based training, meetings, and promotions).”[1]

Training can be conducted through a number of means:

  • Classroom sessions

  • Webinars

  • Security posters and other materials in common areas

  • Brown bag lunches

  • Helpful hints distributed to employees via e-mail or corporate intranet posts

  • Simulated phishing attacks (e.g., systems that will periodically send phishinge-mail to employees attempting to lure them into clicking on an attachment or a hyperlink and then alerting the employee that they have engaged in an insecure activity)

Additionally, having comprehensive and understandable employee policies is critical to a company’s information security safeguards. Readable and effective policies can be used in conjunction with effective employee training to reduce data security incidents caused by human error.

Finally, one of the most effective ways to increase employee security awareness is to help employees understand that good security practices can also benefit them personally. Being security-aware not only serves to protect their employer’s systems, but also helps in better securing the employee’s own personal data and computers. For example, by being more vigilant in identifying potential phishing attacks at work, the employee will become more vigilant in using home e-mail accounts and thereby protect their own data, photographs, financial accounts, etc.

ARTICLE BY Chanley T. Howell, Michael R. Overly & Eileen R. Ridley of Foley & Lardner LLP
© 2016 Foley & Lardner LLP

1https://www.egress.com/news/egress-ico-foi-2016
2http://phishme.com/phishme-q1-2016-malware-review/
3 See, e.g., Common Sense Guide to Mitigating Insider Threats, 4th Edition.http://www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/12tr012.pdf.

New Legal Framework for Electronic Signatures Coming Soon to the EU

electronic signaturesThe use and acceptance of electronic signatures are becoming more commonplace around the globe. One estimate has the number of transactions using electronic signatures growing from 210 million in 2014 to 700 million in 2017. In our practice, we are seeing more companies implement electronic signature solutions in their commercial contracting practices and procedures.

Given this increased usage of electronic signatures, we think it’s a good time to remind our readers that a new legal framework for electronic signatures is set to take effect in the European Union on July 1.

Adopted almost two years ago on July 23, 2014, the regulation (910/2014/EU) titled “Regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market” (the eIDAS regulation) introduces a new framework for electronic signatures, seals, time stamps, and electronic documents. The eIDAS regulation replaces the Directive on Electronic Signatures (1999/93/EC) (the Directive).

The Directive caused issues in the European Union because each member state interpreted and implemented the law in its own way, leading to different electronic signature rules among EU nations. Thus, the eIDAS regulation is designed to establish a uniform framework to recognize electronic signatures, electronic seals, and identification among EU member states through the creation of electronic trust services for the European internal market. The eIDAs regulation defines the requirements for legally valid and mutually recognized electronic signatures (advanced and qualified), electronic seals, electronic time stamps, electronic delivery services, website authentication, and electronic documents.

As of July 1, the Directive and any EU member state laws that conflict with the eIDAS regulation will be replaced or modified. If you are among the many companies that incorporate electronic signatures into commercial contracting practices, remember that this new EU framework is just a month away from taking effect and be sure to brush up on the details.

Article By Edward J. Hansen & Christopher C Archer of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

© 2016 by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. All Rights Reserved.

Senate Panel Passes “Internet of Things” Bill

Internet of Things.jpgOn Wednesday April 27th, the Senate Commerce Committee passed a bill meant to increase government involvement in the development of the “Internet of Things” (IoT).

By a voice vote, the committee approved the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, sponsored by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).  The bill would require the establishment of a working group tasked with identifying proposals meant to facilitate IoT growth.  The working group would include representatives from the Transportation Department, the Commerce Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Science Foundation. Separately, the Commerce Department recently issued a Request For Public Comment seeking comment on the role of government in fostering the advancement of IoT.

The bill also sets up a steering committee that will include industry stakeholders.  Both the working group and the steering committee will examine a range of IoT issues, including the regulatory challenges that may limit the growth of IoT and the availability of wireless spectrum for IoT devices.  The committee also approved several minor amendments to the bill, which, among other things, expanded the government agencies involved in the working group.

Article By Ani Gevorkian of Covington & Burling LLP
© 2016 Covington & Burling LLP

March 2016 – gTLD Sunrise Periods Now Open

As first reported in December 2013, the first new generic top-level domains (gTLDs, the group of letters after the “dot” in a domain name) have launched their “Sunrise” registration periods.

As of February 29, Sunrise periods are open for the following new gTLDs:

.HOTELES

.xn--xhq521b (.广东 – Chinese for “guangdong”)

.xn—1qqw23a

(.佛山 – Chinese for “foshan”)

.xn--tckwe

(.コム – Japanese for “.com”)

.barcelona

.mom

.xn—vuq861b (信息 –  for “knowledge”)

ICANN maintains an up-to-date list of all open Sunrise periods here.  This list also provides the closing date of the Sunrise period.  We will endeavor to provide information regarding new gTLD launches via this monthly newsletter, but please refer to the list on ICANN’s website for the most up-to-date information – as the list of approved/launched domains can change daily.

Because new gTLD options will be coming on the market over the next year, brand owners should review the list of new gTLDs (a full list can be found here) to identify those that are of interest.

Article By Monica Riva Talley, Tracy-Gene G. Durkin & Shana L. Olson of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

© 2016 Sterne Kessler

February 2016 – gTLD Sunrise Periods Now Open

As first reported in our December 2013 newsletter, the first new generic top-level domains (gTLDs, the group of letters after the “dot” in a domain name) have launched their “Sunrise” registration periods.

As of December 31, Sunrise periods are open for the following new gTLDs:

  • .YACHTS
  • .BOATS
  • .xn--tckwe (.コム – Japanese for “.com”)
  • .HOTELES
  • .BET
  • .BIBLE
  • .barcelona
  • .PET
  • .istanbul
  • .ist

ICANN maintains an up-to-date list of all open Sunrise periods here. This list also provides the closing date of the Sunrise period. We will endeavor to provide information regarding new gTLD launches via this monthly newsletter, but please refer to the list on ICANN’s website for the most up-to-date information – as the list of approved/launched domains can change daily.

Because new gTLD options will be coming on the market over the next year, brand owners should review the list of new gTLDs to identify those that are of interest.

Article By Monica Riva Talley, Tracy-Gene G. Durkin & Ivy Clarice Estoesta of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.
© 2016 Sterne Kessler