Category: Legal Marketing

Law Firm News and Updates for January 2021: Law Firm Merger, Diversity in Legal Industry and Law School News

We hope that your 2021 is going along well all things considered.  We wanted to extend a big thank you to our law firm publishing partners for helping the National Law Review surpass 25,000,000 page views in 2020.  You can read about some of the articles and authors we noted as exceptional high flyers in our press release from earlier this week.  Additionally, we recognized roughly 70 exceptional authors and contributors in our 2020 Go To Thought Leadership Awards issued a few weeks back which you can read about here. But enough about us and our talented authors, here are some recent updates from around the legal industry.

Law Firm Hires and Promotions

Ballard Spahr named Damon O. Barry the Office Managing Partner for the Denver office of the firm. Mr. Barry is an experienced deal and government affairs attorney, working on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and other sophisticated commercial transactions.  The Denver office of Ballard Spahr is the epicenter of the firm’s western United States Labor and Employment, Public Finance Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practices.  Mr. Barry praised the Denver office of Ballard Spahr, pointing out the attorneys located there do exciting work with industry leaders in the region, and said, “I’m looking forward to building on our previous success and continuing to deliver first-rate service to our clients, both existing and new, while simultaneously driving and increasing our commitment to the Denver community.”

Idan Netser and Andrew Harper joined Sidley Austin LLP in the Palo Alto office.  Both attorneys will join Sidley as transactional partners, joining the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice, and Mr. Netser will also join the Tax Practice.  Martin Wellington, Managing Partner of the Palo Alto office describes the addition of Mr. Nester and Mr. Harper as an important milestone in Sidley’s expansion into Northern California, and the emerging technology field of practice.  Wellington says, “Idan has a well-deserved reputation both as a trusted adviser to entrepreneurs and emerging companies in the software, security, and life sciences markets, and as a leading international tax counselor for some of the technology sector’s best-known brands. Andrew is a rising star with established relationships at an exciting roster of both companies and blue-chip venture investors. Together, they elevate our brand in the Valley and position Sidley for sustained growth in this market.”

Vedder Price announced that Wayne M. Aaron has joined the firm as a member of the Investment Services Group and Corporate practice in New York.  Mr. Aaron is an experienced securities regulatory lawyer, and his practice includes financial services advisory matters, broker-dealer regulation and enforcement, government and regulatory investigations and FinTech.  He regularly advises securities firms on complex sales and trading, and other regulatory issues, as well as in examinations, inquiries and enforcement proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission and other government regulators.  Corporate Practice Area Chair at Vedder, Jennifer Durham King indicated she is looking forward to Aaron’s addition to the financial services and corporate-related practices in New York.  She says, “Wayne is a terrific addition to our existing broker-dealer and regulatory investigations practices as we look to continue to grow and diversify those practices, including into other complementary areas, such as high frequency trading and FinTech regulatory work.”

Murray Plumb & Murray is pleased to announce that Katherine Krakowka has been elected a Director of the firm as of January 1, 2021, and  Stacey Neumann has been named to Murray Plumb & Murray’s Management Committee.

Ms. Krakowka has been with Murray, Plumb & Murray since 2019, focusing on Business & Corporate Law and Business Reorganization & Insolvency, and she has been working with local businesses, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.  Drew Anderson, Managing Director of Murry Plumb & Murray calls Katie a wonderful addition to the ranks, saying,  “She has been an active participant in the firm since joining our team and this year especially has played a crucial role in supporting our local business community as a thought leader on risk planning and a legal expert on pandemic assistance programs. We look forward to having the benefit of her wisdom, experience and intellect in this leadership role.”

Additionally, Stacey Neumann has been named to Murray Plumb & Murray’s Management Committee. Neumann is a Director at the firm and Chair of the Employment and Criminal/White Collar Defense Practice Groups, and she has extensive litigation experience with federal and state white-collar and other criminal defense, employment law with discrimination and other human resources matters, and Title IX investigations and other collegiate disciplinary processes.

Steven W. Zelkowitz joined Spiritus Law as Managing Partner, reuniting with Spiritus law founding partners Marbet and Robert Lewis.  Additionally, Jonathan Portuondo is joining Spiritus Law as an associate. Spiritus Law will be focusing on helping firm hospitality clients recover from the pandemic.

Mr. Zelkowitz comes to Spiritus Law with more than 30 years of experience in real estate, financial services industries, including infrastructure and development, hospitality and public/private partnerships.  Zelkowitz also has government relations experience, and experience in assisting businesses establishing or relocating to Florida by leveraging tax and other financial incentives.  Additionally, Zelkowitz has a long-established relationship with the firm’s founders Robert and Marbet Lewis, which will translate into a productive and effective working relationship.

“Spiritus Law is already known as a powerhouse nationally in the alcohol and hospitality industries. I am confident that my depth of experience will further cement the firm’s reputation in those industries in 2021 and beyond,” said Mr. Zelkowitz. “I am both humbled and excited to reunite with Marbet and Rob, and in applying my decades of experience growing law firms for the benefit of Spiritus Law and its clients at this pivotal moment in history.”

Dinsmore & Shohl Merges with Wooden McLaughlin

On January 1, 2021, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP has merged with Wooden McLaughlin LLP in Indiana, continuing Dinsmore’s growth across Indiana, adding offices in Indianapolis, Evansville and Bloomington.  Dinsmore added 47 Wooden attorneys, growing Dinsmore’s lawyer headcount by over 7 percent, and continuing Dinsmore’s goal of continued growth and strength in the Midwest.  George Vincent, Dinsmore Chairman and Managing Partner, says, “I’ve always believed in having a renewable five-year plan and working back from where you want to be. Five years ago, we wanted to be in Boston, Florida and Indiana, and we’ve done all of those things. We are in every state surrounding Indiana, so it is a natural place for us to be. There are significant opportunities for new and existing Dinsmore clients there, and Wooden has a great legacy.”

The merger builds on both firm’s legacies of valued client relationships that can span decades, with an emphasis and value on diversity.  Wooden Partner, Misha Rabinowitch, says Dinsmore’s focus on diversity was an important element in the decision, saying, “I’m personally excited to continue working to make our offices as inclusive as possible, now with the assistance of Dinsmore’s diversity initiatives that are already in place and have great momentum.”

Law Firm Diversity: Norton Rose Fulbright and Blank Rome Tap New Diversity and Inclusion Officers, and Nelson Mullin’s Diversity Pipeline Outreach Program Recognized

Norton Rose Fulbright announced that Katherine Tapley, a San Antonio partner, will replace Denise Glass as the firm’s new US Chief of Diversity and Inclusion.  She will chair the US Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the firm, and she will work closely with the US Management Committee to strengthen Norton Rose Fulbright’s diversity and inclusion efforts.  Tapley previously chaired the Women in Norton Rose Fulbright (WiN) Network.  Additionally, Tapley has served on the Real Estate Service Board of Directors for the San Antonio Area Foundation, and she currently chairs the Board of Governors of SA Youth, a non-profit working to improve the education, character and lives of high-risk San Antonio youth.

Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Managing Partner: “Katherine championed diversity for several years at Norton Rose Fulbright, consistently looking for opportunities for the firm to make meaningful enhancements. While we have made notable progress in our diversity and inclusion efforts, this important area remains a priority for us.”

Norton Rose Fulbright achieved several honors related to their diversity efforts, including a Gold Standard Certification by Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for their inclusion of women into leadership positions.  Norton Rose Fulbright also received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on its Corporate Equality Index for policies related to LGBT workplace equality, and Diversity Lab announced Norton Rose Fulbright had achieved Mansfield Rule Certification 3.0 and Mansfield Certification Plus status, both benchmarks in the legal industry.

Ms. Tapley announced a desire to continue the firm’s work in this important area, saying, “Fostering diversity and inclusion is a critical component to being the best possible place to work for our people. I will work tirelessly to ensure the firm succeeds in this arena.”

Nelson Mullins Diverse Pipeline Outreach Program was selected by Profiles in Diversity Journal as a winner in its Top 10 Innovations in Diversity for 2020.  The Innovations in Diversity honors inventive solutions in workforce diversity, selecting corporations, organizations, and institutions for ground-breaking programs furthering inclusion and diversity in their respective fields.

The goal of Nelson Mullins Diverse Pipeline Outreach Program is to combat a lack of diversity in the legal industry by working with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Carolinas and Georgia to provide students with an inside look at the legal profession.  By demonstrating the legal industry in action across a variety of areas and demystifying the steps to go to law school and become a practicing attorney and capping it off with a paid internship for one student at each school that participates. The first internship will begin in the spring of 2021.

The Nelson Mullins program is spearheaded by Ariel Roberson and Jack Slosson, partners in Raleigh and Charlotte, respectively.  Roberson says, “Diversity in the legal profession is tremendously lacking, but we all know how necessary it is to hear different perspectives in the courtrooms, boardrooms, classrooms, etc. across America.”   Slosson says, “I am hopeful that this unique program can have a real impact in growing diversity in the legal profession going forward.”

Blank Rome announced that Krystal Studavent Ramsey is the firm’s new Director of Diversity and Inclusion in Blank Rome’s Houston office.  As Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Ms. Studavent Ramsey will implement Blank Rome’s strategic DEI plans to create an inclusive environment within the firm, and to partner with clients on DEI plans and programs.  To further this goal, Studavent Ramsey brings her experience co-founding and co-chairing Blaxiom, a group of Black Axiom employees when she served as a senior legal consultant at Axiom, and her experience working as director of strategy and operations for the Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program, devoted to nurturing first-year, women of color law students.

Studavent Ramsey calls her new role “an amazing opportunity” and praises Blank Rome’s foundation of DEI.  She says, “I am excited to join Blank Rome as its Director of Diversity and Inclusion, especially at such a pivotal time in our world . . . [T]his is an amazing opportunity . . . to make sustainable change and a positive impact throughout our firm, the legal industry, the communities we serve, and beyond.”

Law School Updates

Over 150 academics issued a joint statement saying “The violent attack on the Capitol was an assault on our democracy and the rule of law. The effort to disrupt the certification of a free and fair election was a betrayal of the core values that undergird our Constitution. Lives were lost, the seat of our democracy was desecrated, and our country was shamed.”

Citing their role as the educators of the next generation of lawyers, the academics claimed an obligation to “support the rule of law and preserve the integrity of the legal profession.”  The statement frowned on the actions of attorneys filing frivolous and ungrounded lawsuits challenging the election, filings unsupported by any evidence, saying they “betrayed the values of our profession” by doing so.  Additionally, the statement praised the lawyers and judges who worked hard to bring about an honest election in trying circumstances.  Read the complete joint statement and see a list of academics who signed the Joint Statement on the 2020 Election and Events at the Capitol.

John F. Kennedy School of Law at Northcentral University welcomed its first cohort of law students in the online Juris Doctor program, the university announced last week.  Since 1996, Northcentral University has been a leader in graduate-focused online education, with over 11,000 students enrolled in graduate programs across education, psychology and now law.

The program is taught by faculty who are practicing attorneys, judges and other legal professionals, to bring real-world expertise into the virtual classroom.  Faculty areas of expertise include civil and criminal law, constitutional law, insurance defense litigation and public interest law.  Along with online classes, hands-on curriculum opportunities include clinical and internship experiences. Dean Hutton says the online JD program will have opportunities for students to get individualized feedback from faculty members.  He says, “”Students have multiple opportunities to apply legal doctrine throughout each course, along with personalized faculty feedback, allowing for a much deeper understanding of the material and greater preparation for exams and, ultimately, for the California Bar Examination.”

Other law offerings at Northcentral include a Bachelor of Arts in legal studies and a paralegal certificate program, both approved by the American Bar Association.

Copyright ©2020 National Law Forum, LLC

ARTICLE BY Eilene Spear of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC
For more, visit the NLR Law Office Management section.

How to Level Up your Law Firm Technology and Marketing in 2021

Welcome back to our short series on forming new habits in 2021. I hope you all were able to take the time to digest and truly think about implementing our first three habits at your law firms this year. If you missed out, go take a look at the first part of our new habits series and then come right back.

Today we’re going to talk a bit more about expanding the technical aspects of your firm in 2021, and how you can enhance what you’ve already learned throughout the trial and error of 2020.

Reduce Tech Costs With An All-In-One Operating System 

You’re likely using several platforms or tools to run your practice and paying monthly SaaS fees for all of them. At some point in 2020 you likely looked at these expenses for opportunities to reduce your internal costs. This kind of regular belt tightening audit is important, but it’s even more important to make sure that you’re using the right tech that will get you the most bang for your buck.

Conduct an analysis of all of the tools you are using and paying an associated monthly fee. Eliminate tools you haven’t used in the past 6 months. If you’re using an all-in-one system, make sure you’re using all the included functionality instead of 3rd party providers. Are you paying a separate monthly fee for a CRM or payments tool? Taking advantage of all of the features offered by your all-in-one practice management system can help you cut the fat and reduce overall expenses while increasing efficiency.

Fill Your Marketing Pipeline & Develop A Growth Plan 

Next, start to think about your firm’s future over the next year, including your pipeline of new business and growth plans for your internal team. Do you know which 2020 referral sources were the most fruitful? Make sure to nurture those existing referral relationships heading into the new year. A small gift, handwritten note, or phone call to wish the contact a happy new year is a great way to thank them while staying on their radar for future referrals.

As for new business, now is the perfect time to brainstorm new marketing channels to test in 2021. If there is a specific practice area that was especially profitable in 2020 perhaps you can get more involved with that practice group within your local or state bar association. Or maybe there is an upcoming (virtual) conference where you can showcase an area of expertise as a conference speaker. Many firms have found great success by experimenting with a small online marketing budget to make their firm’s name appear higher in search results or serve ads for their firm to a targeted audience. If you need a refresher, here’s our guide on SEO for lawyers.

With a plan to fill your referral and marketing pipeline in place, you should start preparing for growth. Construct a hiring roadmap and budget to create a clear plan to execute against your goals. Do you want to bring on a new partner with an existing book of business to help fill your client pipeline, or would it be best to hire and train an associate first? Do you need to hire new support staff like a receptionist or would it be more cost effective and efficient to use a virtual receptionist service? Being strategic in how you’re thinking about what you want to accomplish a year from now, and setting a systematic plan to get there, can help you stay on track as the year continues and distractions inevitably arise.

Level Up Your Zoom Game & Adjust To The “New Normal”

Whether you like it or not, the way we practice law has changed due to COVID-19 restrictions and it will never be exactly the same as it once was prior to 2020. Just as medical professionals have adapted to the rise in telehealth, more lawyers than ever before have moved to practicing law virtually. While some billable tasks will return to normal in a post-COVID world, the industry as a whole is realizing that we can do many things virtually for increased productivity and profitability as part of the “new normal”.

Many clients will likely prefer to meet virtually moving forward because of the convenience, while others will still need to do so depending on geographic location and local restrictions for at least part of 2021. It’s safe to assume that online video conference tools like Zoom aren’t going anywhere. If you didn’t use it before COVID restrictions began, you’ve likely used it since, and if you already used it, you probably are using it much more frequently than you did before.

You’ve also probably heard stories about some very embarrassing Zoom gafs over the past 10 months and we’d like to do our part to make sure you don’t become a cautionary tale. Remember, even though you are meeting with a client, colleague or co-defendant virtually, you still need to make a good impression and present as professionally as possible.

Make sure to dress as you would for an in-person meeting and make sure your visible work area is organized. Double check what your Zoom partner will see during the meeting when you turn on your video — do you like the background the client will see behind you on the call or do you need to adjust? Do your best to limit interruptions like loud pets or children (no judgement, I have both). Check the lighting to make sure the video quality is good and ensure your internet connection is working properly (pro tip: if you share your network with others in the household ask them to log off the WiFi to improve the signal strength for your video call). If not, you might consider purchasing an inexpensive desktop Zoom light, increasing your internet speed, or adding WiFi boosters to help improve signal strength for areas furthest from your router.

Don’t forget, most video conferencing tools have helpful built-in features that you may not be utilizing.  If you’re using Zoom, try the “Touch Up My Appearance” option in your Zoom Settings – it’s like airbrushing for video calls and makes you look like you got 10 hours of sleep after a relaxing day at the spa. Lastly, if you are using Zoom for court appearances, mediations, or arbitrations, make sure you’ve got security settings like a virtual waiting room in place and learn how to properly use the break out room feature. Doing so will help you ensure client confidentiality is protected, even in a virtual setting.

Pulling It All Together

While these habits aren’t revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, they are tried and true tactics which only require some extra time and effort to implement. By reducing your technology costs, creating your marketing and hiring roadmaps, and investing in your virtual presence, you’ll be well on your way to a successful and productive year and will thrive in the “new normal” of 2021.

© Copyright 2020 PracticePanther

ARTICLE BY Sarah Schaaf of PracticePanther
For more, visit the NLR Law Office Management section

7 Year-End Tips for Your Law Firm

If you’re like us you’re probably asking yourself: how is it already mid-December? For a year that was filled with unprecedented challenges, it seemed at times like the year moved both incredibly fast and also at a snail’s pace. 2020 has been a strange year indeed, and it seems the passing of time this calendar year was no exception.

So, you procrastinated. November was a blur and now you find yourself with a long to do list to finish before the end of the year. Not to worry, you’re in good company. Even though there are only 8 working days left this year, there is still time to utilize time management best practices and some efficiency hacks. We’ve broken down some of our favorite ideas that can help you feel super productive by December 31st and set you up for unprecedented success in the new year.

Now Is The Time: Get Your Time Entered ASAP

This may sound like common knowledge, but if you have post-its piling up and ambiguous notes you emailed yourself with time entries for December, get those entered into your time and billing system as soon as possible. Even if you’re caught up as of the end of November, there is no time like the present to start tracking your time contemporaneously for the rest of the month.

Want to set up even better habits for next year? Studies show that lawyers that enter their time monthly lose up to 55% to 70% of their time while those that enter their time weekly lose only 25% – 30% of their billable hours. There is no denying that the best practice to make sure you’re capturing your time as efficiently as possible is to track time contemporaneously, or at least enter it into your cloud-based system daily. It may seem like a difficult habit to set in the new year, but anything less is downright wasteful.

Get Clarity On All Outstanding AR & Collect, Now

Even if you’ve got a handle on your outstanding bills for December, what about the rest of 2020? It’s crucial to run a report on all outstanding accounts receivable earned over 2020 thus far so you leave nothing on the table to write-off.  Once you’ve got a report on all outstanding AR you should plan to tackle uncollected bills methodically and systematically.

Before you start making collection calls, make sure that you gave your clients adequate payment options when you sent the initial invoice. Try resending all outstanding invoices with an electronic payment option with a “Pay Now” button directly in the email and invoice itself and offer clients a payment plan to pay down their invoice over time.

Make sure to customize the corresponding email to let clients know that you need to collect on the invoice in full before the end of the year to avoid negative tax consequences for your firm. Doing so sends clients a friendly reminder that they have a balance due and also gives them the flexibility of credit card and eCheck options for convenient and fast payment.

You should plan to resend outstanding invoices with an online payment option as soon as possible to attempt to receive payment in full without offering proactive discount. Doing so now ensures you still have an opportunity to send the client a final payment request the last week of the year with a discount for payment in full to avoid end of year write offs.

Utilize EOY Accounting Best Practices & Client Ledger Reconciliation

As an attorney, client trust accounting best practices are paramount. At the end of the year you should reconcile all trust account balances to make sure that your trust funds balance properly compared to your bank statements.

Depending on the rule of your state bar, you may be required to reconcile trust funds monthly, but doing so annually should be considered an absolute must regardless of the rules of your specific state. Take an extremely close look at your trust account balances and your firm’s ledger to ensure there are no discrepancies each and every year.

Maintaining a healthy trust ledger is important for a variety of reasons, but it can also help you make sure you’ve been paid for all outstanding work that can be billed against existing client trust balances. Run a report of all existing trust funds and compare against outstanding accounts receivables. If you’ve completed work for a client that has an existing trust balance you can invoice yourself and transfer the funds from your trust to your operating account to collect before year end.

Year In Review: How Profitable Was Your Firm?

Let’s not forget: law firms are businesses. One of the most important things you can do at the end of the year is measure your firm’s profitability. It sounds simple, but for many law firms it’s an intimidating idea. It actually breaks downs quite simply: measure your hard and soft costs against the amount you earned on average across your client list. In short, you want to measure your total costs versus your total revenue.

First, track and analyze your firm’s hard expenses, such as marketing. The more granular you can get the better. Can you measure what you spent to obtain clients in a specific practice area versus the amount you collected for that specific practice area? Doing so may help you identify valuable patterns like practice areas that may be performing better than others or particular billers that have a higher collection rate than others.

Next you should analyze your soft costs and overhead expenses. Are there areas where you can cut costs? One of the most underlooked areas is what your firm is paying in total software costs. Monthly SaaS fees for multiple pieces of software can add up. Choosing an all-in-one practice management solution could streamline your tools and lower your costs significantly.

Once you’ve got the data you need, you should assess whether your rates are adequate to cover your costs or if you should consider a rate increase. You may feel guilty or anxious at the thought of contacting clients if you decide to raise your rates, but doing so every few years is necessary to keep up with inflation and make sure that your firm continues to grow profitability.

Show Gratitude: Clients, Referral Sources, Vendors

There is no time like the present to let your most valued partners know how much you appreciate them, and doing so can go a long way. In today’s competitive landscape it’s important to remind clients that you’re grateful for their business and look forward to continued success in the new year.

If your firm relies on referrals or specific marketing channels or vendors for new or repeat business, let them know you care. It may be as easy as sending a heartfelt email or picking up the phone to check in. Even without a budget in place, something as simply as a handwritten note is enough. If you have a budget to allocate it’s always a great idea to send clients or partners personalized firm swag. If you didn’t give yourself enough time to get some company swag made and delivered, don’t worry. Show your gratitude by sending a bottle of wine or a basket of treats. Think of the cost as a 2021 marketing expense.

Planning Ahead: New Hire Roadmap & Marketing Planning

Last but not least, it’s time to plan for growth. If you’ve already looked at your firm’s profitability and found practice areas or referral partner patterns, the rest is easy.

Make a marketing plan to double down on channels and referral sources that are working and look for new marketing opportunities. It may be time to upgrade your firm’s digital presence with a new website or join a new referral group or chapter of your local bar.

You should also make a plan to handle the increased scale when your marketing efforts come to fruition: what is your next critical hire? Do you want to optimize for a specific profile of billable attorney or maybe you should bring on a new partner to open up opportunities in a profitable practice area. 2021 has endless possibilities and you should plan accordingly.

Bringing It All Together

As we close the books on another year (literally and figuratively) it’s all about taking stock of where you’re at, making up for any deficits as quickly as possible, looking for quick wins to close out strong, and setting yourself up for the successful year ahead. By following these seven tips, you can close out your year better than ever and help your firm get set up for healthy habits and increased profitability in the new year.

© Copyright 2020 PracticePanther
For more, visit the NLR Law Office Management section.

4 Reasons You Got Burned By Your Last Marketing Agency (& 1 Reason You Were The Problem)

It’s a big decision to partner with a digital marketing agency: You’re delegating some (or all) of an important business function to presumed experts and you’re trusting that they will deliver better results than an internal resource.

When that relationship works – there’s nothing better:

  • You’ll have increased bandwidth to work on projects that are in your passion areas.
  • You’ll take comfort in knowing a task you might not enjoy is being expertly completed by someone who does.
  • You’ll find improved bottom line results – you’re making more money by partnering with a trusted vendor.

Yet if the relationship turns sour, there’s nothing worse: lost money, time, and trust in a potential channel that would otherwise be profitable.

There are four core reasons an agency relationship can go south:

  • Big promises for chump change.
  • The chemistry is off.
  • Expertise isn’t in the channel/task set you need.
  • You lose control over your assets.

Before partnering with an agency consider whether they’re a high risk for these signals.

  1. Big Promises For Chump Change

We all love a good deal, and just because a vendor is “expensive,” doesn’t inherently mean they’re experts.

However, it’s vital to have a sense of what market rates are for different business/marketing functions so you don’t get suckered into a cheap relationship that does more harm than good.

Sites like fiverr might offer SEO for $50-$250 per month. Most of these ads are focused on link building (which when done poorly, can tank a site and cause your brand to lose out on traffic and business).

Opting for the cheaper vendor can cause you to need more expensive rehabilitation in the long run

The other common mistake is opting into a deal where the agency is responsible for a certain amount of leads at a given price. This sort of partnership relies on the agency driving the leads under the price that they’re selling them for (which inherently means you’re paying a premium for your leads).

Here’re questions you should ask an agency before signing up for a cheap offering:

  • How many clients are you currently working with?
  • What timelines should I expect to achieve meaningful results?
  • What are realistic results I can expect from my investment?

By asking these questions, you’ll be able to not only get insights into benchmarks for your efforts, but also whether the vendor will be a partner. Unfortunately, most cheap vendors are only in it to scam brands out of 3-4 months of retainer before they move onto the next.

Takeaway: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

  1. The Chemistry Is Off

I love my clients and will do everything in my power to see them succeed. I also am VERY selective on who I take on as a client because I need to believe in the client and my ability to make them money before agreeing to take them on.

When you choose an agency partner/vendor, you should be elated to work with them, and they should be just as excited to work with you.

If you’re looking for someone who will be “on-call” and the vendor is slow to respond during the sales process, there’s no reason to expect they’ll be more responsive once you become a client.

On a similar note, if you’re looking for someone who will be a true partner for your org and the vendor is a software, you will likely be disappointed (unless you opt for a premium version that includes a customer success manager within scope of the agreement).

Be honest with yourself about what you need out of your vendor (both hard and soft skills).

Here are the questions to ask to assess the chemistry of the relationship:

  • What communication cadence can I expect?
  • Are there any shared “outside work” interests (I always get along better with clients who are fellow Star Wars fans)?
  • Am I your main partner in this vertical?

Understanding how valued you are by your potential vendor will help set expectations for what will hopefully be a long and profitable relationship. If you don’t feel valued from the beginning, odds are you never will.

Takeaway: Listen to your gut.

  1. Expertise Isn’t In The Needed Channel/Task-Set

I am good at PPC. I’ve worked hard and logged the hours to gain mastery in pay per click (PPC) advertising. What I am not is a coder, financial analyst, or designer.

Agencies/vendors who claim to be experts in everything rarely are. You will either experience sub-par work or pay a premium because the vendor is outsourcing the work to a partner they trust.

If a vendor claims they are a trusted expert in a given area – look them up. A true expert will have at bare minimum a paper trail on LinkedIn outlining their career trajectory. If it’s a software, check review sites like G2Crowd and Trustpilot.

Agencies that focuses on both PPC and SEO can absolutely be legit (I belong to one).Ensuring you land with a trusted vendor instead of a greedy pretender depends on asking the following questions:

  • What strategy will you use to help my brand succeed, and how will the given channel help me?
  • Are there different pricing structures for your different services?
  • Who is doing the work?

By asking these questions you’ll get a sense of how comfortably a given service fits into the vendors mix.

Takeaway: Don’t force all business needs to fit under one vendor.

  1. You Lose Control Over Your Assets

A big red flag for a toxic vendor relationship is that you lose access/rights to your assets (analytics account, ads account, website, Google My Business, etc.).

This is common with softwares like Kenshoo and Marin, but can also come up in certain agency contracts (especially those that are “pay per lead”).

If you’re going to engage a firm/software, make sure you understand exactly what the terms are and how easy it will be to walk away from them if the relationship goes south.

These are the questions to ask:

  • How much visibility will I have into your work?
  • Who owns the account?
  • How much access do you need to complete your work?

Certain channels will require granting admin access to your vendor (especially if they are a web development or SEO vendor). However, under no circumstances should you lose access to your brand’s assets.

Takeaway: Don’t allow yourself to be held hostage by a mediocre vendor.

A common reason the relationship between brand and vendor goes south is because the right questions weren’t asked at the start of the engagement to establish reasonable expectations.

If you’re not asking these questions, you’re part of the problem!

Most agencies are good actors and genuinely want what’s best for their clients. Establishing from the onset a healthy communication cadence, performance goals, and mechanics of the vendor agreement ensures there are no surprises.

Some agencies may choose not to partner with you, and that’s ok! You and your brand deserve a vendor who is excited by the problems you’re tasking them to solve, and enjoys working with you.

Copyright 2020 © Hennessey Digital
For more articles on legal marketing, visit the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Law Firm Marketing Professionals Face High Levels of Stress, Pandemic Pressures, and Lack of Respect: Report

Law firm marketing and business development staff are stressed-out and the COVID-19 pandemic has only ratcheted up the pressure, the 2020 Legal Marketing Mental Wellness Report published by fSquared Marketing, a consultancy that specializes in working with law firms, shows.

In a survey of 400+ law firm marketing and business professionals, 96% agreed there is significant stress in the legal marketing field. 71% reported often feeling overwhelmed at work and 79% said that their work-related stress had increased during the pandemic.

“Legal marketers have seen their workloads increase this year, as they maintain firm communications and respond to the challenges of this crisis,” observes Lynn Foley, CEO of fSquared Marketing. “They are working hard to ensure their firms are providing timely updates, maintaining strong relationships with clients, and adapting to remote working and new communication channels such as webinar presentations and virtual conferences. At the same time, many professionals have had the threat of layoffs hanging over their heads or seen their marketing budgets slashed and projects put on hold.”

“During this time of COVID-19, they furloughed my co-coordinator. The amount of work in the department has not changed so I have taken on all her work as well.” one respondent to the survey said. “…They also reduced my pay. I am happy I still have a job, but I feel like my work product has suffered and my stress level has skyrocketed.”

Legal Marketing is a demanding profession, even in less difficult times. In 2019, fSquared Marketing ran a similar survey that illuminated many of the issues which re-emerged in the 2020 report including overwork, a lack of respect and a lack of understanding of the marketer’s role by lawyers.

“The 2020 report builds on our team’s previous research,” says Foley. “We expanded the survey this year and– in partnership with the Legal Marketing Association (LMA)—we were able to more than double the number of responses collected.”

Stress is Impacting the Health and Wellness of Staff

It’s widely recognized that there is a mental health crisis in the legal industry. A landmark 2016 study by the ABA and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation found that 36% of lawyers qualified as problem drinkers and 28% report mild or higher depression symptoms. Through initiatives such as The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being and ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and increased media attention, the industry is starting to take this issue seriously and take steps to improve itself.

Yet law firm professionals have often been overlooked. As this 2020 report makes clear, marketing and business professionals at law firms are also under considerable levels of stress. Nearly 80% of respondents said that their stress, on a scale of 1-10, was a 7 or higher. And 67% said that stress was negatively impacting their ability to concentrate on the task at hand. 63% of respondents said that stress from work was affecting the quality of their sleep and 48% said that stress from work gave them psychosomatic symptoms such as headaches or stomach pain.

“Overwork is part of the problem,” notes Foley, “but this report also reveals compounding factors, such as a lack of understanding of the marketer’s role and, in too many cases, a lack of respect from lawyers.”

Marketers Dismissed as “Non-Lawyers” But Still Essential

Many respondents pointed to a divide between the lawyers and law firm professionals, often dismissively labelled as “non-lawyers”, as a source of stress. 67% of respondents said that lawyers do not understand their role or the work they perform. 40% agreed with the statement: “There is a lack of respect for me/my role by the lawyers”.

“Most of the stress I experience comes from feeling like the lawyers won’t let/don’t trust me to do my job,” said one respondent.

Another respondent said: “I don’t see how lawyers who don’t even value my contribution to the firm would ever value my mental health.”

At the same time, Marketing professionals are well aware of the value they bring to the table: 93% felt that they “have an important role to play at their firm”.

Legal Marketing Might Be More Stressful Than Marketing in Other Industries

Of those respondents who had previously held marketing positions in other industries, 72% felt that marketing in legal was more stressful.

Marketers who worked in-house at a law firm were more likely to report feeling overwhelmed and disrespected than external marketing consultants with law firm clients.  Not surprisingly, in-house marketers also reported lower levels of job satisfaction than their external counterparts.

Taken together, this indicates that there are factors endemic to law firms that increase workplace stress. Several respondents pointed to a culture of perfection, the rigidly hierarchical nature of most firms, and the billable-hour model as culprits. “This job is custom-built for stress,” noted one respondent.

“We work at the request of lawyers, who don’t think about marketing or business development during the work day. Therefore, they contact us after the work day.  So by definition, our work needs to be completed after hours and on weekends.  Holidays are nonexistent. PTO is nonexistent. All that exists is a gigantic, gaping maw of legal work that needs to be done.  There is no escape.”

Skills Training the Most Requested Type of Law Firm Support

Access to training was the number one resource that legal marketers thought would help them to alleviate stress. 79% of respondents said that access to marketing/business development/technical training would help them to limit their stress.

Training was seen as more useful for managing stress than access to mental health professionals and mindfulness coaching. Access to external marketing resources to provide assistance on a project basis was seen as the second most useful form of law firm support for mental wellness and stress management.

“Marketing is a fast-changing field and it can be challenging to stay on top of new tech, changing client expectations, and methods,” notes Foley. “Law firms that provide their professionals with regular access to high-quality training will help their marketers to manage the pressures of the job while also empowering them to deliver meaningful results for their firm.”

Towards a Better Model

Research in workplace psychology has consistently found that employees perform to their highest potential when they feel respected, challenged but not overwhelmed, and valued for their contributions.

COVID-19 will continue to send shockwaves through the economy at large with implications for the legal market. Law firms that foster resilient, supportive cultures have an advantage in weathering downturns and periods of turmoil and emerging from the other side of the pandemic in a dominant market position.

“I know from firsthand experience how stressful it can be to work in-house at a law firm,” notes Foley. “This is always going to be a demanding profession within a high-pressure industry, but incivility and burnout benefit no one. This report shows how widespread these issues are in our industry. But they aren’t universal, and that is a cause for hope. Many law firms have fostered cultures of work-life balance and mutual respect. It’s possible and demonstrably profitable to ensure that law firm professionals feel understood, included, and valued for their contributions.”

© Copyright 2020 fSquared Marketing
For more articles on the legal industry, visit the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Toward a More Expansive View of Mentoring

Mentoring has increasingly been recognized as a critical ingredient of success in many endeavors in individuals’ lives. In many instances, however, mentoring tends to be depicted as a relationship where a senior leader takes a junior professional under their wing and imparts the “formula” for success. Thus, mentoring programs often focus on pairing each junior employee with one senior person who is designated as their mentor.

Our firm’s mentor surveys and interviews indicate that while such pairings can lead to desired outcomes, investing in building and maintaining a more expansive view of mentoring is likely to be even more effective. Cultivating a shared understanding that each individual can be an effective mentor in their area(s) of comparative strength encourages long-term mentoring relationships that emerge and evolve organically, and enables an organization to make the most of its mentoring resources.

While there is widespread consensus that mentoring is critical to the long-term success of an organization, defining mentoring is more challenging than it seems at first glance. When asked, each of our firm’s leaders defined it slightly differently, as a “process,” “form of leadership,” “opportunity,” “mindset,” “set of actions,” or “ability,” among other things. Realizing all of these responses are valid, we find it helpful to focus not on what mentoring is but rather on the behaviors that are involved in effective mentoring. We organized our approach by segmenting mentoring into four distinct elements—feedback, opportunity creation, connections and counsel, and role modeling. We discuss each of these in turn, including specific recommendations for both mentors and mentees from our mentor surveys and interviews.

Feedback

Mentors play a critical role in recognizing positive contributions, offering specific coaching on work-product or delivery, and providing direct, clear, and actionable feedback to mentees. Assigned evaluator roles for performance review purposes can be the basis for mentoring relationships to take hold. However, our data indicate that the most effective mentor relationships are not based on an assigned evaluator role. Many of our survey participants indicated that working together on projects provided the best opportunity for feedback. To take advantage of that opportunity, a mentor should “give real-time feedback, discussing what is the best way to handle a given situation and why.”

Opportunity Creation

In developing future leaders, it becomes increasingly important for mentors to proactively identify opportunities that not only enable the firm to serve its clients or customers in the best possible way but also align with mentees’ career plans and create “stretch roles” to accelerate their career development. It is valuable to “be explicit when you are providing an opportunity to an individual. For example, when you would like to staff an individual on a project that will help them develop expertise in given area, don’t just ask them to work on the project—explain why this is an opportunity.” Mentees benefit greatly from a targeted approach to opportunity creation: “Think of providing specific opportunities to specific people … for example, staff individuals on repeat projects with the same clients so that they can develop client relationships.”

Mentors should not see their role as limited to personally offering opportunities to mentees but rather take a broader perspective. For example, they should “watch out for opportunities for their mentees, inform them of opportunities they may not be aware of (because mentors have a more firm-wide view than mentees), and make the connections they may need to take advantage of such opportunities.”

Mentees have to share this responsibility, in part by being specific about what opportunities they are interested in, such as opportunities involving a particular topic, a stretch role, or a particular client. This allows the request to have “the benefit of triggering a memory when an opportunity arises, rather than leaving it to chance for a mentor to make the connection.”

Effective opportunity creation can also take the form of the mentor sharing their network with the mentee, making introductions, and/or creating visibility for others who do not have exposure to the mentee. Mentors should “help others around the organization get to know their mentees, their strengths and their contributions.”

Mentees should “ask their mentors for ideas and help in creating connections to other potential mentors.” In this context, the emphasis on the importance of female-to-female mentoring represented the only discernable distinction in comments we received from female and male participants in our mentor surveys and interviews. As one female survey participant commented: “I need female mentors to ask about things such as how to assert myself while being genuine.”

Connections and Counsel

Mentees often seek information about how to navigate the organization and career development in general, or a complicated situation in particular. Acting as a thought partner in providing career counsel that is both specific to the individual and actionable is critical to the development of future leaders: “Rooting for an individual and helping them with specific problems is great, but not sufficient. Your mentees also need partnering to help them think through their career goals and how to achieve those goals.”

In addition, mentors should “remember that just telling mentees the variety of things they can do to advance in their careers is not sufficient. Mentees need help figuring out how to prioritize the various things they can do. Mentors should ask questions that identify areas where their mentees ‘don’t know what they don’t know.’ They should share what they can to demystify how things work, with a client or expert, within the firm, or within our industry.”

This involves “recognizing and sharing patterns mentees may not see. One of the benefits of experience is pattern recognition. Often, the things mentors take for granted due to experience are very illuminating when shared with mentees who have less experience.” As a corollary, mentees “should be specific in asking questions that mentors can react to, as opposed to broad questions like ‘what should I do with my career?’, which is hard to respond to in a meaningful way.”

Role Modeling

Role modeling as a mentor is most effective when it goes beyond leading by example. In its most complete form, role modeling includes actively mentoring future mentors, rather than assuming that mentees will naturally invest time in mentoring others. Senior leaders can explicitly ask those in managerial roles to “talk to their team members who have management responsibilities about expectations and strategies for mentoring on teams.” Leaders can “create a culture of accountability for mentoring on teams by regularly asking about how team members are doing and how the team can be effective together in developing each other.”

In addition, one of the most powerful levers for effective mentoring—and one that can be used without much incremental investment of time—is providing opportunities for mentees to learn through observation or osmosis. A quick follow-through that makes the observation explicit is all that is required. For example, “after a client call or meeting, take a few minutes to explain why you handled things as you did to enable your mentees to learn how to serve the client in the best way possible so that they can benefit from the wisdom you have developed through experience.”

In parallel, mentees should “identify the opportunities to learn through osmosis and recognize that as an opening. When you observe something you want to emulate, ask the mentor how they thought about it, prepared, and learned how to become skilled at the behavior you observed. When you have gained insight from observing a behavior, acknowledge the value and describe why it was helpful. This will encourage mentors to be more explicit in the future.”

It is rare for any one mentor to be equally adept across the four elements discussed above. As one survey participant suggested, “The bottom line is that mentoring is not a one size fits all. We should all ‘mentor’ in a way that is natural and comfortable—and perhaps stretch a little beyond that.” This suggests that a single mentor will rarely be able to fulfill a mentee’s needs across all four elements. The experience of another survey participant highlights the importance of cultivating a network of mentors with different experiences and styles who each excel at different elements of mentoring:

I’ve had multiple excellent mentors. For example, I learned a lot about the nature of our work from Alice. Being in the room and watching her interact with clients has been extremely helpful. Also, she thinks aloud and it was very helpful to learn how she thinks. But Alice is not a good business development mentor. She says “just go have lunches.” She’s not helpful to me about how to navigate the firm, who I should be connected to, and how to most effectively connect with them. Bob is great at that. He tells me the specific things I can do. He thinks a lot in advance, then provides clear direction and targeted advice about next steps.

The recognition that different people excel at different elements of mentoring prevents viewing individuals as either categorically strong or categorically weak mentors. Instead, it allows an organization to make the most of the comparative strengths of each individual, expanding overall mentoring capacity and the pool of potential mentor relationships.

Segmenting mentoring elements into four discrete areas is not the only way to broaden the available set of connections. Our mentor surveys and interviews also highlight the importance of peer and “reverse” mentoring relationships. Connections among peers are critical to integrating new staff and creating a sense of shared affiliation with the firm, which supports retention. We see enormous value accruing to those who “initiate and maintain peer mentoring relationships; building trust-based relationships with colleagues who have similar experiences benefits their careers in the short and long term.”

“Reverse” mentoring refers to instances where someone more senior identifies a mentor who is less senior to them. Senior leaders of our firm often identify reverse mentors as part of their mentor network and suggest that input from junior colleagues enables them to become better leaders.

Cultivating a well-established mentor-mentee relationship requires mutual awareness of the connection as a precursor to commitment by both parties. While our surveys show extensive mentor relationships identified by both mentors and mentees, the connections are not consistently named as such by both parties. We refer to instances where an individual identifies someone as a mentee and the mentee identifies the individual as a mentor as a “matched pair.”  However, we also find a substantial incidence of “unmatched pairs,” suggesting that all too often, the connection between a mentor and mentee is left unstated. This may be in part because not every individual views mentoring in the broad terms described above. Especially in those situations, both mentor and mentee would benefit greatly from a shared understanding of available mentoring opportunities.

The solution is simple, but often will not happen without being prompted. Mentors should tell mentees that they see them as a mentee, explain why, and share how they can act as a mentor, which may include things the mentor has already been doing on the mentee’s behalf, but did not naturally think to share. Similarly, mentees should explicitly tell mentors that they see them as a mentor, explain why, and indicate which specific elements of mentoring they would appreciate mentoring from them.

In sum, focusing on cultivating a network of mentors who play different roles based on natural strengths and expanding our view of who can be a mentor is likely to be much more effective in realizing our highest potential, for both developing people and building firms with strong mentoring cultures.

Note: The quotes used in this article have been redacted to preserve anonymity and edited for clarity. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors, who are responsible for the content, and do not necessarily represent the views of Cornerstone Research.

Copyright ©2020 Cornerstone Research
For more articles on the legal industry, visit the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Why Your Bio Picture Matters

I have been providing marketing advice to professionals for over 25 years (time flies when you are having fun!). I started my career on Wall Street, advising stockbrokers on promoting financial product to clients, then moved to the accounting world, working with CPAs on marketing their services and now I work with lawyers. Besides general marketing on behalf of the firm, I also work directly with the attorneys on their business development efforts and promotion

The first tool for promoting a professional services provider is their online bio. I started marketing professional services when websites were still the new thing. One of the first websites I designed included an audio component to the CPAs bios; the website later won an award for that unique feature. I wanted to have something “cool” and that made the accountants stand out more and overcome the stereotype that accountants were “kinda boring.” I remember the clients’ feedback that they liked to hear their advisor’s voice and not just see their picture in their bio, that it helped hearing what they had to say and connecting in a different way. It helped prospective clients make the decision to want to work with a particular accountant.

My advice to the professionals I worked with has always been to stand out, to have a unique feature that would make a professional be different than his or her competition. Not to look or sound like everyone else because it was the industry norm or what everyone else was doing. But to try to find something that will help connect to the audience, to the people that were eventually buying their services and to understand what they were looking for and what determined their ultimate decision.

Recently, I had to make the decision to choose a doctor for a delicate medical procedure. I had to move fast so I started doing research on the doctor that was recommended to me and that would soon have my life in his hands. Of course, the first place I landed was the hospital’s website. I liked his credentials, his training and experience but his picture was outdated and didn’t match his personality nor his credentials. Something about it put me off, although he was smiling in the picture and looked handsome. When I choose doctors, it is very important for me to have a connection with the person behind the credentials, to feel comfortable and safe. Probably, similar to how people usually choose other advisors as well but even more important.

My first appointment with him was through a telemedicine/video call to discuss my diagnosis and the procedure he would perform and to schedule it. At first the video feature didn’t work and I thought it was his choice; which I found odd and fed into my initial discomfort when seeing his picture. Luckily, we both realized that it was actually a glitch and he offered to call me on Facetime – a nice touch on his part (as usually doctors keep their personal numbers private). I almost didn’t recognize the person from the picture on the hospital’s website! He looked so different and his personality was totally opposite from the reaction I had to the “professional” picture! He was warm, friendly, passionate about his skill, patient to answer questions and also had a very down to earth air and not the unapproachable demeanor some doctors portray. He was someone I would pick as a friend but also, someone I could trust that indeed he was a good doctor.

I also started digging deeper to learn more about him. I was hoping I could find pictures from his personal life or in other professional instances. And I did! Those pictures, similar to the video call, uncovered a different person than what his “professional” picture on the hospital’s website showed. Somebody I was so comfortable with putting my life in his hands that I didn’t need to go for a second opinion.

This doctor performed the procedure and all is well. Before being discharged from the hospital, I gave him my professional advice: to have his picture on the website replaced with a new one, to reflect his personality and what his patients need to see in him. I told him my feedback, which he was surprised to hear but seemed to really appreciate it. I couldn’t help the marketing professional in me.

I believe the same applies to any professional that relies on a bio with a picture to make a first impression on their audience. It is important to recognize what would connect them to their clients and potential clients.

Your bio picture does matter! It is a small tool in the marketing toolbox but it has a huge impact. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!

© The National Law Forum. LLC
For more articles on legal marketing, visit the National Law Review law office management section. 

Legal Industry News: Law Firm Hires, Recognition & Attorneys Getting Out the Vote

The National Law Review curates noteworthy legal industry moves, law firm innovation, and attorney recognitions and awards.  Read on to learn more about innovative developments in the legal area.

Law Firm Strategic Additions

Former congressman Mike McIntyre joined Ward and Smith as the firm’s Senior Advisor for Government Relations and Economic Development.

McIntyre was elected to North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 and served for nine consecutive terms working on issues such as economic and business development in rural and coastal communities. He also served as the No. 2 ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee and was the No. 3 ranking member of the Armed Services Committee.

“I’ve known Mike for decades. His dedication, commitment, and extensive knowledge of local, state, and federal issues are unparalleled,” said Jamie Norment, the firm’s Government Relations Practice Group leader. “The caliber of our Government Relations team was extensive before. With Mike joining the team, our capacity to represent clients in and out of North Carolina is bar none.”

McIntyre’s legal practice includes sports and entertainment, business, agribusiness, energy, environmental and real estate. He will be based out of the firm’s Raleigh office and will include work on behalf of clients in Washington, D.C.

Gabriel Edelson joined Varnum’s Business and Corporate Services practice team, and will be based in the firm’s Birmingham Michigan office.

Edelson’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate governance and general corporate matters, representing private equity firms and portfolio companies. He also serves as a board member of the Founders Junior Council at the Detroit Institute of Art.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Gabe to Varnum and the Birmingham office,” said Seth Ashby, who leads the firm’s Business and Corporate Services group. “In addition to being an excellent lawyer, Gabe brings a variety of experience and interests to the team and we look forward to working with him.”

Andrew P. Young joined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in the firm’s San Diego office, where he will be a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. Young has over a decade of government prosecution experience, having previously served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Major Frauds and Public Corruption Unit for the Southern District of California and as a Criminal Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

“Fraud and corruption skyrocket in moments of crisis, and we’re already starting to see charges brought involving PPP loans and a number of other COVID-19 related issues,” said Randy Brown, chair of the firm’s Litigation Department. “Given his storied government experience, Andrew can offer clients valuable knowledge in these and other areas.”

Young focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, compliance, internal investigations and complex business litigation. As a federal prosecutor, he secured more than 100 convictions and seized more than $35 million in illicit gains.

“We’ve grown an impressive bench of litigators in Southern California, and Andrew is the third prosecutor to join us from the U.S. Attorney’s office since 2019,” said Troy Zander, San Diego partner-in-charge. “Andrew is uniquely positioned to advise our clients and bolster our litigation practice in San Diego and beyond and I’m thrilled to welcome him.”

Eric Winwood joined Sidley Austin as a partner in the firm’s Dallas office, and will be a member of Sidley’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice and the leader of the firm’s Dallas Tax, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation group. Before joining Sidley, Winwood was an employee benefits and executive compensation partner with Baker Botts LLP and a member of its Oil and Gas M&A team.

Winwood’s experience includes advising clients on compensation and benefits matters, including those associated with domestic and international M&A and private equity transactions, spinoffs, and joint ventures and has significant experience in the energy sector.

“Eric’s experience advising clients on the executive compensation aspects of transformative M&A and private equity transactions will be a great value to clients across our many practices,” said Laura Barzilai, global leader of Sidley’s Tax, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice. “Additionally, Eric’s knowledge of a wide array of compensation and benefits matters further strengthens our existing team that regularly advises clients on highly sensitive matters, including executive onboarding and exits.”

Carolina Guibert Chase joined Allen Matkins as a partner, specializing in land use law, including California Environmental Quality Act compliance. Her background includes extensive experience in urban planning and land use law.

“San Francisco’s always-shifting legislation and complex planning code make it one of the most challenging jurisdictions for real estate developers in California, if not the country. Caroline’s keen understanding of, and experience working within, this complicated environment gives her the upper hand when assisting clients to move projects forward,” says Emily L. Murray, co-chair of Allen Matkins’ Land Use, Environmental, and Natural Resources practice group. “Caroline deepens the bench of the firm’s already dynamic Land Use Practice Group and we look forward to having her on our team.”

In her legal career, Chase has represented an array of educational institutions including the University of San Francisco, and affordable housing developers, including some of the Bay Area’s top mixed-use, office, and residential developers.

Chase serves on the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition Board (SFHAC) and is Chair of the SFHAC Legislative Committee. She is also a member of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association Housing Policy Committee and the Urban Land Institute.

Law Firm Recognitions and Attorney Awards

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox was named as the Inter-Partes Review Firm of the Year and earned the Hatch-Waxman Impact Case of the Year award at the 2020 LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards. Sterne Kessler was also recently recognized by Managing Intellectual Property as the 2020 PTAB Firm of the Year.

The Hatch-Waxman Impact Case of the Year award recognizes Sterne Kessler’s ’s work before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC et al. v. Almirall LLC, which resulted in a final written decision in favor of the firm’s ’s client Amneal Pharmaceuticals. Sterne Kessler has been previously recognized by LMG LIfe Sciencesfor the award.

“There aren’t many firms that have won an award category three times from LMG Life Sciences, but Sterne Kessler is an appropriate fit for the record due its substantial PTAB group, and one we are happy to name as Inter-Partes Review Firm of the Year,” said LMG Life Sciences editor Chris Adams. “The firm is one of the most active, has the clients, and takes part in novel post-grant matters showcased through its work in the recent Amneal case.”

Sterne Kessler was also shortlisted by LMG Life Sciences in the Hatch-Waxman Litigation – Generic, Patent Strategy Firm of the Year, Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Boutique categories. Sterne Kessler directors were also finalists in certain categories, including   Eldora L. Ellison, Ph.D. and Deborah Sterling, Ph.D. for Post-Grant Proceedings Attorney of the year, JC Rozendaal for Hatch-Waxman Litigator of the Year – Generic and Gaby L. Longsworth, Ph.D. for Patent Strategy Attorney of the Year – District of Columbia.

Euromoney Legal Media Group (LMG) selected Knobbe Martens Partner Susan Natland as the recipient of its “Best in Trademark” award at the 2020 Americas Women in Business Law Awards ceremony held virtually September 17th.

Natland previously received the “Best in Trademark” honor in 2015, and has been named to LMG’s Americas Women in Business Law expert guide four times. She co-chairs Knobbe Martens’ Trademark and Brand Protection Group, and specializes in international and domestic trademark selection and clearance, enforcement and brand protection. Natland has argued multiple cases before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She advises officials at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee. She is a former member and chair of the firm’s diversity committee.

Five Perkins Coie Trademark Partners were named as 2020 WTR Global Leaders by World Trademark Review.

Patchen Haggerty, Lynne Graybeal, and Grace Han Stanton received recognition in Washington state; Scott Palmer in China; and Fab Vayra in the District of Columbia were recognized by World Trademark Review for their expertise and experience in relation to managing, protecting, creating and enforcing essential brand rights.

Perkins Coie’s IP practice includes over 250 attorneys and agents, with extensive experience in all areas of U.S. and international trademark prosecution.

Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals’ named Jennifer Keller of Keller/Anderle LLP on its list of The Top 100 Lawyers in California. This marks her thirteenth appearance on the list.

Keller was also ranked as the No. 1 attorney in Southern California by Southern California Super Lawyers for 2020, and was recognized on the list of the 2020 Benchmark Litigation Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America. Keller is also a 2018 inductee to the California Lawyers Association Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.

Keller represents plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation and white collar cases. Keller recently won a temporary restraining order in federal court after plans were announced to turn a Costa Mesa facility previously condemned as unfit for human habitation into an 80 patient coronavirus treatment center. The plans were abandoned.

Law Firm Innovation and Initiatives

Blank Rome launched its Biometric Privacy Team, composed of multidisciplinary attorneys from its Cybersecurity & Data Privacy, Privacy Class Action Defense, Artificial Intelligence Technology, and Labor & Employment groups. The group was created to help clients address and minimize risks associated with biometric privacy regulatory compliance, enforcement, and litigation.

“We are thrilled to launch this important and timely initiative,” said Jeffrey N. Rosenthal, who leads the Firm’s Biometric Privacy Team. “Our team includes both highly experienced compliance counsel and seasoned privacy class action defense litigators. Collectively, we are well positioned to help clients navigate today’s myriad biometric privacy laws. Whether proactively developing comprehensive compliance/risk management programs or aggressively defending clients in state and federal courts across the country, our Biometric Privacy Team possesses the technological savvy, industry knowledge, and battle-forged litigation skills needed to counsel and defend our clients as consumer privacy laws continue to expand and evolve.”

A team of attorneys from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) worked with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law intervened on behalf of the Georgia NAACP and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda to stop over 14,000 voters in  Fulton County being purged from the county’s list of registered voters.   The group of BCLP attorneys filed an emergency motion, stopping a lawsuit demanding challenge hearings and the purging of impacted voters.  Along with the emergency motion, the team argued the lawsuit should be dismissed, saying the lawsuit was an illegal attempt to avoid the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).  After a hearing, the court denied the petition to purge the voters, pointing out the NVRA precludes voter removal within 90 days of a federal election.

Both the Georgia NAACP and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda have been working to get out the vote in Georgia ahead of the 2020 election, and the suit’s dismissal is helpful to that cause. Jennifer Dempsey, a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, said of the victory:

Now more than ever we need to protect the right to vote. Hopefully, our work here with the Lawyers Committee will help to dissuade similar attacks on the right to vote in Georgia and in the rest of the country.

The BLCP team included Atlanta Partners Bill Custer and Jen Dempsey. Custer is currently serving on the board of directors of the Lawyers’ Committee. Atlanta/Los Angeles Associate Christian Bromley, Atlanta Associate Leah Schultz and Atlanta Paralegal Stephanie Roberts, and Leanne Middleton also worked on the project.

Read Ahead, a nonprofit that partners volunteer mentors with elementary school students in New York City, recognized DLA Piper as the organization’s virtual gala, Books and Beyond.

More than 80 of DLA Piper’s lawyers and staff volunteered to serve as mentors to students in the program. DLA Piper Partner Christopher Paci, serves on Read Ahead’s board of directors.

“Our commitment to creating a culture that is inclusive of all people, and where everyone has an opportunity to succeed, is fundamental to who we are,” said Fenimore Fisher, DLA Piper’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, while accepting the recognition on September 16, 2020. “We support Read Ahead’s mission that every child deserves the opportunity to be successful in school and in life.”

The Antitrust Group at Proskauer Rose announced an interactive price gouging map, providing at-a-glance information on state regulations on price gouging restrictions.  This information is especially needed due to unscrupulous business practices gong on duirng the COVID-19 pandemic.  The map helps users stay aware of local, state and federal rules, as well as executive orders, put in place since the onslaught ofthe Coronavirus pandemic.  Christopher Ondeck, co-chair of Proskauer Rose’s Antitrust group, states the map highlights the challenge of complying with a web of price-gouging laws that apply in different jurisdictions, and a major problem for businesses is gauging which laws are applicable on what products and services.  He says,  “A price change that is safe in some states could be illegal in many others. Different products and services are covered by different states. . .  Our map provides businesses with a tool to help with this challenge in an interactive and user-friendly format.”

That’s the news for now.  We’ll be back in two weeks with more information.

Copyright ©2020 National Law Forum, LLC
For more articles on the legal, industry, visit the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Mastering the Zoom Apology

A CEO, executive director, bar president, section chair or another leader has to apologize or speak about something very important. The stakes are high – and in this COVID-19 era, the apology is going to have to be done using Zoom or another virtual platform.

Under any circumstance, delivering an effective apology can be a daunting experience. It involves conveying the right words, in the right tone of voice, with the right facial expression. It requires authenticity combined with the ability to convince the individual (or group) you’re apologizing to that you really mean what you say — and that you are really sorry.

If you’re sincerely sorry, and you really feel sorrow, you may succumb to emotions that affect the message you’re trying to convey – a quavering voice, maybe some welling up, perhaps some tripping over your words. If those feelings are true and 100% authentic, it’s OK to express emotion.

But if you really don’t believe you were at fault, it may be challenging to keep a tone of resentment out of your voice and a steely look out of your eyes. In these situations, your apology will likely fail to convince anyone of your remorse and the whole exercise will have been for naught.

With the onsite of COVID-19, the ability to deliver an effective apology has become even more challenging. Why? Because most of them are now being delivered via Zoom or a comparable video platform.  Depending on the situation, the apologizer will be facing a small group, or potentially a throng of hundreds. The apology will be delivered to a camera lens instead of a live audience. Every flaw will be captured close-up. And your words will be captured for all eternity if the Zoom call is taped and uploaded to a website, to YouTube or any of the other platforms designed to share content throughout cyberspace.  It makes the prospect of going on live television seem a far better alternative – and very few individuals are well-equipped to undertake that experience.

We recently saw a business executive deliver an apology via Zoom. It was clear the individual was apologizing under duress. The delivery was void of emotion. There was scant eye contact. Worse yet, the apologizer read from a prepared script. The term “hostage video” came to mind as we watched this individual struggle toward his concluding remarks. Technically, an apology was delivered. In actuality, it’s doubtful anyone’s opinion was altered by the words that were spoken. As part of a larger strategy to rehabilitate this individual’s reputation or standing, the undertaking was a failure.

Zoom apologies can be improved and can achieve the larger goal behind them – even those that are coerced.  Here are some recommendations to improve performance and enhance results.

Start with the right words.  This applies to all apologies, but especially those that will be memorialized online.  If someone is writing your apology for you, make sure it reflects the way you speak and the phrases you use. Don’t let someone else put words in your mouth that will be difficult for you to deliver. Especially to be avoided are words you don’t believe.

Ask someone familiar with the situation to review what’s been written. Do the words ring true? Can you deliver them with a straight face? Think back to the example a couple years ago when the CEO of United Airlines , Oscar Munoz, was forced to apologize for the police officers that dragged a paying passenger off one of its flights. “I apologize for having to re-accommodate that customer,”said Munoz – two days later. What does that even mean?. How satisfied do you think the affected passenger felt after receiving it? And what about the public, which now had just another reason to hold United Airlines in contempt?

Contrast the United Airlines situation with one that happened shortly after to an American Airlines passenger who was attempting to board a plane while holding two infants in her arms along with a stroller. An airline employee got into a shouting match with her and another passenger. Of course, the entire incident was caught on-camera with a mobile phone and uploaded to Facebook where it then went viral. Don’t remember that story? That’s because the president of United Airlines immediately issued an apology, an apology without equivocation. United Airlines’ story lasted weeks; American Airlines’ story lasted a day or two.

As you consider the content of your apology, beware of the false apology. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” is not an apology. Apologizing – without qualification – for what your or your organization did or the problems you caused is an authentic apology. The former will only make your victims more resentful and more inclined toward revenge or retribution. The latter may actually help you makes progress toward resolution of the problem your actions have caused. For a great short summary of the 12 kinds of fake apologies, read this article.

Get familiar with the medium.  No doubt you are using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or some other platform almost every day to conduct business. Staging an apology on Zoom requires a higher level of preparation. Make sure you are seated at the right height so you are looking straight into the camera and making eye contact with your audience. You want to be close enough to the camera to appear engaged, but not so close that you look as though you’re peering through a keyhole trying to intimidate your audience. Nor do you want to sit too far away, which gives the appearance that you are trying to distance yourself from your viewers – and perhaps subconsciously, from the issue at hand. Don’t let your eyes roam off-camera as though you’re looking for someone to rescue you. And, as anyone who has been media trained for a sit-down interview will also tell you, sit straight up and don’t swivel in your chair.

Set the stage. Lighting is critical to a good Zoom appearance. Avoid overhead lights that can create shadows on your face. Never sit in front of a bright window or other light source that will cast your face in darkness and likewise cast doubt on your character. Strive instead for a soft source of light to illuminate you from the front.  An inexpensive LED light can do the trick (for a few selections, click here).

Be very mindful of the background. What do the framed photos and art in the background say about you? If you’re apologizing for misspending someone else’s money, avoid pictures that show you in expensive vacation spots, enjoying the company of celebrities or otherwise telegraphing your bad financial management skills. Apologies should be delivered in neutral locations that will not generate envy, questions about your judgement or other distracting speculations about your personal life. Stick to pictures of the family, your pets, framed awards and other items that speak to your professionalism and values.

Lastly, make sure the door to the room you are Zooming in is closed and that those on the other side understand it is not to be opened until you do so. Spouses wandering in the background, small children climbing into your lap and a photobomb from the family pet will undercut the professionalism and solemnity you want for this critical communication.

Dress the part. What you wear for your Zoom apology should reflect the seriousness of the situation.  Dress at least one step up from the look you typically put on for day-to-day business meetings. At the same time, avoid an outfit that will make you visibly uncomfortable and distract from the important message you are delivering. Try to be rested before you confront the camera and do take a good look in the mirror before the session starts to make sure you are presenting yourself in the best light possible. And if you choose to wear shorts or sweat pants, you must make 100% certain they won’t be seen on the video, even inadvertedly.

Say it, don’t read it.  Apologies that are read from a piece of paper in your hand compel you to lose eye contact with the camera and your audience. If you can’t memorize your apology and deliver it without stumbling, consider attaching notes to your desktop screen (without blocking your camera) containing key phrases to prompt you through your delivery. Just be sure the type is large enough that you don’t need to tilt your head or squint to read it.

Practice and practice some more.  Ask someone you trust – ideally, someone who also understands Zoom – to hold a few sessions for the two of you so you can practice delivering your apology to a live audience. Ask your friend or colleague to give you a frank assessment. How do you look on camera? How is your delivery? Do you sound sincere, do you sound credible and, most important, do you sound sorry?

As we often tell clients, more often than not it’s not what you say, but the way you say it. Matching the right words with the performance techniques detailed above is the one-two punch that will make your apology believable.

© 2020 Hennes Communications. All rights reserved.
For more articles on the legal industry, visit the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

5 Ways to Successfully Manage Remote Staff

Managing your law firm staff in the office or remotely can and should look remarkably similar; however, there are unique challenges to working virtual. Understanding this and adjusting your management approach will be the difference between a productive, seamless transition, and one that potentially costs your business. We’ve rounded up 5 ways you can navigate successfully managing remote staff during a pandemic.

Ensure a proper workspace setup

You want your employees to have a comfortable setup that allows them to be productive in the office and working from home should be no different. While some of the usual office luxuries may not be possible (e.g. two computer monitors), ask your staff about what they need at home to create a similar environment. Do they have a desk and proper chair to work from? What type of lighting is available? If they’re relying on their personal computer, is it functional for work purposes? What about a printer? Is there access to high-speed internet? Some employees may not feel comfortable asking for at-home office supplies, and these are just a few of the questions that need to be addressed to allow your employees to work happily and efficiently.

Minimize loneliness and isolation

One of the downsides to working remotely is a sense of isolation, which can lead to anxiety and depression. Consider that employees may live alone, further exacerbating the possibility of loneliness. Identify ways for your team to interact throughout the day, ideally via video and phone versus email or text messaging. Don’t make conversations all about business; make time for small talk. Maintain office structure with designated times for breaks and lunch and consider holding virtual lunches together. Encourage employees to go for brief walks throughout the day to stay energized. Host team building activities such as workouts in the evening or happy hours via Zoom or similar platforms.

Overcome communication challenges

When working virtually, you automatically lose the opportunity to quickly pop into someone’s office and bounce an idea off them, but communication challenges go beyond that. Despite everyone’s best efforts, there will likely be more emails and texts, which, if not carefully crafted, can result in an unintended tone. Combat this by picking up the phone or getting on FaceTime, Skype or another video-oriented platform. It may take more effort and organization but will avoid employees questioning what you meant and an endless back and forth over email. Schedule time to brainstorm and strategize versus just talking about to-dos. While not as natural as having a quick chat in the office, it ensures continued creativity and interaction.

Don’t forget about encouragement and celebrations

It’s important that your staff stays motivated and focused on personal growth. In addition to team meetings, carve out time for one-on-one conversations, too. This will allow you to address any questions or concerns employees have that they aren’t comfortable bringing up in a group setting. It’s also an opportunity to discuss their goals and how those can be achieved. Don’t let evaluations go by the wayside simply because you’re not meeting in person.

Promote camaraderie by acknowledging milestones as you would in the office – five-year anniversary with the firm, birthdays, etc. This maintains positive employee morale and helps to minimize the isolation factor addressed earlier.

Establish a culture of ownership and accountability

Your team’s organization and productivity is only as good as yours. Implement systems to keep staff accountable. For example, schedule regular check-ins at the same time each day/week and use project management software such as Asana to keep everyone on top of projects and tasks. If you need to cancel a team call, reschedule immediately rather than telling employees you’ll get back to them. This allows them to plan their day and prevents wondering when they’ll be able to talk to you about a particular client or issue. Your team will take clues from you on how to best navigate working remotely so be an example they should emulate.

Remember that not every employee is suited to work from home, and you need to do what you can as a manager to set them up for success. This will benefit everyone in the long run.

© 2020 Berbay Marketing & Public Relations
For more articles on the legal industry visit the  National Law Review Law Office Management section.