Legal Industry Trends for November 2019: Law Firm News, Diversity Awards and Legal Technology Updates

As we march on to the end of 2019 and into the holiday season, the legal industry continues to buzz with constant development and innovation.  Read on to learn about a few of the highlights happening in law firms across the United States, legal technology developments that are changing the way law is practiced, and things to anticipate in 2020.

Law Firm Developments, Hires and Moves

Buchalter recently announced the formation of a new Cannabis & Hemp Industry Law Group  This, in many ways, is formalizing a group that has been operating for several years. In 2013, it all began when a client of the firm was tasked with operating a medical cannabis collective.  Since then, the group has expanded to over 100 clients in the industry utilizing over twenty-five lawyers across each of its practice groups, demonstrating the broad reach of the cannabis industry.  Building on those early experiences, Buchalter’s Cannabis & Hemp Industry law group will assist businesses in the industry across a variety of areas, including intellectual property, tax, real estate and financing.  Oren Bitan, Shareholder in the LA office will co-chair the group with Martin P. Florman, Managing Shareholder of the Orange County office.  Florman says, “We anticipate significant growth of this industry over the next decade while we continue to offer clients unparalleled expertise in distressed assets, banking and the Bank Secrecy Act, and real estate related concerns in this rapidly evolving industry.”

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, in Denver, Colorado announced the addition of four associates Omeed M. Azmoudeh (Trial Department); Stephanie Block-Guedez (Finance & Acquisitions Department); Molly Kokesh (Trial Department); and Rob McCary (Finance & Acquisitions Department).  These additions will bolster the firm’s litigation and finance and acquisitions department, and two of the associates, Azmoudeh and McCary, were formerly summer associates at the firm.

Jeff Cody Norton Rose Fulbright
Jeff Cody of Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose & Fulbright recently announced the election of Jeff Cody as its U.S. Managing Partner, effective Jan. 1, 2020.  Cody will also serve as Chair of the U.S. Management Committee.  The outgoing managing partner, Daryl Lansdale, says: “Jeff has a passion for our firm, its people and our clients. Our partnership has the utmost confidence in Jeff to provide leadership and vision during a time of change and innovation in the legal profession.”

Cody has been a partner with the firm since 2001, and is based in Norton Rose’s Dallas office.  He has significant experience in complex commercial disputes in healthcare, financial and information technology industries; specifically healthcare reimbursement matters, complex stock and asset purchase and sale agreements, and information systems development projects.  Cody: “I am proud and honored to be entrusted by my partners with this leadership responsibility. I am confident in the firm and optimistic about our future in this dynamic legal landscape. With leading lawyers across the U.S. and around the world, we stand committed to delivering a superior client experience with high-quality and high-value legal advice.”

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP announced that digital health regulatory advisor Yarmela Pavlovic will join the firm as a partner in its Health and Digital and Technology Groups. Yarmela has extensive experience working with digital health, software as a medical device and assisting life sciences companies as they navigate the FDA approval process. Lisa Suennen, who leads Manatt’s Digital and Technology practice, says: “Healthcare products and services companies at the intersection of technology and health are facing increasingly complex and rapidly changing regulatory processes, requiring expert counsel to plan and engage with the regulatory bodies that make it possible for high-quality health innovations to come to market. Yarmela’s experience will be a tremendous value-add to our already significant capabilities in the digital realm.”  Pavlovic, who describes her work as  “a mix of legal and consulting” is excited to join Manatt, and says: “Manatt is the ideal next step in the growth of my practice and will help me provide an even wider array of capabilities to both startups and large companies that engage with the FDA.”

Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP recently announced the hiring of Phillip A. Casey to co-chair Calfee’s Public Utility Regulatory practice group.  Casey has more than 25 years of experience in energy law focusing on public utilities, both in house and within a law firm.  His experience includes economic regulatory matters, corporate governance, new entrant certification, and regulatory strategies across jurisdictions.  Additionally, he has incident response experience and major litigation management in this field.  Casey calls Calfee’s energy practice “an incredibly talented group of experienced attorneys” and he says, “I look forward to demonstrating Calfee’s capabilities and leadership beyond Ohio and throughout the Midwest in this new role.”

Law Firm Awards, Recognition and Achievements

Benchmark Litigation, designed to feed the need for specialized study in the labor and employment practice area, provides rankings based on law firm questionnaires, peer review interviews and client reviews.  The publication recently announced its second annual Labor and Employment guide and included three attorneys from Ward & Smith as “Labor and Employment” Stars: Ken GrayWill Oden, and Devon Williams.  Oden and Williams lead the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice and the firm’s Labor and Employment practice, respectively.  Gray focuses his practice on employment-related litigation, advising clients from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies on breach of employment contracts, employment discrimination and wrongful discharge matters.

Ballard Spahr was recently named the “Law Firm of the Year” recognition for Litigation – First Amendment in 2020 Best Law Firms by U.S. News & World Report. This was on top of the 25 National Tier 1 rankings the firm achieved across a variety of areas, and especially noteworthy as only one law firm per legal practice earns that designation.  Firm Chair Mark Stewart sees the award rankings as evidence of the success of the firm’s efforts to grow nationally in depth and experience.  Stewart: “By executing our plan to expand thoughtfully and strategically, and keeping our focus on legal excellence and client value, we are serving more clients better than ever before.”

Jeff White Robinson Cole
Jeff White of Robinson Cole

Jeff White of Robinson Cole was recently named a  “New England Trailblazer” in the inaugural list by Law.com and Connecticut Law Tribune for demonstrating an ability to “move the needle in the legal industry.”  White, the chair of Robinson Cole’s Manufacturing Industry Practice, has significant experience on national and international issues related to the manufacturing industry, and this recognition is further evidence of his understanding of the challenges and need for change in some areas facing the industry. White: “With technological advances driving the boom in manufacturing, we need to continue to innovate in the kinds of things we’re focusing on. Our job as lawyers is to stay on top of these developments, because they’re going to have major implications that manufacturers deal with going forward.”

Under White’s leadership of Robinson Cole’s Manufacturing practice group, the group has risen to prominence as a leader in the field.  One of his signature achievements was the creation of the  Manufacturing Law Blog, which focuses on issues related to manufacturing rather than casting a wider, more business in general, net. In further recognition of his leadership in the manufacturing industry, in May of 2019 Robinson+Cole was recognized with the President’s “E” Award for Export Service by the United States Secretary of Commerce. The “E” award, established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. Robinson+Cole was the only law firm in the country to receive the honor in 2019.

Law Firm Diversity Recognition

The law firm of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner was recognized for its long-standing commitment to diversity by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, or LCLD.  The organization named the firm a 2019 Top Performer and a 2019 Compass Award winner, one of only 21 member organizations that earned both designations this year. The awards indicate a participation in the organization’s programs, such as the Fellows and Pathfinder programs, as well as at least one pipeline program (Mentoring or 1L Scholars).

Bryan Cave is a long-standing member of LCLD, having been a member since the organization began.  BCLP participates in the organization’s Fellows and Pathfinder programs, as well as the 1L LCLD Scholars Program and the LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program. The recognition came recently at LCLD’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

In more good news about legal industry diversity,  the Diversity and Flexibility Alliance recognized fifty-one law firms for having a partner class in 2019 comprised of 50% or more female partners.  These firms “tipped the scales” and were identified in the New Partner Report.  The Report, a compilation of publicly available information and reported sources, revealed that 41.3 percent of new partners in 138 major U.S. law firms in 2019 were women, an increase of just over 2% from 2018.  As well as the annual increase, the New Partner Report showed that women promoted to partnership is on an upswing overall, with an 8.1% increase since 2012, and more firms across the board are promoting partner classes that are more than 50% women, showing a trend towards “tipping the scales.”  Click here for a full list of firms that were recognized for their 2019 Partner Class.

Law Firm Accomplishments and Deals

Sherin and Lodgen’s Renewable Energy Team represented Cambridge Savings Bank in developing a portfolio construction bridge and term loan for three ground-mounted solar facilities in Massachusetts.  The project, built by Kearsarge Energy, will generate 8.8 MW of energy and features a 1.6 MW advanced technology battery storage component and will be one of the first to be implemented under the SMART program.  The battery storage component is especially exciting, as industry analysts think this type of storage has the power to transform the renewable energy development and distribution in the near future.  Sherin and Lodgen’s renewable team was led by Bethany A. Bartlett, renewable energy chair, and  Colleen V. Collins, of counsel, and Tyler N. Ballew, and included syndicate partners Eastern Bank and Middlesex Savings Bank.

Global law firm DLA Piper represented  SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SunTrust Bank in closing of U.S. $60 million credit facility for Electric Entertainment.  Electric Entertainment is a LA based production company founded by Dean Devlin.  Devlin is a well-known producer, whose credits include films such as Stargate and Independence Day, and television series like The Librarian and Leverage.  The credit facility will finance upcoming projects on WGN and the CW, and develop other film and television projects. The DLA Piper team representing SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SunTrust Bank was led by partner Tom Ara, co-chair of the firm’s Entertainment Transactions and Finance practices, and included partner Afshin Beyzaee and associates Greg YoungPayvand Coyle and Rahul Sajnani (all of Los Angeles).

Looking at Pro-Bono work, during National Pro Bono Week in the United Kingdom, and Hogan Lovells ranked number one in Legal Week’s survey for the firm’s pro bono efforts in the UK.  The firm did a total of 27,704 pro bono hours in the UK for 2018, and the publication also recognized the firm’s contribution to a variety of projects, including the Westminster and London Bridge inquests.  Yasmin Waljee, International Pro Bono Director of Hogan Lovells called the recognition “fantastic.”  She said: ” It is not the hours of pro bono that matter but the remarkable impact of the work undertaken by all the firms listed and those that were not.”

Legal Industry Trends, Research and Upcoming Events

Legal Technology company InCloudCounsel announced two new software automation enhancements powered by proprietary research in AI and machine learning.  The developments are an Automated initial contract review; that automatically scans and flags clauses that conflict with negotiation requirements, helping to ease the negotiation stage and expedite the review process.  The next piece comes into play when negotiation is finished–an AI-powered scorecard creates an abstract summary of key terms in the agreement, scanning the final agreement identifying the key terms in the common clauses.  These tools were developed with InCloudCounsel’s proprietary technology, and assist attorneys in working more efficiently and accurately, maximizing their efforts to deliver legal services to their clients.

Hadayat Seddiqi, led the innovation process in his role as director of machine learning at InCloudCounsel.  Hadayat’s resume includes work on space exploration robots at NASA, quantum computing at the Department of Energy and DNA sequencing software with a biotech startup. He says,  “Our artificial intelligence models bring valuable tools to a field that historically has been very difficult to build similar solutions for.  Our models are understanding increasingly complex abstract language and concepts – allowing our proprietary AI to automate a growing number of narrow tasks.”

The Legal Marketing Association released its agenda for the organization’s annual meeting in Denver, Colorado on March 25 -March 27, 2020.  The committee putting the conference together, led by Kristen Bateman Leis of Parker Poe and Jonathan Mattson of BakerHostetler LLP, have put together an agenda focused around the organization’s body of knowledge, with an emphasis on wellness and mental health.  The keynote speaker, Baratunde Thurston, a comedian, writer and cultural critic whose resume includes work with the satirical Onion, advisor to the Obama White House and work on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Future Marketing Insights recently released a new intelligence report, projecting that legal transcription investments will increase, and those investments will focus on automation of legal transcription services.  The demand for legal transcription solutions is global, and accounts for revenues worth 3 billion, indicated by the FMI insights report.  This is anticipated to grow at a Compound annual growth rate of  ~6% for the next ten years.  The report indicated a heavy investment in legal tech startups in Asia Pacific, driving innovation.  Additionally, new and improved Automation and Machine Learning technologies, coupled with Natural Language Processing are expected to fuel growth. Challenges include diverse pricing models and legal formats, and customers are demanding predictability and pricing consistency.  The market is fragmented and major players are still jockeying for regional dominance–and focusing on innovation, to make the most of the technologies available.

That’s what we’ve got for now.  Stay warm and enjoy the upcoming Holiday Season!



Copyright ©2019 National Law Forum, LLC

For more recent law firm news see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

How Attorneys Can Overcome the Fear of Cross-Selling

Being able to help your client with multiple legal issues can be a boon for your firm. After all, it generally takes much longer to develop new relationships than to maintain existing ones. The opportunity to cross-sell to clients by keeping them “in-house” after resolution of a matter, is one that shouldn’t be passed up. Extending this relationship should always be the goal because it’s frankly cheaper, not to mention more effective and efficient to nurture an existing relationship than to cultivate one from scratch.

Overcoming Attorney Fears About Cross-Selling

The above shouldn’t imply that there aren’t valid concerns about cross-selling, both within your firm or through collaboration with attorneys outside of your firm. Some of the common fears or objections to cross-selling to a client you’ve built a relationship with include:

  • Fear of losing the client to another attorney or firm.
  • Fear that you’ll refer a client and the other attorney will not be successful.
  • Fear of sharing compensation.

The fear of losing a client to another attorney or firm is legitimate. However, if the client came to you for a “one-off” legal matter, it is entirely possible that with or without your referral to a trusted colleague, they will pursue a bid from another firm or attorney anyway. So, you really have nothing to lose in this regard.

As for the fear that you’ll refer them to an attorney within or outside of your firm and that attorney won’t do a good job, thereby making you look bad—the best way to overcome this is by sending your client to someone who has a vested interest in ensuring that you continue to send referrals to them.

Finally, in regard to fear of sharing compensation, simply agree ahead of time to a compensation split with the attorney with whom you plan to collaborate.”.

While it is true that there is some risk that all three of these fears could potentially materialize, when compared to the potential benefits to be reaped by collaborating with other firms or other attorneys, the potential pros overwhelmingly outnumber the cons.

Client Benefits of Collaborating with Other Attorneys

You’ll notice that from here on out, we will replace the term “cross-selling” with “collaboration” because the last thing your clients need—who are coming to you for help during a possibly negative or complex time in their life—is to be upsold anything. Your role as counsel is to be a trusted advisor and confidant not a salesperson working on commission.

As a trusted advisor, with your client’s best interest in mind, your role as counsel is absolutely to point them in a direction or guide them to a colleague either within your firm (this is ideal as you can begin to build teams), or at another firm who can help when a legal matter arises that is outside of your wheelhouse. This is particularly true today as specialization in a niche practice is prevalent. In sum, your clients deserve access to the best experts available.

Collaboration also reduces the number of vendors that your client has to work with. Whether you team up with a colleague in your firm or partner with an attorney at another firm your client will see you as a team. They won’t feel as if they are adding yet another advisor and ensuing legal fees.

Collaboration also helps you better understand the business of your client. By working outside of your primary or preferred practice area with another lawyer, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your clients’ overall needs, business, etc. Knowing as much as you can about them will make you a better and stronger advocate.

Clients aren’t the only party to benefit when you decide to collaborate with a colleague—attorneys benefit by maintaining the existing relationship, learning to work as a team in an area of law that isn’t a primary focus and by earning income from an existing client.

Tips for Successful Collaboration with Other Attorneys

Here are a few strategic “dos” that should help you successfully collaborate with other attorneys:

  • Determine compensation share from the beginning.
  • Take time to get to know the other attorney outside of the scope of the case.
  • Create a communication plan, including method and frequency.
  • Clarify roles from the outset of the collaboration.
  • Develop a reporting/information sharing protocol.

And one major “don’t”: Turn a client over to another attorney and then disappear.

When done correctly, collaboration leaves every practice better off. It’s not just “more money for more products.” It is far more cost-effective and efficient to maintain and grow an existing relationship than to develop new business, and it’s often in your client’s best interest. It’s also an avenue for team building and an opportunity for reciprocal referrals, which can only help your law firm.


© 2019 Berbay Marketing & Public Relations

For more on attorney marketing, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

5 Beliefs About Law Firm PR That Need to Be Retired

One of the best parts of my job as a strategic advisor to law firm leaders is celebrating with them when our work to promote their attorneys and practice groups pays off in the form of a splashy feature article in the business press or an award for one of their up-and-coming lawyers. Not only is it wonderful to deliver great news to our clients, but often it is not until these moments that managing partners and CMOs truly understand what is possible for their firms and how we can help them achieve it.

But some firms never get to experience these victories because unfortunate beliefs about public relations limit their engagement with the professionals who could make a real difference in business development and recruiting. It’s time to “retire” these five outdated notions about law firm PR:

“Our managing partner speaks for the firm, so we don’t need outside support.”

Firms with a prestigious history are proud of the reputation they have built over the decades, and rightly so. But the marketing methods of the past do not offer a sure path to nurturing and protecting that reputation into the future. Your firm likely plays in multiple markets, whether regionally, nationally or globally, which means you are not the same firm in Chicago that you are in Toronto. The specifics of each market require a tailored message. Though every firm is aiming for a unified narrative, a firm’s reputation is actually a collection of the different stories it tells to these different audiences. Relying on a managing partner to represent all the facets of a firm’s identity almost guarantees the firm will miss opportunities to connect with prospects whose needs fall outside the parameters of this one-size-fits-all message. Sophisticated PR support can help firms navigate the tension between staying true to their brand and selling the services of their attorneys in customized ways.

“Our reputation speaks for itself.”

In addition to relying on a single leader to speak for them, firms with esteemed reputations also tend to overestimate the value of their name in today’s market, in terms of both business development and recruiting. Younger generations of lawyers and clients are much less likely to be persuaded to buy on name alone, and in some cases they are more skeptical of the top firms because of their elite status. Recent stories of law students refusing to interview with prominent firms that continue to use binding arbitration agreements serve as excellent examples here: name alone was not enough to overcome what these students perceive to be an unfair practice. Firms, no matter where they fall in the rankings, simply cannot rely on a belief that they are entitled to “first dibs” on the clients and recruits they covet.

PR professionals can make the case that a prestigious reputation is well deserved and built on a solid foundation that will withstand the scrutiny of millennials. Pros take nothing for granted, pursuing media opportunities in high-profile outlets as well as the workhorse legal journals that serve a niche but powerful audience: the buyers of legal services. A trove of credible research shows that these key players value and make decisions more often based on what they learn from the niche outlets that some large firms dismiss as small potatoes. Good PR helps you cover all the bases.

“The marketing department handles PR.”

Because marketing and public relations teams collaborate on many projects, and because digital media has so radically changed the landscape of all kinds of communications over the last decade, law leaders don’t always have a clear understanding of the differences between these disciplines. Marketing professionals directly promote and sell your firm’s services — through activities like writing the RFPs, creating digital and print promotional materials and planning important firm events. With the ongoing responsibility to provide support across practice groups, in-house marketers often do not have the bandwidth to take on more strategic promotional tasks.

That’s where outside public relations support comes in. PR professionals are trained to think like journalists (and of course many of them are former journalists) and to help your firm tell its story and maintain its reputation in the market. By building relationships with key members of the media that outlast a single opportunity, PR support can keep the lines of communication open between your firm and your target market. This takes the form of pitching story ideas to reporters, positioning your attorneys as thought leaders and expert sources, helping them place authored content and nominating them for respected awards. Creating these opportunities for attorneys can be game-changing when it comes to business development and recruiting, but the work requires an investment of time and resources that the in-house marketing department often does not have to give.

“All media is created equal.”

Firms with overextended marketing departments and little PR support sometimes rely too heavily on their own communications channels — company website and blog, social media channels — to push out their message. After all, the firm retains total control of the content and the timing, so doesn’t that make their own channels superior to others? The truth is that the media world has become far more complex in the past two decades and now includes four types of media: paid (sponsored content), earned (traditional media coverage), shared (social media) and owned (blogs, firm-produced videos, etc.). In order to maximize their position, firms need to understand the difference between, say, content best suited for their blog and content that could benefit from the credibility of traditional media outlets. Relationships with key reporters and outlets are an incredibly important piece of building a firm’s brand. They are also time-consuming and tricky to cultivate, and often can be slow to pay off. But when they do, they are worth a hundred sponsored content placements and blog posts.

“We should wait until we get the verdict to enlist PR support.”

Even when law firm leaders do understand the specific skills PR professionals bring to the table, they often wait too long to call them. Strategic-level PR is most effective — and efficient — when the consultants are involved from the beginning and can help your firm create a smart, integrated plan that supports its overall goals. Most firms don’t need a full-time PR strategist on their staff, but they should have access to one who understands their business and clients, strengths and vulnerabilities, and how to save the firm from itself in a crisis. Getting out of reaction mode allows firms to take control of the story they want to tell about themselves, now and in the future as they continue to grow and evolve to serve their clients.


© 2019 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

For more Law Firm PR advice, see the National Law Review Law Firm Management page.

Communicate with Clarity and Precision: Five Steps to Improve Your Efficacy

Can You Still Hear Me, Now?

Over-connected. In the history of human life, we have never been so connected to one another. In fact, with the explosion of the internet and social media, social scientists caution on the impact to our over-connected brains.

Per Brandwatch, the world’s leading social intelligence company:

With all this connection, even the most efficient communicators are taxed. According to Gigoam, an international digital tracking firm, Americans consume 31.4 gigabytes of data monthly, primarily on mobile devices. How does that equate to words? Statistically, that’s roughly 100,000 words per day, on average, that Americans consume. Wow!

As technology brings more avenues for communication to our personal and work lives, it’s important for lawyers to keep an eye on their personal communications practices to remain effectual.

In a reasonably short timeframe, people have gone from snail mail to email to messaging each other via social media platforms. And, our society has embraced the new ways of communication in everyday life. The fun fact remains that we are caught in an evolving new normal.

2014 Gallup surveyed 1,015 people on how frequently they used various communication methods the previous day. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported they had read or sent a text every day. Eighty-two percent had made a phone call on a cell phone. Seventy percent had sent or received an email, and 55 percent had used social media to communicate.

Recognizing that communications platforms continue to emerge with essentially an infinite number of data and media messages incessantly bombarding us, we must be highly sensitized to our communication styles if we ever want to be heard by our desired audiences.

Lawyers rely greatly upon the spoken word in their work so perfecting their communication style is a wise investment.

Below are five quick tips:

  1. Think before you speak. No, reallyHumans have a tremendous capacity to listen, absorb and respond to messages at a relatively high rate. Because of this, it is very tempting to get caught up in the fast-paced process (depending upon in what part of the country you live) and instead of actively listening and absorbing your audiences’ messages, you volley back and forth in the interaction, sometimes faster than your mind can compute.

To become a more effective communicator, one must demonstrate a disciplined approach in your oral communications. Before responding too quickly, put the brakes on to consider the impact of your words, verifying whether it is in your or your audience’s best interest to respond so quickly as to either short circuit the communications process and/or suffer the consequences of an ill-timed response. We adapt a 20-second rule. Before you respond, take 20 seconds (at minimum) to consider the implications of your words. Better to be a bit delayed with our response than to kick ourselves later for the words that impulsively escaped through your lips.

  1. audience considerConsider your audience. The same message is not appropriate for every audience. As a private practicing lawyer, what you say to a referral source about your legal focus may be different then how you would explain it to a client or contact. The question to ask is “why would anyone care”? and “what is most important to my audience”? Let these questions guide your communications, both verbal and written.
  2. Listen first and second, and then speak. We do not learn when we are speaking. It is imperative that as professional services providers that we actively listen to our audience to learn how we may help them.
  • Remove distractions immediately. Check the room temperature and light and sound in the room and within proximity. Create a positive environment in which to assure maximum attention and exchange of ideas.
  • Turn off your mobile device (even on vibrate, it can be distracting and disruptive) or leave it in your office.
  • Learn from your speaking partner (whether this is a client, referral source or other valuable contact) by asking select open-ended questions and then really listen to his/her responses to guide further conversation. Be curious.
  1. Speak to be heard; message sent/message received. Mind the communications gap. Too many miscommunications occur when we “think” we told someone (message sent) but found out later either did not and/or the listener did not remember it (message received) as we remembered sending it. It matters not where the miscommunication occurred but rather how to avoid miscommunications. First, refer to tip #1 above: think before you speak to ensure that you are in control of your message. Second, to become a more effective speaker, you are well advised to confirm with your audience that the message received is the message you intended to send.

How do you do this? Ask for feedback “are you with me?” “Does this make sense?” Adapt these feedback questions to your natural communications style and you will likely see eyes light up when you speak.

  1. Accentuate the positive; look inside first. Individuals who choose to lead with the negative often find they are talking only to themselves. Nobody wants to listen to negativity, especially when there is so much coming at us from the media and various social media channels. Learn the positive approach via disciplined practice and/or having a pal send you a signal if you “go off the ‘positive’ reservation”.

BONUS: Make every word count. KISS – – keep it short and simple. Do not offend your audience by offering too many examples when they understand your point in one. Treat words as the golden charms that they are. We simply have too many words in our day to waste the excess unnecessarily.

Becoming a more effective communicator requires a concerted effort, practice and willingness to adapt to new ways of thinking. There are few things more impactful than to present your well-crafted message and to be understood through the spoken and written word.


© 2019 KLA Marketing Associates.

More on successful legal communications on the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Top 10 Questions Lawyers Ask About LinkedIn

Most lawyers know that LinkedIn is the most-popular social media site for business networking and meaningful interactions with people relevant to their practices. While LinkedIn has emerged as the primary business social media site, the do’s and don’ts of how to interact on the platform can be a bit of a mystery. Over the last several years, I have worked with attorneys across the country on how to use LinkedIn. The list here covers the most-commonly asked questions from attorneys about how to set up and manage a LinkedIn presence.

Q: If I’m not going to post anything on LinkedIn, why do I need a profile?

Even if you don’t plan on interacting and sharing information on LinkedIn, you should still create a profile. Think of LinkedIn as a free, high-quality directory listing that you control. When people search for your name online, LinkedIn profiles typically place high in search results. Therefore, having a well-optimized LinkedIn profile gives you strong online visibility.

Additionally, LinkedIn has more than 180 million members in North America and 645 million members worldwide. Members use the platform as a search engine to find people in specific job positions in areas around the globe. Not having a presence means missing out on becoming part of the most-inclusive business network available online.

The basic elements of a complete LinkedIn profile include:

  • A well-optimized headline — Use your title, but also include your generic position as well (lawyer or attorney) to help improve your visibility in LinkedIn searches.
  • A professional photo — No kids or pets, please.
  • Your location, industry and contact information.
  • Your experience — Tag your current employer in your experience section so your profile appears on the “Employees” list of your firm’s LinkedIn page.
  • Your education.

Q: Do I connect with everyone who asks?

No. While you don’t have to actually know everyone you connect with on LinkedIn, you do want to vet requests to make sure you share some level of business interest — you work in the same industry, have shared connections, live in the same region, etc. If a connection request comes from someone completely unrelated to your business world, you do not have to accept it.

Q: Should I personalize my connection requests?

When you’re asked to connect with someone, LinkedIn gives you the option to send the person a customized message. Including a note to a connection request gives an added layer of personalization and may initiate a back-and-forth conversation. Don’t overthink your message, though. Sometimes just a “It was great to meet you at the conference yesterday”-type message is adequate.

Q: Should I look at other people’s profiles in private or “full profile” mode?

LinkedIn allows you to control whether people see that you viewed their profile. Before you scope people out, think about your desired visibility. Do you want the person to know you viewed their profile or would you rather remain anonymous? Sometimes profile-viewing is the first step in connecting, so when appropriate, I usually recommend that people view in full-profile mode. Obviously, in certain circumstances, you may benefit from using private mode, but be aware that when you switch, LinkedIn disables the “Who Viewed Your Profile” feature and erases your viewer history.

Q: How often should I post?

Posting frequency on LinkedIn should be managed with thoughtful intent. Too many posts may clutter your connections’ feeds, leading them to block you, but posting only occasionally is a lost opportunity to stay top of mind with your network. I generally recommend that attorneys post no more than once a day unless there’s something really important that has to be shared, in which case it is often better to “like” or “share” someone else’s post. When you “like” a post, the original post shows up framed in your feed. This approach achieves the goal of sharing the content without seeming overly self-promotional and sets up the possibility of a reciprocated “like” in the future. Whether you share twice a week or seven times a week, remember that quality is much more important than quantity.

Q: Should I only post content from my firm’s website?

Mix it up a bit. Keep in mind the rule that “you are what you share” when determining what to post on LinkedIn. Just posting content from the firm’s website will come across as overly self-promotional, and doesn’t position you as a well-rounded thought leader who enhances their knowledge base from multiple sources. Good sources to consider include your firm’s resource information, mainstream media outlets, trade and business publications, local outlets, and any other reliable online publishers.

Q: Do I have to use an image with my posts?

Always try to accompany your post with a related image. Stock photos are fully acceptable on LinkedIn as long as there’s a connection between the text and the graphic. Original photos are ideal but not always possible. Some firms create an image template where they can swap out an attorney’s headshot and change the headline text. These enforce a strong brand presence — but shouldn’t be overused because they can lead to a dull uniformity in your post feed.

LinkedIn also allows you to embed videos in your posts, as long as they are under 10 minutes in length. Consider posting original video content in your feed, and become your own broadcast channel!

Q: Should I use hashtags in LinkedIn posts?

LinkedIn posts can include hashtags, but keep in mind that popular hashtags on one social media platform are not the same on another platform. For instance, you would almost never use Instagram hashtags on LinkedIn. When you compose a post, LinkedIn suggests related hashtags that you can choose from, or you can do your own hashtag research using the “#” symbol in the search field and seeing how many people follow a given hashtag. Find hashtags that are relevant to your post and have enough search volume to make them worthwhile.

Q: Should I use LinkedIn’s publishing section?

Yes! Whenever you publish an original blog or article on your firm’s website, you should always replicate it on LinkedIn’s publishing platform. Even third-party publications will often let you republish bylined articles on your LinkedIn account with attribution. After all, it gives them added visibility.

Q: Is it worth paying for a premium account?

If you are looking for basic visibility, networking and engagement functionality, a premium account is not necessary. For attorneys looking to deepen their prospecting capabilities and sales funnel features, upgrading to premium is definitely worth the cost. If you’re not sure, try out the free 30-day trial that LinkedIn offers.

If you still have questions about LinkedIn, the LinkedIn help center publishes a well-organized library of information about managing profiles and engaging on their platform. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn to recommend additions to my top 10 list.


© Copyright 2008-2019, Jaffe Associates

ARTICLE BY Melanie Trudeau of Jaffe.
For more on social media for lawyers, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Stress Impacting Mental Wellbeing of Law Firm Marketing and Business Staff: Report

96% of legal marketers say that there is significant stress in the profession. 75% feel overwhelmed at work.

These are just a few of the findings from fSquared Marketing’s “Legal Marketing Mental Wellness Survey Report”. The survey polled 200 legal marketers and business professionals working at law firms primarily in the United States and Canada.

Recently, the legal industry has started to take stress and mental health seriously, but the conversation has invariably focused on the wellbeing of lawyers,” says Lynn Foley, CEO of fSquared Marketing. “That’s not the entire picture—stress affects everyone. Law firms often have a clear hierarchy and stress flows downhill to fall on the shoulders of the professional staff.”

Mental Wellness for Legal MarketersThe effects of stress on law firm staff has often been overlooked even though a number of law firm professionals have recently died by suicide.

“When we initially sought out information about mental health within legal marketing and business development, we found that there wasn’t any research on the subject,” explains Foley. “From my experience working with lawyers, I understood that we needed more than anecdotes and emotion to advance the conversation, we needed information and data. While we aren’t actually involved in HR or wellness consulting at fSquared Marketing, we saw that there was a need for this research and we had the skills to pursue it.”

Why are marketing staff so stressed out? There are several compounding factors.

Overworked and overwhelmed

Marketing staff say they have too much work assigned to them and not enough support to effectively manage demands on their time. The vast majority also reported that their department suffered from a lack of marketing resources. This is a sure-fire recipe for chronic stress and, eventually, burnout.

75% of respondents said that they felt overwhelmed at work while two-thirds said that stress is eroding their ability to focus on the task at hand. This is unfortunate and ironic since high-pressure situations are when powers of concentration become most critical.

Mental Wellness Stress ImpactAs one respondent commented: “We aren’t surgeons, but we do carry a tremendous amount of our own stress as well as the stress of others… There are no resources and there are very few people who would ever admit to needing them anyway for fear of appearing weak — stigma is an issue for everyone in the legal industry, not just lawyers.”

A divide between lawyers and “non-lawyers” (professionals)

It’s no secret that attorneys face significant threats to their mental wellbeing. As the American Bar Association describes it, “Lawyers work in an adversarial system with demanding schedules and heavy workloads, which may contribute to increased stress levels.”

A recent survey by Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs found that close to 28 percent of licensed, employed attorneys struggle with depression.

The legal industry deserves some credit for recognizing this problem and many law firms are taking steps to improve the mental health of attorneys. Critics would undoubtedly say that change isn’t coming fast enough and that many initiatives are focused on symptoms, not root causes.

While more firms are advancing mental health initiatives, these are not always extended to professional staff. A survey of 30 Am Law Firms found that 36% of firms that offer mental health programming do no offer these programs to staff.

Many respondents to fSquared Marketing’s survey mentioned this divide between lawyers and staff. “Stress and mental health is mostly addressed for the lawyers and not the ‘non-lawyer’ roles, in my opinion,” one respondent noted.

58% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “There is a focus on the mental wellbeing of lawyers in our industry.” Compare this with the 9% who agreed with the statement: “There is a focus on the mental wellbeing of non-lawyers in our industry.”

One respondent’s comments summarized a common perspective: “It is unfortunate that law firms segregate mental health awareness between lawyers and non-lawyers. Somehow they feel that staff (with whom they work directly) do not suffer from the same level of stress that the lawyers do.”

A lack of respect for marketers

The good news is that 92% of marketing and BD staff felt that they had an important role to play at their firm and many said that their ideas were often heard, valued, and put into action (73%).

Although professionals recognize their value, they often perceive a lack of respect from attorneys. The majority (51%) agreed with the statement: “There is a lack of respect for me/my role by the lawyers.”

Mental Wellness; Misunderstood RoleFew factors are likely to prove as harmful to staff wellbeing. The divide between lawyers and staff is again a contributing factor. “It’s stressful”, one respondent commented, “when law firms hire ‘smart’ and ‘well-respected’ professionals who really want to do what’s best for the overall business, but then their ideas are brushed aside because they aren’t part of the partnership or don’t have a J.D.”

Changing the culture

The issues raised by this survey are disquieting. It’s clear that law firms need to take mental health seriously, for staff as much as for attorneys.

The survey did, however, find some cause for hope. For one, 62% of respondents said that their team’s marketing ‘wins’ are celebrated.

As one legal marketer said: “The level of stress varies significantly from firm to firm. Even though I am very busy at my firm, my work is appreciated and that goes a long way toward feeling good about my job.”

The fact that staff experiences vary between firms is evidence that law firms do not have to be toxic work environments. It is entirely possible for law firms to foster cultures of respect. Those that do are likely to enjoy a competitive advantage.

As one respondent said, “A good, friendly culture goes a long way”.


© Copyright 2019 fSquared Marketing

For more law firm marketing & business, see the Law Office Management page at the National Law Review.

Legal Industry News for October 1, 2019: Law Firm Mergers, New Additions and the Best Paralegal Programs

With fall officially upon us, the legal industry continues to whirl with change, innovation and movement.  Read on to learn about some of the developments from the past two weeks, covering law school changes, law firm updates and legal technology developments.

Law Firm Moves: Mergers, Practice Group Additions and New Hires

Boston law firm Anderson & Kreiger LLP recently announced Lon F. Povich has joined the firm as Counsel. Povich is former Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.

Mr. Povich says: “As I return to the private practice of law, I wanted to join a firm that offered challenging work in both the public and private sectors as well as an inclusive and supportive culture that prioritizes practicing law with the highest professional standards.”

As Chief Legal Counsel, Povich oversaw the confirmation process for 130 judges across the commonwealth, including 4 on the Supreme Judicial Court.  Additionally, he counseled on the regulation of new industries, such as gig economy staples like Uber, short term rentals like Airbnb and the legal marijuana industry.  Povich also contributed to the 2018 criminal justice reform bill and the 2015 reforms for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA).  David Mackey, Managing Partner at Anderson & Kreiger says, “Lon will bring to the firm experience with the wide variety of issues he dealt with in the Baker administration as well as a diverse set of experiences in the private sector and as a federal prosecutor. We know that he will be an excellent colleague and he will further strengthen our ability to serve our clients.”

James V. Drew has joined Katten in the firm’s New York office as a partner in its Insolvency and Restructuring practice.  Drew has fifteen years of experience advising clients across a variety of industries on insolvency matters.  He has particular experience in “conflicts counsel” or as an independent director role on investigations or litigations of claims and causes of actions on behalf of debtors, secured and unsecured creditors and indenture trustees.  Additionally, he has experience handling matters as lead counsel for debtors, lenders and other creditors, equity holders, liquidators and defendants in avoidance actions or bankruptcy litigation.

Steven Reisman Katten
Steven Reisman

Steven J. Reisman, the head Katten’s New York Insolvency and Restructuring practice, says, “Jim is a highly skilled attorney who is respected by his clients for his practical advice and business-minded approach to addressing their most pressing insolvency and restructuring issues.”

DLA Piper attorneys Claire Hall (Los Angeles), Richard Hans (New York), Marc Horwitz (Chicago) and Isabelle Ord (Los Angeles) are leading the firm’s new LIBOR Transition practice, assisting companies with impact assessment and advising on benchmark reform implementation across multiple jurisdictions and products. This transition from interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates poses challenges to companies that are operational, legal, related to taxes, accounting and compliance.  DLA will assist companies with these challenges by monitoring developments across industry working groups and addressing benchmark transition across jurisdictions like ISDA, SFIG/SFA, LSTA, SIFMA and the ARRC.

Hans points out that DLA Piper, with its track record of advising some of the largest financial services companies and institutions on operations and strategic planning, is well suited to assist with the LIBOR transition.  He says, “Our LIBOR transition team will be able to assist clients in creating and implementing strategic and customized action plans that lay out the steps needed to implement benchmark transition.”

 

Karen Mangasarian Haley Guiliano
Karen Mangasarian

Karen Mangasarian has joined Haley Guiliano, a boutique IP law firm as a Partner.  She will join the firm in their New York office, but she was attracted to the firm’s presence in not only New York, but also Silicon Valley and London.  She says: “I was attracted by Haley Guiliano’s entrepreneurial spirits and business value-based approach to intellectual property, as well as its commitment to diversity and the mentoring of junior lawyers and technical advisors.”

Mangasarian has over twenty years of experience in life sciences practice, including patent filing and prosecution, freedom to operate and landscape analyses, and contested proceedings in the USPTO and other patent offices.  Mangasarian earned her JD from New York Law School while working as a post-doctoral fellow in microbiology at the New York University Medical Center.  She has also studied pharmacology, earning a Ph.D., and a BS Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin.

Jim Haley, head of the Life Sciences practice at Haley Guiliano, says “Karen is a marvelous addition to our firm and to our Life Sciences practice.”

Full-service business law firm based in Portland, Oregon, Ater Wynne will merge practice into Buchalter, bolstering the latter’s presence in the Pacific Northwest.  Ater Wynne’s 22 attorneys will join Buchalter on in October, bringing Buchalter to roughly 300 attorneys in nine locations across the country, and adding Buchalter’s second office in the Pacific Northwest in under three years.

Todd A. Mitchell, Ater Wynne’s Managing Partner will become Managing Shareholder of the Portland office and a member of Buchalter’s Board of Directors. Mitchell calls the move “an opportunity to provide stronger counsel to our clients in Portland and the surrounding region,” and he says the two groups have a strong cultural fit.

Adam J. Bass, President and CEO of Buchalter, has overseen more than 130 attorneys added to the firm and has opened offices in California and in Washington State.  He calls the move a chance to “stay ahead of the curve.  This move is about looking to the future and the right cultural and business fit.”

Law Firm Awards, Recognitions and Achievements

Zuckerman Law principal Eric Bachman was named to the prestigious “Top Lawyers in America” list for 2020 by Best Lawyers in the field of Labor and Employment.  Lawyers are nominated for this achievement, and then evaluated by their peers based on professional expertise.  Bachman was included in the 2020 Edition of Washington D.C.’s Best Lawyers.

Bachman is the Chair of the discrimination and retaliation practices at Zuckerman Law, and prior to his work with Zuckerman he served in senior roles at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and in the U.S. Office of Special Counsel where he worked on class actions and whistleblower protection act settlements.

Preeminent workplace law firm Jackson Lewis once again was listed on the BTI Litigation Outlook 2020 report, earning “Powerhouse” rankings in Complex Employment Litigation and the Employment Litigation categories.  These rankings are based on in-depth interviews with legal decision-makers, involving data from more than 9,000 corporate counsel client interviews.

Jackson Lewis is on track to have a record number of trial victories in 2019, and this is in part due to the firm’s forward-thinking approach through innovative programs like its Advanced Trial Techniques Academy, which enhances the already strong litigation strength of the firm’s attorneys.

Firm Co-Chairs Kevin G. Lauri and William J. Anthony: “Jackson Lewis remains committed to staying abreast of national litigation trends faced by employers and delivering the best possible results, by both providing exceptional client service and retaining a deep bench of top-notch litigators.”

BTI reaches out to legal decision-makers at large organizations, with more than $1 billion in revenue, targeting decision-makers in the industries that have the largest legal spend, consulting Chief Legal Officers, Chief Legal Operating Officers and other executives with a say in the selection of outside counsel.  BTI’s 2019 report indicates an expectation of growth in litigation for the third year in a row.   More information about the BTI Litigation Outlook 2020 report can be found here.

The law firm of Sills Cummis & Gross received top ranking as one of the “highly recommended” New Jersey litigation firms in the 2020 edition of Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys. This is the third year in a row Sills Cummis & Gross received this honor. Focusing solely on litigation in the United States, this guide is published by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.  Firms recognized are chosen based on interviews with the country’s leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel. Thirteen members of Sills Cummins & Gross were also included.

ATM Class ActionMoginRubin LLP is representing a class of non-bank ATM operators across the United States arguing that Visa, Mastercard and its affiliated banks conspired to fix ATM fees, requiring anticompetitive overcharges for network processing fees, resulting in higher ATM surcharges and foreign transaction fees when customers use ATM’s not associated with their bank.

The proposed class represents 60% of the U.S. ATM market and includes the following: ATMs of the South, Inc., Business Resource Group, Inc., Just ATMs USA, Inc., Wash Water Solutions, Inc., ATM Bankcard Services, Inc., Selman Telecommunications Investment Group, LLC, Scot Gardner d/b/a SJI, Turnkey ATM Solutions, LLC, Trinity Holdings Ltd, Inc., and T&T Communications, Inc. and Randal N. Bro d/b/a T&B Investments.  Roughly five years ago Visa and Mastercard attempted to have the case dismissed, even taking the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, however, the Supreme Court found that the companies had changed their argument after the court granted certiorari and dismissed the writ as “improvidently granted.”

Jonathan Rubin of MoginRubin LLP calls the rules governing the fees “absurd” designed to punish consumers who choose less expensive networks or the defendant’s competitor’s networks.  He says, “The independent ATM operators and regional networks are providing a necessary service that banks are unwilling to provide or to invest in, but Visa and Mastercard are using their market power to impose anti-competitive fees and bleed the operators and consumers for their own profit,” he added. “Mastercard and Visa have no business telling independent ATM operators what to charge.”

Legal Industry News, Law School Updates

Leading legal publisher Fastcase announced today the acquisition of NextChapter, the cloud-based bankruptcy software for attorneys and paralegals.

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Paralegal Janine Sickmeyer used her expertise in preparing bankruptcy cases to create NextChapter, teaching herself to code and building the application from the ground up, launching in 2016.  The service became known as “the turbo tax for bankruptcy filings” and its success was built on the efficiency created by understanding the best workflows and practices into an easy to use, full-circle solution used by several thousand law firms across every district in the U.S.  Upon Fastcase’s acquisition of NextChapter, Sickmeyer will become Managing Director and Founder of NextChapter and Director of Practice Workflow at Fastcase. She calls the acquisition “a dream come true” and she voices her admiration for Fastcase leadership.  She says, “it’s invigorating to collaborate and continue to build NextChapter’s company and products alongside them. Fastcase and NextChapter share the same core beliefs on customer-focused products. I know this opportunity will allow us to continue serving our mission.”

The UCI Law Graduate Tax Program and Alteryx Inc. Announce Tax and Data Analytics Partnership, designed to train future tax attorneys on ways big data analytics can work in tax law.

Students in the UCI Law Graduate Tax Program will learn on the program already used by in-house tax departments–Alteryx Designer, and will learn how to use the data analytics platform to generate data-based legal tax advice, earning a certification for successful completion.  This practicum is the first time Alteryx will work with a law school, and the group will provide software licenses to students who participate in the program. Omni Marian, Professor of Law and the Academic Director of the UCI Graduate Tax Program, says the program is a way to prepare students for the way practicing tax law will be in the future.  He says, “Alteryx for Good’s generosity allows us to help our students to become future leaders of the legal tax profession.”

Bachelor’s Degree Center which provides a free guide to bachelor degree programs across all disciplines, recently released four guides to the best Paralegal bachelor degree programs in the United States,  including the 25 Best for 2020, the 15 Best Online Paralegal Programs,  the 10 Fastest Online Paralegal Programs, and the 10 Most Affordable Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs.

The top 3 Best Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Auburn University
  2. Quinnipiac University
  3. Montclair State University

The Top 3 Online Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Tulane University
  2. University of Central Florida
  3. University of Massachusetts Lowell

The Top 3 Most Affordable Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Bellevue University
  2. Charter Oak State College
  3. Peirce College

The guide points out that while law schools have been graduating new attorneys facing an uphill battle in the legal marketplace, paralegals are still very much in demand.  A standard entry into the profession is a two-year associate degree, however, many paralegals combine work with further study, and a bachelor’s degree in legal studies can be the key to moving ahead in the profession.  Whether an online program or a traditional program, this guide provides important information so students—non-traditional or otherwise, can make the best choice for their situation.

That’s it for now.  We’ll be back in a few weeks with more updates on the legal industry.


Copyright ©2019 National Law Forum, LLC

For more legal marketing developments, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

An Introduction to Digital Marketing Analytics for Law Firms

Analytics is the science behind the art of digital marketing and is an invaluable part of any law firm’s marketing strategy.  Digital analytics can provide a wealth of information that not only tells you how effective your digital channels are, but if analyzed properly, can provide fact-based information that can help identify prospect behavior and needs.  Legal marketers must be familiar with the proper web analytics tools to be able to capture and interpret the performance of their website but must also be able to go beyond their website to properly assess the performance and return of their digital marketing efforts. In this article we discuss  how law firms can merge web analytics and digital marketing analytics to improve the overall performance of their online marketing efforts.

Why Marketing Analytics Matter

To benefit from your marketing analytics, you must understand why they are important.  Analytics enables you to measure, analyze, and manage the performance of your digital marketing strategy in real time.  Legal marketers can leverage analytics to pinpoint problems and uncover areas of opportunity and potential growth. Knowing which digital marketing analytics are important to your bottom line will help you stay focused on the metrics that matter.

Why You Need to Measure Your Efforts

Your analytics should always include a measurement of your efforts. This is for one simple reason, sustainability. Essentially, you want to ensure that your marketing efforts are contributing to the growth of your firm and producing a positive return on investment (ROI).  By learning to create custom reports and glean actionable insights that actually matter to your firm, you can begin to make data-driven decisions and strengthen your marketing strategy.  At any point during your campaign, you can apply the data to tweak or remove tactics that are not producing the desired return.  By effectively leveraging data intelligence, you will build a more insightful and effective marketing plan.  The good news is that the process of tracking digital marketing has become very straightforward.  Your chosen marketing tool probably has analytics built-in, helping you measure your efforts.

Web Analytics Can Measure Those Efforts

Supplementing the built-in analytics with your marketing analytics is simple. Numerous websites offer web analytics tools, with Google Analytics being among the most famous and most popular. The most attractive reason to use Google Analytics is that it’s free!  Google Analytics will show you the number of views and visits to your website, where those visitors come from and what pages they are looking at. This information enables you to easily see how your website is performing in real-time. Google Analytics will even allow you to organize and track website data across all devices – smart phones, tablets, computers and even smart TVs.  To learn how to create a custom Google Analytics report, checkout this blog post.

Using KPIs

Evaluation of your efforts will come down to KPIs or Key Performance Indicators. You choose these criteria as measurements to demonstrate how effective your marketing strategies are at achieving your key business objectives. As such, they let you see if you are meeting your business goals, whether they are brand awareness or lead generation. Your marketing plan should include the KPIs that most closely meet your specific business objectives. Consider the following KPIs, as they are the most important for optimizing your campaigns:

  • Qualifies leads: This KPI lets you confirm that your campaign is generating qualified leads for your law firm
  • Cost Per Conversion: This metric allows you to evaluate how much you pay for each conversion to help you confirm that your marketing expenses are worth the expenditure.
  • Online Marketing Return on Investment: It should go without saying that your return on investment will let you know whether your efforts are worth it.
  • Form Conversion Rates: Form conversion rates help you determine how well your content marketing drives people to your law firm’s website and encourages them to take action. You can even use the combination of data from the forms and the form conversion rates to develop strategies that boost conversions.
  • Reach and share of voice on Social Media: Don’t forget to consider the conversions that you get from social media as one of your KPIs. This lets you determine which social media network is the best for you so that you can concentrate your efforts for the best ROI.

Takeaway

As a legal marketer, you must understand the impact of your marketing efforts through the effective use of digital marketing analytics and web analytics.  Applying data intelligence is invaluable to the process of improving and optimizing your marketing strategy.


© Copyright 2019 Good2BSocial

ARTICLE BY Talia Schwartz of Good2bSocial.
For more on marketing for law firms, see the Law Office Management page on the National Law Review.

From the Outside Looking In: Getting Hired by In-House Counsel with Jaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic Law Firm Marketing Catalyst Podcast [PODCAST]

It’s perhaps the legal industry’s most-asked question: how can attorneys get noticed by in-house counselJaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic, joined the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast to offer her tips, including how to stand out by finding a niche, and why diversity and inclusion are so important.

Read the transcript below.

Sharon:   Welcome to the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast. Today my guest is Jaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic, where she provides legal support across all business groups. Jaimala has a strong marketing perspective and has some important tips for outside counsel in terms of making inroads with fellow attorneys in-house. Jaimala, very glad to have you.

Jaimala:  Thanks so much, Sharon. Really glad to be talking to you today.

Sharon:   Jaimala, tell us about how you got where you are. I know that you were in private practice with an outside firm. How did you segue from that into being in-house? Was it something you wanted? Was it a random call from a headhunter? How did that come about?

Jaimala:  I think I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go in-house. During law school, I was the only summer law clerk at 3M’s Office of General Counsel, and I really enjoyed my experience. Specifically, I enjoyed learning about the business, working closely with business personnel and figuring out how to provide practical advice in a business setting. So, I knew I wanted to be an in-house attorney and began networking. I met with both in-house and law firm attorneys and asked them about their careers, and I told them about my aspirations. Sure enough, when an in-house attorney reached out to one of the law firm partners I had met to look for a junior-level attorney, they provided my name. I immediately jumped on the opportunity and began my in-house career at Northwest Airlines, which is now Delta, and I’ve now been in-house for 12 years at various companies, including a Fortune 10 company.

Sharon:   So, you’ve been in a variety of industries.

Jaimala:  Yes, I have, from airline to health insurance to now med device.

Sharon:   That sounds very interesting. If I had a nickel for every time I was asked by a lawyer in private practice about how they can attract the attention of in-house counsel, I could have retired a long time ago. We’d all like to hear your advice. I’m also curious because it seems like you’ve given it a lot of thought, more than other in-house counsel that I’ve met or heard speak. You wrote an article on the subject, published in the Legal Executive Institute publication. What got you thinking about business development from the perspective of outside counsel?

Jaimala:  I think what got me thinking about it is a couple of things. One was a client looking for outside counsel. I practice in a very specific practice area. I am in health law, and beyond that, it’s fraud and abuse in health law, so I’ve had a very hard time finding people who could help me on various projects, and also just from the networking perspective. I’m friends with multiple people who are junior-level partners and even senior-level partners who come across the same thing, which is how do we break into a large company like Medtronic? How do we get noticed when these larger companies have preferred provider networks or a series of closed networks of law firms? How do I get in front of somebody to talk to a decision-maker? So, it’s really made me think about that. And you’re right, I put some of the thoughts in the article, which I will expand on in this podcast.

Sharon:   So, what is your advice? Where do we start?

Jaimala:  I think my first point is don’t be a generalist. In-house counsel are required to be generalists, like a Swiss Army Knife. We need to know a little about a lot to cover most everyday questions across innumerable subject matter areas. When we look to outside counsel, we’re looking for a specific tool that this Swiss Army Knife won’t do. The issue requires deeper experience and more specialized expertise. So, really be specific about your area of expertise and call it out on your firm online biography, because I often look up firm biographies to understand experience. I may also get a referral. I may know our network of law firms, but I need to look for one specific person, so I’ll just click on the firm website to see who has the expertise I’m looking for.

Sharon:   Will you do a Google search with healthcare technology or healthcare devices, or do you just start because you have names?

Jaimala:  Sometimes I have names. Sometimes I do Google searches, and sometimes I look at specific law firms. I may have a law firm—we have 10 law firms, for example, in Medtronic’s preferred provider network—but I don’t have a list, aside from what their website says, of who the regulatory healthcare counseling attorneys are. From there, that may give me a feed of 10 different attorneys, or sometimes it’s 20 because everybody’s thrown in everything, and then I actually click on their website and their bios to see whether they have the experience I’m looking for, and whether it’s specific enough to be able to help on the issue I have.

Sharon:   So, attorneys should be very specific. Can you give some examples?

Jaimala:  One of the main things that I see are industry phrases being used, like, “I work with life sciences companies,” and that’s helpful but it’s not helpful. I would like someone who specifically can say, “I work with med device companies versus pharmaceutical companies,” because our issues are different. One of the reasons why we use outside counsel is because we want someone who has more industry expertise and can give us information on what other companies are doing, obviously without violating privilege. They can say, “In my experience, this is how I’ve worked this issue in other companies across the same med device industry that are trying to do this, or conversely, you guys are outliers. I’ve never heard this before.” Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes that’s a bad thing, but if you don’t have that industry expertise and I’m still getting my narrow view of a Medtronic-only perspective on an issue, that’s not as helpful.

Sharon:   I know lawyers are so resistant to focusing. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve suggested that perhaps a laundry list is not the best way to go. These are lawyers who often have distinct expertise, but they don’t want to focus in on it. Why do you think that is?

Jaimala:  I think you hit the nail on the head in the past, when we had a conversation, and it’s the fear of missing out. They think if they don’t have the laundry list on their bio, a client may come in and not see an area they can help on and not be interested in them. I actually think it’s more the other way around. In this day and age, companies are looking for law firms that have a varied practice area, but they’re looking at lawyers for a specific expertise. Your firm may have everything but the kitchen sink under it, but your specific expertise needs to show, so that I know you’re the person I should call when I have a fraud and abuse issue for med devices. You will be the person that can talk me through and be the expert, versus us muddling through something together because you think you can do it, but you haven’t really ever done it in the past.

Sharon:   Yes, I think it is the fear of missing out, and I wish every lawyer we’ve talked with could hear what you’re saying. So often we hear, “Nobody’s going to look for me online,” or “Nobody’s going to find me online.” What are your thoughts about that?

Jaimala:  I do think networking is key, too. It’s not just online. I understand why people will think that, but the other information I would give is oftentimes, we don’t have these great, big areas of information in-house. For example, I know my network of law firms that I’m supposed to use my budget towards, but I don’t have a list of regulatory attorneys from each of those law firms. I still have to go online and look for these things. Even if you’re in my network, it doesn’t necessarily mean I know the lawyers that are in that firm. So, I do think we look online more than law firms expect, and we don’t always just hire our friends. That’s another misconception that people have, that you only hire someone you know. I’d love to hire people I know, but sometimes you can’t. Like I said, you have a network you have to work in, or conversely, your friend doesn’t practice in the area you need. There are a lot of times that we just look straight to websites to find people.

Sharon:   What a missed opportunity, in terms of not introducing themselves to you and making it clear who they are.

Jaimala:  I think my second tip, Sharon, would be to really invest in relationships; network with everyone including mid-level and junior-level lawyers. Take an interest in what they do for your client and how you might be able to help them. Oftentimes, at these networking events, people go straight to the GC of a business, and I think they don’t realize that junior-level attorneys and even mid-level attorneys have considerable authority and influence on who companies hire and evaluating the quality of services that firms provide. Honestly, you never know who will be a general counsel tomorrow. I think you have to realize that there may not be an immediate return, but if you invested in the relationship and built a good reputation, in-house attorneys will find a way to work with you when they’re in a position to be able to make outside counsel hiring decisions.

Sharon:   That’s such a good point, in terms of not just going to the top, especially because time goes by so quickly. It seems like no time at all when you have a new attorney entering a firm and all of a sudden, they’re partner. You have to plant the seeds early on.

You’ve talked about diversity and diverse teams producing more profitable results. Can you tell us about what you look for when you’re hiring and your experience with that?

Jaimala:  For me, it’s at these networking events. Who treated me well? Who didn’t just gravitate towards people who look like them? I’m a female minority in the legal profession, and in some ways, I’m a little bit of a unicorn at this stage of my career because so many of us have left the profession or never even joined it. So, I appreciate when people come over and talk to me and don’t just gravitate towards those who look like them. There are numerous studies that show that diverse teams produce better economic results. Most companies have taken these studies seriously and made diversity and inclusion a focus and goal. Many law firms require diverse teams to work on their issues, and they want to have both diversity in their in-house teams and their outside counsel.

It feels to me that if law firms remain homogenous, it’s almost an impossible task for an in-house department to be diverse, because in-house pulls talent from law firms. To me, if you commit to diversity in the profession and invest in it, you’re going to feel more comfortable talking to someone like me. You’re going to come up to me in a networking event, and I’m going to think of you when I need to hire somebody and think about how well you treated me. You didn’t seem intimidated by me. You were good, so we’re going to have a great working relationship, because if in a networking setting you could talk to me, then you could definitely talk to me in a working relationship.

Sharon:   Have you seen changes? Are there more firms to choose from? What are the trends that you’ve seen?

Jaimala:  I do think more companies are making this a priority for them, and as a result, more law firms are focusing on it, too. If you demand this, if your clients are demanding something from you, you’re going to put focus on it and effort into it. I think recruitment has gone up for sure. I think there are more pipeline organizations. One particular organization that I’m very close to is LCLD, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, which is a national organization that doesn’t just focus on one affinity group. It’s an organization of more than 285 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners and it’s dedicated to creating a diverse legal profession. Through the fact that so many companies and managing partners have joined this group, you can see that there is a commitment and a focus on it in the profession, so I have seen some positives. Just being in a room full of other folks that look like me has been great, because most of the time, I’m the only one in the room.

Sharon:   Have you ever been in a meeting where a law firm has put a token minority in, even though they may not be relevant to what they’re pitching?

Jaimala:  I think just about every minority has been that token at some point, including myself. I think it’s up to the clients to ask, “O.K., so Jaimala’s in the room. What is Jaimala going to work on on this project? Is she only going to be doing doc review, or is she going to be writing these briefs? Is she going to be the core team that takes this to litigation? Is she going to be part of this, or is she going to be relegated to the sidelines?” It’s that follow-through that the client needs to do to ensure that you’re not just bringing someone to the pitch who’s not going to get meaningful work. I think the numbers you put out, saying, “We want 20 percent diversity on a team,” doesn’t mean anything if that 20 percent is just doc review.

Sharon:   I’m looking at some of your suggestions you have for law firms, like committing to a diversity program and investing in it or joining a mentor program with a local school or college. I think that’s so important, because we’ve worked with quite a few law firms, smaller law firms who would love to diversify, but it’s a very tight pool to draw from. For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to retain people, so right now, there are a bunch of white males. So, these are great suggestions in terms of how they can at least start to support diversity.

Jaimala:  Yes, LCLD is a large organization and it takes money to join, and that is something a lot of smaller law firms and even smaller companies can’t necessarily commit to, but there are other ways, like you mentioned. It’s so easy. You can just reach out to a local law school and offer to be a mentor to a diverse law student. That gives you a different perspective. That gives you incoming talent into the profession as well, and that opens that individual up, who may not have had a lawyer in their family or ever even known a lawyer before they went to law school. You’re a network, and I think just doing simple things like that makes a difference.

There are also numerous organizations such as Just the Beginning, which is a pipeline organization that focuses on showing high school and middle school students of color and those of low income backgrounds that there is a path to law school and the legal profession. There are also national affinity bar associations that are great resources and offer wonderful networking opportunities. I think it’s good to remember that just because I’m not in this diverse community, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to join these things, and it doesn’t mean this isn’t my problem. This is a problem across our profession that everybody needs to own. It’s not for women and minorities to solve on their own.

Sharon:   That’s a great point. We’ll put links to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and we can also put a link to Just the Beginning, which I haven’t heard of before, but it sounds very interesting. How else can outside lawyers get in front of in-house counsel?

Jaimala:  I think presentations are huge. This could be CLEs or presentations at different trade associations. When I say presentations, I mean outside counsel is typically tapped to do these presentations, and if they take a step back and think, “This might be more meaningful if I bring someone who’s in-house to give industry examples and real-world examples of what’s going on. These anecdotes of what really goes on in a company will make me better off connecting with the audience.” It’s a win-win, because in-house just doesn’t get those types of opportunities as much, and we would love to be a part of that and be able to add that to our résumés. I do think it would make the presentation better, because those in-house folks in the audience will say, “Hey, this person has a great relationship with the client, but not only that, I can understand what the client’s saying because I go through that all the time. Here’s someone who knows how to work with in-house people.” I think that’s a great way to get in front of in-house and connect, and it’s a way that your in-house clients will know that you’re thinking of them and opportunities to help their careers. If they, let’s say, move companies, they’ll still remember that, and in an opportunity where they can hire you, they’ll try to do that. I think co-writing an article is another example. Oftentimes, Sharon, as we’ve talked about, people at law firms think, “Oh, in-house folks are too busy. They don’t want to do things like that. They don’t have time for it.” We may not have as much time in some ways, but we do want to do those things. We do want to continue to grow professionally and get our résumés in order and have publications on them. That’s another good opportunity. The best one that I’ve seen a couple of companies offer is to do CLE presentations for free at various companies, just saying, “Hey, I saw that you’re a big government contractor. I’d like to come in and give a great presentation on the ABCs of government contracting. I’ll do it for free. I’ll fly out to you. What do you think?” Almost any company would take you up on that.

Sharon:   Those are great suggestions, and once again, I’m looking at missed opportunities when you say that in-house counsel don’t have as many chances to be on a panel or co-write an article. I rarely hear that discussed when we’re talking with lawyers in private practice. That is such a fabulous opportunity, in terms of helping in-house counsel build their credibility. I think that’s something to be considered.

Jaimala:  I think it’s great, because sometimes when you get various law firm attorneys on a panel, it’s sort of an ego thing, “Hire me versus them. I’m better.” That ends up being what the presentation sounds like, which is obviously not what it’s intended to do. If you have that in-house person on the panel, I think it changes the dynamic. They will give a real-world example of what’s happened and you’ll have the outside counsel giving their expertise, and it really does make for a better presentation.

Sharon:   I’m also thinking, it’s great to ask an in-house lawyer to be on a panel, but why not just create your own opportunities? You could put a presentation together with a bank or an insurance company and ask in-house counsel to participate. It could just be doing a webinar and asking in-house counsel to join, just to get that perspective and also to let them know that you’re thinking about them.

Jaimala:  Yes, I think so. That would be great. Like I said, a lot of these opportunities don’t come to us as much, partly because we’re not as connected in the industry as law firm attorneys are, and we don’t know folks who are putting these on. We’re not on those associations necessarily at the highest levels. Those tend to be attorneys at law firms, so the opportunities don’t come to us as much.

Sharon:   That’s a great point to keep in mind. Jaimala, I want to thank you so much for being here. This is great information and it’s not just a marketing person saying it. It’s from you talking from your experience, so I really appreciate it.

Jaimala:  Thank you so much, Sharon, I really appreciate you having me on here.

Sharon:   I want to let people know that if they want to contact you, they can do that through LinkedIn. That will be in the show notes. I want to thank everyone for listening to the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast. Please join us for our next conversation on topics that will propel your firm forward. Thank you so much.

END OF AUDIO

Click here to listen to Jaimala’s Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast episode: From the Outside Looking In: Getting Hired by In-House Counsel. Make sure to download/subscribe.


© 2019 Berbay Marketing & Public Relations
For more on attorney hiring, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Online Reviews for Lawyers: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

As long as attorneys have been advocating for clients, word-of-mouth has been the best way to build a strong returning clientele. Great attorneys who treat their people well have always gathered a positive “buzz” which boosts business.

Today, word-of-mouth is still key for generating business, but the mouth is billions of voices strong and the word is “reviews.”

The evidence for the importance of positive online reviews is an avalanche of statistics. On the Small Business Radio Show, Jeremy Lessaris said that “a one star drop at a plastic surgery office can cost the company millions of dollars.” A study from Speigel Research Center shows that higher-priced goods and services (like attorney’s fees) rely even more heavily on reviews: the better and more reviews, the higher the conversion rate (up to 380% higher than those businesses without reviews).

The Good

Having even a few five-star reviews puts you on a track to have more business and stronger clients in the digital word-of-mouth culture. There are also a number of review-curating sites dedicated to the legal profession that can boost your firm’s online profilel for free.

Google Business Pages. This is one of the easiest ways for potential clients to find you. As long as you have claimed your listing, your clients can share their experiences with you instantly.  And, with Google’s massive search engine behind them, great reviews translate to new leads effortlessly.

LinkedIn. One of the more underutilized review-gathering tools, this is another free and ubiquitous tool to get great feedback on your firm’s business. The added benefit here is that you personally can get reviews from friends, family, colleagues, and clients, with every positive interaction given equal weight.

Facebook Business Pages. Sixty-eight percent of Americans use Facebook daily, the highest-traffic social media outlet second only to YouTube. This makes the reviews on a Facebook Business Page the most likely place for people to find reviews about you.

Avvo. If you are a licensed attorney, it is 97% likely that you have a free listing on the attorney-only review site, Avvo. In addition, their profile listings are searchable by Google and Bing, so they are often one of the first search results that a potential client will find when they search your firm’s name.

Martindale-Hubbell. This is another attorney-specific review site that utilizes Google’s vast search algorithm to bring results to the top of the page. Having great reviews here (especially from colleagues and former clients) can be an excellent source of new business.

The Bad

Unfortunately, like in any game of “telephone,” not every piece of information shared online is correct or even kind. Bad reviews can be devastating to the online reputation of even the best law firm. Unfortunately, potential clients who have never met you do not have anything else to go on except these online reviews.

In addition, potential clients actually seek out negative reviews in an attempt to decide what the “worst case scenario” is in working with your firm. That means that it is vital to police your online brand and be proactive about keeping it spotless.

So, how do you deal with bad review? Here are three things that will almost always work to keep you looking your best online.

  1. Keep your brand consistent and positive. Make sure that your brand comes across loud and clear across all social channels, including branded headers, standard language, and images and posts that fit with your professional image.
  2. Encourage people who leave glowing reviews. When you chime in with a quick “thank you,” or “I am glad you had a great experience,” it sets a tone for your business that you are gracious and willing to take time to engage with your audience.

Deal with negative reviews quickly and impassively. If you are regularly monitoring your reviews, you will know when someone has had a bad experience. The faster you deal with it, the better. It is also important to respond without being defensive. I

The Ugly

Although online reviews are important, there are some things you should never do in order to improve your online branding. A recent case in Pittsburgh highlighted one of these—buying or soliciting positive reviews in exchange for goods or financial rewards.

The case was brought by a former client of a Pittsburgh employment law firm who the plaintiff said defrauded her by soliciting positive reviews from non-legal clients and friends of employees in exchange for paid time off. The case was settled out of court, with the law firm promising never to pay for reviews again, but the trust with the community will be difficult to repair.

Another thing that will absolutely ruin your online reputation is responding to negative reviews with malice or denigration. This can be especially tempting when the person leaving the review is someone who has a personal grudge—I know of a few instances where disgruntled former clients or colleagues will send messages to review outlets like Super Lawyers as a means to lower the attorneys review ranking on the site.

Instead of trying to buy or argue your way out of a bad review, always take the high road. Do a little online research on the person writing the review and imagine that your potential client audience or referral sources are looking at how you respond. If word-of-mouth is the key, you want to make sure that what people hear about you is that you are classy and graceful under negative pressure.

Conclusion – The Best

The great thing about online reviews it that you have power to present your law firm and yourself with dignity and class, regardless of how good or bad your online reviews are. With the right kind of proactive brand management and a positive, responsive, and flexible attitude towards what others say about you, you can rise above the worst and reflect the glowing praises of the best.


© 2019 Denver Legal Marketing LLC

For more on legal marketing, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.