Tag: Legal Marketing

Social Media Policy Drafting: What are the Ethical Risks & Pitfalls?

The National Law Review’s featured Business of Law Guest  Blogger Meredith L. Williams of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC outlines some very real concerns for lawyers and law firms related to social media and state bar assocation guidelines.  Ms. Williams also offers some very concrete Do’s and Don’t on how to address these concerns.  Read on….

Today, social media encompasses a broad sweep of online activity, all of which is trackable and traceable.  These networks include not only the blogs you write and those to which you comment, but also social networks.  Each day brings new online tools and new advances introduce new opportunities to build your virtual footprint.

As a law firm, social media can help drive business initiatives and support professional development efforts. In basic business terms social media can be considered the least expensive form of large scale advertising. However, social media is not exclusively used for business by law firm employees.  When it comes to expressing opinions about anything having to do with the law, firm employees are in a position that requires limitations and have certain limitations. Statements in public forums may inadvertently create an attorney-client relationship, and they may also violate the rules prohibiting law firm advertising.  The wrong communication can be construed as exposing firm or client secrets; invasion of privacy and defamation; trademark violations; and may even lead to wrongful termination claims. Therefore, a law firm must attempt to provide reasonable guidelines for online behavior by members of the firm.

The following are five (5) ethical areas that all law firms should address when drafting internal social media policies. These can also be utilized by law departments when dealing with lawyer and non-lawyer employees.  All of these rules are simply an extension of model rules of professional conduct & state rules of ethics.  The over arching principles should remain the same as new social media sites and technologies emerge.

Advertising (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2)

Marketing and advertising are key functions for any business survival. However, lawyers, especially in law firms, are held to a higher standard when advertising through electronic means. Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2[1] states a lawyer or law firm may advertise through written, recorded or electronic means.  This includes all social media sites.

  Quick Reference
  Do

  • Have any personal or professional social media site as desired.
  • Use appropriate disclaimers as needed.

Do NOT

  • Use the organization’s name or email address on a personal site unless using the appropriate disclaimers.
  • Use the organization’s assets to update personal sites.
   

Example: A law firm creates a site on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. using the firm name.  Is this advertising?

Example: An employee of a law firm uses the firm name or firm email address on their personal Facebook site.  Is this advertising? 

State ethics boards consider the true crux of the advertising issue to be not who creates the site or the intent of the site but rather whether or not the site can be considered to be used for professional use.  If being used for professional use, social media presence and communication can be considered to fall within the advertising rules. 

Below are a few guidelines to include in firm policies to teach your employees (lawyers and non-lawyers) how not to create a professional site unless intended.

  • Employees should not associate the firm name or firm email address with the site unless it is intended for professional use.  This includes stating they are an employee of the law firm. 
  • Do not use firm assets to update personal sites.  This includes any law firm owned laptop or computer, I-Phone or blackberry, firm IP address and email address.  Using the firm email address implies the employee is acting on the firm’s behalf. 
  • Create an advertising disclaimer to help employees specifically state their use is personal or professional. 

This subject is difficult to approach with employees. Many will argue it is the same as verbally telling someone they work at a specific law firm. However, state boards have compared the online activity to a law firm website vs. verbal communication.  The best approach is helping employees understand how not to blur the lines of professional/ personal sites for their own protection.  As an employer, you want employees to continue using social media sites to broaden and help promote the firm brand.  However, you only want them to do it in the most ethical way.

Attorney-Client Relationship (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1 Series)

The attorney-client relationship is one of the oldest legal ethical standards.  It creates a certain set of duties the lawyer owes the client. The model rules of professional conduct set forth a series of guidelines that help regulate the creation and existence of this important relationship. In the electronic world, especially when utilizing social media, the important issue is whether any electronic communication creates an attorney-client relationship inadvertently. 

  Quick Reference
  Do

  • Post non-legal comments, blogs, etc. on any personal or professional site.
  • Use appropriate disclaimers as needed.

Do NOT

  • Post legal advice.
  • “Friend” anyone on a professional site unless previously corresponded or known.
  • “Friend” a Judge on a professional site.
   

Example: A lawyer of firm ABC is blogging on a social media site regarding new tax laws. A non-client comments to the blog inquiring about his specific tax situation. The lawyer in turn comments again discussing how the new tax laws apply to the non-client. Has an attorney-client relationship been created?

Law firms presently use disclaimers for emails and firm websites to verify no implied relationship is created.  But how do we instruct employees to this standard when social media sites are interactive by nature? Below are a few key policy guidelines to help employees navigate this difficult area.

  • Employees should never post legal advice.  This does not mean employees cannot comment or post to social media sites. It only relates to publishing or posting that could be construed as legal advice or opinion.  If the subject matter is related to a legal or ethical situation, attorneys and staff may only discuss the legal standards but not apply those standards to any particular fact situation. 
  • Firms should provide a disclaimer for employees to utilize when posting or commenting on professional social networking sites. 
  • When using social networks with firm e-mail and professional identification, employees should not “friend” anyone they do not know and/or with whom they have not previously corresponded. 
  • Some states have even gone so far as to also state that lawyers and judges cannot be “friends” on any professional social media sites. State ethics rules should be consulted prior to drafting any policy.

Client Confidentiality (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6)

Client confidentiality and business privacy are two of the largest concerns of employers when dealing with social media communication. Generally, a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent.  In addition, privacy of the organization, the business processes, the firm brand and the IP of the firm are key for business continuity.

  Quick Reference
  Do

  • Discuss job generically
  • Avoid uncontrolled forums.
  • Be respectful of other’s and the company’s privacy.
  • Get approval when responding to negative requests.

Do NOT

  • Discuss job specifics.
  • Use the client’s name.
  • Disclose specifics related to the business.
  • Disclose confidential information.
  • Upload law firm contacts onto a social media site.

 
   

Example: A lawyer begins discussing a case he is handling on his personal Facebook blog.  Although not referencing the client name, details of the case are discussed. Has the client confidentiality been broken?

Example: A law firm employee tweets about a firm staff meeting discussing salary and new hires.  Has the privacy of business been destroyed?

Law firms must address confidentiality and privacy standards in social media policies.  In addition, consequences for breaking these standards should also be detailed. Below are a few policy considerations to navigate this area. 

  • Employees should never use a client’s name unless written permission has been received.
  • Employees should never disclose confidential or private business information.  Sharing this type of information, even unintentionally, can result in legal action against the employee, the firm, and/or the client.
  • Outside the workplace, rights to privacy and free speech protect online activity conducted on personal social networks used with personal email addresses.  However, what is published on personal online sites should never be attributed to the firm and should not appear to be endorsed by or originated from the firm.
  • Employees should avoid forums where there is little control over what is known to be confidential information.  In the world of social networking, there is often a breach of confidentiality when someone emails an attorney or posts a comment congratulating him/her on representation of a specific client or on a specific case. 
  • Respect the privacy of other employees and of the opinions of others.  Before sharing a comment, post, picture, or video about a client or other employee through any type of social media or network, his/her consent is not only a courtesy, it is a requirement. 
  • Get Marketing/ PR departments involved when responding to certain inaccurate, accusatory or negative comments about the firm or any firm clients.

Expertise (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4)

  Quick Reference
  Do

  • Allow recommendations.
  • Review and monitor all recommendations carefully.
  • Edit or hide recommendations as needed to remove any verbiage that states you are “better”, “the best”, “expert”, “specialized” or “certified”.

Do NOT

  • Be false or misleading in online credentials.
  • Use the words “better” or “the best” in credentials or when recommending others.
  • Use the verbiage “expert”, “specialist” or “certified” to describe experience unless certified by an organization that is accredited by the ABA or the state bar. 
   

Many lawyers are considered experts or specialists by their peers in select areas of law.  However, using the expert designation can only be done with appropriate approval. Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4 generally states that a lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law.  In addition, a lawyer may promote the engagement in specific areas of practice.  However, a lawyer shall NOT state or imply that a lawyer is an expert or a certified specialist unless the lawyer has been certified by an organization that is accredited by the ABA or the state bar. 

This model rule affects the use of credentials and recommendations on social media sites.  What are the key areas to include in law firm policies?

  • Employees should never be false and misleading in online credentials.  All employees should maintain complete accuracy in all online bios and ensure no embellishment. 
  • Recommendations should be used carefully. Employees should review all recommendations created for them for any embellishment (i.e. use of the words better or best) expertise, certification or specialization listing.   Edit or hide recommendations as needed.
  • Employees should not include the words “expert”, “certified”, or “specialized” in their credentials unless authorized to do so.

Expertise and specialization is heavily regulated at the state level.  Some states have gone further in their restricted verbiage. State rules of ethics should be reviewed prior to any policy drafting.

General Communications (Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7 Series)

The final social media ethics concern revolves around general law firm and lawyer communication. In personal and especially professional communication, all communications must be truthful and accurate. 

  Quick Reference
  Do

  • Credit appropriately
  • Fact check
  • Spell & grammar check
  • Correct errors promptly
  • Be transparent
  • Follow firm policies
  • Obey the law

Do NOT

  • Personally attack, become involved in an online fights or hostile communication.
  • Solicit or use commercial speech.  The content must be informative only. Nothing should propose a commercial transaction
   

Law firms and law departments should consider the following general policy guidelines when drafting social media policies. 

  • Identify all copyrighted or borrowed material with citations and links.  When publishing any material online that includes another’s direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos, or videos, always give credit to the original material or author, where applicable. 
  • Ensure material is accurate, truthful, and without factual error prior to posting. 
  • Spell and grammar check everything.
  • Correct any mistakes promptly.
  • When participating social media sites in a professional manner, disclose identity and any firm affiliation.  Never use a false name, alias, or be anonymous.  Many courts have looked poorly on law firms and lawyers using alias names while on social media sites.
  • Follow all firm policies and procedures regarding online communications.  Be respectful and do not make statements that are defamatory; racially, sexually, or otherwise insensitive or offensive; or otherwise improper or likely to conflict with the interests of the firm, its employees, clients, affiliates and others, including competitors. 
  • Follow the site’s terms and conditions of use.
  • Do not post any information or conduct any online activity that may violate applicable local, state or federal laws or regulations.
  • Avoid personal attacks, online fights, and hostile communications. 
  • Employees should never solicit or use commercial speech.  Employees should not use a site as a way to directly solicit business for the firm.  While a blog itself is not subject to the limitation on commercial speech, the content of a blog can be.  The content must be informative only, and nothing in the content should propose a commercial transaction or be for the purpose of directly gaining a commercial transaction.

Conclusion

As discussed in this article, there are many ethical considerations when law firms and their employees decided to use social media sites.  Similar to email emerging as the main form of business communication ten (10) years ago, social media is now the communication wave of the future. This new format is how the next generation of leaders presently lives and communicates day to day.  The legal community must embrace the new technology and the opportunity to educate employees.

[1] Model Rules of Professional Conduct are professional standards that serve as models of the regulatory law governing the legal profession.  However, each state board of professional responsibility has additional or supplemental states rules of ethics. State rules should be considered prior to policy drafting.

©2010 Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author:

Meredith L. Williams is Baker Donelson’s Director of Knowledge Management.  Although trained as a lawyer, she is not actively engaged in the practice of law.  Instead, she oversees BakerNet, the Firm’s industry-leading intranet, and coordinates strategic growth on behalf of the Firm in knowledge management, competitive intelligence and technology.  Ms. Williams is widely recognized as a leading authority in knowledge management issues for the legal field, and is a frequent presenter and author on knowledge management and competitive intelligence. 

Ms. Williams is a member of the Association of Women Attorneys and the American, Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations. In addition, Ms. Williams is Conference Vice President for the International Legal Technology Association 2010-2011. She is a recipient of the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the University Of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School Of Law for her volunteer work.   901-577-2353 / www.BakerDonelson.com

Easy Tweeting – A Few Suggested Applications to Simplify Twitter

From the Business of Law Section of the National Law Review -by  Tom Ciesielka of TC Public Relations   suggests some applications that help streamline Twitter use for busy attorneys – read on:

For all those lawyers out there on Twitter, I’d like to suggest a few programs to simplify your Twitterverse.

TweetBeep

This web-based application enables users to set up a search for any keyword or phrase on Twitter, and receive hourly updates via email when any tweets include that keyword, phrase or hashtag. TweetBeep is an easy tool for tracking talk on Twitter about your firm, website, events or services. By monitoring the conversation about your firm, you can make sure you are managing your reputation and engaging with people who are interested in you – people who can become potential clients. You can also use TweetBeep as an application to measure the impact and engagement level of various cases, or track the reactions to your firm’s announcements or legal victories. It can also be a valuable tool for industry research if you monitor industry-specific terms (such as “intellectual property”) or even a competitor’s name. 

Tweet All About It

Sometimes it takes too much time to think about what to tweet (and we all know time is money). Tweet All About It makes it easy as “highlight” and “right click.” This downloadable program allows you tweet pieces of text from websites viewed on Firefox or Internet Explorer by highlighting the text, right clicking and selecting “Tweet All About It.” The text will automatically be tweeted from your Twitter username, and you will have saved time, energy & potentially, money.

Monitter

Anyone, even those without Twitter accounts, can go on the Monitter website and search and track keywords being using on Twitter (somewhat similar to TweetBeep). Users enter words into the search box and instantly see relevant tweets streaming in real-time. They can also send tweets or retweet to their accounts directly from the Monitter interface. You can download the widget for your website to keep track of what people are saying on Twitter about you or your firm.  It also can help you identify social media influencers for a certain legal topic or in a specific conversation and it allows you to quickly respond to or join those conversations.

This posting is republished with permission from the Chicago Lawyer Magazine Blog “Around the Watercooler” located at:  http://h20cooler.wordpress.com/2010/

Copyright © 2010 TC Public Relations 

Companies with in-house marketing departments handle a growing variety of projects these days. At some point, though, the workload often becomes overbearing. So, when is a good time to consider an outside firm to outsource work to?

When corporate budgets are tight, and time and resources are limited – that’s really the perfect time to contract work out. Here’s why:

1. MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION PLANS – An agency will help develop sophisticated marketing and communication plans for businesses that define and promote sales and marketing opportunities for the company, increasing ROI. Plans provide reports that map out results. They take into account an important aspect that is most often overlooked in companies — strategic marketing — and plan for the implementation and integration of marketing tactics.

2. TARGET AUDIENCE – Agencies can help enhance the definition of a company’s target audience because they look at businesses from an outside perspective. While a company may know an audience already through a metric such as sales reports, an agency can go in-depth to research and define not only who they are, but also how better to target them with results that work, creating a higher ROI.

3. NETWORKED IN THE COMMUNITY – Most likely, a local agency will be well-networked in the community, an added benefit for their clients. Agencies should be familiar with local news and media, for public relations and advertising purposes, and know what tactics work best for each part of your communication strategy. They also work with a variety of community vendors, which leads to the next point…

4. PRICING AND RESOURCES – Outside agencies may be able to negotiate better pricing on service and materials (such as stock photos and printing services) than in-house marketing departments. They have established relationships with a wide array of vendors which allows for price shopping and high quality.

5. CREATIVITY can be greater when a company’s marketing team works in tandem with an agency. In fact, most companies believe that the quality of work is much better. In-house marketing departments can often get too comfortable with products – losing their creative appeal. Outside agencies will have a fresh outlook and new ideas. They can also act as a catalyst for change by offering a different perspective on a myriad of issues.

6. WORK HIRED UNDER CONTRACT will be accompanied by a legally-binding agreement ensuring that roles and responsibilities are defined, ideas are well-crafted, and costs are calculated in the appropriate areas – which can be difficult for internal departments to determine.

© 2010 Furia Rubel Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

From Guest Blogger Laura Powers of Furia Rubel Communications, Inc. Laura Powers is a marketing strategist with a history of developing award-winning campaigns that create continuity of brand, Web, print and promotion. Laura understands how design and image components fit within comprehensive marketing programs – building brands and their affinities. Laura regularly manages a broad range of marketing and promotion collateral including interactive websites, annual reports, company catalogs, product and service brochures, capabilities, brand identity and correlating pieces, ongoing quarterly newsletters and e-marketing newsletters. 215-340-0480 www.furiarubel.com

Diversity: a Core Value and a Strategic Investment

This Week’s National Law Review  Business of Law Guest Blogger is Vera Djordjevich, Senior Law Editor of Vault.com.  Vera explains why diversity in the legal profession benefits everyone.

As the latest “Jobs & JDs” report from NALP makes clear, today’s lawyers face a challenging job market. Widespread layoffs, reduced summer programs and other recruitment-related cutbacks raise particular concern for those tracking diversity in the legal profession. Even before the recession, progress in this area, particularly at the law firm partnership level, had been slow; now, many worry that the economic fallout will have a disproportionate impact on attorneys of color and other under-represented minority groups.

It may be commonplace for employers to voice their support of a diverse workplace, but making diversity a reality rather than simply a refrain requires work, planning and, to some extent, money. When there’s less cash to go around, budgets for programs that ostensibly represent only a company’s conscience rather than its fiscal responsibility may be the first to shrink. However, diversity is not simply an ethical imperative, it is also a strategic endeavor. A company or law firm with a long-term strategy needs a well-rounded and able workforce to preserve and grow its business. The cultivation of talent, diverse in experience, culture and outlook, represents an investment in a firm’s future. It is not a distraction from, but a contribution to, a law firm’s fiscal health.

Moreover, if you look at both the tools that promote diversity and the effects that a diverse staff has on a work environment, it’s clear that they provide broad benefits to the business as a whole.

1.       Retention and development tools benefit all associates

Naturally, law firms need to be strategic and focused in their spending. But some of the most successful measures when it comes to diversity require little, if any, extra spending — mentoring, monitoring the progress of attorneys, and ensuring they have equal access to significant opportunities and clients in order to move forward in their careers.

The real hurdles may be less financial than philosophical. The legal profession is famously slow to institute significant structural change and law firms in particular hew to traditional systems of hiring, advancement and compensation. But the inherent limitations in the up-or-out pyramid model, lockstep salary system and trial-by-fire training are coming to the surface as more legal professionals consider alternative frameworks for compensation, assignment, advancement and development — frameworks that are merit-based, but focused more on evaluating than judging, developing than criticizing.

While many of these new models are discussed specifically in the context of improving retention among minority and women attorneys, the truth is these approaches should help all lawyers succeed. Consider these examples:

  • Effective frameworks based on core competencies
  • Solid, practical training programs
  • High-quality mentoring, in which mentoring is treated as a valuable contribution to the firm rather than a pro-forma obligation
  • Regular and substantive feedback regarding performance and expectations, rather than cursory annual reviews that take associates by surprise and offer little guidance
  • Recognition that there can be more than one effective approach to a given task

These are tools that benefit all associates and, by extension, the firm itself. Having a cadre of confident, well-trained and high-performing lawyers should be every law firm’s goal.

 2.       Everyone shares the benefits of an inclusive culture

This Friday, Vault and MCCA will be holding their fifth annual Legal Diversity Career Fair, giving diverse law student and lateral candidates and legal employers an opportunity to meet. As a prelude to the fair, Vault will be hosting a special breakfast to announce its 2011 Law Firm Diversity Rankings and honor the law firms who were the most highly rated by their own associates for their commitment to hiring, retaining and promoting diverse attorneys.

It seems no coincidence that the law firms that receive high marks for their commitment to diversity in our annual Law Firm Associate Survey include many of the same firms that are rated highest for firm culture and professional development. Of the top 20 firms in overall diversity this year, more than half were also ranked among the best in firm culture and for formal training and/or informal training and mentoring.

As an associate at one of the top-ranking firms noted in response to our survey: “The firm makes a conscious effort to recruit attorneys from diverse backgrounds and experiences, and it makes for noticeably better, more well-rounded case teams. I am continually amazed and impressed by the experiences my colleagues bring to the table.”

A law firm that keeps minority and women lawyers challenged, engaged and optimistic about their careers likely offers a welcoming environment and professional development opportunities to all of its attorneys. Having a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and insights represented among employees not only makes for a livelier, more interesting workplace, but it also produces better results.

© 2010 Vault.com Inc.

Vera Djordjevich Senior Law Editor, Vault.com

Vera Djordjevich is senior law editor at Vault.com, where one of her areas of focus is diversity in the legal profession. She oversees the research and publication of information about law firm diversity initiatives and metrics for the Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Database. She also edits Vault.com’s content related to law practice in the UK and co-authors Vault’s law blog, which provides career news, advice and intelligence to the legal community. Prior to joining Vault, Ms. Djordjevich was an editor at American Lawyer Media and practiced law in a small litigation firm in New York. She has a law degree from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Save the Date – ABA Annual Meeting August 5th – 10th

ABA (American Bar Association) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA Law Practice Management Section  are meeting August 4-7 at the Hilton Union Square / Business Law Section is meeting August 6-9 at San Francisco,  Fairmont / Intercontinental Mark Hopkins http://new.abanet.org/annual/pages/default.aspx

How Law Firms Can Leverage Their Relationships With Alumni (Including Those Not Leaving of Their Own Accord) and Why It Matters

From Guest Blogger Kate Neville of Neville Career Consulting, LLC – why keeping good relations with firm Alumni is important: 

A. Challenges of the New Economy

In 2009, more people were laid off by more firms than had been reported for all previous years combined.1 Letting attorneys go in significant numbers is not something large law firms have had a great deal of experience with until recently. Standard practice in most large law firms had been to retain attorneys until a partnership decision was made. These firms did so in part because they feared the reputational stigma attached to firing one of their own; as one blog explains, the “vast majority” of prospective lawyers “turned up their noses at firms…[that] laid people off.”2

How quickly times have changed. Despite the novelty of big firms having to let their attorneys go, it still comes as a surprise how poorly some large law firms have handled the process of layoffs over the past year. To be fair, firms made these decisions under great stress and uncertainty, when the risk of total firm collapse existed and in fact happened to some, which certainly influenced the choices they made.  Many firms insist that they have only let attorneys go for performance rather than economic reasons, even when it strains credulity. It is difficult to believe that a firm suddenly realized, all at once, that dozens of its attorneys had sub-par performance, particularly when some of those lawyers were recently made junior partners, or when those attorneys were in their first or starting their second year of practice.

Most analysts (and other attorneys in private conversation) recognize that these lawyers would never be let go in a stronger economy as long as they made money for employers. To their credit, some firms forced to make layoffs have stated this explicitly and expressed regret at having to say goodbye to respected colleagues.  Even at firms that have been up front about the economic necessity of layoffs, however, stories abound of attorneys being given almost no notice, little or no severance, and no assistance in securing a new position.  Departing associates have told of working closely with a partner for years, only to receive an email message in farewell.  In a few cases, attorneys have been shut out of the firm’s computer system while they were being given the news, and others have been immediately escorted out of the building with their personal items forwarded separately by messenger. Such jarring departures, while common in investment banking and internet start-ups, had been unheard of for members of the bar in good standing whose only misdeed was that they were caught in a down legal economy.

Certainly, not all firms have handled things so poorly. Indeed, some have worked to create a “soft landing” for their attorneys who have been laid off. These efforts have typically included providing career counseling and outplacement services, offering appropriate severance packages, making office space available, and keeping attorneys’ phone lines and email accounts active.

By far, the most helpful — and loyalty engendering– thing a firm can do for its former attorneys is to make calls on their behalf and provide contacts who are knowledgeable about opportunities for the individual now looking. In the past, once it was decided that a senior associate was not going to be made partner, almost all large firms made an effort to place the individual in a position with a client or somewhere one of the firm’s partners was well known. While some individual attorneys have asked for and received this type of help in the past year, the courtesy has not been extended as a matter of practice to attorneys told that they no longer have a position with their firm.

There is of course no public data on which firms did what in the process of letting go of attorneys, so it is impossible to calculate how things were handled by the field as a whole.  Nevertheless, it remains clear that in the face of hard times and increasing financial pressures, it is in a firm’s interest to avoid unnecessarily aggressive, and arguably self defeating, approaches to downsizing their workforce.

B. The Business Rationale: Why It Matters

As one large firm associate noted in early 2009,

I remember back in 2003, one of my colleagues was laid off from our firm, and they provided him with six months’ salary and hired a professional career consultant/placement agent to help him land safely.…This firm did all the right things, including telling him that it was purely for economic reasons and not performance related. The rewards to the firm were obvious — he joined the in-house legal team of a Fortune 50 corporation, and still looks back fondly at our former firm despite being laid off.3

The absence of far-sighted strategies on the part of some large firms in letting attorneys go exists, of course, in large part because firms are under pressure to save money—the driving force behind the layoffs in the first place. Economic conditions have changed drastically since 2003 — firms no longer feel flush, there is no reassurance that business will increase in the near future, and fewer Fortune 50 corporations are hiring.

It seems that, in their rush to adapt to changing economic conditions, decision makers at some firms may have lost their long-term perspective. In some cases, administrators in charge of marketing and business development have made the case internally for substantive severance packages in order to maintain goodwill among departing attorneys only to be turned down by managing partners or others on the management committee.

The question remains at what cost firms make these decisions. Eventually the downturn will end. Law firm alumni will find jobs somewhere, very possibly with potential clients, and firms will get back into hiring mode. Consequently, it makes economic sense for firms to handle layoffs sensitively and to do as much as they can for outgoing employees in the midst of tough economic times.

When firms insist on claiming performance issues and treat their former employees so poorly, it not only poisons the relationship with the individual but also can quickly ruin the firm’s reputation with that individual’s former colleagues, clients, and fellow alumni. These procedures and processes — or the lack thereof — also mean that a firm assumes the risk of driving away future candidates and causing prospective clients to question the firm’s judgment, placing its future in jeopardy. It is difficult to see a rationale for some of the problematic things firms have done.

Accounting firms and management consulting firms have for many years invested in maintaining good relations with their former employees. They have, of course, not done so out of the goodness of their hearts but rather because it has proven to be good business. Through measures such as developing alumni networks to keep in touch and developing programs that attract alumni to remain engaged with their former employers, these companies regularly develop future business contacts and promote loyalty and goodwill that can help attract top candidates and clients in the future. The business argument that has persuaded business leaders across industries to maintain good relationships with their former employees follows.

First, attorneys already have a lifetime affiliation with a firm for which they have worked because the firm is always on their resume. When asked, as will be the case in almost any new position, alumni will of course speak more highly of the firm if their departure is handled well. The reverse is also true.

Second, the market will improve at some point, and firms will again compete for talent.  It is much less expensive to rehire people who have already been trained by the firm than to invest the huge sums that firms have traditionally put into their recruiting programs or paying recruiters to hire laterals.  Alienated former employees will not want to return and, even if they do, are not likely to perform at their best. In addition, any negative information about a firm will impact future law student candidates who often listen closely to the experience their school’s alumni have had with a firm. These recruiting circles are small.

Third, especially in a tough economy, it is critical to leverage relationships for business development. A firm has no way of knowing where its former attorneys will end up; and, if they happen to land in a large potential client’s office, their opinion of the firm matters a great deal. Conversely, if attorneys retain a positive view of their experience there, the firm could have much to gain.

Law firms have an opportunity to learn from corporate America and recognize that it is always good business to create a web of connections and to invest in developing positive relationships among people. Over the past year, only a limited number of law firms have seemed to understand that it is in their interest to help their attorneys land well.

C. What: Programming For Big Impact With Little Dollars

The lack of foresight many firms have demonstrated in how they let attorneys go is not only due to pressure to save money but is also explained in part by the legal field’s record of lagging behind other industries in developing and leveraging alumni networks.  Some law firms have taken the lead in developing such programs in recent years, but making the case for a law firm to develop procedures to maintain goodwill with their attorneys on their departure and going forward will likely be an uphill climb in the current economy. Virtually all businesses are concerned about how to do more with less, so law firm leaders are likely to question what can be done when most are already having to make budget cuts.

Even though law firms lack the infrastructure that other industries have created, measures to maintain good alumni relations do not need to be cost-intensive. At their core, successful networks are a combination of strong communications, networking, and follow-up. As other industries have learned, such programming is all about relationships; and, while it may be nice to have money to support them, hosting receptions and other costly events is not the only option.

In fact, inviting alumni to a law firm social event may not be the most effective route to maintaining good relations with attorneys who have been asked to leave. In one example, associates who had been laid off received their firm’s alumni end-of-the-year newsletter, which included an invitation to the firm’s holiday party. To its credit, the firm was making clear it considered these former employees to be just like other alumni of the firm, but several of the laid-off attorneys expressed incredulity that the firm that fired them now wanted to celebrate the end of the year with them. Further, the firm seemed to lack sensitivity when the letter it sent went on to tout how successful the firm had been that year — one in which it also laid off 55 attorneys, all of whom were receiving this news.4

Other kinds of interaction could prove to be both more productive as well as less expensive than formal events. Particularly when administrators within a firm have seen their responsibilities expand because fewer people are left to do the work, the measures a firm is most likely to adopt are those that will not require much additional work. A few lowcost examples of steps to maintain good relations with law firm alumni follow.

First, the loyalty-engendering practice mentioned above — of partners giving departing attorneys contact information for those who are knowledgeable about the individual’s field and making calls on an attorney’s behalf — costs nothing but a little time. Particularly since it has now become standard practice solely to confirm dates of employment, law firms willing to reach out on an individual’s behalf, give candid recommendations, or at the very least provide an objective reason for the departure, will stand out among their competitors.

Second, a firm can piggyback the steps it takes to develop alumni networks onto other initiatives already being undertaken. These can include incorporating alumni into client seminars and events, offering discounted continuing legal education (CLE) programs to keep bar memberships current, and inviting alumni to program events already planned as part of women’s or diversity initiatives or of particular practice areas.

Third, a firm can inexpensively create an alumni directory, keeping email addresses and other contact information updated so that individual alumni can reach out independently to one another. Maintaining such a directory provides a fair-value exchange for the firm, which gets up-to-date employment information and business leads.

Fourth, disseminating job postings has been a low-cost item that many attorneys have appreciated in firms that have begun this practice. The firm’s clients are often happy to have applications from alumni, and posting positions of which a firm’s individual attorneys are aware helps build their personal networks as well.

Finally, in headier economic times a number of firms developed a component of their websites specifically dedicated to alumni of the firm, but creating a firm-specific alumni group on Linked In and Facebook can achieve similar results at lower cost. Content is typically driven by determining what information alumni want, which has included career programs (webinars, conference calls, or in-person) and allowing alumni to opt in to different newsletters that practice areas put out with practice/industry-related news.

The future hiring model for large law firms remains up in the air, and the rise in the use of contract attorneys may change these equations so that law firms make money without modifying the way they let their attorneys go. The return on investing in continuing relationships will be great for firms that still want to compete for top talent and loyal clients.

For those firms that want to compete but might have handled layoffs in ways that were less than productive last year, future success will largely depend upon senior management creating a culture that recognizes the value of strong relationships and leverages opportunities to maintain them.

1 “The Year in Law Firm Layoffs – 2009,” LawShucks. According to the blog LawShucks and as cited in the ABA Journal on January 8, 2010, 4,633 lawyers were laid off at 138 large firms.

2 Ibid.

3 Anonymous posting to Above The Law, February 5, 2009.

4 As posted on Above The Law, December 8, 2009.

© 2007-2010 Neville Career Consulting, LLC

Posted by: Kate Neville

Kate Neville, Esq., a Harvard Law graduate, is founder of Neville Career Consulting, LLC, which provides guidance to attorneys considering a job change or career transition, whether within the practice of law or to another field.She began her career practicing law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and as an in-house attorney for New York City government before shifting to positions in management consulting and policy analysis. After serving as an advisor in Georgetown Law’s Office of Career Services, Kate decided to use her experience to help practicing attorneys identify the full…

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What Corporate America Can Learn from America’s Greatest Spy. Corporate Data Security Quick Reminders.

Since the 1990’s the information explosion has drastically increased the ability to share information and also the ability to steal information.  Former FBI undercover operative Eric O’Neill is widely credited with bringing down America’s most notorious spy, Robert Phillip Hanssen.  At Inside Counsel’s Super Conference, Eric gave the first day’s Keynote address where he outlined how Corporation’s can learn some lessons from the Hanssen case.

As an undercover surveillance specialist, O’Neill was trained to watch, profile and follow people. In 2001, O’Neill was approached by his superiors to investigate special agent Robert Hanssen. O’Neill was assigned as a direct report of Hanssen’s and on his first day of work, Hanssen introduced O’Neill to “Hanssen’s Law.” “Hanssen’s law” was that the spy is always where he has access to the information that he knows he can use to do the most damage and get the most money.

In the corporate setting , O’Neill outlined a few obvious and not so obvious ways that industrial spies obtain proprietary corporate information:

Corporate Dumpster Diving: Picking up information that is cast off (i.e. trash at home or work.)  Most larger organizations have thorough data destruction policies and employ data destruction vendors. But things can go very wrong if procedures are not faithfully followed or if vendors are not fully vetted and monitored.  There needs to be corporate awareness that data security is everyone’s  daily concern.

Security industry analyst Steve Hunt, who heads up Hunt Business Intelligence, believes too many people think  that data security is just an IT issue. “There are so many physical security aspects to data protection it ought to never be considered merely an IT security issue,” Hunt said in an article written for CSO On-Line.   With all the focus on protecting electronic data, many organizations forget about paper data and the physical protection of electronic data.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Hunt recently did a corporate dumpster dive in a major U.S. City and found all sorts of things that would be in violation of most companies’ data destruction policies.  The dive turned up cancelled checks with the bank account owner’s social security number written on top. The bank account numbers, balances for the political fundraising account of “a certain prominent politician in the area.” Hunt also found the personal financial statement of a very wealthy individual, including the person’s name, home address, real estate owned and values of the properties, several of the individual’s bank account numbers, social security number and date of birth. Hunt’s experiment even yielded a whole laptop with a tag on the back that says “Property of [another financial institution]”.  Steve’s adventure took all of three minutes and he astutely advises companies to do their own dumpster diving tests to monitor how their company’s data destruction policies are actually functioning. 

Corporate Charity:  Information that is ‘castoff’ can include old computers donated to charity.  O’Neill detailed situations where companies purchased all the old computers of their competitor from a charity who supposedly cleaned off all pertinent information and the purchaser ended up obtaining valuable business information from their competitor’s donated computers.  If making a charitable donation of your used electronic equipment, is what your organization chooses to do, it may make sense to do the data cleaning in house prior to physically surrendering your old equipment, so you can control the data cleaning process.

Corporate Posers / Impostors:  Corporate spies often attempt to gain access by relying on people’s willingness to help out, the awkwardness of questioning strangers, and the excitement of receiving free stuff. Corporate spies know these human tendencies and use them to their full advantage. According to O’Neill, a hacker could be posing as ‘Joe from IT’ sending you an email or phone call requesting your password.  If you’re busy or distracted, this just may work.

“Hi, I’m the rep from Cisco and I’m here to see Nancy.”  Chris Nickerson, founder of Lares, a Colorado-based security consultancy, recently pulled off a successful social engineering exercise for a client by wearing a $4 Cisco shirt that he got at a thrift store (Read: Anatomy of a Hack).

Criminals will often take weeks or months getting to know a place before even coming in the door, according to O’Neill. Posing as a client or service technician is one of many possibilities. Knowing the right thing to say, who to ask for, and having confidence are often all it takes for an unauthorized person to gain access to a facility, according to Nickerson.  

Other old stand-bys according to O’Neill are: “Can you hold the door for me? I don’t have my key/access card on me.”. An another version would be “Can you hold the door for me?” while carrying a box of “paper for a printer” using both hands.  How many people at your organization would turn away a HVAC person on an emergency call after normal business hours?  Would the air conditioner  / heater actually be serviced? Or would bugs be planted,  phones be tapped,  pictures be taken? Would computer drives be duplicated, papers photocopied, or data altered? 

Another ruse is Flash Drives distributed at conferences or left in strategic locations. Flash drives left unattended in a parking lot, public bathroom or elevator of a targeted company may be a part of a sophisticated social engineering attack. These drives may be seeded with a trojan horse set to automatically run as soon as the drive is inserted and quietly steal your personal or company information in the background.  This happened in an actual attack against the U.S. Pentagon!

Take Away:   Closely check the background and reputation of any data destruction vendors.  Verify  that the data is actually destroyed in a non-usable format, and monitor closely that your corporate record destruction procedures are being faithfully followed.  Remember the simple and obvious ways that corporate spies can try to gain your trust and gain access to vital information.   Be wary of free give away computer devices or cast off computer items that can be inserted into your computer.

Eric M. O’Neill is the founding partner of the Georgetown Group, where he specializes in counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations, security risk assessments, investigations into economic espionage, internal investigations, and background investigations. Eric served as an undercover operative for the F.B.I., where he conducted national security field operations against terrorists and foreign intelligence agents.  His role in the investigation and capture of Robert Phillip Hanssen, the most notorious spy in United States history, became the subject of Universal Studio’s , movie Breach , released to critical acclaim in 2007. 

Why Attorneys Should Be Working with the Press, Instead of Against Them

Guest Blogger – veteran journalist and PR Pro Paramjit L. Mahli  of SCG Legal PR Network provides some very tangible and usable pointers related to attorney – press relations.   

Look it up in the dictionary!
You know that public relations is an important aspect of your business development strategy. But do you know the appropriate plan of action to take in order to achieve optimal success?

Solo practitioners and attorneys from small law firms often resist public relations. They cite not having enough time, a lack of understanding of its role, or the dearth of resources, to make public relations part of their business development plans. Coupled with stereotypes of the press, such as reporters only going to the big law firms or only wanting the drama and not the facts, it’s no surprise that media relations is relegated to the bottom of business development activities, particularly if the firm has already achieved some “visibility” that did not result in new clients.
 
The reality is that public relations is an indispensable part of business development strategy for every firm, regardless of size. Getting quoted in news stories, both in targeted industry publications and mainstream media, is one of the most cost-effective ways of securing exposure. A good public relations plan serves several purposes: it builds reputation and visibility, allows firms, practice areas and solo practitioners to become known, liked and trusted in their target market, and finally—and most importantly— helps to bring more business.
 
Before embarking on a public relations plan, you must ensure that all of the firm’s marketing communications materials, such as blogs, Web sites, newsletters and e-zines, address the “What’s in it for me question for prospects and that differentiation is clear. The next step is to target the industry publications and media outlets that your target market reads.
 
Whether you’re a firm that is working with public relations consultants or implementing the plan with internal resources, or you’re a solo practitioner implementing it on your own, the following considerations will make your media relations plan a lot more focused and effective. 

Who are my clients? What do they read? Do they read online publications? Knowing the answers to these questions will guide your choices of the publications to target, whether they are local dailies, weeklies, magazines or trade/professional journals. While being quoted in The New York Times is prestigious, it’s meaningless if your target market doesn’t read that publication. There are attorneys who want media exposure for personal reasons, but often this is in direct conflict with the targeted media relations campaign. 

  1. Conduct an audit of your expertise. What areas of expertise do you have that are frequently the focus of news stories? This will help you identify reporters who cover your area of expertise and build relationships with them. Reporters are constantly on the lookout for attorneys who can simplify legislation; knowing who covers your area of expertise will help position you as a source. For example, if your area of expertise is workplace discrimination in the financial services industry, getting to know reporters who cover this beat is key. 
  2. Know what reporters have been covering in your areas of expertise. There is nothing worse than pitching a story that has already been covered. Not only is it embarrassing, but it also demonstrates to the reporter that you or your public relations team has not done the homework. It is a sure way of lessening your credibility with that reporter. 
  3. Don’t overlook changes or emerging trends in your practice area. These offer golden opportunities to be quoted or to provide commentary. Once you have built those relationships, you can send reporters a quick e-mail or call them, alerting them to possible stories. 
  4. Too often opportunities on the Op-Ed pages are overlooked Writing an Op-Ed piece is a good way of getting to know the editor and bringing to light an issue that is affecting your target market. Letters published in Op-Ed pages can result in story ideas for reporters. 
  5. Depending on your targeted publication, you can pitch Q&As and stories on pitfalls to avoid, such as the top ten mistakes to avoid when friends become partners in business ventures or top ten mistakes to avoid when negotiating a severance package. Even if your story submissions are overlooked, every couple of months, with the permission of the reporter, continue to send him story ideas. Reporters/producers/guest bookers all keep background information on topics that they cover. 
  6. Don’t overlook the importance of becoming a resource for the reporter; this is where you provide background information. While you may not be quoted immediately, opportunities will continue to come your way. Reporters tend to have long memories; they know who is a valuable and trustworthy source. The busier they are, the more premium they place on their sources. Becoming a resource goes a long way toward building relationships with reporters. 
  7. Consider inviting reporters to any Continuing Legal Education training/seminars that the firm may be offering. By extending the invitation, make certain that the seminar is in an area that the reporter is interested in. 
  8. Monitor editorial calendars regularly. Many publications have their calendar online. An editorial calendar is a valuable tool for gauging what a publication plans to cover throughout the year, and helps you avoid missed opportunities. It gives attorneys and law firms plenty of time to remind reporters that they are available to be quoted and provides time to craft and submit story ideas. 
  9. Know when to say no to the press. Reporters may be focusing on stories that will be detrimental to your target market. In such circumstances, it is prudent to give reporters a couple of other sources from whom they can obtain a quote. Whether or not an attorney wants to be quoted in such a story, it is still imperative to return the phone call in a timely manner.
  10. Becoming known as an expert in one or more areas is only part of the equation; the other part is leveraging these opportunities successfully into other marketing activities. Articles, columns and/or bylines written by attorneys can be sent to prospects, strategic alliances and clients with the view of providing value, rather than circulating them with the intent of getting the attorney known.

Finally, it is absolutely imperative to recognize and understand that building credibility and visibility does not happen overnight and rarely does it reap immediate results. It may take a nanosecond to destroy a reputation, but to build one takes work, effort and commitment from all the decision makers in the firm. However, with a sustained campaign working in conjunction with other marketing activities, public relations will reap huge dividends.

Paramjit L Mahli is with award winning SCG Legal PR Network. She is a former journalist who has worked with CNN Business News, Canadian Broadcast Corporation and Journal of Commerce. Comprised of small and large firms throughout the USA, SCG Legal PR Network connects legal experts with reporters nationally and internationally. Ms. Mahli is a contributor to Legal Broadcast Network and writes frequently for Technolawyer. She also trains and gives CLEs regularly on media relations and public relations.  www.scglegalprnetwork.com

Getting Your Firm’s Articles Read by Corporate Counsel

Newspaper Headline

In-house attorneys have always been generalists but now, more than ever, as layoffs have hit in-house law departments hard, they must act like ER doctors conducting triage when the ambulance gets in. They have to quickly identify the problem, establish priorities, determine what they can handle themselves, and whether they will require the services of a specialist or outside counsel. So how do articles written by lawyers enter into the mix of helping in-house counsel determine what’s a “Code Blue”?

A Descriptive Headline Helps the Article be Found

From the start, the article’s title sets the tone. Well-read articles have descriptive headlines that also include the relevant industries and jurisdictions involved. Cute headlines may be fun, but in-house counsel aren’t looking for fun in legal articles.  If the targeted reader can’t quickly figure out what the article is about, the article won’t get read and the author and his or her law firm won’t reap the benefits. .

In search-engine terms, the title of your article is the most interesting element. The search engine assumes that the title contains all the important words that define the topic of the piece, and thus weights words appearing there most heavily. When writing a title, think about search terms readers will use when looking for articles on the same topic as yours.

Descriptive Headlines Part Two– Sometimes Less Is More

Many legal writers have caught wind that the article title is important to search engines and accordingly try to cram every conceivable keyword into the title.  This results in a long, unreadable, and often boring title.  Titles should include terms such as “healthcare,” “labor,” and “bankruptcy” for articles that address those issues. For federal cases, mentioning the circuit and district is often important, but it’s rarely necessary to include “the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia” in the title. The word on the street is that Google will display approximately 65-70 characters of a title tag in a search result and will index additional characters in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). The lesson is don’t blow the first 65 characters of your article’s title on text that does not tell your reader what the article is about and why it is important.

Also, many firms and article syndication services tweet article headlines to drum up more interest. With Twitter you have 140 characters max.  Newsletter, journal publishers, and article syndication services have strict title character limits. It’s been said that your title is the face of your writing. If you don’t want a stranger to take a scalpel to your face without your input, be forewarned.

Effective Articles Help the Reader Quickly Assess the Situation

Effective articles succinctly identify the key issues early on in the text.  If it’s a new healthcare regulation, does it impact all healthcare organizations or just hospices? Is it just in Illinois or nationwide? Let the reader know what the issue is from the start, then explain why it is important, who is impacted, and what jurisdictions are involved.

Many article-publishing services and law firm Web sites only include short teasers of the article’s content in areas highly accessible to search engines, meaning either the full text is in a less searchable format like PDF or the bulk of the text is behind a password- protected section of the Web site. In addition, many legal writers writing about a local issue bury the jurisdiction at the end of the article hoping that they will draw in more readers. Your readers will be unhappy if they have to log on or wait for a PDF to open only to find out the article only addresses one far-flung jurisdiction. If you want to draw in national readers, why not also include a succinct blurb on the regulations in a few large states like Texas, New York, and California? Your single-state article addresses a broader audience and is more likely to be passed on to other interested readers.

Help Your Reader Make the Sale

Most legal writers include government statistics and tales of multimillion verdicts to draw in the reader.  Law departments have to adhere to their budgets, so if they want additional resources (e.g., outside counsel) or resources beyond what is typically budgeted, (e.g.,. high-priced counsel, panel counsel, and local counsel), the assistant counsel must seek permission from the General Counsel,, The General Counsel, in turn, may need authorization from the CEO and/or  may need to make his or her case to the Board.   Your statistics and case references can be a great start in helping inside counsel make their case.  Your articles may also assist CEOs, CFOs, and Board members who do their own research on pertinent legal issues so they can ask informed questions of their General Counsel and form their own opinion of the gravity of particular regulations or litigation issues.

Present Solutions, Not Just Headaches

Whenever possible, don’t just identify problems, try to offer potential solutions or postulate possible outcomes.  Establish your credibility by demonstrating your expertise. Simply identifying problems leaves your reader with that  “Oh no—now what do I do?” feeling. Offering ideas on how to solve those problems leaves the reader with the “I have a problem and maybe this law firm can help me” feeling.

Jennifer Schaller is Managing Director of the National Law Review, an online magazine and database resource for in-house counsel and other professionals.  Jennifer started her legal career at Aon Corporation and has also worked at CNA Financial and Smith Amundsen LLC.  Jennifer can be reached at 708-357-3317.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of In the Loop, the Legal Marketing Association Midwest Chapter newsletter, originally published 5/21/2010.

© 2010 Legal Marketing Association — Midwest Chapter

Legal Marketers & Recruiters, A Recipe for Success

Legal Marketing & Recruiting Working in Sync

Business of Law Guest Blogger Jeffrey Morgan from Moiré Marketing Partners makes some interesting observations for the law firm world.

Recruiting lateral partners is one the most important ways that a firm may increase their gross revenue, profits per partner, revenue per attorney all while adding value and importance to the firm. Recruiting a “high profile” lateral partner should be treated with equal importance as landing a new client or getting additional business from an existing client.

I recently attended a meeting of the Los Angeles Legal Marketing Association (LA LMA) where members of The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) were also invited. I was really surprised when I observed marketing and recruiting professionals from the same firm greeting each other as if they barely knew one another! Almost as fascinating was watching where everyone sat and interacted with each other at the luncheon. By and large recruiters tended to gravitate to each other while marketers exchanged hugs and greetings and sat together at their tables. Rarely did the two groups mix or mingle.

The excellent panel was stressing the need and importance for recruiters and marketers to work together as a team in the lateral recruiting process. They then asked for a show of hands to see how many marketing professionals actually took part in the process of recruiting laterals; few hands were raised. When the same question was asked of the recruiters the results were similar. (Kudos to the smaller firms in attendance where marketers and recruiters seemed to have a better working relationship.) It was clear that there is a separation between marketers and recruiters and according to the panel this dynamic needs to change.

As marketing and communication specialists, most agencies tell law firms and accounting firms that when they write marketing materials they need to write for a scanning reader. The two exceptions to this rule are when you are responding to an RFP and when you are writing a pitch to attract a lateral recruit. When you’re developing these business critical documents you can count on them being read word for word and being reviewed with great scrutiny.

The recruitment of a lateral has to be as important as landing a piece of business, maybe more so, this is why marketers and recruiters need to collaborate better to attract important lateral partners to the firm. Marketers know how to develop collateral materials that will appeal to a recruit’s emotions getting them to listen to your firm’s message; recruiters have the vital information laterals are looking for that will demonstrate that this move is going to pay off for them in the long run.  Most senior laterals are not looking to jump around, they want to find a home where they can grow their practice and know that they will be respected and given the support and business platform they need to succeed.

There are many reasons why good lawyers and accountants leave good firms: mergers, conflicts, changes in culture, however if your initial recruiting materials are not as convincing and as attractive to a lateral as another firm’s, you may never make it on to that recruit’s short list.

As with all important choices like this, the final selection is going to be based on the relationships that the lateral has or develops at the firm while interviewing. And, no one knows how to sell you firm as the “firm of choice” better than the firm’s marketing professionals. So recruiters please welcome the assistance of the marketing team in your lateral recruiting efforts, and marketers understand that recruiting is just as fine of an art as bringing in new business. Once both departments improve the lines of communications everyone will benefit, particularly your firm.

Full Text available at:  http://www.natlawreview.com/article/marketers-recruiters-recipe-success