Tag: Legal Technology

Register for the 9th Annual National Institute on E-Discovery – May 15th in New York City

ABA Nat Inst E Discov May 15

Remaining current is critical to successful litigation. This program is relevant for both in-house and outside counsel who are involved in litigation and the discovery process. E-Discovery is a rapidly evolving field with laws and regulations that are constantly changing.  Attendees of this program will gain practical knowledge that may be implemented immediately in day-to-day operations.

Additional Information Institute Brochure

  • Noted practitioners and jurists will address:
  • Practical tips for managing litigation holds
  • Preserving personal data devices in light of the varying interpretations of “possession, custody, and control”
  • Judges’ perspectives on the Proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure amendments
  • Recent court decisions, as reviewed by one of the industry’s leading authorities on E-Discovery case law
  • Meeting ethical obligations related to securing clients’ E-Discovery data
  • The unique aspects of cross-border E-Discovery between the U.S., and the European Union, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Canada

Register now!

Three Reasons You Need Email Marketing

RW Lynch Company, Inc.

Email marketing. You may have heard that it is old fashioned, ineffective and ultimately a waste of time and effort. Despite what the naysayers preach, this is simply untrue. We live in the internet age. It is crucial for law firms to get their name out there. Email marketing is a thriving, affordable and effective way to build and market your firm, increase conversions and remind clients who you are. We believe that email marketing is one of the best business practices for lead cultivation and management. Why?

It’s inexpensive

Perhaps the best feature of email marketing is that it is economical. Email marketing is a great way to spend less and receive a greater return on your investment. It cuts out high costs that other marketing channels, like direct mail, add on. You can communicate with contacts more frequently because an email takes less time and money to create. All you need is an effective email marketing program. Many legal marketing companies, like RW Lynch, provide an email marketing service that will take care of everything from templates to content, and more.

It’s convenient

Emails are easy to send, and they are easy to receive. A postal mailing, for example, takes significantly more time and effort. Designing, printing, folding, stuffing, stamping and mailing does not leave much time for taking care of clients. Typing a quick email and clicking send is a lot more cost effective, and saves a lot more of your valuable time. Email marketing is even convenient for you clients. Imagine the likelihood of a client carrying around a physical mail piece to share with their loved ones. Now imagine the likelihood of that same client forwarding an informative email, or sharing it on social media. Email marketing is simply an easier way to communicate with leads.

It keeps you on their mind

The best feature of email marketing might be that it is economical, but the most important aspect of email marketing is that it keeps you in touch with current and former clients. Remind your contacts that you are there when they need you, without becoming overbearing. Remind your clients that you care by sending personalized messages, holiday greetings and birthday wishes. Your clients are far more likely to refer you to their friends and family if they remember that you worked hard for them. The easiest way to remind them is through consistent email marketing.

There are a lot of options when it comes to marketing yourself and your law firm. Many options are exceedingly expensive and offer little to no return on effort and investment. Email marketing is a simple practice that will make a big impact. If you think that you are too busy for email marketing, don’t forget that there are many email marketing programs available and waiting to help you succeed.

ARTICLE BY

Brian Lynch
OF
RW Lynch Company, Inc.

A Cheap Website Could Cost Your Firm Millions of Dollars

Consultwebs, Legal marketing

Lawyers know the value of hiring an experienced, successful lawyer for representation. An inexpensive lawyer that has a small, inexperienced staff and lack of resources may cost less initially, but the long-term results could be disastrous.

Web marketing is the same.  While cheap websites are plentiful, the return on investment (ROI) will be minimal since the cheap website will not compete favorably with the large number of Internet competitors.

Is low-cost Web design really a bargain when the Internet is outpacing every advertising medium in growth?  Below are some examples and considerations.

The Cheap Website Looked Like a Pretty Good Choice

Consider a typical, small Personal Injury practice we talk to on a daily basis. Let’s call it “Sample Law Firm.” The marketing director at Sample Law Firm researched website developers and selected what he thought was a good deal. The contract terms probably appeared to offer quite a bargain: maybe the low-bid vendor waived a few “standard” fees and set up the website for low or no cost, based on an annual contract of $2,000 per month for maintenance and SEO services.

A year or two later, Sample Law Firm has seen a $6,000 monthly return from the new, inexpensive website. The budget-minded marketing director celebrates his success, feeling like he made a rather smart investment.

And it would be hard to argue, right?

ROI Matters When Considering Your Firm’s Website

Let’s consider how Sample Law Firm might look today if its decision-makers had considered investment ROI when deciding on a Web vendor.

A competing legal Web marketing company with a strong reputation in the industry counseled Sample Law Firm to devote a larger budget to develop a more robust, more compelling Web platform that included many additional methods of obtaining clients. The catch was, “doing it right” required a $5,000- to $12,000-per-month additional investment for search marketing and audience development initiatives via social media, strategic paid advertising, public relations, outreach, and community involvement.

After the first year, as Sample Law Firm invested $5,000 to $12,000 per month, their average monthly return was $60,000 to $200,000 above their investment.

the high cost of a cheap website

Choosing the cheap website, Sample Law Firm garnered about $4,000 per month profit on its $2,000 outlay. In contrast, had the firm’s leadership taken into account the ROI potential of a tightly targeted but higher monthly expenditure, the firm would have netted $127,500 each month on its $8,500 investment, depending upon the competitiveness of the market, aggressiveness of the campaign, and other factors.

The “inexpensive” website cost the firm $123,500 per month, or $1,530,000 over the course of a year.

inexpensive law firm website

Law firms achieve a strong investment return on their websites when they give Web visitors an immediate sense of trust in the firm. A well-designed website establishes trust by revealing that the firm is professional, credible and experienced, and has a human touch. Highly talented legal marketing vendors have the experience to make sure a site delivers this experience and converts visitors by immediately earning their website visitors’ trust.

What Does a Bigger Website Investment Buy Me?

Many Web vendors “sell” their service but do not back the sale up with support.  They provide template reports and periodic brief meetings, but do not provide the proactive marketing assistance that is needed to be successful; there is no long-term plan in mind.

Most people researching legal issues online—your potential clients—will visit more than three or four law firm websites before they select one to contact. A strong site engages its visitors through great design, high-quality videos and photography, and overall user experience. Ideally, the site’s users will be greeted by a knowledgeable, compassionate receptionist in the form of a chat operator.

Reputable Web vendors excel at search marketing, making sure that your firm is represented on the first page of search results, which is a time-consuming and ongoing investment. Investing enough and investing it wisely will earn visibility in organic, local, and even pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Let’s not forget the mobile experience. In some market areas, 30 to 50 percent of Web visitors use a mobile device.  Good Web development incorporates responsive design to convert clients on mobile devices, just as they do for desktop users. Prominent legal marketing companies will include mobile development, which is lacking in cheaper alternatives.

The Internet is rife with competing lawyers. A firm needs not only to invest enough to build a high-quality website, but to invest marketing funds wisely. As mentioned above, the best campaigns incorporate creative search marketing solutions with long term growth in mind by developing great assets for content marketing, scholarships, webinars, podcasts, and special campaigns that give the firm a quality “unique value proposition” (UVP). A low investment simply cannot fund the type of marketing efforts needed to rise above the competition.

An experienced law firm Web marketing company will tie together all the requirements for a successful legal website. Good keyword rankings, backlink profiles, local presence, citations, and strong technical SEO will increase search visibility. Compelling listings—good titles and meta descriptions—are fundamental.

A well-designed site connects with prospects when they land on the page, conveying trustworthiness, professionalism, ability, care, and concern. The successful website offers a good experience to the user, flowing smoothly between subjects and providing helpful information that instills trust in the knowledge, expertise, and abilities of the attorneys at the firm.

The Importance of Conversions

After all that, a page must move the client to contact the firm, and then the intake process must be handled smoothly, quickly, and efficiently so that the prospect feels cared for and well served from the beginning of the relationship.

Finally, a successful Web presence will foster loyalty and renewed business from clients and will include social interaction and positive online reviews—the word-of-mouth of the 21st century.

Every step in the process, from connecting with prospects to the ongoing relationship with clients whose cases have been resolved, requires technical expertise. The best legal Web marketers have a talent pool of expert staffers and vast resources to ensure that each step is handled professionally. Web development is a complex process that requires a team of specialists.

A single high-dollar case justifies a considerable investment in a high-quality online marketing strategy, which is relatively inexpensive compared to many traditional marketing vehicles. If your firm does not land that lucrative case, your competitor (who is doing everything right on the Web) will.

Successful law firms know the difference between a $4,000 and $200,000 ROI and they make marketing decisions accordingly. You do not want to leave millions of dollars on the table because of a “bargain” that looked too good to pass up.

ARTICLE BY

Tanner Jones
OF
Consultwebs.com, Inc.

How Attorneys Are Using Social Media in 2015 [INFOGRAPHIC]

The Rainmaker Institute

According to the ABA’s 2014 Legal Technology Survey Report, attorneys are using social media marketing more than ever before, with solos and small firms leading the way in engaging on social media networks, blogging and website development.

According to the ABA report, LinkedIn is by far the most popular social media destination for attorneys, with 99% of large firms (100+ attorneys), 97% of mid-size firms (10-49 attorneys), 94% of small firms (2-9 attorneys) and 93% of solos having a LinkedIn profile.

Solos dominate Facebook, with 45% reporting participation compared with 38% of small firms and just 21% of large firms. Larger firms appear to favor Twitter, with 36% saying their firms maintain a Twitter presence compared with 16% of mid-size firms, 13% of solos and 12% of small firms.

When it comes to blogging, 24% of law firms overall report having a blog and 39% of attorneys say they have obtained clients from blogging. In comparison, 35% of attorneys say they have obtained clients from their social networks.

So according to the data, blogging delivers more clients than social media but fewer lawyers are engage in blogging than social media. (Opportunity!)

This infographic from MyCase.com details how attorneys are using social media in 2015:

How Attorneys Are Using Social Media in 2015

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
OF
The Rainmaker Institute

The New Competition – Emerging Legal Technologies Out of Silicon Valley

The National Law Review - Legal Analysis Expertly Written Quickly Found

In January, the National Law Review had pleasure of attending theAnnual Marketing Partner Forum in beautiful Rancho Palos Altos, California. Programing was provided by the Legal Executives Institute at Thomson Reuters and featured over 15 hours of dynamic workshops. Hundreds of  marketing partners, managing partners, in-house counsel and senior-level marketing and business development professionals were in attendance.

The “New Competition” program featured emerging legal technologies within Silicon Valley. Catherine Hammack of Jurispect, Monica Zent of Foxwordy, and Daniel Lewis of Ravel Law each showcased their innovative technologies and shared their thoughts as to where innovation is taking the legal industry in 2015.

“Jurispect will help fundamentally transform how companies operate by providing organizations with a real-time analytical view of both exposure and opportunities to take proactive steps to manage legal and regulatory risk.” – Catherine Hammack

Catherine was present on two momentous occasions in U.S. financial history: as an intern at Arthur Anderson when Enron was indicted, and as a first-day associate at Bingham McCutchen the day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and the start of the financial crisis in 2008.  Following her time at Bingham as a financial litigator, she transitioned to join Google’s Policy team, where her perspective on legal services dramatically changed.

Catherine Hammack of Jurispect - Real-time regulatory analytics for better business decisions

As Catherine elaborated in a post-conference interview: “There was a huge gap between the way law firms traditionally provide counsel and the way companies need information to make business decisions.” She was surrounded by engineers and data scientists who were analyzing vasts amounts of data with cutting edge technology.  Catherine became interested in adapting these technologies for managing risk in the legal and regulatory industries.  Inspired by Google’s data-driven decision making policies, she founded Jurispect.

Jurispect is a tool that companies can use to track legal and regulatory changes relevant to their industry, and possibly to identify risks earlier on to help avoid future Enrons and Lehman Brothers. Currently, Jurispect is geared toward companies in the financial services and technology space, and will be expanding into other regulated industries in the very near future.  Key decision makers in the corporate legal, compliance and risk departments of companies are benefitting from Jurispect’s actionable intelligence. The user’s experience is customized: Jurispect’s technology adjusts based on user profile settings and company attributes. As the user continues to utilize Jurispect, its algorithms continuously calibrate to improve the relevancy of information presented to each user.

Jurispect - New Legal technology emerging out of silicon valley

Jurispect’s team of seasoned experts in engineering, data science, product management, marketing, legal and compliance collaborated to develop the latest machine learning and semantic analysis technologies. These technologies are used to aggregate information across regulatory agencies, including sources such as policy statements and enforcement actions.  Jurispect also analyzes information in relevant press releases, and coverage by both industry bodies and mainstream news.  The most time-saving aspect of Jurispect are the results that coalesce into user-friendly reports to highlight the importance and relevance of the regulatory information to their company.  Users can view this intelligence in the form of notifications, trends, and predictive analytics reports.  Jurispect makes data analytics work for legal professionals so they spend less time searching, and more time on higher level competencies.  As Catherine elaborated, “We believe that analytics are quickly becoming central to any technology solution, and the regulatory space is no exception.”

“Foxwordy is ushering in the era of the social age for lawyers and for the legal industry.” – Monica Zent

Monica is an experienced entrepreneur and had already been running a successful alternative law firm practice when she founded Foxwordy. Foxwordy is a private social network that is exclusively for lawyers.  Monica reminded the audience that we are, remarkably, ten years into the social media experience and all attorneys should consider a well rounded social media toolkit that includes Foxwordy, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Monica Zent of Foxwordy - the first private social network for lawyers

However, as Monica elaborated in a post-conference interview, LinkedIn, for example, “falls short of the needs of professionals like lawyers who are in a space that is regulated; where there’s privacy, [and] professional ethics standards.” As an experienced attorney and social seller, Monica understands that lawyers’ needs are different from other professionals that use the more mainstream and very public social networks, which is why she set out to create Foxwordy.

Foxwordy is currently available to licensed attorneys, those who are licensed but not currently practicing but regularly involved in the business of law, certified paralegals, and will eventually open up to law students. Anyone who fits the above criteria can request membership by going to the homepage, and all potential members go through a vetting process to ensure that they are a member of the legal community.  At its inception, the Foxwordy team expected to see more millennials and solo practitioners taking advantage of the opportunity to network on Foxwordy. Those populations have joined as expected, but what was surprising is how the product resonated across all demographics, positions and segments of the legal industry. Foxwordy has seen general counsels, in-house counsels, solo practitioners, major law firm partners, law school deans, judges, politicians and more become members.

Foxwordy logo -socal media network for lawyers

Foxwordy is currently available to join and will be emerging out of public beta around summertime this year.  As Monica said during her presentation “Time is the new currency”, and what the Foxwordy team has found via two clinical trials is that engaging Foxwordy saves lawyers an average of two hours per day. Membership includes all the core social features such as a profile page, connecting with others, the ability to ask questions and engage anonymously, exchange referrals, and exchange other information and resources. Free members experience all the core functions fully and there is a premium membership that is available with enhanced features and unlimited use of Foxwordy. In the closing thoughts of her post-conference interview, Monica shared that “the ability to engage anonymously and discreetly, yet at the same time collaborate with our legal colleagues and engage with them on a social level has been very powerful.”

“There is an amazing opportunity to use data analytics and technology to create a competitive edge for lawyers amidst all of this information…” – Daniel Lewis

Data analytics and technology has been used in many different fields to predict successful results. In his presentation, Daniel pointed out that fields traditionally considered more art than science have benefitted from the use of data analytics to predict accurate results.

Daniel Lewis of Ravel Law - use data analytics and technology to create a competitive edge for lawyers

Having conducted metrics-based research and advocacy while at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and observing how data-driven decision making was being used in areas like baseball and politics, Daniel was curious why the legal industry had fallen so far behind. Even though the legal field is often considered to be slow moving, there are currently over 11 million opinions in the U.S. judicial system with more than 350,000 new opinions issued per year. There is also a glut of secondary material that has appeared on the scene in the form of legal news sources, white papers, law blogs and more. Inspired by technology’s ability to harness and utilize vast amounts of information, Daniel founded Ravel Law to accommodate the dramatically growing world of legal information.

Ravel Law is optimized for all lawyers across the country. Currently, thousands of associates, partners, and in-house counsel are using Ravel.  Ravel has as also begun working with 30 of the top law schools around the country, with thousands of law students learning how to use it right alongside legal research staples such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.  Professors and students around the country have also independently discovered Ravel and are using and teaching it.  When asked why he works with law schools, Daniel said “We work with schools because students are always the latest generation and have the highest expectations about how technology should work for them.”  Students have given the Ravel team excellent feedback and have grown into a loyal user base over the past few years. Once these students graduate, they introduce Ravel to their firms. Ravel’s user base has been growing very quickly and they have only released a small portion of what their technology is ultimately capable of.

Ravel Law Logo - A New View on Legal Research

Ravel’s team of PhDs and technical advisors from Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook, has coded advanced search algorithms to determine what is relevant, thereby enhancing legal research’s effectiveness and efficiency. Ravel provides insights, rather than simply lists of related materials, by using big data technologies such as machine learning, data visualization, advanced statistics and natural language processing.  In a post-conference follow up Daniel elaborates: “Our visualizations then show how the results connect in context, helping people understand the legal landscape very rapidly as well as find needles in the haystack.” Ravel guides users toward analysis of relevant passages in a particular case, without navigating away from the original case or conducting a new search. Daniel and his colleagues will be launching more new features this year and are looking forward to continuing to “transform how attorneys search and understand all legal information.”

3 Tips to Improve Law Firm Websites

legal, business, McDougall Interactive, Danvers, Massachusetts, marketing

The best law firm websites are complete destinations, not pit stops. Many law firms focus more on the design aspect of their websites, rather than looking at the big picture. Google gets several billion searches a day, and it’s hardly because of the design of their website. Users know they can get something from it.

In order to have a well-rounded law firm marketing strategy, it is important to look beyond the surface of your website, and into the psychology of why people buy, as well as the ways they are interacting with your website based on data.

These 3 game changing tips will help you make your law firm website the best it can be.

1. Thought leadership at the center of your legal marketing strategy

It is said that people hire attorneys as much as they hire law firms, and that they deeply value thought leadership. I interviewed Prof. David Wilkins of Harvard Law School and he had this to say about leading with content and ideas.

 “So I think that thought leadership is very important and I think it’s increasingly important and this is something I think is true at all levels, wherever a lawyer is practicing. That’s because clients understand that the world is becoming increasingly complex and that they are looking for lawyers who can demonstrate an understanding of that complexity and also an ability to help them to navigate that complexity. So I do think things like writing or lecturing or speaking or blogging, all of these things can be very important in establishing a lawyer or a law firm for that matter as a thought leader.”

2. Add a blog and tie it to attorney business development

Adding a blog to your site is easy to do and will provide you with many benefits, as well as deepen the time people spend on your website. Back in 2012, Kevin O’Keefe of Lexblog had this to say about lawyers who are not blogging.

“Clients and potential clients look to blogs for information that shapes hiring decisions, according to multiple industry surveys; clearly, firms with blogs are the norm, rather than the exception. Blogging is quickly becoming an expected part of any firm’s marketing arsenal. Those who do not use blogs are behind, it is that simple.”

The good news is that a blog will not only help your website by positioning you as a thought leader, but it will also help your search engine optimization, give you something to share on social media, lure people into linking to your site, and give you content to share with prospects.

In an interview I did with business development coach Stuart Hirsch, on Blogging In Business Development For Law Firms, he confirmed that he believes in this strategy.

“If there’s something that a lawyer has written that has value to another person, passing that on is really valuable and blogs are such an easy way to provide that value.”

The general consensus from our interviews on the subject is that sharing helpful content whether it be blogs, client alerts, newsletters or LinkedIn updates, can be a great way to build relationships.

3. Conversion rate optimization

If you get a hundred visitors to your website, and one of them requests a free consultation or takes an action, then you have a 1% conversion rate. Setting up conversion tracking with goal conversions is the first step that many law firms completely miss, even if they have Google analytics installed.

Improving your conversion rate is essential now that search engine optimization is more complicated than ever. Social media sites are pushing paid social to compete with Google’s revenues, and paid search clicks can cost as much as $600 per visit.

I won’t go into great detail in this short post, but it is important for law firms to be aware of the amazing technology that is available to improve website leads and sales. The following are a few website marketing tools to check out:

Google Analytics: For tracking and improving visitor activity

ClickTale: Customer experience analysis

HubSpot: Comprehensive Internet marketing tool with attribution tracking

Usertesting.com: Video reviews of your website for $49 each

Feedbackarmy.com: Ask half a dozen questions to 10 people for $40

Unbouce.com: Landing page software with built-in A/B testing

It’s hard to improve your website without these kinds of tools, and people who know how to use them.

A few important things to consider adding to your website, if you want to increase conversions:

  • A clear value proposition of why you are different/better than other law firms
  • A better design and user experience
  • An exceptional mobile version of your site or ideally, a fully responsive design
  • Customer testimonials
  • Awards and affiliations
  • A top of the funnel call to action such, as an e-book for people that are not ready to hire you yet
  • Live Chat
  • Photos and videos to highlight attorneys and their thought leader content

Legal marketer Jonathan Fitzgerald told me recently on a podcast, how he likes to increase the credibility of his site through video and other means as well. Here’s what he had to say:

“We at Greenberg have started to post 30 second videos of attorneys on their profile pages just so that those that are visiting the page can not only see the attorney’s credentials, and the various awards, and speaking opportunities, and articles that have been published by that attorney, but they can also then click on the video and get a sense for the attorneys chemistry. What are they going to be like to work with day in and day out? Is there an emotional connection between the prospective client and the attorney?

Cognitive science tells us that most decisions are made first emotionally, and then they’re backed up second by reason. Obviously all of the credentials, the non‑static credentials, on an attorney’s website profile can give that second element that credentialing element, but the first element either has to be done in person or through video. We have found that video has been very helpful in creating that first touch point with a prospective client.”

Making your website more personal with content, podcasting, and video, as well as the other trust factors that I mentioned, can turn a lifeless site into an exciting destination.

New and improved law firm marketing

If your law firm website design is even a couple of years old and/or doesn’t provide a good mobile experience, then you might want to consider a redesign, and use the strategies and tactics above to improve it.

If your website is relatively new but doesn’t use these strategies, then with some relatively quick fixes, you can be off and running to your firms best year ever.

ARTICLE BY

John McDougall
OF
McDougall Interactive

40 Essential Apps For Trial Lawyers, Part Two

IMS_expert_blktype-transparent

As we noted in Part One of this post, iPads have become ubiquitous in courtrooms and depositions since lawyers use them for everything from keeping organized to presenting evidence. Since 2011, when BullsEye first surveyed some of the most popular apps for trial, the number of litigation-related apps has grown significantly.

When we recently decided to take another look at the best apps for trial lawyers, our list grew to 40. In Part One of this post, we covered apps for reviewing transcripts, conducting on-the-fly legal research, strategizing about settlement, and accessing dockets. In Part Two, we continue our look at 40 essential apps for trial lawyers.

Trial Presentation Apps

ExhibitView ($89.99). This app lets you organize and annotate exhibits and then present them wirelessly. Presentation tools include call-out features, highlight options, freehand pen tool, a laser pointer tool, and complete control of your output to a TV or projection device. Additional features include screenshot saving, creating alias names, and importing and exporting projects. For more functionality, there is a PC version of ExhibitView ($498, which includes the iPad app) in which you can prepare your exhibits and then transfer them to your iPad.

Keynote ($9.99). Although not designed specifically for trials, Apple’s Keynote is a popular presentation app among lawyers in the courtroom and elsewhere. You can use it to view, edit, and design presentations created in either Keynote ’09 or Microsoft PowerPoint. It allows video mirroring so that you can present on an HDTV while seeing a presenter view on your iPad that shows your slides and notes.

TrialDirector (free). This app enables you to create case folders on your iPad and then add exhibits, including video, through a Dropbox or iTunes account. Once you have added these exhibits, you can use the app to annotate and present them. If you have the TrialDirector 6 desktop application, which sells for an annual license of $695, you can prepare exhibits there and then export them to this app for presentation at trial.

TrialPad ($89.99). TrialPad is generally considered the leader among trial presentation apps. While it is also the priciest of these apps, it is comparable in its capabilities to far more expensive desktop applications. With TrialPad, you can highlight, annotate, redact, and zoom in on documents as you present them. You can also view and compare documents side-by-side, view and edit video, mark up an exhibit with annotations and call-outs and then save the mark-ups for your closing, and project wirelessly.

TrialTouch (free). TrialTouch provides on-the-go access to case materials including photographs, illustrations, 3D animations, medical imagery, video, and documents. It requires an account with the trial-graphics company DK Global.

Jury Selection and Monitoring Apps

iJuror ($29.99). This jury-selection app lets you record information about jurors, assign scores to jurors, assign color codes to jurors for visual reference, view juror demographics, and configure seating charts to match the courtroom. Information can be shared among multiple devices by exporting and importing via Dropbox. Information can also be shared via Bluetooth with someone else who is using iJuror.

iJury ($14.99). This app uses jurors’ responses to voir dire questions to assign them a score as negative or positive for your case. You start by creating a case profile and adding members of the jury pool. As they respond to the jury questionnaire, you tap a button to indicate whether each response is positive or negative to your case. The app records these responses and creates an overall grade.

JuryDuty ($39.99). Similar to other jury-selection apps, JuryDuty lets you add information and notes about each juror, prepare topics and questions for voir dire, create seating charts, and share information among members of your trial team via Bluetooth.

Jury Notepad ($4.99). From the same company that developed iJuror, Jury Notepad is designed specifically for creating, keeping, and organizing notes about jurors. It has a simpler interface that makes it easier to use on iPhones, but it can also be used on an iPad.

JuryPad ($24.99). This app is designed to make it easy for you to record, arrange, evaluate, and use juror information as well as create, edit, and reuse voir dire questions. A unique feature of JuryPad is its ability to take you on a “virtual tour” of jurors’ neighborhoods.

JuryStar ($39.99). Developed by a trial lawyer for use in selecting juries, JuryStar lets you enter and record voir dire questions and juror responses and demographic information. It uses color codes to help you rate jurors and make decisions about which jurors to strike.

Date Calculator Apps

Court Days Pro ($2.99). This is a legal calendaring app for the iPad and iPhone. It gives you the ability to calculate dates and deadlines based on a customizable database of court rules and statutes. Once you set a trigger event, the app displays a list of corresponding dates and deadlines. Dates appear within the app and can also be added to your device’s native calendar app.

DocketLaw (free). This app lets you calculate event dates and deadlines for free based on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For additional monthly fees, you can add subscriptions to rules-based calendars for specific state and federal courts. The cost varies by state and court. By way of example, you can add all New York courts for a monthly fee of $49.95.

Smart Dockets (free). Calculate dates and deadlines directly on your mobile device using court rules. Choose your court rule set, determine the trigger event, and enter the trigger date to calculate deadlines automatically.

Trial Preparation Apps

Courtroom Objections ($2.99). This app is a quick, simple guide to common courtroom objections and responses.

eDepoze (free). This app allows you to present deposition exhibits using an iPad. Users are able to introduce, mark, and share exhibits in real time, and the app allows participants to review and annotate their personal copies. The app is free, but use of the system must be purchased through a network of resellers, most of which are court reporting companies.

iTestimony ($9.99). Use this app to keep track of witness information and notes before and during trial and depositions. Assign avatars to each witness for easier identification. Information about witnesses can be shared with others by email.

TabLit: Trial Notebook ($89.99). This app is designed to enable a lawyer to walk into court with nothing but an iPad. It includes case documents, examination outlines, examination checklists, evidentiary checklists, case contacts, and other features.

E-Discovery Apps

eDiscovery Assistant ($29.99). This app is intended to provide access to key e-discovery information. As purchased, it includes access to the FRCP for e-discovery, pilot projects, key case digests identified by the editors, sample checklists and templates, a resources database, and a glossary of terms. For an additional monthly subscription of $15.99, you can also get access to all state and U.S. district court e-discovery rules, more than 3,000 digests of e-discovery decisions, and more than 50 checklists and templates.

E-Discovery Project Calculator (free). This free app lets you calculate and estimate the size of your e-discovery project. This tool will estimate document and page count based on the size of the job. It will also calculate the time and cost required to complete the project.

ARTICLE BY

Robert J. Ambrogi, Esq.
OF
IMS ExpertServices

5 Serious (& 1 Lighthearted) Legal Web Marketing Predictions for 2015

Consultsweb Logo

Where is legal web marketing headed in 2015? Do we need to prep for any upcoming roadblocks? What about exciting changes to anticipate? Are there any new technologies that will help the industry?

If these are questions you’ve been asking, I’m right there with you. When I have legal marketing questions, I turn to the expertise of my teammates at Consultwebs.com. I asked their predictions as to where legal web marketing is headed in 2015.

Here’s what they said.

Ashley Krohn, Outreach Specialist, @tweetinash

Ashley Krohn
Outreach Specialist
@tweetinash

  • Mobile will continue to grow. Your site MUST be optimized for mobile in 2015.
  • There will be a great focus on the user: understanding who they are, what content they consume, and how they view it.
  • We will see more personalized, targeted content marketing. Content will be optimized towards the purchase funnel, or the journey a visitor will take on your site, in whatever format works best for your audience.
  • Watch Reddit. If your audience is there, then you would be wise to start putting resources there.

Mike Dayton, J.D., Manager of Content Services, @senorpibb

Mike Dayton, J.D.
Manager of Content Services
@senorpibb

The message for content is moving toward: “Go deep!” Google is rewarding longer, substantive articles and website sections. Our Content Team will continue its emphasis on resource sections that signal our clients’ authority and expertise in their practice area niches.

John Damron, Senior Marketing Strategist, @consultwebs

John Damron
Senior Marketing Strategist
@consultwebs

My prediction is that mobile technology will become even more of an important tool that law firms (and all businesses) will use to connect with their clientele. Not just for lead generation and online search, but also case management, client payments, and communication.

Jennifer Frame, Local SEO Specialist, @jmframe

Jennifer Frame
Local SEO Specialist
@jmframe

I think we’ll see even more importance placed on mobile friendly sites. Google launched a mobile friendly checker last month, google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly, and results that get a passing grade will have a mobile friendly badge next to their name in results. This is yet another hint to site owners that mobile is of critical importance and that Google is rewarding the sites that are mobile friendly.

Derek Seymour, Senior Web Engineer, @derekseymour

Derek Seymour
Senior Web Engineer
@derekseymour

As far as web technological shifts in 2015, I predict we’ll see a trend towards statically-generated websites (as opposed to dynamically-generated, such as WordPress).  Much of the power and functionality given to dynamically-generated sites today is being outweighed by slow performance, security risks, and a barrage of product updates.  Static sites, however, tend to be much cleaner, respond extremely quickly, and help minimize the amount of vulnerabilities available to hackers.  In addition, tools for static sites have come a long way in recent months and many of the common features found in sites can now be implemented using HTML/CSS/JavaScript libraries and frameworks in conjunction with the method of generating static sites known as ‘compiling.’  While some limitations remain, the barriers to building static sites are quickly going away with the plethora of resources available and we’re likely to see an increasing number of businesses and professionals taking advantage of this in the coming year.

Michael Wice, Online Marketing Consultant, @consultwebs

Michael Wice
Online Marketing Consultant
@consultwebs

Matt Cutts will move to Alaska and build a cabin like Dick Proenneke, never to return to Google. He will grow a mountain man beard and catch salmon from streams with his teeth.

Seriously, it’s worth noting that Cutts’ leave from Google was extended into 2015. His future with the search engine is something to track in 2015.

Information Governance in Legal – The Real Payoff is Litigation, E-Discovery, and Audit Readiness

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Information governance (IG) in the modern day legal landscape addresses multiple functions from cyber threats, to compliance, to interdepartmental communication to document retention to e-discovery. Affecting businesses across the legal, compliance and IT realms, the ideal IG framework will insert processes and procedures into place that will allow law firms and businesses to consistently manage and asses the flow of information. Browning Marean, co-chair of the Electronic Discovery Readiness and Response Group at DLA Piper and speaker at the ARMA International 2013 Conference and Expo, offers his expertise on law firm IG and why data can and should be controlled in the legal field.

Q: What is the impact an IG framework can have on a law firm and business?

A: The impact of IG on a business in momentous. Legislation like the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 requires that businesses have controls in place.  Law firms must keep up with the ever-increasing number of compliance regulations for their clients. In addition, the average Fortune 500 companies have 125 lawsuits at any given point. If law firms and compliance departments have control of the information, they will know where to look and be able to preserve the information during discovery. IG can therefore also serve as an organizational tool during litigation.

Q: How would you describe the relationship among technology, the law & IG?

A: There is a complicated relationship among the three entities. I believe that the computer revolution yields two classes of people, both the foot soldiers and the victims. It is the same with the practice of law– technology can cause disruption but if attorneys take advantage of technology and use it to guide their IG, they will flourish.

Q: Can you cover the top risk associated with governance gaps in litigation and e-discovery?

A:In a lawsuit, parties must produce documents during discovery. When litigation is reasonably anticipated parties will have to put a legal hold on discovery documents in electronic form, also known as e-data. If parties are unable to do so or unable to preserve the documents, they will suffer the consequences, including losing the case outright and monetary sanctions and adverse interference instructions from the courts. In that way, IG can mitigate the problems associated with the identification, preservation, collection and production of e-data.

Q: What would be some of the solutions you would recommend for this risk?

A: The amount of data that is available will be multiplied by 50 by the year 2020. The only way to accommodate all of that information is to have proper practices and policies in place. I believe law firms and business should prepare an “IT readiness program.” Organizations must look at themselves from the top-down to see what resources are available to help at each level. There is a great checklist from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that covers may aspects of how law firms and businesses can ensure that there their discovery material will remain intact, from document management systems to disaster recovery backup. In addition, I recommend that law firms and businesses maintain a record retention policy.

Q: E-discovery is one of the hot topics in the legal world. Why do you think it has become so widely covered and debated?

A: About 95% of all data is viewed in electronic form.  This means that in order to prove your side in a lawsuit, we will have to see where the evidence is based, which is usually in some kind of electronic format. We are going from an analogue world to a digital world so we must create and preserve electronically stored information (ESI) to evaluate the evidence. The pervasiveness of e-discovery has resulted in several additions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as well as state laws.

Q: Can you provide a background on the evolution of e-discovery?

A: In the modern era, a series of cases in the early 2000s from federal courts established the beginning of modern e-discovery litigation.  In particular, Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York paved the way. Judge Shira Scheindlin presided over the case and made several ruling effectively establishing the duty of businesses and their counsel to preserve documents and refrain from practices that may result in the destruction of documents.. Through an effective IG framework, law firms and compliance departments will be able to keep up with ESI in litigation and e-discovery.

Promising #1 Rankings is Unacceptable for Legal Online Marketing Vendors

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Every reputable search marketer will tell you that a Web vendor promising number one rankings is blowing smoke. Google’s Matt Cutts warned about vendors that promise number one rankings as far back as 2008, then again in 2012.  Despite these voices, many companies still guarantee number one search engine spots – which raises the question: “Is promising number one rankings really that bad?”

Vendors who promise number one rankings for their law firm clients set unachievable standards for themselves, their clients and the legal marketing profession. Occasionally these damaging black-hat SEO tactics work for a few weeks or months — until Google catches up with them. When that happens, all the money invested into creating your Web presence is wasted.

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You can safely bet that Google’s algorithm will constantly change as the search engine giant places increasing emphasis on user experience. Strategies that may secure top rankings today might be the same strategies that hinder a site tomorrow. No company can be certain as to where their client’s site will rank next, and it is misleading for any company to indicate they do.

A legal online marketing vendor must also account for the fact that high rankings for a law firm website do not necessarily equate with an increase in newly signed clients. Websites have a shelf life. Many factors can affect conversions. If your design is dated or stale, you might need an upgrade before users are attracted to your site again. An outdated site conveys a lack of concern for the firm’s Web presence and image, almost as if you hadn’t refurnished your visitor’s lobby in 20 years. Additionally, a website that does not have calls to action and is not designed for conversions will hurt your ability to convert visitors to clients.

A guarantee of a number one ranking may lead a law firm to have unrealistic expectations of its Web marketing company. A vendor that works incredibly hard to stay abreast of search engine marketing trends, takes preemptive measures to protect their client sites and keeps lines of communication open sets the standard. But even that exceptional vendor cannot, and should not, guarantee top search engine spots. What they can and should do is promise to work tirelessly on a campaign to make it the best it can be. All sorts of factors, such as investment levels and client involvement, will affect a site’s ability to outrank other sites. Those factors are not entirely controlled by vendors, even the exceptional ones.

At the end of the day, what you really want is to be able to convert qualified leads into clients and grow your practice. You may not necessarily need number one rankings to accomplish this goal. What you need is a Web marketing vendor who is just as committed to your firm’s success as one of your partners. If the company handling your firm’s Internet marketing campaign is dedicated, then your campaign will be a success – whether your site occupies the first or fourth spot on a search results page.

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