Tag: Social Media for lawyers

8 Best Lawyer Forums Online

Though unorthodox for a traditional profession like the law, remote work is becoming a more realistic option for lawyers all over the country. With the help of tools like legal practice management software and options to practice law in multiple states, lawyers everywhere are tackling the challenges of remote work.

But one obstacle that remains is networking. Remote lawyers need to put extra work into maintaining professional connections and building an online presence, both of which are made easier with online forums designed specifically for legal professionals.

What Is an Online Forum?

An online forum is an internet space dedicated to conversation using questions, answers, responses, and prompts. Typically, online forums are asynchronous — users post a question, then other users respond at their leisure.

Posts in forums are archived and arranged into categories like post date, popularity, and more. Discussions can last for hours, days, months, or possibly years, as long as users continue to contribute.

Why Should Lawyers Use Online Forums?

After the rapid shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, plenty of industries saw the value of allowing employees to work from home – including law firms. More and more lawyers are working remotely, but that could come at the cost of networking.

Networking doesn’t have to mean interactions that take place over coffee, lunch, cocktails, golf excursions, or big events. In the strictest sense, networking is any meeting between people, whether in a group or one on one, online or in-person, which can be done using online forums.

Online forums dedicated to lawyers and the legal industry are an effective way to facilitate networking opportunities when in-person meetings aren’t an option. Getting involved in online forums help lawyers discuss industry topics with experts and thought leaders, stay current on trends and technology, and learn valuable tips from other lawyers.

Top 8 Online Forums for Lawyers

Curious about online forums? Here are the best options for lawyers and legal professionals to engage with other legal professionals and build a network as a remote attorney:

1. Quora

Quora is a broad forum that covers a variety of topics in question-and-answer formats, including the legal industry. You can easily search for questions or topics that are trending in the legal industry and contribute expert answers to boost your credibility. The more answers you provide, and the more other users engage with you, the closer you can get to becoming a thought leader in the space.

2. Bar Association Forums

Bar association forums are always a benefit to lawyers, remote or otherwise. There are plenty of options to choose from, including local bar associations or forums dedicated to your practice area. Best of all, you’ll be engaging with other knowledgeable legal professionals to connect and network.

3. Social Media Groups

Social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn have dedicated groups that bring together users based on interests or industries, such as the legal industry. These two platforms are among the best for getting into a private or public group and enhancing your online presence. Keep in mind that you are representing yourself as a lawyer in these groups, so use a professional social media account, not your personal one.

The Thomson Reuters Legal Community is an exclusive option for customers of Thomson Reuters that brings together a virtual community of lawyers to network and engage in group settings. You can connect with lawyers from all different practice areas, both locally and nationally, and gain valuable insights from industry experts.

5. The Lawyerist Community

The Lawyerist is an online community dedicated to small firm lawyers to provide coaching, podcasts, books, guides, and other insights. The company has its own online lawyer forum – The Lawyerist Community – on Facebook to discuss law firm best practices, trends, and ideas.

6. Reddit

Reddit has some of the best online forums for a range of different topics, from broad subjects like sports to niche communities dedicated to obscure literature. There’s also a legal forum, r/LawFirm, that’s an informal community for lawyers to discuss running a law firm and the legal industry as a whole. There’s also a lawyer subreddit that you can join if you’re licensed.

7. Slack

Slack is a top-rated collaboration platform that offers individual channels for groups of users. There are several communities dedicated to the law, including LawyerSmack, which is comprised of private attorneys.

8. Law School Alumni Forums

Some law schools have online forums for alumni to stay connected with faculty and colleagues. While not every school offers an online forum for networking, if yours does, you can build vital industry contacts and further your practice. You’ll also get updates on news, trends, and in-person network events by participating in the forum.

Outlook on Online Forums

Remote and hybrid working models are the “new normal,” even for lawyers. Now that law firms and lawyers have seen the benefits in productivity, work-life balance, and enhanced communication afforded by remote work, there’s no going back.

Still, lawyer networking is essential for lawyers to grow their practice, no matter if it’s online or in-person. Along with joining forums to engage in discussions with other industry professionals, you can enhance your remote work with law practice management software. The right law firm software empowers lawyers to manage their practice from anywhere.

Start Networking Remotely

Networking is a big part of successful client acquisition for lawyers. Though it takes a little more work to keep up with networking as a lawyer working remotely, online lawyer forums can keep you connected to other industry professionals. And because you can engage with lawyers all over the country, you can find even more opportunities online than in person at networking events.

Article By Dan Bowman of PracticePanther

For more business of law legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

© Copyright 2023 PracticePanther

Five Items to Add Into Your 2020 Solo and Small Law Firm Digital Marketing Strategy

The new year is here, and if you’re like most solo or small law firm owners, you have big goals for this coming year. As the field of law becomes increasingly competitive, it becomes more and more important to have a crystal-clear digital marketing plan that helps you reach new leads, reconnect with potential clients, and solidify your brand.

1. Develop Your Content Marketing Strategy

The phrase “content is king” is often heard in marketing circles, and the legal industry is proof that this adage is still true. Regularly producing high-quality content helps your brand grow in multiple ways. First, you can target keywords that potential clients are searching for when looking for a lawyer. Second, your trustworthy content helps you strengthen your brand and your reputation. Finally, shareable content can also play a big role in your social media marketing plans. Focus on topics that are interesting to laypeople and use conversational language in lieu of legal jargon.

2. Expand Your Social Media Presence

Regardless of the age, gender, and socioeconomic status of your target market, it’s highly likely that they’re active on multiple social media platforms. Use your time wisely by researching the platforms your audience is using and focusing your efforts, rather than trying to be active on as many platforms as possible.

3. Make Sure You’re Considering Your Mobile Users

Per CNBC, nearly three-quarters of Internet users are expected to access the Internet solely via smartphone by 2025. Law firms with outdated websites that are not optimized for mobile devices are at risk of losing potential clients to firms with fast-loading, mobile-friendly websites. Your website should make it easy for clients to find the information they’re searching for, learn more about your firm, and contact you directly.

4. Bring in Gated Content

Gated content, also known as “freemium” content, is provided free to your visitors—in exchange for signing up to your e-mail list. This is an extremely effective technique for law firms in various specialties, so if you’re not using it already, make it a priority in 2020. Many law firms offer access to a free guide in exchange for a visitor’s email address. For example, a family law attorney might write a short guide on “7 Steps to Divorcing an Adversarial Spouse” or a bankruptcy lawyer might write “5 Ways to Repair Your Credit After Bankruptcy.” This ties directly into the fifth tip on this list.

5. Tap Into E-Mail Leads

An e-mail list is still one of the most valuable things you can have as a solo attorney or small law firm. It helps you stay in touch with potential clients who may not be ready to take the plunge when they first come across your website. By building a relationship with your e-mail list through regular updates and valuable information, you can be at the forefront of their thoughts when they are ready to take that leap.

Digital marketing is key to the growth of your law firm. A solid plan for 2020 can get you on the right track.

© 2020 Denver Legal Marketing LLC

Find more marketing advice for legal professionals on the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Media Education Is Crucial to Preparing Young Attorneys to Speak on the Record

Last month, a photojournalist for The Daily Northwestern, Northwestern University’s campus newspaper, captured photographs of student protestors who rushed a lecture hall where former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was speaking on campus. One of the pictures the photojournalist published featured a protestor sprawled on the floor. Students involved in the protest reacted with sharp criticism: being photographed in public had caused the protestor trauma, they argued. In addition, the reporters who used the student directory to attempt to contact protestors for quotes had invaded those students’ privacy.

In response to this pressure, editors at the newspaper took the photographs down and published an apology — steps that were immediately scorned by seasoned media professionals who explained that reporting on public events, through gathering quotes and taking pictures, is one of the most basic functions of journalism.

As with many stories that go viral, overheated Twitter commentary led to cross-generation attacks, straw-man arguments and handwringing over the death of traditional media. But when you push aside the noise around this story, it becomes clear that what happened at Northwestern illuminates an interesting disconnect between young people on the cusp of the Millennial-Z generations and the rest of us: we have different ideas about the purpose and function of traditional media.

What does this have to do with legal marketing? The oldest members of Generation Z are preparing to enter law school in the fall of 2020, which means firms are just a few years out from welcoming this new crop of lawyers. Forward-thinking law firms have long understood the value of media training in helping their attorneys build fruitful relationships with reporters and manage individual and firm brands across multiple channels. The Northwestern case, however, demonstrates that firms must also be prepared to offer some basic media education to their business development curriculum.

Younger lawyers may have a steep learning curve if they want to launch their careers with a productive media strategy. Here are three lessons firms will need to figure out how to teach them:

It’s hard to understand what you don’t consume. As social media has become such a central part of the way we broadcast and receive information, it fills the role traditional media used to play in some people’s lives. Not only does this mean that fewer people are reading the newspaper and relying on quality objective journalism to understand the world, but that inexperience with traditional media also breeds ignorance about what reporters, including specialists in the legal media, do all day and why they do it.

A young attorney who does not read the most important media outlets in the legal industry may not have a proper understanding of how law leaders use the information and data reporters publish to make business decisions and innovate at the practice and firm level. While managing partners may not always be pleased with the coverage of their firm, they understand and accept that the health of the industry relies on these sources of objective information. What’s more, for every article that makes a law partner squirm, there is one that amplifies a firm’s accomplishments for the entire industry to see.

Those media mentions are worth their weight in gold, but you have to respect and understand the institution of legal journalism as a whole to ever have a chance at winning one for yourself or your firm.

Not all media is the same. The media landscape of 2019 exists across four categories: paid, owned, shared, and earned. Paid media is sponsored content and pay-to-play awards and features. Owned media is the content your firm creates and distributes through your website and newsletter. Shared media is social media and all the content it spreads so rapidly. And earned media encompasses mentions in traditional media outlets.

A sophisticated communications strategy creates a plan for all four categories and, importantly, recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of each one. The first step to making sense of it all is to recognize the tension between control and authority. Media that allows your firm complete control over the content — your Twitter feed, for example — does not carry much authority. Consumers understand that anyone can make any claim they like on the internet. Media outlets that carry authority in the industry — such as Bloomberg Law or the Wall Street Journal — are not going to offer you much control over the content. Their independence is what gives them authority.

Attorneys who are too focused on controlling the message will miss out on the chance to see their work featured in an outlet that prospective clients and recruits actually trust.

Your right to privacy is not unlimited in scope. While individuals, of course, have the right to live their private lives free from interference, attorneys engaged in work on behalf of law firms and companies, which in many cases involves actions that are matters of public record, should expect to occasionally face questions about that work. Fearing these encounters or, worse, painting this healthy professional interaction as some kind of victimization, is bad for both the legal industry and an attorney’s own career development. Attorneys who understand the role traditional media plays in their business development make themselves available to reporters and are ready to speak off the cuff about their cases, clients and the broader context of legal questions they spend time on.

Savvy lawyers have confidence that their integrity and expertise will stand up to scrutiny by a reporter, and they extend professional courtesy to journalists doing the hard work of chronicling a complex and dynamic industry.

As the media landscape continues to evolve, marketers and firm leaders will have to work harder than ever to play in all four media categories — paid, owned, shared and earned — and prepare their attorneys to build productive relationships with the reporters who can help them reach their desired audience.

© 2019 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

This article was written by Debra Pickett of Page 2 Communications.
For more advice for young lawyers, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Two Ways Technology Has Changed How Lawyers Practice

Technology has changed all of our day-to-day lives. It also has impacted how lawyers practice. While having the internet at our fingertips is a convenience for most of us, it can cause headaches for judges and lawyers when jurors use the internet during trial to post or search online about the case. This means that lawyers must be more tech-competent than ever before. Here are two ways that technology has changed how lawyers practice:

  1. Litigants Face the Challenge of Jurors’ Social Media and Internet Use

Imagine years of preparation, costly investigations, and hundreds or thousands of hours of work by attorneys and clients being shattered in a moment by a juror’s single click on his or her phone, tablet, or computer. Whether by posting 280 characters on Twitter discussing deliberations or punching a few words into Google to search for more information on a legal concept or a fact central to a case, jurors have the power to radically disrupt the judicial process at their fingertips.

Jurors’ use of the internet and social media during trial and deliberations can create a real toll on lawyers, litigants, and the judiciary. In fact, online activity by jurors recently has led to a mistrial in a $13 million police shooting case, a thrown-out fraud conviction, and a potential retrial for a notorious drug lord.

Judges often employ explicit instructions and the threat of contempt to dissuade jurors from googling the parties or trial lawyers, conducting independent research online, or posting about the trial or their deliberations on social media. Many then hold jurors in contempt when they deliberately disobey instructions. Judges have fined jurors anywhere from $500 to $1,200 for their online activity that disrupts a trial or verdict, and some states have flirted with legislation to increase penalties. In the United Kingdom, judges may jail jurors based on their internet use, in one case for two months when a juror googled additional information about the victims in a fraud case and shared it with fellow jurors.

Because more than 80 percent of Americans own smart phones and the average American spends at least 3 hours a day online, it is a tall order to prevent jurors from googling or tweeting. As a result, attorneys should vigorously monitor jurors’ social media from voir dire through the final verdict. As noted below, it even may be part of attorneys’ professional duty of competence to ensure that they are keeping a close eye on jurors’ Twitter feeds.

  1. Attorneys Must Be More Tech-Competent Than Before

Lawyers also must keep up with other technological changes that impact the practice of law.

Under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct promulgated by the American Bar Association (ABA), a version of which has been adopted in 49 states, lawyers have a duty to provide competent representation to their clients and to maintain the knowledge and skills that their practice requires. In 2012, the ABA took the significant step of formally updating the rule to clarify that lawyers also have a duty to be competent in technology.

The new comment to the rules states that, “to maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” Since that change, 37 states have adopted the ABA’s Duty of Technology Competence as part of their version of the Rules of Professional Conduct, including Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Texas.

While the duty is clear, it’s not clear just what technology the rule refers to. While most agree that the duty includes basic competence in everyday technologies like e-mail and Microsoft Office, it has been left to individual jurisdictions and professional organizations to provide further guidance.

For example, the New York City Bar Association has suggested that attorneys have an affirmative duty to research potential jurors’ public social media information (see New York City Bar Association Formal Opinion 2012-02). While the research can help identify biases harmful to a client’s interests, lawyers must carefully avoid any direct contact with potential jurors online (via message or friend request) lest they violate other ethical rules. Juror consulting firms have stepped in with advanced tools to search and compile potential juror’s publicly available posts. But the onus is ultimately on the lawyer to ensure they are protecting their client’s interests by doing all they can to identify biased jurors.

Further, the duty of technology competence may affect an attorney’s obligation to protect clients’ confidential information from cybersecurity risk and to use appropriate electronic discovery practices and technology. These duties were at the center of a recent data breach, where lawyers disclosed confidential customer information in an e-discovery production because the lawyer did not understand the review process or the scope of the third-party vendor’s work. Further, in California, a state that has not adopted the ABA’s Duty of Technology Competence, the state bar has issued an ethics opinion stating that an attorney’s duty of competence requires, “at a minimum, a basic understanding of, and facility with, issues related to e-discovery.”

As technology continues to change at a rapid pace and impact the practice of law, clients will expect their lawyers to pay attention. To that end, lawyers must be competent in a range of technologies directly related to the practice of law.

These are just some of the most notable ways that technology is changing the practice of law. As technology continues to advance, the practice will continue to evolve with it. Lawyers should – and may be ethically obligated – to stay abreast of and develop competence in these technologies.

© 2019 Schiff Hardin LLP

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

Top 10 Questions Lawyers Ask About LinkedIn

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

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

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

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

The basic elements of a complete LinkedIn profile include:

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

Q: Do I connect with everyone who asks?

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

Q: Should I personalize my connection requests?

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

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

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

Q: How often should I post?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q: Should I use hashtags in LinkedIn posts?

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

Q: Should I use LinkedIn’s publishing section?

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

Q: Is it worth paying for a premium account?

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

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

© Copyright 2008-2019, Jaffe Associates

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

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

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

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

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

The Good

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bad

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

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

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

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

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

The Ugly

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

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

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

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

Conclusion – The Best

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

© 2019 Denver Legal Marketing LLC

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

Mid-Year Marketing Check-up for Law Firms: The 7 Most Important Metrics

July 2 marks the halfway point of the year, and for many law firms, that means it is time to reflect on their business growth strategies and plan ahead for end of the year client gifts. Successful attorneys know that marketing is a huge part of the effectiveness of these initiatives. It takes careful evaluation of your marketing tools, campaigns, and overall law firm goals in order to make the second half of the year stretch the boundaries of what your firm is capable of.

Although marketing looks a little different for business to consumer practices and business to business practices, here are some tips that will work for everyone. You can rely on these seven areas to reflect on as you develop a solid, data-based marketing plan for Q3 and Q4 for your law firm:

  1. Growth Metrics and Reconfiguring

The very first item on your list is to sit down and dig deep into the numbers. Take a look at your analytics from all your marketing sources (both paid and unpaid). Review your web traffic and get a good handle on where you are getting the bulk of your online visitors from. Review your paid retargeting campaigns and see which web pages are scoring highest for returning visitors. Evaluate the leads you received from offline sources like conferences, networking events, and print advertising.

For each of your offline and online sources, create an estimate of how much the current and future business is worth. This exercise will ensure that you are being conscious of how your marketing dollars are being spent and will give you a data-driven course of action when it comes to what should be invested in more and what can be cut.

  1. Content Marketing Evaluation

Halfway through the year is a good time to stop and reflect on your content marketing plan’s performance. This includes digital, print, image, and video content that you are developing in-house. Review the top pieces of content that you generated with all stakeholders discussing the following:

  • Why did this piece of content work for our law firm?
  • What kinds of interaction did it receive and from whom? (Shares, likes, comments, clicks to website)
  • What targeted industries or demographic groups do we want to reach that we are not currently reaching?
  • Is our current content producer (writer, video producer, editor, etc.) the appropriate fit for the content our law firm is producing?
  • What is missing from our law firm’s content marketing campaigns?
  • What are the steps for filling these gaps?
  • What could we cut?

Answering these questions is a good start to ensuring that your content marketing dollars are getting the best return on investment. In addition, this is a good time to take a look at the upcoming months and plan out the types of content that your law firm will be producing before the end of the year.

  1. Client Appreciation Strategy

The end of the year is just six months away, which means that you need to begin thinking about how you will honor the people who have helped you be successful this year. This might be something as simple as sending out holiday greeting cards, or something as elaborate as an honorary black-tie dinner. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you include it in your half-year review so that you can appropriately budget the time and talent to make it happen for your clients and referral sources around the holidays.

  1. Online Reputation Management

When things are busy, it is easy to let things like online biographies and photographs remain untouched and slide into antiquity. Unfortunately, most people looking for your services will look online first before they make a call. Outdated biographies may under-represent your skills or hold inaccurate contact information, making it hard for referrals to ever find you.

Old photographs can be even more detrimental. A great headshot is often the lynchpin deciding whether or not a potential client feels that you are trustworthy, dedicated, and approachable. People seeking legal representation often are looking for the person they see online to match what the person looks like in real life.

At the year’s halfway point, it is time to take an hour or so and ensure that you are accurately represented to the hundreds of people who will come into contact with your online profiles.

  1. Award Calendar Updates

Awards and honors are continuing reminders of your law firm’s status as among the best in your field. As such, the mid-year mark is a good time to both reflect on the awards your team earned so far and make a strategy for how to continue the pattern of success.

To ensure the best chance of earning further accolades, I suggest creating or updating an editorial calendar spreadsheet designed to track: a) potential awards; b) due dates for those awards; c) submissions created; d) submissions approved; and, e) submissions sent.

Of course, you do not have to write every award submission or nomination yourself. But creating a plan to capture the “low-hanging fruit” of awards you easily fit the qualifications for is an important step to take at least twice per year.

  1. Social Media Review

Similarly, it is wise to consider the social media channels that you will be planning on using for the next half of the year and develop a plan for those posts in advance. This plan should begin with the large-picture metrics and reconfiguring that I spoke of earlier. Then, once you can see which posts have been effective, it is time to devise additional content that builds on your knowledge of what is working.

Some key things to consider when you are reviewing and planning for the upcoming months’ social media campaigns:

  • Stock photography. Will you need to have images purchased, or can you take pictures in-house to assist with the need for pictures?
  • Special dates or celebrations. Can you create a specialized graphic for National Child Safety Awareness Month? What is your plan for honoring the Fourth of July? How about Thanksgiving? Take a minute to put these things on your content calendar so you have more than enough time to plan how you will address these special occasions.
  • Writing/production schedules. Are there any large-scale videos or specialized pieces of content that will need to be produced (such as a white-paper or e-book)? Give yourself at least a few months notice so that you can get all the involved parties moving together towards the same goals, vision, and deadline.

  1. Website Updates and Audit

At least twice a year, it is a good idea to do a full audit of the functionality and safety of your website. Ensure that your links are in working order, your content management system (CMS) is up-to-date with the latest security protocols, and all of your online content (including attorney biographies) is up-to-date and in working order.

In order to make the second half of the year as good, or better, than the first, it is vital to take stock at this half-way mark. Through careful reflection, collaboration with your colleagues and marketing stakeholders, and foresight into what the future holds, this can be a great time to refresh and rejuvenate your marketing plan.

© 2019 Denver Legal Marketing LLC
For more on Legal Marketing see the National Law Review Business of Law page.

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Violating Attorney Advertising Rules? Depends.

Linkedin Logo NeonThe vast majority of lawyers have a LinkedIn page. Or if they don’t, their marketing department will make them create one eventually. Some use LinkedIn to build their profile and network, others to promote success, articles and speaking engagements. But is a LinkedIn page lawyer advertising and, if so, what must lawyers do to be sure they are on the right side of the Rules of Professional Conduct?

Rules 7.1 to 7.5 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct govern lawyer advertising and solicitation. Some states, like New York, provide very detailed rules about what an advertisement may or may not include (or what it must include), how long it should be retained, etc.  In fact, whereas Mass. R. Prof. C. 7.1 contains only two sentences, its New York counterpart is more than three pages long.

Because of the more specific requirements in New York, an important issue for lawyers there (and other states with similarly detailed attorney advertising rules) is whether their individual profile on LinkedIn constitutes attorney advertising. If it is advertising, the attorney would have to comply with requirements like labeling the content “Attorney Advertising” and preserving a copy (of each iteration) for at least one year.

Last month, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Committee on Professional Ethics issued a formal opinion that stated that a LinkedIn profile does not constitute attorney advertising unless it meets each of five criteria:

  • It is a communication made by or on behalf of the lawyer;
  • The primary purpose of the LinkedIn content is to attract new clients to retain the lawyer for pecuniary gain;
  • The LinkedIn content relates to the legal services offered by the lawyer;
  • The LinkedIn content is intended to be viewed by potential new clients; and
  • The LinkedIn content does not fall within any recognized exception to the definition of attorney advertising. Formal Opinion 2015-7.

The NYC Committee report noted that it had come to a different conclusion that the Professional Ethics Committee of the New York County Lawyer’s Association (“NYCLA”), which had concluded in March 2015 that “[a] LinkedIn profile that contains only one’s education and current and past employment does not constitute Attorney Advertising[, but] [i]f an attorney chooses to include information such as practice areas, skills, endorsements, or recommendations, the attorney must treat his or her LinkedIn profile as attorney advertising and include appropriate disclaimers pursuant to Rule 7.1.”NYCLA Ethics Op. 748 (2015).

For practitioners in Massachusetts, the New York debate may be academic. There is no question that Massachusetts lawyers may advertise on the internet. See Mass. R. Prof. C. 7.2(a) (“Subject to the requirements of Rules 7.1 and 7.3, a lawyer may advertise services through written, recorded or electronic communication, including public media.”). And, even if an attorney’s LinkedIn profile were considered to be “advertising” in Massachusetts, the only requirement that the lawyer must comply with is the same requirement that runs through all of the Rules of Professional Conduct: honesty. See Mass. R. Prof. C. 7.1 (“A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services. A communication is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading.”). But this, of course, is the norm in all facets of legal practice. See, e.g., Mass. R. Prof. C. Preamble, 2.1, 3.3, 3.9, 4.1, 8.2, 8.4.

Thus, at least here in the Commonwealth, a lawyer who scrupulously insures that his or her LinkedIn profile is truthful and not at all false or misleading – including with respect to statements that the attorney is a “specialist” or “certified” in a particular field of law, see Mass. R. Prof. C. 7.4 – is within the bounds of our governing Rules.

Article By Scott McConchie of Sherin and Lodgen LLP

© 2016 SHERIN AND LODGEN LLP

Legal Marketing Stats Lawyers Need to Know

Using market trends to inform your law firm marketing efforts is a must for solos and small firms that have limited budgets and resources to market their firms.

Google recently aggregated research from FindLaw and its own inhouse data to provide a look at the legal market trends that should shape your legal marketing initiatives:

74% of prospects beginning a search online end up contacting the office via phone. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

87% of people who contact an attorney go on to hire an attorney and 72% of them only contact one attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

96% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine. (Google Consumer Survey, Nov 2013)

38% of people use the Internet to find an attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

62% of legal searches are non-branded (i.e., generic: “Phoenix divorce attorney,” etc.). (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

25% of people researching legal topics visit YouTube during the process. (YouTube Internal Data 2012)

85% use online maps to find legal service locations. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

69% use both a smartphone and a PC for research. (Google Legal Services Study Sept 2013)

31% of all law firm related website traffic comes through mobile search (FindLaw Aggregated Hosted Site Data 2014)

71% of people looking for lawyer think it is important to have a local attorney. (FindLaw U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey 2014)

So what do you need to do to convert leads based on these facts? Here are a few action steps:

Provide multiple contact options — phone, email, online chat, etc.

Provide a mobile-friendly version of your website.

Have an intake system that allows consumers to reach your firm on the first call and intake specialists trained to convert consumers into clients.

Concentrate on local SEO to ensure your website shows up well in local search.

Article By Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute

© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved

Three Steps to Leverage LinkedIn for Your Law Firm

I have yet to find an attorney who could not benefit from having their profile on LinkedIn. It’s the number one online network for white-collar professionals.

Whether you want to connect with non-competing attorneys, non-legal professionals, or potential clients, the demographics on LinkedIn speak for themselves:

  • The average age range of a LinkedIn user is 30 to 49

  • 44% of LinkedIn users report an annual income of more than $100,000

  • 50% of members have a college degree

  • 28% have a graduate degree

LinkedIn members are highly educated and affluent. Is this a demographic you would like to reach? For most attorneys, the answer is obvious.

The first step to using LinkedIn is to create a comprehensive profile. Use your entire bio in your profile and be sure to include your keywords in it. In other words, use the exact keywords that you believe prospects or potential referral sources would use to find an attorney with your skill sets.

For example, if you are a business attorney in Omaha it might sound like this:

“John Doe is a Omaha business attorney who works with small business owners and CEOs of mid-sized companies to create comprehensive operating agreements, buy-sell agreements and employment agreements. His Omaha business clients appreciate the fact that John is an attorney who has a strong business background, having owned and operated two different companies, including a high tech company with 25 employees.”

Next, go to the See Who You Already Know on LinkedIn page and import your email contact list. This makes it super simple to connect with people you already know who are also on LinkedIn. In addition, based on your contacts, LinkedIn will suggest relevant contacts for you to connect with on the site.

Then search LinkedIn Groups and join those where your clients and prospects are. Create content — blog posts, free reports, articles, etc. — that will attract their attention. You can also start your own group and invite contacts to join.

The key to utilizing LinkedIn effectively is to be involved and be consistent. You need to commit to investing at least 30-45 minutes every week to log in, post an update or a link to your blog, reach out to your contacts, answer any questions that are sent to you, and make yourself visible. Simply setting up a profile on LinkedIn will not lead to more referrals any more than a having a business card will automatically get you new business.

ARTICLE BY Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute
© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved