Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hanging the Shingle

I participated in the swearing-in ceremony for the Western District of Oklahoma on Thursday. This was a great experience, and a great opportunity to reconnect with folks I hadn't seen since graduation. What struck me the most out of this whole event was the number of my classmates who have "hung their shingle."

As this report, this report, and this report in law.com show, associate layoffs are certainly going to be a trend in this new economy. One of my colleagues faced a similar situation with his "Big Law" job, when he discovered that his firm was "imploding." Suddenly his seemingly strong and stable job turned into mush. He's now struggling, 3 months after becoming an attorney, to begin operation.

Other folks I'd graduated with told similar stories of having to fend for themselves without any guidance. This isn't a trend that will quickly disappear. Big firms, and even some smaller firms, are seeing that they cannot handle these $130,000-plus salaries, and still support their big law models. There is a strong argument from these reports that even the small firms must evaluate their own business models in order to stay competitive - that's another post all together.

What everyone should be concerned about is the sudden influx of attorneys into solo practice who know nothing about the actual practice, and business, of law. If you're one of them, here's some suggestions:

1. Purchase Jay Foonberg and Carolyn Elefant's books.
2. Sign up for Solo Practice University.
3. Talk to your Bar's law practice/solo and small firm section leader.
4. Don't mock the solos (we know you did), because, now you're one of them. Amazing how quickly situations change, isn't it?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Plaintiff's Victory

Finally (now you know my bias), a victory for Plaintiffs in Oklahoma. Check out Woods v. Unity Health Center, Inc., 2008 OK 97.

Marketing and Marketability at its best

Congratulations to Barack Obama! What an accomplishment, and what a statement of resounding approval. Obama takes the presidency with over 52% of the popular vote, and with a landslide in the electoral college. So, what made Obama the clear-cut victor? Simply stated, his thematic message, "Change We Can Believe In."

Regardless of you opinion of whether he actually promoted policies that would lead to change, President-elect Obama created something extraordinarily special, and meaningful for many people. The essence of Obama's campaign was his theme.

Obama did two really great things to build on that theme, and tie everything together. First, he used the message in every campaign stump. This is something that John McCain failed to grasp, and failed to do well. Obama made sure to notify Americans that he promoted change, and that constant notification gave many people encouragement.

Second, Barack Obama used other media methods to promote his message. Obama's website was a textbook in web-publishing, and the multiple tools only enhanced its appeal. While John McCain appreciated many of the methods, his acceptance and use of these tools dwindled significantly when compared to Obama's. I was especially impressed with Obama's use of television and his website to promote his tax plan. I innocently typed in the specific URL, and immediately a non-descript tax calculator showed up. What a great combination of visual and tactile marketing to encourage and rally tech-savy youth.

Additionally, the Obama campaign masterfully used technology to encourage and retain young voters. Monday's "Get Out the Vote" campaign on Facebook was just one of the many tools used.

So, how does this help you. Think long-and-hard about the methods you're using to promote your business. Are you still stuck among the 2,500 other lawyers advertising in the YellowPages? How does your website look? Is it interactive? Is it tied to your firm's thematic message? Does your firm even have a thematic message? How are you promoting yourself to the younger generations?