Thursday, December 16, 2010

Going Silent

Sorry about the somewhat silent actions on the site. I promise that postings will resume soon.

As is usually the case for a solo, I have been dealing with the technicalness of running a law practice, raising a family, and trying to stay sane.

One of the best aspects of being solo is flexibility. However, flexibility often comes at a corresponding price - didn't Newton say something about "equal and opposites?" In my case, the opposite reaction has been and increasing number of demanding cases from clients. This is beneficial, but again, very demanding.

Here's a couple of articles to explore:
3. 9 Tips For Balancing Family With A Solo Law Practice - I've been practicing more of this one.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Again With the Management Software

I don't know a lot about other practice management programs, since I'm relatively satisfied with PracticeMaster from Tabs3.

However, I'm grateful to have the software because of its robust ability to control finite aspects of my law practice. I've already extolled the virtues of practice management software, and would encourage you to implement some program into your law practice.

Here's some of the benefits I find with my software:

1. Ability to integrate with calendaring & email programs (Outlook)
2. Ability to docket and schedule tasks, chores and meetings for cases
3. Ability to control and manage cases and case flow
4. Ability to manage massive amounts of information

I was talking to a colleague today about PM, and I showed him some of the benefits. He was impressed by the grand options PM gives.

If you're not using a practice management system, it's time to invest.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Check this Out

One of the great things about blogging is being able to help others out with meaningful links, this includes other bloggers.

Recently, I came across a blog called Student 2 Solo. The blog is published by a young (time, not age) attorney named Joseph Brown. I've never met Joseph, nor have I received compensation to talk about him.

What I have received, is an enjoyable, albeit small, number of blog posts, about starting and running a solo law practice. I would suggest you add his blog to your reader.

Kudos to Joseph for his work, and I wish him success in the virtual and real worlds.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Why Don't Law Schools Care About Solos?

The Legal Skills Prof Blog has two (here and here) great stories updating the world on programs that two law schools are implementing/have implemented to help students and new grads wishing to enter solo practice. These are great projects, and should receive tremendous support from alumni and the schools.

My first question then after reading about these programs, is why don't more schools have these types of programs for their students. After all, by some estimates, 26 percent of lawyers are either employed in solo or small firm practice. That's a pretty significant number of the graduating class that's working alone or in another small firm (i.e. 1 in 4 gradutates).

So, why don't schools do more?

First, I know believe schools cater to BigLaw. All Most of the professors and law school deans "practiced" in BigLaw firms. There's the "cultivate" BigLaw lawyers mentality that is permeating through the law schools. Law schools like their alumnae pedigree to read like a "who's who" of law firms, rather than a smattering of "Law offices of John Doe, esq."

Second, many, if not all, older lawyers believe that you cannot or should not, start your own law firm straight out of law school. "With so many 'pitfalls' to cause you problems" they'll tell you, "you must gain experience at a firm." The simple truth is, lawyering isn't rocket science with traumatic consequences for minor miscalculations. The problem is, many young lawyers, especially those entering solo/small firm practice, have to juggle business management and legal management requirements without substantial training in either field. 

Note too, the first and second reasons also contain the often thought, but rarely quoted reason of, "why would anybody really want to open their own law firm?"

Third, there's rarely faculty in the law school who have access/knowledge to supervise/mentor graduates in these particular programs. That means that you must dedicate funds to the solo/small firm incubator projects, and not to faculty salaries or the new law school wing. Unfortunately, too many graduates leave their schools lacking fundamental skills that will make them effective attorneys (e.g. what a Complaint looks like, and how to file it in District Court). When schools attempt to "teach" legal practice skills, they often screw it up.

For instance, in my third year of Tier 3 law school, I took a course designed to introduce students to "legal practice" in a small firm, taught by two professors, one of which is a partner of one of the biggest firms in OKC, and the other is a federal court law clerk. My first thought was "what will these two teach me about solo/small firm practice?" From day 1, I set my expectations low.

The problem with my law school's philosophy was that these individuals would have a pulse on the small firm/solo concerns. Clearly, neither professor did, and that drastically affected the outcome and negated any benefits of the class. Other classmates expressed a similar disappointment.

One counterpoint many schools offer is that they provide legal clinics to help "cultivate" and "enrich" their students' learning. These clinics give students hands-on experience with representing and assisting under-served portions of the community. In truth however, these courses are limited to a minor amount of students.

Fourth, money is the root of all "evil." Unfortunately for many solo/small firms, the amounts their owners and members contribute back to their schools pales in comparison to their BigLaw counterparts (I guess we're too busy providing reasonably priced legal services than exorbitant hourly rates). It's easy to feed the BigLaw beast where the little mouse barely squeaks. Perhaps is solo and small firm attorneys put more pressure on their law schools to provide "incubator" programs, the schools would more reasonably respond.

Fifth, state bar associations often fail to address these similar needs. With so many additional needs of the state bar, addressing particular concerns like these on a single, case-by-case basis is too much. While many bar associations, including Oklahoma, have commendable practice assistance programs, there's still too great of a disconnect between the legal education and actual legal practice.

Solo and small firm practices provide a great resource to communities to help provide individual and low-cost legal representation. It's important to provide these lawyers and firms with the skills and resources necessary to tackle their problems.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Another Reason for Adobe Acrobat

Rick Borstein, the author of Acrobat for Legal Professionals, cements my prior reasoning regarding legal technology.

This post by Rick discusses PDF/A. PDF-whaaa? You say. 

PDF/A, as Rick notes, is the new legal standard for the federal courts, or at least is moving in that direction. Rick notes that, "If you or your firm does any federal work, this new requirement for filing in PDF/A will significantly affect how you create and work with PDF documents."

His blog post does an excellent job of explaining how to start using PDF/A to make sure your documents comply with this requirement.

Friday, October 22, 2010

It's What Distinguishes Us from the Animals

There's a huge flurry of excitement over blogging, internet websites, and social media. For lawyers, this sphere is quickly becoming the new yellow pages. Recently, there has been a great influx of movement toward the internet, and I suspect more lawyers will "get online" with their law firms.

The problem, as I've beaten profusely, with "getting online," is that it's not only about getting there, it's also about being there.

Here's two examples:

Yesterday a new attorney moved into our office. He's leasing a space, and was looking at a senior attorney in one of the other offices (I share my offices with several other attorneys) for advice to get his website in place. The attorney wasn't around, so he asked me to let him know the young guy was looking for him. Actually, the conversation went more like this:
        Attorney:  Where's X? He said he was around later to talk about creating a website.
        Me:  A website? You don't want to talk to X about a website.
     Attorney:  Why? He said his [closely related computer savvy individual] can design a site for like, $300.00.
        Me:  Really? $300? Have you seen X's site?
        Attorney:  No.
        Me:  Look. [Type in the name of extraordinarily long website].
        Attorney:  Oh.
        Me:  Here's my website. [Type in the name of mediocrely long website].
        Attorney:  Wow. That looks good. (I know he's blowing).
     Me:  Here's a secret: the key to visibility on the internet is visibility. You have to have content to encourage the search engines to care. Otherwise, you're just another website.
        Attorney:  Oh.
        Me:  The problem with X's site is that it sucks. There's not any content.
        Attorney:  Yeah, he said his site's pretty ineffective.
        Me:  That's because it's static, it has words on a page, but nothing else. Dynamic content. That's what drives the internet. You want to know about using the internet, you talk to me, not X. You talk to X about BigLaw legal practice and old school legal services. If you're interested, I'll give you the tools to use, and the information needed to get you successful. The problem is, most attorneys don't want to do the second stage: the work.

It was about this time, we were interrupted by Attorney 3, the second example:

           Attorney 3:  Have you seen my website? It's bi-lingual? It's awesome.
           Me:  No. What's the address?
           Attorney 3:  Uh...not sure. Try X.com.
           Me: Nothing.
           Attorney 3:  Maybe it's not published yet.
           Me: What about the one I helped you set up? [Typing in website.com].
           Attorney 3:  Yeah, that one sucks. We don't use it.
           Me:  But it's your name, what's easier than that?
           Attorney 3:  Couldn't figure it out, so we gave up.
           Me:  Oh, that's logical.
         Attorney 3 to Attorney: The key isn't the internet, the key is word-of-mouth. You'll get more clients from word-of-mouth referrals than having a website.
         Me: That's true. However, for some new attorneys, all you have is time and no word-of-mouth referrals. So, if it's me, I'm going to work on developing credibility via the internet.
           Attorney 3: But I don't get any hits from my website, so it's not an effective way to do things.
           Me: Well, I get referrals, but I also get at least 1 client call per day from my internet work. Again, it's not about just having a website, it's about dynamic content. Search engines put you up at the top when your content is relevant and changing.
            Attorney: Yeah, he just showed me that he's 2 and 3 on Google.
         Me: Those are just two examples of my key metrics and their placement. I have other terms that perform equally well. I want people to find me after searching for those terms, so all my work focuses on including those key metrics in my legal work.
            Attorney: But doesn't it take you a long time? How do you come up with stuff to write about?
            Me: On average, 30 minutes...
            Attorney 3: ...that's 30 minutes you'll never get back.
            Me: True. But if done correctly, I just picked up a client who cost me little to nothing to find, but likely will reward me with at least 10 times my investment. Not too shabby. I find stuff to write about by reading blogs or discussing topics that are important to me.
            Attorney 3:  Blogs? I don't have time to read those, I'm doing real lawyer work.
            Me: And that's the reason my website succeeds and yours doesn't. Part of my real lawyer work includes marketing my practice, and establishing my small niches.
             Me to Attorney: You want to learn about websites and internet marketing, talk to me. You want to learn about referrals, talk to Attorney 3. If you're computer savvy, I'll show you how to get your stuff set up in about 2 hours, for cheap. Not savvy, then I know a gal who does this professionally, she can help you.

Internet marketing is the future. If you're not having success with your marketing scheme, you're doing it wrong. You'll likely continue to chase every whim that you deem effective. The problem for most attorneys is patience. Getting sighted by Google and the other engines requires time. Be patient, follow your scheme, and exercise diligence in the work. That's how you develop an effective marketing scheme.
           

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Using Adobe Acrobat in Your Practice

I love Adobe Acrobat. I don't know why more law schools don't offer an Adobe Acrobat/technology training class (oh wait, they're not interested in providing practical skills), because of its necessity in everyday work.

I can honestly say that next to PracticeMaster, Acrobat 9 is my most used program.

Many law firms struggle trying to go "paperless." I've been paperless since the opening of my law firm, and haven't missed those opportunities to scramble through reams of paper in search of that elusive document.

Ernie Svenson is the "Acrobat Ace." I'm sure somewhere on his body he as "I [Heart] Acrobat" tattooed. Needless to say, if you're not reading his insights on his PDF for Lawyers blog, you're missing out. 

Ernie first introduced me to many of the subtle nuances of Acrobat, including my all-time favorite, digital signatures.

The add-in is simple, and provides an excellent method for signing a document without ever lifting a pen. I commonly use this stamp when I want to fax (I use internet faxing) or email a document.

My second-favorite Acrobat tool is the redaction function. I've witnessed far too many "old schoolers" mark production documents with black pens or sticky tabs before copying them and redacting the information (or worse, sending the document with the black markout to me - I can still see the information). This is a terribly time consuming process, and more importantly, it's often ineffective.

Acrobat contains a redaction function that allows you to select the offending text and press a simple key. You can change the color (my favorite is "none") to match the paper/background. When printed, the document loses its redacted information.

If you're not using Acrobat, you're missing out on a great tool. If you don't know how to use Acrobat, get a copy and start playing around. There are numerous websites that discuss Acrobat and its features. Acrobat is the standard for lawyers, and therefore, every new attorney should have an intimate grasp on the "how-tos."

P.S. Once again, nobody paid me to endorse these products or Ernie, although I'd gladly accept all cashier's checks or money orders sent to...

Friday, October 8, 2010

The Law School Application

It's almost that time of year again when the young, aspiring, Type-A personalities begin setting their sights on law school admission. 

Most of the planners took their June LSAT, in anticipation for the December early applications. Many plotted through the summer examining their chances of admission based on their prospective scores and the LSAC's charts. Many also used the time to work on the puffery known as the personal statement.

Yes, I remember it quite well. Although I don't recall exactly what idiotic, self-serving fluff I added (I'm sure I talked about my Eagle Scout award, and my "academic adversity"), I know, somewhere in some dank admissions office, someone had to read it. I apologize profusely to those admissions officers.

The ABA Journal has an article focusing on some of the common errors despised by Yale Law School associate dean of admissions Asha Rangappa. Although I don't recall being any one of the 3 mentioned (perhaps I was the trivial disappointment), certainly nobody likes any of them.

As a side note, don't 1 and 3 eventually become the "gunners"?

So, if you're planning on applying to law school, be conscious about your personal statement. There seems to be one unifying aspect about personal statements: be original.

P.S. You may also want to read this Technolawyer Blog post.

More on Getting "Googled"

The Google Small Business blog has two great posts about using Google Places to build your marketing. I suggest you read them, especially in light of the fact they come from the search engine god itself:

Building your web presence with Google Sites and Google Places


Remember, I'm intensely satisfied with what Google has done for my law firm website and marketing.

Friday, October 1, 2010

More on Google Places

I Love, Love, Love Google Places. I think it's a fantastic concept, and for me, reaps a lot of benefits.

GP is easily my best investment, for the cheapest price. Tom Kane, author of the Legal Marketing Blog, agrees.

In his most recent post, Tom discusses why he believes that Google Places (he calls it Google Maps) is the place to be. He also, which I think is great, links to a couple other "how-to" posts by Tom O'Leary. These are excellent pieces for beginners

The thing I love most is that the "free-factor" gives you the powerful marketing tools your law firm needs, without having to spend the enormous dollars. More precisely, Google Places puts your law firm where it needs to be, and instantly gives you a viable, searchable, findable, web presence.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Getting "Searched"

In the world of blogging, SEO, and Google, content is king. You cannot expect a wide range of searches, hits, and site visits, without constant Google content.

The problem though, is not just any content will work. What I'm learning (because we the Google search algorithm is such a secret) is that you must tailor your content to your audience, but also include enough key components that will allow the Google robots and spiders to "feast."

Recently, I had a guest post on my blog. I thought that this would be an excellent way for me to drive some business to my firm (referring it to the guest), and tap into a potential alternative market. It didn't work out that way. In fact, I haven't had a single inquiry/search result for the keywords I specified. That's disheartening, but very enlightening for me.

Here's what I learned:
  1. The searchable content must include key word phrases, but also some generic words too. This is important because Google wants to see the variety. Google wants to see that you used FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation together, and not just the acronym. This type of usage "tricks" the robots and spiders into to believing your relevancy.
  2. You must have fresh content. You cannot expect that 1 post about social security law or medical malpractice will bring in those clients. Similarly, you cannot expect the search bots to associate the "value" of your site with that single post. You must have constant, recurring posts on the subject. Again, this shows the search bots that your firm is relevant and current.
  3. Outside links are valuable. Don't just hog all the glory of your own "brilliance." Give plenty of credit to others by showing them love. Outside links to other sites show the search engines that you care about what's going on in the greater population. Google is all about "power to the masses." So why shouldn't their search engine function the same way? Would you expect Google to add "value" your side by placing you at number 1, if you weren't giving things away to other? Add links to other articles.
I think if you'll take a few minutes to truly think about the type of content you're giving your clients and potential clients, you'll find drastic ways to change it up. Remember, it's not so much about what your write, as how you write it.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. Please add your comments.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Why You Need to Know Tech

The Law Librarian Blog links to a new study performed by the New York Law Journal, which ranks legal tech companies. I don't know about the applicability of most systems, as none of the systems I used even received a ranking.

However, I do know that technology in law firms is getting more important. For law students, knowledge about, and hands-on experience with a variety of systems is key.

I hire law students to come help me in my office. I think it's beneficial for them, and me. Their experience with technology was somewhat similar to mine during law school - absolute zero (check out this rant post about technology). Sadly, law schools don't prepare you for the harsh reality that you're going to have to work with technology in order to succeed.

Here are some questions to accurately gauge your law-tech knowledge:
  1. What is practice management/case management software? Do you know and understand what this term means, and how law firms use the various programs? 
  2. Can you name some practice management/case management systems? 
  3. What is the difference between using practice management/case management systems and Windows/Mac folders?
  4. Do you know what a server is, and how it functions in a workplace environment?
  5. Do you know what a network is?
  6. Do you know how to save files to a server versus your system's hard-drive?
  7. What is the required method for submitting documents to (most) federal court?
  8. Do you know how to remove metadata from a document in Microsoft Word? I don't use WordPerfect, but I understand that program automatically (or nearly) eliminates the metadata.
  9. Do you know how to use styles, tables, and other formatting techniques to process your documents?
  10. Do you know how to use your word processor's comment/change tracking features to collaborate?
  11. Do you know how to remove metadata from an Adobe PDF?
  12. Er...Do you know how to create a PDF document?
  13. Do you know how to create a PDF "package" of documents to send to other people?
  14. Can you use Acrobat's redact features to remove information from a document?
  15. Do you know how to send a fax? Do you know that you still need to dial long distance (i.e. add country code plus area code) when sending a long-distance fax?
  16. Do you know how to send an email?
  17. Do you know how to attach a file to the document?
  18. Do you know how to burn a CD?
  19. Do you know how to use social media?
  20. What are some of the popular note-taking programs?
  21. Do you know how to research case law without LexisNexis or Westlaw passwords?
  22. Do you know if your state publishes cases and court dockets on a centralized system? FYI, Oklahoma has OSCN that offers Oklahoma cases and court dockets.
  23. Do you know how to use your state's online case systems?
  24. Do you know how to backup your system?
  25. Do you know how to use the internet for more than checking Facebook and playing games?
As you can see, the number of possible, and simple, tech questions could continue. The fact though, is that law students need to start preparing themselves to deal with these types of programs.

One of the easiest ways is to actually purchase the program, and use it. Many companies offer discounts for students. These prices are for full versions of the program. Note, there are some restrictions on using the program, so check the licensing agreement. Some schools freely distribute the programs to their students under their educational licensing agreements with the manufacturers. This could save you hundreds of dollars.

My hope is that you'll take your educational experience to the next level. Law school gives you the academic information you'll need, but you're going to need to rely on yourself for the techno-know-how.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Google Places

I don't market my law firm anywhere else but on the internet. Sure, I have the obligatory white pages listing I get when I installed my office line, but that's so indescribably boring that it's hardly worth mentioning.

What has been the true "make it, or break it" marketing maven is my firm and personal listing on Google. I've discussed the benefits of Google, and how my listings on Google influence the types of cases I want to develop. When I ask people how they got my information, "the internet" or "Google" are the two most common responses.

Well, now Jay Fleischman has delved into helping you create and utilize Google Places to your marketing advantage. Jay has two posts, here and here, which effectively and succinctly describe what Google Places is, and how to take advantage of the Google behemoth, all for free.

One of the keys that Jay suggests, which I think is the money quote, is get a separate Google account. I didn't do this when I started my firm's marketing scheme, and frankly, it didn't even cross my mind. Now however, the separate account would be nice. The problem I've realized is that have your marketing connected to your private account will create headaches in the future, i.e., what if you want to sell your business? Your public marketing efforts are intricately tied to your private account. It's unseverable without fully transferring my private Google account. The easiest thing to rectify this problem: get a Google apps account for $50 per year. 

Other than that small glitch, I love (as I've gloated before) seeing my names in the 1 and 2 spots on the Google search page. Even more thrilling is that my names come before the BigLaw firms who have mucho denaro to market with.


Monday, September 13, 2010

Influence of Blogging

Kevin O'Keefe, author of Real Lawyers Have Blogs, turned me on to a great survey that in-house counsel use to rank the importance/competence of outside counsel to hire.

Kevin notes that from those surveyed, 27% noted they used blogs as one method for vetting potential hires. His article continues to highlight the importance of blogging, its usefulness, and its influence in the future. Kevin even makes this profound comment, which I whole-heartedly agree with:
Ask any lawyer who publishes a good topic centric blog and they'll tell you that their speaking opportunities have increased dramatically with blogging. Blogging lawyers are also likely to tell you of their blog posts being re-published as articles and of increasing requests for them to write articles.
However, one of the things I think Kevin missed (perhaps it's because his blog is focused on getting lawyers blogging), is result number 6, "Twitter feeds from lawyers." This ranked in at 22%. I think, like blogging, Twitter is an effective way to get your message out, in short bursts. Although admittedly, Twitter provides less of a useful marketing scheme than blogging, the Twitter feed is a mechanism to show others that you have some personality, besides being a lawyer.

If you're not blogging, I encourage you to immediately start. It's easy, educational, and can be a good source for new business.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Would You Trust a Law Professor to Represent You

I had many good law professors in school. I also had many bad ones. I don't necessarily think they were bad in the sense they didn't know their material. Rather, like this article posted by the Law Librarians shows, the professors often focused too much on the minute theory, and not enough on the practical application.

I tend to agree with Mr. Newton's criticisms of law schools, since I generally believe that most law schools fail to adequately prepare their students for legal work. I believe far too often, too many students have to learn "lawyering" in the "school of hard knocks." Moreover, I think the law schools' focus on academia, versus practicum, does an even greater disservice to the students in leading them to believe that the grades will catapult them to greatness. The truth is, even the brightest star dims in the sunshine.

Many students I see, I suspect because of the B.S. they're fed in law school, believe that they're commitment to academics is more important than their law work involvement. For instance, I recently sought to hire a part-time law clerk from my alma mater (you may want to check out an earlier post regarding a similar experience). I solicited, and received, a number of qualified resumes. 

The problem was, I saw a great number of "silver spoon" candidates who demanded I accommodate particular school schedules, routines, etc., when I hired them. Some seemed to expect this favorable treatment because of some high grade or recognition in law school, despite the fact they lacked any notable legal experience. In fact, one applicant went so far as to say that they were available to work only Friday and Saturday - I thought only BigLaw lawyers worked Saturdays or Sundays if they didn't have to?

I took two jobs in school, which I think benefited me tremendously, in both experience and with practical lawyering skills. I worked for free, as a pro bono volunteer, then I worked for a solo practitioner. The first firm taught me the meaning of doing justice, which led me to reconsider my decision to become "not a lawyer." 

At my second job, I saw how hard work, dedication, and common sense, can make a skilled attorney. The firm expected me to work a regular schedule (meaning be there when the other guys/gals are), and to dedicate the time necessary to close cases, and ultimately make money for the firm. Honestly, during the last year of law school, I dedicated more time to my job than to my studies. What I recognized was that actually doing the stuff I'm learning about, was more important than learning about stuff I could be doing.

The problem is, many law students (again, I think because of the schools) believe their lives are paved in BigLaw. The truth though, is that many BigLaw dreams end up in tattered shards of unemployment, or ill-equipped solo practitioners, who struggle to survive.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Paperless Office

There's a couple of really great articles out there about improving your law office with a move to digital files.

Jim Calloway, Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association Management Assistance Program, has a great article this month discussing the importance of using digital files.

My firm went digital from day one, and with the advice of several people at Solosez, I ditched the actual paper copies to the files as well.

The greatest benefits have been increased productivity and efficiency. As Jim suggests, I no longer rummage through the paper file looking for that letter or medical report. Everything is on my digital system, and available to all of my staff.

I use a simple naming and sorting system that I think is easy to remember and use. My biggest rule is if it isn't scanned, it doesn't exist or it never happened.

I purchased a fairly inexpensive Dell multifunction printer/scanner, which runs multiple functions, saving space and money. There's a lot of hype about the ScanSnap scanners, but I haven't tried them.

One of the hardest things for me to appreciate was that no matter what you tell yourself, you don't need the file. My biggest hangup was that I would "need" the file for court. That simply isn't true, or is limited to a few instances. However, in the 6 months since my move, I have never needed the entire file. For hearings, I print out the document(s) I need to refer to, and head out. Sure, arguably I'm "wasting" more paper, but I think I have comfort knowing that the ultimate waste is for my own benefit.

I would encourage you to get past the "need" for the physical copy, and move to the digital age.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Ups & Downs

Just finished my first solo jury trial. Boy, was it a disappointment. We lost, but I had a great opportunity.

We'll get them next time!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

To Market Your Firm, Stay Away From The Crowd

I'm a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, advocate of finding a way to "reinvent the wheel" when you're starting/operating your own law firm. I've discussed a variety of ways you can make yourself "popular" without blowing your operating budget. For me, Google Places is big.

In today's post from Jay Fleischman, he hits this topic squarely on the head. If you're following the crowd, you're always going to be following the crowd. I like this sentence from Jay's post: "They got there first, and have more money to spend than you do." That's the quintessential point that a lot of new solos don't realize.

You have to find the new avenues and marketing mediums (right now I'm trying to negotiate a sign placement in a local burger joint), to get your name and message out.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Marketing Successes

I like to get compliments, just like everyone else. More especially, I like compliments like, "your name is every where," or "did you know you're number __ on Google?"

Of course I know this, but it's certainly always nice to hear the compliment from someone else. I always politely respond with a simple yes, and "would you like to know how?" People are impressed by search position (remember when you used to be impressed by the back page of the phone book?).

My method isn't anything special or secret, nor do I spend a large amount of money paying to market my law practice. Moreover, I'm sure that if I did a couple of things differently, I'm going to pop my rankings even more, and turn over more search engine clients.

I've told you about my marketing efforts, but in case you're not faithfully reading this blog, you may check the posts here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The simple fact is, I spend less than $150.00 per year on marketing for my law practice, and I attribute 3 things to my successful marketing:
  1. Actively blogging about important subjects - I believe that part of the task and success in raising your name to a ranking position on page 1 (this is important too) is constantly update your content with relevant subject materials. The search engine spiders go after fresh stuff.
  2. Google Places - if you're not listed on the Google map, you're missing out on a free and effective marketing opportunity. Pick your core demographics (geographically and topical), and key in on those in your blogging/website.
  3. Headway Wordpress Theme - while Headway takes some getting used to, it's a fairly simple program to use and create a website with. Wordpress is a phenomenal platform, so you can't beat the combination. Headway has great SEO options, which help get your name/content into the digital world.
Like I've said before, I'm not a marketing genius, nor do I claim to know the ins/outs of marketing. What I do know though is that these three things are the only things I'm doing different from the colleagues in my office. This is the stuff that's producing my results.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

From Law Student to Lawyer to Partner

I'm all in favor of starting your own law firm right out of school. I did, and I think I've been fairly successful. I think with enough diligence, you can too.

Now, Law.com, has this post about starting your own firm right out of school. I think this is one of the more well-written articles, and gives some genuinely brilliant advice.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

More on Diligent Duty

There's a great article today on the Law.com site written by Adrienne Bond about important habits for every lawyer. The article is titled, 10 Habits Every New Lawyer Should Learn. I think the habits go as good reminders for old attorneys too.

As I stated before, part of becoming a good attorney, is learning diligence and details. Ms. Bond's article is a great affirmation of that principle.

My money quote, because it's so simple and effective:
Print out the final document and proofread back to front. 
Lawyers miss more errors when reading a document on a computer screen than they do after printing it out. Proofread and spell check the final document, then print it out. Then read it from end to beginning. When going over a document from beginning to end, the reader can skip obvious mistakes, especially when she wrote the document. But starting from the final sentence, moving backward and reading each sentence in isolation renders the document alien. It prevents expectations from intruding on perception. Errors become easier to notice. 
Take a minute to read the article, you'll be glad you did. 

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Basic Principles for the Job Market

Attorneys are required to do a lot of thing very carefully. We carefully proofread all of our documents. We pour over pages and pages of discovery looking for each minute error committed by the opposing party. We're required to know, and follow, particular court rules and statutes.

That's why I think thoroughness is important. Sure, I'll admit that I slip up. Sometimes it's that small misspelling, or reference error (I once forgot to change the correct date on a pleading, or referred to a traffic accident in a breach of contract claim - oops) that will even embarrass us. However, we should always strive to put our best stuff forward. More importantly, where we're instructed to perform something in a particular manner, we should act carefully to include that in our performance.

Recently, I posted a job opening request with my alma mater's career services department. The request, strategically, asked the applicants to deliver their application documents in a specific file format, and with a particular statement in their cover letter. From the multiple applicants, only 2 completed the assignment as requested.

For newly minted, or soon-to-be minted attorneys, my first word of advice is to follow the instructions. My strategic reasoning behind the request was to discover something unique about the prospective employee, and second, to determine whether the new hire could follow simple instructions. My office is chaotic as is, and to add a new employee who can't follow basic directions could create headaches that I don't want to deal with.

The second thing I've learned is that many prospective hires don't use common sense. For example, around January, and May, I get a large number of resumes from law students looking for jobs. I think this is because my website has a fairly high web presence, and it's easy to find.

One of the errors that always makes me chuckle, is the cover letter addressed to "To whom it may concern" or "Hiring Manager." Frankly, the ubiquitous statement is an insult. If I were looking for a job with my firm (and frankly, who wouldn't want one for the low pay, low hours, and cranky boss - just kidding about the boss), I'd perform a little background investigation. First, instead of just finding the contact information for the law firm on the home page, I'd actually visit the about us page, for details on the attorneys.

There, I'd see that the only person listed on the website is me. I could conclude to things: 1. this guy's arrogant; or 2. he's the right man to address my letter to. Naturally, I'd pick the first second.

The third thing I see is a lot of minor, but critical errors; the prime being spelling and grammar. I'm a stickler for those, though I tend to let more complex grammar errors, like the use of commas and semi-colons, slide. One of the biggest errors I see is misspelling my name (5 of the recent applicants misspelled my first name, 1 misspelled my last). You may not like your name all too much, but I like mine. Its been with me for awhile now, and I'm not changing it, although I may shorten it a touch. You may have all the academic and social credits in the world, but let me guarantee this: if you spell Jeffrey, Jeffery, kiss your resume goodbye. Like The-Green-Eyed-Man says in Bolt, "that irks me...[that's] beginning to irk me."

The goal of the job search, especially in these difficult times, is to get the job.You need to do a lot to make yourself standout as an applicant. If you're committing these standard errors, you're not standing out, you're getting kicked by the small guy.

Now, some people will argue with me that it's fruitless to take these "countermeasures" and "customize" your resume, cover letter, and whatever else to the particular job. I say hogwash (do I sound 1930's, or what?). How can you afford not to? I think it's particularly bad form to "cyber-blast" a resume to hundreds of employers, hoping to match with one. You're doing yourself a disservice, and you're wasting a lot of money in the process. I know, times can get tough and desperate, and the countless rejections get tough (the truth is there are too many attorneys/students, and too few viable legal jobs). However, I believe that if you'll take some time, do some research, contemplate your goals, you'll find a better match.

I'd love to hear your opinions on this matter, and any other advice you'd like to give. Please leave a comment.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Bar Exam Prep

Well, it's May. If you're a law student, May means 1 of 3 things: School's out; Summer school starts; or it's bar exam time.

For me, the bar exam was the hardest, yet easiest test I've ever taken; I guess having the fear of failure is quite a motivator to do very well. On the first day of the exam, I thought I was going to throw up. On the drive to the exam hall, my wife kept asking if I was all right and if we needed to pull over. If I could have thrown up, I probably would have. Truth is, I couldn't even muster enough courage to puke, because of the sudden wave of fear I'd gathered about 90 minutes prior to the exam. By the time the proctors bellowed "begin" though, I was "full guns" and focused.

I used to believe in the principle that Wisconsin adopts: if you attend a state school, you can waive the bar exam. Not any more though. I think every last and recent graduate should suffer just like me. Two days of pure hell, followed by 2 months of anxiety.

The fact is, everyone does it. It's a right of passage, and if you've done what you need to, then you'll be fine. My advice is simple: develop a study routine, and stick to it. Bar prep is your job for the next 2 months (although I worked 30 hours per week from graduation until July 1).

I took the BarBri and PMBR bar exam courses. I know people who didn't, and they passed. Frankly, I think you could do it, but why risk it? The Cowgirl Lawyer, has a well-written blog post, which basically agrees with my philosophy.

You need the study routine to give you comfort and stress relief More importantly, the routine is a method to allow you to accomplish all the studying that has to take place. I'd go to our local city library, or fortunately, to the law school's library (it's surprisingly empty from August to December, January to April, and May 15 to August 15), and sprawl out over a desk. I made sure I only took my study materials, no laptop or other distracting devices. 

Here's my daily routine (beginning July 1):
9:00  50 MBE questions & review
12:00 lunch (30 minutes)
1:00   Review BarBri materials; pick 1 subject to study
5:30   Dinner
6:00   Create study flash cards, posters, review missed MBE questions, etc.
8:00   Relax (tv, movies, etc)
10:30 Bed

I liked my scheduled because it created order out of chaos. The amount of information is overwhelming, and you need a logical way to tackle it. You also need to make sure you're spending some time for yourself. I didn't study on Saturday night, or Sunday. I felt I should have a little time away from the material (although it's always close, no matter what). I also didn't get discouraged if I "slacked" during some study sessions. Slacking is your mind's way of telling you to take a break. Just remember, don't take too long of a break.

The PMBR program recommended 50 questions per day from May to the bar exam. I stuck with it. You need to see a lot of questions to start to understand MBE logic. When I took the MBE, I felt like I knew 75% of the correct answers, just because they were similar to previous questions. I didn't try to "kill" the test, merely make sure I scored my 130 to pass.

In the final 2 weeks before the exam, I started taking regular full MBE exams. I'd do a 3 hour chunk in the morning, followed by review in the afternoon. I always did "discouragingly well" on my practice MBE exams, don't worry. They really are more difficult than the real MBE. By the time I took my final practice, I was scoring 135-140. The important thing is to see the types of questions. 

I didn't do a lot of essays. I don't know whether that helped or hurt me, although I felt like I was fine on the real exam. I knew I could write an essay, so I practiced issue spotting on each practice essay question. Most of the questions had 10-15 issues, large and small. I shot for 75-80% of the issues. The best essay-writing advice I received was to remember that the person reading your essay is a solo/small firm lawyer who has a busy practice and has about 3 minutes to read your answer. Be concise, be clear, and make it very easy to read. Also, add some statement like, "and since this is a rather complex issue, I would always seek the assistance and counsel of my senior partner or mentor." That has to be good for something, right?

I studied alone, I passed the exam. I don't think that group or single studying is a factor. Again, it's important to establish and stick to a routine. 

You're going to do fine, if you get in a good habit. If not, you're going to fail, and you'll re-read this blog post, kick yourself, and work harder. I know several attorneys who didn't pass (they didn't follow any sort of routine to study) on their first, second, or third attempts, it's not a big deal.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Why You Should Personally Control Your Marketing

Many attorneys like to leave their marketing schemes to junior associates or other "media" interns. There's one attorney in my office who's even letting his legal assistant design the site without any input from him. He's taking a "hands off" approach, while the assistant handles the media marketing. In fact, he's so interested in distancing himself from the website design process, that he tunes out all criticism and other input.

The truth is, this is the worst approach to managing your media image. If you want your firm to be at the forefront of people's thoughts, you need to be at the forefront of your media campaign too. You wouldn't let a legal assistant schmooze referral sources, would you? Then why do you permit them to schmooze the potential clients?

I'm certainly not saying that you need to handle every microcosm of your media design. Certainly, at some point it's more efficient for you to handle legal work, while your assistant composes the "About Me" page of your website. The key is, you need to approve every element of the content going into your media campaign.

Your marketing should have your cohesive style to encourage continuity and consistency. Your image is your image. Keep it to yourself, because nobody cares more about you, than you.

If you'd like some suggestions on managing your media, please shoot me an email. I've written several posts on some of the tools I use, so take a minute to search the site.

Why I Blog, and You Should Too

Blogging is the new fondue party, all of the cool people are doing it.

You'll recall that I'm an avid (or maybe not so avid) blogger. I publish this site, and the blog on my law firm site. You'll also recall that on a number of occasions, I've posted articles about blogging, and blogging tools. I'm a particularly avid fan of Wordpress and the Headway Theme.

I think blogging gives you a creative outlet, and an opportunity to keep up-to-date on information and current events.

One of the most difficult things is creating fresh content. My goal is to publish 3 posts to my law firm site per week. At first that doesn't seem like a lot, but if you're like me and you're trying to manage a full-time practice, 3 posts, plus everything else, ends up being quite a task.

To help minimize the workload, I find it helpful to mass produce posts when my creativity is high, and schedule them to appear at a later time and date. Some bloggers don't condone this behavior, and may suggest that fresh means fresh. The content loses some of it's quality. I beg to differ, and suggest that whatever your style may be, is the best approach you can take.

A benefit is that having a website with rapidly-changing content improves your web exposure. I remember the "rush to the web" mentality many law firms had regarding the internet. Now, with over a decade of usable internet time and experience behind us, the internet novelty has collapsed. People expect lawyers to have websites, and I think they're kind of shocked when the attorney doesn't.

Unfortunately, as some have suggested, the truth is that law firm websites are merely the conduit for funneling contacts to your business, it's the relationships that matter most. Great clients breed great client referrals and lasting income.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Solo Advice

Law practice and small firm guru, Carolyn Elefant, republished a couple of articles I think everyone should review. Carolyn does such a fantastic job at reminding us that there's a dignity in being a solo practitioner, and these articles continue that theme.

The first is an article titled, Solos Know Strategies Associates Need to Learn (the post/link at Myshingle.com is broken). This post dishes some especially encouraging advice to BigLaw associates and solos on the practice of law. Carolyn notes some of the common misconceptions about solo practice (it's not just about wills and trusts, and landlord-tenant disputes), and gives meaningful advice to counter these misconceptions.

The second article, Don't Neglect Your Reputation When Leaving A Firm (broken link), gives some more provocative advice for handling and maintaining previous relationships. As you'll learn in the solo practice field, relationships are essential to success in this business.

I think you'll find great tips in these articles to build your practice. Also, if you haven't already (I don't get a "kick back"), I suggest you purchase a copy of Carolyn's book, Solo By Choice (click here to purchase from Amazon). This is hands-down, one of the most useful books for solos. 

Solosez

If you're a new solo attorney, or you're a solo with "older-than-dirt" experience, you need to check out the ABA-hosted listserv, Solosez.

This is a great resource for a "firm" to bounce ideas off of, and seek assistance with difficult legal problems. I can't tell you the amount of useful information, and the number of network connections I've made, since I joined the list 4 years ago.

Many newbies get overwhelmed by the number of emails generated. First, you should get a separate email address, I use a Gmail account, to subscribe with. I prefer not to have Outlook poll this email address. Rather, I let Google manage the conversations, then pick-and-choose the threads that interest me. You must pick-and-choose otherwise you'll get demolished by the number of messages. There are several members who use Outlook rules to manage the message, but I find that Google is an effective tool for stringing conversations together.

Be warned: once you get started, it's addicting and very difficult to stop.