Legal Marketing & PR

Twitter: You Can't Always Trust What You Want

Posted on June 22, 2009
As marketers, for the last 9 days we've all been transfixed by the protests in Tehran, made accessible by Twitter messages leading to online videos. It's been dubbed the first protest movement enabled by technology. But the New York Times notes that you can't always trust what you read on Twitter...

Having a Wikipedia Entry can be Good for Getting New Business

Posted on June 19, 2009
Carolyn Elefant makes a great point on Nolo's Legal Marketing Blog that you need to pay attention to your Wikipedia entry.  Not sure if you have one? You better check.  I looked up my own name and was surprised. A Wikipedia entry can help your law firm generate new business...

Billing Clients for Computertized Research - and how it Hurts Law Firm Marketing

Posted on June 18, 2009
Lawyers USA has a great article on the effects of billing clients for certain costs. In the case of a major New York law firm it led to a class action lawsuit. The plaintiff argues that the firm violated California's ethics laws as well as the state's unfair business practices statute by overcharging him for computerized legal research...

Blogger Not Surprised that Black Lawyer was Hired as "Marketing Tool"

Posted on June 17, 2009
Former associate Venus Yvette Springs, an African-American lawyer at Mayer Brown's Charlotte, N.C., office has filed a Title VII discrimination suit that claims the law firm used her as a 'marketing tool' before firing her in 2008. So what? says Heather M...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Twitter's Growth Screeches to a Halt -- It Was All Hype

Posted on June 15, 2009
Like CB radios, Twitter is turning out to be a fad that has peaked.  Check the facts: The number of Twitter users has started to decline according to Quantcast. At best, Twitter's growth suddenly stopped in May, according to Compete.com...

The Little Black Book: Creating a Marketing Habit in 21 Days

Posted on June 14, 2009
For the next 48 hours Paula Black will be offering an impressive opportunity to anyone who purchases 'The Little Black Book: A Lawyer's Guide To Creating A Marketing Habit in 21 Days.' Readers who purchase the book will receive 'The Smart Lawyer's Toolkit,' a compilation of advice from more than 30 of the most sought-after experts in the legal arena (including myself!)...

Mobile Version of LawMarketing Portal Now Online

Posted on June 12, 2009
I have seen the future of the Internet, and it will be viewed on a 2 by 3-inch screen.  New research shows that most people will view the web on their smart phones and PDA -- instead of computer monitors. Accordingly, visitors to the LawMarketing Portal can now see a special mobile version of the site specially designed for their handheld devices...

OMG! Womble Carlyle Releases Clever Texting Video! ROFLMAO!

Posted on June 12, 2009
Aden Dauchess,  Director of Digital Marketing, and the tech wizards at 530-lawyer Womble Carlye will release a funny  video of two laywers texting each other about the sale of a factory.   To the tune of Leroy Anderson's orchestra music "The Typewriter," it shows the shorthand used in the text messages and a polite translation below...

California Law Firm is First to Get Bailout Funds from $1 million Rainmaker Software Law Firm Economic Assistant Package

Posted on June 11, 2009
An 85-lawyer firm is the first recipient of RainMaker Software's $1 million Economic Assistance Package for law firms. So far RainMaker has awarded $228,164 in economic assistance, as much as $30,000 per firm.  Law firms get the funds in the form of a discount on the company's software and must agree to 'pay it forward' by devoting the benefits of the bail-out to their local community, for example, identifying new pro-bono work initiatives for laid-off workers, or assisting families dealing with potential mortgage foreclosures...

California Law Firm is First to Get Bailout Funds from Law Firm Economic Assistance Package

Posted on June 11, 2009
An 85-lawyer firm is the first recipient of RainMaker Software's $1 million Economic Assistance Package for law firms. So far RainMaker has awarded $228,164 in economic assistance, as much as $30,000 per firm.  Law firms get the funds in the form of a discount on the company's software and must agree to 'pay it forward' by devoting the benefits of the bail-out to their local community, for example, identifying new pro-bono work initiatives for laid-off workers, or assisting families dealing with potential mortgage foreclosures...

June Issue of Originate Now Available Online

Posted on June 10, 2009
 The new June 2009 issue Originate! is now online. Here is the table of contents for this month's issue. Earlier articles are still available for viewing in the 'Archives' section and are searchable using the Search the articles just click any title or log in at www...

Rainmakers of The Year Offer Tips for their Success

Posted on June 09, 2009
Enter the 2009 Rainmaker of the Year Awards, sponsored by Originate! Newsletter and the Legal Sales and Services Organization. The newsletter is now soliciting entries from lawyers, firms, marketing specialists, recruiters and advisors in six categories: Associate Small firm lawyer (30 or fewer lawyers) Partner – transactions Partner – litigator Woman Lawyer Enter Today! From the LawMarketing Portal:      When Peter Bilfield won the Originate! newsletter Rainmaker of the Year Award in 2008, he was an associate at a large New York Law firm...

Bank Abandons Outdated Logo that "Looked Like a Law Firm"

Posted on June 08, 2009
A Massachusetts credit union got rid of its old logo because it made them look like a law firm, which doesn't say much for law firm marketing logos. When the officers at the First Citizens' Federal Credit Union in Massachusetts decided it was time for a new bank logo, they embarked on what can be a risky enterprise...

Reed Smith LLP Partners Deploys Concep Email System to Streamline Client Communications

Posted on June 08, 2009
Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, has deployed the Concep Campaigner e-mail marketing communications across 23 of its offices globally. The product is an interactive e-mail marketing communications platform, designed specifically for busy law firm marketers to deliver content-rich, company-branded e-mails to target audiences...

More McDermott layoffs

Posted on June 05, 2009
McDermott Will & Emery issued its second layoff memo this year on Thursday. The grim news: the loss of 25 lawyers and 47 administrative staff. The elimination of 72 people is on top off a reduction of 149 jobs in February, which included 60 attorneys...

10% of active users are responsible for over 90% of all Tweets

Posted on June 04, 2009
A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review reveals that most Twitter users don't actually use the service much, or even at all. In fact, 10% of active users are responsible for over 90% of all Tweets. According to the research, conducted on a random sample of about 300,000 Twitter users in May 2009, 25% of Twitter users don't tweet at all, while 50% of users tweet less than once every 74 hours...

Martindale Connected Membership Doubles

Posted on June 02, 2009
As of today, there are approximately 6,200 members of Martindale-Hubbell Connected.  When I joined back in March there were 3,000 members of the company's online social network.   Granted, it's far from the 563,000 lawyer members that LinkedIn has, according to Steve Matthew's Stem Blog...

Mayer Brown lawyers take $100,000 pay cut for one-year guarantee of employment

Posted on June 02, 2009
From the Chicago Tribune: Mayer Brown is paying some of its associates to work in-house at corporate clients such as United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. But there is a catch: The associates' pay is reduced to $60,000 plus benefits, from about $160,000, and the jobs last one year with no guarantee of further employment...

Mayer Brown Lawyers Take $100,000 Pay Cut To Avoid Layoff

Posted on June 02, 2009
From the Chicago Tribune: Mayer Brown is paying some of its associates to work in-house at corporate clients such as United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. But there is a catch: The associates' pay is reduced to $60,000 plus benefits, from about $160,000, and the jobs last one year with no guarantee of further employment...

Yet Another Twitter Worm

Posted on June 01, 2009
According to Nerino Petro's Compujurist.com, As Twitter becomes more popular with lawyers, it becomes a larger target for people with malicious intent to use for their own nefarious purposes. The latest round of attacks has been occurring in the form of a worm which attacks when users click the shortened URLs in a Tweet...

Martindale Connected Membership Nearly Triples

Posted on June 01, 2009
As of today, there are approximately 7,500 members of Martindale-Hubbell Connected.  When I joined back in March there were 3,000 members of the company's online social network.   Granted, it's far from the 563,000 lawyer members that LinkedIn has, according to Steve Matthew's Stem Blog...

Martindale Connected Membership More than Doubles

Posted on June 01, 2009
As of today, there are approximately 7,500 members of Martindale-Hubbell Connected.  When I joined back in March there were 3,000 members of the company's online social network.   Granted, it's far from the 563,000 lawyer members that LinkedIn has, according to Steve Matthew's Stem Blog...

Twitter Defenders Miss the Point

Posted on May 29, 2009
I wrote Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing and it's got Twitter defenders in, well, a twit.  The evidence shows that:  60% of Twitter users drop out after one month, according to Nielsen Wire.  It is the least effective way to boost traffic to your website, compared with SEO, email promotions and blogs, according to Marketing Sherpa...

I'll See You at the RainDance Conference, June 3-5 in Chicago

Posted on May 28, 2009
I'll see you soon at LSSO's RainDance Conference, scheduled for June 3-5 in Chicago.  The conference is conceived and designed for senior leaders in law firms and legal departments. It's the place where sophisticated professionals and industry thought leaders turn for their own professional development...

Tune in to the Get A Life Conference Free Live Stream Wednesday & Thursday (May 27 & 28)

Posted on May 27, 2009
As you might be aware, the Total Practice Management Association is hosting its inaugural Get a Life.™ Conference (follow #GAL09 on Twitter) Wednesday and Thursday of this week (May 27-28th) in Chicago. True to its mission of educating legal professionals with practical, 'how to' marketing, operations and practice management advice, the conference will be streamed live and free of charge during the two day event...

Tune in to the Get A Life Conference Free Live Stream Today and Tomorrow (May 27 & 28)

Posted on May 27, 2009
As you might be aware, the Total Practice Management Association is hosting its inaugural Get a Life.™ Conference (follow #GAL09 on Twitter) Wednesday and Thursday of this week (May 27-28th) in Chicago. True to its mission of educating legal professionals with practical, 'how to' marketing, operations and practice management advice, the conference will be streamed live and free of charge during the two day event...

Twitter Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing

Posted on May 26, 2009
We've all been sucked into the black hole of buzz about Twitter, which attracted 32 million global unique visitors in April, 2009 according to comScore.  It's even surpassed Digg (23 million), LinkedIn (16 million), and the NYTimes.com (17...

Building Your Personal & Client Business Development Plans

Posted on May 23, 2009
Come to the "Get a Life Conference" next Wednesday in Chicago, where I'll be speaking on "Building Your Personal & Client Business Development Plans."  The conference is sponsored by the The Practice Management Association, a new organization that helps attorneys seeking innovative ways to grow their practice and manage their office without sacrificing their personal and family life...

Ed Schechter, the Marketing Director of the Year, is Out at Duane Morris

Posted on May 22, 2009
Ed Schechter, who built of Duane Morris from an unheard of middling firm in Philadelphia to the 25-office, 700- lawyer powerhouse it is today, resigned, ending his eight-year tenure as chief marketing officer at Duane Morris.  The handwriting was on the wall when regime change occurred, and Shelly Bonovitz stepped down as firm Chairman in 2008...

How to Remember Peoples' Names

Posted on May 20, 2009
Remember that a man's name is, to him, the sweetest and most important sound in any language. —Dale Carnegie For many of us, remembering names is difficult, but make no mistake: It is extremely important in building relationships. People like to hear their own names...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.