Be careful who you friend – as they can report you to the (state) bar

Oh, those kids over at the Florida Bar Association are kicking it up again.

My friend (and guest blogger) Gail Lamarche just posted this link over on the Legal Marketing Association‘s member listserv, The Florida Bar Guidelines for Networking Sites (updated as of January 10, 2012).

Before we all start to panic, go read the actual guidelines.

As I have said many times, what you do IRL (in real life) needs to apply online, and that’s what I’m seeing here:

Florida is simply attempting to extend their (overly restrictive, in my opinion) current rules to the social platform.

However, I’m no lawyer, so this is not advice. Just the opinion from the marketing hack.

I think my colleague Igor Ilyinsky said it best, “Be careful who you friend – as they can report you to the (state) bar.”

In other words, you can do it, just don’t be a jerk, piss someone off, and get reported.

Seriously. When was the last time a corporate attorney was reported to the state bar for sending out an email?

So, yes, Virginia, you can have a Facebook page, and you don’t have to include a disclaimer:

Pages of individual lawyers on social networking sites that are used solely for social purposes, to maintain social contact with family and close friends, are not subject to the lawyer advertising rules.

Don’t spam people on LinkedIn:

Invitations sent directly from a social media site via instant messaging to a third party to view or link to the lawyer’s page on an unsolicited basis are solicitations in violation of Rule 4-7.4(a), unless the recipient is the lawyer’s current client, former client, relative, or is another lawyer. Any invitations to view the page sent via e-mail must comply with the direct e-mail rules if they are sent to persons who are not current clients, former clients, relatives, other lawyers, or persons who have requested information from the lawyer. Direct e-mail must comply with the general advertising regulations set forth in Rule 4-7.2 as well as additional requirements set forth in Rule 4-7.6(c). Information on complying with the direct e-mail rules is available in the Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation and in the Direct E-Mail Quick Reference Checklist on the Florida Bar website.

Watch those testimonials:

Although lawyers are responsible for all content that the lawyers post on their own pages, a lawyer is not responsible for information posted on the lawyer’s page by a third party, unless the lawyer prompts the third party to post the information or the lawyer uses the third party to circumvent the lawyer advertising rules. If a third party posts information on the lawyer’s page about the lawyer’s services that does not comply with the lawyer advertising rules, the lawyer must remove the information from the lawyer’s page.

If they follow you on Twitter, they are signing up to receive what you send:

Lawyers who post information to Twitter whose postings are generally accessible are subject to the lawyer advertising regulations set forth in Rule 4-7.2 as above. A lawyer may post information via Twitter and may restrict access to the posts to the lawyer’s followers, who are persons who have specifically signed up to receive posts from that lawyer. If access to a lawyer’s Twitter postings is restricted to the followers of the particular lawyer, the information posted there is information at the request of a prospective client and is not subject to the lawyer advertising rules under Rule 4-7.1(h).

Keep it simple and you don’t have to report it:

Finally, the Standing Committee on Advertising is of the opinion that a page on a networking site is sufficiently similar to a website of a lawyer or law firm that pages on networking sites are not required to be filed with The Florida Bar for review.

And, in the words of Wendy L. Patrick, don’t engage in false or predatory friending. Use your manners, and common sense.

Now, I obviously cut and pasted information that I wanted to highlight from the Florida Bar Association. There’s more to read, so go read it, here.

As a marketing director, I do encourage every attorney to connect on LinkedIn with people they meet. You’ve MET them already. It’s okay.

If you speak at a conference, and they give you their business card, send a request to connect on LinkedIn (Jim, it was great meeting you at the ABC conference earlier this week. Next time you’re in L.A. make sure to give me a call. I’d love to grab a cup of coffee with you).

If you attend a conference, and hear great speakers, connect with them on LinkedIn (Mr. Smith. I heard you speak at the ABC conference this week and really enjoyed what you had to say on XYZ. I’d like to add you to my LinkedIn connections).

My marketing advice is simple: Conduct yourself online as you would in the real world. Be authentic. Be polite. Don’t spam. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t engage in predatory friending.

Image via Legal Juice.

2012
01/18
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Building your network
networking
social networking
TAGS


4 comments

“God welcomed his newest angel at 4:35 a.m.”

Nancy's Mom

I woke up this morning to the sad news that my friend Nancy Myrland‘s dear mother had passed away:

God welcomed his newest angel at 4:35 a.m. He couldn’t have given me a better mother. I will miss her dearly.

That’s the message Nancy posted publicly on her Twitter account.

Privately, several of us from the legal marketing community received a different message via Facebook messenger, as we have been doing all we can to support Nancy from our little corners of this big country.

I’m not sure about your experience, but social networking has expanded my life in ways I never could have imagined when I logged on to Twitter for the first time back in 2008; and, yet, at the same time, it has brought my entire world into the palm of my hand via my iPhone.

For me, these past few years have been about finding a balance between public and private. And, I do believe, we are all capable of sharing portions of our personal lives without over sharing.

How we conduct ourselves within our social networks says a lot about how we conduct ourselves in our business interactions. It is a reflection of our character. Why would we want to hide that part of ourselves?

I assure you, what I share on Twitter is much different than what I share on my Facebook wall, which is different than what I share in private groups or messages. Contrary to my daughters’ complaints, I don’t share EVERYTHING they do on Facebook.

A few years ago I went through a divorce. My ex-husband and I are very active in, and share, the same support network. It would have been insensitive and wrong for me to publicly or privately take my complaints, problems, and resentments with the divorce there.

I was able to turn to my social network for the support I needed.

Through Facebook and Twitter, I found the friends (old and new) I needed to help guide me through what could have been the worst days of my life, without compromising the respect the father of my children deserved.

I was able to walk through my divorce with my dignity intact because: 1) I had a network of people standing behind me, both publicly and privately, supporting me all the way; 2) I was mindful and measured in what I shared publicly and privately, without compromising my authenticity and what I was going through.; and, 3) I knew “you” were watching me.

And THAT is so important to remember.

How we conduct ourselves on our social networks says a lot about how we conduct ourselves in our business interactions.

You never know who is watching you online. You never know who is filing away your experience, and who might have need to call on you for assistance — professional or personal — down the line.

I cannot tell you how many people have called me in the past couple years who are contemplating or going through a divorce.

In fact, I spent my afternoon yesterday on Facebook, on two private message streams, supporting a friend who came home to a process server and a 400-page document from her husband who had just filed for divorce.

My friend included me in her short list of friends for support due in part to how I conducted myself during my divorce on line.

I’ve had my eye on Nancy and her family for the past several months. I know that one day I will be walking through her shoes, and I’ve been watching her closely.

Nancy and her siblings have been exemplary in their dedication to their mother. Nancy has literally been by her mother’s side, day and night, for what seems like months.

I’ll tell you one thing, knowing Nancy, I would have expected nothing less from her.

Will I be able to be that selfless? I hope so.

Today, both my parents are alive and well. Mr. Morse is off golfing (it’s Sunday, after all), having celebrated his 75th jubilee this past week in Palm Springs (because there was no snow in Mammouth).

My mom is living her best years as well in Tennessee, sending pictures back to us in California of this strange thing they have there called snow.

I am so fortunate in that I have never had to walk through either of my parents EVER being ill, but I know that I will one day.

(l-r) Gina, Me, Lindsay, Gail, Nancy, Laura and Tim.

I also know that I will get through it because Nancy, Tim, Gail and Gina have all done so before me.

I also know I will not walk through it alone, because whether they are by my side, or in the palm of my hand, my friends and support system are never far away.

To Nancy, my deepest sympathy on the loss of your beloved mother.

Thank you for the honor of being your friend.

Thank you for walking through these painful days with dignity and grace.

Thank you for sharing with us your love and affection for your mother.

Thank you for sharing with us your siblings, who are as lovely and wonderful as you. All of which, I am certain, stems from your wonderful, wonderful mother.

2012
01/15
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Personal Network
social networking
TAGS



4 comments

Where’d ya go??

I had a colleague e-mail me earlier in the week looking for a PR professional, in Los Angeles, who specialized in business, not law. Did I have a referral?

I thought about it and came up with a great candidate. He’s in my Outlook Contacts, we used to work together, so I know he’s good. I run into him from time-to-time on the streets in downtown L.A., so I know he’s still in the biz.

I decided to test his e-mail before sending my friend his contact information, letting him know that I was going to refer him, and it bounced back bad.

We’re friends on Facebook, connected on LinkedIn, however, I didn’t see any updated contact information on either platform. To tell you the truth, since there really wasn’t anything in it for me, I didn’t try any harder than that to find him. I just sent my buddy an e-mail saying I didn’t have a referral.

So my question to all of you reading this is, “Can someone find you on the fly if you left your firm today?”

  • Is your LinkedIn contact information updated? Do you have both a corporate and personal e-mail on the account as a back-up in case your e-mail is shut down or becomes corrupted?
  • Do you have a personal e-mail available on your Facebook info page (that can only be seen by friends)?
  • Is your Twitter account active and do you check it? If not, you should set it so you get e-mail notifications for direct messages or posts that mention you (via the @ sign).
  • Do you have a Google Profile that will allow you to be found easily in a search (especially if you have a common name)?

We no longer live in the world of life-time employment. I never assume that any professional is still employed where they were the last time around. One of the “perks” of sending out holiday cards are the returns. LinkedIn will also send you a report of all your connections who have changed jobs over the year. No more guessing.

But LinkedIn won’t know you’ve changed jobs unless you actually update your information today. And, really, a year is too long to wait to find out that you switched jobs. Don’t make me play a game of Internet hide-and-seek. Make it easy for people to find you. So go do it. Now!

Edited to add:

I’d like to contrast the story above with what happened right before the holidays.

My buddy T notified his Facebook community that he was leaving his job on December 1st and to contact him at XYZ@gmail.com. He was going to do some consulting while he decided what path to take moving forward in the new year.

Right before the holidays I was contacted by an ALM publication to write an article on law firm trends for 2012 for an on-line publication, but it was due on January 3rd. Considering it was December 23rd, and there wasn’t anything really in it for me (I’m in-house, not a consultant, so I’m not ALWAYS trying to get my name out there), I chose to pass. There would be no time for me to do it over the holidays as I had nothing in the can, so to speak, that I could easily update and revise.

I thought of T. He was doing some freelance consulting, and this could be a great opportunity for him.

I popped over to Facebook and shot him a message. He responded immediately and sent me his professional e-mail address. I connected him with the ALM publication, and a bada-bing, bada-boom. Love connections all around.

Once again. Top of mind. Easy to find. It all worked out.

2012
01/12
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
business of law
marketing me
Social Media
TAGS



4 comments

New Year’s Resolution #2: Learn how this social media thingie works

I saw a great headline the other day: Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works.

I remember fondly the days when we were all tickled pink by our elected officials’ struggle to understand how the internet works. Whether it was George W. Bush referring to “the internets” or Senator Ted Stevens describing said internets as “a series of tubes,” we would sit back and chortle at our well-meaning but horribly uninformed representatives, confident that the right people would eventually steer them back on course. Well I have news for members of Congress: Those days are over.

Guess what?

Dear Lawyers, it’s no longer OK to ignore social media.

It’s no longer cute to refer to it as “The Facebook” or snicker when someone uses “tweet” as a verb, or ignore LinkedIn connection requests because you think there is a nefarious motive behind the request, or ask when the firm is going to start mailing out a newsletter again.

It’s time to bite the bullet and move beyond a LinkedIn profile. I will continue to recommend that you start there, and maximize it (here are some ideas from my recent post, “Where do I start?”), but, really, in 2012 it’s about time you move a few steps further down the social media path.

There’s Twitter and hashtags.

Twitter is  a great place to cast a wide net. To find people beyond your geographic base.

By way of hashtags you can find the people who are interested in what you are talking about. Legal marketers use #lmamkt to communicate. For my firm, I use #insurance a lot. You get the idea.

If you’re going to a conference, check the website and see if there is a hashtag set up for that. Start communicating with the people attending the conference, before the conference, so you actually have contacts to meet at the conference.

Hashtags will also allow you to follow trends, and you can then identify people and influencers (such as THE PRESS) that you can follow and engage.

And it’s easy to engage someone … just start retweeting their content, or replying to things that they say. Bam. Connection.

Facebook isn’t just for sharing pictures of your kids and grandchildren.

It’s okay to “friend” your colleagues and close clients. It’s okay to share bits and pieces of your personal self. With the new security settings, you can have different levels of sharing, even, gasp, allowing public content.

Facebook business pages allow you to stream content, such as blog posts, but to also add photos and information not really appropriate for your website. Pictures from a charitable event that you sponsored, pictures from your summer associate program, links to conferences you are attending. It’s also a great place to promote firm events.

You can also use Facebook to promote your clients. If they have a Facebook page, add it to your pages favorites. You can then share the content that they promote.

You can also share your firm’s content on your personal page, a very subtle way of promoting the work you do to your personal friends and contacts.

YouTube videos aren’t just for kids. They are a great promotional tool for lawyers and law firms.

Yes, you can go professional and have wonderfully produced segments on your firm’s website, but just think how much more exciting it would be to capture your initial thoughts after a big win on your iPhone, upload that to your YouTube channel, and Tweet it out to your followers, who include your industry’s top reporters, all before you walk down the front steps of the courthouse?

Blogs are more than just an online newsletter. Newsletters were always a one way street. Blogs are a means of engaging and connecting with people. Blogs are easy for people to share with their network.

You can use your blog as a way of establishing your credentials. Want to move your practice in a certain direction? Start blogging about those issues. Perhaps a couple case updates. A new piece of legislation or regulation working its way through the legislature. I always say, “Write on it three times and you will be seen as an expert.”

Some “experts” will say “never post case updates,” however, they are EXTREMELY popular with our readers. So, follow your stats. If they read it, post on it.

But no matter what you do, keep in mind that self-promotion is a-ok.

How will ANYONE know what great work you are doing if you won’t promote it? Add that case win to your bio. Write your thoughts on that new piece of legislation and make sure your clients know about it. If you do it, show it. I like “representative matters” (client names omitted, of course) which discuss the work you do (and, more importantly, the work you want!).

Sure, I, the marketing director, can send out a press release, but think about how much more of an impact a blog post on that case win would make?

Sure, I can post that article in the LinkedIn Group, but how will that showcase the fact that YOU wrote it?

And speaking about promotion. You can’t just write and go, you have to promote. Promote your blog. Promote your Twitter feed. Promote your Facebook business page. Promote. Promote. Promote.

Write a blog post? Add links to Twitter, Facebook business page, then share on your personal feed. Post it to your firm and personal LinkedIn profiles. Add to the appropriate LinkedIn groups.

Update your website and blogs to include your social media buttons. Make it easy for people to follow you where THEY socially network.

If you don’t use a service like JD Supra, Lexology, or Mondaq to syndicate your blogs to the legal and business community, start.

And get a smart phone.

2011
12/29
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
marketing me
networking
Social Media
social networking
TAGS








6 comments

New Year’s Resolution #1: Honor Your Commitments

I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kinda gal. I live a day at a time and prefer to make a daily resolution. However, I have a couple resolutions I’ll share over the next few days.

My first one is “Honor Your Commitments.”

When you commit to doing something, or showing up somewhere, it’s not just a calendar item in your Outlook, or an entry in your lists that you can press “snooze” or ignore.

You have committed to another person to meet somewhere, return a call, submit a document, etc.

In many cases, the other person, or persons, cannot move forward until your piece of the pie is completed.

It’s a relay race of sorts.

By not honoring your commitment, you are, at the very least, inconveniencing another person. At the most, you are putting other people, or projects, at risk.

Think about all those HORRIBLE presentations you sit through at a conference. I assure you, someone on the “team” did not honor their commitments. They didn’t turn their handouts in on time. They did not prepare in advance, and threw the slides together at the last moment. They missed the conference calls where the panel would run through the materials.

I can give example after example of how lawyers fail on this one, especially when it comes to committing to their marketing departments.

  • There’s a reason why marketing departments hire outside consultants and coaches for attorneys. For some reason, attorneys are more likely to honor their commitment to an outside consultant than to inside colleague at the firm. We marketing directors and administrators jokingly refer to this as paying someone $5,000 to do what we can do (or say what we can say) for free.
  • What about that RFP that is sitting on your desk, or in your in-box, that you forget to hand over to the marketing director until just days before its due?
  • What about the emails asking for key information to complete a project that just seem to go into that black hole of nothingness? Sometimes you really are the only person who can answer that question.

This behavior is not exclusive to lawyers. My eleven-year old — going on 22 — did it to me today.

She really wanted to come with me to the office. I woke her up at 7:00, told her we were leaving at 8:30, and instructed her to get up and get ready.

At 8:15 she still wasn’t ready. In fact, she hadn’t even started getting dressed. Her room was in such a disarray that she couldn’t find anything to wear. Lots of excuses. But, really, the TV and Nintendo just distracted her. She thought she had more time.

A normal mom would just yell or walk out the door. I, however, chose to explain to her (again) that by not getting ready she was inconveniencing ME. In fact, she wasn’t just inconvenicing me, but a whole group of people down the line:

  • Her sister was ready, so she was forcing her to sit around and wait.
  • There was no time now for breakfast at home, so we’d have to eat downtown, which is costing me money.
  • I will now be late to work. Sure, I’m exempt, but she doesn’t know what that means yet, and it would ruin the lesson.
  • The project I was hoping to have completed by 9:30 wasn’t ready until 10:00, pushing my service manager’s projects back, which pushes the other projects back, and so on.

I not only made her feel guilty, I even made her cry a little.

Some might say I was harsh, but I hope she remembers that conversation the next time I say “Be ready by 8:30,” or her professor says “Final term papers are due at 12:00 p.m., sharp,” or her boss says, “I need that presentation by 3:00 p.m.”

Yes, there are always emergencies, but skiing in Vermont when an RFP-follow up is due on January 4 is not an emergency (True story, different firm).

Sure, you can pretend to not get my faxes (Really?? No WiFi at the lodge). And wasn’t it convenient that you happened to forget your Blackberry at home that week.

But what it came down to is that there was a job to get done. I was committed to it, but the partner of record was not.

Never mind that the firm was incredibly vested in us winning that new line of business. I just wanted to scream “We pulled a team together between Christmas and New Year’s to make YOU look good, and you keep dodging my phone calls!! Why??”

If the work turned out to be sub-par, and you didn’t win the beauty contest, accept responsibility for your actions. Don’t turn around and blame the marketing department. But, hey, thanks for throwing us under the bus nonetheless.

What it comes down to is that every time you commit to someone you form a team. If you cannot honor your commitment, then get it covered, or redefine the time commitments to which everyone can agree, and adhere to them.

Because, at the end of the day, it’s about your reputation. It’s about the work product. It’s about the relationships.

What it comes down to is that no matter how bright and gifted my kid is, if she can’t get herself dressed and out the door on time by the time she graduates high school, she’s going to have problems in college, which will boil over into her career.

In a society where bad reputations can be spread like a viral YouTube video, this is something I do find to be of concern.

But don’t blame me. I tried.

Photo via computerworlduk.com

2011
12/28
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
business development
Random Rant
Reputation Management
TAGS


2 comments

Nothing Says “Thanks for the Millions in Fees Collected” Like an Impersonal e-Card

Last year I wrote about how I thought e-Cards are Lazy. I haven’t really changed my opinion on that.

In fact, I was so thrilled to read Jayne Navarre’s post Holiday eCards, law firms, lawyers and one person’s opinion, that I have to respond publicly and say, “Make that two, Jayne.”

Sending a digital eCard to a huge database list of “everyone,” without taking a moment to…

  • reflect that behind each name is a real person,
  • jot a simple note, and
  • add a hand written signature…

…is equivalent to diet mashed potatoes.

If you’re going to serve mashed potatoes without the butter, milk, salt, and gravy, why bother. I think eCards, too, miss several critical ingredients. Even the ones that come from an individual’s email address (rather than from info@) seem cold and aloof, no matter how clever the design. It’s impersonal. Besides, who wants diet food over the holidays? We get sooo many emails every day, and there’s a chance your eCard will end up in the spam filter.

Go read Jayne’s post for more. It’s worth the read.

So here are my thoughts:

I’ve received a couple of e-cards so far this year. I’ve clicked through and have been unimpressed. I couldn’t even tell you who sent them. Plus, since I’m on an iPhone, I don’t have Flash and have to wait to view them when I get back to the office.

I will say, however, that I’m anticipating receiving Pillsbury‘s e-card for a couple reasons: 1. It’s always great. You can tell that the firm put time, effort, and, yes, money into it; and 2. I always get a personal message attached. (Full disclosure: I’m a Pillsbury alum, but their e-cards are still great).

I’ve read some of the comments on Jayne’s post and I keep hearing the main defense of e-cards is the cost. They’re cheaper, especially in “these harsh economic times,” and the clients “appreciate” their lawyers being so thrifty.

Really?? How much does a holiday card cost to send out? A couple bucks? A stamp is $0.42. So, we’re looking at spending a whopping $2.50 or so to send your client, whom you bill anywhere from $250-$1200 per hour, a holiday card.

If you can’t invest $2.50, and the 30 seconds it takes to write a personal note, “Bill, wishing you and your family a happy and prosperous 2012,” then what is the value of that message you’re sending to your clients?

And, while I’m on my tangent, break open your PERSONAL wallet and send some baskets to your top clients and referral sources.

INVEST in your client relationships. Remember, clients hire the attorney, not the law firm. So, if your law firm won’t spend the money on the baskets, then you should. I don’t want to hear the “economic times” BS. Your clients’ staffs are hungry and would really enjoy a Mrs. Beasley’s muffin right about now.

Better yet, pick up the phone and take your client to lunch. Don’t talk about yourself. Let them talk about what’s going on in their industry. What they are looking forward to in 2012? How the economy has impacted their business operations? Or their kids.

To me, when you’re not willing to personally invest in your client what you’re really saying is: “Thanks for the $1 million in fees this year, but I KNOW how concerned you are about the economy, so I’ll just pocket the $150 we’d normally spend on a fruit basket. I wouldn’t want you to get the impression that we’re mis-spending your money.”

And don’t forget, it’s all tax deductible.

Gift baskets are amazing. They are the ultimate present to the person who receives them, Michael Scott, The Office.

2011
12/14
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
business development
Clients
Random Rant
TAGS


3 comments

So, how was your year?

Image via www.designscollage.com

The end of the year is quickly approaching, and you know what that means?

Year end billing, collections, reviews, trying to get some holiday cards out (don’t get me started), do some shopping, enjoy some family time … and create a marketing plan and budget for 2012.

But before you bid adieu to 2011, take 5 minutes, review your year and ask yourself a few questions:

  • Any new clients of note?
  • Any new matters of interest?
  • What about decisions (published or not)?
  • Any big wins for the client (Not necessarily trials. What about settlements?)?
  • What about interesting or complex deals?
  • Did you establish new case law? Or impact your client’s industry?
  • What did you do that caused the client to pick up the phone and call? (good or bad)
  • Did you exchange business cards with anyone interesting (reporter, head of an industry trade group, a potential referral source)?
  • Did you speak anywhere? Provide any client CLE courses?
  • Did you join anything (social media networks, trade associations, industry groups, bar associations, new clubs – personal or professional)?
  • What conferences did you attend?
  • Did you write any articles or have something published?
  • What did you turn down or refer elsewhere?
  • Where did you go and what did you do there? Could you have done more with that time?
  • What did you mean to do but forgot, or ran out of time?
  • What did you do that was a waste or time, money or resources?

So, you answered the questions above. Now what?

  • Share them with your marketing director (if you have one).
  • Update your bio where you can.
  • Use the information to guide you in creating your marketing plan for 2012.

Use your experience from THIS year to write NEXT year’s marketing plan (here’s a link to a simple one I created if you don’t already have a template), and set a budget. If you didn’t accomplish everything you wanted to, no big deal. If it’s doable, plug it into 2012. If it’s unimportant and won’t drive your business or personal marketing/branding, cross it off the list.

Marketing plans should be achievable. By seeing how much you were able to accomplish in 2011, you can see how much more you can do in 2012 by being strategic and deliberate in your actions.

2011
12/07
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
business development
business of law
TAGS

1 comment

Google Plus Pages are Here

I got the news via Mashable this afternoon that Google + branded pages were here.

Within minutes I had launched my firm’s Google + page. You can add us to your circles here.


Setting up the page is easy as there are not too many options. Add a profile. Add some photos. Add some circles. Add some people. Send out some status updates.

While I have not drank the G+ Kool-aid, it can’t hurt your Google search results.

The biggest downside is that it’s just one more page to maintain.

Right now, you cannot add an automatic RSS feed for your blog posts, which means some extra promotional steps every time you publish, but, considering what it used to take for us to send out a newsletter, adding an extra status update isn’t too painful or time consuming.

So to plus or not to plus, if that is the question, I say to plus as long as it doesn’t distract you from the real business at hand.

2011
11/07
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Branding, Graphics & Logos
Social Media
TAGS
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Stop bitching about your crappy firm already

image via grammardocs.com

Can you handle the truth? Can your law firm handle the truth? Or will you just keep on ignoring the truth and hope it goes away?

Edwin Reeser, former Los Angeles managing partner of Sonnenschein (now SNR Denton), sent me the link to the following story today, “We’d Rather Not Change,” by Vivia Chen @lawcareerist about a certain Wall Street firm that doesn’t want to do anything with the findings on their “woman problem.”

Let’s pretend you head a firm that has a woman problem—like trouble retaining female lawyers, poor record elevating them to partners, etc. And you hire a consultant to look into the problem, who, after an exhaustive study, tells you that your firm’s evaluation process is riddled with gender bias. If you’re in charge, what would you do?

M.J. Tocci was the actual consultant in that situation. Tocci, along with Monica Biernat and Joan Williams, authored a study (which I wrote about just a few days ago) on how male and female associates were reviewed differently at this anonymous Wall Street firm. In a nutshell: Male lawyers at the firm got higher numerical scores (which counted more for partnership) though women got raves in the narrative portion of the reviews.

So what did the firm do with these startling findings?

Here’s the kicker: Nothing. (emphasis added)

And is anyone really shocked by that? The doing nothing part.

To me, doing “nothing” is the sad (and telling) part of this story, and says so much about these law firms.

So many firms out there are 100% driven by the annual payout for the equity partners, that rocking the boat, shaking things up, is seen as too expensive, unachievable, and really not that valuable in comparison to the PPEP.

Ed has a very strong take on this:

As long as they believe they have an unlimited supply stream of people willing to work like mules and be abused, without negative consequences for doing so, they will continue doing what they do. The abject failure of leadership in the subject firm, and the profession as reflected in the larger law firms, is pronounced. But this approach to managing people extends far beyond the scope of bias in the profession. It is applied with comparable diregard to pro bono,community service, and all initiatives both external and internal. “We will do it as long as it does not cost us money” is the underlying theme.

And that then means it extends, as we have all seen, to the staff, associates, contract partners, and equity partners within the firms and the manner in which they are treated/mistreated.

We have a system that is akin to a tea kettle, leaking from many seams with dismay and discontent. It is negatively affecting the quality and value of the work to the clients, the reputation of the profession, and delivering a life that is not worth living or being a part of for those who work within the firms.

The good news is that not every firm is like this. There are incredible law firms all over this country, which may or may not be listed in the AmLaw 100 or NLJ 250, but where people show up to work every day, are valued, treated well, do good work, and have lives.

If we, as the employees, do not value ourselves well enough that we take abuse in exchange for a paycheck, then we are just as dysfunctional as our firms.

I feel very lucky to have fallen into one of those great firms I mention.

We might not be on the AmLaw 100, but, then again, we’re not striving to be there.

Our firm’s leadership has a vested interest in the employees within our firm, from the associates down to the folks in office services, because they know who each and every person is.

I’ve worked for firms described above, and worse, and I’ve learned one thing: You can’t hide from the truth.

If your firm’s leadership recognizes a problem, yet is unwilling to change, well, that’s your answer.

So what are you going to do about it?
2011
11/03
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
business development
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2 comments

What can Kim Kardashian teach the legal industry?

image via guardian.co.uk

I’m airing a dirty little secret today.

Around the water coolers of law firms across this country, and most likely around the world, lawyers and other professional people are talking about Kim Kardashian.

I am amazed at how many professional women watch the show and follow this family’s follies.

The sports dude and I watched an episode a few months back to see what everyone was talking about (no games on that day), and that was enough for me. I came away with an impression of this family that is constantly reinforced by their very public actions.

However, as I watch the debacle of the 72-day marriage dissolve this week, I can’t help but get caught up by the train wreck, and I find myself way too conversant in the details of the marriage and break-up for my comfort level.

To redeem myself, I did take notice of a couple things that apply to law firms, lawyers and legal marketing:

BRAND MANAGEMENT: The Kardashian family are OBSESSED with following their brand on Twitter, blogs, Facebook posts, etc. They are reading what the fans, and better yet, the “anti-fans” are saying about them.

This is something law firms and lawyers should emulate.

First of all, you must recognize that you and your firm are not only a business, you are brands.

You, as an attorney, have a personal brand, plus you work for a brand.

Secondly, you have to track and manage your brands.

Marketers need to follow and track the press, blogs, Twitter streams, etc. of the brands they manage (firm and key attorneys). Lawyers should make it a point to follow their personal brand as well. Social listening is the new black.

CLIENT FEEDBACK: When viewing the comments section of any story on the breakup, there is rich fan feedback there. The family, however, is in complete denial about the messages they are being sent, and are ignoring the negative comments/feedback from the “haters.”

This is a missed opportunity in my opinion.

The family has become so ensconced in their world that they no longer see themselves answerable to their fans.

When you get client feedback, what do you do with it? Many attorneys and law firms, from what I am told, ignore it, especially the negative comments.

But the negative comments are the best. Those to me are more honest than the positive ones, and they give you something to work with. Hence, firms spending lots of money on their client feedback programs.

For a client to say something negative to you directly, or indirectly, it has to REALLY bother them. Otherwise they just talk with their wallets. They quietly start moving their files somewhere else, and, if you are not “listening” to this feedback, it might be years before you realize that your client has moved on to someone else.

So what can we take away from Kim Kardashian’s follies this week?

  • A charitable donation does not replace good manners or bad press.
  • Listen to your fans, but pay attention to your critics.
  • Don’t become so enamored by your press, or the sycophants that surround you, that you actually believe it all.
  • Everyone likes to watch the train wreck when the mighty (and egotistical) fall. The key being broken off in the door of Tower Snow’s Brobeck office, anyone??
  • There’s always another younger, hotter, better, smarter, rising-star attorney ready to pick up where you have fallen.
  • When the bad press hits the fan, a crisis team is in order, but don’t go to your go-to people. Hire someone new and fresh who know that they are there for the ONE important project. A crisis is not the time to hire someone seeking an institutional client.
2011
11/02
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Branding, Graphics & Logos
business of law
marketing me
Reputation Management
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