Alyn-Weiss’ Marketing BriefHere are some examples of perfect Updates on Linked In by lawyers from around the country: “…is preparing to defend an employer against an unfair labor practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board”, “… is working on a SLAPP motion filed in a prescriptive easement lawsuit”, “… is responding to wage & hour audits […]
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Alyn-Weiss’ Marketing Brief
Law Firm Newsletters: custom content is best, avoid a canned service
I was asked today about law firm newsletters– if there are any good pre-printed providers for consumer-direct or business/defense firms. We do custom news alerts, electronic and printed, that create Web traffic and referrals for our clients. They create frequency-recency and top-of-mind awareness. We can track calls, email inquiries, Web site visits and cases from […]
Law Firm Holidays Cards: Mistakes and Best Practices
I received three Thanksgiving cards yesterday from three different firms– one was a custom design that made an extremely positive impression, the other two were the SAME stock card that looked mechanized and devalued the repute of the recipients. I have addressed best practices to ensure holiday cards contribute to lawyer personal business development and […]
Repositioning your practice– how to maximize value of article or chapter writing
If your law firm marketing plan coming out the recession includes repositioning lawyers into related or new areas of practice, one marketing tactic to consider is having the lawyers author a chapter in a highly-used reference work that’s about the new type of work sought. We just advised a plaintiffs injury trial lawyer, who has […]
Timing of announcing law firm has moved to new offices
How far in advance should you notify clients and referral sources that you are relocating your law offices? In our experience, as soon as people get a new address or phone they update their records and start using it. So, we recommend you send the notice of the move to those who are outside your […]
Rainmaking: how much time should you spend?
The landmark 2003 study of women rainmakers—the only report of which I am aware that tabulates how much time needs to be spent to create a book of business– has been updated. Based on 400 interviews, it indicates the threshold for success is for lawyers to devote 8 hours weekly to personal business development. Spend […]
Interview: How one in-house counsel finds a new law firm
Talked today with a general counsel and her outside coordinating counsel for a national docket of litigation about how they hire and drop local firms– they assign 5,ooo cases every year of which about 100 go to trial. When searching for a new firm they create an initial list by asking other lawyers, both in-house […]
Young partners leave when older partners won’t market
Clear (sad) trend: this week I ran into another established firm where the mid-career partners are about to leave to form a new firm. These lawyers, in their late 30s and early 40s for the most part, were mentored and have practiced for most, if not all, their careers at this firm. The founding and […]
Lawyer use of social media triples!
A new report by the ABA shows 43 percent of lawyers are members of an online community, Facebook, Linked In, Legal On Ramp, etc.– up from just 15 percent one year ago. While some social media sites have faltered or shown they have limited business development potential for a lawyer– think My Space with Twitter, […]
Personal letters are as good as newsletters
Most lawyers struggle with their individual business development because they don’t reach enough people, or they do not contact those people they know frequently enough. Neither issue is hard to fix. Establishing reach is no more difficult than taking a couple of hours to create a comprehensive mailing list of your clients and referral sources. […]
