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 done business torts and commercial litigation in the past and wants to do more, to do this.

Yes, write a chapter on trial techniques in a reference work used by business litigators, we said.

We also made it clear that the lawyer shouldn’t just sit down and write whatever comes to mind after doing his research. Third-party input is requisite.

Writing such a chapter allows an author to reach out to (potential and existing) referral sources of the new work he seeks. Specifically to ask them for input on the chapter outline before a single word is written, then again for input on the draft(s). In other words, being author of a chapter can serve as a “catalyst for a conversation” on the topic, as one leading lawyer coach often says.

The idea here is for the lawyer to market the writing of the chapter within a community of commercial litigators from whom cases might result in the future. Once the chapter is published, the lawyer was advised to send copies of the work seeking comment on the the final product, as well. Then, to lecture on the subject of the chapter at CLEs attended by referrals sources.

Taking these steps will maximize the value of writing an article or chapter.