Law firm promotes random acts of kindness

Image from Shutterstock. A North Carolina law firm is encouraging pay-it-forward acts of kindness with a campaign that uses pass-along cards and a website. The Hutchens Law Firm kicked off its campaign Nov. 21 when it distributed numbered cards to the public that encourage “high performance giving,” the Fayetteville Observer…

Dec 19, 2013 12:00 PM CST

Law firm’s exclusive bus-advertising contracts don’t appear to violate antitrust law, judge rules

A federal judge has tossed antitrust claims against a Pennsylvania law firm that had exclusive contracts for law-firm advertising on buses, on a popular radio station at rush hour, and at the Wells Fargo Center sports arena. U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ruled on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The…

Dec 17, 2013 4:07 PM CST

Embarrassing online ad creates headaches for law firm and profits for video maker

Updated: An Alabama law firm says it’s evaluating its legal options after a controversial video touting the firm’s services appeared on YouTube. McCutcheon & Hamner says it didn’t finance or authorize the video featuring the character “Wong Fong Su,” and it is sending a cease-and-desist letter to the company that…

Dec 3, 2013 5:30 PM CST

7th Annual Blawg 100

It’s our lucky seventh time at this blog-ranking rodeo. Does luck come into play as we assemble our list? Perhaps. Maybe it’s a lucky break for a blogger when one of its readers takes the time to write to us to make sure we give it serious consideration. There are…

Dec 1, 2013 11:39 AM CST

Is LinkedIn’s endorsement feature ethical for lawyers?

Dec 1, 2013 8:30 AM CST

Teaching clients to make referrals is key to building business, solos say

Dec 1, 2013 8:20 AM CST

Fear of juror Googling didn’t justify order to remove pages from lawyer website, appeals court says

A judge violated a lawyer’s First Amendment rights when he ordered the lawyer to take down references to asbestos wins on her website during a 2011 trial on similar issues, a California appeals court has ruled. The Second District Court of Appeal ruled on behalf of lawyer Simona Farrise last…

Nov 4, 2013 10:45 AM CST

Virginia Supreme Court holds that advertising rules may be applied to a lawyer’s blog

Nov 1, 2013 7:30 AM CDT

Tom Ford suits, Michael Douglas hair, Facebook and purple-ink motions help lawyer promote himself

Chicago lawyer Stuart Goldberg believes in self-promotion. When he has a courtroom victory, he’ll pose with the unnamed defendant on his Facebook page, the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports. “FINDING at trial NOT GUILTY!!!” he wrote after a recent win. When a reader commented on his tie and suit, Goldberg…

Oct 22, 2013 1:10 PM CDT

Can lawyers use Groupon-type marketing? ABA ethics opinion sees problems with prepaid deals

Lawyers who offer prepaid deals through daily deal or group-coupon offers are treading on ethically precarious ground, according to an ABA ethics opinion. The opinion (PDF) doesn’t specifically mention Groupon, probably the best-known group coupon website, except in a footnote referencing a state bar opinion. But its description of the…

Oct 21, 2013 8:26 PM CDT

BigLaw partner’s Twitter F-bomb is aimed at SCOTUSblog snark

A partner at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh apparently took umbrage at SCOTUSblog’s snarky response to his tweet about the Supreme Court’s decision to accept a case on greenhouse gases. His Twitter advice to SCOTUSblog: “Go f@ck yourself and die.” Reed Smith partner Steven Regan has since deleted his Twitter account,…

Oct 21, 2013 1:05 PM CDT

Start-up UpCounsel raises $1.5M to expand its online atty marketplace outside of California (video)

Matt Faustman, founder and CEO of legal services start up UpCounsel, talks to Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia about his company’s recent fundraising and expansion of service into New York. UpCounsel, a 14-month-old California-based company, raised $1.5 million for its expansion. UpCounsel is an online marketplace for legal services, in which…

Oct 17, 2013 3:37 PM CDT

Gecko in law firm ads spurs Geico protest; deal to pull commercials is reportedly reached

A talking gecko in an ad used by several law firms around the country spurred an objection from a Geico lawyer and an apparent agreement to pull the commercial. A Virginia personal injury law firm, Geoff McDonald & Associates, was one of the firms using the ad, the Richmond Times-Dispatch…

Oct 17, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

How Bryan Cave grooms rainmakers (video)

Law firm associates know they have to start to develop business, but don’t always know the best way to go about it. Bryan Cave partner Steve Sunshine’s mentorship of one such associate evolved into a firm-wide program now in its sixth year that focuses on helping attorneys in the firm…

Oct 3, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Federal district court cautions lawyers to be careful about repeating judges’ compliments

Oct 1, 2013 8:20 AM CDT