Legal Marketing & Consulting

PI Law Firm Owes $1.5M for Phone Book Ads, Bankruptcy Petition Says

A Florida law firm with a name apparently designed for phone book advertising has filed for bankruptcy, listing $1.5 million in debt to companies that publish yellow pages directories. The personal injury firm, A Advocates & Attorneys, is an affiliate of the Kennedy Law Group in Tampa, whose president, Thomas…

Sep 10, 2009 2:53 PM CDT

How a Solo Gained More than 600 Facebook Fans for His Fledgling Firm

A solo practitioner in Massachusetts who struck out on his own about six months ago already has more than 600 Facebook fans for his law firm. Solo lawyer Richard Vetstein tells the ABA Journal that the accomplishment, touted in a press release, has “absolutely” brought in new business. His goal…

Sep 9, 2009 3:29 PM CDT

Want a Life? Get More Clients

Rainmaking made simple, not easy

Sep 2, 2009 2:10 AM CDT

Nearly Half of Legal Blogs Still Alive and Kicking, Blogger Says

A blogger who has tracked 2,300 law blogs since 2000 says nearly half are still alive and kicking, and those that died had a fairly decent life span. Tom Mighell, who writes the Inter Alia blog, told Lawyers USA that failed legal blogs lasted a respectable average of one year…

Sep 1, 2009 2:52 PM CDT

Blogger Does His Own Unscientific Survey, Finds Many Legal Blogs Die Young

Updated: What is the life span of a legal blog? For many practitioners’ blogs, it’s likely less than a year, according to a blogger who conducted his own unscientific survey. Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann, writing for the Drug and Device Law Blog, says he became curious about the life…

Aug 31, 2009 6:38 PM CDT

McDermott Lawyer Is Glad Firms Are Slow to Embrace Twitter

McDermott Will & Emery partner Peter Townshend is glad that law firms are slow to embrace social networking sites like Twitter. Townshend, who focuses his practice on corporate, private equity and emerging companies, relies on Twitter to keep up with clients, the San Jose Business Journal reports. He’s glad he’s…

Aug 26, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Only 25% of Americans Have a Positive Image of Lawyers

Do Americans have a better image of lawyers, bankers or real estate brokers? Lawyers may take little comfort in the answer. Only 25 percent of Americans have a positive view of the legal field, according to a new Gallup survey. Only three industries got lower ratings—real estate, automobiles, and oil…

Aug 21, 2009 1:44 PM CDT

Reluctant to Network? Try These Tips and ‘Starter Questions’

Lawyers who are reluctant to network often voice fears that they don’t know how to make conversation, or that the conversations they join are shallow and boring. Lawyer coach Debra Bruce says lawyers will find it easier to break the ice if they come equipped with starter questions to get…

Aug 18, 2009 2:00 PM CDT

Attorney Ad on Court Clerk’s Website Aggravates Other Lawyers

A lawyer’s ad for traffic court representation displayed on the website for the court clerk in Chicago’s Cook County is drawing lots of attention—from fellow practitioners. One downstate lawyer called the idea of lawyer advertising on a government website “outrageous” in a message he posted on an Illinois State Bar…

Aug 14, 2009 2:59 PM CDT

Surburban Lawyers Explain Why Their Firms Are Prospering

Some smaller and suburban law firms in the Minneapolis area are doing better than their big firm counterparts—and location, practice areas, flexibility and lower rates are some of the reasons why. Several lawyers talked about their survival tactics in interviews with Finance and Commerce. In some cases, these firms are…

Aug 12, 2009 4:43 PM CDT

Law Firms Drop Pricey Branding Sponsorships Such as PGA ‘Chalet’

Law firm Dorsey & Whitney decided it didn’t need the huge expense of a corporate hospitality tent this year at the PGA championship outside Minneapolis. The firm had sponsored a tent, known as a chalet, the last time the tournament was in the area in 2002, the National Law Journal…

Aug 12, 2009 4:08 PM CDT

Judge Strikes Down La. Restrictions on Lawyer Internet Ads

A federal judge has upheld most of the new restrictions on advertising by Louisiana lawyers, but struck down two rules regulating Internet advertising. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman said Louisana’s Internet restrictions don’t account for differences between ads online and those in traditional media such as television, the Associated Press…

Aug 4, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

Consultant Touts 6 Systems Lawyers Need to Build a Dream Practice #ABAChicago

Want to build a moneymaking, dream law business that clients love while working part time? Escape the outdated business model that has lawyers working too many hours for too little? Make clients out of nearly everyone who comes into the office for a consult? Then you need a system—or six,…

Aug 2, 2009 5:13 PM CDT

Two Twittering Lawyers: The ABA President and an IT Buff #ABAChicago

Should lawyers use Twitter? ABA President H. Thomas Wells apparently thinks so. He’s Twittering from the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Wells’ followers can learn that he takes the budget-friendly Southwest Airlines and that he spent the day Monday working on speeches and finalizing his calendar. His initial posts tend…

Jul 30, 2009 4:12 PM CDT

Survey Finds Low Morale, High Anxiety Among Midlevel Associates

Morale has dropped to a record-low level for midlevel associates at the country’s largest 200 law firms, and worries about job security appear to be the reason. The 6,100 associates who responded to an American Lawyer survey rated their morale at 2.7 on a 1-to-5 scale, the lowest level in…

Jul 30, 2009 12:25 PM CDT