Editorial	Practice Management Advertising	Law Firm Marketing
Law Firm Technology	Notable Mentions	Podcasts

July 9, 2007

Issue 3

In this Issue:

Craigslist Used as a Legal Marketing Tool
Law Firms, Ethics, and Equity Capital: A Conversation
Reinventing Your Law Firm's Practice Area
Evaluations that Motivate: An Internal and External Map for Having Authentic Feedback and Development Conversations.
Drug Doubts Put Lawyers, Pharmaceutical Companies in Motion
Finding a Qualified Attorney
"Funny" Insurance Ads Are Offensive to this Injury Lawyer
A Technologically Advanced Court Room
Easy Marketing with a Unique Business Card
Stay-At-Home Attorneys: Marketing Service Creates Virtual Business
Change in Israeli Law Expands the U.S. Legal Market

"The internet is the future of advertising," he says, "in ten years the yellow pages will be gone."
Keith J. Woodroff

Editorial

Craigslist Used as a Legal Marketing Tool

By Alina Dain

In the last decade, the world of advertising has greatly innovated itself. The Internet has supplanted television, radio, and print advertisements, and is now a strong leading force. Lawyers who have not yet exposed themselves to new ways of generating clients, and those who are looking to expand their current Internet legal marketing practices, should pay attention to craigslist.com.

Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. It is an online community of advertisements for anything from housing and items on sale, to jobs. The advantage of the website is that the average person can advertise pretty much anything. As of this year, according to Wikipedia, Craigslist serves over 5 billion page views per month over 10 million new classified ads each month, and over 500,000 new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world.

Recently, more and more lawyers are promoting their practice under Craigslist’s legal services category. Keith J. Woodruff, from J. Todd Moore Attorneys at Law, in Franklin, Tennessee has been using Craigslist regularly for this purpose. The internet is the future of advertising, he says, in ten years the yellow pages will be gone.

"Craigslist ‘serves over 5 billion page views per month... making it one of the top job boards in the world." Wikipedia.
Woodruff lists a flat fee and “consumers are a lot more likely to use legal services, if they have an idea of what they are going to pay.” On average, Woodruff generates at least one client per month from his advertisements on Craigslist.

If you have not yet given Craigslist a try, now is the time. Log on to http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html pick the area you are located in, click on Legal Services, and create an ad for your practice. Billions of potential clients are just a few clicks away.

Law Firm Marketing and Advertising:

Drug Doubts Put Lawyers, Pharmaceutical Companies in Motion

Mary Flood discusses lawyer client solicitation practices, in particular, in relation to pharmaceutical companies and drugs that are alleged to be dangerous. “Avandia” is a drug that is meant to treat diabetes. Attorneys around the country are seeking clients interested in suing manufacturers of drugs such as “Avandia,” through case soliciting websites, television advertisements, and other methods. Case solicitation is becoming an industry in it’s own right, as much for prosecutors of drug companies as for their defenders. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4875810.html

Finding a Qualified Attorney

Finch McCranie, LLP, discusses the dangers of choosing your attorney based on Internet advertisements, and provides tips for how to prescreen and intellegently pick a lawyer. Attorneys would benefit from this article by exploring the client’s point of view and the process that goes into choosing a lawyer.
http://www.georgiainjurylawyerblog.com/2007/06/finding_a_qualified_attorney.html

"Funny" Insurance Ads Are Offensive To This Injury Lawyer

Richard N. Shapiro, Attorney at Law, discusses the insurance company practice of devaluing clients’ cases in television advertisements in order to pay them as little as possible.
http://virginiabeach.injuryboard.com/rants-and-raves/
funny-insurance-ads-are-offensive-to-this-injury-lawyer.php

Notable Mentions of the Week

Change in Israeli Law Expands the U.S. Market

U.S. attorneys have tapped a new market overseas. A recent change in Israeli law has created business opportunities for U.S. attorneys in both the United States and Israel.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1181552738551&pos=ataglance

Law Firm Technology

A Technologically Advanced Court Room

Moot court competitions didn't prepare you for this. It takes a computer savvy attorney to be persuasive in today's courtrooms. Some litigation attorneys have found assistance with litigation consultants who can create stimulating computer graphics that capture the juries' attention and effectively present the facts of a case. Easy Marketing with a Unique Business Card.
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1181552739466

Would you like to leave an impression by simply handing over your business card? Create an image for your firm and stand out with attention grabbing, unique business cards. Your clients are sure to show it off and will think twice about tossing it. http://variocreative.com/blog/?p=250

Stay-At-Home Attorneys: Marketing Service Creates Virtual Business

Whether it's inefficient to work from an office or you just enjoy the comfort of home, attorneys have the option of conducting their business from home and a new marketing company is offering services to set up a virtual storefront for your business.
http://www.startribune.com/youngblood/story/1242116.html

Evaluations that Motivate: An Internal and External Map for Having Authentic Feedback and Development Conversations

Stewart Levine suggests values, purposes, and thoughts for improving employee evaluation conversations. Take note of strategies that can greatly improve employer and employee relationships as well as your firm’s quality.
http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mba02071.shtml

Practice Management and Operations

Law Firms, Ethics, and Equity Capital: A Conversation

Macewen, Milton Regan and Larry Ribstein discuss the potential effects of pending legislation in the United Kingdom that would allow outside non-lawyer investment in law firms. Ethics rules currently forbid such legislation in the United States, but the participants nevertheless consider the possible impact of publicly traded law firms on world legal services. Reinventing Your Law Firm's Practice Area.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=985351

Tom Collins reviews and discusses Blue Ocean Strategy:

How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. The book discusses the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS), a method of reinventing the way the market operates and increasing the success of your business with innovates practices. The book is aimed at businesses in general, but law firms, in particular, would benefit from these entrepreneurial tips.
http://www.morepartnerincome.com/blog/_archives/2007/6/11/2992574.html

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