The Best New Year’s Resolution for Lawyers

The month January, originally named Januarius in the Roman calendar, is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. He is depicted as a two-faced god capable of looking at the past and the future at the same time, which is exactly what you can do when you set out to write those New Year’s Resolutions; be like Janus and look to the past to plan the future.

Start by looking back at 2014. List three things that worked. Maybe Jane, the new paralegal you found after a long search is awesome, LinkedIn actually brought in new business and you delivered a ‘killer’ and winning final argument. Then list three things that didn’t work. For example, the new software crashed the computers, your blog posts died after three postings* and your twenty-something receptionist ran off with a rock star. Learn from the past. Simply being aware is enough.

While you’re in the thoughtful mode, lean back in your chair, close
your eyes and visualize yourself being successful. First, of course, you need to decide what ‘successful’ means to you. Does it mean more cases in a special area of the law or more time for the family or at your easel or at the gym or a combination of all those desires? Whatever it is make a mental picture of your place of professional prosperity and keep it in your mind. Hard to remember when you are racing around from court to court, meeting to meeting and client to client, but pause a minute, find that place and move toward it. This is what athletes are told to do -- see it, then be it--works for them, it’ll work for you.

Resolve to make your life a little easier by leaving the office early on Fridays, fire your worst client, you know the one that gives you and the staff migraines and accept that there is no perfect solution in the law. Someone will be unhappy. Sometimes that person will be your client. Hang in there, next time your client will be the one with the smile.

Most of all, keep your New Year’s Resolutions simple. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Move through the year remembering where you want to be, find your path and start in that direction. By the end of 2015, like Janus, when you look back, you’ll be feeling good for keeping your promises to yourself.

(*In keeping with my first New Year’s Resolution to write more blog posts for others, let me write them for you. My second resolution is to eat only dark chocolate.)

To encourage client reviews or not to encourage--that is the question

 The answer to the question may be yes, encourage client reviews.

         People find products and services, including lawyers, online. Where once they would turn to the yellow pages to find a restaurant, a doctor or a lawyer, now they turn to the Internet for help. And, when it comes to making a decision whether to go to restaurant A or B or to call Lawyer A or B, clients look to user reviews to help make their decision.

         While potential clients still consider a personal referral the most trusted source for information, second place goes to client reviews posted online.

          The first step most people make when seeking a lawyer is to go to the Internet and, according to a recent survey by Software Advice, the most trusted site they search is Yelp. Sixty-one percent of the respondents relied on Yelp’s reviews, 20% on Martindale-Hubbell, 10% AVVO and 9% Super Lawyers. And these sites make it easy for a client to write a review of your services.

Assuming this is a trend that can’t be ignored, how do lawyers manage their online reviews? 

          First, we know the law is an uncertain business. Second, clients can have unrealistic expectations. This means that in the midst of a series of good reviews can come a negative one that widely varies from all the others. This will happen.   

          The time-tested method used by business owners to protect from the negative review is to have a lot of positive feedback from their customers. They use methods such offering rewards for answering a survey with instructions at the bottom of a receipt or make a request in a post-purchase e-mail. Lawyers, too, can ask clients to write a review on a site after their case has been settled to their satisfaction. Happy clients are more likely to leave feedback. You can ask them to comment on:

• How well you explained their options,
• Your professionalism,
• Your listening skills, and
• How quickly the matter was resolved. 

         When potential clients see a long list of reviews, they trust that the attorney can handle their problem. The attorney with no reviews is less likely to be considered. Consider how you decide when researching products or services on Amazon, Angie’s list, TripAdvisor or Yelp.

         The only precaution is to be sure that your approach to seeking reviews complies with Michigan’s advertising rules. 

         Concerned about the negative review? It can be a wonderful marketing opportunity.

         A response to a negative review shows that the lawyer cares what a client thinks, gives feedback and shows strength of character. The right response doesn’t attack the writer, but looks, instead, to the reader or potential client. You can show you care about feedback, want to make things right and care about their problems. Take time to write your response--a poorly written response is worse than no response at all. And let it age; like a good wine, time and repositioning/revising will make it better.

Put Your Business Card to Work

I attended the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting this year, not as a lawyer seeking knowledge or as a lawyer/reporter covering events for a legal newspaper, but as a vendor/lawyer marketing my ghostwriting and editing services. I rented a space in the Vendor Hall, put out lots of candy and information about my services and talked to people all day. It was fun, interesting and enlightening. 

Many stopped by, some lured by my comment that it was safe since I was a ghost and really not there. Also I had dark chocolate, which, as we all know, is a health food. 

I had a basket to collect business cards as an entry into a drawing to win a free blog post. I collected a lot of cards. 

I was amazed at the differences in the cards. Many of the attendees, I suspect, had not looked at their card since it was created many years ago. Those cards had frayed edges, were simple, printed on cream card stock, with black print, no graphics or maybe a simple line dividing the lawyer’s name from the phrase Attorney at Law, possibly a firm name, with address, phone and fax numbers and that’s it. While that card worked quite well in times gone by, more information is needed in our modern world. 

Many cards included all-of-the above plus an e-mail and website address. Clients, we are told, find their lawyers on-line so we know we have to have a web presence and that presence is usually in the form of a website. Some of us have blogs so a blog link would be good. The problem is space. Business cards are small so all this additional information means using both sides of the card. 

More complicated cards included everything previously mentioned plus a logo. There were many designs including the initials of the firm, scales of justice or a sketch of the office building. Others included the whole name in a bordered box against a colorful background. Some added a symbol of the type of practice such as tree for an elder law attorney or two hands shaking for a mediation/arbitration practice. If you want to get some ideas, click on The Lawyer Business Card Fishbowl: Behind the Design for a view of the ordinary and the unusual. 

Then there are tag lines--since lawyers are now a “business” with a web presence, a blog and marketing departments--we are told to have a tag line. What is a tag line? It is a line that describes your business, tells your clients and your employees who you are and what you do. That’s difficult to do in a few words, however, here are some examples from my stash of cards:

• Your Appellate Advocates---Speaker Law Firm
• By Your Side---Nacht Law
• Legal Solutions for Life---Svoboda Legal, PLLC
• Resolving family matters for over 30 years---Paul H. Jacokes, PLLC
• A Reasonable Doubt at a Reasonable Rate--Derrick Etheridge, PLLC

For a quick look at what others are doing, check out JD Supra's article for top twenty tag lines.

The right card does make a difference. You might want to look at yours to see if it has all the information you want a client or prospective client to have at their fingertips. Maybe it’s time for an upgrade. 

Get Your Blog Read Every Time

Is your blog a dense, word driven monograph? Do people sigh and click away when they see long paragraphs with no white space in sight?

Some studies show that long blogs are better. They cover the topic in depth and are easy to send on to others. Others say the blog should be short. Long or short, the blog paragraph shouldn’t look like this:

Under the English common law all felonies were punishable by death, but there were very few felonies. Criminal homicide was a felony, as also were arson, rape, robbery, burglary, mayhem and larceny. This about completes the list of the common-law felonies, and if we recognize that in its origin larceny was concerned only with cattle stealing, we realize that these would all be regarded as “hanging offenses” in a primitive community. In developing the rule that all felonies were punishable by death the judges merely reflected the general attitude of the community in which they lived. 

Why not? Simply because it is overwhelming for the reader--one look and the reader will move on--it’s too long, dense, and uncomfortable for the eye. There is no relief from all the words. 

Stephen King in his book “On Writing” (the best book on writing in my opinion) says that a paragraph written with “a series of grammatically proper sentences can stiffen a (prose) line, make it less pliable.” King is also against adverbs and passive verbs. King is speaking of fiction. Legal blogs are not fiction, they are meant to give readers information. But, the blog, like fiction, shouldn’t be stiff. It should be pliable, easy on the eye and welcoming. 


Consider this version of English common law felonies…

Jeffrey Silver, a villager in early England, was caught stealing his neighbor’s cow. He was tried and convicted of larceny (cattle stealing), one of the seven felonies of his day. Murder, arson, rape, robbery, burglary and mayhem were the others. Unfortunately for Jeffrey, all the felonies of his time were “hanging offenses.” The judge, after listening to the evidence, found him guilty and, following the law and the will of the villagers, sentenced him to hang. All the citizens came to witness the hanging. 

Now we have attached a person, place and setting to the law. The reader may feel some compassion for Jeffrey while recognizing the harshness of the times. The blog could go on to describe the modern day versions of the same felonies. 

There are also techniques that can add variety and interest to your blog. For example, bulleted or numbered lists:

In early England, the following crimes were felonies:

• Murder
• Arson
• Rape
• Robbery
• Burglary
• Mayhem, and
• Larceny

If convicted of any one of these felonies, the defendant was hanged. 

Adding graphics, maps, charts or photos helps to break up the words and adds interest. You can find them in Google images, Fotolia, BigStock photo and other places on the web or you can use your own photos. 

Fortunately, for the web, the quality can be as low as 72dpi so pictures taken with your smartphone are acceptable. Snap away, you never know when your pictures will brighten up boring text, bringing you more readers and more clients. 

Words to Lose

Words are the magic tool in the lawyer’s toolbox. They are used to argue in court, to write the convincing brief, the ironclad contract or the unassailable will. Many are terms of art in the legal world. 

For your clients, however, they can be terms of confusion.

A recent article in the ABA Journal by Bryan Garner had a list of words that should be on the legal verbal blacklist as words that confuse the reader and stain the document that contains them. 

Such words as:

pursuant to  An age old term that makes new lawyers believe they’ve made it into the club. Think of it as a secret handshake of words. Rather than say “pursuant to the contract,” simply write “the contract requires xyz.’

whereas  Often seen as the introduction to a contract meant to present the reasons for the agreement, it is clearer to simply write a subtitle “Background,” followed by short sentences explaining what’s about to happen. 

witnesseth The word is from Shakespeare’s time considered by some readers to be a sort of command such as “this indenture Witnesseth that...” Not so, the word is indicative, not an order. Get rid of it, both you and your clients will appreciate its demise. 

deem This word is used to create an illusion. For example, for purposes of this story, the cat is deemed to be a lion--it isn’t really, but we’ll treat it like it like a big cat. Banish deem--unless, of course, you do want to create a legal fiction. 

Other words on the verbal blacklist include: said as in “said document” when the document will do; shall--defined by courts to mean “should, is, will and even may,” such--used by clients to mean of that kind, by lawyers to mean the one just mentioned, a difference creating instant confusion between writer and reader. 

Joe Kimble in his book “Lifting the Fog of Legalese,” provides readers with substitutions for those legal terms that can confuse. Examples include:

     Replace                              With
      accede to                            allow
      administer                          manage
      allocate                               divide, give
      effectuate                           bring about
      institute                               begin, start
      previously                          before
      principal                             main
      procure                               buy
      visualize                             imagine      

Kimple provides pages and pages of words that lawyers can use to help their clients understand the documents before them. 

Lawyers using social media to maintain contact with existing and potential clients must be especially cautious. Blog and e-newsletter readers don’t read in depth. They scan looking for information they can use. Help them understand--use the simple word rather than the complex. Your readers will appreciate it. 

Should your blog be long or short?

The conventional wisdom among bloggers is that short posts are better than long and the shorter the better. Recent research, however, suggests that longer articles—those of 2000 plus words—actually rank higher on Google searches. As a matter of fact, the top ten positions for keyword searches are long articles.  

Assuming the study is accurate, does it mean that you must drop conventional wisdom and write only long posts for your clients? Or, should your long post be divided into a series of posts meaning a 2500 word post should be divided into five 500 word blogs. 

There are benefits to both forms. A long article is appropriate when the material requires in-depth analysis. If your practice leads to complicated litigation, onerous tax matters where readers need more information rather than less, long is the right choice. And, your readers would probably like it all at once, not in little dribbles. 

The fact is that long posts are easier to share making it more likely readers will spread the word through the social media. Information that is interesting, of good quality and useful gets shared—a lot—good for you and your firm. 

Some topics, however, are better served in a series of posts. There are times when you need to cover points that are supportive of the main topic and are necessary to help your readers better understand the whole picture. A series of posts can explore those topics in depth where a single long post might restrict your ability to clearly inform the reader. Having a series of posts also brings your readers back to read the latest installment, increasing traffic to your blog. 

I think there is room for both long and short posts. The basic consideration is to create content that is specific to your clients and your practice. While it is often easy to write long, the most important consideration is deliver your message in the best way possible; and in a way that is useful to your readers. Length shouldn’t be the controlling factor. Short or long, there is room for both forms of content. The secret is to choose the best form for your topic. 

Networking Face to Face

Networking: the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically--the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.

Bar associations often sponsor networking events. Our local bar, the Ingham County Bar Association began 2014 with a networking event, Meet the Judges Reception. Almost 200 lawyers, judges and law students came together to exchange information, business cards, and to socialize. It was an enjoyable evening; we renewed old friendships and made new ones. 

The marketing gurus tell us that word of mouth is the best referral system around. A person who needs a lawyer asks a trusted friend for a referral and a name is given. If the legal problem is in the lawyer’s field, the lawyer has a new client, but, if not, the lawyer refers the potential client to an attorney met at the most recent Bar Association networking event.
This form of networking, face-to-face contact with a discreet group is but one of the forms that direct contact networking can take. Other forms include:

• Seminars and conferences: combine learning with socializing.
• Boards of Directors: both profit and non-profit—sitting on boards brings you in contact with groups outside the legal world.
• Community involvement: volunteer for an organization that is of interest to you and meet new people along the way.
• Bar association training meetings: meet fellow lawyers, learn new information in your area of practice, and when you can, offer your expertise and teach a session.
• Public speaking for both legal and non-legal groups develops an awareness of your practice.
• Teach at a local college: look around, colleges need adjunct professors to teach various legal subjects.

What to do if you’re shy, don’t feel comfortable in a group of strangers and can often find yourself in a corner, nursing a drink of some sort and talking to the wall? Remember that most of us are shy. It is hard to walk up to a group of complete strangers and enter the conversation. There is hope, however.

The best-selling book by Susan RoAne, How to Work a Room, Revised Edition offers a number of suggestions and is available on Amazon. RoAne starts with attitude—if you think you will have a lousy time, you will—go with the attitude of enjoying yourself.

I know you’ve been told this before, but in addition to knowing your name, which should be easy, have your elevator speech ready; a brief statement about your practice. It also helps to have in mind some conversation starters, such as “Is this the first Meet the Judges you have attended?” And, bring plenty of business cards, handily tucked in a pocket. Ask for the other lawyer’s card—make a note on the back to remember the lawyer’s area of practice. If follow up is
needed, do it soon.

Conversely, if you are in the group and a stranger appears, take a moment to help that person enter the conversation—turn, smile, introduce yourself and the others—and then say, for example, “We were discussing the…” The stranger will appreciate and remember your efforts and this brief encounter can lead to a new friendship, a referral or someone you can refer to others that need their particular expertise.

Six easy steps to keeping your reader reading

When you write a blog post, newsletter bit, or compose an e-blast on a new statute or procedure for your clients, you want them to 1) read it, 2) gain something from it and 3) remember that you wrote it. How do you do that?

Here are six ways to attract and keep them reading:

1. Know your readers—consider their occupation, age range, level of education or experience in the area of law you are writing about. An article for tax specialists can be more complex than, say, a post about what to do if your big rig tips over and spills bees and honey all over I75 in rush hour. (Call 911)

2.Tell a story—facts tell, stories sell. Using the facts of the matter, create a short story setting up the topic. Give your readers as much as they need to understand the situation. 

3. Don’t overwhelm the reader with facts or law or legalese. Explain simply how the law looks at the problem—think of talking to a client rather than giving a speech on the topic to your peers. 

4. Offer the reader ‘lessons to learn’ from the story. For example, the driver of the truck with a load of spilled bees, hives and honey called 911. The local fire and police and local beekeepers came to his assistance. The bees were rounded up, lured back into their hives and the honey was cleaned off the highway. The story of the spilled bees is a unique set of facts that will stay with the readers. The post continued with information on who to call when the spill is a hazardous material such as fertilizer or petroleum.

5. Be Yourself--- Talk to the reader. Replace legal terms with plain English; if you use contractions, use them consistently—don’t use “we’ll” in one place and “we will” in another. 

6. Vary the format--- Examples are Q and A, bullet points, a fast facts box or, as here, a numbered list. 

Finally, don’t forget to provide your contact information. 

For more thoughts or help with your writing, please contact: Roberta M. Gubbins at roberta@robertamgubbins.com or 734-255-9119,
   

   

I Can't Help It. I have to write about Drones.

The whole idea began with military drones attacking specific targets, spying on people, raising concerns among those who think we might have some privacy left. However, they were military drones flying in foreign lands and not in our backyard. We couldn’t see them flitting about like giant fireflies invading our personal space purported to be about 500 feet over our homes.

The drone problem became more immediate when Amazon announced it would use drones to deliver packages. They are called delivery drones and while more a publicity stunt than reality, I’m sure the day will come when delivery drones are buzzing around delivering pizzas.

Of course, the lawyers among us see them as a fascinating legal problem—see the recent ABA article—  Delivery Drone Plan presents Legal Minefield 

The article lists the following possible issues:

Police RaptorCaptor

• Liability—drone crashes, who pays for damage
• Privacy—can a drone be a peeping tom or is the pilot the responsible party and who is charged with the crime
• Insurance issues—the insurance industry has no answer but is puzzling it out

I live in Michigan, the land of hunters and fishers. I can easily foresee our hunters grabbing their rifle or shotgun, dashing out the door, taking aim and shooting down the drone for invading their personal airspace. The citizens of Deer Tail, Colorado (located about 55 miles east of Denver and also full of outdoorsy folks) came up with a clever moneymaking idea. 

For a fee of $25.00 the citizens can buy a drone-hunting license. Hunters who shoot down a drone and bring it to the city fathers will receive a $100.00 bounty. Bounties are not new. They have been used effectively in the past to rid a city of rats, crows, sparrows and other pests. It might work here. 

Lastly, there is a drone called Skyjack, created by serial hacker and security analyst, Samy Kambar. It can seek out a drone going about its business, take over the controls and effectively turn it into a zombie drone that will bend to the will of the new operator. What will the law say about that? Assume the drone is in your airspace, you zap it with fancy technology using your Wi-Fi and bring it into your garage, take its cargo and keep it for your own use. Is that a crime? Who will enforce it? Who will report it? Can the true owner track it down?

Lot’s of fun questions. This might be a new niche area of law that will keep some enterprising lawyers busy for a long time. 

Click here to see a drone in flight: