The Importance of Bar Associations

Most attorneys are members of a State. Many of those state bars, in addition to administering state licensing requirements, provides a number of services to its members. However, there are other local and specialty bar associations to which lawyers can belong.

What are they and what services do they provide? 

First, there are local bar associations that serve lawyer members in specific counties, cities and towns. Many provide practice benefits including:

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• Substantive information on practice trends,
• Affordable continuing legal education through its practice sections,
• Fostering relationships among members,
• Referral services for the public,
• Mentoring-both as mentor and mentee, and
• Cultivating camaraderie and professional respect. 

Successful bar associations have members who dedicate real time and effort to the organization. By doing so, members can develop relationships they need to grow their business. An example is the Ingham County Bar Association, to which I belong, begun in 1895 and still providing networking opportunities including awards banquets, fundraisers, a luncheon lecture series, a newsletter and a bench/bar conference.

Second, there are specialty bar associations which serve attorneys who work in a specific practice area. They can be a source for information about your chosen niche practice area. Examples in Michigan are:

1. Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan--Hosts two yearly conferences to update its members on developments in the practice of criminal defense. 
2. Michigan Creditors Bar Association-provides education on collection law,
3. Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association-sponsors social events, career panels at law schools and a luncheon speaker series.
4. Michigan Association of Justice-one of the largest specialty groups, its goal is to help the working class of Michigan if they are wrongfully injured.

Finally, there are bar associations that serve specific groups of people such as:

• National Association of Women Lawyers which strives to secure the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession,
• Wolverine Bar Association, established in the 1930's for African-American attorneys in    Michigan addressing the unique and distinct needs of their community for legal service, representation, and protection, or



the red-robed judge

• Catholic Lawyers Society sponsoring several events for its members throughout the year.

 As you can see, bar associations are as varied as the profession itself. Deciding which association to join can be difficult and may change as you progress through your legal life. Many lawyers begin with the local bar association and then move on to add a niche practice area or specific group of people. Each provides benefits; only you can decide if those benefits will help you and your practice

The Language of the Internet

Each discipline has its own language. The law has a rich history of words that lawyers like to use and few outside the law understand. The Internet, too, has special words, many borrowed from other fields or invented by the users in the heat of creation. Understanding that language will help you communicate with those raised with electronic devices and your marketing director.

When you start your day, you boot up your computer. The term is a shortening of the word bootstrapping, which was the name adopted by the early computer scientists in the 1950’s to refer to the start-up process of the computer. They thought of it as the computer pulling itself up by the bootstraps.

To access the Internet, you use an Internet Service Provider, which can be wireless (Wi-Fi) and is provided by a company or organization. Once there, you use a web browser, a free software program included on computers and mobile devices at time of purchase. The browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) let you view online content.

Some basic terms:

•       Internet Protocol (IP) Address A set of unique numbers that identifies every computer and device that connects to the Internet.
•        E-mail Mail that's electronically transmitted by your computer.
•        Homepage The first page that is viewed when the browser starts.
•        Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) It is the set of rules by which Web pages are transferred across the Internet.
•        Link or Hypertext Link An underlined word(s), phrase(s), or graphics on a Web page that transports the reader to additional or related information on the Internet.
•        Uniform Resource Locator (URL) An addressing scheme used to locate you and other resources on the World Wide Web.
•       File Transfer Protocol (FTP) The standard method for downloading and uploading files over the Internet.
•       Web Page A single hypertext file or a page that is part of a Website.
•       Website A collection of Internet pages or files.

When Sally Consumer searches the Internet and lands on your webpage, she can get there in two ways—organically or directly. Organic Traffic is not traffic unfertilized with chemicals but unpaid traffic from search engines, social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, referrals from other sites which happens when Sally clicks on a link on another website such as your SBM profile. Organic traffic is what you want to attract using keywords in your content such as Traverse City Family Law Attorney so when Sally types those words in a query your site appears.

Direct Traffic—Sally types your URL into a browser, immediately connecting with you.

Lately, we’ve heard the word “Troll.” While in folklore a troll was a mythical giant or dwarf that caused harm such as the trolls that took over the public bridge in “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” 

Wikipedia defines the Internet Troll as: "Someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.” Be wary of the trolls under the bridge or on the Internet.

Creating a Content Publishing Strategy for Your Firm

When Walter Consumer has a legal problem, his first reaction will be to turn to the Internet. At this point he is not looking for a lawyer, he is looking for information. He might ask “What is personal injury?” or “What is a Power of Attorney?” Providing content that answers his questions helps you connect with him early in his search. To be sure that you are on target with your content marketing you need a publishing strategy. 

A well-developed law firm publishing strategy improves the firm’s profile and supports its business development. The reason to publish great content is to increase business so be sure your publishing strategy fits with and furthers your business strategy.

A Publishing Strategy Includes: 

Your market: Your first consideration is your market. If you are a solo practitioner, you may have one type of client. Larger firms, however, could have several practice areas with specific client types you want to reach. Try to be as specific as you can when describing the prospective client. For example, if your personal injury cases are limited to motorcycle accidents, you would write for those readers.

Your Content: Consider the needs of your proposed reader and plan your content accordingly. Content can include frequently asked questions, case summaries, discussion of current legal events, how to guides or legal business updates.

Your Format: There many ways to publish content on-line. You can write a blog, a feature article, a newsletter or an e-book. Other formats include videos and podcasts. Each one has its benefits. Which you use depends on your reader and your skills at communicating.

Your Schedule: As was said in Mice and Men, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This especially true of writing marketing content. To stay on track, set a schedule, put the dates in your calendar and when the time comes, sit and stare at the blank screen until the words emerge. Keeping a regular publishing schedule is the best way to retain readers and be recognized by the search engines.

Your Budget: Your budget will include two types of expense. First, moneys spent to hire a staff person to write content or to hire a freelance contract content creator. Second, for the lawyers responsible for producing content, account for their non-billable time in their personal development plans.

Your Team: Someone in the firm needs to be in charge of the publishing strategy. For large firms, that person is usually the marketing director; in smaller firms, it would be the lawyer or a staff member. 

Finally, how do you know if the plan is working to bring in more business? Try to set goals that are measureable such as percentage of new work from existing clients, number of new clients or more speaking requests for a particular practice group.