JD Scoop

Interesting new post at In House Rants, part three in a series begun last fall titled How to get Legal Business.

The focus of this morning's entry: "Get your message out. Demonstrate your successes. You’ve got credibility ... show it."

Specifically:

You want to be the person whose attributes we identify with solving the immediate problem.  You do not want us to even think about using our current in-house resources or, heaven forbid, another law firm.  You need to be the first name that pops into our head when we need the best solution.

This is, of course, about creating name recognition:

You want us to equate your name with particular expertise. Not so that we’ll think, “Ooops, just spilled some plutonium.  Must call super lawyer X” ... Instead, you want us know who you are (and that you are somebody special) when you make your first personal contact with us. This is how you distinguish yourself from the pack who hound us for work.

Notice our bold of the text above. The sentence hinges upon the fact that in-house counsel (or any prospective client, really) already knows you before there is any personal contact.

How to do it?

First on the list of  "I-don't-know-where-to-start suggestions" is an idea near and dear to our hearts:

• showcase your expertise via written work.

In House Rants focuses here on trying to place your work in industry-specific publications - and doubtless this is sound advice. On the credibility spectrum created by "advertisement" on one side, "advertorial" in the middle, and "truly useful information" on the other, writing legal articles for an industry-specific media outlet usually places you firmly at "truly useful." Luckily, that's not the only situation in which this is true:

• In a time when a quarter of all Americans (including business leaders) turn to the Internet for legal information, you can establish credibility by effectively sharing your work online - especially when you share it in the service of free, top-quality legal information.

(Remember the spectrum: creating and sharing written work, you want to use everything at your disposal to move away from "advertisement" towards "useful." Content makes an enormous difference, but so does the situation/context.)


Patent litigation consultant and author, Robert A. Matthews Jr., knows the value of sharing quality work to reach in-house counsel and other prospective clients. The author of the multi-volume "Annotated Patent Digest," Matthews regular posts his Patent Happenings newsletter - a monthly update on developments in U.S. patent law - on JD Supra. (The latest appeared just today.)

In a recent email exchange, Matthews told us he shares his work in order to be useful. It's as simple as that. At the heart of this type of sharing is an understanding of what it can lead to: meaningful connections. And Matthews already knows he is sharing high-value work:

... we have received many positive comments about the newsletter from corporate counsel, saying they find the summaries very helpful and concise. We even had a former federal judge expressly request to be added to the newsletter distribution.

The point?

In legal marketing, it is possible to establish credibility and create meaningful contact before you have personal contact. One way to do it: find the right context in which to share something meaningful. Then do it!

Here's a roundup of some of the newsletters, articles, and alerts recently posted to JD Supra by our busy contributors:

• Exxon v. Baker: The United States Supreme Court Limits Punitive Damage Awards Under Maritime Law - hot off the presses, Lane Powell PC looks at today's U.S. Supreme Court decision re: Exxon Shipping Co. v Baker "concerning the limits of punitive damages which may be assessed under federal maritime law." Includes an analysis of what the decision means to London market insurers.

• New on the Menu: Class Actions Targeting Restaurants - Morrison & Foerster issues an update on a rising trend in Texas and California: class actions against restaurants that allegedly misrepresent nutritional information on their menus. The primary, ahem, takeaway item (excuse the pun): make sure nutritional information is factually accurate.

• Patent Happenings - from Robert Matthews, Jr., of Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LLP,an update on developments in U.S. patent law for the month of May 2008. A rich archive of the "Patent Happenings" monthly update is available here.

• Energy and Clean Tech Connections - recent newsletter from Mintz Levin: "what’s new in the world of clean tech. We draw your attention to the latest industry developments, news from Capitol Hill, grant opportunities and upcoming events."

• Crucial Questions To Ask A Prospective Medical Malpractice Client - from Devesh Tiwary, MD, JD, of TiMedLaw Firm: "information needed to determine whether there is a good medical malpractice claim. [A] series of questions, organized by typical fact patterns."

• U.S. Dept of Labor (DOL) Joins the Immigration Enforcement Arena - an alert from Tindall & Foster P.C. encouraging all employers to review compliance policies and procedures in this latest move towards greater immigration-related law enforcement.

• Illiinois Joint Trust Disadvantages - from one of our newer contributors, Dana Zivkovich Johnson, a look at some of the problems associated with creating a joint trust in Illinois.

Here's a quick look at the latest JD Supra Hot Doc - this one a complaint filed by EFF, which claims the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) fraudulently induced YouTube to remove videos created and posted by Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) by falsely claiming that the videos infringed PRCA's copyrights.

SHARK is a non-profit organization that videotapes and photographs rodeos in order to expose animal abuse, injuries, and deaths. PRCA successfully convinced YouTube to remove these videos for a period of two weeks, after which SHARK was able to convince YouTube to reinstate the account.

Though the SHARK videos are now available on YouTube, according to the EFF, this lawsuit is part of EFF's No Downtime for Free Speech Campaign, which works to protect online expression in the face of baseless copyright claims.

EFF has seen people and organizations increasingly misusing the DMCA to demand that material be removed from the Internet without providing any proof of infringement. Furthermore, service providers -- fearful of monetary damages and legal hassles -- often comply with these requests without double-checking them, despite the cost to free speech and individual rights.

"We must stop the abuse of the DMCA," said EFF Intellectual Property Fellow Emily Berger. "Those bringing meritless copyright claims must be held accountable so that free speech can continue to flourish online."

We continue to be thrilled by the diversity of talent, expertise, and experience represented in the mix of JD Supra contributors. Here's an introduction to some of our recent new members:

	Davis, Malm & D'Agostine, P.C. - a mid-sized, general practice Boston law firm serving the wide-ranging business needs of start-ups, family owned businesses and public corporations. The attorneys at the firm concentrate on issues and solutions relating to corporations, real estate, business insolvency, employment, environmental regulations, litigation, and trusts and estates.
	Kohn Rath & Meyer LLP - a full service Vermont law firm located in the Town of Hinesburg, close to Burlington. A state-wide practice, providing a comprehensive array of legal services including business and employment representation; wills, trusts, and estate planning; lawsuit defense; and others.
	Dana Zivkovich Johnson - representing clients from the greater Chicagoland area including Cook, DuPage, and Will counties. Primary practice areas include wills, trusts, probate, estate planning and asset protection, medicaid planning, guardianships, and elder law. Services also offered for small business and contract matters.
	Sean Dwyer - partner, Havkins Rosenfeld Ritzert & Varriale; an accomplished litigator whose practice is focused on the defense of serious liability claims. Sean has appeared as trial and appellate counsel in all state and federal jurisdictions in the New York area on behalf of a variety of liability and excess insurance carriers. In addition, he has served as defense counsel-of-choice for several hospitals in the Long Island region.
	Michael Delaney - partner/practice group leader (Labor and Employment Law group) Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP. His practice includes representation of management in traditional labor relations matters as well as employment litigation and human resources counseling. He also deals in school law issues for a variety of school districts.
	David Kight - partner, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne's Labor & Employment practice group. Dave exclusively represents employers in a variety of employment matters including non-compete and restrictive covenant issues, traditional labor, civil rights, and employment discrimination.
	Nick Badgerow - partner, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP; a trial lawyer, specializing in litigation involving construction, business and contracts, employment (exclusively for employers), professional responsibility and malpractice, ethics consultation, and expert witness testimony in lawyer liability, ethics and attorneys' fees cases.
	Steven Siegler, Esq. - represents New Jersey’s professional workforce in all areas of employment law, including discrimination on the basis of gender, age, race, religion, or disability, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, severance package negotiations, non-compete agreements, breach of contract, wage and hour claims, and civil rights violations.
	Almiron Law Offices LLC - principal Ronald Almiron concentrates his practice in real estate closings in Naperville, Lisle, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, Oak Brook, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, and other DuPage County, Illinois, communities, representing sellers of residential real estate. Mr. Almiron is also experienced in insurance defense litigation and forcible entry and detainer matters on behalf of landlords.

It's always a fun day at JD Supra when we can look to the good old Grateful Dead to make a point about content marketing. Tye dyes optional, here we go:

Actually, Paul Krugman has done the work for us already. In his New York Times column last Friday ("Bits, Bands and Books", June 6; free registration req'd) economist, author, and commentator Krugman referenced technology guru Esther Dyson's 1994 forecast that

the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product — software, books, music, movies — the cost of creation would have to be recouped indirectly: businesses would have to “distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships.”

Dyson made this prediction long before Google showed us the power of the long tail in online search (which, alone, is a strong argument for "distributing intellectual property" for free online in the service of marketing). Her example at the time:

... the Grateful Dead, who encouraged people to tape live performances because “enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market.”

At the heart of this example is one of the truths driving our love of content marketing. Provide something for free to an audience who values what you are giving, and you create a meaningful connection. Meaningful connections, if done right, lead to undying loyalty.

Which is not to say we want people to sell their homes, buy a VW bus, and follow around a favorite law firm on their next east coast summer tour, but you see where we are going with this.

Legal professionals are prolific generators of top-quality "intellectual property" - they do it every day in the form of briefs, alerts, articles, forms, newsletters, and the like.

Given that (according to a 2006 comScore study) a quarter of all Americans turn to the Internet in search of legal information, it seems a no-brainer that you'd want to share what you've got. Your daily written work product creates meaningful connections by 1) being helpful to someone, and 2) showcasing your experience and expertise. That's how it begins.

And, as Krugman concludes in his piece, this is not just a marketing but also a business model of the future:

Bit by bit, everything that can be digitized will be digitized, making intellectual property ever easier to copy and ever harder to sell for more than a nominal price. And we’ll have to find business and economic models that take this reality into account.

It won’t all happen immediately. But in the long run, we are all the Grateful Dead.

We love this example of content marketing. Can you think of any others from popular culture that resonate with you? Share them here.

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- How Content Marketing Will Shake the Tree (Chris Brogan)

 

Lane Powell's tag line: "Know the Landscape."

Clearly the firm knows the legal landscape of the industries it serves; but Lane Powell also ensures that leaders in these industries know the landscape, too. As attorneys, we have a wealth of valuable information to share that demonstrates our expertise.  Converting the analysis we do every day of recent legislation and case law into a one or two page memo is one great way to do this. For perfect examples of this type of content marketing in action (and it is excellent content marketing), look at two recent posts by the firm on JD Supra:

• Breaking Developments in London Market Law 6/2/08: which describes, in plain English, a recent Alaska Supreme Court insurance coverage decision - and concludes with a succinct statement of  "What This Means for London Market Insurers," which includes practical business advice.
• Breaking Developments in Labor and Employment Law 5/27/08: which describes, again in plain language, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ("GINA") and concludes with "What This Means for Employers."

These brief, well-written alerts are crafted with Lane Powell's target audience in mind.

By sending them to their clients, Lane Powell re-enforces its expertise, and proves it is serious when it says: "we're proactive about guiding our clients and helping them successfully compete." 

By sharing these alerts on JD Supra, Lane Powell leverages its work to a wider audience. The firm establishes expertise, value, and authority to prospective new clients and referrals - even before they are looking for legal services - which is the best time to connect. 

Imagine that you are a business leader searching for information about GINA and you come upon the above-mentioned alert. It does its job: informs, tells you exactly what you need to do to comply. You click through to Lane Powell's profile, read other Labor & Employment alerts, which are equally helpful. You keep an eye out for Lane Powell's latest updates, make a regular habit of it, counting on the alerts to provide valuable information for your business.  (Yes, they're that authoritative.)

One day you face an employment issue for which you need legal counsel. 

Who would you call?

Interesting article yesterday at DMNews.com titled Safeguard your brand with search.

[As you may know, DMNews.com is the free marketing resource published by DMNews and Haymarket Media. Much of the site's content is solicited from industry leaders, offering a daily dose of high-value marketing expertise on a range of relevant topics.]

Yesterday's piece was framed around the question: "what are the best practices for brands to protect themselves [from negative search results]?"

The entire article deserves a read even if you're not afraid of negative search results, per se. The answers are not limited to this question; they touch upon a number of bigger themes to do with the power of a proactive online presence in general. We thought we'd highlight a few key points here:

From Noah Elkin, VP, corporate strategy, Steak Media:

Search can help companies build trust, influence and authority.

... [M]ake sure you're creating a steady supply of relevant content. Develop your site into an information hub with feeds, reviews and articles about your company. Enable people to distribute and share this content with bookmarking buttons, which helps to build a large quantity of natural links. Having different sources, such as blogs, link to your site tells search engines that it is a trusted, quality resource.

From Sarah Hofstetter, VP of emerging media and client strategy, 360i:

It can ... help to apply strategic SEO practices to enhance your own online content. This can be achieved by opti­mizing your Web site, as well as via an inbound linking and social media opti­mization strategy. This helps ensure that negative content is pushed down in the rankings and that your brand and brand advocates can rise to the top of natural search results.

From Steve Kaufman, SVP, media, Digitas:

As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense... By making all appropriate content search engine-friendly, an advertiser can domi­nate many of the top positions on the search page. Rest assured that the ban­dits will employ SEO best practices, so the brands need to as well.

From Adam Lavelle, Chief strategy officer, iCrossing:

User-generated content is here to stay — get involved and get connected.

Having deep links back to your site on high-authority third party sites ... benefits your visibility.

But remember the golden rule: be useful in your dialogue. Forums are not a place for blast marketing, they are a place to share, offer up new information, clarify issues, point people to answers, etc.

Successful brands are the ones who behave as truly “connected brands,” tapping into community discussions, sup­porting, getting involved, and sharing.

Great thing about the legal profession: so many of you spend your days generating exactly the type of content that, when shared online, can help to shape your brand in a positive light.

Are you sharing yours?