JD Scoop

Here's a look at some of the latest lawyers and law firms to be publishing their work on JD Supra. We're happy to welcome them to the site:

Francis Fryscak, a partner in Cooley LLP's Antitrust & Trade Regulation practice group and a member of their Business department.

Featured Doc: Federal Trade Commission Proposes Major Revisions to HSR Form


Ary Rosenbaum, an ERISA/ retirement plan attorney for his firm, The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.. At a flat fee, Ary helps plan sponsors reduce their plan cost, facilitate administration, and limit their fiduciary liability.
Featured Doc: The Myth of Free 401(k) Administration


Sanford Millar, domestic and international tax planning and tax controversy attorney.

Featured Doc: TARP Used as Weapon Against Banks



Venable LLP, practicing in all areas of corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property and regulatory and government affairs, with nearly 600 attorneys in offices across the country. Featured Doc: Approaches to Preemption Following the Dodd-Frank Act

Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a not-for-profit, statewide organization dedicated to the criminal defense attorney.

Featured Doc: Immigration Outline for Criminal Lawyers


Stephen Garcia, representing clients throughout California and the west coast that have been involved in truck accidents.

Featured Doc: "I am not the suing type. The insurance company said they will take care of everything!"


Santiago Cueto, who  focuses his practice on international business law with an emphasis on class action and international commercial litigation, arbitration and transactions.

Featured Doc: FCC v. ATT - Petition for a Writ of Certiorari


Alex Lane, criminal attorney in Phoenix, Arizona.
Featured Doc: How Strong Is the Evidence in Your DUI Case?

Joel Schwartz, Boston personal injury lawyer.
Featured Doc: It's Time to Jott!


Meyer Suozzi, English & Klein, whose 18 practice groups manage, negotiate or litigate just about any legal issue, transaction or dispute.
Featured Doc: Wrongful/Negligent Referrals - Let the Lawyer Beware!



What about you? Are you looking for an effective way to showcase expertise and connect with new clients, colleagues, and the media?

Join JD Supra. Create a professional profile and start posting your legal work online!

I think the best Facebook business pages share three characteristics that make for a good foundation as you build a professional presence on the world's largest communications platform: 1. sense of audience; 2. content; and 3. engagement.

If you're just beginning a business presence on Facebook and are looking for some pointers, consider starting with:

1. Sense of Audience

Who are you trying to reach? I ask this of lawyers almost daily. It's a question you must answer for yourself and applies not just to Facebook, but to any front (blogging, JD Supra, speaking engagements, etc.) in your strategy of using content to connect with people who can help you to grow your business .

The second characteristic of a good Facebook page is Content with a capital C, but you must begin by considering your audience; otherwise, you're wasting your time. Think like an editor, as Jordan Furlong once so aptly put it.

It's a deceptively simple point, because the end result can - I suspect - make all the difference. Your Facebook Business Page (like your blog or website) is not just a broadcasting channel for corporate news and marketing pitches. It's an opportunity to earn the attention of people who might actually make a difference to your business: colleagues, new clients, exisiting clients, media, bloggers, professionals in related fields, and so on.

Tune your Business Page to the needs, desires, and interests of your ideal audience - not from your point of view, but from theirs. The people you are trying to reach online:
 
- who are they? (Quite literally take a moment to write down the answer. It you're Matt Homann, you're drawing a picture, too.)
- what keeps them up at night?
- what do they need to know to help them succeed, personally or professionally?
- what do you know that might help them?

It's not an especially foreign exercise - you know your client base better than anyone. If you are a family lawyer, you know their confusion and concerns around elder care or creating the right estate plan for their children. If you handle divorces, you undoubtedly have a window into relationships like no other. If you're a corporate lawyer helping entrepreneurs, you've heard the question about how NDAs work a thousand times. If you handle bankruptcies, or real estate, or tax law issues, or ...

Sharing your knowledge and expertise isn't going to put you out of business. (The world will always need lawyers and the service they provide.) Done right it can, however, help draw attention to the fact that you provide legal service in the first place. That attention is hard to come by in the noisy, crowded online landscape we call the Age of Information.

Examples of Facebook Pages that, to my mind, consider audience in their programming:

- The Divorce Collaborative (Stephen McDonough)
- Fashion Law (by Fox Rothschild)
- Diaz Reus International Law Firm (Michael Diaz, Jr.) 

More on why I like these pages (and on sharing Content via your Facebook Page in general) tomorrow, in my second post. Including practical tips on how to manage an editorial schedule for your page...

Follow @jdsupra on Twitter to receive notice of next posts in this series.

New: Find Facebook Pages with ThePageFinder.com - a directory of Facebook pages. 

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Looking to start a professional presence on Facebook? We make it easy...

[*Note: the first in a series of guest posts by attorney and writer Reba Kennedy. See Reba's BIO below.]

1.  Imagine Your Headline Online - and Draft Accordingly

Your headline is listed in search results (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.) in bold face, with a brief excerpt of the article itself shown below. Content delivered by JD Supra to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, iPhone and elsewhere is also listed on those platforms with a similar look and feel.

Craft your title with these screen images in mind: in less than ten words, you must explain the overall topic effectively for the reader. Online isn't the place for polysyllabic adjectives - limit yourself.  

2.  Remember Your Intended Reader

Who are you trying to reach? Your title is, more often than not, the first connection that your work makes with its intended reader. Not only does each individual headline create an impression, but the entire collection of content comprising your JD Supra Portfolio also allows readers to judge your ability and authority in your stated areas of expertise. Make a great first impression by using headline language that resonates with your intended readers.

3.  Write the Title (or Headline) Last

It's tempting to start at the top and plop a headline into the title bar before moving into the body of your document, isn't it? Resist that temptation. Creating the title to your article as the final step before publishing on JD Supra allows you to consider (and discover through the writing process) the most important words and phrases to use. Titles are worth the time.   

4.  Key Words and Phrases Go First

Your title is an invitation: strategic use of key words and phrases helps readers discover what you've written. Find those two or three words that convey the core message of your article - and place them at the beginning of the title, or very close to it.  

There are some that may argue this is only true from an SEO (search engine optimization) standpoint. I disagree. Your reader is browsing online for interesting and relevant material.  Why would you avoid waving the flag that your article delves into the very subject matter which your reader is investigating?

5. When in Doubt, There's Always the List

Lists get read. (You're reading one right now!) You've seen them before: the top five of something; ten ways to do X; or a title that promises to provide 100 reasons why Y is better than Z. Using a list in your headline is an accepted, proven method of producing a successful headline. Readers like lists.

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Reba Kennedy is an AV-preeminent™ rated 20+ year attorney and 5+ year professional writer whose work regularly appears on JD Supra, published within her own profile and as ghostwritten or edited publications for law firms across the country.  For more information, check out Reba's JD Supra profile or website.

 

For your interest, here's a list of law firms whose feeds of alerts, articles, and other useful content are receiving good attention on LinkedIn via our Legal Updates application. Ranked according to popularity (stay tuned for a list of top feeds from individual lawyers in LinkedIn next):

1. Morrison & Foerster
2. Sheppard Mullin
3. Manatt
4. Duane Morris
5. Fenwick & West
6. Edwards Angell
   
7. Katten
8. Ford & Harrison
9. Mintz Levin
10. Dinsmore & Shohl
11. Warner Norcross & Judd
12. Allen Matkins
13. Ober|Kaler
14. Sands Anderson
15. Lane Powell
16. Foley Hoag
17. Fox Rothschild
18. Cole Schotz
19. Thompson Coburn
20. Finnegan

Anyone using the Legal Updates app can customize their homepage feed to receive timely legal info not only by various topics (Employment, Tech, Taxes, IP, Banking, etc.) but also directly from the lawyers and law firms who make their content available on JD Supra/LinkedIn.

To follow a particular contributor, click "Add to Feeds" below the byline on any legal update (shown below):

You can also scan a contributor's portfolio page (available by clicking the name, Morrison & Foerster example above), determine if you want the content automatically fed to your LinkedIn homepage, and click "Add to Feeds" there:

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