Excited Utterances

Profile raising is an important aspect of your marketing and business development efforts. Demonstrating that you are a thought leader in your practice area - whether by writing articles or being quoted in news articles, can go a long way towards helping you stand out. There are many publications out there of course, but the focus of this post is the Daily Business Review (DBR) in South Florida. Writing an article The DBR is an ALM publication reporting on the legal market in South Florida. An excellent opportunity for lawyers to write an article is through the DBR's Board of Contributors column. Articles should be about 800 words, and can be case-specific, about a specific area of the law, a trend, legislation affecting a particular field, or the business of law. If you have a topic to suggest, even better, as the DBR welcomes new content. You'll also need to include a 1-sentence bio and a high resolution headshot, and will be required to sign the DBR's standard rights ...

One of my favorite stories from a rainmaker: when he was a young associate at a well-regarded firm, the managing partner sat him down one day and told him: son, you will never have to worry about bringing in clients. It is my job to be the rainmaker. I take care of my team. Later that day, the managing partner fired half the firm. That was the moment the rainmaker realized that his book of business was his own responsibility and was not to be left in the hands of others. He went out and started networking and never looked back. Today, he is the managing partner at a successful law firm. Here's what I've heard from other rainmakers: There is no substitute for being a great lawyer. Expertise and client service are non-negotiable - you must deliver results.  Be friendly. People want to work with people they like. No one wants to work with a jerk. You want people to respect and like you.  If you're not failing, you're not succeeding. Not every pitch will be successful...

I'm at the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) 2018 Annual Conference in New Orleans, and almost skipped the keynote session - because an hour-long talk about happiness sounded irritating. But actually I didn't want to strangle the speaker at all.  The Happiness Professor as she is known, is Catherine Sanderson . She teaches at Amherst College and has degrees from Princeton and Stanford. She presented research from the field of positive psychology that looks at the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness, and provided practical ways that we can increase our own psychological well-being. Things we think will make us happy, but really don’t:  Money . (Note: for people worried about survival, this doesn’t apply.) But beyond that, the more of it one has, the more one wants.  Climate . Not convinced about this one. As a person who has been living in Florida for 6 years, from Canada, I can tell you that she may have gotten this one wrong.  Life event . In oth...

The deadline for the next edition of Best Lawyers is coming up on April 15, so here's the rundown on this publication. It is entirely based on peer review, which means that the listings are based on votes by lawyers. But only lawyers who are already listed are eligible to vote. So, you'll need to first get on the ballot, and then do some campaigning. Here's how to approach it:  First, you need to get nominated . Nominations are open to anyone, but they ask that lawyers not nominate themselves, so the easiest approach is to have your marketing person nominate you. They can find the link here . Once that's done, you will be on the ballot for voting. One nomination is sufficient. The ballot . I mentioned above that only currently listed lawyers are eligible to vote. But there's a catch: not all lawyers are listed on every ballot, so lawyers can't choose exactly who they vote for. The ballots are designed based on the voter's geographic region and practice a...

Here's how to launch a successful community initiative at your firm. Make sure you have genuine support from your firm's decision makers. If they are not truly behind the effort, you won't get very far. E verything you do should be strategic – partner with client charities, align with your firm's mission and core values. Define how you will measure your community program's success, and track it.   Community is a very broad concept so start by organizing your initiative into 3 main categories: giving (i.e. financial donations), hands-on involvement, and pro bono. GIVING - Determine an annual budget, identify the organizations that you plan to support, and amount to allocate to each. You may want to support organizations in which your lawyers hold board positions. You could survey your team for organizations they already support. Or, consider forming an internal committee who will consider sponsorship requests on a case by case basis. As mentioned above, look...

Is it just me or is legal marketing the hottest topic on the internet these days? Here's a roundup of recent law firm marketing and business development headlines. An  article  in The American Lawyer by Jennifer Scalzi thoughtfully points out that an effective marketing and business development team can help to identify a firm's true differentiators, implement effective client programs, and hold lawyers accountable to their business plans. But there's a catch: lawyers have to empower their M&BD teams and get out of their comfort zones to make it happen. This requires hearing things they may not want to hear. For instance, a client program may yield feedback that is not all glowing. But, as the author wisely notes, it is in this state of discomfort where opportunities lie. A National Law Review article  addresses how firms can use culture as a business development tool. While this article reads more like a plug for an upcoming Thomson Reuters conference than a th...

What does success look like in law firms? The authors, frustrated with the abundance of anecdotal evidence and lack of empirical evidence to answer this question, set out to solve it with research. Their findings are based on studies including a comprehensive, 75-item survey completed by 343 lawyers at U.S. AmLaw 100 firms.  They examine, among other things, the differences between lawyers who made partner in less than 10 years and those who didn't.   Accelerating Lawyer Success: How to Make Partner, Stay Healthy, and Flourish in a Law Firm. By Lori Berman, Heather Bock, and Juliet Aiken.  The authors have uncovered the recipe for how to make partner in less than 10 years. In short, it involves  hard work and quality work, strategic relationship building, planning, help from mentors, and a mind-set of being the master of your own fate. You gotta build relationships strategically, invest in them, and leverage them. You need goals, to make plans, and to stick t...

Has your new year’s resolution to read more books failed 3 years in a row? This year, try these 3 podcasts instead. A hands-free way to learn something new, and you can listen pretty much anywhere, from your commute to the office or while making dinner. The best part: way less time required than reading an entire book (episodes are 20 minutes to an hour). High ROI guaranteed. Legal Marketing Association (LMA)  Podcast . Each episode focuses on a hot topic in the world of legal marketing and business development and features a panel of experts on said topic. Launched in 2016, this podcast is about 20 episodes in, so you can start with the most relevant to you – or binge listen (may require giving up your usual Netflix series).  Notable episode:  Episode 11 . Bloomberg Law's Big Law Business Podcast . "The business of law, and news and information about the largest U.S. law firms, with Josh Block and Casey Sullivan." Notable episode :  Hogan Lovells' CEO &...

Our firm's associates are a talented bunch . They graduated top of their class, have backgrounds as musical theater performers and soccer players, and are multilingual and multicultural. But brains and talent can only get one so far in today’s legal profession . Regardless of what their future career goals are - to make partner, start their own firm, join a government or nonprofit organization - everyone needs a roadmap to get where they want to go. Help your associates to make it their new year’s resolution to create a business development plan in 2018. Here’s how to coach them: Create a written plan. Writing down your goals makes you accountable to them and more likely to achieve them. Also, you get the satisfaction of crossing your action items off your list as you complete them. Find a sample template online and use it.   Don't fret that you have written down your goals and are now tied to them. Think of your plan as a living, breathing document...

I began as a skeptic: of book clubs, of self-help books, of a bunch of former Marines applying U.S. military leadership principles to the business world. But I signed up for the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Southeast Region’s book club anyway, because when you're the mother of an energetic toddler, the only way to find time to read a book is to literally schedule it into your calendar. We discussed one chapter per week. And that’s when I became a believer. Beyond the perk of connecting with an inspiring group of legal marketers from across the southeastern United States, the book itself was eye-opening. Too many “aha” moments to mention, so here is just my top takeaway from Spark – how to lead yourself and others to greater success. By Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch, and Sean Lynch. Understand your values and live them . This exercise is foremost about becoming aware of what you truly value. Values are the principles or qualities that are important to you – like famil...

Former employees of a firm are a great potential referral source - if you manage the relationships correctly. The business case has already been made for alumni programs, and if you're reading this you likely agree, so I will cut straight to how to ensure your alumni program is worth your effort.  (Note: this formula is for legal marketers at smaller to mid-sized firms looking to start an alumni program. I'll post a follow up article in a few months on how to step up your alumni game once you have a basic program in place. ) Collaborate with your HR team to compile a list of former lawyers’ contact info. Add them to your firm’s CRM system. (If HR doesn't have these records, look to accounting, LinkedIn, and your current lawyers to help build the list.) You may want to include business services staff as well as lawyers . Create an alumni communication, set the frequency, and send relevant firm announcements. Feature individual alumni in your communications. Make sure...

Having recently completed the last of my Chambers submissions for the 2018 publication, I'm sharing my tips while the process is still fresh in my mind. Before you know it, it will be time to get cracking on submissions for the 2019 edition. My advice pertains to referees, the interview, and the researcher and overall process. Referees are (not) the easiest part Throw together your list of referees, submit it, and forget about it. Wrong. Use your 20 spots strategically. Be thoughtful about who you list. The best client referee doesn't need to be the CEO of the company; pick the person who is familiar with your work and will sing your praises. Similarly, better to list someone who will be more likely to respond to the Chambers researcher than the person with the most senior job title. Ask referees for permission to list them before you do so. You can ask the researcher when he/she plans to contact the referees, and then give your referees a heads up to look out for Chamber...

Let's say you are in the liquor store, looking for a bottle of wine to kick off the weekend. Among the labels reading "dry, crisp" and "robust, full-bodied" is a bottle of Pinot Grigio that catches your eye: " easily digestible ." Based on the label, you buy it, thinking that you might be spared a hangover. But the next day, you wake up in a scene reminiscent of the movie The Hangover. This potential scenario is why I think the European Court of Justice did German wine cooperative  Deutsches Weintor  a favour when it ordered them to change their labels a few weeks ago. The labels described the wine as  bekömmlich,  which translates as "easily digestible" or "wholesome." But EU law prohibits companies from making health claims about alcoholic products. The company argued unsuccessfully in its defense that the word was not a health claim but instead referred to general well-being, and was easier to digest because it contained r...

What is going on with lawyers and inappropriate uses of Facebook lately? A couple of articles in the news recently cannot go unmentioned: First, in the Miami Herald yesterday: a state defense attorney snaps a photo of her client's underwear, and posts it on Facebook. The accused's family had brought him the leopard-print underwear along with fresh clothes to wear during his trial. The lawyer apparently posted the photo and a smart-ass caption about the family thinking this was appropriate attire for court. She was fired and a mistrial was declared. It was the murder trial of a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2012. Second, Daily Business Review reported that two defense lawyers are facing ethics charges for having their paralegal add the plaintiff as a Facebook friend in order to gain access to non-public information. The 18-year old plaintiff sustained a fractured femur when he was struck by a police car in a driveway. His Facebook photos showed him w...

Just finished reading the true story of Shon Hopwood’s journey from bank robber to law student. Very good read.  As a young man, Shon is a college dropout, disillusioned by his failure at college basketball, bored and generally lacking motivation and direction. This leads him to rob 5 banks in rural Nebraska between 1997 and 1998. His amateur (but armed) robberies ultimately end with his arrest and earn him a 13-year sentence in a federal prison. Shon’s prison stories are engaging: he matures while behind bars, grows from a stoner to a peacekeeper (but knowing that when tested you cannot show weakness), and his book provides a fascinating first-hand glimpse into the racism and mental illness that permeates the prison system.    While in prison, Shon begins working at the law library. He reads legal books, and begins writing briefs for his fellow inmates, to help reduce their sentences. He develops a love – and a talent – for criminal procedure. The Supreme...

If you are a Florida lawyer, like everyone else in the game you are probably eager to expand your online professional network by adding as many connections as possible to your LinkedIn profile. Should you add the judge who heard your last matter? You won the case, and you might have the opportunity to appear before him in future trials. The answer is NO. According to a May 9 opinion by Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee (JEAC), it is not permissible for a judge to approve a lawyer who may appear before him as a LinkedIn connection. This is considered a violation of Canon 2B of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits a judge from conveying or permitting others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge. A 2009 opinion by the JEAC had already deemed it impermissible for a Judge to add a lawyer who may appear before him as a friend on Facebook or MySpace. (Does anybody sti...

 Image from The Lawyers Weekly  The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will release its answer to this question tomorrow. The federal government posed the reference question to the court: is securities regulation subject to provincial or federal jurisdiction as set out by the Constitution Act, 1867 ? The Constitution Act sets out the division of powers, which determines what issues are under the control of the provinces- like education health- and what things are governed by the federal government- such as criminal law and copyrights. In reality there is a lot of overlap between the two. If securities regulation is a matter of “property and civil rights”, it is subject to provincial jurisdiction. If it is a matter of “trade and commerce”, it will fall within the domain of the federal government.  Not all the provinces are happy with the idea of a nationwide securities regulator, which was proposed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in May 2010. In fact, Ontario seems...

Have you ever been enticed by a movie trailer to watch a film, only to be disappointed by the actual movie? You may have legal recourse for this.  A woman in Michigan saw the trailer for the movie Drive  (starring Ryan Gosling), went to see the movie, and then filed a lawsuit when the movie did not meet her expectations that it would be similar to the Fast and the Furious series. Sara Deming is suing the studio that distributed the film and the cinema where she saw the movie, claiming that the film misled the public; there was very little driving in the actual film and it “bore very little similarity to a chase, or race action film.” She also claims that the film contains anti-Semitic content. Deming wants her money back. I too have found myself feeling ripped-off after seeing certain movies . But to file a lawsuit seems both frivolous and vexatious, just the criteria a judge needs to throw this case out the second he/she hears it.  Or is this legal action part...

T he issue of whether assisted suicide should be allowed in Canada is back in the courts and in the news. Gloria Taylor Gloria Taylor is a 63-year-old British Columbia woman who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is challenging the laws that make it a crime, with a maximum sentence of 14 years, to assist anyone with suicide. The BC Civil Liberties Association, on behalf of Taylor and several others, has brought a lawsuit arguing that banning assisted suicide violates ss. 7 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This past week, Taylor’s motion to have her case expedited was approved, which means that her case will be heard in November and following that, the law could potentially be overturned.    One of the few things I recall from Constitutional law class is the 1993 case of Sue Rodriguez . In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Rodriguez’s appeal and found that there was no right to assis...

We all know that Osama bin Laden was killed last week when the US busted in on his hiding place in Pakistan, shot him dead and buried his body at sea. Now one of bin Laden’s sons is challenging the legality of his father’s death. Omar bin Laden, age 30, accuses the US of violating international law when it killed his unarmed father, shot relatives and dumped the body in the ocean. Omar argues that the US should have arrested his father and put him on trial, and that the principles of presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial were ignored. The US’s defence to this is that Article 51 of the UN Charter allows a country to defend itself. Osama bin Laden had declared war on the US, killed thousands in 9/11 – he was deemed to be a combatant. His death was part of the larger goal to dismantle al-Qaeda.   Interestingly, both sides cite international law to support their arguments. My gut reaction is to cheer that bin Laden is finally dead, and to ridicule his son...