RSS FeedLaw Blogs, the Great Equalizer
The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has an article by Kevin O’Keefe in their publication, Addendum, on the use of blogs by lawyers.
They discuss how blogs can help develop lawyers to become opinion leaders in their area of practice.
The more the blog has a niche, the more effective it will be as a marketing tool. Active bloggers are finding up to 80 per cent of their work coming to them through their site.
One hundred years ago, lawyer marketing was all about entering into conversations with opinion leaders, business associates, and the public to spread word of one’s passion, expertise, and care and to further enhance one’s reputation as a trusted authority. Today, it’s still the same – except that the conversation has moved online.
Social Media and Blogs Banned for Lawyers?
Apparently these fears have arisen in the U.S. in the past. A new case in Louisiana objects to advertising rules that would take effect in November 2009.
The Wolfe Law Group, L.L.C., who appear to be four attorneys focusing on construction law, explain on their new site,
Wolfe Law Group argues that the new rules effectively prevent a lawyer from advertising its services through online mediums, such as Google’s Adwords, as the rules also restrict an attorney’s ability to engage in discourse with colleagues, clients and the public through online bulletin boards, blogs, twitter, and other online communities and forums.
Lawyers cannot afford to be left out of the loop. Attorneys who successfully leverage social media tools to communicate, collaborate and network have a distinct advantage over those who don’t.
It is not necessary for each and every lawyer in a firm to learn the ins and outs of social media. But at least one person, or group of persons, depending on the size the firm, should be familiar with emerging Web 2.0 technologies and the ways in which those technologies can help and harm their bottom line. Other lawyers in the firm likewise should be receptive and listen to their recommendations regarding social media.
A recent article in Elder Law Journal even suggests that lawyers are not going far enough to market their services,
Disappointing rates of intestacy may be as much a business problem as a legal one. In this interdisciplinary law and business article, the authors investigate whether widespread intestacy may be attributable in part to the failure of the legal industry to market wills effectively. Although attorneys can market within the boundaries of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the majority do not take full advantage of the range of permissible marketing strategies. This Article suggests that attorneys learn the basics of marketing strategy and rely on guidance from marketing experts in order to structure effective programs to educate the public on will drafting services. By integrating both law and business, estate planning lawyers can better serve current and future clients.
[emphasis added]
100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer
Is it possible to be both happy and successful in law?
Laura Milligan of Job Profiles thinks so. They wrote in last night and brought an article to our attention that provides tips and other resources that can help lawyers in their careers.
They suggest that lawyers join associations. For us it would be the Canadian Bar Association, as well as the provincial organization where you live. There are also practice focused groups like the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and the Canadian Defence Lawyers.
To keep abreast of changes in the field, they list a bunch of lawyer blogs. Of course the best way to do that is to write a blog yourself, which keeps you in the loop and adds your voice to the discussion.
Social media is also something they mention, citing Kevin O’Keefe’s article from earlier this year that says that Law Firms Should Learn to Love Social Media Sites.
Love is a strong word. I’ve got my hand it dozens of social media sites, but I only use a handful because the rest are too time consuming, redundant, and have limited scope. FriendFeed has become a very useful tool because it aggregates several social media sites for you.
The newest site I’m trying out is Martindale by Lexis-Nexis. Given it’s specific legal focus it might prove useful, but has limited functions to students, who can’t create public profiles or be listed in the search functions. Law students marketing themselves is still something new to the industry. Firms might be interested in getting listed on Lawyers.com’s new site, Canadian-Lawyers.
Continuing education is hardly a concern for law students. But I still attend a number of CE events to broaden my horizons, gain perspectives from practitioners rather than academics, and network with members of the bar.
Avoiding burnout and creating a work/life balance should start now, while we are in school. Unfortunately the most successful students are too often the ones with the least balance. And although it might be a calculated sacrifice at this point in their career, it’s not sustainable in the long-term.
Jobs, and the fear of not getting one, is probably the reason why law students burn themselves out. The number of positions out there should provide some assurances that there are positions for everyone. Last month we were contacted by Stephen Fine, who provides other options at www.AlternativeLawJob.com. We plan on doing an interview with him in the future to explore this further.
References, referrals, humour are also important to add to the mix, and Milligan provides a smattering of them. But they also provide resources for new lawyers and students, how to get out of debt, and how to fight discrimination.
Jordan Furlong has also written to us in the past, and pointed out resources for Canadian law students and lawyers in creating work/life balance.
But will all of this help make lawyers, as Hon. Patrick J. Schiltz said, “happy, healthy and ethical?”
You tell us.
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