The Modern Firm, LLC

Reprinted With Permission of Minnesota Lawyer

Assessing your law firm’s online marketing strategy

A Website need not be elaborate to be effective

By Michelle Lore | August 14, 2006
michelle.lore@minnlawyer.com

View PDF Copy of this article

There is no good reason for a law firm not to have a Website, at least according to Web designer Brendan Chard, who last week spoke at a MinnCLE conference devoted to solo and small firm practitioners.

A Website need not be elaborate to be effective, Chard told the crowded room of attorneys. “The primary information your Website needs to include is who you are, why you are great and how to get in touch with you,” he said.

Chard’s comments were made during “Websites and Online Marketing: Make Them Work For You” one of many continuing legal education (CLE) seminars offered at the second Strategic Solutions for Solo and Small Firms conference in Duluth. The 2 ½ day event was sponsored by Minnesota CLE. (more…)

There is a growing movement of good people out there called “Life Hackers.” Life hacks are tips and ideas to improve efficiency and get things off your mind, they generally have a technology slant. Some of the best commentary and thoughts on this topic can be found on www.43folders.com.

A few of the tips I’ve found most useful pertain to managing the ever bulging e-mail inbox. 43folders.com recently ran a series of posts called “Inbox Project Zero” I’ve implemented a few of the suggestions in my office and have found them to be very useful. The goal is primarily to put the e-mail user back in charge of their inbox and schedule by lessening the distractions created by e-mail. (more…)

VOIP is destined to be the “way of the future” for telephone communications. With the catchy Vonage commercials, rapid growth of Skype, cable companies pushing “digital phone”, and business phone vendors pushing this latest technology we’ve probably all heard of VOIP.

The following links are interesting articles on VOIP technology, what it is, and the pros and cons. Pay particular attention to the cons as much of it is related to security risks. In the legal profession the standard of care taken to protect privacy is higher than in a residential setting.

What is VOIP?
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm

Security on VOIP
Why VOIP Needs Crypto :: Wired Magazine
A Pretty Good Way to Foil the NSA :: Wired Magazine

Buying VOIP Service
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/06/technology/voip_biz20/index.htm

In 1999 I unpacked my very first Blackberry wireless e-mail device and was elated. I could now receive e-mail anywhere, instantly. Better than that I could easily respond to messages and completely conceal the fact that I was not dutifully sitting in front of my computer just waiting for new messages. The Blackberry helped me to say “I’m my own boss, I make my own schedule, I can come and go as I please.”

Over the years I upgraded from the black and white small screen model, to the black and white large screen and then to the color large screen with international capabilities (more…)

Lawyers tend to forget that law is a service industry. Clients have a myriad of choices for their legal representation. By focusing on client service, lawyers can better retain current clients, gain more referrals, and minimize the risk of ethics complaints.

By Roy S. Ginsburg

If you ask attorneys whether their clients are satisfied, most would, of course, say yes. If you then ask them “What makes you so sure?” the responses would typically range from “They don’t complain” to “They’re nice to me” to “They pay their bills” to “They continue to do business with us.” But statistics indicate otherwise. Such client behavior hardly translates into satisfaction:

• In 2005, a national consulting firm polled Fortune 1000 clients to determine client satisfaction. Only 30 percent of clients said they would recommend their primary law firm.1

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We all know that we have too many passwords. Between pin numbers, e-mail, online shopping, voicemail, company networks, home security and various memberships the number of passwords we have to remember is staggering. I personally counted 38 activities that require passwords on a regular basis, as in at least once a week. Sometimes I get so bogged down I think I need a password just to get out of bed. But this is how it goes, with the ability to access and store information in more places, passwords are not going away anytime soon. With the acceptance that you need passwords I hope that this article will help you understand what sort of attacks your passwords will have to endure and why it’s important to have a strong system for creating them. (more…)

Pro bono service is frequently considered a selfless act, the “right thing to do.” But can a selfless act also be selfish? With respect to pro bono service, the answer is yes. While many attorneys volunteer legal services, few seem to recognize that performing pro bono work often yields substantial practical economic benefits for themselves, their organizations, and the profession as a whole. In short, when it comes to pro bono service, “it pays to be good.”

“Pro bono” means “for the public good.” Historically, a certain segment of the legal profession felt responsible to ensure equal access to the legal system in the hope that justice would not become a concept that was simply bought and sold. This responsibility is partially derived from a social contract between lawyers and society. Society provides an exclusive license to individuals who want to practice law, thereby offering lucrative career opportunities for many. In return, lawyers give something back to society; that “something” is pro bono service.

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In a recent issue of the ABA Journal e-Report, lawyers provided their children’s comments on their parents’ jobs. One lawyer described a day when her child care person was sick and she took her young daughter to court, leaving her with a bailiff while she had a hearing in the judge’s chambers. When the lawyer went to retrieve her daughter, the bailiff was laughing and told her that he asked the little girl if she was going to be an attorney like her mom when she grew up. The girl answered: “No, I’m going to be something where you always have dinner on time.”

Having dinner on time every night is a fantasy not likely to be fulfilled in any profession today, but the competitive and demanding nature of practicing law makes balancing work commitments and family obligations a particularly daunting challenge. It’s no wonder that work-family balance is a goal for many lawyers. The quest for billable hours, client demands, family obligations and desires, and the need for precious “down time” all clamor for your
attention.

(more…)

Executive coaching, a professional development tool that combines strategic consulting and problem-solving counseling to help professionals set and reach their business and/or personal goals, has in the past decade found much support in the business community. Managers in corporations, including blue chip companies such as IBM, AT&T and Kodak, are realizing its benefits. Lawyers on the other hand, are just now becoming familiar with the concept.

That the coaching trend is more prevalent in corporate America than in the legal profession is no surprise. Historically, law firms have followed the lead of their corporate clients on implementing management and operational innovations. For example, most companies were using email and Web sites long before law firms got on board. Coaching has proven to be no different for a variety of reasons.
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Proposed changes to the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct regarding marketing and professional communications call for modest adjustments in existing rules while encouraging effective client relations.

by Roy S. Ginsburg and Kenneth F. Kirwin

Business development. You keep reading about its importance to your career. You keep hearing about it from other lawyers in your firm and other professional colleagues. So you finally decide to do something about it. Everyone has told you that the key is networking. First stop: your law school alma mater-sponsored cocktail reception. You figure, this shouldn’t be too awkward; chances are pretty good you’ll run into someone you know and, sure enough, you do. (more…)