MyShingle : Solo and Small Law Firm Management and Marketing

After a few recent presentations that were so dull that I nearly snoozed through them myself, I picked up a copy of Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points for some new inspiration. Atkinson's main point: treat a presentation like a Hollywood production. While that's a tall order with a topic as dull as regulation, I decided to give it a shot. Even though we think of Power Point as a form, it impacts the substance of a talk as well - and Atkinson's book forced me to reconsider my entire approach to my materials. Though I didn't quite escape bullet points entirely, here's the link to the end result (I will try to figure out how to embed it in the post later.

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If you're scanning this in your news aggregator, I'll bet my headline, with its apparent misspelling probably jumped right out at you.  In fact, I meant to spell "ledership" just as I did.  A lede is the introductory section of a story, and New York Personal Injury Law blogger Eric Turkewitz's
 recent masterful April Fools' Day Spoof shows just why a lede matters so much.

For those unfamiliar with the story, on April 1, Turkewitz ran a lengthy post captioned  Supreme Court Grants Cert  in Fantasy Baseball  Case; Three Justices Recuse Themselves Due to Participation in High Court League.  Turkewitz's first paragrah then described how the court granted cert (even linking to the Eighth Circuit case on major league baseball that's now pending a cert decision) and wrote authoritatively about the justices seeking recusal - something that has been the subject of frequent discussion recently in the blogosphere.  As a result of his authoritative opening, Turkewitz managed to  fool multiple bloggers into believing the story without reading to the end, where they would have discovered telling clues.

My guess is that most of the bloggers taken in by Turkewitz's prank rely on aggregators to scan news stories quickly.   And Turkewitz's joke, cleverly executed as it was, might not have duped as many people a few years back when aggregators were not as pervasive.  Even today, while it's true that not many lawyers or consumer readers use aggregators, journalists and major bloggers all do.  So if you're interested in getting coverage for your blog at major sites, follow Turkewitz's example, and lead off with your best lede.

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In reviewing my blog's stats since I've moved to a Lexblog platform, I've noticed that Soloformania is consistently, one of my site's top traffic draws.  Most visitors come to the Soloformania page through  Internet searches for terms like "sample   client engagement letters" or "free client interview checklists."  Apparently, there's a substantial need for easy access to these types of agreements, so I'm glad that I'm able to make these materials available.  Incidentally, I've eyeballed all of the materials included on the site (with the exception of the court forms) and though again, I can't vouch for completeness or compatability with state law requirements, these forms were some of the better ones out there. 

Fortunately, I'm not the only game in town.  Within the past few months, other sites, such as JD Supra, Docstoc and Scribd have cropped up that allow lawyers to search for forms letters or sample agreements and motions.  I always find that examples provide a good starting point to drafting my own materials, but I can't emphasize enough that you've got to perform your own due diligence in using these documents.  As I discuss in my book, some state bars require disclosures or "magic language" for certain types of retainer or fee agreements, and failure to include them could lead a court to void the entire arrangement (translation:  you don't get paid, and you may get disciplined!!).

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Even if you missed the ABA TechShow 2008, you can find a terrific series of extremely comprehensive summaries of various panels here, courtesy of the Technolawyer Trade Show Reports, authored by Technolawyer's intrepid reporter, Mazyar "Crazy Mazy" Hedayat.   On Friday,
Mazyar posted his detailed report on Beating the Startup Blues: A Tech Survival Guide that I co-presented with David Masters. 

As Mayzar's post bears out, while David and I have our own personal preferences about technology choices, ultimately, we agree that there's no one-size fits all solution.  When you start your firm, you need to evaluate the hardware and sofware choices with these factors in mind:

• Cost
• Mobility
• Ease of Use
• Available Support
• Compatibility
• Security

Take a look at Mayzar's post for a full summary of the different categories of technology tools to consider when starting your firm.  Also, for another excellent TechShow summary, visit Brett Burney's summary article at Law.com's Legal Technology.

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The most important thing that I took away from the ABA Tech Show doesn't have anything to do with a gee-whiz gadget or gizmo that will increase productivity or help lawyers work less and earn more.  Instead, what I want to share are some of the trends that have taken hold of the profession and are changing not just the form of how we do business, but the substance of how we relate to other lawyers and most importantly, our clients. 

Consider social networking tools like Facebook and Linkedin.  For solos, these tools help combat isolation, but they do more than that.  Social networking sites help us get to know colleagues on a more personal level so we have a sense of their personality and whether they'll be compatible with a potential referral source.  Even more significantly, networking sites, in combination with listserves or Google Groups give lawyers the ability to create our own associations without having to rely on bar associations.   For example, the D.C. Bar won't even sponsor a listserve, but who cares?  My co-panelist, Toby Brown, described that one associate at his firm created a Texas Lawyers Linked In group and attracted 50 members within a day or two. 

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I know that I have blogging to thank for my invitation to speak at this year's ABA Tech Show and I am incredibly excited.  I consider myself fortunate because I'm really a practical technologist at heart, rather than a gadgety person.  I choose technology in a practical manner, based strictly on how much it costs and what it can do to help me right now.  And I implement it on a strictly "need to know basis" - using only those features that will support my goals and ignoring all others.

I'll be on two panels -- Beating the Start Up Blues: A Tech Survival Guide for the New Small Office and Client Retention: Technology to Avoid the Seven Year Itch.  In the weeks leading up to the conference, I've been busy experimenting with a bunch of different applications, especially many of the low cost and free ones that I mentioned in this recent Tech Round Up.  I completed my written presentations several weeks ago, but I'm still working on the Power Point slides - so if you have any suggestions for products or ideas that I might include for either panel, let me know.  I realize that Tech Show is one of the more costly events, but this year, there is a $425/one day solo/small firm option designed to make the programs more accessible to solos. (and yes, I know that's still high, especially for those traveling from out of state, but it's cheaper than the $895 full fare cost or $795 cost for ABA members).  

If you do decide to attend Tech Show, please track me down and say hi. In th meantime, I'll be reading these tips on planning for your first time at Tech Show.

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Yesterday marked the launch of JD Supra, a document database and attorney listing site that's important for solo and small firm lawyers for two reasons.  First, JD Supra gives practitioners access to an enormous database of filings, newsletters and memoranda prepared by other law firms.  While a good deal of the information that I've seen so far is fairly promotional, rather than substantive in nature, that may change as the site grows.  Moreover, even a law firm newsletter can help tip lawyers off to new developments.

Second, JD Supra gives solo and small firm lawyers to way to strut their stuff.  By posting documents, other lawyers can get a sense of what your work product is like.  And by uploading a document, you gain a listing in JD Supra, which is another way to gain visibility online.

So visit JD Supra and think about adding it to a list of your research resources.

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I don't cover technology here much at MyShingle.  It's not that I don't recognize its importance to solos - in fact, more than any other tool, technology has shattered barriers to entry.   It's just that others like Future Lawyer, Ross Kodner, Victor Medina, or Greatest American Lawyer cover technology so much better that I ever could - those sites discuss new applications and also describe how they use them in their practice. 

Still, I do follow trends - and recently, I've noticed a trend of articles and blog posts about using low cost technologies to start and run a practice.  For example, at Home Office Warrior, Grant Griffiths
shares a list of must have applications for a home office - from phone service to postage to contact management.  Similarly, Tammy Lenski at Mediator Tech discusses her low cost favorites for these tools as well.  And just yesterday, USA today carried this article about how small businesses are using low cost Google Apps for spreadsheets, sharing files and email (disclosure: my husband works on Google, but not on the Apps project.  Also, some folks have suggested that the Google Terms of Service give Google a license to use and distribute content produced by those who use Apps, but that's not how I read the TOS).  What I like about all of these articles is that they don't just tell about a particular piece of technology, but show how it is used in the context of a suite of products.

There are other freebies on the forms and research side.  Docstoc is a new site for legal documents where users can share their forms and download forms from others.  The site has a decent collection of legal forms, as well as standard contracts for tasks like web development or independent contractor agreements.  As with using any forms, take the time to make them your own and to ensure that they comply with the laws of your jurisdiction.

And finally, Bob Ambrogi reports on the launch of the Public Library of Law, free caselaw reseach sponsored by Fastcase.com and which offers law back to 1997 (in contrast to Lexisone.com which only goes back five years).  My gripe with both of these services is that they don't give access to federal district court reports.   And they're limited in scope so they're not great tools for legal research.  But they may prove helpful for those who can't afford to invest in a full blown service and don't feel like making a trip to the library to do research.

The last technology note is that I'll be speaking on two panels at the ABA Legal Tech Show in March.  Stop by and say hello if you're there.  

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When I'm asked to list the resources that have helped improve my competency as a lawyer, I'd place blogs and listserves high on the list. In particular, the guidance that I've received from that mother-of-all-solo-listserves, Solosez has helped me tackle issues far more effectively than I could have on my own, while other feedback has enabled me to avert unwanted conflicts and difficult clients.

So I was surprised to come across this post on the misuse of listserves at the Injury Board by Iowa personal injury attorney Steve Lombardi. Lombardi writes:

But the lawyer LISTSERV has become a place where lazy lawyers fool themselves into thinking they can get questions answered and avoid associating with more qualified lawyers. I suspect they do this for several reasons, none worthy of discussion because no excuse is good enough for me when the client's interests are being subjugated to the lawyer's...The lawyers I'm referring to who misuse the LISTSERV are lawyers with enough experience to know better. They are usually on their own, sole practitioners with a history of taking cases they have no business taking and who regularly settle cases without ever trying one. They advertise themselves as being trial lawyers but have very little trial experience.

Lombardi argues that trial association listserves must do a better job of monitoring the lists to weed out or discourage "inexperienced lawyers" who "con their way into a case" and use the listserve as a fallback.

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AP is reporting here on a recent study by Pew Internet and American Life Project that found that 47 percent of US adult internet users have searched for information about themselves through Google or some other search engine. That's double the percentage of users who did so in 2002. Mary Madden, a Pew research specialist quoted in the article expressed some surprise that more users don't engage in "self-searching," particularly with the increase in content that's posted about us on the Internet.

For lawyers practicing in an Internet age, self-searching isn't just an act of fun or vanity, but one of absolute business necessity. In this electronic era, we must assume that existing and prospective clients and colleagues will search for us on Google, so we need to stay ahead by always keeping on top of what's out there.

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Following in the footsteps of bloggers like Ernie the Attorney, Adriana Linares and of course, Grant Griffiths (I'm sure that there are many others, feel free to out yourselves in the comments), I finally broke down and succumbed to the appeal of the Mac. But as I describe in this guest post at Home Office Lawyer, buying a Mac isn't a technological advancement, but instead, a return to my law schools days when I bought my first Mac and realized the power of technology. But you'll have to visit Home Office Lawyer to read the post....

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For those planning a technology "spring cleaning," consult this article, Ten Must Have Web Sites for Solo Practitioners (law.com, 3/12/07) by Rick Georges, of Future Lawyer and Solo Lawyer.  Georges identifies ten nifty applications, some of which like Zillow, Wikipedia, Google Maps and e-fax I'd consider myself a power user, while others like  I'm eager to try, such as Jott and Joopz I'm eager to try after reading what they do.

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Over here at my beat at Legal Blogwatch, I posted an article that shows the importance of regularly running Google searches on yourself, not for the sake of vanity, but necessity.  Through searches, you may find that you're the subject of defamatory comments in various chat rooms.  Though there may not be much that you can do to remove the offending commentary, if you're aware of negative commentary, at least you can offer an explanation to prospective clients.

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Via Denise Howell comes word of this well done ad by Neil Squillante of Technolawyer.  The ad, entitled "When Google Fails You," is set up with  a new solo is looking for reviews on case management, but has no luck on Google, so he follows a lead to the Technolawyer archives.  However, as Denise points out, Google doesn't "make you be a member" to pull results, nor does it charge for access, as Technolawyer does for the archives (which I discovered for myself by following the links at the site).  Still, the ad is worth watching, if only to remind yourself of what life was like back when you were setting up your office.

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A decade ago, back in the dark ages of the Internet, I'd often put presentations that I delivered at conferences into HTML so that I could readily display them on my website (check out this old chestnut on using the Internet for legal research, circa 1997 - it predated Google!).  Posting a PowerPoint presentation online proved cumbersome with the tools then in place, and listing it as a link for users to download wasn't really an effective option. 

So imagine my delight at discovering SlideShare (www.slideshare.net), a site that allows users to upload Power Point presentations and embed them in a blog or website, in a manner similar to YouTube.  Last week, I spoke at a Symposium sponsored by the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law and in a matter of minutes, I posted my presentation
online here in a user friendly format.  And I envision uses for this tool beyond just creating a virtual paper trail of past presentations:  bloggers might put together a 4-5 Power Point "how to" on one topic or another and post it online for users to flip through or download. 

Word of caution:  be sure to copyright your slides.  I can't tell you how many times I've sat through my own presentations, delivered by other attorneys with no attribution.  I'm a huge supporter of free information, but my support ends where other lawyers appropriate my work for their advantage without giving me credit. 

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My good friend Lisa Solomon posted a link on one of my listserves to this amazing video that explains the history of Web 2.0.  Take 4 minutes and to get inspired by 2 - Web 2.0, that is:

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Over at my Legal Blogwatch beat, I posted about measuring the ROI of blogging.  Specifically, should lawyers attempt to quantify the value of blogging in dollars and cents, or evaluate the benefits of blogging in the same way that we evaluate the benefits of other marketing techniques like dining with clients or networking.  Let me know what you think.

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In this article, Tools of the Trade:  Web 2.0 Top Ten List (1/29/07), attorney Lee Rosen shares his top ten list of internet tools that can "make the practice of law easier, faster and more convenient for attorneys and our clients."   For those unfamiliar with the term Web 2.0, Rosen describes it this way: 

Web 2.0 is a vaguely defined phrase, and there is not yet one universally accepted definition. I like to think of it as "software as a service" - sort of "borrowing" software and a server to run it rather than downloading the software to your own machine and being forced to maintain both the software and hardware yourself.

Rosen's list of Web 2.0 applications for small firm lawyers include Google Docs (http://docs.google.com) that allows for collaboration on word processed documents via Internet and  Google Spreadsheet, a related application for spreadsheets.  Rosen notes that neither Google program is as robust as its Microsoft counterpart, but "they have all the features required by the average lawyer."  Other applications include online meetings or web conference tools such as gotomeeting.com, Jacuba Charts (http://charts.jacuba.com) for creating full color charts for courtroom use and Wufoo (http://www.wufoo.com) which is a form building application.

As Rosen concludes:

In the Web 2.0 world, you can run an entire law practice without any software residing on your computer. Nearly every kind of application is now available online. It's an exciting time on the web, and the opportunities for improving collaboration, productivity and freedom in serving your clients and managing your practice are greater than ever.

I have to admit that I personally have not sampled most of these applications.  I tend to get stodgy, set in my ways with whatever works and only learning about something new when I perceive a powerful incentive to do so.  There's simply no time for any more than that.

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Jason Krause has this article, Making Rain on the Net in the August 2006 edition of the ABA Journal.  Not until I read the article and saw that I'd been quoted did I remember being interviewed for it - I was on travel in Las Vegas at the time.  The article is particularly interesting, because it covers the website and blog experience of a wide sampling of lawyers, from biglaw to solo.

There is one update from the article, however.  Since my interview, my blogs (even the decidedly unmarket oriented MyShingle which hardly references my law firm) have landed me two more clients.

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Did you ever visit a weblog, only to puzzle over the main point of it?  As more and more weblogs are given practice specific names (e.g., California Estate Planning Practice Blog), that's less of an issue.  Still, as Kevin O'Keefe points out in this post, it's worth your time to offer readers an easy to find about page that has information about both you and the subject of your weblog.  Here's where you can find out about me.

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This article, Blogs Continue to Multiply reports that currently, there are 35.5 million blogs, 60-75 times more than were online just three years ago, with 75,000 new ones born daily.   In some ways, it seems like information overload - who could read so many blogs - but I still think the trend bodes well for forward thinking solos who've jumped on the trends.  Penetration of blogs means that more members of the public seeking legal services will seek out blogging lawyers because they understand the value of the resource that they provide.  Also, as blogs expand, they do so not just horizontally, i.e., covering more topics, but vertically, more depth of coverage of topics.  Thus, we see not just one PI Law blog, but multiple local PI based sites; readers can choose some or all that they want to read.  Even with solo practice, there's another blog born, if not every minute, than almost every month it seems.  (see here) My point here is don't let the number of blogs frighten you from jumpng into the fray.

Hat tip to reader and solo legal research and writing attorney Lisa Solomon for the story.

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Dennis Kennedy has been writing about law firm websites for ten years now, a veritable eternity in Internet time - and he has these tips for law firms who still can't seem to get it right.  Dennis' peeves include hard to find email addresses and concealed or non-existent attorney bios.  (As for me, a law firm website isn't complete without photos of the attorney).

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It's still not too late to buy yourself and your law firm a holiday gift (not to mention a 2005 tax deduction) - so why not a website?  Jim Calloway explains why every firm needs a little website now in this post.

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Fellow solo and blogger Grant Griffiths has yet another blog, Blogging Tips - and in this  post, he blogs about linkbaiting, the practice of writing good content for the sole purpose of attracting links.  Grant explains that he links to other posts that offer good content - and he gives some ideas on ways that you can generate good content for your site.

While the advice is useful, personally, I think that bloggers ought to write good content because, well...that's what bloggers do but more importantly, that's what our readers deserve.  So above all, I try to post on content that will serve my solo/small firm and wannabee-solo constituents.  If my content brings links, that's a secondary benefit, but it's not the point.

Update:  Grant continues the linkbaiting conversation over here at Home Office Lawyer.  I'm interested to see the comments as well.

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In these fast moving, high tech times where it seems that everything's about buzz and hype, no one wants to be caught thinking inside the box.  But as Douglass Rushkoff explains in this essay Get Back in the Box (Fast Company 11/2005), more companies should think about climbing back in the box and returning to the basics that made them great.  And guess what - when it comes to focusing on doing what you do best, solos have it over big firms once again. 

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Long before solos were blogging and before it was cool to be solo, a band of ABA solos from the GP Solo Committee had a great idea:  why not start an online community.  Thus, as Meg Tebo (also a sezzer) reports in A Birthday to Celebrate (11/2005), Bruce Dorner and others joined forces to create a virtual law firm where the sun never sets:  Solosez.   From humble beginnings, the firm has grown to 1600 members strong, with 150 messages a day, ranging from substantive law to childrearing advice and requests for recipes (political discussion is limited).  Solosez even boasts an online introduction which lead to marriage. 

I know that I frequently criticize the ABA, but Solosez is one of those things that the ABA (or more accurately, its members) get right.  True, I love blogging and my blogging buddies (many of whom I'm be seeing or meeting soon) - but my solosez colleagues (some of whom I've also met offline) have helped me out on my cases and with personal matters over and over again.  I'm just glad that the online world remains big enough for both. 

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I'm sure that no one's surprised that I endorse blogging for solo and small firm lawyers, not as an end in itself but as part of an overall marketing portfolio, as I once wrote here.  At the same time, I believe that blogs don't have to be time consuming if you don't want them to be and I've also described shortcuts to getting the benefits of blogs without the burdens. 

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Before I was a Shingler, I was a Sezzer, that is, a member of the Solosez  listserve that many of us have fondly and jokingly come to refer to as our "virtual solo firm."  The list has been a godsend for me; through it, I've gotten top notch advice from other lawyers on matters out of my narrow area of expertise which has won me motions and saved me headaches.  I've also referred cases out, received referrals from the list and most of all, enjoyed a reprieve from the occasional isolation of solo practice through our monthly lunches.   

Of course, there are many reasons not to join solosez (as with all lists, we've got our share of griping and nastiness), but I hate to hear about solos who avoid joining because of heavy mail volume - because that's a manageable problem.  So that's why I was glad to learn about this  post by Jim Calloway with advice on managing listserve traffic. 

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So, you've heard about this blog thing but you're still too overwhelmed by what it might take to reap the benefits.  After all, how can you possibly run a practice and read 700 blogs a day or set up a blog and commit to three daily posts?  Well, guess what - you don't have to.   This month's issue of GP Solo contains my article,  Get Your Blog Rolling where I offer a bunch of ideas on effortless shortcuts to benefit from blogs, either as a user or reader.  For example, as I point out, you don't necessarily need to start your own blog to generate Internet exposure - why not guest post at a blog or make a couple of comments.  Just those small measures will help enhance your search engine rankings. 

As for following blogs, you can track them with an aggregator or alternatively, search technorati every so often to see if a topic of interest is being discussed.  And you can also take advantage of bloggers' knowlege and generosity by participating in some of the "all request days" that they offer.

I realize that many serious bloggers advise that a blog can't succeed without multiple, regular postings or that you can't optimize the benefits of a blog without reading feed from dozens.  I disagree.   Whether it's blogging or exercise or saving money any other new habit one wants to acquire, I don't think you always need to go all out to realize the benefits.   Doing what you can is certainly better than doing nothing at all.

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It's one, big blog party in Sarah Kellogg's recent article, Do You Blog?, Washington Lawyer (Apr/May 2005).   I'm quoted as are many of my blogging colleagues, too numerous to list here.

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This article, Personal Data Bared in LexisNexis breach,  Oregonlive.com (3/10/05) reports that intruders managed to steal customer passwords and access personal information from LexisNexis' Accurint database.  Lexis acquired Seisent, parent company of Accurint, (a darling of solo practitioners given its low cost capability of tracking people and assets), in August 2004 - and at that time, I worried whether the acquisition, to the tune of $775 million, might force Lexis to increase Accurint's prices to recover its purchase price.

Prior to the Lexis acquisition, I don't recall ever reading about hacking into Accurint data bases.  The article notes that the Lexis incident is part of a recent trend whereby other sites with sensitive customer information have been accessed as well.  So I can't help but wonder whether Accurint would have stayed more secure had it remained independent - or if this type of incident is simply bad luck that can happen to anyone - and is happening more frequently now.

    

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With so many large firms starting to jump on the blog bandwagon, I often feel discouraged about the prospects for solo and small firm lawyers' ability to keep up.  After all, though we may be experts in our practice area and have knowlege to share, we simply don't have the associate manpower of a larger shop.  Dennis Kennedy has put many of my concerns to rest in this post, Is There Still room for Small Firm or Solo Lawyer Blogs?  Dennis comments that in the blog world, personality and voice account for much - and solo and small firm lawyers have more latitude to let personality shine through than at the larger shops.  Also, Dennis notes that many large firm blogs have a tendency to post many times a day, thus inundating readers without selecting content.  This detracts from the blog's value.  Finally, Dennis isn't convinced that large firm blogs are here to stay any more than the last trend, the quarterly newsletter.  Dennis offers plenty of other observations, so be sure to read his actual post on this topic if you're thinking about diving into the blogosphere.

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If Dennis Kennedy's legal tech predictions for 2005 are true, it's going to be a good year for solo and small firm lawyers to start taking advantage of legal technology, particularly those who aren't doing it already.

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Dennis Kennedy is apparently a Word 2003 fan who doesn't get the Word Perfect phenomenon.   Perhaps this clever defense of Word Perfect, "Show Me the Codes" by New York solo attorney David Leffler will give Dennis some insight into why those of us loyal WP groupies resist crossing over to the other side:

Show Me The Codes
(sung to the tune of "Send in the Clowns")
by David Leffler
(with apologies to Stephen Sondheim)

Isn't it strange, I can't reveal
Coding in documents, what is the deal?
Show me the codes!

Isn't it odd, I don't approve
No longer "Perfect", just "Word" - and I can't move.
Oh where are the codes - show me the codes!

Just when I stopped questioning which
Finally finding the one that I wanted - was ditched
Upgrading my version again with my usual flair
Sure of my macros - no software was there

Don't you love a farce; my fault I fear
I thought that everyone wanted what I wanted - sorry my dear
Oh where are the codes - show me the codes
I sure need a beer!

Isn't it rich, isn't it queer
Losing my word "app" this late in my career
Oh where are the codes - show me the codes
Unseen is unclear!

Lefflerlaw@aol.com
David Leffler

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