A ruling by the US District Court, Northern District of New York declared key new provisions of New York’s new rules on attorney advertising unconstitutional.  The suit was brought by consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.  According to Public Citizen’s press release: 

“In a victory for First Amendment rights, the court permanently enjoined enforcement of most of the challenged rules against attorney advertising, including rules against attention-getting techniques, the use of nicknames and mottos, the use of client testimonials, the portrayal of judges and the use of Internet pop-up ads.”

A copy of the Court’s ruling is available on Public Citizen’s website here, and noted on their blog here.  Public Citizen also has complete information on the case at its Consumer Law & Policy Blog, co-sponsored by Public Citizen’s Consumer Justice Project, at  http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/advertising/index.html.

superlawyerfacts.com

Popularity: 25% [?]

Two-Day Conference in Washington, DC Addresses State of Law Firm Marketing and Strategies for Attorney Business Development

WASHINGTON, DC — (MARKET WIRE) — 04/04/07 — The American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the seminal law firm marketing case, Bates v. Arizona, on November 8-9, 2007 in Washington, DC with its first-ever Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference.

The event features a number of all-attorney panels that will provide practicing lawyers with the most comprehensive look at how law firm marketing has evolved and where the profession is heading, as well as programs aimed at assisting lawyers and firms with improving their business development strategies.

“Bates set in motion an entire industry that continues to define the legal profession,” said Micah Buchdahl, Conference Chair for the Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference. “It’s time to take a step back and look at what is working for law firms and examine where we can make strides.”

The two-day event will feature some of the most relevant and integral law firm marketing experts in the country, including Van O’Steen from Bates v. Arizona to talk about legal ethics; strategic communications specialist Chris Lehane and Infinite Public Relations’ Jamie Diaferia to talk about crisis communications, as well as a program on the impact of diversity initiatives on law firm business.

“The concept of law firm marketing continues to be an enigma to many members of the bar,” Buchdahl said. “This conference will address concerns, but also teach ‘best practices’ for moving forward with smart initiatives.”

Other panels will address some of the most pressing marketing issues faced by law firms of all sizes, including business development spending and technology marketing. In addition, the Conference will include two Extreme Marketing programs featuring ten speakers talking about ten topics for ten minutes apiece. These programs will feature partners from 20 national law firms.

The event will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel from 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 8, 2007 through 2 p.m. on Friday, November 9. A room block has been secured at an ABA LPM rate of $239/night.

For more information about the event and how to register, please visit www.lawpractice.org/marketingconference.

ABOUT THE ABA LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SECTION

The mission of the ABA Law Practice Management Section is to provide innovative and practical information on marketing, management, technology, and finance, enabling legal professionals to better serve clients, achieve career goals, and balance their lives. The American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership association in the world, with more than 400,000 members.

CONTACT:
Micah Buchdahl, Esq.
Conference Chair
American Bar Association - Law Practice Management Section
(856) 234-4334

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A list of 15 rules for clients. This is brilliant.

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The last month has been tough. I’ve been facing what I could refer to as “The Blogger’s Paradox”- I’ve been getting so much work that I simply haven’t had time to write anything meaningful. I’m not saying that this blog has generated so much business that I cannot find a few minutes to post anything. That’s not the case exactly. But I have had enough work to keep me from really dedicating the time I feel necessary to come up with quality posts.

Which brings me to the question: With blogs, should frequency of posting trump the quality of posts?

In some senses, I think so. First, frequency of blogging is often tied into attracting a following. I know that personally, as I tend to visit blogs that are updated daily (or at least a few times a week) over blogs that are infrequently updated yet have quality posts.

However, in the end, it is the quality of posts that make the blog. If the information I’m reading isn’t interesting and informative, it could be updated every hour- I’m not coming back.

So, I think there’s a balance. Keeping a blog that is updated regularly even when the author does not have a completely original, informative post. But at the same time, I truly believe bloggers should stay away from “forcing it.”

To me, “forcing it” happens when you do not have a topic to write about, yet you try to produce a post anyway. When that happens to me, I usually just link to something else I’ve found interesting. If I’m really uninspired, I’ll go into photoshop and make a picture of something ridiculous and post it without any explanation. Like this:

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Hugh McLeod of GapingVoid has a manifesto by Chris Houchens called “Marketing by committee.“

From it:

If one person can produce ineffective crappy marketing, imagine what a committee can do.

Popularity: 5% [?]

On LexBlog, Kevin O’Keefe points to a study by my alma mater, Northeastern University, on “What Makes a Successful Corporate Blog?“

The study identified five factors as important to the success of a blog:

1. Culture- If you’ve got culture traits that are interesting to people (think Google) or if you’ve got culture problems (think Dell or Microsoft), showing what your company’s culture is really like is a great reason to blog. With the Google scenario, you’re giving customers a glimpse into a fascinating company, and giving behind-the-scenes info on a universally loved brand. On the other hand, when you’re dealing with consumer distrust or bad PR, blogging (if done correctly) can help repair a tainted reputation.
2. Transparency- Blog readers want to read authors they can trust. They don’t want to read blog posts by a company that is trying to take a thinly veiled approach at hawking their products. It really is a balancing act. Sure, your company’s blog can help sell products/services. But at the same time, you don’t want to seem like like you’ve got too much of an agenda.
3. Time- It takes time and research to write a worthwhile blog.
4. Dialogue- You’ve got to talk with your audience. You’ve read the cliche “Blogs are a conversation.” Well, they are. And successful blogs are conversations between the audience and the writer(s).
5. Entertaining writing- When the blogger brings a unique style to the blog, it makes the blog so much more interesting.

How does this relate to law firm blogging?

Culture- I don’t see how law firms would offer a glimpse inside their inner workings on a blog. Unlike Google or Microsoft, law firms aren’t trying to persuade the masses  to use their products. A law firm’s target is much more narrow in scope, and would not likely benefit from showing how business is conducted (not to mention issues of confidentiality).

Transparency- Law firm bloggers have seemed to do a great job with transparency. Rather than having huge, blinking ads saying “BE A CLIENT!!!!!! WE’RE THE LAW FIRM FOR YOU!!!!!!!”, attorney blogs are best when they establish the author as an expert on an issue. And since that expertise is essentially the service clients are purchasing, there is more benefit in the content and the writing than advertising the firm. Am I saying attorney bloggers should get rid of any mention of their firms, or get rid of links and contact information for their firms? Absolutely NOT. That’s the point. But the idea is to gain trust, then gain the clients.

Time- This is a big issue with law firm bloggers. When the time you spend writing can be so easily calculated into opportunity cost figures, the question of “is it worth it?” will always come up.

Dialogue- For the most part, law firm blogs are good at encouraging conversation. When the attorney is an expert on an issue, they’re likely to embrace discussion.

Entertaining Writing- Without style, reading a law firm blog, regardless of the expertise of the author, can be, well, boring. But when you have a writer that can make a sterile subject seem interesting, you’ve got something.

Popularity: 20% [?]