Are New Lawyers Prepared for the Game?

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Rush Nigut

I read an interesting post called Learning to Run recently from legal consultant, Jordan Furlong. In the post Jordan questions whether law schools are preparing law students for the practice of law as it is evolving. As Jordan says,

So the talent is there. Virtually everyone who’s in or preparing to enter the legal profession has speed. But not everyone in the legal profession can run well. And the newer you are, the more this is true. It’s almost universally the case for law students and new lawyers, in fact, who have received almost no training to help turn their talents into skills with which they can serve clients and make a living. (And I don’t just mean “practice” training; the tools with which you become a great lawyer include a really solid grounding in jurisprudence, legal history, and ethical philosophy, and not many law degrees can say they deliver that.)

Jordan further points out his belief that law schools are so far behind the curve that they are unlikely to lead conversations toward a better legal education system and training system.

For the most part, I tend to agree with Jordan. However, there is at least one law school, right here in Iowa, that is doing it’s best to change that dynamic with its practical programs. My alma mater, Drake University Law School boasts some of the best clinical legal programs in the country where the students represent clients under the guidance of lawyers who have actually practiced law. According to Drake’s statistics, 86% of Drake’s law students enroll in the law school’s clinical programs or internships. Further, all first year law students observe a trial and have an opportunity to engage in a Q & A with the lawyers, judges and jury. These are the building block opportunities law students need to develop the skills Jordan talks about to become successful in the practice of law.

Others like Susan Cartier Liebel seems to have filled a market niche with her Solo Practice University that is accomplishing just what Jordan says is missing out there. Her business is a Web based educational and networking community for solo lawyers and law students. Through SPU, young lawyers can learn from experienced lawyers on topics ranging from law practice management to specific specialized fields.

But I agree there needs to be even more offerings for young lawyers so they can ”run well” in the practice of law. Not only is the business of law changing dramatically but our clients’ expectations and demands are changing too. When I started practice lawyers didn’t have stiff competition from companies like LegalZoom (which boasts it has over 2 million satisfied customers) or dozens of other document filing companies that proliferate the Internet.

What do you think? Are law schools preparing young lawyers for the changing legal profession? Heck, are the majority of practicing lawyers prepared for the changes in the legal profession?

NotifyWorks Profile: Iowa Attorney Jason Stone of Davis Brown

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Rush Nigut

Business and tax attorneys are not usually recognized as innovators but Jason Stone is proving to be just that. Jason, along with his partner, Emily Harris, recently founded The Startup Launchpad, an innovative delivery program for legal services from the Davis Brown Law Firm. The program is designed with startups and entrepreneurs in mind. Entreprenuers can sign up for free and gain access to customized documents, educational materials and checklists that are all targeted for startup business owners.

“We don’t think there is another law firm in the country doing this,” said Jason. The site incorporates the strategies of sites like LegalZoom, Rocketlawyer, and FreeAdvice. But, unlike those services, Startup Launchpad adds the traditional advice of attorneys plus customization of documents. Jason and his partners discovered a few common characteristics among entrepreneurs that led them to build their innovative service:

They were so passionate about their concept that they wouldn’t take the time to focus on the legal needs of a new business;
They wanted results quickly, including quick turn-around from their legal team; and
They don’t like the traditional law firm method of billing by the hour because they are not sure what your final bill will look like.

Jason has also implemented NotifyWorks to aid in client retention. Jason had this to say about his use of NotifyWorks,

“It’s more important that ever to communicate frequently with clients if you want to retain them. Prior to using NotifyWorks, I entered reminders to contact clients in my docket system, received paper based notices from my assistant and personally drafted e-mails or letters to clients. That was labor intensive and it was often difficult to get everthing done. NotifyWorks simplifies the process for me. It’s easy to use and now those client reminders are sent out automatically. I am definitely glad I purchased the program.”

If you’re interested in how NotifyWorks might be able to work for you, we’re now offering a free 90 day trial. Just go to our Sign Up page and enter your information for the free trial. We look forward to working with more innovators like Jason.

Get a Head Start on Your Attorney Marketing for 2012

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Rush Nigut

I recommend reading a terrific post from Allan Colman on how to get a head start on your attorney marketing program for 2012. Colman’s post emphasizes that increasing client retention is a key element in creating long-term revenue generation. Colman gives a good reminder:

Our world is fast paced: faster cars; faster Internet; text-messaging; and near-constant multitasking. With everything moving so quickly, we often forget to slow down and make real connections with people. Don’t let the opportunity to get to know clients slip by you.

Colman points out that a recent survey says 53 percent of in-house counsel will fire at least one of their long-term outside law firms this coming year. That’s not a typo! There are three main reasons, according to marketer Jay Abraham, that clients leave long-term relationships.

Lack of contact leads to their forgetting about the relationship.
Their situation changes.
They become dissatified.

I recently had a reminder of how important it is to stay in contact with clients. A young entrepreneur I did work for several years ago has recently been working on several projects and may be in need of a substantial amount of legal services in the near future. I had not really maintained contact with this client very well and frankly our recent meeting was more by chance than my efforts to stay in touch. There is no question my lack of contact could have very easily led to his forgetting about our relationship. You can bet that I’ll do a better job of staying in contact with him in the future.

So how about you? What are you going to do in 2012 to improve your client retention?

Hat tip to Tom Kane’s Legal Marketing Blog for the link to Colman’s post.

Protecting the Privilege with Client Email

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Rush Nigut

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In light of the recent ABA ethics opinion on client emails, this post on the Perils of Pirivilege and Client Email from the Oregon Law Practice Management Blog has some insightful information. The post contains language to include in a fee engagement letter regarding the use of unencrypted email. The warning language includes:

Therefore, we ask that you refrain from reading, downloading, or responding to attorney-client e-mail while at work.

This post was written in advance of the ABA ethics opinion so the suggested language may need to be tweaked slightly as the opinion cautioned that if the lawyer becomes aware that a client is receiving personal email on a workplace computer or other device owned or controlled by the employer, then a duty arises to caution the client not to do so, and if that caution is not heeded, to cease sending messages even to personal email addresses. So it may not not be acceptable for a lawyer to say he or she will abiide by the client’s instructions and directions regarding the use of enecrypted email.

The warnings described in the ABA opinion remind me of when lawyers started using email and many of us provided a full page disclaimer on the “dangers” of using email. Clients just looked at me with a funny look every time I asked them to sign it. For most of my clients, it appears I may be headed back to those times.

How NotifyWorks Can Compliment Your Docket or Calendar System

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Rush Nigut

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Lawyers have long used a calendar and docket system that will alert them to deadlines and tasks that must be completed on a certain day. I don’t ever anticipate that changing. In fact, most legal malpractice carriers recommend two calendaring systems in order to make sure deadlines and tasks don’t fall though the cracks.

The problem is you never know what you might be working on in a particular day and sometimes calendar or docket system alerts and tasks are pushed aside for whatever iron or urgent deadline is hot at that particular moment. You may have received the alerts but you still don’t complete the tasks that day and then sometimes they are forgotten entirely.

Unlike your docket or calendar system, NotifyWorks allows you to set up proactive notifications that are sent directly TO YOUR CLIENTS and timed to automatically go out in advance of important dates and deadlines - no matter what you may be working on that day. This may be ideal for contractual milestones or reminders for clients to take others actions such as annual Will reviews, notifications for employment training, corporate meeting minutes, notice that a hearing is approaching, etc. (I am sure you can think of other uses in your law practice). These are often the types of items that are important to our clients but that we don’t necessarily set up on our docket or calendar systems.

Since I started in the practice of law, I have always been taught that proactive communication is the hallmark of a good lawyer. Not only does it help retain clients and attract more referrals but it also keeps you out of trouble. NotifyWorks was designed with this in mind. NotifyWorks is not a replacement for the docket or calendar system, but is intended to assist the lawyer who really wants to stay proactive but may find it hard to do so in our busy professional practices.

Law Firm Email Marketing Best Practices

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Rush Nigut

I was reading an article on JD Supra from elawmarketing on the best practices for law firm email marketing. It is an interesting read. An email marketing campaign can be great for a law firm, but particularly for smaller firms, it’s sometimes tough for lawyers to find the time to write content and keep the email newsletter up-to-date and fresh. One law firm that has a tremendous email newsletter is Scott and Scott, LLP from Texas. It is a firm I have worked with on software licensing audits in the past. They always manage to have terrific and timely content in their newsletter. It is one legal email newsletter that I actually look forward to receiving.

One of the keys that makes an email newsletter successful is the opportunity to ”touch” clients so you can stay top-of-mind. If you have the time to write such a newsletter, I would always encourage any lawyer you to do it. (Or a blog which has been very successful for me).

The shortcoming of an email marketing campaign though is that the information may or may not directly benefit the client and the client may not actually read the newsletter. But there are SO many other opportunities to “touch” (and serve) these clients that impact them in a direct and meaningful way, yet lawyers are letting these opportunities pass them by. Whether it be reminders of corporate requirements such as annual meetings, contract renewals and terminations, Will and Trust reviews or Buy/Sell Agreement reviews, the list goes on and on. Over my career, I have noticed too often, that lawyers and their clients wait until the last minute to deal with these deadlines, or worse, ignore them completely. NotifyWorks is built on the premise that it is better to be proactive than reactive regarding legal matters. Our system allows you to set up proactive notifications that are time to automatically go out in advance of important deadlines – even when you’re working on something else. By using NotifyWorks you will “touch” your clients in a meaningful way that will have a direct and beneficial impact on their specific legal matters and we’re confident it will ultimately grow your business. In our view, it’s “UNmarketing”. The kind that shows your clients you really care, and yet, doesn’t have marketing written all over it.

In the next post, I’ll discuss how NotifyWorks is complimentary to your docket or calendar system.

7 Great Legal Technology Blogs to Follow

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Rush Nigut

Natalie Huha, writing for Law Practice Today, has a list of 7 Great Legal Technology Law Blogs to follow. There are a lot of legal technology blogs but this list is a good place to start. The list includes:

As a newer iPad and iPhone user, I am learning a lot from the TabletLegal blog. Users of iPads and iPhones may also want to check out the iPhoneJD Blog. Do you have a favorite legal technology law blog you follow?

How I’m Using Notifyworks: Registration Date Reminder

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Rush Nigut

The other day was sitting at my desk busily working on a project when I was copied on an email sent via Notifyworks to one of my franchise clients reminding them to complete their registered agent documentation for Pennsylvania. I had reminded the client previously but they still had not done it.

After receiving the notification, I got on the phone and called the client. They thanked me for the email and completed the registration process in time. I could tell they appreciated the heads up.

Would the client (or I) remembered to complete the registration process without Notifyworks that day? Let’s just say I’m glad we received the notification.

Surprise Your Clients By Being Proactive

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Rush Nigut

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The other day I was reading a blog post from marketing expert and blogger extraordinaire, Drew McLellan, on the importance of valuing your existing clients. As McLellan points out, the old idiom is that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush but with clients the ratio is even greater. Most legal marketing experts are bombarding lawyers with how we can find and capture the NEXT client. In fact, sometimes we are so worried about where our next client is coming from that we sometimes forget to serve—I mean REALLY serve- those clients we already have.

Notifyworks is built on the premise that you build great client relationships by being proactive, rather than reactive. In almost every contract or legal matter, there is some sort of follow up needed. It might be a termination date, a renewal or some other deadline. Too often these dates are ignored by clients until the last minute, or worse, forgotten entirely. Often, those contracts are just shoved into files and never looked at again. What Notifyworks does, in a nutshell, is make sure lawyers and their clients stay on top of those dates and in the process build great client relations.

When I spoke with one of my clients about this system you know what he told me?

Sounds like a great thing to be kept informed of all the deadlines, but most importantly, I would know that you cared.

In my mind, that’s pretty powerful stuff. So if you want to treat your clients like a precious commodity, we are a solution for you. We encourage you to give us a try and if you’re not satisfied within the first 90 days, just ask us for a full refund. In the meantime, please be sure to let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to sharing posts in this blog about client relations, legal technology, elawyering, law firm management and legal marketing.