CounseltoCounsel Blog

Many lawyers feel more comfortable with marketing than with business development.  When you write articles, prepare a talk, place content on a blog, website or social media site, you control the message.  When you meet prospective clients and referral sources for lunch, the communication is two-way and much less predictable.

Generating work requires a good mix of marketing and business development.   Although marketing is unlikely to produce strong results on it’s own, the same is true for business development.  Simply put, you may be an effective shmoozer, but that doesn’t mean you can rely solely on your interpersonal skills to generate work.

If you doubt this, take a look at a recent study of the impact of websites on how GC’s decide which outside counsel to hire (courtesy of Larry Bodine).  Good website copy does matter and should reflect the niche you have developed and the experience you have had in getting results for clients.

Join me on December 10th at noon for a free webcast sponsored by the Massachusetts Bar Association.  Whether you are trying to build your law practice or in a job search, building strong business relationships is the key to your success.  At the same time, December can be a challenging month.  At this session, I will review some of the rules and tools of effective relationship building and offer practical tips on how to generate momentum moving into the New Year.

It’s tempting to wait out the holidays and then get back in the saddle.  But don’t!  You’ll be missing some valuable opportunities to connect with people who may be able to help you (or who have provided help in the past.)

You do not need to be a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association to participate; but you do need to register.  To do so, just click here,  scroll down to the lower right and click on “Attend by Real-time Webcast”.  When you click on “Checkout”, the system will ask you to register with the MBA.

This past May, a survey of more than 2,100 companies worldwide, released by Symantec Corporation, found that 73% of small and midsized companies experienced a cyber attack in the past year, and that 30% of the attacks were “somewhat/extremely effective.” According to the Chubb 2010 Private Company Risk Survey, only one-third of private companies surveyed have response plans in place for electronic security breaches, while a relatively small number are developing such a plan. These statistics highlight the need for firms to protect themselves against data breaches.

For law firms in particular, three data risks stand out as the most critical in today’s environment: data vulnerability, loss of client data, and loss of employee property.

The newest risk is from hackers tampering with electronic data. While most law firms focus on cash flow and have controls in place regarding firewalls, cyber criminals attempt to remain one step ahead.  Recent news reports highlighted incidents of law firms being hacked by foreign nationals.

Loss of client data can threaten the vital fiduciary relationship between law firms and their clients.  Moreover, loss of a law firm’s client’s data introduces an entirely new realm of exposures beyond malpractice and into first party expense.

Interestingly, the most common cause of a data breach results from some of the seemingly most innocuous scenarios: loss of employee property, such as a laptop computer or smartphone. For attorneys who travel frequently and work long hours, laptops, smartphones and flash drives are immensely valuable tools – but in the wrong hands, they can create a cyber nightmare for a law firm.

Below are some tips for handling laptops, smartphones or flash drives in order to guard legal professionals against data theft due to lost or stolen data storage devices:

• Never leave devices or computers inside a car. While this may seem like basic advice, many laptops and smartphones are easily stolen from unlocked vehicles. Carry the items with you, but if you cannot, locking them in the trunk is safer than leaving them on the back seat.
• Pay attention at airport security lanes. Try to wait for any backlog to clear at the end of the conveyor belt where people gather to collect their belongings.
• Don’t leave unattended items in a hotel room. Smaller laptops may fit inside in-room safes, or the front desk staff can store computers or devices in the hotel safe.
• Public working areas such as coffee shops or airports can also be promising venues for thieves. A helpful step is attaching your laptop to something strong, such as a table leg or a radiator with a cable lock.

• Password protect your device and encrypt the data. Should your device be lost or stolen, it will be much more difficult for someone with malicious intent to access clients’(and clients’ clients’) data.

This post by Jim Rhyner, worldwide lawyers professional liability insurance product manager, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, is one of a continuing series of guest posts on CounseltoCounsel.  Special thanks to Jim for his continued contributions.

Demonstrate that you understand a GC’s industry; be likable; and send client alerts which are both timely and practical–that was some of the advice shared by a panel of GC’s who spoke at the Annual Meeting of the New England Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association (November 19-20 in Boston).

Page 19 of the November issue of the Massachusetts Lawyers Journal.  My latest article on what lawyers can learn from entrepreneurs about marketing.

I’ve fallen into the same hole again (Chapter 3 of my autobiography).  The allure of finding a technology fix always seduces me.  “It’ll be easy”,  I tell myself.  “I’ll be up and running in no time with the upgrade.”

So I download the upgrade with relative ease.  I feel emboldened. And then it happens.  I run into a glitch.  I search for answers on the web.  I wait on hold for an hour and the tech does not have the solution.

Why was I doing this?  So I could work more efficiently?

Today’s glitch happened with Google Synch.  I decided that it is high time to use a practice management system that tracks matters, e-mail messages, appointments, etc. by client.  In order to use the new service, though, I first needed to figure out how I’d be able to synchronize my Google, Blackberry and Outlook calendars (I already synchronize the BB with Google).

After 90 frustrating minutes, I decided it was time to throw in the towel.  If the whole point of this exercise was to increase my efficiency, I was failing miserably.  While my contact manager, e-mail, calendar and billing system do not talk to each other, there is no real reason why I need to invest more time in trying out Credenza, an Outlook add-on that integrates all of your client info.

But suddenly, I looked down at my computer and noticed that the synch was actually working.  A final fix I tried had finally worked.

I’m emboldened.  I’m ready to move to the next step.  “Practice management” here I come (at least until I fall into the next hole and remind myself about my epiphany several paragraphs ago–i.e. that technology fixes are rarely smooth.)

I just receive a notice about a new ABA publication on Work/Life Balance, Law and Reorder.   Ordinarily, I don’t promote books I haven’t read.  But in this case, I’m taking it on faith that it is a worthwhile read because the author is Deborah Epstein Henry.

Henry is a “nationally recognized expert on workplace restructuring, talent management, work/life balance, and the retention and promotion of lawyers, with a focus on women”.  She began her career as a litigation associate at a large law firm and during the 90’s she gained some visibility around work/life balance issues in the law by forming an organization called Flex-time Lawyers.

I look forward to reading the book (if only I could find the time!)  But I’m not going to let that stop me from letting my readers know about a new resource that is likely to be a great addition to what has already been written on this subject.

Once upon a time, if you wanted to communicate with someone in writing, you sent a letter.   For the most part, once the letter was placed in a mailbox, it was a pretty safe bet that the letter reached it’s destination.

Today, the U.S. mail still has a role to play in business and in our personal lives, but most of us now rely heavily on e-mail to send a specific message to a specific person, particularly in business (texting seems to be taking up more of the slack on the personal side as of late).

Unfortunately, the reliability of e-mail is far from 100%.  As on-line marketers have tried to exploit the medium, we have all set up various filters to block the spam.  As anyone who has used e-mail knows, until you get some sort of confirmation, you never really know if your message was read.  The explosion of spam as well as legitimate uses of e-mail has meant that many messages are buried far back in our in-boxes never to be seen again (even if they make it past the filters).

Despite this, many of us still have expectations that e-mail was in fact received and read.  In some instances, this is causing miscommunication between sender and intended recipient.  I know for myself that in the past several weeks I got annoyed at three different people for not responding to my repeated inquiries only to later learn that the individual never saw the messages.

Earlier this week, I spoke to a former colleague who was bemoaning the fact that a potential employer seemed initially interested in helping him but has not responded to his two e-mail messages…and it’s been at least two weeks!

I pointed out to him that until you call to confirm, you do not know for sure that your intended recipient ever saw the message.

Of course there is always the risk that the receiver did get your messages and was trying to ignore you.  So it is important to follow up with tact when checking to see if a message was received.  (“I wasn’t sure if you saw my e-mail message so I’m calling to follow up.”)

Communication is changing quickly in the workplace and in many ways, the problems with e-mail are going to get worse.    Texting, for example, is the preferred mode of communication by Gen Y while an older generation (including me), prefers the nuance and immediacy that comes with a two way phone call.

But I’m obviously fighting the tide.  Today on WBUR radio, there was an interesting discussion of how texting is replacing phone calls, particularly amongst individuals under 30.  The new paradigm for 20 somethings is that phone calls are intrusive and that voicemail is an annoyance because it takes longer to access than a text message.

Wow!  Next thing you know, we’ll all be communicating through some chip that has been implanted in our brains.

Personally, I think that we could all benefit from additional critical thinking about how to appropriately use the myriad of tools we now have available for communication.  I wrote about this 5 years ago before texting took off.  But until then, I guess we all need to cover our bases and find ways to interact that feel appropriate and effective to all involved.  It’s a Tower of Babel problem that can only be solved by speaking many languages.

Yesterday was a Monday holiday so I decided to do what millions of Americans like to do on holidays:  head to the mall.  Unfortunately, this shopping spree wasn’t related in any way to electronics.    An hour in the Apple Store flies by quickly for me.  In sharp contrast, an hour at a men’s clothing store is right up there with root canal, especially on a beautiful Fall day.

In the end, I found what I needed relatively quickly and although I ended up spending twice what I had expected, I walked out reasonably content that the trip was a success.  In fact, it was relatively painless as well.

I thought about that as I was heading to the car and realized that it was no accident.  This shopping excursion was fundamentally different than my ordinary attempts to replace my aging wardrobe.

What was different?  It all boiled down to having trusted advisers to help me make decisions, my wife and a very knowledgeable sales clerk.  Normally, I try to go it alone when shopping for clothes.  My MO is that shopping alone will be quicker and there will be less to negotiate.

In truth, standing amongst a large rack of suits is pretty overwhelming to me.  There are so many choices.  And I am not that up on fashion.  Having a knowledgeable clerk who can tell me if something fits properly and having an opinionated wife who wants me to look my best, helps me make much quicker decisions.

The same is true for clients who buy your legal services.  Clients want to know that someone is going to take care of their problem.  With a proverbial “suit rack” of choices confronting them, clients like to know that someone else who is knowledgeable can guide them through the decision making process.

This is hardly a new concept in legal marketing.  David Maister wrote eloquently about this in his book The Trusted Adviser.    But on a practical level, it is good to be reminded that projecting confidence (i.e. that you can handle a client’s problem), is a sure fire way to gain client loyalty.

Making time to exercise has never been a real problem for me; but lately, I’ve been finding it difficult to set aside a full hour to get in a workout.  Then a radical concept hit me (courtesy of my wife who has had even more of a time crunch this Fall): exercising for 20 minutes is considerably better than not exercising at all.

The same is true, of course, when it comes to selling legal services.  Spending 20 minutes a day doing something related to marketing or business development is considerably better than doing nothing.

For most of us, marketing is easy to put off for a rainy day.  We justify postponing making phone calls and arranging lunches because we tell ourselves that the 20 minutes is better spent doing billable work.  Furthermore, we rationalize that 20 minutes is not a meaningful investment of time in marketing

But it is!   So spend 20 minutes a day (every day) on something that advances your practice.  By the end of the year, you will have racked up a meaningful investment of time in your future success-and with any luck, your practice will grow.