Wednesday, January 30, 2002
Phildelphia Bar Association Honors a Founder of Network Firm Hecker Brown Sherry and Johnson
Andrew Hecker, was recently named one of the "Legends of the Philadelphia Bar" by a committee of the Philadlelphia Bar Association in connection with the Association's 200th anniversary.
Only 160 attorneys in the Philadelphia bar's long history have been selected for inclusion. Some of the selection criteria were "breadth of accomplishment," "a deep commitment to achieving equal access to justice for all citizens," "a profound respect for the ethical principles that govern the profession," and "a recognized ability to mentor, lead or inspire others in the pursuit of law and justice."
Other honorees include Andrew Hamilton, the Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. and James Wilson (fourth justice appointed to U.S. Supreme Court and signer of the Declaration of Independence).
Congratulations to the Hecker Brown Sherry and Johnson law firm. Andrew Hecker's selection honors your firm, our Network and his memory.
Practice Areas Doing Well in Soft Economy
The economy deflated and corporate law lost its fizz. Yet for many big firms, 2001 was a very good year.
Wheatly Aycock, Otis Bilodeau, and Jennifer Myers -- Legal Times -- January 29, 2002
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Get on the Fortune 500 Screen
Based on article by Kelly A. Blazek. Ms. Blazek is Director of Client Relations for 90-attorney Hahn Loeser + Parks LLP in Cleveland, OH and her e-mail address is kablazek@hahnlaw.com. The article on which this is based was originally published in Law Practice Management, Volume 27, No. 6, September 2001.
Environment:
- Corporate legal departments are consolidating the number of outside firms they use.
- Megafirms are ratcheting up their marketing and advertising budgets.
- One large firm recently made a $3.5 million national media buy.
Things to do:
- Speak at ACCA programs and stay around afterwards.
- In order to be hired, you have to be remembered, and to be remembered, you need to start building a casual, helpful relationship.
- Newsletters and Brochures -- not very useful, per Bill Lyton, GC of International Paper and current chair of ACCA.
- Use the phone
- Develop a niche practice -- Do you cover every legal need the exterminating industry could ever want? Montgomery, Alabama 20-lawyer Crosslin, Slaten & O’Connor, P.C. capitalized on its specific experience and client roster and is now known nationwide as The Bug Lawyers—complete with snappy direct mail and a www.buglaw.com Web site. Is golf, not bugs, your bag? The Floyd Law Firm, a three-person Surfside Beach, South Carolina firm found itself with a golf course expertise, was written up in Lawyer’s Weekly and launched a www.golflaw.com site. Washington, D.C.’s Hazel & Thomas and Philadelphia’s Saul Ewing Remick & Saul L.L.P. have also made headlines for their golf course practice groups. Tennessee-based 18-lawyer Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine receives approximately 175,000 hits each week at www.visalaw.com. The site was launched in the prehistoric days of the Internet (1994) to promote the firm’s immigration practice and to "push" bulletins and documents to visitors. Hahn Loeser + Parks LLP discovered it was representing many of the major players in the telecommunications tower industry, and so created www.telecomlawyers.com to deliver articles, links and lawyers’ bios to tower owners, builders and lessors, all serving the booming cellular and wireless industry.
- Focus -- "Instead of spending all your time at bar association meetings, go to trade association meetings within your industry."
* * *
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Recession 2002: A Primer for Law Firms
Based on article by Jeffrey Morgan, the Group Associate Publisher for American Lawyer Media. He is current member of the Board of Directors for the Legal Marketing Association and has been working in legal marketing for nearly 15 years. He is a survivor of the last recession. He may be reached at 888-733-6699 or jmorgan@amlaw.com.
* Review your Marketing Plan
* Take Good Care of Your Clients
Satisfied clients don’t stray. In a downturn it’s more important than ever to keep them satisfied. Get in touch with your top 25 clients and set up meetings to discuss how the recession is affecting their business and what approaches they are taking to stay on top. Discuss how you could serve them better and what new approaches they might find beneficial. Take the time to conduct key client interviews to learn what they like and do not like about the delivery of your firm services. And, more importantly, take action and change those things that you can. By being proactive you will only strengthen your long-term relationships by creating a lasting impression of being there for them when the going was tough.
* Consider Diversification
Practice areas and client base.
* Advertise
* Solidify Your Alliances
Everyone at the firm should be networking like never before. Consider hosting or attending small “off the record” power briefings or breakfasts for the legal profession or specific industries where you serve clients. Look for meetings where the participants are connections for you and the firm or where they are facing similar challenges as you or your clients. These gatherings are terrific sources for objectivity on current business conditions and provide the opportunity for more strategic long term planning.
* Keep Everyone Involved and Informed
Fear breeds poor morale, which can lead to instability for a firm.
Read more . . .
Getting Your Press Releases Pressed -- When Other News Predominates
Excerpted from an article published in LawMarketing.com by Alex Michelini, principal, Alex Michelini Public Relations, Mahwah, N.J., and former award-winning reporter/editor at the New York Daily News. He can be reached at 201-760-6383, and Michelinialex@aol.com.
* Do NOT stop promotional efforts with key contacts even if it means repeated rejection. Simply express your understanding of the crush of other news. They will remember you the next time, and so much of relationship-building is about cumulative efforts, a step at a time.
* Don’t necessarily start with the front page -- aim for the inside pages. Check out the columnists. Develop angles to adapt your story to the strictures of a column. Does your story touch on political, business, sports or lifestyle themes. If so, pursue columnists in one of those areas.
* Read the Letters to the Editor, and determine if your story can be told in this format. If so, go for it.
* Keep your targeted media updated on developments – i.e., in the case of a lawsuit or decision, newsworthy developments in motion papers, appeals and supplementary arguments.
* Get in the habit of sending out “news advisories,” rather than the knee-jerk “news release.” In periods of “news storms,” this is a particularly effective way of letting your contacts know you’re still around.
* Double up efforts in the vertical press. Legal publications for sure. But also national magazines (i.e. People, the Nation, et. al).
* Expand the map. Don’t limit your targets to the major media. Go to smaller publications in outlying regions where the story is still relevant, yet not as overwhelming in your Ground Zero where all over news dominates.
* Aim for broadcast as well as print outlets – and, don’t count out the local stations. “All politics is local,” said the late House Speaker Tip O’Neill. So is publicity.—at least, it can start locally.
Larry Bodine's Top 10 Marketing Tips
Digested from "Top Ten Client Development Secrets for Small Firms and Solos," by Larry Bodine. Mr. Bodine is a strategic marketing and Web consultant in the Chicago area. He helps law firms get more business by rewriting their materials, interviewing their clients and auditing their Web sites. He can be reached at 630.942.0977 and Lbodine@LawMarketing.com. His website is The Law Marketing Portal.
To get new business you need to shake people’s hands and look them in the eye. New business comes in person. The idea is to market your practice by building relationships. The more time you spend on this kind of marketing, the better the results.
Network. Marketing is a contact sport, so get out of your office and start meeting people. Get active in your local business community. Join the chamber of commerce, service clubs and boards of charities. Go for the purpose of making as many new friends as you can.
Build referral sources. Become active in your local bar association, because other lawyers will refer files to you. Contact lawyers who may not provide the particular services in which you have experience. Also solicit experienced litigators for conflict referrals. After you have done a good job once, work on broadening your relationship.
Develop your niche. Pick an industry or client group that interests you – from dentists, woman-owned businesses to candy makers – and identify yourself with it. The marketing you do in that area will serve your whole practice. One lawyer in Chicago knows all the produce distributors, writes articles for their magazine, goes to their meetings and gets all kinds of work from them.
Get on the lecture circuit. Get active in the trade association that most of your clients belong to. Chances are they could use a good speaker on legal topics; volunteer to help on the association's program committee and offer to be a speaker. There is nothing better than being the voice of authority in a room full of potential clients.
Write articles. Offer to write articles for a trade association publication. Or write a column about your legal specialty for the local weekly newspaper or a business newsletter. Find a web site that is visited by your clients and write articles for it. Your byline should include all your contact information.
Invest in good marketing materials. Your business cards, stationery, brochures, Web site, announcements, invitations, presentation materials and even invoices should all have the same design. You need to have memorable materials to show prospective clients. List your Web site address on all your materials.
Establish a website. They really do bring in business. People today find lawyers by using Yahoo, Martindale.com and Law.com. Your site doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive. But it must describe the kind of clients you represent (list business by their industry type) and specific examples of the work you’ve done for them. Make sure your bio (with a photo), address, phone and E-mail address are easily located.
No random acts of lunch. Be purposeful; call people who can refer you business and take them out to lunch. You’re going to eat anyway, so don’t eat at your desk. Invite real estate agents, accountants, lawyers at larger firms, insurance brokers and bankers. Also, contact your law school classmates, to find out what they're doing and let them know you can handle their referrals.
Develop an E-mail mailing list. Start with family, friends and law school classmates. E-mail is cheap, fast and effective. Include links back to your Web site. As your list grows, you can start to send your contact list legal alerts, money-saving tips or a newsletter. Every message should include a signature block with your contact information and a tagline about what you do.
Get free marketing tips at the LawMarketing Portal at www.LawMarketing.Com. You’ll find reports on marketing conferences, practical articles, books to read and forms to use. It’s the go-to site for marketing in the legal profession.
The trick is to do the kind of marketing you like. If you don’t like giving speeches, then write articles instead. This way you’ll be doing the practice development you enjoy and will be naturally good at it.
Image Development
Based on materials from Herrmann Advertising Design/Communications
(from LawMarketing.com.
Image development can give your firm a dramatically stronger footing with current and prospective clients, as well as provide a consistent and positive identity within the legal community.
Start With A Plan, Not A Publication
Many firms rush to print and distribute publications that tout their talents and products. That's a mistake. First develop your firm's image.
A firm image is the amalgam of attributes that are associated with your firm's identity in the marketplace. The most effective are excellent results, skills and experience and responsiveness to clients.
Research
A strategic plan creating a long-term perception of your capability, stability, and competence must be developed. To accomplish that, Herrmann Advertising Design/Communications recommends: Research, Rendering, Internalization, and Review.
First: A detailed situation analysis of the law firm.
* In-depth interviews with executives, key personnel, clients, and prospects;
* Articulate firm's culture, target markets, goals and expectations;
* Assess current client profile, competition profile, marketing program, business plan, and program budget.
Overall, the research objectives should determine:
* Your present position in the marketplace
* Who your clients and prospective clients need to be
* Perceived threats and opportunities
* Strengths and weaknesses
* The image appropriate to your company, and how to best manage it
* The most effective choice of strategic communications materials and their implementation
* The comprehensive integration of the image and all communications materials
From this intensive effort, a clear direction emerges for your firm's desired positioning, which in turn begins to define the firm's image.
Rendering
Creative rendering of an image and integration with the appropriate communication materials. This involves creative design concepts that address your needs and objectives. Photography, type, graphic elements, illustration, even paper stock should all be weighed in determining the most appropriate conceptual approach for your target audience.
Integration into brochures, newsletters, direct mail, events, stationery, website, training materials, relationship marketing tools, and advertisements. If several types of communication media are to be used in a complimentary strategy, develop a comprehensive graphic standards program for your firm, so that a consistent image and message can be maintained in all communications, both internally and externally.
Internalization
Internalize the messages you created and educate everyone in the firm on their role in marketing processes. All personnel, from executives to interns, must believe in the messages and be able to articulate and communicate them in a consistent manner. Audiences need to experience the same "mantra" from each person in the firm, even if those messages are tailored for specific markets. Some activities helpful in internalization are:
* Presentations at employee retreats
* A presentation demonstrating significance, value, availability, and utility of marketing materials and resources to staff
* Roll-out package for employees to create enthusiasm and introduce campaign
* Other training materials, including resources on the firm's intranet
Review
Track the effectiveness of all developed materials and when necessary, make appropriate adjustments through internal feedback mechanisms and market surveys.
"Marketing Collateral"
Based on materials from Herrmann Advertising Design/Communications
(from LawMarketing.com.
Marketing Pieces
* Annual and Quarterly Reports
* Announcements
* Brochures
* Bulletin/Newsletters
* Direct Mail Pieces
* Event Materials
* Flexible Brochure System
* Folders
* Gifts & Give-Aways
* Holiday Cards
* Logo Items
* Marketing Paper
* Media and Sales Kits
* PowerPoint Templates
* Proposal Management Systems
* Signage
* Trade Show and Event Displays
* Organizational Identity
Logos
* Logos Slicks & CDs
* Graphic Standards
* Stationery Packages
Business Cards
* Letterhead
* Envelopes and Labels
* Forms: Invoice/Statement, Fax Cover, and Templates
* Name Tags
* Note Cards and Pads
Business Development: Importance of Follow-Up
Digested from "The Persistent Professional and The Follow-up Strategy," by Will Kintish, published by LawMarketing.com. Located in Manchester, England, Will presents, trains and coaches in the art of word-of-mouth marketing. He can be contacted at telephone 0161 234 0150, will@kintish.co.uk and via his website www.kintish.co.uk. This article first appeared in PSMG News the regular newsletter of the Professional Services Marketing Group, www.PSMG.co.uk.
Kintish, a UK-based marketing consultant advises:
[Depositing Nectar in the Hive:]
On a regular basis, all rainmakers should ask themselves:
1. where have I been?
2. whom have I met?
3. what potential is there for a business opportunity?
4. what do I think should be done about it?
After a Networking Event:
When networkers arrive back at the office, ensure that they write down:
1. where and when the meeting took place;
2. interesting facts about the person;
3. any characteristics that were memorable and which may help when meeting them again.
Follow-up by ensuring that:
1. follow up phone calls are made;
2. any literature requested is sent;
3. a call is made after the literature is received;
4. a further meeting is set up where appropriate.
Read more . . .
Tuesday, January 15, 2002
Loyalty-based Leadership
From FedEx's ShipSmart eNews/Business News, "Lessons in Loyalty: Author Frederick Reichheld discusses the benefits of loyalty-based leadership."
Do your clients believe that your law firm is worthy of their loyalty? According to Frederick Reichheld, author of "The Loyalty Effect" and its recently released follow up, "Loyalty Rules!" that's a key question all firms must answer before they can develop the strong loyalty bonds necessary to building enduring enterprises. Reichheld reports, however, that fewer than 20 percent of company leaders actually track client loyalty and retention. "I continue to find that fact absolutely stunning," he says, "given that a company has no hope for growth or long-term profitability without a loyal client base."
Loyalty Test: The simplest and most effective way to measure customer loyalty is to survey your customers. In fact, [Bain & Company] has developed a standard survey (The Loyalty Acid Test, which can be downloaded) so firms don't have to develop their own instruments.
Read more . . .
Thursday, January 10, 2002
Pat Lysaught Returns to the Network and Joins Baker Sterchi
Patrick Lysaught, an experienced trial lawyer having spent over 25 years successfully defending a wide variety of claims, recently returned to the Network when he joined the Baker Sterchi law firm. Pat was active with the Network prior to the Baker, Sterchi, Cowden & Rice and Sandberg, Phoenix & von Gontard firms joining the Network.
Pat specializes in technical, complex and class action litigation on local, regional and national levels. He has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation including antitrust, trade regulation and intellectual property, as well as product liability litigation. He also has experience in pharmaceutical, medical device and chemical products litigation, and substantial involvement in class action, multi-district and complex multi-party litigation.
Wednesday, January 09, 2002
Lawyer Shortage in Japan
Leo Lewis -- 06 January 2002
The Japanese government, drowning in a flood of bankruptcies and legal actions, is attempting to triple the country's supply of lawyers by 2003. A massive recruitment drive this year is likely to include a TV advertising campaign and rallies on university campuses.
Government sources believe that unless they address the shortage now, it will rapidly become unmanageable. In 2001, the Japanese economy suffered one of its worst years on record. Markets slumped and industrial production crashed to a 14-year low. Figures released at the end of December showed unemployment at a post-war high of 5.5 per cent. At the root of all of this has been the seemingly unstoppable tide of corporate failures and bankruptcies – almost 18,000 Japanese companies went bust last year. This has created a huge volume of insolvency cases and legal actions brought by individuals and unions. It is far too great a burden for Japan's 18,000 lawyers to manage, and their numbers must be bolstered.
Read more . . .
Tuesday, January 08, 2002
Top 10 Jury Verdicts of 2001 (per Lawyers Weekly USA)
The Associated Press -- Jan 7, 2002
The Top 10 highest jury verdicts of 2001, according to the magazine Lawyers Weekly USA, which published the list Monday. The verdicts could be reduced on appeal.
1. In June, a California jury ordered Philip Morris to pay $5.54 million in compensation and $3 billion in punitive damages to Richard Boeken, a smoker with cancer. A judge later reduced the award to $100 million.
2. Last May, a Louisiana jury ordered ExxonMobil Corp. to pay $1.06 billion to retired Judge Joseph Grefer for radioactive contamination of his land.
3. In August, a Florida jury ordered aircraft manufacturer Cessna to pay $480 million for a fiery airplane crash that left all three occupants severely burned.
4. In Texas, a jury weighing a wrongful death suit of an elderly nursing home resident awarded the largest nursing home verdict ever: $312.8 million. The case was settled in June for $20 million.
5. A Florida jury in July awarded a family $256 million in a wrongful death suit that stemmed from an auto crash involving a police officer.
6. A Virginia jury in August awarded two friends $116 million, including $95 million in punitive damages, because a company allegedly used their product idea.
7. A New York jury in November weighed a lawsuit brought by guardians of a crack addict who sustained brain damage when a respiratory tube was removed. The jury awarded the guardians $114.9 million.
8. In May, an inheritance dispute between the daughter of an industrialist and her stepmother resulted in a Texas jury awarding $108.2 million to the daughter. A motion for a new trial has been granted.
9. A New York jury in May awarded the family of a boy brain-damaged during birth $107.8 million in a medical malpractice suit.
10. In January, a jury ordered San Diego to pay $94.5 million in a land dispute centered on a developer's claim that the city reneged on a development agreement.
Source: Lawyers Weekly USA.
AP-ES-01-07-02 0744EST
Bankruptcy Boom in a Falling Economy
Total 2001 filings could top 1998 record
Joseph A. Slobodzian -- The National Law Journal -- January 8, 2002
Fueled by recession and led by such corporate giants as Enron Corp., Pacific Gas & Electric and Reliance Group Holdings Inc., bankruptcy filings reached a historic high in 2001, after two consecutive years of decline in 1999 and 2000. But experts fear the filings may be topped in 2002. "I think the second wave is yet to come. We've just seen the tip of the iceberg," says bankruptcy specialist Deborah A. Crabbe.
Read more . . .
Federal Judges Applying Tougher Standards on Expert Testimony
Economists are being challenged successfully
David Hechler -- The National Law Journal -- January 8, 2002
Where judges were once inclined to admit expert testimony in business disputes and to let juries afford it the appropriate weight, U.S. district court judges have recently adopted tougher standards. Studies show that expert economists can be "highly vulnerable to admissibility challenges." Another suggests that a judge's decision on the plaintiff's expert usually determines the outcome of the case.
Read more . . .
Monday, January 07, 2002
New York M&A Firms Saw Work Fall Off Sharply in 2001
Anthony Lin -- New York Law Journal -- January 7, 2002
New York's top mergers and acquisitions law firms saw the value of their merger deals drop by as much as 72 percent in 2001, according to data collected by Thomson Financial, a research and information-services firm. The numbers confirm and quantify what lawyers have been feeling for months: The volume of high-value transactional work has fallen sharply.
Read more . . .
Friday, January 04, 2002
Profit Plunge
Led by a steep decline at Brobeck, tech firm profits nose dived in 2001
Brenda Sandburg -- The Recorder -- January 4, 2002
Silicon Valley law firms saw profits plummet in 2001, and the biggest of them took the hardest hit of all. San Francisco-based Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison said Thursday its profits per equity partner dropped from $1.17 million to $660,000 -- a dizzying decline of 43.5 percent. But Brobeck wasn't the only Silicon Valley law firm hard hit last year, according to The Recorder's annual survey of law firm finances.
Read more . . .
Gray Cary Joins Growing List to Lay Off Lawyers, Staff
Renee Deger -- The Recorder -- January 4, 2002
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich laid off 46 associates and 68 staff Thursday, joining the long list of San Francisco area law firms forced to cut the payroll as the economy continues to languish. The cuts represent 14 percent of the firm's 337 associates and 12 percent of its staff. The layoffs primarily targeted corporate and transactional lawyers, though other practice groups were affected.
Read more . . .
Thursday, January 03, 2002
McCarthy Tétrault Adopts Innovative Governance Structure: Canada’s Largest Law Firm to Operate as a Single Unit Organized by National Practice Groups and Headed by CEO
TORONTO, On November 6, 2001 – The partners of McCarthy Tétrault LLP approved a new innovative governance structure to more fully integrate the firm’s offices into a single operating unit, organized by national practice groups and headed by a CEO and a ten-member board of directors.
Niels Ortved, managing partner of McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office said: “The new integrated practice model will enable the firm’s clients to access the wealth of experience and expertise of our lawyers in any practice area, regardless of the location of lawyers and clients. The result is more responsive client service that will further increase our ability to deliver creative solutions to complex legal problems.”
The objective will be achieved by using a national practice group structure and investment in knowledge management tools, to share skill, experience and judgment.
“We began the process of developing this new model approximately a year ago,” explained Ortved. “In the process, we’ve consulted extensively with our partners and our clients to develop a structure that is responsive to regional, national and international markets by delivering the recognized talents of our lawyers across the country.”
McCarthy Tétrault’s new model is the latest innovation for the firm, which more than a decade ago pioneered the Canadian national law firm concept.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP is Canada’s largest law firm. It is a single, fully integrated national partnership of more than 700 lawyers who provide services from offices in Vancouver, Calgary, London, Ont., Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec, New York and London, England. McCarthy Tétrault’s lawyers consistently rank as leaders in their fields, according to numerous professional publications.
For more information, contact:
Lise Monette, National Marketing Director
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
416 601-7508
lmonette@mccarthy.ca
McCarthy Tétrault LLP in the News - Pioneering Law Firm Adopting Corporate Setup
Andrew Willis - ROB, Globe and Mail, November 7, 2001
Toronto, November 2001 – McCarthy Tétrault LLP recently announced that it has approved a new innovative governance structure. In the November 7th issue of ROB article, Pioneering law firm adopting corporate setup, Andrew Willis writes: “Potential CEOs with appetites for pioneer work will want to tune into what’s cooking at law firm McCarthy Tétrault.”
According to Willis, McCarthy Tétrault is: “The first Canadian firm to establish a truly national practice in the 1980s, McCarthy is now planning to overturn tradition again by adopting a modern corporate structure.”
In an interview with Niels Ortved, managing partner of McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office, he mentioned that the firm would be organized into a single operating unit by national practice groups headed by a CEO and a ten-member board of directors. By January, McCarthy Tétrault will have taken the “pioneering” step of creating a centralized national governance structure in order to deliver first-class legal services to clients across Canada.
Mr. Ortved stated that this concept “will ensure our national clients deal with a national practice that can supply experience and expertise from anywhere in the firm.” Considering this new approach, Willis asserts that: “McCarthy is the first Canadian law firm to try on a professional corporate structure. If it works, watch others imitate the experiment.”
For media inquiries please contact Lise Monette at McCarthy Tétrault LLP at 416 601 7508, e-mail lmonette@mccarthy.ca.
