The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Is Your Headshot Telling the Real Story?

By Kimberly Alford Rice
Special to the Legal

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” We have all heard this over and again. The question I would ask is whether your headshot tells the story you want to tell.

As we work with our law firm clients on web development, social media, public relations and other business development initiatives, inevitably, the need arises for a current headshot. The pushback clients have for not updating their 10-year-old headshots (before color prints became the standard) usually goes something like this: “I was so much thinner/younger/taller/had more hair back then.”

Ultimately, it does not matter what you look like as long as it reflects what you look like today. To use and/or post a headshot that does not reflect your “current look” is to appear disingenuous or vain; neither a positive takeaway.

You may ask, what difference does it make whether you have a current headshot (taken in the last two or three years) or one taken a decade ago? Read on …

We are all visual creatures. Most people think and remember primarily through visual cues. And most people have very short attention spans. Giving people the right visual cues immediately is critical to getting their attention and gaining their trust.

People will likely notice your picture before they actively pay attention to what you have to say. First impressions matter (this is a one-shot deal) and they are almost always visual.

As our world (business world included) has evolved online and social media has mainstreamed into a powerful business development tool, it is no longer enough or productive to display an outdated headshot. You may be missing out on connections because of an inappropriate photo.

I’ll explain.

If you are engaged in active targeted networking and getting in front of qualified prospects, people you have met at these events may be looking for you on social media channels such as LinkedIn (Facebook has quickly become another social media channel source through which professional connections are made).

While it is less common on professional networks, some people still use pictures of things or animals instead of themselves on their profiles. If someone does a search for Susan Smith that produces multiple results, some of which are pictures of some random cat or outdoor shot, they will have to guess which profile belongs to you. Do not miss out on connections because of fear or insecurity of your current headshot or just complacency.

To alleviate your anxiety and support your desire to portray an accurate professional image, you may want to retain the services of a professional photographer. In our experience, investing in a professional headshot is well worth the cost. Moreover, with all the technological strides that have been made via digital photography, the actual cost is miniscule when weighed against the benefit of portraying your true image.

An appropriate profile photo should achieve a balance between being eye-catching and appropriate for your professional position. In the world of first impressions, there is such a thing as negative attention. Pictures that are poor quality or too casual can cast you in a negative light, which results in counterproductive marketing efforts. Avoid running this risk.

Ultimately, displaying and uploading a current, appropriate headshot accomplishes the following:

• Provides a visual of who you are physically – placing a face with a name and giving the viewer a sense of reference, which is so essential in today’s visual world.

• Provides the viewer with a personalized feel for you. Regardless of whether you have graying hair (which can tell the story of hard- and long-fought experience) or a scar down your neck (as a result of a childhood accident), everything about your physical features tells a unique story of you that becomes more alive when viewed.

A current professional headshot immediately communicates that you are a serious professional focused on building and growing your practice. A fresh and updated image gives you an advantage over the person who isn’t ready to hit the ground running. Do not to allow your personal discomfort to stand in the way of making that happen. Your marketing efforts will pick up steam and you will be glad you did.

Kimberly Alford Rice is principal of KLA Marketing Associates, a business development advisory firm focusing on legal services. As a legal marketing authority, she helps law firms and lawyers develop practical business development and marketing strategies which lead directly to new clients and increased revenues. Additionally, she provides career management services to lawyers in transition. She can be reached at 609-458-0415 or via email at [email protected].

Image Is Everything: What Your Law Firm Website Says About You

By Gina F. Rubel
Special to the Legal

Imagine walking into an auto dealership to purchase a luxury vehicle only to find faded photos of the Great Depression on the walls, ripped vintage sofas and rule-lined sales ledgers on the desks. No one greets you at the door – all the sales reps are smoking cigarettes in the break room, chatting amongst themselves. As a luxury vehicle customer, you would likely be quite taken aback. Your gut reaction would probably be to turn around, walk out and go to the competitor just down the road. When you get to the second dealership, you find modern decor, plasma wall monitors displaying auto performance videos, desks with tablet computers and you are immediately greeted with a smile and a handshake. From which of these two dealers selling the same line of luxury vehicles are you most likely to purchase?

Take this scenario and apply it to your law firm website. When someone lands on your law firm website, what do they find? Are they greeted with outdated imagery, old technologies and broken links? Do they find years-old news items as the most recent headlines? When they search on a mobile device, does the site even work or are they greeted with outdated Flash, which is incompatible with Apple devices? And when they visit your attorney bio pages, do they find one full page of names and single-paragraph descriptions with no professional headshots? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, I can just about guarantee that your lost opportunity costs are through the roof.

Today's tech-savvy audience is online and while some traditionalists and baby boomers wish to believe otherwise, a law firm's website and other online profiles, including those on social networking sites, are a law firm's primary front doors. Just like the luxury auto consumer, purchasers of legal services have certain expectations of the attorneys they wish to hire. For most, they want to see a record of success and experience with the same types of issues that they are facing. They want to know who the attorneys are and how they can help them with their problems and legal issues. They want to be assured that the law firm and its attorneys are ready, willing and available to assist with their legal matters. They want immediacy of contact and response. When was the last time you looked at your firm’s website or your personal biography to determine how it is being seen from the eyes of your prospective and current clients?

The legal industry is a service business. When purchasers of services are shopping the Internet, they don’t care if your website is 50 shades of blue or 50 shades of gray – what they care about is if they can easily find the information they need, whether or not your law firm can help them and, if so, how they can contact you. Once contact is made, the next step is to have a sophisticated and prompt response procedure in place. Just like the auto dealership, no one wants to be left standing alone in the lobby.

Gina F. Rubel is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications, a strategic marketing and public relations agency with a niche in legal marketing. A former trial attorney, she is the author of Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers. Rubel and her agency have won many awards for legal communications, PR, media relations, website and graphic design, strategic planning, corporate philanthropy and leadership. She maintains a blog, is a contributor to National Law Review, The Legal Intelligencer Blog, AVVO Lawyernomics and The Huffington Post. You can find her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter. For more information, go to www.FuriaRubel.com.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Friday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is the state Supreme Court mulling the “error in judgment rule” in medical malpractice cases. As reporter Ben Present writes, an attorney representing the estate of a two-month-old baby who died from a viral infection of the heart told the court Wednesday that the trial court’s jury instruction discussing the rule reflected precarious legal terrain.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes that the state Superior Court has denied Cozen O’Connor’s request to reopen a discontinued suit filed against it by former Wolf Block attorneys in order to get a ruling that the statute of limitations wasn’t tolled.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that the Third Circuit has suggested that U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab of the Western District of Pennsylvania amend the time limit he imposed for an upcoming trial.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Franchise Law column on Page 5, Craig R. Tractenberg writes a report from the Restaurant Development and Finance Conference that took place in Las Vegas.

In a Legal Marketing column on Page 7, Abby Raanan and Jennifer Smuts write about building relationships and the value of alumni programs.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to email any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Content Marketing Can Take You to the Next Level

By Amy Izzo
Special to the Legal

As a marketer to the professional services industry, I can tell you that content marketing for law firms has arrived and is here to stay. With social media, email, and Web advancements, it's become all too easy to push you firm's message out to the masses. The result is a fundamental shift away from pushing the more self-serving “me” marketing messages out to the marketplace, toward providing “you”-focused content of value to a more targeted audience. Basically, your potential clients don't necessarily want to know about you or your firm – they have questions they want answered. The primary objective of content marketing is to gain the trust and attention of an audience by providing them with valuable information on topics they are already interested in.

Take a few moments to browse through mid-to-larger size firms’ websites and notice how many offer blog sites and other tools and resources. Content marketing has become such an integral part of the marketing mix for professional services firms that it's become more of a "price to play" than a "nice to have." It's also a great opportunity for young attorneys and professionals to enhance their knowledge and boost their careers. If you and/or your firm don’t generate great content, you should consider starting.

What is content marketing?

The first thing you should know is that “content” refers to any information, tools or resources available on the Internet. Your firm's website becomes less of a virtual brochure and more of a virtual hub of resources and the up-to-date information. These types of resources include:

• Articles
• Photographs
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Blogs
• eBooks
• White papers
• Web copy
• Seminars/webinars

How can content marketing advance my career?

The one catch about content marketing tactics is they need to be created by the expert (you). This can also be a great opportunity for a younger or less experienced attorney. If you are just starting out in your career or even mid-level, you may not have the connections to bring in the big business, but with enough research, you can contribute great content. Developing this original content may sound complex, but it really doesn't have to be. A typical blog post is about 400-600 words; a tweet is 140 characters. Most likely, you're already reading materials to stay up-to-date on your practice or industry focus; if not, there are great online tools such as Google Reader or Google Alerts to help filter information that is relevant to you.

Using content marketing effectively (developing blog posts, articles, white papers, seminar materials, etc., and repurposing these in various formats) can greatly advance your career by increasing your visibility both inside and outside your firm.

Here's how:

1. Content builds quantifiable assets that enhance your professional portfolio. Your resume and maybe even a LinkedIn profile state your expertise, but having a portfolio of professional content demonstrates your expertise and value.

Action items: 

• Concentrate on one or two types of content.
• Commit to contributing on a consistent schedule.

2. Build a following – become a mini-celebrity. When you create and share high-quality content, clients, partners and colleagues and even a wider audience recognize you as a thought leader or trusted resource. An example of successfully becoming a mini-celebrity would be getting your content published in a recognized industry publication or even gaining a number of Twitter followers.

Action items:

• Stalk! Read and follow blogs and thought leaders in your industry.
• Pitch a relevant post or article to a publication and eventually become a regular contributor.
• Develop content targeted toward an audience that matters to you (think quality over quantity and find your specific niche).

Content marketing can get you business. Simply put, the key to content marketing is understanding exactly what your clients and potential clients need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way. A "pull strategy" draws warmer leads and valuable content earns and builds trust, and the business relationship follows. One of the most effective ways to build your career is to help your firm bring in new business.

Are you an attorney (possibly with just a few years under your belt) who has created content for your firm? What have been the rewards for both the firm and your own professional career? We'd love to hear some success stories.

Amy Izzo is marketing director at Marketri LLC. She has more than 13 years’ experience in B2B professional services marketing. She leads the effort with Marketri’s clients in building strategic marketing plans and works closely with them to manage the execution of each plan, helping connect clients with their target audience. Contact her at [email protected].

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal and Pa. Law Weekly

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Also inside of today’s paper is this year’s GC Compensation supplement, analyzing the pay packages for the state’s top-paid general counsel and looking at say-on-pay’s effect two years later.

The top story in today’s Legal is the death of former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, lawyers said Specter was a legal giant who greatly shaped the federal judiciary in the state for more than three decades.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that a company must turn over financial documents in a commercial suit regardless of its argument that some of them have “confidential financial information.”

In more Regional News on Page 3, Saranac Hale Spencer writes that a federal judge has ruled that most of the communication between a plaintiff and his former lawyer is covered by attorney-client privilege during the man’s deposition in a suit he filed against his business partners and their lawyer.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sibling publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Legal Marketing column on Page 5, Stacy West Clark says if you want to be successful, create a personal brand.

In an Asset Management column on Page 7, Anthony B. Creamer III writes about greater scrutiny on fair value in financial reporting.

Today’s lead story in PLW is a preview of oral arguments beginning today. As reporter Ben Present writes, the slate includes landmark cases regarding text messages and the Marcellus Shale.

Below the fold on Page 1, Saranac Hale Spencer writes that legislative immunity bars a suit over the “Year of the Bible” proclamation made by members of the state House of Representatives.

On Page 3, Ben Present writes that SEPTA has been spared a subrogation lien by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he writes about judges promoting books; Matthew Weisberg’s Professional Liability column about withdrawing as counsel while avoiding conflicts of interest; and David G. Mandelbaum’s Environmental Law column about institutional controls and pre-enforcement review in cleanup cases.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal and Pa. Law Weekly

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story in today’s Legal is a look at labor and employment work, which is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise low-demand market for legal work. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, labor and employment work rose 4.7 percent in the second quarter and is one of the only practice areas that has been consistently positive in terms of demand over the last year-and-a-half.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that the Third Circuit has ruled an employment-test maker must share information with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a dispute sprouting from a discrimination case in which Kroger’s used the company’s test in its hiring practices.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes that an Allegheny County trial court has found that statements made by an assignor prior to an assignment of a mortgage are admissible under the party-opponent exception to the hearsay rule.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the Superior Court has granted en banc arguments over appellate rights.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sibling publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Law Firm Management column on Page 5, Kristin Sudholz and Jennifer Smuts write about process improvement in a changing legal landscape.

In a Legal Marketing column on Page 7, Jamie Mulholland writes that there is no wiggle room when it comes to your personal touch in associating with clients.

Today’s lead story in PLW is the state Supreme Court mulling emotional distress coverage under an automobile insurance policy. As Zack Needles writes, the policy at issue provides coverage for “bodily injury to a person and sickness, disease or death which results from it.”

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that an attorney has challenged before the Supreme Court the removal from the bench of a magisterial district judge who missed court more than 100 times over two years.

On Page 3, Ben Present writes that lawyers debated the constitutionality of Megan’s Law at Supreme Court oral arguments last week.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he writes about the use of social media to discuss upcoming jury trials; Daniel E. Cummins’ Insurance Law column on Superior Court guidance regarding the Koken case; and Frank G. Murphy’s Civil Practice column on the interplay between arbitration clauses and superseding injunctive relief.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Getting Better Websites: What Law Firms Need to Know About CMS

By Gina F. Rubel
Special to the Legal

As tempting as it is to look at a competitor’s website, say, “I want what they have — but better,” and leave the rest to a website designer, law firm administrators risk heavier site maintenance costs — as well as untold headaches — if they don’t understand their options. Firms need to be aware of the differences between open-source code and proprietary code content management systems for websites. There has been a lot of discussion lately throughout the legal marketing community about the two and the hazard of choosing one solution over the other.

A content management system, or CMS, is basically the platform on which a website is constructed. Some content management systems are proprietary, meaning that they typically are owned by the site developer. A law firm is likely to pay licensing and maintenance fees that can run $80,000 per year or more, according to Laura Powers, vice president of Furia Rubel.

Even if a firm is willing to pay those amounts to avoid the hassle of website upkeep on its own, the firm is at risk if its website developer goes out of business — not an uncommon occurrence in the Great Recession. A law firm whose vendor goes belly up can find itself without support for its website. In fact, we saw this with one of our clients a few years ago — they had a website that was developed on a proprietary platform, the website company went out of business and the law firm was left with a site they could do nothing with. The entire site had to be redeveloped, essentially doubling the firm’s investment.

According to Powers, a better alternative to proprietary code is open-source code: free software that is available at no charge. One well-known example of open-source code that is used by many for their personal blogs (and even by businesses) is WordPress. What law firms gain by choosing an open-source option is control over their websites and flexibility in making revisions to them. Powers said, “We don’t work with proprietary software because we believe the client should be able to own their website and have any competent, generalized Web programmer support the site if given the credentials to access it.”

A sometimes-voiced and misplaced concern about sites constructed using open-source code is security. Will sites built using open-source code be especially vulnerable to hacking? This isn’t really a proprietary vs. open-source issue, Powers explained; rather, it concerns a developer's skill level and awareness. “The way to prevent common hacks is to make sure that any software, proprietary or open-source, has been coded and secured properly,” she noted. To be proactive in preventing website hacking, law firms should seek hosting in a dedicated, secure server environment.

When considering open-source options, law firms should also take care not to embrace the “latest and greatest” hot trends in platform technology, Powers cautioned. “Although the development communities for some of these open-source products may be large now, when the next hot platform comes along, they tend to move on and abandon the old products quickly,” she said.

We prefer to program in PHP, MySQL and jQuery. “PHP and MySQL have been around for a very long time, have a proven track record of flexibility and stability, and are fairly universal,” Powers explained. JQuery is also a good choice because we can code animations that work not only on desktop machines and other devices, but also on devices such as the iPad and iPhone, where Flash is not supported.

Do law firm administrators need to be well-versed on the intricacies of coding? Of course not. But they need to know to ask about open-source options. Prospective Web partners themselves should address different choices and clarify why they prefer to work with certain solutions.

Gina F. Rubel is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications, a strategic marketing and public relations agency with a niche in legal marketing. A former trial attorney, she is the author of Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers. Rubel and her agency have won many awards for legal communications, PR, media relations, website and graphic design, strategic planning, corporate philanthropy and leadership. She maintains a blog, is a contributor to National Law Review, The Legal Intelligencer Blog, AVVO Lawyernomics and The Huffington Post. You can find her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter. For more information, go to www.FuriaRubel.com.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal and Pa. Law Weekly

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story in today’s Legal is the second in reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel’s series on products liability, as she writes about how the growth of foreign class and mass actions are changing products law.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that Pennsylvania federal courts are at odds on the adoption of the Restatement (Third) of Torts. A Western District judge applied it in a recent products liability case, while the Middle District recently indicated that the Restatement (Second) is still the guiding force in the state.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Gina Passarella writes that the ABA has blessed client disclosure to facilitate lateral moves. The ABA recently looked at giving some guidelines for how to share the information regarding client names to facilitate conflict checks with potential new firms.

In a From the Chief column on Page 3, Hank Grezlak writes that state courts must tread more carefully with the right to vote.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sibling publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Law Office Technology column on Page 5, Thomas E. Groshens writes about moving to the cloud and details the capabilities of Evernote and the future of data management.

In a Legal Marketing column on Page 7, Stacy West Clark writes about implementing a 90-day plan to grow your practice.

Today’s lead story in PLW is the rare reargument grant in an Office of Open Records case involving the release of Governor Corbett’s calendar information. As Zack Needles writes, lawyers said it was “almost unprecedented” for the Commonwealth Court to grant reargument.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that an allocatur grant is being disputed in the wake of amendments made to the Medical Records Act.

On Page 3, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the Commonwealth Court has ruled that the calendars for Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the 17 members of City Council are exempt from the state’s Right-to-Know Law.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he writes about lawyers who fail to pay their bills; James W. Cushing’s Real Estate column on Cheltenham Township’s dispute with the First Korean Church of New York Inc.; and a Personal Injury column on accident reconstruction in vehicle-pedestrian collisions.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Are You Investing in Your Clients?

By Kimberly Alford Rice
Special to the Legal

You may offer extraordinary service to your clients if you provide them timely, spot-on legal counsel to either solve their problems or help them prevent problems in a proactive way. But I challenge you to take it up a notch.

Consider taking some of the steps below to demonstrate your understanding of your clients' business and that you care about its success:

• Read what your clients are reading. If you do not subscribe to at least one industry publication in which your client does business, find out what your client is reading and subscribe today.

• Accompany a client to his or her trade conference and offer to pick up part of the tab. How better to get to know your clients' competitors and related suppliers than to be in the middle of them. Not only would this be a tremendous learning experience for you, but it would also send a strong positive message to your client that you are very interested in deepening your relationship.

• Scan through a client's 10-K statement. These documents are usually on the website of a publicly traded company and can typically be found in the investor relations section. Pay particular attention to the "risks" listed in the 10-K then spend some time thinking about how your client is affected by these risks – and how you can help him or her better manage them. If your client is not publicly traded, look up the 10-K of a competitor company as the risks will be similar.

Kimberly Alford Rice is principal of KLA Marketing Associates, a business development advisory firm focusing on legal services. As a legal marketing authority, she helps law firms and lawyers develop practical business development and marketing strategies which lead directly to new clients and increased revenues. Additionally, she provides career management services to lawyers in transition. She can be reached at 609-458-0415 or via email at [email protected].

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Thursday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is an ex-client filing a $192 million lawsuit against Duane Morris. As reporter Zack Needles writes, the former head of a Maryland-based credit card processing company alleges that the attorney he hired to assist him in selling a controlling interest in the company failed to disclose his relationship with the buyer.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Saranac Hale Spencer writes that a federal judge awarded fees in a dispute over attorney fees that lasted eight years.

Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Ben Present writes that the state Superior Court has ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional as a violation of Eighth Amendment rights.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Zack Needles writes that the state Supreme Court has disbarred Bucks County’s former chief deputy district attorney, who is currently on probation after pleading guilty to charges including endangering the welfare of children.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Legal Marketing column on Page 5, Kimberly Alford Rice writes about overcoming your fear of asking for business.

This week’s Young Lawyer column is on Page 7, as Sam Hornak writes about six lessons he has learned from six months as an associate.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.