There are many excellent law firms in Australia, and the geographical proximity to the Asia-Pacific region makes these firms some of the best in the world at negotiating business mergers and acquisitions in the region. The firm of Blake Davison seems to be the choice of Chinese investors, and their legal team recently advised PetroChina on a joint venture bid for Arrow.
There are six big firms in Australia that deal with business, and one of them is Allens Arthur Robinson, which was awarded the prestigious title of Australian Law Firm of the Year in 2010 by Who's Who Legal Awards and also in 2010 were the Australian Deal Team of the Year in the Australian Legal Business Awards; they also scooped five other awards in the latter.
Freehill's is an established Australian law firm which can trace its origins back to the 19th century when about 140 years ago one of its founding fathers, Bernard Freehill was admitted to practise law. This firm has won many awards, among the most recent Law Firm of the Year 2010 which it collected at the 12th Annual Insto Distinctions Awards. In 2009 it was also ranked first in the Best Lawyers International List and FinanceAsia awarded it the prestigious title of Best Financial Law Firm. It is an equal opportunities employer which has a "Women in Business" forum.
There are many other firms which qualify as some of the best in their fields, although not all operate throughout the continent of Australia. Some are based in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, or Sydney, so depending on the area a person lives there will be a very good firm of legal advisors close at hand.
Some of the leading family lawyers offer free seminars on family law, so that the person in the street can better understand how the law works; one of these firms is Harris Friedman in Sydney. Andersons Solicitors serve all of South Australia and has been established for more than 100 years. They pride themselves on their sensitivity and the sound advice that they offer families and individuals as well as businesses. As family lawyers they offer a free 30 minute interview for people with legal problems so that their situation can be assessed and the advice given during that session is free.
Whatever your need in the legal field, if you live in Australia or do business there, you can find some of the best legal representation in the world.
Check on top law firms in Australia [http://www.toplawyersforu.com/index.php/category/australian-lawyers/] and hire qualified lawyers now.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Starting a Law Firm: How to Develop a Niche
When thinking about the family law field, and whether you want to start your own law firm, it is important to consider your practice area or "niche". Many new attorneys don't know what practice area they will want to join when they come out of law school. That is understandable because law school teaches you how to "think like a lawyer" and not how to practice law. When I was in law school, I remember thinking "what does practicing law actually mean?" If you think about, the phrase "practicing law" doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
For example, in law school, your professors teach you the substantive area of law - i.e. family law, trust and estates, evidence, criminal law, environmental law, etc. However, they don't tell you how to use that knowledge to help a client who has a child custody problem.
After law school, you quickly that "practicing law" means getting contacted by a client, signing him or her up with a legal services agreement, negotiating payment (usually a retainer), and filing the initial paperwork necessary to get the process that person wanted started. In the child custody arena, the lawyer may need to file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Motion to Modify Child Custody.
If you are an attorney coming out of law school who will be joining a small to medium size firm, the law firm partners are going to expect you to have some level of client contact and eventually start taking your own cases. Many young attorneys end up practicing in field like family law and/or criminal law because the client base is always there and it is a good way to get clients so that you can quickly generate billable hours.
So there is your niche area. But it doesn't stop there. If you want to be good at anything - for instance, fly fishing - you need to practice. You need to hone your skills. You need to be very good at what you do and develop nuance. Don't ever under estimate this trait when developing your niche area.
If you do choose family law, good for you. You are likely to end up with a lot of clients who take your advice to heart. You are also going to have clients who fight over their children and want custody of them. If you can handle the stress created by that situation and you truly want to help families, family law may be for you.
Once you've chosen (or fallen into) your niche area, you can then think about obtaining clients and developing your practice in family law. You can do this at a firm or by starting your own law firm. Either way, developing your own child custody or family law niche area can be an extremely fulfilling area of the practice of law.
For example, in law school, your professors teach you the substantive area of law - i.e. family law, trust and estates, evidence, criminal law, environmental law, etc. However, they don't tell you how to use that knowledge to help a client who has a child custody problem.
After law school, you quickly that "practicing law" means getting contacted by a client, signing him or her up with a legal services agreement, negotiating payment (usually a retainer), and filing the initial paperwork necessary to get the process that person wanted started. In the child custody arena, the lawyer may need to file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Motion to Modify Child Custody.
If you are an attorney coming out of law school who will be joining a small to medium size firm, the law firm partners are going to expect you to have some level of client contact and eventually start taking your own cases. Many young attorneys end up practicing in field like family law and/or criminal law because the client base is always there and it is a good way to get clients so that you can quickly generate billable hours.
So there is your niche area. But it doesn't stop there. If you want to be good at anything - for instance, fly fishing - you need to practice. You need to hone your skills. You need to be very good at what you do and develop nuance. Don't ever under estimate this trait when developing your niche area.
If you do choose family law, good for you. You are likely to end up with a lot of clients who take your advice to heart. You are also going to have clients who fight over their children and want custody of them. If you can handle the stress created by that situation and you truly want to help families, family law may be for you.
Once you've chosen (or fallen into) your niche area, you can then think about obtaining clients and developing your practice in family law. You can do this at a firm or by starting your own law firm. Either way, developing your own child custody or family law niche area can be an extremely fulfilling area of the practice of law.
Law Firm Management Techniques That Improve Client Intake
The flow of work in a law firm is the flow of information. Anything which obstructs or slows information also interferes with the ability to serve clients efficiently. Control information by using legal software tools to manage and monitor the client intake process to enhance productivity, improve marketing, and avoid conflicts of interest.
Create an Intake Plan
Some attorneys improvise when taking information from a client, but this leads to mistakes. Critical information is missed or misinterpreted, and the data which is collected may be disorganized and hard to interpret.
Avoid this by creating a law firm management policy to regulate the intake process. Interview clients using a checklist to be sure no information is overlooked. Even the most cooperative clients may omit important facts because they seem trivial, irrelevant or embarrassing. Legal software makes it easy to have different checklists for different cases or interview types, and a single electronic interview form can automatically adjust itself in response to questions, such as omitting or adding certain lines of inquiry based on previous answers. Policies ensure each intake report follows the same format, no matter who conducted the interview.
More Information Is Better
When client intake policies are part of law firm management, they help the staff get all the information needed not just for the case itself but for the ongoing relationship with the client, and the future financial health of the firm.
Comprehensive intake begins with the first client phone inquiry. Rather than just taking a bare minimum of information to pass onto the appropriate attorney, the person taking the phone call should conduct a more complete interview during the initial contact. Legal software forms guide the intake process, and armed with more information the case can be passed onto the attorney most qualified for the job.
Don't limit yourself to only case facts. Seemingly trivial details such as client hobbies or birthdates let attorneys make a more personal connection and improve client satisfaction. Other information types can alert the firm to conflicts of interest early in the investigation.
Advantages of Using Legal Software
Today's law firm management includes powerful software tools that enhance the intake process. Any piece of information should be entered only once and automatically copied to other forms as needed. Entering information twice simply increases the chance of error. A paperless law practice is able to file and retrieve relevant information more quickly than one bogged down with roomfuls of file folders.
Legal software produces reports that senior attorneys can use to monitor the process and make efficiency improvements where necessary. When mistakes are made during intake, such as missing important client or case information, software makes it easier to spot patterns and see how the system can be changed to reduce or eliminate those problems.
Successful law firm management and client intake require ongoing oversight to keep the firm operating at peak efficiency. Legal software helps automate the intake process and makes an attorney's job easier while reducing the chance for errors.
Find a Law Firm or Legal Service Close to Home
When it's time to find a law firm it's very often because of a sudden unexpected event. Perhaps an accident or injury that you need to act on right away. Sometimes it's not unexpected as much as it is just delaying the inevitable. This is often the case where bankruptcy attorneys are involved. Many of their clients spend time looking for simple answers to their debt until they get sued by a creditor and it's time to find a bankruptcy attorney.
So the question is, how do you go about finding an attorney? Seems like a simple enough question on the surface, but when you start to look for a law firm, you'll notice right away that there seems to be an endless number of law firms and how will you manage to find the one that's right for you.
As good as the search engines are, the legal profession is just as good as marketing themselves on the search engines. For this reason, if you type in a particular legal issue, such as bankruptcy or medical malpractice, it's very likely that you will get results from law firms all over the country. Those firms that have done such a good job trying to get noticed on search engines will be displayed when you are searching. Exploring a bankruptcy attorney's website and finding a lot of great information may lead you to believe that this is the attorney you want to retain. It is a bit disappointing to find out that when you click the contact tab, you find out the attorney is in Chicago, and you are in New York.
Certainly I am not suggesting that you turn to the Yellow Pages! However, there are sources that still let your fingers do the walking, but this time, on the keyboard. One of the most underused resources on the Internet is the local search directory. The major search engines have long recognized this with sites like Yahoo Local and Google Places, but many people don't know that they have to access those sites differently. It's hard to change old habits, and eve the major players aren't making inroads to the local marketplace as fast as they had hoped. In addition, the thrust of their marketing seems to be directed to retail stores and services.
For professional services such as legal services, law firms, doctors, and other professions, there are few resources better than the independent local search, often called web directories. Finding these directories can be as simple as typing in simple search criteria. For example, let's assume you live on Long Island in New York and you are in need of a law firm. Instead of typing "bankruptcy lawyer" only to be served up attorneys from all over the country, type instead "law firm directory for long island" or "long island law firms directory" and you will find a good number of quality, well organized, profession specific directories. Once you've found the directory, it's a simple matter to drill down to the area of practice and the location. Don't overlook these valuable local search tools. Like any other product you may be in the market for, sometimes the local grocer is a better choice than they bulk buy supermarket.
David Miller is a freelance writer and marketing consultant. He has written extensively about bankruptcy, debt settlement, debt consolidation, credit and credit cards, collection agency abuse, consumer law, credit card defense, FDCPA guidelines and complaints, loan modification scams, and foreclosure.
He contributes regularly to financial and real estate blogs.
He currently edits several websites and is a contributing author to many of them including [http://lawfirmslongisland.com]
His articles about foreclosure, debt discharge, student loan debt and many other topics in the area of bankruptcy, credit and can be found at [http://lawfirmslongisland.com] along with links to other resources which he has been a contributing author.
So the question is, how do you go about finding an attorney? Seems like a simple enough question on the surface, but when you start to look for a law firm, you'll notice right away that there seems to be an endless number of law firms and how will you manage to find the one that's right for you.
As good as the search engines are, the legal profession is just as good as marketing themselves on the search engines. For this reason, if you type in a particular legal issue, such as bankruptcy or medical malpractice, it's very likely that you will get results from law firms all over the country. Those firms that have done such a good job trying to get noticed on search engines will be displayed when you are searching. Exploring a bankruptcy attorney's website and finding a lot of great information may lead you to believe that this is the attorney you want to retain. It is a bit disappointing to find out that when you click the contact tab, you find out the attorney is in Chicago, and you are in New York.
Certainly I am not suggesting that you turn to the Yellow Pages! However, there are sources that still let your fingers do the walking, but this time, on the keyboard. One of the most underused resources on the Internet is the local search directory. The major search engines have long recognized this with sites like Yahoo Local and Google Places, but many people don't know that they have to access those sites differently. It's hard to change old habits, and eve the major players aren't making inroads to the local marketplace as fast as they had hoped. In addition, the thrust of their marketing seems to be directed to retail stores and services.
For professional services such as legal services, law firms, doctors, and other professions, there are few resources better than the independent local search, often called web directories. Finding these directories can be as simple as typing in simple search criteria. For example, let's assume you live on Long Island in New York and you are in need of a law firm. Instead of typing "bankruptcy lawyer" only to be served up attorneys from all over the country, type instead "law firm directory for long island" or "long island law firms directory" and you will find a good number of quality, well organized, profession specific directories. Once you've found the directory, it's a simple matter to drill down to the area of practice and the location. Don't overlook these valuable local search tools. Like any other product you may be in the market for, sometimes the local grocer is a better choice than they bulk buy supermarket.
David Miller is a freelance writer and marketing consultant. He has written extensively about bankruptcy, debt settlement, debt consolidation, credit and credit cards, collection agency abuse, consumer law, credit card defense, FDCPA guidelines and complaints, loan modification scams, and foreclosure.
He contributes regularly to financial and real estate blogs.
He currently edits several websites and is a contributing author to many of them including [http://lawfirmslongisland.com]
His articles about foreclosure, debt discharge, student loan debt and many other topics in the area of bankruptcy, credit and can be found at [http://lawfirmslongisland.com] along with links to other resources which he has been a contributing author.
How a Personal Injury Law Firm Can Help You
When you are involved in any type of accident or have an injury, these things are always unplanned by their very nature. In the initial shock and confusion of the situation, you may not always really have time to think about protecting your rights or how you will be able to pay for your medical bills and time away from work. This is why it is so important to get proper legal representation when you are involved in a personal injury case: A personal injury law firm focuses exclusively on helping people in this situation, and they will be taking the burden of worry about compensation and protecting your rights off your shoulders.
Why a personal injury law firm? The answer is simple: These attorneys are experts at what they do. They have spent years working with clients, negotiating with insurance companies, and going to court to fight for fair compensation for their clients. The fact is that the insurance companies have one goal in mind when it comes to negotiating settlements: They want to pay as little as possible. An insurance company who is dealing with an individual who has no legal representation at all will generally offer a far smaller settlement than they would offer if they were dealing with a personal injury law firm.
The reason that a personal injury lawyer can get so much more in the way of compensation is that the insurance companies want to settle as fast as possible, and they do not want to tie up a lot of time and money in courtroom proceedings. Nearly all cases that are taken on by a personal injury lawyer will end up with a very favorable settlement for the client, because the attorneys know exactly how to leverage every advantage that they have to get the most possible compensation. The personal injury law firm makes it very clear to the insurance companies that they are there to protect the rights of their client and to get fair compensation for medical bills, time off work, and for pain and suffering related to the personal injury.
The law firm will be the ones who do all the negotiating. In fact once a client has received their full course of medical treatments and have recovered enough to return to work as normal, the law firm will even compile all the medical bills and paperwork necessary to show time missed from work. The client never has to negotiate or to fight with the other party in the case or with the insurance adjuster: This is where the personal injury attorneys do their best work, and where they truly earn the money that they will get.
One of the big advantages to hiring a law firm is that such firms do not generally require any payment at all up front. The law firm will instead agree to wait for payment ( a portion of the settlement) until the settlement is negotiated. Once the case has been settled, the personal injury lawyer will receive their percentage of the settlement as payment for their services, and the client will receive the remainder. Even when taking this percentage for legal services into account, the settlements for clients with an attorney generally are far bigger than clients who try to negotiate on their own.
If you need a lawyer in Hawaii, visit Personal Injury Law Firm.
Why a personal injury law firm? The answer is simple: These attorneys are experts at what they do. They have spent years working with clients, negotiating with insurance companies, and going to court to fight for fair compensation for their clients. The fact is that the insurance companies have one goal in mind when it comes to negotiating settlements: They want to pay as little as possible. An insurance company who is dealing with an individual who has no legal representation at all will generally offer a far smaller settlement than they would offer if they were dealing with a personal injury law firm.
The reason that a personal injury lawyer can get so much more in the way of compensation is that the insurance companies want to settle as fast as possible, and they do not want to tie up a lot of time and money in courtroom proceedings. Nearly all cases that are taken on by a personal injury lawyer will end up with a very favorable settlement for the client, because the attorneys know exactly how to leverage every advantage that they have to get the most possible compensation. The personal injury law firm makes it very clear to the insurance companies that they are there to protect the rights of their client and to get fair compensation for medical bills, time off work, and for pain and suffering related to the personal injury.
The law firm will be the ones who do all the negotiating. In fact once a client has received their full course of medical treatments and have recovered enough to return to work as normal, the law firm will even compile all the medical bills and paperwork necessary to show time missed from work. The client never has to negotiate or to fight with the other party in the case or with the insurance adjuster: This is where the personal injury attorneys do their best work, and where they truly earn the money that they will get.
One of the big advantages to hiring a law firm is that such firms do not generally require any payment at all up front. The law firm will instead agree to wait for payment ( a portion of the settlement) until the settlement is negotiated. Once the case has been settled, the personal injury lawyer will receive their percentage of the settlement as payment for their services, and the client will receive the remainder. Even when taking this percentage for legal services into account, the settlements for clients with an attorney generally are far bigger than clients who try to negotiate on their own.
If you need a lawyer in Hawaii, visit Personal Injury Law Firm.
How to Choose a Law Firm for Your Small Business
As the owner of a new small business you'll be taking on a lot of responsibilities. In your role as boss, it will be your final decisions that impact your staff and the direction you want the business to take. While it might feel at times as if you've taken the weight of the world on your shoulders, you can (and should) add to your team with a qualified attorney. Developing a working relationship with an attorney who understands your business will be vital to your success. The following are some helpful hints to help you pick the right law firm.
Start With a Recommendation
When you open up your business you'll be entering into a community of your peers - other business owners who have been through your situation. These fellow owners can are great resources for solving any challenges that you might face. This network can answer any business related questions that you might have. Start by asking about the law firm they use. Getting recommendations from business owners is the best way to start researching the law firm that will be perfect for your needs. Keep in mind that just because someone recommends a law firm doesn't mean you have to hire that firm. You're just asking for names.
Write Out Your Vision
You might have created some sort of business plan for your investors, but your vision of where you want your business to go is something less formal. This is a document that you can use to strategize with an attorney. This vision can help you choose the right law firm based on that firm's experience. For instance, you might want to franchise your business so you should be looking for a lawyer with expertise in that field. The same holds true for expanding your business globally. Does the law firm have offices in other cities or countries?
Research
Just as your business will need a website, every prospective law firm you're looking into will have their own internet presence as well. This will be your first impression of the law firm and can tell you a lot about how they handle their business. Once you enter into discussions about retaining the services of a law firm you'll be given the opportunity to follow-up with their references. Make those calls.
Factor In the Costs
Billing practices vary from one lawyer to another. Many new business owners have gotten quite a shock from their first legal bill when they are charged for a quick phone call or email response. Remember that lawyers make their living through billable hours. When you develop a strong relationship with a law firm the "nit-picking" of hours charged might not become such a big issue. However, you should be aware of all the fees up front and what a lawyer expects to bill you for. Additionally, all these fees should be in writing.
Even if you are a freelancer or a home business, there will be a situation where you will need to use the services of a corporate lawyer. This could range from needing legal advice, or it could be to draft up contracts and agreements. Either way, it's always a good idea to retain the services of a corporate lawyer in case any unexpected situations come up.
CorporationCentre.ca is Canada's internet leader in providing small business owners with a full range of affordable, timely and convenient document filing services, enabling users to complete incorporations, DBA registrations, corporate maintenance and governance updates, corporate name searches and reports, trademark services and more.
Creating an Effective and Powerful USP for Your Law Firm
The biggest asset to any client is your unique selling point (USP). Your USP solves the client's problem and creates a differentiation amongst all of your rivals. For your business to thrive and attract long-term clients, you need to find and improve your unique selling point through law firm marketing. In order to have a successful business, discover and constantly build on your USP.
Always remember to constantly deliver your USP. Meet your clients' expectations and your USP will allow you to gain referrals. You will be surprised at the number of referrals that come your way.
Why is USP important in a law firm?
It is essential for any law firm to have a unique selling proposition (aka unique selling point) to ensure the life of the business. In a highly competitive market, a unique selling proposition is the reason clients buy your service. In simple language, your uniqueness will stand out in a crowded legal market. A USP will differentiate you from the competition and will bring you clients. Therefore, your USP must be a wide-ranging, compelling, and appealing message to your market. USP can work like magic; or it can destroy you position in the legal market if the wrong one is chosen. Your USP will help you build a profitable law practice and will keep your business thriving.
The first point when deciding your USP is deciding what your main promise is to your prospective clients. Finding your main promise is a vital part of your law firm. It is better to be an intellectual when describing the service or solution you provide to your prospective clients. USP is a legal marketing message used to show how you want to serve your clients.
How to create an effective and powerful USP:
Your USP must be the first detail a client remembers about your business. The unique selling proposition has to be short, memorable, and expressed exactly the way you want clients to remember.
Here are the steps on how to create an effective USP:
1) Define your distinctiveness
A unique selling proposition must explain your law firm's unique service. The service you offer must be one of a kind.
2) Think like your clients
Many business owners attempt to think like their clients by looking at values, needs, problems and beliefs. It is a big help in creating an appealing USP.
3) Define your promise
An important part of a successful USP is making a promise to your clients. Your USP can be verbalized, however this promise you make to your clients should be put in writing.
4) Keep it short, effective, and unique
Form your USP so that it's most effective. Include powerful ad words and highly visual adjectives that will directly communicate to the clients.
5) Verify your USP
Don't verify your USP with your family, but with your client. Find out what he thinks and ask for feedback on how to improve your statement. Don't ask for feedback from just one client; instead ask for feedback from 50 or more of your clients.
Like all businesses, you want a solid stream of clients, better revenue, and more profits. Even if you serve your clients better than your competitors, your business will not last long if your message is not delivered effectively.
Click on the link below to get instant access to your Free: How to Effectively Market and Manage a Law Firm: http://bit.ly/OJh9bT
Romeo Richards is the CEO of The Business Education Center: http://bit.ly/Nd2PFd The Business Education Center provides the most comprehensive business coaching and training to professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, business consultants, private security firms and retail executives.
Always remember to constantly deliver your USP. Meet your clients' expectations and your USP will allow you to gain referrals. You will be surprised at the number of referrals that come your way.
Why is USP important in a law firm?
It is essential for any law firm to have a unique selling proposition (aka unique selling point) to ensure the life of the business. In a highly competitive market, a unique selling proposition is the reason clients buy your service. In simple language, your uniqueness will stand out in a crowded legal market. A USP will differentiate you from the competition and will bring you clients. Therefore, your USP must be a wide-ranging, compelling, and appealing message to your market. USP can work like magic; or it can destroy you position in the legal market if the wrong one is chosen. Your USP will help you build a profitable law practice and will keep your business thriving.
The first point when deciding your USP is deciding what your main promise is to your prospective clients. Finding your main promise is a vital part of your law firm. It is better to be an intellectual when describing the service or solution you provide to your prospective clients. USP is a legal marketing message used to show how you want to serve your clients.
How to create an effective and powerful USP:
Your USP must be the first detail a client remembers about your business. The unique selling proposition has to be short, memorable, and expressed exactly the way you want clients to remember.
Here are the steps on how to create an effective USP:
1) Define your distinctiveness
A unique selling proposition must explain your law firm's unique service. The service you offer must be one of a kind.
2) Think like your clients
Many business owners attempt to think like their clients by looking at values, needs, problems and beliefs. It is a big help in creating an appealing USP.
3) Define your promise
An important part of a successful USP is making a promise to your clients. Your USP can be verbalized, however this promise you make to your clients should be put in writing.
4) Keep it short, effective, and unique
Form your USP so that it's most effective. Include powerful ad words and highly visual adjectives that will directly communicate to the clients.
5) Verify your USP
Don't verify your USP with your family, but with your client. Find out what he thinks and ask for feedback on how to improve your statement. Don't ask for feedback from just one client; instead ask for feedback from 50 or more of your clients.
Like all businesses, you want a solid stream of clients, better revenue, and more profits. Even if you serve your clients better than your competitors, your business will not last long if your message is not delivered effectively.
Click on the link below to get instant access to your Free: How to Effectively Market and Manage a Law Firm: http://bit.ly/OJh9bT
Romeo Richards is the CEO of The Business Education Center: http://bit.ly/Nd2PFd The Business Education Center provides the most comprehensive business coaching and training to professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, business consultants, private security firms and retail executives.
Relationship-Based Marketing Works Best for Law Firms
In his Rhetoric, Aristotle lays out his three tools of persuasion - good sense, shared values and friendliness. If you closely watch any modern-day ad campaign, you will see that these tools are still as valid as the day they were first recorded.
Lawyers, however, often attempt to persuade their potential clients to hire them using just one of these three tools - good sense. They will tell marketers, "It is enough that I do good work." In doing so, most lawyers and law firms leave two very powerful tools of persuasion on the table - shared values and friendliness.
For most legal work, there are plenty of lawyers out there who are good at what they do. At a certain level, competence is a given. When making a choice among five equally qualified lawyers, how will a potential client decide? Quite simply, the decision-maker will proceed based on which lawyer seems to offer the most-productive long-term relationship.
Relationships are based on shared values, often defined as trust or trustworthiness, and friendliness, often defined as putting the interests of the client and the community before your own professional or personal interests. There are many ways for a lawyer to demonstrate these qualities.
One interesting study shows that, when people are asked for their opinion of professional service providers as a class, only 43 percent give a positive response. When these same people are asked for their opinion of a particular service provider, a person they already know, even casually, the approval rating goes up to 87 percent. That is the powerful effect of a relationship.
MacArthur Graham discussed relationship-based marketing at the June 12 meeting of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, held June 12 at Fogo de Chao Restaurant in LoDo, Denver. She is founder and principal of Layer Cake Creative, a Denver-based marketing and public relations firm that specializes in professional services marketing.
The key is to create electronic and print marketing collateral, and individual business development plans, that demonstrate the full personality of your firm - not just its capabilities.
In this way, you can successfully differentiate your practice from other equally qualified providers within a targeted and competitive market segment. You can also acquire clients that are a good match to begin with and therefore more likely to stay with you for the long term.
Conduct a personality test
In order to enhance and communicate their unique personalities, law firms and lawyers must first define their personalities. There should be a definition for the firm as a whole, and then variations on that definition for the individual lawyers.
Law firms can hire consultants to help them through this process, but there is no need to spend a lot of time and money.
Sit down as a group and answer a few simple questions. What do we do? Is it profitable? Who do we do it for? Who should we do it for? Who will do it? Do we need to add expertise or technology in order to do it better? What level of service do we provide? How can we improve service? With what personality will we do it? How are we human beings in addition to legal experts? How will we convey this message - in words and in graphics? In print, online and face-to-face?
Having the firm's personality defined, and well-communicated, can prevent lawyers and staff from getting too much 'off-message' in their individual marketing efforts, especially in the new world of social media. A written policy or set of standards can address this concern.
Within the larger context of the firm, each lawyer should convey his or her unique personality. Not everyone needs to be the same 'flavor.'
The firm, for example, may be vanilla. One lawyer can be vanilla with chocolate sauce, another with sprinkles and another with a shot of Kahlua. One can be hand-cranked, another store-bought and another soft-serve. One can be in a milkshake, another in a cone and another on a piece of pie. Just as there are many variations on vanilla, there are many variations for individual lawyers within the context of a law firm's basic personality.
The topping or style that you add should be selected with your unique practice in mind. It should also reflect the 'pain points' and interests of your target clients.
Fit the tool to the talent
When developing individual attorney identity and business development plans, there is no 'one size fits all' method to create and maintain relationships. Each lawyer has a different personality and interests. Some are speakers. Some are writers. Some are networkers. Some enjoy interacting with others face-to-face, others prefer networking virtually.
The audience, too, must be appropriate. A great speech delivered to an audience of people who are in no position to hire you is a waste, as is an article published in a magazine your clients won't see. A posting on LinkedIn or Facebook might have little impact on your target audience unless you have a carefully crafted network of connections or friends, or you are posting to a specific sub -group.
With so many tools available to the modern marketer, no one person can use them all and still be effective. You will be spread too thin. The worst choice of all is to start an effort and then not follow through.
The tools you choose must provide you with direct access to decision-makers in your target market. If you cannot find the best venue for your efforts, you can create one. This could be a seminar series for your clients and their friends. It could be formation of a LinkedIn Group around a newsworthy topic for your clients, potential clients, referral sources and the media.
Use the tools you select to tell stories about your clients, the problems they face and how you help them solve those problems. Use them to start conversations. Over the long run, conversations are a much better way to create and maintain relationships than overt selling.
If your firm uses events as business development tools, be sure to have 'rules of engagement' for these events. Obviously, there should be a code for dress and acceptable behavior. In addition, lawyers should do their homework. Who will be there? Who does the lawyer want to meet? How will the lawyer start the conversation? How will the lawyer follow up? Under no circumstances should you sponsor an event where all of your lawyers in attendance spend the time hanging out together.
In addition, many law firms seem fond of distributing random gifts with their names on them - like stress balls, shopping bags or t-shirts. Instead, think of your firm personality. Think experiential. People value interesting or fun experiences more than objects. Instead, come up with a way to spend time with a potential client, doing something that you both enjoy.
Even the most skilled lawyer will have trouble developing quality work if he or she is unable to develop and maintain the kind of trusted relationships that turn into business.
To be successful, each law firm must have a distinct personality. Each lawyer within that firm should have a personality as well, which is regularly conveyed to members of a carefully targeted audience using the appropriate tools for the topic, the lawyer and the audience. Potential clients who know you and trust you in any capacity will be more likely to hire you when they need legal services.
Janet Ellen Raasch is a writer, ghostwriter and blogger ( http://www.constantcontentblog.com ) who works closely with professional services providers -- especially lawyers, law firms, legal consultants and legal organizations -- to help them achieve name recognition and new business through publication of keyword-rich content for the web and social media sites as well as articles and books for print. She can be reached at (303) 399-5041 or jeraasch@msn.com.
Importance of Selecting the Best Law Firm to Get an Easy Divorce
Around 50 percent of all marriages in the United States end in a divorce, and this generally involves a whole lot of trouble for the people concerned. This is a very important legal event that also has major financial implications for the people who undergo it. If you are planning to get a divorce then you need to make sure that you are represented by the best law firm. This ensures and double checks that you get the easiest possible divorce.
Many people go into their divorce disadvantaged right at the outset since they do not select the best possible legal firm to represent them. If you do not choose your lawyer with care then you might very well have to face very unfavorable terms as part of the legal settlement. There is a chance that the divorce might turn out to be very expensive for you and you might also get alienated from your children, in case you have any. What makes some of the unique Law firms so much better than the others is that it ensures that you get your divorce but with the most favorable terms.
The company chosen by you must have immense amount of experience dealing with divorce cases of all types. Clients belonging to it must be:
- Guaranteed to get personalized attention
- Explained about the various legal options that they are faced with so that they better understand what the law firm is doing.
- Expected to pay fees that are in proportion to the legal and other services they receive, without any hidden costs.
- Able to come to a mutual agreement thanks to expert mediation.
You should never make the mistake of settling for the first legal firm you encounter. Ask a few people for their recommendations and also for feedback regarding a particular law firm. You will save yourself a great deal of unnecessary headache if you take the trouble to select the best possible law firm.
If you are represented by the top or the most able Law Firm, you are sure to get a definite head start on the divorce proceedings. As a matter of fact, the opposing party might decide not to contest the terms of the divorce when they realize that you have such excellent representation, and this will help you bring the divorce proceedings to a quick and satisfactory conclusion. You will be able to get your life back in order very easily once your marriage has been dissolved.
Find out how the right divorce Austin firm like the Morgan Law Firm can help you dissolve your marriage easily. Select the right firm that has the necessary experience to give you the best representation.
Many people go into their divorce disadvantaged right at the outset since they do not select the best possible legal firm to represent them. If you do not choose your lawyer with care then you might very well have to face very unfavorable terms as part of the legal settlement. There is a chance that the divorce might turn out to be very expensive for you and you might also get alienated from your children, in case you have any. What makes some of the unique Law firms so much better than the others is that it ensures that you get your divorce but with the most favorable terms.
The company chosen by you must have immense amount of experience dealing with divorce cases of all types. Clients belonging to it must be:
- Guaranteed to get personalized attention
- Explained about the various legal options that they are faced with so that they better understand what the law firm is doing.
- Expected to pay fees that are in proportion to the legal and other services they receive, without any hidden costs.
- Able to come to a mutual agreement thanks to expert mediation.
You should never make the mistake of settling for the first legal firm you encounter. Ask a few people for their recommendations and also for feedback regarding a particular law firm. You will save yourself a great deal of unnecessary headache if you take the trouble to select the best possible law firm.
If you are represented by the top or the most able Law Firm, you are sure to get a definite head start on the divorce proceedings. As a matter of fact, the opposing party might decide not to contest the terms of the divorce when they realize that you have such excellent representation, and this will help you bring the divorce proceedings to a quick and satisfactory conclusion. You will be able to get your life back in order very easily once your marriage has been dissolved.
Find out how the right divorce Austin firm like the Morgan Law Firm can help you dissolve your marriage easily. Select the right firm that has the necessary experience to give you the best representation.
Benefits of Law Firm SEO Services
Search engine optimization is a service that improves visibility and accessibility of a website as a result of un-paid search. We can say a website is ranked on the basis of its traffic breakdown, the more visitors the more traffic and the more popularity of the website. As a result of popularity high ranked or high scored websites appear more frequently when we search about some specific keywords. A law firm is group of lawyers who work together while practicing and their principal responsibility is to guide their clients about their right, responsibilities and liabilities.
Multiple law firms invest money, time and mind share in SEO to design graphics and headers or page titles for their websites. Some law firms contact SEOs for promotion of their websites to compete the targeted industries and avail the opportunity. Law firms basically use SEO services for firm/business development and prominent placement. Three core ideas which are utilized by law firms while using SEO are to target more visitors and audience, to disclose practice proficiencies, to drive or impel new business in targeted or practice regions.
Marketing of websites involves two steps which are; whether your website or page contents are reflecting the right perspective and services and secondly SEOs improve inbound links of website by promoting and displaying the link on different sites to make it more visible and more accessible. Most visited sites are ranked high and well and this way we can judge the progression. Law firm SEO services are considered as building blocks in marketing and development procedure blended with stem offers by SEOs.
In old days traditional advisors are consulted for recommendations but there was no surety or guarantee of winning the case. Therefore trend changed in hiring law firms for the solution of business and development issues. Now clients sort out their problems by searching the best law firm through Google, Yahoo or Bing by writing specific keywords or asking for legal help. SEO help in creating a website and making it more available, accessible and visible at popular search engines when searched by interested clients.
Legal problems must be dealt delicately because they are very sensitive and inexperience lawyers can get confuse and puzzle while selecting the way to represent the responsibilities and liabilities. That's why an active and experienced SEO campaign is impelled to solve the issue by expanding the client's base, effectively manufacturing brand and increasing the exposure. Legal SEO experts not only reduce the caseload but also improve rates and strength of your case and help you in a very effective and fine way. Legal and ethical borders and responsibilities are highlighted to attract visitors and clients.
Expert SEOs help in building a word-of-mouth advertisement for your law firm to publish your metadata, expertise, experiences and the cases you have solved. So, basically law firm SEO services are utilized to build an offline presence, social network, Reputation management, localization and to compete the other campaigns. Traditional SEO techniques and marketing techniques are used as tracking tools for web optimization.
Multiple law firms invest money, time and mind share in SEO to design graphics and headers or page titles for their websites. Some law firms contact SEOs for promotion of their websites to compete the targeted industries and avail the opportunity. Law firms basically use SEO services for firm/business development and prominent placement. Three core ideas which are utilized by law firms while using SEO are to target more visitors and audience, to disclose practice proficiencies, to drive or impel new business in targeted or practice regions.
Marketing of websites involves two steps which are; whether your website or page contents are reflecting the right perspective and services and secondly SEOs improve inbound links of website by promoting and displaying the link on different sites to make it more visible and more accessible. Most visited sites are ranked high and well and this way we can judge the progression. Law firm SEO services are considered as building blocks in marketing and development procedure blended with stem offers by SEOs.
In old days traditional advisors are consulted for recommendations but there was no surety or guarantee of winning the case. Therefore trend changed in hiring law firms for the solution of business and development issues. Now clients sort out their problems by searching the best law firm through Google, Yahoo or Bing by writing specific keywords or asking for legal help. SEO help in creating a website and making it more available, accessible and visible at popular search engines when searched by interested clients.
Legal problems must be dealt delicately because they are very sensitive and inexperience lawyers can get confuse and puzzle while selecting the way to represent the responsibilities and liabilities. That's why an active and experienced SEO campaign is impelled to solve the issue by expanding the client's base, effectively manufacturing brand and increasing the exposure. Legal SEO experts not only reduce the caseload but also improve rates and strength of your case and help you in a very effective and fine way. Legal and ethical borders and responsibilities are highlighted to attract visitors and clients.
Expert SEOs help in building a word-of-mouth advertisement for your law firm to publish your metadata, expertise, experiences and the cases you have solved. So, basically law firm SEO services are utilized to build an offline presence, social network, Reputation management, localization and to compete the other campaigns. Traditional SEO techniques and marketing techniques are used as tracking tools for web optimization.
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