Lawyers sell themselves to potential law employers to be hired.
Lawyers sell themselves to potential clients to be hired.
Lawyers sell their case strengths and settlement positions to adverse counsel to resolve cases.
Lawyers sell their legal arguments to judges to win motions.
Lawyers sell their cases to juries to win trials.
The old guard attorneys that have been retiring from practice over the last decade often see attorney marketing as shameful. However, they never needed to do it due to a high demand for lawyers and a low supply of lawyers when they started practicing. In otherwords, they were the only show in town when they made their mark.
Modern law practice is very competetive and requires sophisticated analysis of marketing trends. The sales terms of "leads," "prospects," and "conversions" have become part of attorney vernacular.
While the traditional "low information" client back in the old guard days was impressed by fancy office furnishings, modern clients come to the initial attorney consultation informed by Internet searches. They are in turn impressed by the information on a law firm's website and how good it looks. Clients know that if they aren't impressed by the firm's powers of marketing persuasion, the courtroom skill set just might not be there.
To survive in this modern world, attorneys must embrace this lawyer-salesman mindset. There is no shame in marketing with class and soft selling one's law firm to clients. Tacky TV ads are not the only option. But there are options and they are many.
The possible places to spend attorney marketing funds are limitless and the attorney must be sophisticated or money is wasted. Many that you have to earn by the "point one." This is why the field of attorney marketing advisors has taken off.
It is very dangerous to rely solely on the advice of your ad rep from a particular company, as they have a vested interest in selling their product to you. Instead, consider hiring a traditional marketing firm for advice. Or better yet, hire an attorney marketing consultant. Spending money to educate yourself on the limitless marketing possibilities before committing marketing dollars is wise.
Remember, we scorn clients for pro se mistakes all the time. They truly get what they pay for. And so do we. Let's get advise from the experts. An attorney who is marketing himself truly has a fool for a client.
- Mike Arnold is the managing partner of Arnold Law in Eugene, Oregon. He is the firm's lead jury trial counsel and leads the firm's business practice decisions.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Monday, January 23, 2012
Citizens are safer today because of GPS ruling
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf
In today's opinion in united states v. Jones, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that common-law trespass rules govern the plain meaning of the fourth amendment. There is no need to analyze using the "reasonable expectation of privacy test" when a trespass analysis can be applied. This is a throwback to earlier styles of analysis that predate the 21st century jurisprudence of the Supreme Court.
By Mike Arnold, attorney at Law
Eugene, Oregon
(dictated from my iPhone)
In today's opinion in united states v. Jones, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that common-law trespass rules govern the plain meaning of the fourth amendment. There is no need to analyze using the "reasonable expectation of privacy test" when a trespass analysis can be applied. This is a throwback to earlier styles of analysis that predate the 21st century jurisprudence of the Supreme Court.
By Mike Arnold, attorney at Law
Eugene, Oregon
(dictated from my iPhone)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Beware of redacting PDF files - the curse of the cut and paste
A federal judge wrote an opinion with redacted information about Apple which was subject to an order to seal. However, when anyone copied and pasted the text, the redacted info showed up. The perils of technology and a lesson for folks outside the legal field.
One way we prevent redacted info from being viewable is to print the page and then scan it back to PDF. It's a primitive solution but is pretty much idiot proof.
Mike Arnold,
Attorney at Law
Arnold Law Office, LLC
Eugene, Oregon
One way we prevent redacted info from being viewable is to print the page and then scan it back to PDF. It's a primitive solution but is pretty much idiot proof.
Mike Arnold,
Attorney at Law
Arnold Law Office, LLC
Eugene, Oregon
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Can a officer stop a driver for hitting a deer?
http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/27440837-55/marijuana-trooper-car-deer-police.html.csp.
A driver hits a deer with his car. He doesn't stop. Officer observes the collision and then pulls them over for hitting the deer not stopping.
Interesting issue. Is there an affirmative duty to pull over if you hit a deer? I suppose it is property damage of the king's traditionally speaking. In essence all wildlife is the property of the state of Oregon.
Of course if the driver was driving carelessly or recklessly the officer could've pulled him over for that.
(Dictated into my iPhone and not reviewed.)
A driver hits a deer with his car. He doesn't stop. Officer observes the collision and then pulls them over for hitting the deer not stopping.
Interesting issue. Is there an affirmative duty to pull over if you hit a deer? I suppose it is property damage of the king's traditionally speaking. In essence all wildlife is the property of the state of Oregon.
Of course if the driver was driving carelessly or recklessly the officer could've pulled him over for that.
(Dictated into my iPhone and not reviewed.)
Imprisoned while innocent, released when guilty
In domestic violence cases in Lane County Oregon, people are typically jailed while they are presumed innocent and then released with alternative sanctions after they are convicted. The system as set up coerces defendants into pleading guilty when they are completely innocent or guilty of a lesser offense but overcharged by an overly zealous and paternalistic prosecutor.
The reason that this system is perpetuated in the status quo is due to an arm of the court called pretrial services. They apparently have secret marching orders from someone, presumably in the judiciary, that urges them to keep the presumed innocent domestic violence defendants incarcerated.
In a case last year a client of mine had bail set at $1.6 million meaning he had to post $160,000 cash to be released pretrial. Of course he was significantly overcharged which caused the unreasonably high bail. Ultimately he ended up with one count against him with a probationary sentence.
The purpose of bail is supposed to be to secure someone's attendance at court. However in Lane County the purpose of bail is to keep people in jail in order for them to be more likely to settle their case. It is a perversion of the process.
Most recently while representing an alleged victim of domestic violence we learned that pretrial services won't even accept bail posted by an alleged victim. Of course this case was dropped before the bail needed to be posted. Rest assured in the future this system will be involved in a lawsuit if they keep someone in jail one extra day due to the paternalistic policy of refusing bail by the alleged victim.
The system of keeping people locked up ignores the situation that the alleged victims are in. Often the primary income earner will lose his job if he doesn't get released. This is paternalism at its worst.
The reason that this system is perpetuated in the status quo is due to an arm of the court called pretrial services. They apparently have secret marching orders from someone, presumably in the judiciary, that urges them to keep the presumed innocent domestic violence defendants incarcerated.
In a case last year a client of mine had bail set at $1.6 million meaning he had to post $160,000 cash to be released pretrial. Of course he was significantly overcharged which caused the unreasonably high bail. Ultimately he ended up with one count against him with a probationary sentence.
The purpose of bail is supposed to be to secure someone's attendance at court. However in Lane County the purpose of bail is to keep people in jail in order for them to be more likely to settle their case. It is a perversion of the process.
Most recently while representing an alleged victim of domestic violence we learned that pretrial services won't even accept bail posted by an alleged victim. Of course this case was dropped before the bail needed to be posted. Rest assured in the future this system will be involved in a lawsuit if they keep someone in jail one extra day due to the paternalistic policy of refusing bail by the alleged victim.
The system of keeping people locked up ignores the situation that the alleged victims are in. Often the primary income earner will lose his job if he doesn't get released. This is paternalism at its worst.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Clio instead of TimeSlips and Time Matters falls short for managing associates
Clio appears to be a wonderful web based program but it cannot tell you how much money an associate attorney has actually collected. It can only tell you what they billed. They are hoping to have this report capability by the end of the year. They seem to be going more for the sole practitioner or small partnerships. Hopefully they will grow a bit because they have some great capabilities.
Mike Arnold,
Managing Partner
Arnold Law Office, LLC
Eugene, Oregon
Mike Arnold,
Managing Partner
Arnold Law Office, LLC
Eugene, Oregon
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
KVAL Writes about Dismissal of Rape Charges
When news of false charges hits the internet, only a dismissal and aggressive public relations can help mitigate a damaged reputation.
http://www.kval.com/news/129477103.html
http://www.kval.com/news/129477103.html
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