Category «Legal Marketing»

Citizens’ social media can provide an antidote to propaganda and disinformation

Robert W. Gehl, Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice, York University, Canada raises an important issue about a recent Pew report on current state of digital media, news and right-wing propaganda. Gehl states the report misses a large number of alternative social media sites that actively and effectively oppose the right-wing propaganda. This distracts us from real-world solutions to the problems of online hate speech, disinformation and surveillance capitalism.

Subjects: Communication Skills, KM, Legal Research, Social Media, Technology Trends

Your Resume: Portrait or Passport Photo? Career Development for Lawyers—And Other Ambitious People

Jerry Lawson discusses how a good resume is more like a stylish portrait photo. A top portrait photographer uses lenses, lighting, composition, props and other tools to bring out the subject’s best features in an original way. Your resume should do no less for your professional qualifications. This actionable guide clearly identifies the elements and components that comprise an outstanding resume for attorneys and other legal professionals.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Competitive Intelligence, Job Hunting, KM, Legal Profession, Search Engines, Social Media

Presenter’s Guide Series, Part II – Dealing With Difficult Questions

Attorney Jerry Lawson is a legal tech expert with decades of experience delivering effective presentations. In this, the second part of a multi part series, Lawson shares insightful recommendations and techniques to successfully manage what can be challenging interactions with audience members during the course of a presentation.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Continuing Legal Education, Education, Presentation Skills, Training

The Practice of People Law

Jim Calloway is the Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program. He informs us about the range of legal services delivered by what have been designated as “primary-care lawyers.” From Calloway’s perspective, there is people law, and there is business/corporate law. Over the years, there has been a greater divergence in these two types of law practice focuses. He makes the case that increasingly, these are completely different types of law practices, with different types of challenges and processes. Calloway believes this is not only true but profound. He views it as profound because consideration of the differences should inform and impact the method of legal service delivery depending on the type of client.

Subjects: Communications, Education, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Management

Remote Work Proves the Firm Library Is More Than a Physical Space

Marshall Voizard is a law firm reference supervisor. He shares significant insights into the profession in the time of COVID. Voizard states that the past 18 months have accelerated positive changes, illustrating to all that the library is no longer primarily a physical place, but rather an entire ecosystem of electronic legal information resources. Our expert guidance is needed more than ever.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, KM, Law Librarians, Legal Marketing, Library Marketing, Online Legal Research Services, Technology Trends

Listening to the Client

In over 30 years of working with law firms on improving productivity and profitability Heather Gray-Grant has seen countless marketplace surveys on the incredible value of client feedback mechanisms. In many instances it’s been labelled as one of the fastest and most effective ways to boost firm revenue. So, you’d think that law firms would be all over this business practice as a standard operating procedure. But…not so much. Gray-Grant discusses how to effectively execute client surveys and audits that will benefit firms as well as customers.

Subjects: Communications, Data Mining, KM, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Management

How Data Analytics Can Change the Way Law Firms Do Business

Lisa M. (Bradford) Mayo, Director of Data and Analytics at Ballard Spahr LLP identifies how and why data and analytics are on the forefront of much of the firm’s modern technology offerings. Unlike many firms, Ballard’s data and analytics function sits inside their Client Value and Innovation department, where they have some latitude with a research and development budget and the directive to “fail fast” if they determine a proof-of-concept did not meet our needs. The firm’s data management mission statement says in part that we “contribute to the firm’s strategic goals by using innovative technologies, a variety of flexible and adaptive data sources, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and ongoing data literacy education to help redefine the Firm’s internal performance objectives and accountability drivers and transform how the Firm delivers legal services to its clients.” Just 48 words but loaded with meaning and purpose, both for now and in the foreseeable future.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Case Management, Competitive Intelligence, Ethics, Information Architecture, Information Mapping, KM, Leadership, Legal Marketing, Technology Trends

Is Remote Work a Thing Now?

Heather Gray-Grant is a business strategist, marketing expert and executive coach who works primarily with small to medium sized law firms. In her article she shares lessons learned on how to effectively manage remote working by law firm attorneys and staff along with the significant implications respective to marketing, HR, technology, firm strategy and administration.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Profession, Recruiting, Telecommuting

Handling Questions: A Presenter’s Guide

OK, you have gotten through the body of your presentation satisfactorily. Time to relax, right? Nope. There is one hurdle left: The question and answer period. This is when some presenters wilt and others shine. With a few tips, some experience and a modicum of intestinal fortitude, you can shine every time. Jerry Lawson’s extensive experience as a speaker is put to good use in this article as he provides best practice advice for each stage of your presentation.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Presentation Skills, Training

Robots are coming for the lawyers – which may be bad for tomorrow’s attorneys but great for anyone in need of cheap legal assistance

Imagine what a lawyer does on a given day: researching cases, drafting briefs, advising clients. While technology has been nibbling around the edges of the legal profession for some time, it’s hard to imagine those complex tasks being done by a robot. And it is those complicated, personalized tasks that have led technologists to include lawyers in a broader category of jobs that are considered pretty safe from a future of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence. As Professors Elizabeth C. Tippett and Charlotte Alexander discovered in a recent research collaboration to analyze legal briefs using a branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning, lawyers’ jobs are a lot less safe than we thought. It turns out that you don’t need to completely automate a job to fundamentally change it. All you need to do is automate part of it.

Subjects: AI, Courts & Technology, KM, Legal Marketing