Something New
Larry Bodine has a new effort that may be of particular interest to up-and-coming Big Firm associates (and others). It’s called JD Supra, and it goes like this:
Major law firms across North America are contributing articles and court filings to JD Supra, which will soon launch as the best user-generated content website for lawyers and clients.
Lawyers are not waiting for the site launch, set for later this Fall. They are signing up now to get Founding Contributor status — which means they’ll get special promotion on the site and other free benefits. It’s the latest thing in marketing — Web 2.0 meets the Law – yet follows the classic rule of marketing: do good legal work and the clients will call you. And, with JD Supra, you get to leverage the power of technology to showcase that work to more potential clients and referral sources than ever before.
I’m part of a team that is diligently working behind the scenes on JD Supra. Right now we are collecting content, and getting it from big firms, small firms, sole practitioners,law professors and public interest organizations across North America.
The prelaunch buzz around JD Supra is building, with positive responses from bloggers and news editors alike. I’ve mentioned it in presentations to marketing audiences in Seattle, Boston, Pittsburgh and Hartford – all audiences certainly took note. We expect to be featured in a number of national publications when we launch, to the benefit of our Founding Contributors.
Smart lawyers will pay a visit to http://www.jdsupra.com/preview and pre-register now.
So . . . why should up-and-coming associates at Big Firms care about this?
Well . . . maybe they shouldn’t, but it could be an opportunity.
Look . . . new associates at big firms are typically stuck doing yeoman’s work for senior associates and partners. So they go unnoticed. They may build a great reputation at their firm, but no one else (e.g., a prospective employer) gets to see what they’re doing.
But . . . if they wrote some interesting stuff and published it at JD Supra (or some widely read publication), they’d have a chance of being noticed. If their writing is top-notch, they might be pursued (by that prospective employer).
But . . . if they stay in the trenches doing the heavy lifting for others, who’s going to notice? Those very folks who have them tied down with doc review?
7 October 2007 at 9:49
Interesting thought. Firm approval may be required, even if many times the content in question is public, but would be politically wise… But the idea of young associates building profile via their work, and prior to a firm’s full-on marketing or BD campaign for that individual, has a lot of merit. Could be very constructive use of an Associate’s early years of practice.