Set in Style

Whatever happened to Winslow and so many others? What’s become of Daniel Norayr Kassabian, Robert Daniel Fram, Jonathan Stewart Larsen, Annette Louise Hurst, and all the IP lawyers that used to work for Heller Ehrman?

Are they hiding?

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Suppose you want to contact Winslow. You know that Heller Ehrman closed shop a while back, and so the contact information you have for him isn’t going to work.

What do you do?

Very likely, you ask Google to search for Winslow. You enter Winslow Blodgett Taub in the search field, press return, and . . . Bingo! Winslow has his own page at Avvo. (And who doesn’t, these days?)

But the page hasn’t been updated in years. According to Winslow’s listing on Avvo, he still works for Heller Ehrman.

OK. You’re determined to find Winslow, and so you turn to Linked In. (And who doesn’t have a listing on Linked In, these days?)

But it turns out that Winslow doesn’t have a listing on Linked In.

You’d turn to Martindale-Hubbard next, or the member listings at the state bar Web site, but your phone rings and you have to move on.

Note: You could find Winslow’s listing at the state bar Web site, but that listing would inform you that his e-mail address is winslow.taub@hellerehrman.com.

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Suppose you finish your call and Daniel Norayr Kassabian comes to mind. You ask Google to find him and . . . Bingo! Daniel has a listing on Justia.

But the listing says he’s still at Heller Ehrman. His listing on Avvo says he’s still at Heller Ehrman, and Linked In says it’s never heard of him.

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Sure, you could find these people if you kept looking, but you might not bother.

Suppose you’re looking for an IP litigation attorney in San Francisco, and an associate recommends Annette Louise Hurst. What you’re most likely to do before you try to contact Annette is to ask Google to inform you of what it’s got on her, and where she’s working now. Has she written any articles about IP litigation? That would be great background. Where did she go to school? How long has she been in practice? What cases has she litigated?

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If you want people (e.g., prospective clients, old associates, potential employers) to find you, make it easy for them to do so. If you leave one firm for another, update your page on Avvo, or on Linked In, or the state bar Web site. Contact Martindale-Hubble and Justia and have your contact information updated.

It’s just part of moving on.

The Wisconsin Law Journal has an interesting article (“Legal blog start-up soars to prominence”) that puts the spotlight on two attorneys: Aaron Street, publisher of Lawyerist Media LLC, and Samuel Glover, Editor-in-Chief of the popular legal blog lawyerist.com — a survival guide for lawyers.

The article describes how Lawyerist went from a one-man operation to one that now has a publisher, an editor-in-chief, and eight regular contributors: attorneys experienced in the management and marketing of small firms.

Here’s some good advice (“Marketing Malpractice Means Not Having a Website”) from Roy Ginsburg, “one of the most experienced attorney coaches in the country,” and a regular contributor to Lawerist:

If you’re a solo attorney and you don’t have a Web site, get one.

Why? Well, read Ginsburg’s article and see.

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Note: If you’re an attorney and you’ve got something to say (esp. about marketing or managing a small firm) consider being a guest blogger for Lawyerist.

A CMO explains CRM to a marketing coordinator.

Suppose that producing a Web site or a blog was something like going through boot camp.

Think about it! There you are, standing for inspection. Some big, mean-looking guy with a weird accent isn’t far away. He can find a flaw in any candidate at any time, and when he can’t, he gets very frustrated. When that happens — and it rarely does — the next candidate with the slightest flaw gets blasted like you’ve never seen before.

He’s getting closer and closer, and you’re getting anxious. You wonder, “Did I miss anything?”

(more…)

There are problems with this statement published by Arnold & Porter:

1. There shouldn’t be a line break after innovation.
2. Preeminent means best, so it calls for a definite, rather than indefinite, article.
3. Bar association rules prohibit claims (e.g., we’re the very best) that cannot be substantiated.

This evening, tens of millions of eyes will be focused on the president as he tells us about health care reform, and tomorrow — if the past is any sort of guide — great big law firms will miss the significant opportunity offered by the president. Rather than leverage the president’s speech, they’ll have their attorneys author client alerts on PQRI incentive payments or EMTALA compliance.

Q: How could a great big law firm take advantage of the president’s speech?

A: By writing popular articles about health care reform.

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If you’re the CMO or the managing partner of a great big law firm with a health care practice, you’ll likely scoff at the conclusion to that Q & A.

“We don’t write popular articles. Our target market includes GCs of big insurance companies and hospitals: people who are interested in PQRI and EMTALA. We’re not trying to market to millions. We don’t sell cheap widgets; we sell very valuable, highly priced expertise, sought by few.”

Understood. But how are you going to persuade your target market to buy your firm’s very valuable, highly priced expertise, rather than some competitor’s?

If you’re like your competitors, you’ll have an attorney spend an hour writing a client alert about PQRI or EMTALA, an article that will be read, at best, by a few of your current clients.

You won’t have that attorney spend several hours writing an interesting article about health care; you won’t bother to publish an article that will be read by thousands; and you won’t take advantage of the opportunity presented by the president. Unless you read this post, it won’t even cross your mind.

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If you’re the CMO or the managing partner of a great big law firm, you might wonder, “What good could be it to write something that so many Mr. or Mrs. Smiths will read? We’re going after Kaiser Permanente, and we’re doing just what our competitors are doing; we’re producing a client alert that Steve Zatkin, or someone who works for him, might read; we’re much more interested in setting up a meeting with him than being noticed by the masses.”

The big advantage to writing a popular article — one that so many Mr. or Mrs. Smiths will find of interest — is this: Steve Zatkin is much more likely to read that article than some technical client alert about PQRI or EMTALA. Ditto for those who work for him.

Those who either know him or know those (e.g. neighbors and such) who work for him, might read it and mention it (while there’s no chance they’ll read your client alert and mention it).

If the article’s an interesting one, people will discuss it, and that increases the likelihood that it will come to the attention of Zatkin, those who work for him, or those who can influence him.

And, if the article’s written for the right audience, Zatkin will be favorably impressed with it. He’ll notice who wrote it, and he’ll associate it with your firm. And then he’ll be more likely to agree to a meeting with its author. In fact, he just might ask for that meeting (simply because he wants to meet the author).

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No doubt, despite all the hoopla about social media, when it comes to your business, things are still done as they long have been. Prospects are procured with a round of golf, a steak, and a Martini.

Ah, but how you reach the point of procurement . . . the times, they are a changing.