Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog

Law Marketers on You Tube!

There's a wickedly funny video mockumentary on YouTube about life as a law firm marketing director, entitled "Truth Justice & Credibility."

Jeff Reade of Cole Valley Software plays the sadistic managing partner who sighs when the marketing director interrupts his reading of a cartoon book to talk to him, and who gives credit for the marketing director's ideas to consultants he hired.

Michele Golivesky (who in real life is the Marketing Director for Swift Currie in Atlanta) plays the suffering marketing director. Senior partners introduce her as the "chief party planner and napkin folder" to clients.  The killer scene is when the managing partner goes manic with his idea to give out cheap "red hots" candy as the firm's signature gift -- for the ridiculous theme "hotlaw."

The marketing director is found passed out, asleep on her desk, after staying up all night to complete an RFP.  Then a partner walks in and says "get over that, my contact called and we don't need that RFP."  The marketing director scrambles to find a cup so she can take some ibuprofen.

For all of us who have the lash marks on our backs to prove we were marketing directors, we thank you, Jeff.  The truth is funny...but this stuff really happens. Ya gotta see it.

Terri Gavulic, Vice President of Hildebrandt, Inc. in Marietta, GA, co-wrote the script with Jennifer Manton, Chief Marketing Officer of Loeb & Loeb in New York and Jeff Reade. Terri also co-directed it.

Death of Jenkens & Gilchrist

Today we learned that the law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist will shut its doors after being ordered to pay $76 million in federal penalties for its alleged role in creating illegal tax shelters. In January 2006, Rich Klein, President of Riverside Public Relations LLC in New York, wrote about the firm here to point out how a law firm cannot afford to ignore a brewing crisis that can  ultimately destroy its long-held reputation.

Even the U.S. Attorney who announced the agreement with the firm today referred to the fact that the firm “has recognized ... that its tax-shelter practice has caused serious damage to its reputation, revenues and stability, and that as a result it ultimately cannot continue in business.”

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service have spent four years investigating Jenkens & Gilchrist and its promotion of shelters used to shield billions of dollars from taxes.  Once numbering 611 lawyers, today the firm Web site lists only 163 lawyers.

The IRS said an estimated 1,400 wealthy individuals were affected by the firm's advice on tax shelters and will owe interest and penalties for underpaid taxes.  Jenkens & Gilchrist, a 56-year-old national law firm based in Dallas, has been sued in recent years by wealthy investors who followed its advice and purchased the shelters.

Incredibly, the firm says nothing about the closure on its home page. There's only happy talk about "Gilchrist stays up on Main Street" and "Guidance to Summer Associates." The Web site's News section has an ironic item, "Corporate Relief After Hurricane Katrina (and other major disasters)."  The Recent News & Information" has 378 items, none about the firm closing.

Denial is not a good marketing technique.

Larry bodine was a mutant with the ability to manipulate light

I knew I had "arrived" when a friend told me there was a Wikipedia description of me. I was thrilled until I saw that the reference was to a Marvel Comics character who first appeared in New Mutants #45. The character had the ability to create solid light sculptures, which I thought would be a cool way to get the attention of lawyers and clients. 

The entry states, "Larry Bodine was a mutant with the ability to manipulate light, and even build sculptures out of it."

I wish the entry were about the $1 million I helped a law firm bring in, or the lawyer who I trained so that she multiplied her revenue from $200,000 to $2.5 million in one year.  Alas, I'll have to get by with my ability to create light sculptures.

The lesson I drew from this is to look up yourself online.  You should Google yourself and see what turns up.  You better see links to your bio and practice, articles you've written and speeches you've made.  If you don't turn up in the Internet's largest resource, you are totally invisible to potential clients. 

Also search Google Images to see if your photo can be found.  I was able to locate numerous photos of myself plus a picture of a yellow lizard.  Owners of Apple computers will believe this is an accurate depiction. 

Be sure to check Google Blogs (you do have a blog, don't you?)  Not only did I find my latest post, but all the other bloggers who made reference to it.  You can really find out which of your blog posts are catching people's interest.

Heck, check Wikipedia to see if there is a description of you. You could be a mutant too.

How Not to Structure the Marketing Department

A chief marketing officer was on the phone with me, looking for research on how to structure a law firm's marketing department.  The Made Guys at the firm had just separated marketing from business development.

I didn't need to find any research.  The decision of the partners made as much sense as separating a fisherman from his lure.  Marketing and business development ("sales") are vitally intertwined.

Business development cannot succeed without marketing. Direct mail, advertising, newsletters, email broadcasts, events, print collateral, public relations, branding and the Web site make the law firm a known quantity.  Without marketing, business developers are facing this guy in the chair:

From marketing you get strategy, without which sales has no direction. From marketing you generate leads, without which the sales pipeline is empty. From marketing you identify a firm's unique sales proposition, without which business developers have nothing to say.

Marketing is the hook and Business development is catching the fish.

Business development is creating personal sales plans that the attorneys will carry out to generate new files.  BD is training attorneys how to fish and showing them which techniques to use to acquire a target client. BD is rehearsing the partners before they go out on a sales call. BD is meeting the prospect face-to-face, asking questions to determine client "pain," and offering to help.  BD is asking for the business.

Without fishermen there is no catch. Should law firms separate marketing from business development?  Only if they want to sleep with the fishes.

Coaching Lawyers to be Rainmakers

Join me  at the Legal Marketing Association, Southwest Chapter Luncheon, on Thursday, April 19, 2007, where I'll show how Marketing Directors can get out of the "overhead" category and into the "revenue" category by coaching their lawyers to be rainmakers. 

The program runs from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Gallagher & Kennedy,  2575 East Camelback Road, Suite 1100, Phoenix, Arizona.

In the presentation, I'll show marketers how to capitalize on the lawyer personality, how to interest lawyers in business development and how to conduct a one-on-one coaching session with a lawyer.

Other topics include:

• The seven most effective marketing techniques.
• How to find leads.
• How a lawyer can get a meeting with a prospect.
• What to do and say at the new-business meeting.
• How to close the sale.

Attendees will see how this really works, including case histories where marketers turned themselves into stars. 

The program is free to LMA Members, and costs $25 for Non-Members.  RSVP by April 16, 2007 to Kathleen Brieske kbrieske@perkinscoie.com or 602.351.8215

Clever Blog about "The Office" Spotlights Real Client Liabilities

You've got to check out the blog "That's What She Said," which analyzes antics on the TV show "The Office" and assesses what they would cost a real live employer in workplace lawsuits.

Talk about a great marketing technique!

The author is Julie Elgar, a labor and employment attorney at law firm of Ford & Harrison in Atlanta, Georgia.  She  represents management in companies that have been sued by their employees and former employees.

"When I’m home, I like to relax in front of the TV. NBC’s hit show, "The Office" with Steve Carrell is a draw — not just because it’s so funny -- but also because it is fascinating to consider how many zeros a company would have to add to the settlement check if the antics of the folks at Dunder Mifflin appeared in a real lawsuit," she says.

For example:

• Announcing “we’re screwed” is not the best way to tell employees that the company is closing down its branch. LITIGATION VALUE: $150,000 in defense costs — unless the WARN Act applies.
• Nothing says “I love you” quite like a legal contract acknowledging that you weren't coerced or enticed into having into a relationship with your boss, and that if it doesn't work out, you won’t sue your employer. Courts generally don’t take much stock in agreements that waive your right to sue for wrongs that haven’t even happened yet.  LITIGATION VALUE: $75,000.
• If an executive learns that a regional manager has sponsored a bachelor party in the warehouse, hired a stripper, offered to “deflower” the bride, taken an employee to a sex store, received a lap dance, and allowed a pervert dressed up like Benjamin Franklin to make a lewd statement to the receptionist, she should fire him. As this episode colorfully illustrates, it is not enough to have an anti-harassment policy. LITIGATION VALUE: $800,000+

Dang. Where was Julie Elgar when we needed her at the office holiday party.

Law Firm Web Site Online in 60 Days!

At many law firms, getting a Web site online takes many months and is a process involving committees, multiple levels of approval, re-designs and rewriting.  But the Chicago litigation boutique Miller Law LLC got their site online in only 60 days, proving it can be done. 

The site lists industry experience, many case histories, and biographies that disccuss results. It's everything a referral source needs to know.

Here is the chronology:

January 20, 2007: First Step Internet, a Web site developer for law firms, creates two home page mockups based on Web site usability and marketing principles. We notify the managing partner to take a first look.

February 13: The developer incorporates revisions from the managing partner into the mockup.

February 16: The managing partner and I meet to discuss additional changes and features in the site.

March 2: We begin putting content on the draft site, based on biographies, firm resume and case histories supplied by the law firm.

March 8: Add new text and photos to the draft site.

March 12: Revise text and check the site for compliance with ethics rules.

March 13: Hold a conference call with the managing partner, and we make numerous revisions.

March 19: Correct typos and formatting.

March 20, 4:45 PM Central Time -- the site goes live.  See http://www.millerlawllc.com/.

If you'd like your own Web site online in 60 days, visit me online.

More evidence that 2007 will be an Excellent Year for Law Firms

This will be excellent year for law firms, based on trends that started in 2006.  This is according to a new client advisory issued by Hildebrandt and Citigroup.  I pointed this out myself in an article in January.

The advisory is a numbing 6,000 words long plus 17 footnotes. Here are the high points:

• The average profits per partner (yes, I know the number can be easily manipulated) in 2006 were up a healthy 10.6%.
• Revenue growth was driven largely by a rebound, which continues in corporate and M&A practices.
• Revenues overall will grow in the 8 - 10% range in 2007.
• In 2006 there was a 7% increase in legal spending by US corporations over 2005.
• 59% of what corporations buy is litigation.
• Raising rates works –- with law firms annually imposing 6-8% rate increases across the board.
• To cut expenses, a number of firms have begun to experiment with “outsourcing” as a means of controlling costs –- re-locating various back office and support services to lower cost providers or lower cost locations.
• Mergers of law firms were numerous in in 2006 with 58 completed mergers and acquisitions involving US law firms, up from 49 in 2005. 
• There were only 2 law firm dissolutions worth noting in 2006, those of Weinberg Richmond in Chicago and Miller Shea in Detroit.  This total was down from the 4 dissolutions in 2005 and the 5 dissolutions in 2004.
• There was a significant expansion in the number of domestic branch office openings by US law firms -– a total of 82 new offices, as compared to 66 in 2005. (Soon there will be as many law offices as Starbucks.)
• The biggest firms are getting bigger.  The average size of the 250 largest firms in 2006 grew to 486 lawyers, up from 467 in 2005.

"Looking ahead to 2007, we believe that healthy growth will continue," the advisory concludes (with caveats).

Oh No! Cold Callings Works

Imagine my dread when I read new research by RainToday that cold calling works.  I hate cold calls. So do most people. It reminds me of my first job selling encyclopedias. I hated that job.

But there it is in "What's Working in Lead Generation" by Mike Schultz, Andrea Meacham Rosal and Jone Doerr:

"Cold Calling is second only to referrals as the number one lead generation tactic. While there is much debate over the topic of cold calling – if it works, if it is worth it, how to do it “right” – the data here is clear: cold calling does work for a number of firms."

The data came from 730 leaders of professional services firms. So why do lawyers hate making cold calls? The researchers said, "because people are doing it the wrong way. The purpose of a cold call is to set a meeting to introduce yourself, and to learn about the prospect… not to go into a detailed sales pitch.

"All too often, business developers try to pitch their services over the phone, rather than approaching their targets with a value based offer for the meeting (research, industry insights, best practices, etc.).

"If you...'do your research' before the call, offer something of value, keep it conversational, listen, keep good notes, and follow up – then cold calling can and does work (and it may even become your #1 tactic)."

The full 221-page report has 42 charts and graphs, 90 data tables and 22 pages of verbatim comments and advice.  The downloadable version costs $345 and is available in the LawMarketing Store.

"On the Cover of the ABA (Journal)"

If you want to see something really funny, go to YouTube and watch comedian Bob Noone sing his song about getting "On the Cover of the ABA" (Journal).  It's a spoof on the 1972 song "Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show.

Comic Noone was performing at the Greenbriar Hotel, a five-star luxury resort and hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.  One verse is:

"I've got 10 paralegals
to make me cappuccino
I keep winning cases but I can't my face on
the cover of the ABA.

It's the journal of the legal profession
I would make such a fine impression
I want to see my pinstripe suit
on the cover of the ABA."

Noone also pokes fun at law firm marketing consultants.  Lord knows, us bigheaded know-it-alls can use it. Thanks to reporter par excellence Terry Carter for tipping me off about this.