So Many Competing Lawyers

From an increase in the number of lawyers to national and global expansion of larger firms to corporations with counsel on staff, competition is everywhere. The number of lawyers increased almost 25% in the 1990s - from 755,694 in 1990 to 1,048,903 in 2001. And recent trends are pointing towards consolidation in the legal industry. A recent study conducted by research group, BTI Consulting Group, of 180 corporate counsel clients found that Fortune 1000 clients are going to cut their roster of law firms by 40% of the next 3 years. Marketing is about breaking through the group and establishing yourself and your firm as the leader in your specialty area.

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Categories: Marketing |

The CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act of 2003 went into effect at the beginning of this year. You can read about it at here. The law is set up to regulate spam, prohibiting techniques such as spoofing addresses, faking subject lines and ignoring recipients’ opt-out requests. It doesn’t ban unsolicited commercial e-mail outright.

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Categories: Email Marketing |

There have been numerous legal cases involving companies using their competitor’s trademarked names as keywords in meta tags and banner ads. The most recent threat to sue comes from American Blind & Wallpaper Factory in Plymouth, Mich (ABWF).

ABWF has not yet filed suit against search engine leader Google, but has been sending cease-and-desist letters since July 2002. Google responded by asking a California court to rule that its advertising methodology is legal. Google then filed a complaint against ABWF in the US District Court, Northern District of California on Nov. 26, 2003, asking for “declaratory judgement of non-infringement.”

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Categories: Search Marketing |

Often, law firms settle for template based websites that revolve around their firm. They might provide attorney bios, the firm’s history, some contact information, and perhaps a list of practice areas. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with including such information - it would be wrong of you not to since those elements are fundamental to any website. But if you want to be attracting more clients and keeping them interested in your firm, you should be doing a lot more! (Keep reading →)

Categories: Websites |

BTI has done a number of market research studies on major law firms. Most recently, they interviewed more than 180 Corporate Counsel of Fortune 1000 clients from August through October 2003. Some of the more interesting things the survey found include: (Keep reading →)

Categories: Client Service |

This is an article I found as I was doing some research, but it does a great job of explaining why you should be picking and choosing clients rather than taking anyone that comes your way. (Keep reading →)

Categories: Client Service |

When I mentioned to a friend that I was starting a ‘blog,’ I got a blank stare and a sarcastic remark, so I figured I’d take a moment to discuss one of the latest and easiest to use technologies out there - the weblog, affectionately called a ‘blog.’ Sure, blogs have been around for quite some time, but they have recently become increasingly popular. Some even see them as an alternative to email since so much email is now ’spam’ that getting people’s attention through that medium can be increasingly difficult. They are easy to set up and in just a couple of minutes, you can have a blog up and running - and depending on which provider you go with, they can even be free (ie our blog from blogger.com)!

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Categories: Blogging |