Legal Marketing -- by Larry Bodine

Hidden Camera in Bathroom = Marketing Disaster

How would you like to market this law firm?

A Wheaton, Illinois, lawyer hid two tiny wireless cameras in the women's restroom of his  law office and secretly videotaped women using the toilet, according to a lawsuit filed October 26, 2005 by a female employee of the firm.

The suit contends attorney Jerald Mangan hid the cameras, which allegedly transmitted images from the restroom to Mangan's computer and to the office's computer server. One camera was discovered in mid-September in a roll of toilet paper, the suit says. It was removed, but a second camera, hidden in a small basket of potpourri, was discovered Oct. 11, according to the suit.

There's not much info online about attorney Mangan.  The firm has no Web site.  Martindale-Hubbell states only: "Born 1957; Admitted 1982; University of Kansas, B.A.; DePaul University, J.D."  His firm, Mangan, Langhenry, Gillen & Lundquist, has 7 lawyers -- including three women lawyers.  Mangan, 48, is no longer affiliated with the practice.

"It's shocking any employer would willingly put a camera in a women's restroom,'' said attorney Dennis DeCaro, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the female employee.  He was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The employee, who isn't a lawyer, is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, which was filed in Cook County, where Mangan's firm also has an office.  "She's distraught about this," DeCaro said.

Local police have been contacted about the alleged videotaping.  The law firm also was named as a defendant in the suit because after the first camera was discovered by a female lawyer, other female employees weren't notified, DeCaro contends.

Mangan, who has been licensed to practice law since 1982, could face ethics sanctions from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which investigates misconduct allegations against attorneys. ARDC spokesman James Grogan said Mangan has a clean record but declined to say whether the lawsuit has prompted the agency to begin an inquiry.

The firm, which has offices in Chicago, Joliet, Wheaton and Rockford, specializes in defending businesses from insurance claims.  They'll need all the legal defense they can get.

Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications

For a meaningful ranking of law firms, developed thoughtfully by an experience editor familiar with the legal profession, read the Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications and published in the Oct/Nov issue of Marketing the Law Firm and now on the home page of Law Marketing Portal.  See www.lawmarketing.com.

These are firms that are contributing to the bottom line of their firm.  There are quite a few surprises:

    - many well-known firms did not live up to the standards.

    - the winners include some surprises.

   

Betiayn Tursi, editor of Marketing The Firm, personally went through hundreds of pages of submissions and evaluated them based on Marketing Strategy, Results, Marketing Department Staffing, Communications/Public Relations/Media Relations, Commitment, Advertising and Visual Communications, Web Site and Firm Blogs, Client Service Programs and Outreach.

Come to BlawgThink 2005

Join leading legal bloggers in Chicago on November 11 and 12 for BlawgThink 2005: a bold new approach to learning about legal blogging. This first of its kind two-day has been organized by my friend Matt Homann, a lawyer, futurist and author of the the [non]billable hour blog.  The event brings together the largest group of legal bloggers ever assembled for two days of education, innovation, fellowship and fun.

The first day of BlawgThink will feature structured educational sessions led by top legal bloggers covering basic and advanced topics, including blogging how-to, blogging tools, marketing tips, content strategies, RSS and ethics. Each session will have ample time for questions, demonstrations, and hands-on practice.

The second day of BlawgThink, in true LexThink! fashion, belongs to the attendees. Though there will be some planned activities, much of the agenda will be determined by the audience. By combining collaborative brainstorming techniques with small group discussion groups, BlawgThink give you an unparalleled opportunity to meet, learn from, and interact with the best and most innovative legal bloggers in the country.

Matt encourages you bring your ideas, enthusiasm, and creative energy and the program organizers will come up with cool ideas to improve your blog, increase your blogging "ROI" and change the legal blogging landscape.

How Much Lawyers Are Paid

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The Law is still a great profession worth joining, according to the Robert Half Legal staffing service, especially when it comes to the money.

Based in Menlo Park, CA, the recruiting firm has published a 2006 Salary Guide for the U.S. that's free by calling 800.870.8367.  Several hiring and management trends are listed:

• "In their roles as advisors, lawyers are becoming more adept at helping their clients address business and legal matters.  In many instances this has led to the creation of additional practice areas and specialties for firms."
• " Traditional attorney roles are evolving.  Not only are lawyers serving as legal counselors, they are also addressing a clients or company's larger business goals and objectives.  Law firms are requiring attorneys to become familiar with the activities and capabilities of all practice groups -- not just their own -- to better serve clients and generate cross-selling opportunities."

As a business development consultant, I think this is great news.  I strongly urge the lawyers whom I advise that they should visit their clients, ask them questions about the company's business and find out what are their "business traumas."  This way a client will actually tell a lawyer what their legal needs are, and an astute lawyer can offer to help out.

Other trends:

• Interpersonal skills.  "The emphasis on identifying and responding to client priorities means attorneys must draw on their traditionally strong communication abilities. They also must be good listeners as well as articulate and persuasive. Law offices are looking for attorneys with strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, who can work effectively on case and project teams that include fulltime staff, outside specialists and contract legal professionals."
• Language Skills. "Fluency in English and Spanish is becoming increasingly important ... in all practice areas, especially in California, Texas and Florida. In addition, legal professionals who are proficient in French, German, Japanese or Chinese are highly valued by firms that do a heavy volume of business internationally. "
• E-filing. "Courts in most jurisdictions are moving increasingly toward a near-paperless environment, making knowledge of electronic filing a fairly standard requirement. Firms and legal departments seek paralegals who can fully utilize software and hardware designed for e-filing."
• Project Attorneys.  "An increasing number of firms are discovering that augmenting core legal staff with highly-skilled project professionals offers them a cost-effective way to bring together the specialized experience they need for both short- and long-term initiatives. " 70% of lawyers said their firm would use project lawyers to work on large projects that require more resources than currently exist.

Know the "share of wallet" of your clients

LexisNexis® has upgraded its online research and business intelligence service, LexisNexis Market Intelligence, so you can tell how much of your client's business your firm has.

Market Intelligence was introduced in February, according to Mike Walsh, senior vice president of large law and national law at LexisNexis. LexisNexis Market Intelligence is introducing a new Client Share tab that provides marketers with a quick analysis of the firm’s “share of a client’s business.” It pinpoints which firms have the remaining share and provides a tool to monitor client share over time to help assess the ROI of marketing efforts.

“In today’s fast-changing legal environment, marketers need to understand how their firms stack up against the competition and the ROI resulting from their client development initiatives,” said Walsh.  “Market Intelligence’s new Client Share tab delivers this competitive intelligence in seconds instead of the hours, days or even weeks it would otherwise take to obtain.”

LexisNexis has a complicated pricing structure, but marketing director friends of mine have told me the company charges $5,000 a seat per month for Market Intelligence. However, a company spokesman says that this information is incorrect and that the company doesn't discuss pricing with the media.

LexisNexis Market Intelligence provides dossiers on more than 35 million public and private companies and 1,200 industries as well as news from leading sources that, as of today, include The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Dow Jones and Reuters newswires and other news content from Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company. For more information go to: http://www.lexisnexis.com/marketintelligence/.

Funny Ads, “Interesting People” Dinners and Surprise Experiences Distinguish Law Firm

Parsinen Kaplan Rosberg & Gotlieb, P.A. is a 30-lawyer firm based in Minneapolis that enjoys being different. Its high-touch and fun culture differentiates the firm in the market and makes it a delightful place to work.

Led by Director of Business Development Mary Kay Ziniewicz, the firm uses New Yorker magazine style cartoons in their advertising, invites clients to "Interesting People" dinners to connect with other business people, and rewards marketing success with "Experiences" are granted based on individual passions

To read a case study about three of the firm’s marketing initiatives for 2005,  see

http://www.lawmarketing.com/pages/articles.asp?Action=Article&ArticleCategoryID=7&ArticleID=423

on the LawMarketing Portal.