LegalMatch Marketing for Attorneys

The Psychology of Office Décor

Office décor can be the starting point to the type of relationship you will establish with your clients. The décor can affect the psychological mindsets of your clients. It can make clients feel welcomed and comfortable, therefore more willing to hire you as their attorney. This is part of the reason why individuals and businesses spend thousands of dollars on interior decorators. But with a few tips, you can be your own interior decorator and create the perfect environment to optimize client attorney relations. 

For a welcoming environment, neutral colors, warm lighting and plants will do the trick. Neutral colors are professional, which will make your clients respect you and your practice even more so. Warm lighting makes your office feel like a welcoming place, where people can come and have open-dialogue with you. Also, neutral walls and hung mirrors will make your office appear bigger. Green plants in the office will bring good fengshui, and green colors tend to have a calming effect on people.

To have a hospitable and warming environment, a small drink and snack table will make your clients feel more comfortable. Having an organized desk will also make the client feel at ease. By offering drinks and snacks to your client, your client will feel that you two are on the same level. Additionally, when you organize desk chairs such that your chair and your clients are on the same height, it reduces the intimidation factor.

As for wall decorations, framed diplomas and paintings are a good choice. It shows that you are educated from a respectful institution and that you do have interests outside of work. It makes you a more relatable person, in which your client may bond with you on non-work related matters.

For some clients, stepping into an attorney’s office can be intimidating. Any non-legal and neutral decorations may help your clients feel welcomed. After all, a potential client who feels comfortable with you is more likely to retain you as their attorney.

 

How to Avoid Issues with E-Discovery

Electronic discovery or “e-discovery” involves the exchange of digital information for trial. Procedural laws on e-discovery are relatively new when compared to the development of law as a whole. Each jurisdiction may handle e-discovery differently, but it helps to be aware of some basic issues associated with e-discovery. Electronic discovery efforts can sometimes make or break a case.

Some issues to look out for when dealing with e-discovery include:

Number of Files being Requested: Requesting large amounts of irrelevant documents just to harass or confuse the opposing counsel is prohibited. You should also be aware if you suspect this is happening to you.

• Expert Advice: Some electronic storage databases can be relatively complex and may be difficult for untrained persons to navigate. Accessing electronic files may require the assistance of a trained IT professional. Be sure that your IT person can communicate with you directly and efficiently when requesting files or seeking files.
• Electronic Terminology: Similarly, electronically stored information has its own terminology and technical language. Be sure that all personnel and all parties to the case are clear when dealing with technical terms such as “image”, “digital media”, and other more technical words.
• Understand the Process: Obtaining ESI is not as simple as retrieving a file on a computer. The information must often be located, placed on hold, verified, and extracted before it can be used as evidence. This needs to be factored in when considering court deadlines and timelines.

Lastly, you need to stay aware and keep up with major updates and changes in this area of law. As technology advances, especially with mobile and bring-your-own devices, civil discovery laws will need to adapt as well. Spend the time and resources to educate yourself on these developments, and consult with a person who can advise you in more detail when it comes to the technical side of legal practice.

Learn to Say “NO” to Potential Clients

Attorneys go to law school for different reasons. One common reason is to help people take control of their lives. Assisting those clients who need it most is what makes your job feel good and rewarding.  

Being a humanitarian and wanting to save the world is great! …if you’re Mother Theresa. But you’re not. You are running a law practice. And a law practice is a BUSINESS.

Have you ever noticed a little sign in the entryway of restaurants, bars, and retail stores? It says “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone.” It means, “Some Customers Are NOT Worth The Trouble.”

Even if you want to, you can’t help everyone who comes to you for help. Learn to say “NO,” and protect your sanity, plus your business. You don’t need the headache that comes from trying to please everyone.

That being said--use your best judgment.

There will always be some people that really do need help, deserve help, and will end up being excellent clients. Learn to pinpoint and assist good clients. And learn to tactfully reject bad ones.   

Reeling in Your Phone Lines

Do you have trouble getting people off the phone and into your office for initial consultations?

Every lawyer knows that once they get a client into the office, the chance that their services will be retained increases dramatically. A personal connection between attorney and clientele is the first and most vital step in retaining their service. But what can an attorney do to encourage the transition from phone to office?

When speaking to the client for the first time, try letting the client know you run a very personal practice. Tell her or him that you make a point to meet every client face to face during your initial consultation. Suggest that it’s important to you to make sure that you will be a good fit for them and their case: both professionally and personally. Explain your background and what law you specialize in. And mention that the best way to do that is to meet one on one at your offices. (This works particularly well with family law clients).

The client will feel more at ease and will be more willing to come into your practice and make a face to face connection. This interaction will get them comfortable enough to decide that they want a lawyer who cares about their case as much as they do.

How LegalMatch Can Help Your Communication with Clients

LegalMatch marketing services help to facilitate successful initial contacts with new clients. As a member attorney with LegalMatch, you receive access to client case-postings that are specific to your location and your practice areas. When you make an initial contact with a potential client, you already know quite a lot about the client's situation. This maximizes your ability to determine quickly which leads you want to take on as clients.

For a detailed example of how LegalMatch can help you communicate with clients, check out this recent LegalMatch review by longtime member attorney Charles Damian. 

 

Empathizing with Your Client

Do you feel that your practice is lacking a more humanized, personal touch?

You may be so busy that you don’t always think about how your clients perceive you. But a positive presentation is something that should always be on your mind—and in your interactions with clients.

Some people have it already, but many attorneys are still learning what it means to empathize. Putting yourself in your client’s shoes is something you may need to practice, but it can help motivate you and put your client at ease. Let them know that you understand their situation (and if possible, relate a personal experience to their dilemma), and tell them about any similar situations you may have handled and resolved in the past.

But remember!—empathy is not just a pat on the back and an “I know what you’re going through.” Skip the canned Hallmark reassurances. If you want to make a true empathetic connection, you will need to listen and relate. You don’t need to be their therapist, but you should be their confidante.

Empathizing with your client will encourage comfort and ultimately establish trust. And with over 88% of consumers claiming that it’s important to trust their lawyer, an ability to express empathy can be a key factor in your client’s decision to retain your services.     

 For more law practice tips, connect with us on LinkedIn or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Managing Your Online Reviews

These days, almost every business has an online presence, including reviews from customers online. Law firms and lawyers are no exception. Sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, and Avvo allow clients to review your services. Good reviews can help grow your business, but bad reviews could be damaging. Here are some tips on how to manage those negative reviews:

1. Be Knowledgeable: The first thing you should do is look yourself and your firm up to see what your online presence looks like. Check out review pages and conduct periodic Google searches or set alerts to be notified when you or your firm is mentioned online.
2. Claim Review Pages: Claim review pages on sites like Yelp, Google, and Avvo so you can manage them and add useful and true content about your practice.
3. Reflect on Negative Reviews: Negative comments, while hurtful, could also give you valuable insight into areas where you could improve your business or practice going forward.
4. Respond: If you spot some bad reviews, you can try and diffuse some of the damaging effects by responding politely and professionally. This shows potential clients that you are concerned. In your response, be courteous and apologize. Encourage the client to reach out to you to discuss the matter more fully. Be careful not to disclose any confidential client information.
5. Encourage Positive Reviews: Encourage current clients to post reviews if they are satisfied. Positive reviews will decrease the importance of the negative ones. Before you do this, however, be sure to check with your state and local bar associations to see if this is allowed.

Negative reviews are inevitable in any business. In the practice of law, tensions can run high and can prompt bad reviews, even if you didn’t do anything wrong. Take your reviews in stride and always look for ways to improve. 

Getting Extra Help: Hiring a Contract Attorney

Whether your firm consists of only you or several other attorneys, there are benefits in hiring a contract attorney to handle some of your work. A few benefits of hiring a contract attorney are as follows:

• Hiring a contract attorney is a productive way to assess a new attorney before taking the risk in hiring someone into your practice. Also, contract attorneys can simply serve a temporary solution for very busy times.
• Hiring a contractor will cost less than hiring someone full-time, since the employer is not responsible for government contributions such as disability. They also generally work at an hourly rate, or may sometimes take a definite project at a flat rate.
• Contract attorneys can also take on basic projects, like research and writing, freeing up your time to perform other tasks more essential to your practice. The contractor could also take on projects you have not had the time for.  

Some of the concerns you may have when looking to hire a contract attorney may be related to trust. You cannot always be sure of how well someone will perform their job. This is especially true when you will not have time to closely supervise the contractor. Using a search firm can help calm worries about trust. They can vouch for a candidate and can also help locate attorneys with the experience and education to match your needs.

Another concern is malpractice insurance. Not all contract attorneys have their own policies. Check your own policy, as it might cover contract attorneys as well.

If you do decide to hire a contract attorney, remember to consider the rate your firm can afford, how and where the contract attorney will work, payment and billing procedures, and any conflicts of interest.

 

Encouraging Your Clients to Pay Their Bills

For most individuals, attorney rates can be too high and expensive. When it comes to paying legal fees, clients may be hesitant or even want to renegotiate. There are several aspects to keeping your clients happy and have them pay on time.

Happy clients are the ones who are more likely to pay their bills. The key to keeping your clients happy is communication. Clients appreciate knowing what is going on with their cases. Thus, arranging a communication and case update schedule is useful. Depending on how involved your clients want to be, providing them with confirmation letters to start certain work and sending them copies of the work for approval may be appropriate and greatly appreciated.

Although you are providing services to a client for compensation, not charging your clients for certain items will help you establish good relations. For low cost items such as small print jobs, mailings, and simple communications, you can give those to your clients for free. You should let your clients know that you are giving them free services by writing “no charge” for those services on their bills. As a result, your clients will think that you are giving them a good deal and that you are not penny-pinching them.

To encourage on-time payment, you can use a “token economy” of positive and negative reinforcement. For example, you can give a 10% discount for on-time payments and a 10% penalty for delayed payments. If the client is delinquent for a couple of months, you can state that you will stop all work. Another method to obtain payment is by the use of retainers. If the client is hesitant to sign a retainer, you can offer them a 10% service discount. This has the potential to persuade a client to sign a retainer.

Communication is key in establishing a good relationship with your client. Remember, a happy client is more likely to appreciate your services and will be more willing to pay their bills on time.

 Authored by Adam Vukovic, LegalMatch Legal Writer and Attorney at Law

Why People Use Lawyer Referral Services

People have used lawyer referral services to find attorneys for many decades. You may be wondering: since the birth of the Internet, are traditionally referral services still relevant?

Yes. Traditional referral services do still serve a valuable purpose. Many of them today have sophisticated, Internet-based systems that people can use to find information about attorneys in their area.

Among the types of referral services are public, private, and online services. Public lawyer referral services are usually provided by bar associations, and the attorneys referred by the association are members of that association. They provide information about attorneys in nearly every practice area, and such information can include the attorneys’ certifications, any pending investigations concerning ethics violations, and previous offenses.

Private referral services are managed by private organizations that generally receive financial support from their business and / or from private donations. In many cases, they only refer attorneys to clients who qualify. For instance, clients could fall within the categories of low-income families, the elderly, or immigrants.

Online referral services offer additional benefits, including confidentiality, more information about the attorneys who are referred, and a faster response time than that offered by public or private referral services.

Upon contacting a lawyer referral service, you will be interviewed by a staff member who will then refer you to an attorney who is well versed in the relevant field of law. If, after your interview, the staff member determines that your problem can be resolved without the help of an attorney, you may be referred to another organization or agency that can offer you some assistance.

Authored by Roxanne Minott, LegalMatch Legal Writer and Attorney at Law.

10 Best Lawyer Websites

Businesses need great websites to stay relevant and optimize customer satisfaction. Fortunately, there are many great website building services that allow you to create a stunning website with little or no technical abilities. Weebly.com, Wix.com, and Squarespace.com are three that come to mind. At this point in history, there is virtually no excuse for these Internet eyesores.

Here is our list of the 10 Best Lawyer/Law Firm Websites:

 

1. ThomasJHenryLaw.com

What We Like: The Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys website features a modern design that balances a wealth of information while keeping clutter minimal. The site makes it incredibly easy for a potential client to contact the law firm. There are 3 different forms of contact available along the top of the homepage: a phone number, an email address, and a live chat button. 

Key Tip: Always make your contact information very visible on your home page. While that may make your office more vulnerable to telemarketers, you need to provide potential clients with a way to contact you on your website. People are impatient on the Internet. You should make it as easy as possible for potential clients to quickly get exactly what they’re looking for on your site.

 

2. BurkeBrown.com

What We Like: The homepage for Burke Brown provides small blurbs about what they do and what to expect from them, while expanding on these topics on separate pages. This has the benefit of providing a preview of subsequent pages, which encourages potential clients to click through to those subsequent pages, increasing the SEO rating of the homepage. Burke Brown also has a page devoted to what to expect when you hire them, which allows for potential clients to know what they are getting by hiring the law firm and to help clients keep their expectations reasonable (instead of believing that a lawyer can rewrite the entire Bill of Rights just so they can win one case).

Key Tip: Give people a reason to click through to subsequent pages on your website by providing them with a preview of what to expect on those pages on your homepage. Not only does this help people figure out where they can find the information they want on your website, but it also allows you to place more SEO-friendly content on your homepage. Having more SEO-friendly content on your website will increase its search ranking and its popularity, and who doesn’t want to be popular?

 

3. HoganLovells.com

What We Like: The best part of Hogan Lovell’s website is the fact that it can be viewed in multiple languages. All of the content has been translated into seven different languages, and any one of those translations can be viewed by simply selecting the language on the homepage. Even though the language changes, the format of the well-organized homepage and the structure of the website remains the exact same, making the transition between the different languages while navigating the website easy.

Key Tip: Many major cities in the United States have large immigrant populations where English is the second language that they learn, but they need legal representation just like everyone else. In order to make your website, and subsequently your practice, more accessible to the non-native English speakers in your area, consider making your website bi- or tri-lingual. Just don’t rely exclusively on Google Translate to translate your content into a new language, or your website’s content may be featured on a Google Translate Fail blog post somewhere.

 

4. CanadaVisa.com

What We Like: First, the web address makes it very clear what kind of law Cambell Cohen practices. It has the added feature of consisting of only essential SEO terms, which is important in the race to be located front and center on Google search results. Second, the front page has clearly-identified links to different sections of the website that are based on what services a person might be looking for, whether it’s a student visa or family sponsorship. Easy navigability is critical to make sure that potential clients do not end up more lost than Gilligan on a three-hour tour.

Key Tip: Think about how potential clients will be looking for services and organize your information in a way that will make sense to them. By separating information and pages into groups that match what a potential client is looking for, you are directing potential clients to all the information that they need and nothing that leaves them feeling more confused than when they first landed on your website.

 

5. BakerMcKenzie.com

What We Like: The Baker McKenzie website demonstrates that a clean and simple homepage is much more eye-catching than a homepage that is so full of links and information that it resembles the online equivalent of a hoarder’s closet. Instead, there are only a handful of essential links, a few bright colors and poignant images, and some blurbs about the latest news impacting Baker McKenzie on the homepage.

Key Tip: Make sure that your homepage is not a visual representation of verbal vomit. If you are uncomfortable with flashy graphics and hyperlinks to hide the clutter, then go with a simple homepage, and hide the rest of the information that you want to share on subsequent pages that are accessible from the homepage or other pages.

 

6. MalaiseLawFirm.com

What We Like: The best thing about this website is the accessibility to free information. People love obtaining free information on the internet, which is why Wikipedia gets over 21 billion hits each month. The Malaise Law Firm’s website not only provides free information, but it does so in a way that directs potential clients to very specific answers in two different formats. The “Video Center” provides potential clients with a plethora of videos featuring Mr. Malaise talking about various legal topics stemming from bankruptcy law, while the list of questions and legal topics on the left side directs potential clients to both videos and articles related to specific legal inquiries.

Key Tip: Do not hesitate to put some free legal information and advice out there on the web. Although it may feel like you are talking yourself out of a paying client, providing some basic free information proves that you are knowledgeable about the area that you practice in and answers some of the preliminary questions that would otherwise waste your time when providing an initial consultation with a potential client. Less time wasted on a person without any case and just a ton of questions = more time to talk to a potential client with a great case or more time to practice your golf swing.

 

7. ForThePeople.com

What We Like: Morgan & Morgan’s website makes fantastic use of tabs to keep its homepage organized. At the top of the page, one can click on different tabs to look at different slides that briefly advertise what the firm has to offer. Down towards the bottom of the page, there is a box with column of tabs on the left side that lets potential clients view links to individual blog posts, read testimonials from past and present clients, watch videos about the firm, and see where the offices for Morgan & Morgan are located. These tabs allow for the homepage to contain a lot of content, while having a relatively simple and straightforward appearance.

Key Tip: If you are adverse to having several pages for your website, consider using tabs to keep a few pages looking organized and tidy while containing all the information that is normally found on a fully fleshed-out website. After all, if there’s one thing to take away from the increasingly-popular tiny house movement, it’s that you can do a lot with just a small amount of space if you use that space creatively.

 

8. Murthy.com

What We Like: The Murthy Law Firm provides a lot of online tools through its website, from a regularly-held chat with its attorneys to a message board that anyone can post immigration-related questions and answers on. With all of these online tools that regularly provide fresh content to potential clients, potential clients are more apt to return to the Murthy Law Firm’s website to take advantage of these tools each time they have a new immigration issue.

Key Tip: While Murthy Law Firm may seem to go overboard with all of the online tools it offers (is the average consumer really going to delete Angry Birds from their smartphone to make room for the MurthyApp?), having a regularly updated blog or message board is a low-effort way of giving potential clients a reason to poke around on your website longer and to keep coming back for new information. The new content will also keep your website from seeming abandoned or outdated.

 

9. HiltonSomer.com

What We Like: The website for Hilton and Somer, LLC is visually appealing by sticking with black and white as its main colors and red as an attention-grabbing accent color, dispelling the notion that a hyper-colorful page is more appealing than a website featuring only 2 or 3 colors (although some preschoolers may disagree). However, the best part of Hilton and Somer, LLC’s website is the case evaluation input box, which is on every page in the same location. Instead of having to write out a full email to the firm, a potential client can simply fill out the form and click the “submit” button. Unlike other law firm websites with similar online forms, Hilton and Somer, LLC are smart enough to require potential clients to agree to a disclaimer that submitting the form does not constitute a client-attorney relationship.

Key Tip: The easier it is for a potential client to contact you, the more likely it is that they will contact you. An online form on your homepage makes contacting your firm incredibly easy. Just make sure to include a disclaimer with the form to protect your firm from any risk of a crazy person thinking that just because they sent you their sob story through the form, you’ve agreed to take on any of their past, present, and future legal woes on a pro bono basis.

 

10. Mofo.com

What We Like: Morrison & Foerster, “affectionately” known as MoFo, ensures that potential clients can easily navigate its website. First, the header for each page stays at the top of the screen as one scrolls down, so that the main hyperlinks to other parts of the website are constantly visible, regardless of whether one is looking at the top of a page or has scrolled halfway down the page. Second, at the bottom of each page is a fully displayed site map. Instead of having to click through a number of pages to finally land on the one they wanted, a potential client can locate the page that they want in the sitemap and go directly to that page from any other page on the website.

Key Tip: If you have more than two or three pages for your website, consider putting a sitemap somewhere on your homepage where it would be visible to potential clients. By providing clear shortcuts to where they may want to go, you prevent any potential frustration that a potential client may feel by having to click through several unnecessary pages to get to the page that they want to look at.