LegalMatch Marketing for Attorneys

The Pros and Cons of “Unbundling” Legal Services

There’s been much ado about services (e.g., LegalZoom) that offer a limited type of service to consumers for a limited type of fee. The idea behind this type of legal service is admirable—to broaden the availability of legal work to the general population. After all, in our country, it’s pretty well settled that 80% United States consumers cannot afford most lawyer’s fees.

Before diving into the pros and cons of the proliferation of this structure of legal services, we should probable define exactly what we’re talking about.

What Is “Unbundling” Anyway?

“Unbundling” refers to a specific legal service where the lawyer breaks down the work to be done on a legal matter, and then only provides representation and work product for that limited range of service. These services are typically conducted at a fixed fee.

What Are Some Pros?

The most obvious “pro” is the ability to offer specific, low cost legal services to individuals who otherwise would not have that type of service provided. Other pros include:

• Client control
• Limited bill
• Flexibility

While this type of legal service is typically offered online, there’s no good reason why these limited type of representation relationships cannot be formed in a traditional law office. From a practitioner’s standpoint, it requires a less stressful relationship, along with a new source of otherwise overlooked or missed income.

What Are Some Cons?

You know the old saying, “the grass is always greener, but the water bill is twice as high?” Well, that certainly applies here. From a client perspective, the lack of a legal professional fully assessing their complete situation may lead to unforeseen consequences. While this may not amount to professional malpractice, it’s certainly a bust, regardless, to learn that a client has potentially torpedoed a case. It’s more of a bust to learn that your “limited” representation may have played a role.

Additionally, there has been some division in the states as to whether LegalZoom and the like constitute the unauthorized practice of law. Without getting into whether limited scope of representation would facilitate that, it’s worth mentioning that the reason these lawsuits started is because someone’s interests were not represented to the best of the ability they may have been. Sure, $90 for a will sounds great on paper, but when it costs the client infinitely more, one has to start wondering if any cost benefit analysis justifies limited representation for the sake of a few more bucks and a few more clients.

What’s the Lowdown?

Look, if you’re comfortable offering limited representation, and your state’s rules permit you to do so (similar to the ABA’s rules); then try it out. For many practitioners, it may be a great professional move.

However, I think it’s fair to say at this point, to do so at your own peril. While the services you may offer may be adequate, and far beyond competent, it’s an unexplored territory, and undoubtedly rife with unforeseen consequences.

Authored by Matthew Izzi, LegalMatch Legal Writer and Attorney at law

Fee Collection: A New Solution to an Old Problem

It’s not a new dilemma: after putting in all the time an effort to get a client in the door and to resolve their legal issue, you still need to get paid. And a client may not always see the bill the same way the lawyer does.

Here are a few ways to approach a situation where a client is apprehensive about a bill.

Solidify Respect and the Relationship through Communication

If a client keeps their bill up to date, a lawyer can focus almost exclusively on getting the legal work done. Having to direct the client to billing before proceeding with certain aspects of the case can be awkward and less than productive. More often than not, this is due to a poor line of communication with respect to the work being done and what the client is paying for.

As a lawyer, if you will be asking for money, make sure you have the work product to back it up. Thus, focusing your attention on the work, and producing work product in a timely manner, and then producing that product to your client is probably the best first step to help ensure prompt payments.

Pick Your Battles

However, even the best lawyers will encounter clients that are sketchy with respect to paying the bill. The reality is that not every delinquent account is worth pursuing. Thus, knowing which clients to go after with respect to collection policies.

Establish Collection Policies

If your practice does not have established collections policies, then you really have no one but yourself to blame if you cannot collect on a bill. These policies should focus on:

• When to initiate the firm’s collection process
• Terms of the fee arrangement
• Credit terms (e.g., when credit may be extended, how much, and when to cut it off.)

Take Charge

Don’t be inattentive to payment problems. If a client is behind on their bill, have someone ask why. If they refuse to pay for services performed, depending on the rules of your state, you may have a legitimate reason to terminate the attorney-client relationship.

Authored by Matthew Izzi, LegalMatch legal writer and attorney at law. Further practice tips can be found on LegalMatch's LinkedIn page. Also, follow us on Twitter @LegalMatch.

Recent Internet Scams Targeting Lawyers and Law firms

Internet scammers have recently been targeting lawyers and law firms by posing as a potential “client” from a foreign country who is need of a U.S. attorney. The situation has become frequent enough for the FBI to conduct on-going investigations. These “clients” use sophisticated tactics to scam even the most prudent attorney. Since the scams are relatively new and have yet to be highly publicized, many attorney are ill-prepared to protect themselves.

The most common scenario is that the attorney will receive an email from an off-shore individual or company requesting legal representation to collect delinquent accounts in the U.S. The majority of the “clients” are from Korea, China, Ireland and Canada. Often, they will list a referring attorney or a Bar Association as a contact. The scammers have gone so far as too post fake blogs and websites for the referring attorney, which leads attorney to assume the referral is legitimate. Once a retainer and/or fee is agreed upon, the scammer send the attorney a cashier’s check from a seemingly reputable bank, on behalf of the new “client.”

Additionally, they also send an invoice purporting to reflect monies owed to them from the debtor. The scammer then quickly requests that the attorney send back the remaining funds, minus attorney fees. If the scammer is successful, the attorney will send the funds when the bank claims that the funds are available, but before they discovers it is counterfeit (some banks will make the funds available before the check technically clears.) The off-shore account is then closed and cannot be traced to the scammer.

Another, but less common, scenario is that the scammer poses as a prospective client and requests the firm’s bank information to transfer the funds. In this case, the scammer will hack directly into the attorney’s account and remove the funds.

Although, the above situations may seem to be obvious scams in retrospect, many attorneys have fallen victim. Some precautions that you can take to avoid the same fate include:

• Independently obtain more than the contact information the “client” provides. That is, do not just rely on the information they give you.
• If the “client” appears to be internationally based, run a background check and research them extensively. If they present an attorney referral, do more than a simple internet search to confirm legitimacy.
• Be aware if the “client” claims they were referred by a Bar Association, as they very rarely give referrals to Be aware, if the client claims they were referred by a Bar Association, as they very rarely give specific referrals to attorneys.
• Deposit the check into an escrow account completely separate from your firm’s trust account.
• Do not accept any checks from off-shore clients. Instead, have them wire the money directly into your firm’s account and avoid turning over any pertinent information regarding your account. This will ensure the funds are legitimate and accessible immediately.
• Ask yourself if there is any valid reason to be paying the client at all.
• If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam, contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov. Keep in mind that there is no breach of lawyer’s duty of confidentiality at this time, as the Legal Ethics Committee has yet to offer an opinion on this situation. There is no “reasonable expectation of confidentiality” since the communications are being used to obtain the money under false pretenses. 

Authored by Nicole Shoener, LegalMatch Staff Legal Writer

Law Practice Tip: Introduce Your Clients to Reality

A reality of the legal field is that lawyers have to regularly deal with problematic clients. When a case isn’t going in a client’s favor and there’s nothing that can be done, many clients will become frustrated and immediately blame the lawyer. Situations such as this generally occur when a client’s expectations are unrealistically high.

Prior to representing a new client, you should always be sure to discuss the difference between realistic and unrealistic expectations. Determine what the client wants to achieve and let him or her know if the goal is feasible. If your client comes in with high expectations and you aren’t confident that you can deliver the desired results, you should be honest. Tell the client the truth! Also, don’t ever take a case outside of your comfort level just to earn a few extra dollars. You’ll thank yourself later.

If you don’t establish realistic expectations before taking on your new clients, you are setting yourself up for disaster. Your time spent in the office will be far more productive when you’re not nursing a stress headache.

Authored by Peter Clarke, Content Manger for LegalMatch.com.

Law Practice Tip: Understand Your Conversions

Do you know where your clients are coming from? How did they find you?

Lawyers spend thousands of dollars trying to get new clients in the door every year. Plenty of channels exist to help you find clients: the Yellow Pages, Internet advertising, newspaper ads, and television commercials have all become familiar turf for attorney marketing. But how do you know which channel will work the best for you? Unless you know how the cost per acquisition for each channel you invest in, and you know exactly how much profit you made from that one case, your marketing efforts are probably far less than optimal.

So, what can you do to get a handle on your finances?

1. Figure out how much money you allocate to each marketing channel each month.
2. Find out how many leads vs. paying clients come from each.
3. Find out how much money you are able to make on each paying client, per channel.

For example. You spend $1000 per month to place your ad in the Yellow Pages. That ad brings in 15 leads. Of those 15 leads, only 4 turn into paying clients. And (for simplicity’s sake) each of those paying cases earns you $500.

Once you have this knowledge, you can calculate the following for each marketing effort:

• Conversion rate: How many leads do you have to push through before you secure a paying client?
• Effectiveness: How profitable is each channel? This is your return on investment (ROI).
• Concentration: Which marketing channel provides the best ROI?

Once you determine your conversion rate, effectiveness, and concentration, you will be able to make an informed decision to focus your marketing budget on proven marketing methods. Methods that, by reviewing your data, you know will work. By doing this, you can maximize your ROI, save yourself the headache of worrying over ineffective marketing channels, and (most importantly) stop wasting money on dead-end advertising efforts.

Want to go a step further? Start tracking where your quality clients are coming from.

While “quality” is a relative term, it can also be an extremely useful one—but you will need to define it. So before you get started, decide what a “quality client” means to you. From there, you can work out the perfect intersection between the marketing efforts that provide you with 1) the greatest number of quality clients and 2) the best return on your investment.  

Authored by Peter Clarke, Content Manger for LegalMatch.com.

Ethical Issues for Attorney Blogs

In order to develop a meaningful online presence, lawyers routinely include blogs on their professional websites. Most attorney blogs feature news or information concerning the legal issues addressed by the attorney’s practice. While developing content for a blog, attorneys should be aware that blog content must abide by professional conduct standards. If these standards are violated in an attorney’s blog, disciplinary actions may result.

Red Flags to Consider: What are Some Possible Violations

• Articles that discuss prior and current cases may violate confidentiality rules.
• Articles that reach out into other jurisdictions may be considered an unauthorized practice of law.
• Promotional blogs may violate strict advertising regulations.
• Delegating the writing of blog content to non-legal staff may be construed as “aiding the unauthorized practice of law.”

Attorneys should also be careful about responding to specific questions in the comments section of a blog. In some states, comments in a blog may be seen as providing specific advice, which may establish an attorney-client relationship.

Tips for Building an Ethical Blog

• Write generalized informational (non-advisory) articles.
• Note the state in which you are licensed to practice and the status of your license.
• Avoid discussing prior or current cases for self-promotion as that may violate confidentiality rules, unless facts are changed and names redacted.
• Use jurisdictional disclaimers when applicable.
• Make all disclaimers very clear, legalese-free, and conspicuous to lay readers.
• Ensure that blog commenters’ state of residence is included; this will minimize the risk of engaging in an unauthorized practice of law by giving advice on laws of state where you lack license.

Nuts and Bolts of Disclaimers: What are Some Typical Points to Include?

Blog disclaimer(s) may address jurisdictional limits of a legal practice and/or formation concerning an attorney-client relationship. Here are several examples:

1. A Jurisdictional Disclaimer may include the following:

• The state the attorney is licensed practice
• An explanation that an attorney can't practice in other states without the proper license
• A statement that the blog is not intended as solicitation or advertisement
• A note that information in the blog may not apply to every reader  

2. A Client-Attorney Relationship Disclaimer may state that:

• Communications on the blog don’t form an attorney client relationship
• Neither the blog's nor the attorney's purpose is to represent readers
• The blog's information is not intended for legal advice