Our firm’s attorneys are members of the International Trademark Association (INTA), representing the largest companies and law firms in the world on trademark issues.   The INTA recently did a survey of large corporations of in-house attorneys at large corporations asking a variety of questions.  While the article concerning the findings is extremely interesting, here are the summary bullet points which can guide attorneys looking to improve their relationship with in-house counsel, irrespective of practice area.  Let me know if there are other items that should go on the list.  Here are my favorites below:

Play Traverse Legal Radio - Robert Cox of The Media Bloggers Association
Traverse Legal, PLC
Copy This Widget
Read Transcript

powered by Vertio.net

Important quotes from Mr. Cox's interview found below:

• in 2004 when we started there was about a dozen cases ... more than doubled each year since.
• publisher, or broadcaster of any kind is going to have to be whether or not the person writing it knew it to be untrue and published it and that it somehow cast the person in some sort of negative light.
• bloggers win in about 96%, 97% of the cases. And so, the cases aren’t often successful, but the cost of defending in a defamation lawsuit can be quite expensive.
• standing on their virtual soap box saying whatever they believe. In court they’re going to be treated as publishers. And so, that shift has to occur in the mindset of people who are blogging which is that they are in fact both, they’re a writer and a publisher.
• if you’re stating opinion then it’s going to be very difficult for somebody to win a defamation case.
• You want to not get the lawsuit in the first place. And so, that’s what we focus on.
• In our experience we’ve been involved in hundreds of legal threats against bloggers and we’ve had less than twenty that have actually proceeded to court, so it is possible to knock these things down or get them to go away. Of course, the best thing to do is to not have the problem in the first place.

Fundamentally, the world is a brand new place to do business.  Technology and innovation have become as or more important than sheer size, momentum and/or social connections.  In the industrial age economy, staying the same had real advantages in the market.  This is why General Motors got by for so long on really crummy automobiles.  Companies like General Motors, and many other smaller companies, are now presented with an economic reality that it is much more akin to our notion of capitalism.

It has never been more fun to be in business.  Experimenting with new marketing techniques online, new customer service models, better communication systems with customers and a variety of other tools and approaches have opened up the possibilities.

This leads me to an important question which you must answer.  "What are you changing?"

Melodee K. Currier, President

I am a 1989 graduate of the Florida Atlantic University Paralegal Program in Boca Raton, Florida and have over 25 years' Intellectual Property experience working in the corporate Legal Departments of Owens-Illinois, Inc., IBM and Wendy's International, Inc. From 2002 to 2008 I was a paralegal at Wendy's International, Inc., solely responsible for its entire U.S. and International IP portfolio, including its subsidiaries, Baja Fresh and Cafe Express.

Some of my services include conducting preliminary trademark searches; drafting and electronically filing trademark applications, affidavits of continued use and renewals; reviewing advertising and promotional materials; infringement searches; research availability of domain names and register, renew or transfer domain names; create and/or maintain domain name spreadsheet databases; conducting internet based research; and assisting in due diligence or other special projects. 

Please visit my website www.etrademarkparalegal.com for further services, testimonials and read my recent article Working in the 21st Century with Virtual Paralegals.

In today’s competitive market place, are you looking for ways to reduce costs and provide faster turnaround to your clients?  Do you operate with a budget in mind and find getting help on a temporary or full time basis is too expensive?  Do you have difficulty finding competent help when you need it?

These are challenging questions for any attorney or legal administrator, especially in tough economic times.  Everyone faces the pressure of producing quick results at the lowest possible cost.  Often this is not easy to do because of the high cost of hiring employees.  Let’s face it, nearly ¬everyone is challenged by cash flow these days and anything that adds expense to your business must provide value to justify the costs.

Although most attorneys are used to having their paralegal at arm’s length, the Internet has opened up a new way of doing business.  Your paralegal can now be remotely located across the street or even in another part of the world.  The Internet has provided amazing avenues of both revenue generation and cost savings.  Using the power of the Internet to the advantage of your business will also serve your clients better. 

One key advantage that is available to you via the Internet is the use of the virtual paralegal.  “Virtual” in this case means an online paralegal service vendor who is as close as your computer.  She (or he) works from a remote location on an “as needed” basis, enabling you to increase manpower without the expense of a full time employee.  And the need for temporary employees is “virtually” eliminated.  You pay only for the time it takes them to do the work.  This means you do not pay for their sick days, coffee breaks, long lunches or trips to the restroom. 

Virtual paralegals can also save you money in the following ways:

• no training costs
• no workspace costs
• no supplies or equipment costs
• no payroll taxes (federal, social security, unemployment, workers compensation)
• no overtime, bonuses, vacation, holiday or sick time to pay

Some other things to consider -- if you live in a high cost area, such as Washington, D.C., New York or California, you can hire a virtual paralegal from a lower cost area.  You may also find better talent online than what is available locally.  If you hire a virtual paralegal in a different time zone, a project sent to them in the evening may be completed by the time you are ready to work in the morning.

As you can see, there are many practical advantages to using a virtual paralegal.  You need to consider whether these advantages are important enough to you that they merit trying out the use of one.

The American Bar Association has published articles on the use of virtual paralegals on its website (www.abanet.org).  One article, entitled Virtual Help: An Outsourcing Relationship With a Virtual Assistant Can Complete Your Team states, “Virtual assistants are an outsourcing strategy that can give lawyers the best of all solutions to the need for help.”  Another article Outsourcing for Solos and Small firms: Virtual Paralegals  states,  “A virtual paralegal enables solos and small firms to take advantage of the economy that effective use of a paralegal can provide to a practice, on an as needed basis.”

Even though virtual paralegals exist, getting attorneys to adapt them to the needs of their practices remains a hurdle.  Virtual paralegals represent unknown risks to you and your clients because you seldom have the opportunity to meet the paralegal and use your keen powers of observation and people skills to evaluate them.  Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate these risks and start gaining advantage of the efficient and cost effective use of virtual paralegal services now.

You will want to make sure that the paralegal has a certification from a recognized paralegal program and a minimum of five years paralegal experience in a specialized area.  It is desirable if he or she is a member of their local bar association and paralegal group.  It will also be helpful if you obtain references or testimonials from the virtual paralegal’s past clients.  And if they provide a service agreement, review it to see that it includes confidentiality guarantees to protect your practice and your client’s interests.  You may be able to quickly check out all of this if the paralegal has a website. 

Speaking of the website, does it look professional?  Is it easy to contact the paralegal via the website or by fax?  Is there a toll free number for you to use?  How easy does she make it for you to buy her services?  Can you be automatically invoiced?  Does the website use a secure method for payment such as PayPal?

You will find that dependable, reputable virtual paralegals are available.  Once you are focused on the one or two you feel most comfortable with, place an order for services and evaluate for yourself how well this works for you.   Don’t be afraid to give honest feedback -- a reputable paralegal will thank you for it. 

The next time you need paralegal support, consider this contemporary, cost effective option, and start working in the 21st century with a virtual paralegal – virtually just a keystroke away!   

Virtually every solo or small law firm needs a phone system, fax number, email marketing tool, web site and a variety of other services.  The amount of time that it actually takes to research the various options that are available on the web is daunting.

One of our favorite clients is www.choosewhat.com.  ChooseWhat has done all the front-end work for you by creating “apples for apples” comparison charts for internet fax services, hosted phone systems, email marketing software, tax software, web hosting, and checking account information for small business by identifying key elements which most businesses are concerned about in signing up for outsourced services, ChooseWhat has done all the heavy lifting already.

Take a moment and check out their various web sites.  I’m sure you will agree that their service analysis provides tremendous value to consumers.

Traverse City, Michigan June 17th, 2009 –  M-109 near Glen Lake will be closed this Saturday beginning at 8:45am in order for the shot gun start of the 1st Annual M-22 Challenge.  At 9:00am, event participants will cross the start line on M-109 near the event site, Little Glen Lake Picnic Area, on bikes escorted by the Leelanau County Sheriffs Department.  And so begins M-22 Challenge!

After a 17 mile cycle up to Inspiration Point and around picturesque Big and Little Glen Lake, participants will transition to the running event and sprint to the base of the Sleeping Bear Dunes “Dune Climb” to summit the sandy slope.  The male and female participant with the fastest dune climb time will be named the first-ever, “King and Queen of the Dune” and receive granite mounted trophies by TC Mirror. 

At the top of the dune, athletes will catch their breath and take in the view of the National Lakeshore before sprinting down the dune and back to the transition area for the last and most exciting event: The paddle race.

Lined up on the shore of Little Glen Lake, kayaks and stand up paddle-boards will await participants to race out and back on crystal clear Little Glen Lake.  With the finish line in the water built by Sox Construction, it’s an exciting, can’t miss finish.   Awards will take place around12:00pm near national sponsor Red Bull’s tent with trophies for the top athletes and even an “I finished the M-22 Challenge” trophy for the last finisher.

Spectators will be able to witness the entire event from the Little Glen Lake Picnic Area and cheer participants on as they start the weekend in one of Michigan’s most beautiful areas.  Additionally, The National Lakeshore will be offering free parking all weekend. 

Are you up for the Challenge? Registration is still open and kayak rentals are available at the event site.  Don’t let the dune climb scare you away and don’t miss out on the opportunity to be a part of the first ever M-22 Challenge.

Online registration at www.m22challenge.com  will be open until 5pm on Thursday, June 18th.  Or, Register in person from 5-7pm in the downtown Traverse City M-22 Store.  Event check-in is also possible at this time and location.  At check-in participants will receive their race packets, shirts, and a 22% discount on M-22 gear.  Late registration and an alternative check-in takes place 5-9pm on Friday, June 19th at the event site.  Bikes and watercraft may also be dropped off at this time. 

About the M-22 Challenge:
The M-22 Challenge is a multi-discipline event based in beautiful Leelanau County in Northern Michigan designed to challenge athletes against the natural terrain and environmental elements of the area. 
Additional information and course maps are available at www.m22challenge.com.

About M-22:
Founded by kiteboarders in search of epic wind and waves, M-22 was created to express the common passion for Northern Michigan.  M-22 is not just a road; it’s a way of life.  Its bays, beaches and bonfires, dunes and vineyards, cottages, friends and family.  It is the feeling you get when you realize there is no other place you would rather be.

Press Contact:
Stephanie Zalucha, Media Director
stephanie.zalucha@gmail.com
M-22 Challenge
www.m22challenge.com

The Internet is a different form of advertising media.  Many people simply go to the web looking for free information.  Many lawyer web sites provide a tremendous amount of “brochure” information about their attorneys and practice areas.  A relative few actually provide expertise and advice on how to deal with specific issues.  This is perhaps the biggest failure of most law firms on the web.  They assume that a web site visitor who sees that they practice in the area of “trademark infringement” that someone is going to pick up the phone and call them.  But web visitors aren’t looking for a marketing message per se.  They are looking for information.  And by providing free expertise online, lawyers are not only telling web visitors that they are “attorneys” and practice in a particular area, but they indeed have the expertise concerning the particular issue facing the prospect.  I’ve always believed that attorneys who fail to share their expertise online are making a big mistake.  Web visitors tend to drift through Google results.  Once they leave your web site, the chance that they will actually come back is slim.  You need to capture them while they are there.  This not only needs prominent display of “contact an attorney”, but live chat applications, embedded marketing messages within the content of the site and specific information concerning niche issues which prospects might face. 

Let’s assume that you’ve designed your web site to not only attract traffic, but encourage prospects to contact you.  What happens after they fill out your contact form on your web site?  An email will route to someone in the firm.  That person needs to be in a position to respond in a timely fashion with specific information.  What is it you want to tell the prospect?  We have developed standardized responses depending on the problem which not only lets the prospect know the expertise to handle the problem, but actually provide a list of deliverables for engagement of their legal problem and a flat fee price.  So our response email is actually a proposal for engagement. 

Many firms simply engage in an email conversation with the client trying to explore and obtain more information about the legal problem.  Given the volume that a law firm might receive off their web site, this is not an approach which will last.  Attorneys get tired of spinning in circles within email responses and replies with prospects who may or may not be capable of paying an attorney fee.  You need to get to the pitch.  You need to propose a project and let the prospect know what it will cost.  Our flat free defined deliverable pricing model works perfectly in this regard.    It also helps “pre-qualify” prospects who are able to pay from those who are simply looking for free information. 

When things start to get light around the office and lawyers are looking for more work, they should do more than send an email to the prospect.  Your online form should capture a phone number.  A telephone call always creates a higher potential of being retained.  While there is more time and risk that the prospect may not be able to pay attorneys’ fees, a phone call during a down period of work is a great way to increase the likelihood that you will turn prospects into clients.

Similar Posts:

I Could Be an Idiot, but You Would Never Know It Because I Look Good In a Suit

One of the most neglected web pages on law firm websites is the “About” page.  I know, we’ve neglected ours for way too long.  In considering an upgrade, we leveraged some of what we believe to be our best marketing tools:

• Our faces.  Anyone in marketing will tell you that a face personalizes the marketing message at a level which cannot be achieved by any other means.  The cleverest of slogans will not get near as far as the connection between you and a prospect when they can see what you look like.  Faces build trust, familiarity and shows that there are actually real people standing behind a law firm website.
• We included a flash image with quotes from each of our attorneys.  This allows clients to see that we are a small, niche law firm specializing in areas such as trademark infringement, internet law, cybersquatting and domain disputes, copyright infringement, e-commerce contracts, trade secret/non-compete agreements, and complex litigation.
• We recently used Vertio.net to conduct client interviews and obtain client testimonials.  With Vertio, those interviews are transcribed.  We publish those interviews on our website including the audio file and transcript.  We included some of the highlights of those testimonials on our about page. 
• Of course, we listed our attorneys’ names and added information about the specialized practice areas for each attorney.  
• At the bottom, we included our mission statement so that prospective clients could see what it is we stand for and our overall approach to legal services.

Of course, we are always looking for ideas.  Please post your best about page links here and let us know what you think of our redesign as well.

In four plus years, we have never had a client indicate that they didn’t know what was happening in their case.  Because we use a secure and encrypted extranet system as our case management tool and let clients into that system, clients can see exactly what’s happening on their case each day.  They can participate in the internal discussions concerning key issues.  Their entire file is available online.

One of the key benefits which technology brings to bear on an attorney-client relationship is streaming and continual information and information access.  We represented the largest block of injured passengers in the Crown Prince cruise ship accident case pending in the mass tort court of California.  We created a single template of task categories and tasks from client retainer agreement, through medical releases, interview questions and dozens of other issues in our extranet system.  We then rolled that template out across all fifty or so clients.  Everything was scanned and uploaded into the system.  Not only did we have the largest block of clients in the country, we also had the most well-informed clients of any victims of the cruise ship accident.  As importantly, our clients did not feel the need to call us (fifty or so clients calling every other day would have essentially shut our law firm down).

We picked up clients from major law firms who fired those firms because they never got to speak to an attorney, only a paralegal, and they had no idea what was going  on.  Was the notice of claim filed?  Was the complaint filed?  What was happening in the case?  What was going to be happening in the case next?  Law firms handling cases in the traditional mode, without taking advantage of the advantages which technology brings to bear, are missing the boat.  Technology is not a cost item for a law firm as much as it is the greatest opportunity for a law firm to increase productivity and reduce cost.  Training employees to abide by a predefined process on top of that technology is not a hassle as much as it is a chance for everyone to be able to do their jobs easier and better.

As the old guard is replaced by younger more technology able attorneys, firms will be in a better position to incorporate and adapt to technology.  For now, many of the lawyers running law firms across the United States just don’t get it.

Is your law firm stepping up to the plate of technology?  What needs to happen in our industry before lawyers are viewing technology as the greatest opportunity since the typewriter and dictation machines?

Technology allows us to push a lot of information and access to our clients.  Our model is devoted to helping the client understand the key legal principles involved and practical realities of the legal process.

As lawyers, we often forget that we have a duty to keep our clients informed and that cover letters with attached materials is old school.  Technology allows us to keep clients informed at a much higher level than previously.   Email and extranet updates are real-time.   Digital scanning allows clients’ entire files to available online.  Online case management systems allow clients to see in real-time what’s happening on their case.  GoToMeeting allows remote clients to share your desktop so you can go over key information and legal principles point by point so the client has the best opportunity to understand.  Mind mapping software allows clients to be presented with information in decision trees which easily lay out information, options and strategic decisions.  Digital dictation allows lawyers to push information, thoughts, analysis and background at multiples of ten, fifty or a hundred times more than the standard mailed cover letter.  Extranets and email allow clients to push information back upstream to lawyers, share thoughts and pose questions without picking up the phone.

One of the often overlooked benefits of all of this technology is the reduction in the prospect for a malpractice claim.  Well informed clients cannot complain about an absence of information or being frozen out of key decisions.  Technology allows clients to be so heavily involved in their own legal problem that expectations can be set and reset throughout the matter.  This leads the lawyer to simply do what lawyers are paid to do.  Get the law right, understand how the law applies to the facts and present options to the client as well as their best recommendations.

Old school lawyers who have failed to adapt with information age technologies not only run the risk of losing the competitive advantage on issues of value and client service, but fail to reduce the risk of malpractice claims.

If you are using technology in new and innovative ways to clients informed, I would be interested to know what your thoughts are about if and how you believe the malpractice risk is reduced.