American Bar Association

Published on: March 15, 2018

LPT: What’s New in Social Media Marketing for Lawyers?

SM_Pic_LPT_2018-300x144 In the March 2018 issue of the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Today webzine, I put around 2,500 words to web in my article, What’s New in Social Media Marketing for Lawyers? It seems like just yesterday that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (and plenty others) came into our lives. It’s been longer than that…as a nine year old post this morning on Facebook reminded me of an event from days’ gone by. The tools have changed, and for business development purposes, lawyers have had to change with them.

In preparing to write the feature, I kept putting down notes on various social media news, programs and events—seemingly by the hour. At the same time I write this very blog post, I’m mere minutes away from moderating an ABA CLE on The Law and Social Media: Tips for Every Lawyer, with my colleagues Cynthia Dahl, Kathryn Deal and Molly DiBianca, covering social media issues that range from employment law matters to tweeting jurors, messaging witnesses, friending judges, cybercrime and prosecution, DMCA and trademark issues, virtual law practices, professionalism, and marketing.

Just last week, the ABA released Formal Opinion 480 from the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility reminding lawyers of the confidentiality obligations for lawyer blogging and tweeting. It is an opinion that has been widely panned as being late to the game. This provides another reminder as to the speed that social media runs. The suggestions are already somewhat old and outdated.

Published on: March 2, 2018

LP Magazine – Marketing to and for Millennials

by Micah Buchdahl

LPcover_MarApr2018-235x300 Oh, remember the ‘80s? Alf, Madonna, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Garbage Pail Kids? I was in New Orleans to see Keith Smart’s last-second shot for Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosier over Syracuse in the NCAA Championship Game in 1987. I watched the Baltimore Orioles defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1983 World Series (when the O’s still were more important to me than the Phillies). And I was at the Stanley Cup Finals between the Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers in 1985 and 1987. Those were just some of the games I attended in person. I worked in the Major Indoor Soccer League and the NHL during the 80s—attending hundreds of games. I remember the end of high school, my college years, first jobs, and the start of law school. Little did I (we) know at the time that those babies being born were—Millennials! And that—in the here and now—it would all be about them.

It certainly seems like every day over the past few years has had an issue or conversation regarding the topic of Millennials at the law firms I routinely visit. How do you hire them? (Can we even fire them?) How do you retain them? How do you work with them? How do you make them happy? And, as I write in my marketing column for the March/April 2018 issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine, Marketing to and for Millennials.

The reality is that Millennials today are often the core focus for marketers. And for law firm marketers, there needs to be a shift in the approaches taken to be successful in this space. I’ve worked with law firms on efforts geared toward Millennials for a few years now. In 2016, I spoke on an ABA panel, Bridging the Generational Divide: How Millennials Can Communicate with Baby Boomers and Succeed in the Workplace. There was a Law360 article on How to Manage the Millennial Lawyer. And in 2015, I served as the Editor in Chief for an entire issue of Law Practice Today geared to Law Firm Management Struggles with Multigenerational Issues. As detailed in the column, I have had to shift my own marketing strategies—not only to engage the millennial lawyer, but more importantly, engage the millennial client.

Published on: January 18, 2018

ABA Midyear: Fishing for Prospects – Ethical Limitations Can Create Muddy Waters in Catching New Clients

by Micah Buchdahl

ABA Midyear Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., 2018

If you are attending the ABA Midyear Meeting in Vancouver the first weekend in February, reside in the B.C. area or simply are looking to escape to Canada (as so many U.S. citizens and non-citizens now are), be sure to attend this free CLE program, Fishing for Prospects – Ethical Limitations Can Create Muddy Waters in Catching New Clients on Saturday, February 3, 2018 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. PST at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown.

This ABA CLE, co-sponsored by the Law Practice Division and the Young Lawyers Division focuses on ethical strategies for business development and relationship building. We will cover ethic rules and related pitfalls when soliciting new clients and advertising your practice. The Rules of Professional Conduct, various US Supreme Court cases and numerous state bar ethics opinions can create an often-unseen myriad of issues when soliciting new clients.

Published on: November 17, 2017

LPT: The Niche Marketing Issue

by Micah Buchdahl

In a world where every law firm is (or says) they are “full-service,” comes this issue of Law Practice Today dedicated to niche practice marketing. Depending on your firm, practice and related industries, a niche can be many things to many people—with no real right or wrong answers…so begins the intro to my article on The Pros and Cons of Niche Practice Marketing in the November 2017 edition of the ABA’s Law Practice Today (LPT) webzine.

As a member of LPT’s Board of Editors, past Editor-In-Chief and past chair of the ABA Law Practice Division, I’ve long-enjoyed seeing the growth of the law practice webzine—which is delivered in the inbox of every ABA member (that opts into e-mail) and numerous syndicated bar association partners throughout the country, giving it the largest circulation of any online law practice resource in the U.S. I had the pleasure of serving as issue editor for the niche practice issue, with my colleagues Editor-In-Chief Andrea Malone of White & Williams in Philadelphia and Associate Editor Amy Drushal at Trenam Law in Tampa, Florida.

It is unusual for me to contribute two pieces to an issue, but I had to add a sidebar on How Niche Marketing Helped Me Escape an Arizona Traffic Jam as well. It goes hand-in-hand with an interesting article on When Photo Radar is Worse Than DUI by my (now) favorite firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. You’ll learn about the niche at R&R Law Group, along with how solid marketing efforts brought this educated consumer (that would be me) to their practice for counsel. Spoiler alert—they were 100% successful in their representation of the client.

Published on: November 2, 2017

LP Magazine – Revisiting Lawyer Ratings and Rankings

by Micah Buchdahl

LPcover_NovDec2017-235x300 When I wrote my marketing column for the November/December 2017 issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine, Revisiting Lawyer Ratings and Rankings, I lamented how dealing with the R&R industry felt like it took up time during every single working day. So it seemed somewhat ironic that the magazine arrived in my mailbox on the same day that I penned more than a half dozen press releases for law firms announcing their results from the 2018 U.S. News/Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms” honors.

Now it happens that as ratings go, I have respect for the good people at Best Lawyers and U.S. News. They are always easy to work with—and unlike some others named in the column—they avoid the used car sales approach with my law firm clients. They lend a guiding hand with the process, regardless of how much the firm might be spending on the “award” product line. Perhaps your experiences have varied. We all have very subjective feelings to who and what in this business is credible. You may find the ones that give you the highest honors to certainly be the most legitimate!

What entities are referenced by name in this month’s column? In order of appearance: Best Lawyers and U.S. News, Chambers USA, Avvo, American Lawyer Media (ALM), Lawyers of Distinction, Expertise.com, Yelp, Super Lawyers, Rising Stars and Martindale.

Published on: July 17, 2017

LP Magazine – Evaluate Your Networking: See and Be Seen

by Micah Buchdahl

ABA Law Practice Magazine

Ah, the ancient art of face-to-face. Ironically, it is still perhaps the greatest business development tool known to man (and woman). Yet, as we seemingly get busier and busier each day, face time has been replaced by FaceTime and Facebook and all other sorts of live-people-avoidance tools aided by a variety of technologies.

This is not to say that those all-important “touches” that remind people of you, your law firm, your brand, your expertise—delivered by e-mail, newsletter, social media, pure advertising, online search or secondary public and media relations efforts are not effective. A touch is a touch. But actually seeing someone in the flesh in their office, at a meeting, over lunch or some other public space is still the most powerful and likely way to generate a new referral or matter.

Published on: March 7, 2017

LP Magazine – Diversity and Inclusion is a Marketing Tool (and Necessity) in 2017

by Micah Buchdahl

ABA Law Practice Magazine, March/April 2017

Diversity as a business development tool cuts both ways. For those law firms that lack it, there is often frustration in knowing there are matters and clients that they will lose. For those that have it, there are endless opportunities to be rewarded.

It was ironic that the March/April 2017 issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine arrived the same week that I was working on another ABA responsibility—the March 1^st implementation of the ABA’s new CLE diversity policy. As chair of the Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education (SCOCLE), I have had the privilege of being involved in the many years where this policy was discussed, and ultimately adopted. Now I have the opportunity to oversee the implementation of a policy—that quite simply—requires an ABA program to meet a certain diversity threshold among the faculty, or not be accredited by the association. It is not unlike the requirement of many corporate legal departments that will dole out work to diverse lawyers.

Published on: August 19, 2016

LPT: Great Expectations? Getting a Young Lawyer’s Marketing Efforts off the Ground

by Micah Buchdahl

LP_Today_Logo-e1401945551625 My first sit-downs with law firm management to discuss marketing strategies were 20 years ago. In the subsequent two decades, I held those discussions in the board rooms of Amlaw 100 law firms and in conference rooms of law firms with ten or fewer. Their approach to marketing expectations from young attorneys was consistently inconsistent.

Back then I was somewhat of a young lawyer. At least youngish. Not so much anymore. But there is certainly an increase in business development training and marketing support for newer attorneys. How quickly you are expected to assume a marketing role depends on the law firm. The larger the law firm, the less likely you will be asked to originate business any time soon. However, that does not mean you should not be laying the groundwork for when that expectation arrives.

Small and midsize law firms often like to indoctrinate young lawyers into marketing efforts sooner. After all, everyone at a boutique firm is a potential salesperson when out and about. There is a little more pressure to put you in a position to generate opportunities.

Published on: March 29, 2016

Bridging the Generational Divide: How Millennials Can Communicate with Baby Boomers and Succeed in the Workplace

by Micah Buchdahl

What do Baby Boomers expect from millennials in the workplace? How can and should millennials act in the workplace while still preserving their values? This program focuses on how millennials can communicate with Baby Boomers and other generations in a way that is collaborative and allows junior lawyers to thrive.

This diverse panel discussion features five attorneys coming at this hot law practice topic from different roles, ages, geographic locations and career experiences. Join Micah Buchdahl, President, HTMLawyers, Inc., Moorestown, NJ and fellow panelists Jonathan Stemerman, Shareholder, Elliott Greenleaf, P.C., Wilmington, DE; Jared Perez, Shareholder, Wiand Guerra King PA, Tampa, FL; Amy L. Drushal, Shareholder, Trenam Law, Tampa, FL; and Lauren Rikleen, Boston, MA for what should be a provocative and enlightening two hour conversation.

The CLE program takes place as part of the ABA Business Law Spring Meeting on Friday, April 8, 2016 at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, Canada.

Published on: January 7, 2016

LP Magazine — Struggling with Ethics Issues Surrounding Branded Networks

by Micah Buchdahl

In the January/February 2016 issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine, I was asked to put on my ethics attorney hat in authoring Struggling with Ethics Issues Surrounding Branded Networks. Issue Editor Nick Gaffney asked me to write this sidebar in a magazine dedicated to the theme of branded legal networks–a huge topic of discussion in law practice management.

There is not a more controversial area of lawyer marketing when it comes to interpretation and enforcement of the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) than the issues that arise from the ever-growing legion of branded networks in the legal profession. From Avvo and Justia to Best Lawyers and a slew of entities that may or may not be “lead generation,” the issues, rules and opinions vary from state to state. They remain…consistently inconsistent. One thing is for sure, these companies are not going anywhere. The question is where they end up fitting in the long term approach to business development among attorneys.