Chuck Newton

Most Attorneys And Law Firms Have A Website But They Are Not Really Online

I like Duct Tape Marketing And John Jantsch, and he has reminded me about a concern I have about the web presence of most attorneys and law firms.

Almost every lawyer I run into these days has a website either for themselves or their law firm, and they think that represents an online law practice.  But, does it?

Of the dozens of attorney websites I see everyday, some are quite beautiful in design.  Some are rather average.  Regardless, most of these websites are simply static.  They are written in a tone that can only been viewed as, well, manufactured.  Come on, who writes most of this stuff.  It is not generally that informative, and it is terribly generic or merely customary.  There is a page about how the firm is better than everyone else for no apparent reason stated.  There is a review of the lawyer, and why he or she is unique like everyone else.  There is the contact page, which provides them an address and phone number.  That is good.  Then there is usually a practice area page that explains that if you have a little money the attorney will practice in any practice area you request.  Then throw in the clip art of a building in which the attorney does not office and a bogus picture of smiling staff that does not really represent the staff that work at the firm.  And, ... Well, you get my point.

It is not that this information is not marginally important.  After all, with the decline in phone books, potential clients and existing clients need to be able to fine the attorney, but it cannot be said that the law practice is online.

John Jantsch states it accurately and states it this way -

"Even though you may think you have one of the world’s coolest websites, if you aren’t constantly adding educational content, finding new ways to connect with your markets online, building community around your ideas, and ultimately using your website as a tool to convert know, like and trust into try, buy, repeat, and refer – then you stand little chance of competing in your chosen industry these days.

I know you’ve heard plenty of late about social media, but this is really a bigger idea still. What I’m talking about is the total integration of your online and offline activity through the use of a primary web hub".

This "hub" idea I have advocated for a long time.  Your website needs to be the place where you bring all of your content together.  All attorneys have it.  They just do not expose it to the world.

I am still not sure about all of the new social media, but no attorney needs to be falling behind this curve.  Social media feeds can be added to a site.  There needs to be a blog as part of a site.  If the site has a blog, someone needs to be actually blogging.  What about a video channel?  This needs to be embedded in the website.  What about e-books or white papers?  Those need to be there.  Do you have forms that need to be filled out?  Put them here.  Have a speaking engagement?  Put it there.  The bottom line is that clients and potential clients that might be interested  want to get both a feel for the attorney, firm and the law represented.  So, give it to them.

And, if you want a chance to learn a little more, John Jantsch has a FREE webinar sponsored by Verizon on September 23 at 2:00 pm eastern time, entitled "How to Get More from Your Small Business Website."  JUST CLICK HERE TO ENROLL.

Ad Hoc Law Firms

GAL raised an interesting question about the future and use of "of counsel" by law firms.  I think the argument could go further and say, what about a law firm of only of counsel relationships, where one attorney acts as the contact or the hub through which the legal traffic follows.  This attorney could be the coordinating center of the operation.  All other lawyers are of counsel.

Are we, in reality, on the verge of creating single project Basecamp centric law firms, or something similar to it?

I guess what I am suggesting is instead of having a law firm that goes out and finds compatible cases on which feed the firm, that an ad hoc law firm will form around a case or a client with a particular need.

Ad hoc, as you know, is Latin and it means "for this purpose".  It is a group of lawyers or law firms that comes together to craft a legal solution for a specific problem or task.  The ad hoc law firm does not have to adapt to other purposes.  It would represent a tailor-made solution to a legal issue.  Everybody would be of counsel.

It would have a lot of benefits, really, for the firm would be an adhocracy, meaning that it would antonymous to bureaucracy.

Many lawyers and law firms are moving home or drastically cutting overhead in a number of ways.  What these are really doing, whether they have thought about it or not, is setting themselves up as free agents.  These lawyers and law firms will have the dexterity to move from one professional relationship to another.

Maybe it is like the movie-making model.  Actors, directors, producers, legal, accounting, editors, cameramen, and really the whole technical staffing of a movie, come together for this one big event.  It is a temporary company.  It is not that they might not work together in the future or on a different movie, but that is not the goal or the objective.  The movie is done, and each party moves on to whatever other project awaits.

A suggestion of how such a thing would work might be the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing.  Many think it is the biggest bankruptcy in history.  There are a lot of very qualified people out there that can work on and handle such a large case, but their firms and lawyers just cannot handle such a thing alone.  In the old days a couple of Big Law firms might have gotten together to share the work.  And, that does not count the firms that needed to represent the various classes or committees of creditors.  Today, what is possible is for an attorney or small group of attorneys to dissect the need and start building a team of lawyers and staff, from diverse backgrounds and locations, to handle such a bankruptcy together.  The same is true for the various creditor committees.

Such a thing would spell the death of Big Law, or at least Big Law as we know it.

What it really says is that the future belongs to the rainmakers and those attorneys with the unique skill of finding clients and building teams.  Team building is not a task that is taught well in law school.  It fact, it is probably discouraged.  And, it is the one thing that has probably slowed this evolution to ad hoc law firms.  But, as the ranks of JD/MBAs continue to rise, so will the possibility of the ad hoc law firms.

Can we see the future now?  I think so.

Tip: Keeping Contact Information Readily Available On Basecamp Is Easy And Desirable

If you use Basecamp for notes, calendaring and collaboration purposes, you will want to keep particular information, such as contact information on your client, court and opposing counsel readily available on this service.  I do this by going to the "Overview" of a case or project I have set up, then clicking on the "Settings" link, which is located on the upper portion of the page on my right hand side.  This takes me to the "Projects Setting" page.  This page contains a "Overview page announcement" section.  In this section I add the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses (which are highlighted so when you click on them it brings up your email client) for my clients, the court and opposing counsel.  I also list such relevant things as the case number, and a brief description of the dispute.  Right under this section there is a check box that says, "Yes, display this announcement on the overview page".  You want to remember to click this box.  Then go to the bottom of the page and click "Save Changes".  The information will then appear on the "Overview" section of this project or case, and will always be available to you and your team no matter where anybody is located.