On November 10, 2010, I spoke to the San Francisco and Albuquerque chapters of ILTA – www.iltanet.org - (with some SF LMA members also attending) - presenting the 2010 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research for the first time. I wrote a guest article about it and posted my slides on "3 […]
Jim Dolan’s article in Texas Lawyer: “Integrity: When Heroes Have Feet of Clay”
Jim Dolan is a friend and advisor who happens to be a sought-after leadership coach and psychotherapist for successful professionals, including many lawyers. He writes a regular column called "The Lawyers' Coach" for the TEXAS LAWYER, and he has a book coming out by year end. The subject matter of […]
Amlaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices — the first attribute (Strategy Copy)
Let's talk about "Strategy Copy" on a law firm (or any) website. This is simply a short, compelling description of your firm that reflects your unique positioning strategy. It should work very hard — it carries your branding message(s), distinguishes your firm and succinctly offers differentiating benefits or features. It […]
2010 AmLaw 100 Website Ten Foundational Best Practices research – Communicating your Message
We commissioned the AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research again this year, and have just completed the analysis. Now it’s time to dig in and unbury the findings, and compare it to the 2007 study, which was the last time this research was conducted. “Communicating your Message” is the first […]
Transparency: Beyond the Extranet (ILTA Presentation 2010)
The 2010 ILTA conference is still underway in Las Vegas. My panel, “Transparency: Beyond the Extranet,” was late Tuesday afternoon, August 24. Cheryl Disch (the extraordinary proposal manager at Duane Morris about whom I’ve blogged in the past) assembled our diverse ILTA panel that included: Julie Kremer, Enterprise Technology Strategist from Microsoft, […]
Millennials believe receiving phone calls strips them of control – text instead!
In a client meeting in Houston yesterday, the law firm’s Director of Professional Development shared a recent Washington Post article called, “Texting Generation Doesn’t Share Boomers’ Taste for Talk.” The most interesting discussion ensued among the largely over-40 meeting attendees. Take time to read this article – and note how […]
“Never, never let others define you. You define yourself.”
Emmitt Smith said that in his August 7, 2010 Football Hall of Fame induction speech. I don’t love football, but I do like the Dallas Cowboys – most seasons. I typically wouldn’t hunt for legal marketing/management metaphors on a sports channel in the fall of any year. But I think the […]
Two more law firm intranet best practices – integration and governance
Conducting audits of several SharePoint intranets inspired me to design a list of much-needed intranet best practices for law firms, about which I blogged here. Now, being in the pre-design strategy and planning phases of two large firm intranets, I realize that I stopped short at 7. Two more best practices have […]
Managing Partners — who is your successor?
KPMG’s Audit Committee Insights for July 14, 2010 featured a Corporate Board Member article about CEO succession planning. A new research study of 140 public and private CEOs and boards in North America released by Heidrick & Struggles and Stanford’s Rock Center revealed serious planning gaps when it comes to CEO […]
Do you know what you don’t know? – (A post about KM.)
Law firms have been knowledge management organizations ever since handfuls of lawyers started practicing together under the auspices of a “firm.” They just didn’t know it. Steve Denning is the author of numerous top-selling business books about leadership, and his client list reads like the Fortune 500 issue of Fortune magazine. […]
Goulston & Storrs – the first iPhone app in New England
In a world where precedent rules, law firms aren’t widely known to be trend-setters – or even early adopters. There are two law firms who have put an i-generation stake in the ground and created iPhone apps. (Other firms have launched apps, but the most highly publicized recent ones are […]
How I spent my Summer Vacation
My blog has been on vacation. I have had numerous ideas for posts, but I just haven't been compelled to drop what I was doing to put any of them on paper. But, I'm back. Stay tuned for some of the most interesting trends I've seen the last few weeks. […]
Getting a rash from the rash of law firm RFPs
During round table discussions in 2009 entitled, “Best Practices in Business Development and Proposals,” we asked invitees (law firm marketing and BD professionals mostly) about the uptick in the receipt of RFPs and RFIs from clients and prospects. The overwhelming response was that the number had tripled or quadrupled. On […]
“Web site” finally becomes “website” – according to the AP Stylebook
I’ve been a stickler for writing “Web site” with a cap W, lowercase s and two words. Because it was right. According to an April 16th twitter post, the AP Stylebook has finally relinquished its hold on this written protocol – and from now on, “website” (one word and a lowercase […]
Marketing ROI, Measurement and Metrics – LMA Dallas City Chapter Survey Results
I moderated a panel yesterday at the LMA Dallas City Chapter (subgroup of the LMA Southeastern Chapter) luncheon on ROI. Panelists included: Allen Fuqua, CMO, Winstead PC Bill Livesay, Executive Director, Andrews Kurth LLP Tim Powers, Partner and Business Development Chair, Haynes and Boone LLP To anchor our remarks in […]
Law Firm Intranets – A new look in 2010
I am seeing more interest in their intranets by law firms than I have seen in the last dozen years. Firm leaders are taking a serious look at ways to improve communication up and down the organization, facilitate collaboration among colleagues and workgroups, reinforce cultural tenets and save money. A well […]
Incentive to update lawyer Web site biographies (YouTube video)
Each time we plan and design a new law firm Web site, we create a lawyer profile tailored to that firm and insist that all lawyers update their biographies. In spite of the Web site analytics statistic that more than half of the visitors to a law firm Web site view […]
Law Firm Web Sites: Foundational Best Practice #2 – Graphics and Design
Each morning I read law.com’s latest report about an AmLaw 100 firm’s profits or revenue drops in 2009 over 2008. American Lawyer Media is building anticipation with this tactic as it leads up to its May 1, 2010 release of the AmLaw 100 financial report. The release of the AmLaw 100 firm […]
Congratulations to the 2010 LMA Hall of Fame inductees
Last week, I attended (and Content Pilot exhibited at) the 2010 international Legal Marketing Association (LMA) conference in Denver. I have several observations, which I’ll share in a post later this week. This post is a quick congratulations to the 2010 inductees into the LMA Hall of Fame. These are not […]
Law Firm CMOs Part 2: LSSO listserve discussion about their future
In my last post, I brought in comments from leading legal marketing consultants from the LSSO listserve discussion called, “Where have all the CMOs gone?” In Bill Flannery’s LSSO listserve post dated February 20, 2010, he said that he has recently interviewed more than 100 law firms in North America and overseas, […]