Legal Ease Blog

5 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Summary

The Summary is one of the most overlooked areas of most lawyers’ LinkedIn Profiles, but it can be a great way to add value to your Profile and convey important information to your audience. LinkedIn calls the Summary “your media-enhanced elevator pitch.”

Here are five ways to improve your LinkedIn Summary:

Write in a conversational tone

LinkedIn is a professional networking site. What you do on LinkedIn is an extension of what you do and how you network in real life. Your LinkedIn Profile stands in for you to connect with others – colleagues, potential clients, referral sources, the media, etc. It represents you.

When you introduce yourself to people in real life and talk about what you do and who you do it for, you introduce yourself in the first person: “Hi, I’m Jim. I represent entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to protect their brands.” You wouldn’t say, “Jim is an intellectual property lawyer representing small business.”

Although your firm bio is usually written in the third person and much of the information from your law firm website bio can be used in your LinkedIn Profile, you’ll want to change it and make it more conversational for LinkedIn.

In my view, on your firm website, the bio is written in the third person as if the law firm were introducing you to web visitors, while on LinkedIn you’re introducing yourself. (Although solo lawyers may choose to write their website bio in the first person on occasion).

Don’t use legal jargon unless you are sure that your audience (clients, potential clients, referral sources) understands and expects it. Use the language your clients use to describe their needs and the services you provide.

Create a blockbuster first sentence

The Summary can be found in the bottom-most portion of what LinkedIn calls your “introduction card” at the top of your Profile.

As you can see from the image above, when LinkedIn users look at your Profile within LinkedIn, they’ll see only the first 3 lines, usually about one or two sentences. To see the entire Summary, users have to click the “Show more” link. As a result, those introductory lines are extremely important. They should contain the information that is most significant to your audience.

The beginning of your Summary should serve to entice readers to click on the “Show more” link to see the rest of your Summary.

Tell your story

While the first sentence of your Summary should pack a punch, the rest of your Summary is also important. You have plenty of room, since the current character limit for the Summary is 2000 characters.

Although only the first portion of your Summary initially appears to LinkedIn users, when users who are not logged on to LinkedIn click on your Profile, they will see what LinkedIn calls your public profile.

On your public profile, if you choose to show your Summary, viewers will see your entire Summary without any extra clicks required. (Although the public profile does not show any media you’ve added to your Profile.)

When I talk to lawyers about LinkedIn, I equate the Summary to the cover letter that accompanies your resume. The rest of LinkedIn is in a format which is similar to a resume, with categories for your work experience, education, honors and awards, recommendations, etc. In those sections, you don’t have much opportunity to control the format. But the Summary is unique. It is a free-form field that is less constraining than the rest of your Profile. You have much more flexibility here.

Take advantage of the opportunity within the Summary to tell your story – tie all of your experience together. Let your audience know why you became a lawyer, what your professional goals are, who you help, and why your experience and the rest of the information contained in your Profile is important to them.

Break it up

LinkedIn is an online platform, and more and more users are engaging with LinkedIn on a mobile device rather than a desktop or laptop computer. Even relatively short paragraphs can look like huge, intimidating blocks of text online, and especially on a mobile device.

Keep paragraphs short in your Summary to make them easy to read and skim, even on a small screen. Use bullet points to break up the text.

You can copy and paste bullets from another program (like MS Word), or you can use your keyboard to create them right in LinkedIn (get instructions here).

Add media

The Summary, Experience, and Education sections are the only places on your LinkedIn Profile where you can add what LinkedIn calls “rich media.” This includes images, video, articles, presentations, links, and more. When you add rich media to your Summary, it will display below the Summary text, but above the “show more” link.

In today’s visual world, adding media to your Summary can help you stand out from others in your field. When a user clicks on rich media content in your Summary, they can view the content without leaving your LinkedIn Profile. For example, if you add a PowerPoint presentation or video, LinkedIn will open a window on top of your Profile that allows the LinkedIn user to view the complete presentation or video without taking them away from your Profile.

Bonus tip

Here’s one bonus tip that is especially important for lawyers. LinkedIn doesn’t always have an obvious place to include information that might be required by your jurisdiction’s ethical rules, like disclaimers, “Attorney Advertising” notices, or your office address. Your Summary is a place you can include that information. Your Summary could also include information such as the jurisdictions and courts where you are admitted to practice law.

Do you have questions about how to get more out of LinkedIn? Let me know in the comments below!

For more tips on your LinkedIn Summary, see my post, LinkedIn Tip #4: Supercharge Your Summary.

Want more LinkedIn info? Check out my post, Power Up Your LinkedIn Headline (includes my FREE downloadable headline worksheet).

Lessons for Law Firm Leaders from Undercover Boss

In the television show, Undercover Boss, executives disguise themselves and go undercover within their companies or organizations. The “boss” poses as a trainee in different positions and at different locations within the company, speaks with employees who are on the front lines performing the daily work of the company, and gets to experience what they experience on a daily basis.

At the end of each episode, the executive reveals him or herself to the employees, often providing bonuses or other perks to outstanding workers or those who have been involved in personal struggles, and also revealing changes made or planned in the company as a result of the experience.

In each of the episodes, the executive learns valuable lessons about the daily obstacles encountered by employees and the ways the company could better support them. Many of the employees the executive encounters during this journey have valuable ideas and suggestions to make things better at the company, whether it is improving infrastructure, procedures, equipment, working conditions, etc. Other times, the boss encounters unhelpful or difficult employees who make the work harder for those around them, compromise the company’s culture or reputation, or cause other problems. Either way, the boss gains valuable insights from their experience and found that getting to know their employees better reaped rewards for the company.

While it might not be possible or practical for law firm leaders to undertake an undercover mission within their firms, there are ways law firms can use the concept and lessons of Undercover Boss to improve their law firms.

Your Front-Line Employees are Your Firm’s Brand Ambassadors

Getting to know front-line employees and putting themselves in the shoes of their employees on the show fostered a greater understanding of their employees’ lives and their experience working for the company. As one undercover boss put it, “This experience taught me to slow down a little and spend more time getting to know my employees. Everyone has a story to tell, if you take the time to hear it…”

Some bosses learn that the “lowest” employee can make the biggest impact on their customers and clients. One said, “I left Undercover Boss with a greater appreciation for the people on the front lines of our business. The overwhelming majority of them do a fantastic job.”

Another commented, “Something I have always known, but [the show] reaffirmed for me how important our front-line associate is to the success of our brand, and how much our training program plays a role in delivering that club level experience we aim to achieve.”

In law firms, front-line employees like receptionists, clerks, and assistants often have the first contact with the client, whether greeting clients when they enter the office, answering the phone when clients call, or contacting clients to confirm an appointment or court date. These employees are your brand ambassadors, and they can make a huge difference on the client’s experience with your firm. Treat them well and they will treat your clients well. Treat them poorly and you risk them taking it out on your clients or other valued employees.

See my related post, Why Your Receptionist Might Be The Most Important Person in Your Office

The Importance of Staying Connected

It’s nearly impossible to discover what improvements could be made or what challenges are faced by law firm employees if firm leaders remain disconnected. This is a theme repeated over and over on Undercover Boss. As one of the show’s participants explained, “…this experience has opened my eyes to see how very important it is to stay connected. We're putting a program in place to conduct roundtable discussions with our frontline employees, so it will be great to hear from them and any changes they would like to see going forward. Being too busy to stay connected with your team is no excuse.”

Another noted, “To become a really good leader you have to understand the importance of a team. It's not a one man show, you need a really solid team in order to be successful.”

Yet another says, “I believe it’s a CEO’s obligation to truly understand the interworking of their company and regularly communicate with associates. The value of ongoing, open communication cannot be overstated. As a CEO, we each make a commitment to guide the company towards the best possible future, which we can only do if we take the time to ask questions, listen and learn from those who support our company at every turn.”

Offering Opportunities and Identifying Leaders

Getting to know the employees and their personal stories also revealed ways that the company could help their teams to improve and grow. The experience showed these company leaders ways to provide perks or rewards that were much more meaningful to the employee (and often, to the company as well) than a raise. Offering opportunities to mentor or supervise others, to share their knowledge, to participate in focus groups or roundtable discussion not only engaged employees and provided an opportunity to contribute to the company, but these perks fostered loyalty to the company, increasing the chances that valued employees will stay, while also allowing others to learn from their experience, perceptions and observations.

Law firms can offer opportunities for improvement, whether is training, CLE programs, or in-house seminars. Look for the employees who take advantage of these opportunities, or who are seeking their own continuous improvement. Many an undercover boss has identified future leaders in the company just by working alongside them and identifying those with a good attitude who are looking for ways to learn and grow.

Improving Performance

Learning about their employees’ daily tasks and struggles also revealed ways the company could improve productivity. One boss said, “I learned that when it comes to employees, the details matter most. The smallest upgrades in equipment or installation hardware can shave off significant amounts of time and stress for employees.”

Law firm leaders sometimes don’t take the time to ask their front-line employees – the ones who are scheduling the appointments, doing the paperwork, filing court documents, typing reports, maintaining the firm’s website and social media accounts about the obstacles they encounter in accomplishing their daily tasks, and how the firm might help them to overcome those obstacles. What improvements could the lawyers make in the manner or method of their communication that would help their front-line employees and make their jobs easier? What technology could be implemented to improve productivity? What training could be provided that might help their employees improve their performance?

Bosses who went undercover on the show got ideas from employees at all levels of the company by putting themselves in their shoes and seeing what those employees see on a daily basis. They were willing to go outside of their comfort zone to learn and to help their companies grow and change.

Law firm leaders can do more to get to know their employees on a personal level by speaking to them one on one and taking the time to listen. For example, hold regular meetings with employees at all levels, and provide a mechanism for employees to give suggestions (and then take them seriously).

Invite staff members to attend occasional partnership or leadership meetings, or to contribute in practice group discussions. Take a legal assistant, secretary, or even a receptionist to court, to a deposition or to a closing so that they have a better perspective on what the attorneys do every day. And perhaps even get outside of your comfort zone and step into the shoes of your employees by shadowing them or trying to do their jobs for a day. You might be surprised at what you learn.

You can see comments from some of the bosses who have participated in the show here.

Interview with Nicole Galli of Women Owned Law

Nicole Galli, Esq. Women Owned Law

I recently had the pleasure of conducting what I hope with be the first of many interviews with experts, legal innovators and other interesting folks in the legal field with  Nicole Galli, an intellectual property litigator and trade secrets lawyer who is also the founder and President of Women Owned Law (WOL), a network for women-owned law and legal services firms.

Nicole and I talked about a number of topics, including networking, challenges facing women lawyers today, why and how she started WOL, and how WOL can help women lawyers and other women in the legal industry. We also chat a bit about grit and resilience.

I'm planning to do a series of these interviews and eventually turn it into a full-fledged podcast, but for now, click below to play the interview:

Nicole Galli interview 2018

As noted on their site,

WOL is a national organization for women owned law and legal services firms to provide a forum for networking opportunities; to increase visibility and media coverage of women entrepreneurs; to help interested firms grow into larger organizations with significant influence in the legal industry; and to provide an “on ramp” for women considering their own legal ventures.

WOL offers several different types of memberships for individuals, law firms, and other organizations in the legal space. Learn more about WOL here.

How to Run a More Efficient & Profitable Small or Solo Law Practice with Virtual Receptionists

Guest post by Maddy Martin of Smith.ai.

 

When you’re running a law firm on your own or with just a couple partners, you’re shouldering more than just lawyering work. Responsibilities for administrative, marketing, and operational tasks fall on your shoulders, and there’s only so much time in a day. Finding ways to take work off your plate that don’t require your unique skill set as a lawyer means more time for profitable (read: billable) work.

Virtual receptionists have been a popular choice for small-firm and solo lawyers for over a decade, to help them minimize distractions and gain efficiency. But many attorneys are still reluctant to take the leap and hand-off tasks that take up precious time. The most common reasons related to a lack of comfort, trust, attention to detail, comprehensiveness of services, and personal touch.

To be sure, not every virtual receptionist service delivers enough value to warrant their payment, setup, and coordination. An answering service that only answers calls and takes messages will provide limited value. But, having a remote receptionist service that does that, plus schedule appointments, qualify leads, intake new clients, return calls, and other significant and valuable tasks is wholly worthwhile.

If you’re not yet using a virtual receptionist service, here are 5 major ways it can help you streamline your law firm’s operations to maximize efficiency and profit.

 1. Lead Capture & Qualification (Plus, Monetize “Bad” Leads)

 New leads come from referrals, Facebook, Google, Avvo, and many other sources. You might even be paying for ads or premium placements on these sites. When a potential client sees your law practice and calls with a need for services, if you don’t pick up, they’re off to call the next firm. Chances are, it doesn’t matter whether or not they left a voicemail; they’re not waiting for a call back. If they completed a form on your website, then it’s just a matter of how quickly you respond. A receptionist service that offers lead qualification can ensure you’re capturing and assessing new leads as soon as they come in, whether they’re reaching you by phone or email.

How do these services qualify your leads? They do it based on your custom criteria. Do their needs align with your practice area? Are they in the right county? Are they willing to pay your fees? These are just a few of the questions your receptionists can use to filter out the great leads from those that won’t convert to real clients. Provide the essential questions you need your receptionists to ask leads, and they’ll capture the “good” ones.

As for the “bad” leads, a receptionist service can also help you monetize those, so the call isn’t a wash. Many attorneys earn referral fees by passing clients to attorneys in other practice areas, in other counties, and with lower fees. Just provide the list of your referrals and any instructions for the correct types of clients to pass to each one, and your receptionists can refer “bad” leads to them. If they end up working with that recommended attorney, you’ll earn your referral fee.

 2. New Client Intake

For the good leads, the process doesn’t stop at qualification. Remote receptionists can also complete new client intake. Just provide your public intake form link that you created in your CRM to your receptionists, and they’ll complete it on the new lead’s behalf during their first call. Contact information, as well as basic details of their need for an attorney, will be captured and passed directly into your CRM, taking away the need for a follow-up call or the work of taking notes from the call and copying and pasting it into your CRM.

3. Appointment Scheduling & Reminders

Once the new client intake is complete, the next step in the process is often to schedule a call-back or in-person new client appointment with you or another attorney at your firm. Your receptionist service can handle this for you, too. All you need to do it is provide access to your calendar so the receptionist can see when you’re available. They won’t be able to change or edit existing events -- they’ll only create new ones -- so there’s no risk of them changing anything on your agenda. (Note: If you use Google Calendar, Outlook, Office 365, or iCloud Calendar, a free service like Calendly makes securely sharing your calendar with a receptionist service easy.)

Before a new lead’s or existing client’s appointment, you can also request that your receptionists call leads and clients to remind them, which prevents no-shows and cancellations that waste precious time.

4. Follow-Up: Case Updates & Payments

 Hunting down clients to provide case updates and capture payment is a royal pain and can be time-consuming. Maybe a court date was changed, another document needs to be signed, or a payment installment is past due. Whatever follow-up is needed, your receptionists can take care of it for you.

You can even go the extra mile and have your receptionists reach out proactively to clients who haven’t heard an update on their case in a while or who have recently completed work with you. For example, a receptionist can call recent clients and capture information on their satisfaction with the work you completed for them. If they express positive sentiments, the receptionist can use the call as an opportunity to request a positive review on one of those sites that generate leads for your business, which builds your online reputation.

 5. Automated Workflows

Tasking your receptionist with the duties mentioned above needn’t require ongoing, hands-on maintenance and oversight. When you first get started with a receptionist service, they can capture all the required FAQs, lead-qualification criteria, new client intake questions, appointment scheduling directions, and payment processes, so calls are handled seamlessly without the need for your receptionists to bother you with “How do I…” questions. Your receptionists follow your unique workflow, so administrative and operational tasks that they’re handling on your behalf become automatic.

You can even set up certain processes to gain even greater efficiency. For example, if you have a lead form on your website that captures information from potential clients looking to hire you, every time someone completes that form, you probably receive an email with the same “New Lead” subject line. In your email settings, you can auto-forward these emails to your receptionist service and they’ll call them back quickly, increasing the chance you reach them before they’ve contacted another attorney.

Whether you’re busy or just looking to reduce interruptions in your day, these automatic call-backs by your receptionists can increase efficiency and result in more leads converting to clients, both of which improve your bottom line.

Choosing the Right Virtual Receptionist Service

It’s important to note that not every live, remote receptionist service offers lead qualification, new client intake, and outbound calls. Make sure you ask about these features when shopping around.

 Maddy Martin is the head of marketing for Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists, which offers all of the above services and more. If you’d like to sign up for Smith.ai or simply test it out with a 30-day/10-call free trial, you may do so online at https://smith.ai, by phone at (650) 727-6484, or by email at [email protected].  

Legal Ease Blog readers get $50 off your first month with code LEGALEASE. This code can be used in combination with your free trial, for a total savings of $110. I may receive a small commission if you use this link, but it's a huge savings for you!

 If you have questions about virtual receptionists and how they can help your firm be more efficient and profitable, Smith.ai support is available Monday through Friday between 6 AM and 6 PM PST at (650) 727-6484 or [email protected].

Confidentiality Reminder for Legal Bloggers from the ABA

Last month the ABA Standing Committee on  Professional Responsibility released Formal Opinion 480, Confidentiality Obligations for Lawyer Blogging and Other Public Commentary, reminding lawyers that their duties of confidentiality extend to blogging and other online activities.

The opinion cautions lawyers about commenting publicly about cases or information relating to the representation of a client, including the fact of representation, even if some of that information is already publicly available.

The confidentiality rules are covered in Model Rule 1.6 (for current clients) and 1.9 (for former clients). There are exceptions to these rules which would allow a lawyer to publicly comment on the representation of a client, including the “generally known” exception under Rule 1.9.

Many lawyers may have thought that they were free to comment on cases if they were a matter of public record, such as where a decision or verdict could be easily accessed by a jury verdict search or by obtaining the court file.  But the opinion reminds lawyers that the confidentiality rule is much broader than attorney-client privilege and that it applies to more than just communication between the lawyer and the client. The confidentiality rules cover all information relating to the representation, regardless of the information’s origin.

Citing ABA Formal Opinion 479, The “Generally Known” Exception to Former-Client Confidentiality, issued in December 2017, Opinion 480 cautions lawyers that even if information can be found in a public record, such as a court decision, it is still subject to the duty of confidentiality.

Opinion 479 clarifies the “generally known” exception to the duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.9, stating that the exception applies to the use, and not the revelation of client information, and then it applies,

...only if the information has become (a) widely recognized by members of the public in the relevant geographic area; or (b) widely recognized in the former client’s industry, profession, or trade.

Information is not “generally known” simply because it has been discussed in open court, or is available in court records, in libraries, or in other public repositories of information.

The New York Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics issued a similar opinion in June 2017, Opinion 1125 ,(cited in Opinion 479) which states that, “Although information that is generally known in the local community is not protected as confidential information, information is not ‘generally known’ simply because it is in the public domain or available in a public file.”

Another New York opinion cited by ABA 479, Opinion, 991 (2013) notes that, “information is generally known only if it is known to a sizeable percentage of people in ‘the local community or in the trade, field or profession to which the information relates.’”

According to Opinion 479, “Unless information has become widely recognized by the public (for example by having achieved public notoriety), or within the former client’s industry, profession, or trade, the fact that the information may have been discussed in open court, or may be available in court records, in public libraries, or in other public repositories does not, standing alone, mean that the information is generally known for Model Rule 1.9(c)(1) purposes.”

In short, these opinions distinguish between publicly available information and information that would qualify as “generally known.”  There must be some showing beyond the fact that the information is a matter of public record to qualify for the exception.

How do these opinions affect lawyer blogs?

Both Rule 1.6 and Rule 1.9 permit the revelation of client information with the consent of the client. (There are other exceptions as well, but they do not apply in the context of blogging and social media). The best way for lawyers to protect themselves and ensure compliance with ethics rules is to obtain written consent from the client before posting or commenting about their matter online (or writing an article in a print publication, discussing the case at a CLE program, etc.).

Lawyers are always free to comment generally on legal issues and could certainly blog about issues they have encountered in various cases. They can also use hypotheticals, point to cases from the news, or comment on reported decisions to illustrate legal concepts.

When using hypotheticals based on their own cases, lawyers should heed the warnings contained in these various ethics opinions and ensure that there is no reasonable likelihood that a third party could ascertain the client’s identity from the way the hypothetical is described.

Finally, even lists of clients contained on a lawyer’s blog or website would be covered by the confidentiality rules, so lawyers whose sites contain these kinds of lists should ensure that they have documentation of the clients’ consent to do so.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

Related articles

New York Social Media Ethics Guidelines

TECHSHOW 2018 Round-Up

Ah, the best-laid plans...

If you've been reading, you know from my last post that I was looking forward to attending the ABA TECHSHOW earlier this month. Unfortunately, the weather interfered, and a Nor'Easter, accompanied by snow, resulted in canceled flights and an inability to travel to the conference again this year.

I did manage to keep up with a bit of what was happening with the official ABA TECHSHOW app, Twitter, and my colleagues who were in attendance and were kind enough to report their experiences. If you want to find out what you (and I) missed, here's a roundup of some great information and posts about the conference from those who were actually in attendance: 

 

First, about that app - read Niki Black's post at Above The Law about her experience with the TECHSHOW app.

 

The ABA Journal covered a whole host of TECHSHOW related topics and sessions - you can browse their list of TECHSHOW related articles here. Attorney at Work did an interesting article about the conference, beginning with its Start-Up Alley and ending with the ever-popular 60 in 60 tips session. (For more on Startup Alley, check out this post from the Law Technology Today blog).

 

Or check out this Attorney at Work post, which includes a more comprehensive overview of TECHSHOW.

 

There are also lots of posts over at LexBlog covering this year's conference on Techshow Monitor. 

 

To get an expert look at TECHSHOW trends, check out Carolyn Elefant's post at MyShingle, where Carolyn reflects on trends she sees at TECHSHOW, from the introduction of chatbots and blockchain to the growth of cloud platforms.

 

Of course, I can't resist anything both TECHSHOW and LinkedIn related. On the Road with Legal Talk Network talked with Dennis Kennedy, my co-author on LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, and Chuki Obiyo from LinkedIn at TECHSHOW. This podcast gives some great tips on how to use LinkedIn and what features might help make a premium subscription worthwhile, depending on what you want to use it for.

 

As the current Chair of the ABA Law Practice Division's Publishing Board, I'm particularly interested in what's happening with our latest book releases and what our authors have to say about their topics. To get a bit of a preview about our newest titles, take a listen to another Legal Talk Network podcast with some of our authors, including Rocket Matter's Larry Port and his co-author Dave Maxfield, whose book, The Lean Law Firm, was the best-seller at this year's TECHSHOW, as well as co-authors Tom Mighell (TECHSHOW 2018 Co-Chair) and Dennis Kennedy  who talk about why collaboration tools are important and how to implement them in their practice. 

 

If, like me, you don't want to miss out on TECHSHOW 2019, put the dates on the calendar now - the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago again, but it's a bit earlier this year - it is scheduled from February 27-March 2, 2019. Let's hope it doesn't snow again...

ABA TECHSHOW 2018 Preview

 

There is lots of great stuff happening at this year's ABA TECHSHOW® outside of the educational sessions and the Expo Hall with the latest tech and gadgets for lawyers, from new TECHSHOW communities to 12 step meetings, social events and more. Here are a few highlights for next week's Conference and Expo:

 

Where to Start

If you're a first-time attendee, you might want to check out the experience guide which will walk you through how to plan your TECHSHOW experience.

 

Conference App

Don't forget to download the conference app, an indispensable tool for the conference. The app not only allows you to keep track of educational sessions you want to attend (and includes all materials for those educational sessions and book suggestions for further reference), but it acts as your daily calendar for the show. If you "favorite" the sessions you want to attend, those sessions will appear on your TECHSHOW schedule view and in your Favorites so you can find them easily and ensure you won't miss the sessions you really want to attend.

 

Expo Hall

 

Plan between-sessions breaks as much as you plan which educational sessions you would like to attend - the Expo Hall is also a learning experience. You may get to test-drive a new software program or product you're thinking about, or take advantage of the opportunity to visit the booths of the products you already use - many of the TECHSHOW vendors will be happy to give you a quick tutorial on programs you already have so you can learn the newest features and the best way to use the product to make your practice as efficient as possible. And make sure you check out all of the goodies TECHSHOW vendors will be giving away if you visit their booths!

 

Networking Opportunities

One of the best things about ABA TECHSHOW is the opportunity to meet so many other people, from vendors to experts, authors, like-minded attorneys, consultants and more. Some of my best TECHSHOW experiences and opportunities have come about because of new people I met at the show - and some of those people have become close friends over the years! Sign up for a TASTE OF TECHSHOW dinner, attend the welcome reception and cocktail party, and introduce yourself to people at the sessions.

New Publications for Your Practice: LP Bookstore

 

Visit the LP booth and the Law Practice Division bookstore in the Expo Hall to see all of the latest publications from the Law Practice Division. As Chair of this year's LP Publishing Board, I can attest to the fact that there are some fantastic quality publications that will make their debut at TECHSHOW this year - technology books are included, but there are also recently released books on management, marketing, and law firm finance. Don't miss the opportunity to take a look at these books and take them home at a discount with your TECHSHOW book bucks!

 

Some of our latest titles include:

 

• Macs in Law: The Definitive Guide for the Mac-Curious, Windows-Using Attorney 
  Microsoft Office 365 for Lawyers, Second Edition 
• The 2018 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide 
• Fastcase: The Definitive Guide 
• The Ultimate Guide to Adobe Acrobat® DC 
• The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, Second Edition
• The Lean Law Firm: Run Your Firm Like The World's Most Efficient and Profitable Businesses 
• Positive Professionals: Creating High-Performing Profitable Firms Through the Science of Engagement 
• How to Draft Bills Clients Rush to Pay, Third Edition
• The Millennial Lawyer: How Your Firm Can Motivate and Retain Young Associates
• The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression 
• Lawyers as Managers: How to Be a Champion for Your Firm and Employees 

 

Can't make it to this year's ABA TECHSHOW in person?

 Not to worry! There are still ways to get great information from the Conference and Expo. Watch social media for the @ABATECHSOW twitter feed and the #ABATECHSHOW hashtag. Keep your eyes peeled for the TECHSHOW Today video interviews (I'll be co-hosting a couple with Dennis Kennedy). 

 

Even if you can't attend yourself, you can view the PowerPoint presentations from each of the sessions on the ABA TECHSHOW site some time after the Conference and Expo is over.

 

Want more great tips for your law practice? Sign up for the Lawyer Meltdown newsletter and get tips in your inbox.

 

Do Something! Power Up Your LinkedIn Headline

Your Professional Headline is the line that appears under your name on LinkedIn. When users first encounter you on LinkedIn, they may not be looking at your Profile; they may see you as a suggestion in People You May Know on their Network page, in search results, in a list of connections, or in a LinkedIn Group. In many of those cases, all they will see is your photo, name, and your Professional Headline, like this:

Think of your Headline as your LinkedIn elevator speech or your virtual introduction. It should be short and to the point, but it should communicate enough information about you to entice people to want to know more. In the case of LinkedIn, you want your Headline to convince users to click on your name and view your full Profile or to connect with you.

Know your audience

Think about what is most important to your audience or the people you want to connect with on LinkedIn. Your Professional Headline is a valuable tool that can communicate your area of practice, your knowledge and experience and to distinguish yourself from other lawyers. It should be a differentiator that helps you to stand out in search results and it should be descriptive so that when people see your Professional Headline they immediately know what you do.

Be descriptive

Don’t make the common mistake made by many lawyers by limiting your Headline to just your title (Associate, Partner, etc.). Include your practice areas or the types of work you do for clients. Consider including the name of your firm as well – it won’t always be obvious to LinkedIn users if they’re not looking at your full Profile when they encounter your name.

But don’t stop there. Even your title and firm name (“Partner at Flintstone and Rubble, P.C”) are not enough. If a user is not familiar with your firm, this information may not be enough even to communicate that you are a lawyer (Flintstone and Rubble could be an accounting firm, for example).

Add a description of your practice areas or clients, keeping your audience in mind. Use keywords that your audience might use to search for a lawyer in your practice area. Utilize all 120 characters that LinkedIn makes available for your Headline.

Compare these Headline examples:

Partner -or- Partner at Scooby and Shaggy, LLP, Management-side Labor and Employment Law Trial Attorney

Associate at Lane & Kent, P.C -or- Elder Law and Estate Planning Associate Attorney at Seinfeld & Costanza

Trial Partner at Florrick, Agos -or- Partner, Scott, Schrute, Halpert, Beesly & Howard, PC, Risk Management and Legal Malpractice Attorney

If these headlines appeared in search results, which one in each pair would you be more likely to select?

Revising your Headline

Certain key events (getting a job, losing a job, promotions, etc.) will trigger the need to revise your Headline (along with the rest of your Profile). There’s no hard and fast rule, and much depends on your purpose and audience, and how fast those things change.

Revise your Headline as often as you need to. But keep in mind that when you revise your Headline, LinkedIn may send your connections a notification that you have a new job. If that isn’t the case and you’re just tweaking your Headline, you may want to turn off those notifications before you make your Headline changes.

If nothing significant has changed, you may want to look at your Profile and your Headline every 6 months to a year to see if there’s any updates that need to be made, any changes in language or new ways of phrasing that you might want to incorporate based on what’s happening in your practice and in the marketplace.

Job seekers: Include your desired position?

If you have a specific kind of job in mind, you can certainly make it clear in your Headline. But be aware that if you are currently employed, your employer or other colleagues may be able to see this information. If you do not want them to know that you are job hunting, you might want to keep that information out of your Headline.

If you don’t want your employer to know you’re jobhunting, you can still use LinkedIn’s job search and apply for jobs listed on LinkedIn, and you can make sure that your Professional Headline and your summary reflect the knowledge, skills and experience that would be attractive to a new potential employer or for the new position that you are seeking.

What you include in your Headline depends upon what you’re looking for, what you think your audience will respond to, and how much attention you want to call to it. If you want to let as many people as possible know that you’re seeking a specific kind of position, putting it right up front in your Headline is likely to attract attention.

For example, your Headline might read, “Recent New York Law Grad Seeking Associate Position in Commercial Real Estate.”

The benefit-driven Headline

Lawyers who want to really stand out on LinkedIn might want to consider writing a benefit-driven Headline.

What is a benefit-driven Headline? It is a Headline that focuses on the benefits that you offer to your clients, rather than your title or what you do.

For example, instead of, “Elder Law and Estate Planning Associate Attorney at Seinfeld & Costanza,” you might want to focus your Headline on the benefits that you provide to your clients, saying something like, “Helping families protect their aging loved ones and their legacy.” You might even try creatively combining these, using all the available 120 characters.

The Professional Headline is one of the most important elements of your LinkedIn Profile – take some time today to sit down and think about how you can be more creative with your Headline to attract clients, referral sources, hiring partners, or even the media.

If you want help with your LinkedIn Headline or other aspects of your LinkedIn Profile, contact me to see how I can help.

UPDATE: If you're more of a DIY type, you might be interested in this FREE printable LinkedIn Headline worksheet.

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3 New Ethics Opinions Guide New York Lawyers on Marketing Issues

The New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics issued three opinions within the past several months that provide guidance for New York lawyers on marketing issues. Opinion 1129, issued in July 2017, addresses attorney newsletters. Opinion 1131, covering payment for marketing or lead generation fees, and Opinion 1132, discussing the use of Avvo Legal Services, were both issued on August 8, 2017.

Future posts will discuss these opinions in more detail, but here are the basics, with links to the full opinions for your review. 

Attorney Newsletters and the Advertising Rules

Opinion 1129 addresses whether attorney newsletters must comply with the attorney advertising and solicitation rules contained in Rule 7.1 and 7.3, where the newsletter would be distributed to customers of one of the firm’s former clients and would include information provided by the former client. It also discussed whether it would be permissible for the firm to send a newsletter that would be partially paid for by the former client.

The opinion clarifies that a newsletter which provides information about the lawyer or law firm, including information about the firm’s achievements, cases, or personnel, will be considered to have a primary business purpose, and will qualify as advertising. In this case, since the newsletter was being sent to a targeted group (customers of the third party), if the newsletter were considered advertising, it would also be considered a solicitation and must comply with both Rules 7.1 and 7.3.

The opinion found that it would be permissible for the firm to include information supplied by a third party in a newsletter, but it would be the responsibility of the firm to ensure that the newsletter did not contain statements or claims that were false, deceptive or misleading.

Finally, the committee found that it would be permissible for the law firm to accept payment to defray the costs of publishing the newsletter if the firm did not receive payment for referring clients to the third party, and the newsletter did not include an express or implied recommendation of the third party’s services. But the opinion cautioned that the law firm might consider whether taking payment from a third party to help with the cost of publishing the newsletter might preclude the firm from representing clients in transactions involving that third party due to a conflict of interest.

Payment of Marketing Fees for Lead Generation

Opinion 1131 addresses payment for potential client leads to a for-profit website on which potential clients provide contact information and agree to be contacted by a participating lawyer. The Committee found that such payments are permissible if the selection of the lawyer is not based on an analysis of the potential client’s legal issue or the lawyer’s qualifications or ability to handle that problem, the service does not purport to recommend the lawyer (either directly or by implication) and the website through which the leads are generated complies with the requirements of Rule 7.1 on lawyer advertising.

In short, “if the Service complies with the advertising rules and the lawyer’s payment is reasonable for that form of advertising, a lawyer’s using the Service will not run afoul of Rule 7.2 unless the Service is deemed to “recommend” the lawyer.”

It is worth noting that Opinion 1131 overrules – at least in part – Opinion 902 issued in 2012, in which the Committee held that a lawyer could not pay a marketing company a fixed fee each time the marketer made an introduction to a potential client. Opinion 1131 finds that payment of a marketing fee is permissible if “the lawyer is paying the Service a fixed sum to participate, unrelated to the lawyer’s retention or the amount the lawyer charges in legal fees.”

Use of Avvo Legal Services

In contrast to Opinion 1131, Opinion 1132 finds that the marketing fee lawyers must pay to participate in Avvo Legal Services constitutes an improper payment for a recommendation, which violates New York Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2(a). While New York has found that payment of fees for other lead generation services is not prohibited, the Committee relied on two factors in distinguishing Avvo Legal Services from those other services: the use of Avvo’s rating system and the way that rating system is marketing to consumers, and Avvo’s “satisfaction guarantee.” According to the opinion, the combination of these factors implies that Avvo recommends all lawyers who participate in Avvo Legal Services and that they are “highly qualified.”

 

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5 Ways You Can Ease the Burden of Your Law School Debt

This is a guest post by  Andrew Josuweit, the CEO of Student Loan Hero, a company that combines easy-to-use tools with financial education to help millions of Americans living with student loan debt. All opinions and information contained in this post are those of the author, not of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. or the Legal Ease blog.

If you’re a lawyer, it’s hard to forget the three years you spent after college in law school, doggedly studying. Not to mention the months after that studying for the bar. Plus, all those student loans you took out to pay for everything.

After all that, don’t you think you’ve earned a break – especially on the financial end? The good news is there are a variety of programs in place to help ease the burden of law school debt that comes from your federal student loans.

Student Loan Hero recently did a study on law school debt. In the survey, we found that the typical law student faces an average of $111,752 in debt from law school alone.

When you compare that number to a lawyer’s average starting salary of $73,710, it’s no wonder lawyers may need help some assistance navigating their student loan payments at the start of their careers.

But the burden of law school debt doesn’t have to be insurmountable. Read on to find out if you qualify for any repayment or forgiveness programs so you can get back to what really matters: the work.

1. Check out income-driven repayment plans

One of the first things you can try if you need to lower your student loan payments is an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.

These plans lower your monthly payments to a percentage of your income (the percentage varies based on the plan), which means you won’t have to pay based on your current plan. But you do have to reapply for your plan each year – a fact many aren’t aware of.

Income-driven repayment plans don’t just lower your monthly payments; they can also result in student loan forgiveness. Just make sure you follow the guidelines for how many consecutive payments you need to make to ensure you remain eligible for forgiveness.

It’s important to note that you may be required to pay taxes on any amount that is forgiven. While the laws on this can change, as of right now (June 2017), any amount that is forgiven is considered to be taxable income the year the debt is forgiven.

2. Consider Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re currently working for a government organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, or another qualifying nonprofit, you might be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

To qualify for PSLF, the first thing you should do is fill out the PSLF Employment Certification Form. This form needs to be re-submitted each year and again if you’ve changed employers.

The way PSLF works after that can be a little bit confusing because the program is a forgiveness program, not a repayment program.

In other words, you can apply for PSLF only after you’re qualified. And you don’t technically qualify for PSLF until a certain amount of eligible payments have been made.

Here’s how to qualify:

1. Your loans have to be Direct Loans.

• If you have FFEL or Perkins Loans, you can consolidate them under the Direct Consolidation Loan so they’ll qualify.
• Private loans will never qualify.

2. You must work at least 30 hours per week for a qualifying employer.

• Your employer’s qualification will be confirmed by the Employment Certification Form that you fill out every year.

3. You must sign up for an income-driven repayment plan.

• If you don’t and choose to stick to a 10-year Standard Repayment Plan instead, there will be no loan amount left to forgive by the time the qualifying payments have been made.

4. You must make 120 qualifying payments.

• They don’t have to be consecutive, but qualifying means they need to be paid in the full amount, no more than 15 days late, and meet several other stipulations, found here.

One thing to keep in mind: the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has been under fire lately and might cease to exist for students hoping to use it in the future. If this is something your employer qualifies you for, you might want to consider signing up while you still can.

3. Look into student loan repayment assistance programs

Another beneficial tool for lawyers (and many other professionals) is student loan repayment assistance. Student loan repayment assistance programs are offered by employers, universities, and even states.

Below you’ll find a list of student loan repayment assistance programs (also referred to as LRAP). But the list doesn’t include more specific programs such as those offered by universities or employers.

If you want to quickly find out if your alma mater offers an LRAP, go to their website and search for a loan repayment assistance program. You can also reach out to your human resources department to see if your employer offers this kind of program.

4. Research loan repayment assistance programs by state

Read below for a snapshot of LRAP programs available by state, but remember that these can change each year.

For example, some of the programs listed have already run out of funding for the year, but it’s important to be aware of them so you can check back again next year.

• Arizona
  • Joyce Holsey's ALL (Arizona's Legal Legacy) - Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Arkansas
  • Center for Arkansas Legal Services Law School Student Loan Repayment Benefit
• District of Columbia
  • DC Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Florida
  • The Florida Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Illinois
  • The Chicago Bar Foundation Sun-Times Public Interest Law Fellowship
  • Kimball R. Anderson & Karen Gatsis Anderson Public Interest Law Fellowship
  • Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Indiana
  • Richard M. Givan Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Kansas
  • Rural Opportunity Zone (ROZ) Student Loan Repayment
• Louisiana
  • Louisiana Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Maine
  • Coffin Family Law Fellowship
  • The Maine Justice Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Minnesota
  • LRAP Minnesota
• Montana
  • Montana Justice Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Nebraska
  • Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy Legal Education for Public Service and Rural Practice Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• New Hampshire
  • New Hampshire Bar Foundation Loan Forgiveness Program
• New Mexico
  • New Mexico Public Service Law Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• New York
  • NYS District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services Attorney Loan Forgiveness (DALF) Program
  • Steven C. Krane Student Loan Assistance for the Public Interest Program
• North Carolina
  • North Carolina Legal Education Assistance Foundation (LEAF) Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• North Dakota
  • Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Oregon
  • Oregon State Bar Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania Bar Foundation - PA IOLTA Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Texas
  • Texas Student Loan Repayment Assistance Program
• Vermont
  • Vermont Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program

5. Apply for the John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program

Depending on what state you live in, another option could be The John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program. This program is only available to state public defenders and state prosecutors who agree to hold their respective jobs for a minimum of three years.

To find out if your state is currently participating in this program, you can use this list of contacts to reach out to your local state agency. Participation does fluctuate, especially based on funding.

As difficult as your law school debt burden might be, it doesn’t have to be insurmountable. By taking advantage of federal programs to lower your payments when you need them and student loan repayment assistance programs when you qualify, you can finally get that leg up you need.