Ethics for Attorneys Archives

17 05, 2016

How to Turn Clients Away Without Creating Offense

2019-03-20T21:27:30+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|2 Comments

Turn clients away without creating offense I’ve written about warning signs that a potential new client may be a train wreck waiting to happen to your law practice. If you pay attention to such warnings, then you may find yourself wondering just how to turn clients away without creating offense. That’s just what one of my clients struggled with recently. Here are my thoughts and thoughts from other attorneys, too.

How NOT to Turn Clients Away

Attorneys have a variety of ways that they handle potentially undesirable clients. Here are 3 methods that I do NOT recommend using to decline the representation. […]

3 05, 2012

Warning: Avon May Call You, But Microsoft Won’t

2019-03-19T21:34:47+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

The internet crawls with scam artists circulating myths, bogus horror stories, urban legends and snake oil sales pitches. I often use the Snopes website to verify or debunk any weird or cautionary emails I receive. According to a New York Times article about the Snopes founders, their fact-checking website gets around 8 million unique visitors per month. This time I didn’t need Snopes to verify the warning I received in a recent email. It came from our trustworthy IT consultant, Lee McAdory. Here’s what Lee wrote: […]

1 05, 2012

6 Warning Signs You May Not be Ready for a Virtual Paralegal Relationship

2019-03-19T21:42:30+00:00By Cathy L Ribble ACP|Comments Off on 6 Warning Signs You May Not be Ready for a Virtual Paralegal Relationship

A virtual paralegal relationship is not the solution for every solo or small firm attorney. After consulting with many prospective attorney-clients over the last 3 years, I’ve begun to recognize some repeating patterns. You may not be ready for a virtual paralegal relationship if several of these warning signs resonate: […]

6 03, 2012

Groupon for Legal Services: What Could Work and What to Watch Out For

2019-03-19T22:14:27+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Groupon for Legal Services: What Could Work and What to Watch Out For

I previously blogged about the results one lawyer obtained when he promoted his law practice using Groupon. That post generated a number of informative comments which I recommend reading. Before rushing off to get an advisory opinion on the permissibility of daily deal advertising in your state, however, make sure you understand how the process works. A daily deal is essentially “loss leader” advertising, the success of which depends on selling additional services at full price at some point.

What Services Fit a Daily Deal? […]

28 02, 2012

Did a Groupon Really Work for a Solo Lawyer?

2019-03-19T22:24:17+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Did a Groupon Really Work for a Solo Lawyer?

Last year St. Louis attorney Craig S. Redler garnered a lot more attention than he really wanted when he offered a discount coupon for a will and power of attorney through daily deal promoter Groupon. Groupon sends its members targeted advertising of daily virtual vouchers entitling the purchasers to products and services from local businesses at deep discounts through group purchasing. If a large enough group commits to purchase the coupon, the deal is on. Thus, the name Groupon. The company was founded in 2008 and its business took off so rapidly that it now has hundreds of copycat competitors. Some of the other big players in the daily deal market include Living Social, Google Offers and Amazon with its Gold Box Deals and Woot.

A Virtual Ethics Exam

Groupon grabbed headlines when it went public in 2011. Its CEO was interviewed on 60 Minutes even as I was writing this post. What focused the legal blog spotlight on Redler, however, was the question of whether advertising through Groupon could constitute fee splitting in violation of Rule 5.4(a) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and most state ethics rules. […]

16 02, 2012

Using Virtual Paralegals: Frequently Asked Questions

2019-03-19T22:43:05+00:00By Cathy L Ribble ACP|Comments Off on Using Virtual Paralegals: Frequently Asked Questions

by Cathy Ribble

This month I want to discuss the most frequent questions I receive as a virtual paralegal. Questions come from many different directions: attorneys considering a virtual paralegal relationship, paralegals interested in working virtually, and curious lay people. Ironically, for the most part, the same questions come from each group. […]

7 09, 2010

Why Lawyers MUST Get Their Heads Out of the Sand about Social Media

2019-02-10T23:15:58+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|6 Comments

The mushrooming popularity of social media creates novel legal issues to be resolved, as well as a lot of opportunities for mistakes by lawyers and their clients. Wake up! How can you answer your client’s questions or warn them about potential legal infractions, if you aren’t familiar with the medium? Could you be completely missing a good business development opportunity?

Many lawyers tell me their clients don’t use social media, but have they really checked? Or is that just an assumption? How do you check, if you don’t engage in social media yourself? Not long ago I spoke to about 50 lawyers, most of whom knew very little about social media. The room got very quiet when I started putting up on the screen the logos of their clients who had Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. If you asked your clients last year whether they used social media, they may have a different answer now. Could your competitors be enhancing their relationships with your clients via social media, while you remain oblivious?

Even if your clients don’t officially have a social media presence, their employees, customers, or competitors may be posting things that affect your clients. When they ask you what to do about it, how will you be able to advise them if you don’t understand what they are talking about?

Here are some examples of how you might be called on in your law practice to address social media issues.

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16 03, 2010

Nice Guys Are Good for Business

2019-02-10T23:15:57+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|2 Comments

Back in 2005 I wrote Who Says Nice Guys Finish Last? The post recounted how attorneys have generated more business by putting their focus on helping others, even in ways that have nothing to do with the law. It also discussed the psychological underpinning of their success.

In the wake of the financial meltdown, there is growing evidence (cited by Time magazine, Fortune magazine and Harvard Business Review) that the “do well by doing good” philosophy is gaining a foothold in the corporate world. Maybe we are getting beyond the Gordon Gekko/ Ivan Boesky philosphy that “greed is good.” I hope more of our legal colleagues take note, too.

At least one Harvard Law grad is leading the way. Dov Seidman, author of the bestseller HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything … in Business (and in Life) opines that “winner-take-all” strategies are obsolete. He partially credits the increased difficulty in hiding unethical and greedy business behavior in this era of bloggers, YouTube, Twitter and other social media.

Fortune Magazine recently published Why Doing Good Is Good for Business about Seidman’s rise as a management guru from providing training in ethics and legal compliance. The Fortune article says he
[…]

2 03, 2010

Social Media Articles in Texas Bar Journal

2010-03-02T13:23:39+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Social Media Articles in Texas Bar Journal

The March 2010 issue of the Texas Bar Journal is out, and it contains a number of excellent articles on “The Attorney and Social Media”. I have two articles in it. Social Media 101 for Lawyers and Ethically Navigating the Social Media Landscape. I had more to say than got pubished, but editors will edit, when space is limited. 😉

My Twitter friend, Adrian Dayton (@AdrianDayton) has an excellent article about 10 Steps to Becoming a Rainmaker through Social Media. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

John Browning explains how lawyers use social media to serve process in lawsuits. He also describes numerous cases of juror misconduct with social media in another article.

The entire issue is worth reading, even the review by Gerry Morris on the off-topic subject of online accounting in a law practice.

Way to go Texas Bar Journal!

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