social media in your law practice Archives

12 02, 2014

Strategies for Expanding into a New Practice Area

2019-02-21T23:25:23+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|1 Comment

Many areas of law practice tend to cycle up and down over time. Savvy attorneys keep enough capital reserves to get them through the predictable lean times. The business volatility in recent years has some worried lawyers seeking to build up a practice in a different area of expertise. I wrote about ways to get experience that you don’t already have, but perhaps you dabble now and then in another area. Here are some tips on building up your visibility and expertise in a practice area you aren’t known for.

1. Choose an additional practice area that complements your existing practice.

Your credibility will be higher if there is some overlap between your new practice area and what you already have a reputation for. When real estate, securities or other transactional practices wane, some transactional lawyers step over into litigation involving similar subject matter expertise. To begin making such a transition, offer to consult on cases with trial lawyers you know. Many commercial litigators take on such a wide variety of cases that they don’t have your depth of expertise or awareness of the numerous laws that may impact the case they just took on. […]

8 10, 2013

Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

2019-02-21T23:25:26+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

Suzanne Meehle wrote a nice post called With a Little Help from My Friends about the value to a lawyer of network development, whether inside or outside your organization. A network of co-workers, friends and acquaintances can help you build your law practice and be the best lawyer you can be. Here are some things a good network can do for you:

1. Refer business to you;
2. Answer legal questions outside your area of expertise;
3. Act as a sounding board as you puzzle out a tough legal issue;
4. Share tips and methods for effectively running your law practice;
5. Save you from reinventing the wheel by sharing a starting form for a document you need to draft;
6. Take care of your good clients on matters you don’t usually handle;
7. Cover for you when a vacation or emergency takes you away from the office;
8. Make recommendations about vendors, software or technology they have found reliable; and
9. Introduce you to speaking, writing or leadership opportunities that will get your name out there. […]

11 09, 2013

Finding Work: 8 Reasons for and 4 Warnings about using LinkedIn

2019-03-20T21:40:19+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on Finding Work: 8 Reasons for and 4 Warnings about using LinkedIn

“Why would I want a LinkedIn profile? I keep up with my friends and connections on Facebook.” That’s what young lawyers looking for work often say when I ask them about networking and how they use LinkedIn. Older lawyers often view any kind of social media as a waste of time. Whether “looking for work” means job-hunting or client development, LinkedIn can be a useful tool. Here are 8 reasons why.

1. Professional Focus

LinkedIn focuses primarily on business connections by highlighting companies and their employees and former employees. Although LinkedIn has a collaborative culture like most other social media, it provides a forum to strut your stuff tastefully, because participants tacitly acknowledge its self-promotional and business networking purpose. Clients, recruiters, and employers come to LinkedIn looking for what you have to offer. Journalists also peruse LinkedIn for knowledgeable people to interview about newsworthy topics. […]

28 03, 2013

A Chance to Grab a Better Law Firm Website Name

2019-03-11T21:17:38+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|Comments Off on A Chance to Grab a Better Law Firm Website Name

There’s a big shake up going on in the world of internet domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is accepting applications for new generic Top Level Domains (TLDs). Top Level Domains are the second half of your website name – the part that follows the “dot,” such as .com, .net and .info. Historically, ICANN authorized only 22 generic TLDs and 248 country code TLDs, like .ca or .fr. Recently, however, ICANN began accepting applications for the issuance of new descriptive TLDs, such as .book or .auto.

So why should you care about all this mumbo jumbo? […]

31 08, 2011

How Lawyers Can Handle Bad Reviews and Complaints on Social Media

2019-03-21T19:12:02+00:00By Debra L. Bruce, JD, PCC.|7 Comments

When I spoke recently at the State Bar of Texas annual meeting about social media success stories for lawyers, I got a familiar question: “What should I do if someone trashes me online in social media?”

Almost every lawyer has experienced a client with unreasonable expectations, or one who got bad results because of their own bad behavior or bad facts. I can’t even count how many different people over the years that I have heard claim that they got cheated in their divorce settlement because their lawyer was in cahoots with the other side. (None of them told a credible story.) The difference today is that they can widely publicize their opinions and dissatisfaction online. I have been taken aback by the vituperative language used in anonymous comments to blogs and news posts. Given these common occurrences today, there is a definite risk that someday you will face an unfavorable rating or an untrue statement about your services online.

Some attorneys cite fear of negative comments as a reason for eschewing social media altogether. They are uniformed, however. Ratings and comments can be posted about your legal services on many sites whether you engage social media or not. If you don’t play, you won’t know what they say. […]

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social media in your law practice

Strategies for Expanding into a New Practice Area

Build Your Law Practice: Become a Network Resource Hub

Finding Work: 8 Reasons for and 4 Warnings about using LinkedIn

A Chance to Grab a Better Law Firm Website Name

How Lawyers Can Handle Bad Reviews and Complaints on Social Media

Make an Appointment

Setting goals for your life and career?

Setting goals for
your life and career?