Zen & The Art of Legal Networking : Lawyers & Attorneys in an International Legal Network for Relationships & Referrals

Happy Halloween everyone! Since Halloween is my second favorite holiday (after Christmas), I had to take a time out to say "enjoy!" and share a photo of my little "spooks." 

But back to the task at hand - let's get started with Twitter. To create your profile, we're going to start by going to Twitter.com. 

As you can see, Twitter says that using their service, will give you "instant updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and what's happening around the world."  

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Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Thomas Büchli of our member firm Schmidt, Jaton & Associés in Geneva, Switzerland.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Our firm offers tailor-made and comprehensive solutions that also work in practice. 

Who would be your typical client? 
Life is so varied, that there is no typical client. 

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you? 
Everything they may consider important for them to work with me. 

What has been your most challenging case? Why? 
The one I am working on now, and in the past, when I worked for a princess in trouble. 

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer? 
When a former adverse party engaged me as its new lawyer. 

What do you do when you’re not practicing law? 
I listen to Mahlers' and Bruckners' wonderful musical landscapes.

What would surprise people most about you? 
That I am terribly scared of lightning, but always look at it. 

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
A lunch in Vienna in 2010 with very funny ILN colleagues. 

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer? 
A choreographer or music-director, since I am a conductor of wind bands. 

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you? 
I think that Woody Allen could probably show perfectly the complexity of my life...

How would you like to be remembered? 
I hope this question comes much too early...Today, I would say as somebody who did it "his way." 

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Don't worry - I know I haven't finished my Facebook series yet, or even gotten very far underway.  But because we're expecting some major changes with Facebook with the rolling out of the new "timeline," it makes sense to wait until it's out before moving forward.

So in the meantime, I thought I'd get started with our Twitter tutorials, particularly since I had a request from a non-legal family member on behalf of a colleague for some assistance!

Before we get started, I'm sure there are many of you who will roll your eyes at my recommendation to use Twitter.  I mean, what can you really get across in 140-character bursts? 

So very much.

I'll give you my background on Twitter - several years ago, I launched a very small gifts company, selling designs on tee shirts, etc. through Cafe Press.  As a marketer, I was looking for ways to build buzz around my designs without having to spend any money.  I found a list of suggested ways to do this, which included signing up for Twitter - something I'd never heard of.

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Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Bill Holder of our member firm Clark Wilson in Vancouver, Canada.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
I am engaged in the practice of business litigation with about 50% of my files involving real estate/commercial tenancy disputes and the other 50% being larger collection matters. 

Who would be your typical client? 
Real estate developers, commercial landlords/shopping centers, and international creditors.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you? 
I've been with my firm for just over 30 years - this experience allows me to offer efficient and practical advice.   

What has been your most challenging case? Why? 
For the past 8 years, I've been representing an elderly couple who are trying to obtain judicial recognition of a 999 year lease of a waterfront property in my Province's lake district.  The legal issues are complex, but my clients are, in my opinion, in the right. It's just one of those cases I personally feel we have to win. The law must find a way to help them. 

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer? 
I mentored a junior associate in taking her first case to trial. She was nervous, but only because she didn't recognize the talent she possessed. I'll always remember the look on her face when she was successful. An advocate was born, and I don't think she ever looked back. 

What do you do when you’re not practicing law? 
I spend most of my free time enjoying life with my wife and three children.  During a rare pause in the action, I'll hide in the modest wine cellar in the basement of our home. 

What would surprise people most about you? 
I am a sandan (third degree) black belt in the Shito-Ryu style of traditional Japanese karate. I teach at a local dojo each week where one of my sons is an advanced student. 

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
I wouldn't point to a single ILN experience as being the most memorable - I am very grateful to have participated in a number of wonderful conferences. The most singular idea that strikes me at every ILN get together is the common bond we all share as lawyers.  I leave each conference impressed by the wonderful individuals who make up our organization. 

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer? 
It's a toss up between being a chef or a winery owner. 

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you? 
Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig have already offered their services. 

How would you like to be remembered? 
What, I'm going somewhere?

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I'm back with another tip for Tuesday! 

Today's tip is brought to you by a rather frustrating customer service experience I'm having, which is further impacted by social media.

The ILN normally gives a small gift to our delegates when they're attending a conference, as a memento of the city that they're visiting (we like to give them the warm fuzzies about our group!).  This morning, I'm attempting to order this memento for our next conference, and ran into the snag that they only allow you to order 15 of them.

It happens, so it's not a big deal.

But here's where it gets frustrating.  I first try to submit my request for assistance via their website. And I get an error telling me that the "page cannot be found." Okay...so did my request go through or not? I'm not sure.  

I next try to call them, but when I choose the option for customer service, I get an answering machine telling me that no one can help me right now.  They're in New York, and it's the middle of the work day, so what's that about? 

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Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose longtime ILN member and Director, Marc Udink of our member firm Udink & De Jong in the Hague, the Netherlands.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Banking & Restructuring. All turn around issues in almost every industry. 

Who would be your typical client? 
Upper middle market CEO's and CFO's and non-executive board members. 

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you? 
We really care and advise on a high level, taking every aspect into consideration in finding the solution. The law is not leading; finding the right solution is leading.  

What has been your most challenging case? Why? 
I was appointed by the Minister as the CEO of a large healthcare company, employing almost 30,000 employees. The whole country was worried and we needed to find a solution within a week. Unions, political parties, TV networks and an overstressed Corporate Governance atmosphere made it a testing affair. The company was saved and more than 2 million clients were happy. 

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer? 
Becoming one. 

What do you do when you’re not practicing law? 
When not practicing, I am lobbying within political circles and having a good time at home, reading, watching TV.

What would surprise people most about you? 
If I left the ILN. All members know by now I feel the ILN is indeed a family of true friends. I have been privileged to be a part of this for 20 years or so. I miss all the guys that retired and some of them have even passed away. I think of all of them regularly. 

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer? 
I would be a CEO somewhere and a politician. I am often contemplating this. 

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you? 
Robert Redford. There has been a lot of history in my life. Partly public, some of it tragic, and most of it as a leader of people and friends. Redford has the right combination of New England elegance and Southern heroism. 

How would you like to be remembered? 
As somebody who cares about people and at times, can bring insights into their lives.

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You may have noticed a lack of posting here lately - I've been waiting for Facebook to roll out their changes before going ahead with additional how-to's. I don't want to be obsolete too quickly! But I will be back this week with a re-cap of our corporate break out session at our recent European Regional Meeting. 

In the meantime, I do have a tip for Tuesday, and it's about publishing content to your website.

Firms, I know many of you have your marketing departments handling this, and there's something I've noticed with the syndicated content I get from our member firms...bunches of articles are published at the same time.  

Now, I know this is easier, but it results in a lack of readership - how do I know that? Because when I see a bunch of articles or blog posts published within a span of a few minutes, I'm less likely to read them. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Since my guess is that these are scheduled uploads for the most part, please make sure to schedule them in a more staggered way.  It will ensure that people pay greater attention to your content!  Since your attorneys are taking the time to develop this content (though admittedly, some of it is press releases and firm news), it's worth making sure that it has the best chance of being read.  Don't irritate your audience by overwhelming them with articles. 

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