This month, we’re bringing you our own Burton & Co., New Zealand as our firm of the month!
|
|
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
+001.201.594.9985 www.ilntoday.com |
 |
‘Tis the Season…to Network!
‘Tis the season! You know the one – when every other day holds the promise of a networking opportunity, as you take clients to holiday lunches, send out your holiday cards, and attend all of those lovely parties.
The parties are what bring me here today, because I’m here to tell you about a key to networking that I’ve observed over the past nine years with the ILN.
RELAX.
Now, I’m not talking about letting loose and forgetting that you’re in a professional setting – on a side note, don’t forget to turn off any devices that might allow you to post photos to a social site when you’re at a holiday party.
But I am talking about letting go of business for a moment. Because, paradoxically, that is where you will find your strongest professional relationships.
ILN Firm of the Month – Shutts & Bowen LLP, Florida
This month, we’re highlighting our Floridian firm, Shutts & Bowen LLP, as our firm of the month! Congratulations to Tim, Raul, and their colleagues!
|
|
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
+001.201.594.9985 www.ilntoday.com |
|
Content Marketing is King
I’ve had an idea for a post noodling around in my brain for a few weeks, but I’ve been having trouble getting it to crystallize. Until yesterday, when I read Sayre Happich’s "Seven Content Marketing Tips for Lawyers."
Sayre says:
All lawyers can benefit from content marketing. By creating targeted content — blog posts, articles, tweets — and pushing it out through the right channels, you can position yourself as a thought leader in a specific area of law. And, whether you are a solo practitioner or part of a megafirm, that can lead to more clients."
She is absolutely right. I’ve seen time and time again that the firms that are successful today are the ones who are sharing substantive content on a regular basis (there are other contributing reasons of course, but the same mindset that leads them to create substantive content and share it, is the mindset that helps them find success).
What I’m going to say next might be a bit controversial, but I’ll say it anyway – clients do not care about press releases announcing that an attorney was quoted in an article. They’re not going to do the work of first clicking through to the firm’s press release to see that someone was quoted, and then clicking again to get to the actual article – they’re too busy. That’s not substantive content. Even if something leads to substantive content, if you make it hard for your audience to find it, they will not take the time to do so.
A Quarterly Refresh of your Marketing/Biz Dev Plan
To many people, fall may just be the prelude to winter – the days get shorter, it’s darker earlier, and the leaves are falling. But I’ve always thought of fall as a fresh start. It may be years since I’ve been in school, but something about the chill in the air makes me feel renewed and revitalized.
With that in mind, I was recently chatting with my friend, Jaimie Field, about this very thing and how close we are to the end of the year. This starts to be the time when firms and attorneys look at their marketing and business development plans, to see how they’ve done in terms of meeting their goals for the year and what they want to accomplish in the following year.
As we were talking, I had an idea – why not think of each quarter of the year as a fresh start? I’m not suggesting that we all write a new plan for each quarter (no one has time for that!). But take a few minutes today to set up a calendar reminder for yourself to look at your plan on the first business day in each quarter.
Then, when that reminder comes up, take out your plan and review it:
- Which goals have you accomplished?
- Which goals have you made progress on?
- What is still left to achieve?
I do this periodically (approximately quarterly), and each time I do it, I then set up additional reminders for myself for each of the outstanding goals – I’ll break them down into manageable increments and task myself with one or two things over the next three months on days that look to have a bit more space on the schedule.
I can always reschedule those things if need be, but by doing that, I’m making a commitment to myself and my goals for the year. It helps me to keep track of what I’m doing on a regular basis, as well as to revisit my goals throughout the year so I know what’s working, what’s not working, and what I can improve on for the following year.
So why not treat fall (and every new quarter) like a fresh start – track down your marketing and business development plans and do a quick review and scheduling.
And a very Happy Halloween to all those who celebrate!
Continue Reading A Quarterly Refresh of your Marketing/Biz Dev Plan
Is Anybody Going to Click on That? Getting Clients to Read Law Firm Content, A Webinar Recap
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sitting in on another of the LMA’s Social Media Shared Interest Group’s webinars, this time with Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra. Adrian talked about some best practices for getting clients to read a law firm’s online content, using a case study to walk us through.
As I’ve noted before, I won’t give away everything from the webinar, since it’s an LMA membership benefit, but there was some great advice that Adrian shared with us.
His case study focused on the discussions surrounding the America Invents Act, for which JD Supra saw 82 firms producing content. Of these firms, only one stood out, Pepper Hamilton. Adrian delved into the "why" of the popularity of their post, as well as defining the goals we should be pursuing as we produce content.
ILN Firm of the Month – Økland & Co DA, Norway
This month, we’re highlighting our Norwegian firm, Økland & Co DA, as our firm of the month! Congratulations to Tom, Vegard, Tor Erlend, and their colleagues!
|
|
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
+001.201.594.9985 www.ilntoday.com |
|
ILN-terviews: Attilio Ferrari, Ferrari Pedeferri Boni Studio Legale Associato
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, Attilio Ferrari of our member firm, Ferrari Pedeferri Boni Studio Legale Associato in Milan, Italy!
In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
We are an Italian medium size law firm providing clients (mainly companies, but also private clients) with high quality and tailor-made legal assistance.
Who would be your typical client?
Medium size companies, based Italy and abroad, which – also with our legal assistance and co-operation – want to grow.
What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
That they will find a dedicated lawyer and a team who will cooperate with them in a timely manner, are ready to understand their needs and to share their goals and challenges as an effective legal partner.
What has been your most challenging case? Why?
One of the most challenging cases was probably when advising a foreign client in the acquisition process as a new main industrial shareholder in one of the Italian privatizations. It was challenging because of the complexity of the transaction and the general context: the seller was a huge public company, there was the internal frontline with other shareholders participating in our NewCo (Italian and foreigners, industrial and investment banks), the external frontline with other bidders, the seller, trade unions, public opinion and political background, etc. All main Italian law firms were involved and the entire transaction took us almost one year to be successfully completed.
What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
There are many, but anytime I receive a request for legal assistance from someone who was a counterparty in the past, I know we did a good job.
What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
Family, family, family (and some sport, when children sleep…)!
What would surprise people most about you?
My novels drawer!
What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
The first ILN meeting in Philadelphia, in 2005. I immediately realized that the ILN was something different compared to all other lawyers’ networks or conferences I experienced before. The motto “Where lawyers become friends!” is well deserved and completely true.
What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
If I wasn’t a lawyer, I probably would have become an entrepreneur (looking for legal assistance all around the world through the ILN!).
If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you?
At least a movie should be a daydream, and it can be far away from reality: therefore I would say: Brad Pitt!
How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who tried to make a little difference in favor of people around him.
ILN-terviews: Bill Ruskin, Epstein Becker & Green
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 Ruskin of our member firm, Epstein Becker & Green in New York!
In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
At its core, I defend corporate clients who are alleged to have caused harm to persons or property due to their manufacturing or marketing of products or by their historical waste disposal practices.
Who would be your typical client?
A typical client is someone who makes something.
What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
I am a problem solver. I take pride in knowing that clients can carry on with their business while I work hard addressing their issue.
What has been your most challenging case? Why?
My most challenging case was a Superfund cost recovery action in federal court in Pensacola, Florida. My client – a chemical manufacturing facility – had spent millions and millions of dollars cleaning up decades-old contamination. We brought suit against the prior owners of the plant and adjacent industrial owners to pay their fair share of the clean-up costs. We were up against eight adversaries – a case of David and Goliath. It is challenging enough to litigate against one adversary, it is very challenging to litigate against eight. We successfully managed one-on-one mediation with each to achieve a series of successful settlements.
What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
I received a decision on behalf of a client in another environmental cost recovery case, which was the culmination of a 3-month trial against one of the world’s largest mining companies. Through extensive discovery, we were able to undermine the credibility of the adversary’s technical experts – through use of historical aerial photographs and their own client’s production documents, which demonstrated that extensive contamination had taken place on our adversary’s watch. The case was extremely complex and required us to fully understand the impact of six decades of contamination.
What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
I spend time with my family and play tennis (poorly!).
What would surprise people most about you?
I am a huge Cornell ice hockey fan.
What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
My most memorable ILN experience was obtaining a dismissal forum non conveniens for a Spanish-based manufacturing client of ILN counsel in Barcelona. The client was sued in federal court in New York City by a New York-based food conglomerate seeking millions of euros in damages for a massive consumer food product recall in several E.U. countries. After submitting our papers to the court, the plaintiff agreed to dismiss the case.
What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
I would be a History Professor, teaching a course about how movies impact political and societal views.
If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you?
That’s easy, James Stewart. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence are two of my favorite films.
How would you like to be remembered?
Riding off into the sunset on a white palomino.
ILN Firm of the Month – WOLPERT RECHTSANWAELTE
With our 2013 European Regional Meeting kicking off this Thursday in Mainz, I thought there was no better time to highlight one of our German firms, WOLPERT RECHTSANWAELTE!
|
|
||||||
 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
+001.201.594.9985 www.ilntoday.com |
|