I’m a big believer that every marketing tactic is not for everyone – we all have our strengths. Some people will be excellent public speakers, who enjoy sharing their expertise with large audiences. Others will be happy to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as it were) and write blog posts and articles. Still others will shine when you put them in a room full of strangers to network. 

As many people as there are, there will be marketing tactics and ways of implementing them. 

But I will say that if your firm is not creating and delivering content that can be shared in some way, you are missing out. 

When I was growing up, content was created for you – if you wanted the news, you’d buy a newspaper or magazine and read a series of articles that were written by others and put together by others. The television news was the same. You had very little say over what was produced, other than using your purchasing or viewing power to reflect your likes and dislikes. 

Continue Reading It’s All About the Content

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, Blair Bowen of our member firm, Fogler Rubinoff in Toronto!

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Engaging, because no two clients, cases, issues, or days are ever the same .

Who would be your typical client?
An entrepreneurial, small to medium size business owner.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
I am completely dedicated to their cause and to achieving the best possible resolution to their commercial disputes.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
A case where I acted as trial counsel for a start-up environmental services company, in which the company and its principals were being sued for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of confidence. It was literally a "bet the company" case. We were completely successful after a six week trial.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
Winning a pro bono case for a young woman who had been defrauded of her life savings by her lawyer and seeing her being compensated by the Ontario law society’s compensation fund.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
I spend time with my family. I golf, travel and cycle.

What would surprise people most about you?
I write fictional short stories.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
Meeting and forming friendships with lawyers at other ILN member firms, particularly the folks at Clark Wilson.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
Cell biologist (really).

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you?
Denzel Washington (ha ha).

How would you like to be remembered?
As a person who tried to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around him.

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing a special guest post with you from one of the ILN’s partners, Washington University School of Law’s online LLM program. We’re honored that they’ve partnered with us, and this post from Chelsea Wilson, their Community Relations Manager, has some excellent tips for positioning yourself as a subject matter expert – be sure to take notes! 

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A wonderful long-term strategy for marketing yourself and your law practice online is to gain a reputation as a “subject matter expert.” The blogs, websites, and social media profiles of subject matter experts are hubs of information and analysis, and can become go-to outlets for peers, the public, and the press whenever news breaks on a given topic. For that reason, it can be a valuable strategy for raising your profile, and can be an excellent tool for earning new business.

 

Continue Reading 7 Ways to Position Yourself as a Subject Matter Expert Online

I’m so proud of our newest feature – the ILN Firm of the Month – that I thought I’d share it here with you, Zen readers! This month’s FOM is Canadian Clark Wilson LLP! 

   

 
Clark WilsonMember of the International Lawyers Network

 

The ILN is proud to announce this month’s "Firm of the Month" – Clark Wilson LLP! 

Clark Wilson’s 83 lawyers and 144 support staff make them one of the largest law firms in British Columbia, Canada. With a solid reputation and positive client relationships in BC’s business community, they have earned the confidence of many of Western Canada’s leading organizations who turn to their firm for legal counsel.

Clark Wilson’s commercial practice areas are comprehensive, including general corporate & commercial law, corporate finance/securities, real estate, infrastructure procurement and construction, labour and employment, immigration, natural resources and energy. Their technology and intellectual property group advises on patents, trademarks, licensing and related issues. Their well-regarded tax practice group advises on the structuring of transactions and business ownership to minimize taxation. They also have a strong litigation department to assist clients in the courtroom, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

In addition to their commercial law capabilities, Clark Wilson provide clients with a range of private client services, meeting the needs of those clients requiring domestic and international tax and estate planning counsel.

Clark Wilson’s clients include entrepreneurs and multinational corporations, family-owned enterprises, publicly traded companies and institutions. Industries served include real estate development, technology, transportation, hospitality and tourism, health care, education, financial services, construction, natural resources, manufacturing, and retail.

Full descriptions of Clark Wilson’s services, lawyer profiles, examples of clients served, and links to related web properties are available on their website.

Lindsay Griffiths
Director of Global Relationship Management
International Lawyers Network

Lindsay Griffiths

 

Learn More

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Main Contacts: 

Bill Holder 

Bill Holder

Email: wdh@cwilson.com
Telephone: +1(604) 643-3169

Practice Groups:
Business Litigation
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Aaron Singer

Aaron Singer

Email: abs@cwilson.com
Telephone: +1(604) 643-3108

Practice Groups:
Corporate/ Commercial; Commercial Real Estate; Aviation; Environmental

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Alan Griffiths

“Clark Wilson is a valuable member of the International Lawyers Network, and their attorneys embody the ILN’s core characteristics of quality and professionalism.”

Alan Griffiths
Executive Director
International Lawyers Network

+001.201.594.9985

www.ilntoday.com

 

It’s a little known fact that I happen to have dual citizenship with the US and the UK. So it was with great excitement that I awaited the birth of the royal prince a couple of weeks ago – not enough excitement that I would have camped outside the Lindo Wing, but enough to stick on the BBC online once news of his Royal Highness’s birth was confirmed. 

I’ve spoken before about "fame-jacking" – seeing what’s out there that is culturally popular, and leveraging the excitement and interest that surrounds it. There are good ways and bad ways to do this, and following the royal birth, there was a flurry of them. While I’m generally in favor of identifying a way to link your business with the hot topics of conversation, I felt a bit icky about some of those brands that used the arrival of Prince George to push their wares (and yes, I am aware of the irony of my blogging about it).

We at the ILN posted a simple "Congratulations" message on our Facebook page and Twitter feed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which I’m well aware that they will never see. Those brands that did something similar, or came up with the clever way to congratulate them without linking to their website or pushing a new product, I thought did a clever thing. 

Continue Reading Coat-tail Branding – Clever or Icky?

On Monday, I presented a short recap about the Zappos session at LMA’s Annual Conference to my local LMA city group.  So they’ve definitely been on my mind this week, particularly after a customer service experience I had with another company. 

We’ve talked before about how bad client service experiences can have a negative impact – and a lot of that is common sense. But what about lukewarm client experiences? 

To illustrate, I want to compare Zappos with the experience that I had with Groupon yesterday.  Zappos mantra is customer happiness – they don’t just want a satisfied customer, they want an ecstatic customer.  Ecstatic customers will go out and tell their brand story in a happy and positive way, so Zappos is not only creating repeat customers, but helping to facilitate new clients. 

Continue Reading What Kind of Client Experience Are You Creating at Your Firm?

One of the ILN’s member firms, Fogler Rubinoff, recently launched a new website, focused on responsive design and definitely very cutting edge for the legal profession. We invited Michael Slan to present on the site during our 2013 Annual Meeting, and Michael had some great best practices for law firms on redesigning their websites, which I’d like to share. 

Michael began by addressing some of the issues that they had with their current site, which had last been redesigned in 2005. The site itself was fine, but it had some issues: 

  • Looked like everyone else’s 
  • Required too many clicks
  • Too much scrolling
  • Inefficient layout of content
  • Text-heavy and lacked visual content

Continue Reading Law Firm Websites – Best Practices

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, Michael Lasky of our member firm, Davis & Gilbert in New York!

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
I feel privileged to be the trusted advisor on various litigation, employment, intellectual property and business law matters to many longtime clients of Davis & Gilbert, a substantial portion of which are in the media communications or financial services industries.

Who would be your typical client?
An entrepreneurial and fast growing company that is looking for legal counsel to guide them through new regulations, changes in the law and trends to help them grow and stay highly profitable.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
I try to approach their legal and business problems from their perspective, not mine.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
Here are two that kept me awake at night. Defending the business model of a well-known worldwide transportation company in a lawsuit seeking to claim that the workers of the transportation company were improperly classified as independent contractors, instead of employees. Establishing that my client’s quantitative program for stock selection was a trade secret which he owned, and which was not unlawfully derivative from the quantitative model used by his former joint venture partner.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
Perhaps my first oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals which was a case I handled pro bono for the families of four nuns killed in El Salvador in the mid-1980s. The purpose of the case was to obtain records held by the U.S. government concerning the circumstances surrounding the tragic killings of the four nuns. I left the federal courthouse that day feeling as if I could conquer the world.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
Serving on the boards of non-profits, including the National Center for Learning Disabilities; singing in my synagogue choir; bicycling with my wife, Peggi; gardening; going to the theatre; reading; planning my next “off the beaten trail” vacation (in excruciating detail); and enjoying being with my 27 year old son and 30 year old daughter.

What would surprise people most about you?
That I manage to do many things when I am not practicing law.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
As I begin my third year as an ILN member, I hope and expect my most memorable ILN experience is yet to come. And I look forward to sharing it with fellow members.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
To be the next great American novelist….. or a Broadway theatre critic…… or a university president.

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you?
I don’t have a clue. But in my acting days, I had a series of roles as character actors: Loneson PoleCat in Li’l Abner, Donald in You Can’t Take it With You and Dr. Chumley in Harvey. It’s amazing what can be done with good makeup!

How would you like to be remembered?
Someone who made a difference to his family, service to his friends, clients and in the community.

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of speaking with a Canadian reporter who is doing a series of stories about the importance of networking for lawyers. She wanted to get my thoughts based on my eight and a half years of networking experience with the lawyers in the ILN, and I thought I’d share some of those tips here on Zen too. These are all tips I use myself, as well as recommending them to our attorneys!

  • Have a plan: It’s important to have an overall plan for your business development activities, but also one for each activity that you do. The overall plan should be a written one, that you check in on quarterly – this allows you to review what you’ve done over the past three months, as well as set up in your calendar the activities you’d like to commit to over the next three months.  For individual networking activities, you should set up goals for yourself for the event, so you know in advance what you’d like to achieve.

Continue Reading Networking Tips for Lawyers

At this year’s LMA, we were fortunate enough to have not one, but TWO sessions with General Counsel. This one took place at the end of the first day, and included a procurement guy – a first for the LMA. The session was titled "GC Focus: Project Management. Position Your Firm in Alignment With the Unique Challenges Faced by In-house Counsel." 

Panelists included Keith Isgett, the Managing Attorney-General – Global External Legal Relations, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Justin Ergler, Sourcing Group Manager, Legal Services Procurement, GlaxoSmithKline, and Nat Slavin, Founder and Partner of Wicker Park Group, along with Moderator Alicia Brown, Director of Strategic Relationships for Bloomberg Law. 

After their introductions, Isgett kicked it off by saying that he wants to receive the best representation for the best price, and part of the "best representation" is having a good relationship with the law firm. The procurement team is there to make sure that what they’re paying for is what they receive, and that there is value there. Isgett noted that "People are still talking about discounted hourly rates, which means we’re not as far along as I’d like us to be." 

Continue Reading GC Focus – an LMA Annual Conference Recap