Too many lawyers squander the awesome power of Web 2.0 by putting up static websites that aren’t much more than glorified brochures (memo to these offenders: you don’t need a website to post a static document online. You can simply put it up at a site like Docstoc or Scribd!) Perhaps lawyers believe that adding features like contact forms or Call Us buttons is a costly proposition, and while that might have been true even as recently as two years ago, it’s no longer the case. There’s simply an abundance of user-friendly tools that you can incorporate into your website to add functionality, invite interaction and give your site a bit of pizazz in the process.
For tips on how to incorporate interactive tools, take a look at my exhaustive post (OK – most of my Nolo posts are comprehensive, but this one is truly a tome!) at the Nolo Legal Marketing Blawg, on Making Your Website More Inviting By Inviting Interaction.
Please let me know in the comment section whether you use any interactive tools at your site, and if so, which ones.
On Tuesday (here), I shared two outfits that were good examples of what to wear to CLEs. Both of those outfits showed off some leg, so today I thought I’d put up two more CLE outfits structured around pants. Yes, pants are annoying. In a perfect world, no one would have to wear pants. But I’m all about giving everyone options, so here we go.
This first outfit is more cost-effective than the second:
Slim Stretch Shirt in Warm Riviera ………. $39.99
Black Trousers ………. $15
Pierre Dumas Pumps in Black ………. $24.44
Starlight Eden Pendant Necklace ………. $8.50
Yes, yes, I went with $15 pants. No, no, I do not expect you to wear $15 pants! I put up the $15 pants to fit within my budget of $100, and am banking on a presumption that you already own black pants that are much nicer. [click to continue…]
Tonight, before heading out to the pool for a swim, my ten year old daugher, Mira set the Tivo to record one of her television shows. The show was scheduled to run at 9 pm, with a second showing at 9:30. Since I was sure that we’d be back at least 9:30, I asked Mira why she’d bothered to record the show. To which she replied – “I always record the shows because I hate watching TV commercials. They’re so boring.”
My daughter’s comment surprised me. I knew that both of my daughters Tivo’d shows if a conflict precluded live viewing or so that they could replay their favorite scenes. But I had no idea that my younger daughter was using Tivo to bypass television commercials. If a ten year old is doing that, how many other folks are doing the same?
With so many companies spending mega-bucks on television advertising, I always assumed that the majority of the population still sat dutifully through commercials. And indeed, that may still be true today – but not much longer. After all, if today’s kids are growing up like my daughter — proactively taping shows not so much for convenience, but to avoid commercials, then who knows how effective television ads may be in the future.
So many newer lawyers just starting out envy those firms that have the big bucks to place those tacky lawyer ads on television. No need. Because if my daughter’s viewing habits are typical of others of her generation, tomorrow’s clients won’t be learning about lawyers on television commercials, because they won’t be watching them.
Update [7/22/2010] – I’ve spoken with some people about this post and I want to clarify that I was speaking about the ABA as an organization, and not about the staff, the section leaders or the people in the publications department. The folks who edited the Social Media for Lawyers book did amazing work, Jennifer Rose keeps solosez running as well as it does, and the ABA Journal staff who run the ABA Blawg Contests have been extremely helpful to me and to this site, and I do not want to come across as ungrateful even though I do believe that I also bring value to the ABA.
At the same time, I know that my readers look to me for my views on these issues, and I feel that I need to be forthright, even if it means risking some of the benefits that I receive from working with the ABA in what I’ve always viewed as a mutually symbiotic relationship. And in that regard, I must confess there’s something about the ABA as an organization – and perhaps it’s just the nature of bureaucracy itself – that makes me question the value of joining. Moreover, if the ABA (again, the organization, not the staff) is going to hold itself out as representing the interests of all lawyers, it needs to prove itself by taking policy positions that support solos, as well as just providing benefits Indeed, maybe with an influx of solos, the ABA’s policies will evolve over time. We’ll see. In any event, with that as backdrop, here’s my post:
This month’s issue of the ABA Journal is reporting that the ABA is making a play for solos by reducing membership dues and increasing benefits. So what if the ABA waited to make a full court press for solos until ABA membership in other sectors of the legal profession was on the decline? After all, when it comes to resources for solos, more’s the merrier as far as I’m concerned.
And by my calculation, the ABA’s promised commitment should make solos very merry. Even with a reduction in solos’ annual dues from an average of $250 to $150 (previously solos paid between $125 and $399 per year; dues are now reduced to a range of $100 to $225), the ABA will still have a total budget of $3,150,000 for solos, even if solo membership doesn’t increase beyond the seven percent of the 300,000 solo lawyers who currently belong to the ABA. [Note: $3,150,000 = (7% x 300,000 solos) x ($150)] [click to continue…]
My law school hosts CLEs very often – it seems like every month, there are attorneys walking past the student nook on the fifth floor to one of the larger classrooms, narrowing their eyes judgmentally at me because I’m sprawled out on the couch, half-unconscious, with my Labor Law book open on my stomach and Cheez-It crumbs in my hair, and one shoe missing. Please, like they’re so fancy.
The men usually wear suits, but the women come in an array of ensembles. Some wear pant suits, some wear skirt suits, some wear pencil skirts with a nice top, some wear dresses, and some wear nice trousers and a top. Some teeter-totter atop stiletto-heeled pumps, and some wear tiny kitten heels. The point is, we ladies have a ton of wiggle room when it comes to dressing for CLEs.
For this reason, I will from time to time post outfits that can comfortably be worn to CLEs. There’s really not much to be said for dressing for CLEs. All you need to do is look professional enough so that people believe you’re actually an attorney and not one of the many homeless people that routinely try to gain access to our building because we have nice bathrooms, and be comfortable enough to sit through a day of panels and round tables and lectures like you did when you were in law school. A full day of classes about the legal system, even after you’re a part of it: who says the fun ever has to end?!
(Someone hold me.) [click to continue…]
