7 Killer Methods for Marketing Without Money + # 8

We're continuing our series on things you can do to improve your law practice economics. Today, the topic is getting more clients with marketing and specifically what we think is the #1 web site for terrific marketing tips and ideas --- and it's unusually entertaining too.

The #1 unconventional marketing tv show isn't on tv at all. It's on the web and you can watch it there or download the podcast. In fact, if you don't watch it regularly, you are missing out on great ideas and tons of tips that are free every single week. I subscribe to the iTunes podcast so it downloads automatically whenever I hook up my iPhone. Then on the drive to court (or anywhere else), I plug in the iPhone and start listening to the podcasts.

But these podcasts are so good that I invariably end up watching them at my desk on their website too and making notes on the tips I get out of it for future implementation.

The podcast is called "Help, My Business Sucks" and the web site is http://www.helpmybusiness.com/. Now I like to think my business doesn't quite suck, but with a url name like that, and all the terrific ideas and content on the site, it's no wonder that it gets lots of attention.

Hosted by the admittedly unconventional, but vastly entertaining and lively, Andrew Lock, I heartily recommend that every business person (he calls them entrepreneurs) subscribe to the podcast for easy listening and viewing. But don't forget to visit the website, where you'll find even more info regularly posted and just as regularly updated.

Lock is, quite simply, the single most effective guru in marketing today. And he's fun to listen to.

The site is loaded with tons of valuable content that can kick start your marketing effort or really zoom it up, depending on where you are in the marketing process. There's so much on the site that I can't cover it all here, so you just have to trust me and head over there to see for yourself.

For instance, yesterday I downloaded his publication "7 Killer Methods for Marketing Without Money." It was free, so how could I go wrong? Dig around on the site and you'll find it too, but don't forget to sign up for his free tv show updates, so you don't miss anything.

So, how good were his 7 Killer Methods for Marketing? Well when I read through Andrew's 7 Killer Methods, I smiled when I suddenly realized that they were some of the very things that I was already doing. I just didn't view them as marketing methods but, as Andrew says, "marketing is everything and everything is marketing."

I can vouch for the accuracy of his 7 Killer Methods. They work, folks.

He is dead on with these methods and, best of all, they are free. All it takes is a little of your time and if you do it every day, it will definitely help your business get more clients.

But for lawyers, I'd add this tip as Killer Method #8 to Andrew's list: get on http://www.avvo.com/ and regularly answer the public questions posted there. It's a great way to show your expertiese to the very people who are looking for legal advice. You can even write articles (for both potential clients and potential referring attorneys) and publish them on the Avvo site. Also, you can limit yourself to answering questions just in your geographical area so you can get maximum impact and value for your time.

Okay, so the point is we can all use a little marketing help from time to time and Andrew Lock is one of the best resources out there. If you want to hear the best tips every single week, this is the web site you want to go to and the podcast you want to listen to so you don't waste your time or your money. http://www.helpmybusiness.com/ does just that. And it'll help your business too.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping attorneys help clients, every day.

Knowing the Cost of Clicks on PPC

We're continuing our series on things you can do to improve your law practice economics. Today, the topic is getting more clients and pay per click, or "PPC" as it's sometimes called. The key idea here is how to find out what the web traffic is for particular key words and what they cost so you don't waste your money. There's a web site that will give you that and a lot more and it's free.

There are lots of marketing ideas out there and PPC is one of them. That's where you use one of the search engines own marketing programs to set up a PPC ad. It's really reasy to do and the best part is it's free. At least it is until the clicking starts.

You've seen these PPC ads along the top and side of the screen whenever you have run a search on one of the major web search pages. The ad costs you only when someone clicks on it to activate the hyperlink to your web site. If you use the right key words, the theory is that your ad will show up on the side of search results for those key words.

There's lots of ways to spiff it so that your target viewer is much more narrow, but what we are going to talk about today is a nifty web site that you can use to see what the actual traffic is for some of those key word phrases and what the costs are. Keyword Spy is a terrific site that'll do the job.

It allows you to plug in your key word phrase and pick a country and then it'll return to you the stats for that phrase and others like it. You can quickly see just how many people are running searches and using that key word phrase and the others that are like it. Best part? They also tell you the current cost per click (called "CPC") too.

Let's take, for instance, "Lemon Law." As of this writing, there are 35 PPC advertisers using that phrase and the CPC is $18.27 and in the US there are 201,000 searches using that phrase each month.

Another great thing about KeywordSpy is that they show you, graphically, the last ten months of stats too.

Even better, with one click you can get the background info on those 35 PPC advertisers who are using the Lemon Law phrase. With that info you can see a screenshot of their website, domain name, their PPC budget in CPC terms, the number of PPC keywords their site uses and the number of perceived PPC competitors along with even more info. It's a gold mine for marketers trying to figure out the most cost effective way of using their internet PPC dollars.

With another click you can actually read the PPC ads and get an idea of the "return on investment" of the wording, which KeywordSpy calculates for you. Another click gives you the related keywords. Or misspelled keywords. And there's lots more.

And it's all free.

You can get even more results if you register for their "lifetime free trial."

Okay, so the point is that if you want to try out some pay per click advertising, this is the first web site you need to go to so you don't waste your money. www.KeywordSpy.co.uk.

Next time, we'll talk about what I think is the single most entertaining, and effective, guru on marketing. He's remarkable.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping lawyers make a living. Since 1978.

How Do I Improve My Business? Step One to Improving Your Business.

Okay. So the economy is tanked and your phone has stopped ringing. How do you improve your business?

How do you get the phones to start ringing again? How do you get your business back to normal? How do you survive the downturn so you can keep helping consumers solve their problems in the future? After all, Consumer Law attorneys depend on consumer clients for their livelihood.

When people find themselves in financial distress, it's common for them to "hunker down" and conserve everything they can. They don't take risks they can avoid. They don't spend money they don't have to. And they get afraid of anything that they even fear can cost them money too.

For many people, that means their fear takes over. That's when they decide to put up with harassment and aggravation that, at any other time, would cause them to get angry and call a lawyer for help. Instead, afraid of unknown legal costs they are afraid they can't handle, they don't ask for help. They put up with it because they feel like they don't have any other choice right now.

Until the economy gets better, "right now" turns into tomorrow. Then, next week. Then next month. Next thing you know, it's next year. And they still aren't sure. That's understandable. But it doesn't help you make payroll.

We've been working on some ideas for you to consider ... things that can help. The first one sounds corny but it is so very true. It is, simply, to have faith.

If you're like many Consumer Law practitioners, you are struggling right now. And so are most of your clients. As hard as times are right now, and they are hard, they will pass. These times will ease up, both for you and all of us. And for our clients too, both current clients and those who have yet to call us for help.

The work that Consumer Law attorneys do, doesn't go away. It goes up and down, but it doesn't go away. New clients will call for help. How do we know? Simple. Because the people who violate the laws never really stop doing what they do. Even when they clean up their act and violate the law less often, or even if not at all, others will take their place.

What changes, in keeping with the economy of the times, is the willingness of consumers to put up with it. When personal economic security is less at risk, then the insult of unfair and deceptive conduct by a merchant is more intensely felt --- and tolerated less.

In short, consumers are more willing to find out what their rights are and less tolerant of the abuse that is heaped upon them.

So as the economy picks up, your business will pick up too. And that is true no matter all the other peripheral issues you are dealing with.

So, in tough times the first thing for a Consumer Law attorney to keep mind is that no matter how hard each day may be, have faith that each day after that will get better. It's not just a corny thing our parents said when we were kids (although they did), it's something that is true.

Now, of course there are some not-so-corny things to be doing ... but that's for next time and the days that follow. We'll talk about that next time.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping Lawyers Understand the Economics of Practicing Law Since 1978.

Are you practicing law in a bad economy?

Think you practice in the state with the worst economy? Think again.

Everyone seems to know that California is in the biggest economic trouble, with an economy in the dumpster, high unemployment, and no easy way to fix any of it. That makes practicing law in California tougher than practically anywhere. What may surprise many attorneys is not California at all. It’s the other states that are so very close to their own economic abyss. And that abyss can kill a law office's bottom line.

After all, when people can't afford a lawyer, people don't hire a lawyer. When that happens, they lose, the lawyer loses --- and so does the legal system itself because it never has the chance to give people their day in court. The economy in general affects the economy of lawyers specifically.

There’s a new study out that has looked at the economy of all 50 states and ranked them.

The PEW Charitable Trusts has crunched state numbers for more than a decade, with a goal of making state governments stronger in order to improve the services we all get for our tax dollars. Part of that includes reporting on the bad times and, as we all know, we are now in a blockbuster bad time.

They looked at numerous factors to come up with a scorecard for each state: foreclosures, budget gaps, loss of revenue, unemployment, how easy or hard it is for each state to raise its taxes in order to cover shortfalls, etc. All of those things affect the ability of consumers to afford legal representation.

With a “30" score being the worst and a lower score being better, here’s the “top 10" of the worst state economies, in order: California, Arizona, Rhode Island, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa scored the best. So if that's where you practice law, don't move your practice.

So where does your state fit? Ohio is almost the center of the list while Georgia’s budget gap put it just a hair behind the auto belt states of Michigan-Wisconsin-Illinois by one point.

The worst ten states account for nearly a third of the US population and economy, which is why those states in particular matter to all of us.

What the study shows is just how much farther the US economy has to go, although there are bright spots of how hard some states are trying. Wyoming, for instance, had a 19.7% drop in revenue but managed to come with 2% of balancing its budget.

Law firms will get through this as the economy starts to get better and better, but if history has shown anything, it’ll be a longer road than anyone wants it to be.

Burdge Law Office

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping people protect themselves everyday. Since 1978.

Google Legal Research is Here and Now

Google the noun has become google the verb. That's old news. How about Googling your legal research? And it's here right now. Beta, yeah. But it works.

Granted Westlaw and Lexis have no reason to lose sleep right now, but it's coming. After all, they offer a lot more than just court cases and their own methodology and search techniques have been honed to fit the lawyer's mind from decades of experimentation. But Google is free, and that's tempting to new young lawyers who don't have the resources to sign up for the paid services that offer a lot more bang for the buck.

Google Scholar is a database that Google has been quietly building and they've now added the ability to search court opinions from the US District Courts, the US Court of Appeals, the US Supreme Court and from all fifty states.

It's got the familiar Google interface and the only obvious thing that distinguishes it from the "home" Google search engine web site page is the smaller print under the "Google" that says "Scholar Beta." And the searching is easy, but a bit clumsy and it'll take some time to get used to.

But it's biggest advantage? Limit yourself to one state and a time frame of say the last 9 years and plug in a specific phrase or topic, like "lemon law" for instance, and in a flash you will get all the court decision there are. No waiting. No hourglass busy icon. No time to even lift your coffee cup up off the desk. It's that fast. Okay, I know you're thinking it ... it's "google fast."

You can use the "advanced" link to limit your search to one or more jurisdictions and you can search by date ranges. Like Google itself, it's slick and simple. Maybe too simple for lawyers to get used to, but the next generation of law students? It's right up their alley.

But there's lots of questions. After all, it is beta.

Who knows how deep the content is, how often will it be updated, where does the data come from, and just how strong is Google's committment to legal research --- or does beta mean maybe it'll be around next month, and maybe it won't? No one seems to know for sure, so for now take a spin and see what you think. Like it or hate it, let us know and we'll report back.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping lawyers help their clients since 1978.

Marketing Lessons from a PI Firm

Jim Reed, a personal injury attorney in Elmira, New York says his firm is thriving in this down economy and he has a few ideas posted to one of TechnoLawyer.com's listserves that are well worth passing on here (and if you don't subscribed to TechnoLawyer, you should; it's a great way to stay on top of the law office technology).

I am very pleased to report that my firm is kicking butt in 2009. Our #'s for the year are up more than 25%. This follows several years of good results so our current success is no short-term blip. With that said, continuing success is our daily mantra and we do not rest on our laurels …

Our success is a culmination of many factors that we have been working on for years:• Hire great employees (and fire the bad ones!).

• Focus on niche practices & create blogs for each niche (ie. NYInjuryLawBlog.com).
• Work with a savvy marketing firm (Mark Merenda from SmartMarketing) and make marketing part of your daily "work",
• Jettison underperforming practice areas and/or partners.
• Invest in the best technology and train your entire team how to use it.

Most important of all … just do one thing, every single day, to make your firm just one little bit better than the day before.

It never ceases to amaze me that success is the culmination of many little things, done day after day, rather than some huge "new" program or project.

Check out his firm site: www.zifflaw.com and his blog at: www.NYInjuryLawBlog.com

He's absolutely right that each day you need to do at least one thing that markets your firm and makes it better than the day before. That's a great tip on how to build (and keep building) a great practice.

Ron Burdge
www.TheLawCoach.com
Helping lawyers help people since 1978.

Is it identity theft or is it bank robbery --- and whose fault is it?

We've talked before about identity theft and its dangers and lots of people have. There's even a terrific British Youtube about it and the puzzling question of whether it is really identity theft at all (or is it just electronic bank robbery?). Well maybe we're about to find out.

Patco Construction Company, Inc. v People's United Bank dba Ocean Bank, no pending in state court in Maine, may tell us just whose fault it really is, besides the cyber criminal of course.

Patco was a long time customer of the bank but after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars from online theft and then getting a notice from the bank that they wanted Patco to pay it back, they decided they had enough. Patco sued the bank for the loss. 'bout time, some would say. So would I.

While the claims include negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and more (what, not bailment?), fundamentally the theory is that the bank failed to live up to its most basic obligation, which is to protect its customers' funds from theft. Patco's case is one to watch. With the increasing rise of cyber theft, sooner or later a client may come to you and ask what they can do about it.

The Patco bank's claims of sophisticated "behind the scenes" security measures and computer programs didn't do much good to stop cyber thieves who dipped not only into Patco's accounts, but did so repeatedly, transferring money to accounts that Patco had never used before, and from internet addresses that Patco had never used before either. The thieves even managed to tap into Patco's line of credit for a hefty $200,000 transfer.

When you think about it, Patco's claims make sense. All banks are quick to point out, on their websites and in their paper brochures, how they have all these computer theft protection measures set up to protect your deposits from theft. Much of it is advertising directed at encouraging consumers to use the internet for electronic transfers and bill paying that are high-profit transactions for the banking industry. After all, there aren't many tellers working inside that big bank computer box. Heck, there's even fewer of them at the walk in windows nowadays.

A century or two ago people put their money under the mattress or buried it in the backyard because that was safe. Now when you put your money in the bank, it's because you think it's safe. Well, not quite as safe as it used to be.

Still, if you give a friend $50 to hold for you, it's only natural to expect that they'll have it on hand to give back to you when you ask for it later. Especially if that "friend" is a big bank that collects millions of dollars from thousands of people and then invests it and charges interest on loans and makes money off your money (which they keep). That's a simple idea that any juror can grasp.

You expect the bank to protect your money and when they don't, it doesn't really matter whether they had one computer program to stop cyber thieves or a hundred of those programs. When the money is gone, it's gone. But it ought to be the bank's fault.

So let's stop calling it identity theft and call it what it is. Bank robbery. That makes a difference because, you see, the bank is insured. Okay, so if the insurance pays off, then the bank's next insurance premium will go up. Sooner or later the bank will decide it needs to fix it so cyber theives can't get into your account. It's either that or facing rising insurance premiums or cover the loss themselves.

So when will that happen? When we all make it happen. Banks don't like losing money and they don't like paying out money either. When it starts costing them money, they'll do something about it. Until then, they will keep tellling you that it's "your" identity theft problem and that it was "your" money that was stolen and not theirs.

How Patco's case comes out will be very interesting. But, one thing is for sure, the rest of us will be watching. And you can bet that the banks will really be watching.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping consumers and consumer law attorneys since 1978.

Court Warns of Attorney Trust Account Scam

If you haven't gotten one of those international emails from a foreign company asking for your help with a legal matter, you probably will. Be cautious. As with any email nowadays, it may just be a scam.

The Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Attorney Services issued a warning to lawyers about an internet scam affecting lawyer trust accounts. Multiple individual attorneys and law firms have contacted the Ohio Supreme Court about the scam.

Here’s how it works: An Ohio lawyer receives an e-mail purportedly from another lawyer for collection of a debt. A follow-up e-mail arrives from the supposed debtor (who is also the client), seemingly legitimate, who sends a bogus check (often drawn on an overseas account) for payment.

The Ohio lawyer is instructed to pay the debt by wiring some of the funds to the creditor and to keep a portion of the funds as payment for his/her attorney fees. The Ohio lawyer then deposits the check in his/her Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA), wires funds to the creditor, and retains the agreed upon amount as attorney fees.

Meanwhile, the check goes through international banking channels until it’s eventually discovered that insufficient funds are available in the account to cover the amount. The bank debits the IOLTA for the amount of the returned check, while the lawyer has wired “good,” client funds to the purported creditor. The proposed client is often an actual Asian-based company so it sounds legitimate but the scammers have no real connection with the company at all.

To make it even more convincing, the scammers use real lawyers’ names in the initial e-mail. The moral of the story is clear: be careful.

If an unknown attorney asks you to become involved in a financial transaction involving a foreign company, be wary. Since your Trust Account funds are not your money, an attorney who disburses funds, before a deposited check actually clears the bank, is taking a very big risk. Don't do it until you can verify that in fact the international check has cleared and the funds are in your bank account.

You can report a suspected online crime by contacting the FBI at www.ic3.gov.

Ronald L. Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers protect their clients, and themselves, since 1978.

A Trial Lawyer's Brain Scan

In a remarkably graphic way, the diagram above shows what the brain scan of a trial lawyer would look like if you could do it in the midst of trial. It also explains why trial work is challanging and exciting. Each of those balls represents one piece of evidence that has to fall into place in the course of the trial at just the right time, all of which are moving, and the orchestration of which is mind boggling.

Ronald L. Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping lawyers win, one case at a time.

My hours were cut but I want to keep my job. What do I do now?

Economic times are tough for everyone. Employees and employers alike. But what do you do when your hours get cut and you want to keep your job?

A young attorney, out of law school only a few years, faced tough news and asked us how to deal with it. After working his first two years after passing the bar exam, all of it in the same mid-size law firm, he received news recently that his full time job was going part time. With student loans looking over his shoulder, he could only start calculating the hard economic reality of losing 40% of his income. His 5 day a week job was cut to 3 days, with no guarantee it won't get cut more in the coming weeks or months.

"I can't live on what I make now but I don't want to lose my job. I like what I do and where I do it but there's no guarantee it won't get worse. What do I do now?" His questions echo the fears of many young attorneys. Are you in that spot? Well, there's a few things to keep in mind.

First, keep in mind that most law firms don't like cutting associates or cutting their hours. The cost of replacing a trained associate, even one with only a few years of experience, is horrible for the law firm. The fear of losing a good young associate is as real for the law firm as is the fear of losing employment for the young associate. If cutting hours was avoidable, it would have been avoided. But the simple fact is that in an economic downturn, sooner or later the loss of business affects even the best broad-based, diversified law firm too. It may not be consoling, but consider yourself lucky you didn't get your hours cut sooner.

Second, get a grip on the present and move on. Okay, so you've got less income next week than you had last week. Figure out what you have to do to deal with it. Don't dwell on it and don't commiserate with others who are sulking and doing nothing about it. That won't help. Find a way to adjust your living expenses first. Don't just give up and start looking for another job. First, the job market is crowded with all those associates who lost their job, or got their hours cut, before you. It's tough. Second, even if you are only working part time, that's better than no time. Don't walk away from a job you like during tough times if you really want to keep it. Find a way to budget yourself by either reducing your costs of living or increasing your money to live with. In other words, look for a part time job to supplement your law work. That may be hard to find too, but it's likely better than walking away and hoping for the best.

Third, stand up. That's right. Stand up. The reason your hours were cut is probably because you were "sitting down" in the crowd. If you want to be the last person they cut, make yourself so valuable to the law firm that they can't afford to cut your hours and risk your departure. But if your hours were already cut, then turn the situation around. Show that you have a value they don't want to lose. So, how do you do that? What do you say? What do you do? Well, standing up is the starting point.

Okay, you've got a choice. You can start showing up 3 out of 5 days a week, just as you are scheduled now to do. Or, you can stand up and stand out.

If you want to keep that job, and get back to full time work sooner, make sure the law firm realizes that you can face adversity and overcome it. You need to prove you will not quit. You need to show the law firm that you value your work more than even the firm does. Don't take the loss lightly. You want a job? Fight for it.

Ask your employer if you can keep working your regular schedule and make it clear that they only have to pay you for the days the law firm can afford right now. If you understand that times are tough, then tell the firm that you understand but you value your work and don't want to abandon your clients or serve them less than what they need and that you're willing to do whatever it takes to support the firm. Note that we didn't say "you're willing to do whatever it takes to keep your job."

The reality is that you get to keep your job by supporting the firm.

The firm is concerned about tough times too and your willingness to help the firm get through tough times and still be successful is, itself, proof of your remarkable value to the law firm. Associate attorneys come and go. The ones the firm wants to keep are those who are dedicated as much to the firm as to the profession itself. Of course, all this assumes that you like where you work. If you don't, then take the cut in hours as an opportunity to move on and find a job that fits you better.

But if your hours were cut and you like your job, then start thinking about what you can do to get your employer back on its economic feet because that is what will get you back to full time work. More importantly, in the process of it you will prove to your law firm that there is no associate attorney who is willing to work as hard, work as long, work as loyally, to help the firm achieve its success.

And why should you want the law firm to succeed? Because, at the end of the day, if the firm doesn't succeed, neither do you. And if you help the law firm increase its success, then you will succeed too.

Ronald L. Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping attorneys achieve success, every day, since 1978.

Reinventing Yourself: Where the Jobs Are Today

San Francisco is hiring computer game testers. The CIA is hiring "analysts" for its spy programs. California wineries are hiring workers. "Green" buildings are abounding so laborers are needed. In Florida, boat captains are needed for charter boats and in the oil fields.

Okay, none of this has anything to do with law. Or does it?

Many graduating seniors from the '09 class are still unemployed. Law students entering their final year and graduating in '10 may face the same dearth of opportunities. Heck, even well established law firms are struggling. So it's not surprising to see some graduates opting for non traditional work, both inside and outside the legal arena.

There's nothing "bad" to striking out on your own in such hard times. There's lots of great examples of others who left their traditional training and backgrounds to find new work during an economic downturn. Indeed a hugh chunk of the current Fortune 500 companies got their start during an economic downturn.

Thomas Edison did it. The man who founded Federal Express (Fedex) did it during an economic downturn. The stories are actually legion and great examples of creativitiy.

If your job prospects are suffering, now may be the perfect time to figure out what you love to do and go do it. In fact, it may be the very best time.

One place to get started could be the Alternative Lawyer Jobs web site here: http://www.alternativelawyerjobs.com/ .

There's also a great article written by Michelle Borchanian posted by the Michigan Bar, titled "Getting from Here to There: A Lawyer's Non-Traditional Legal or Non-Legal Job Search" here: http://www.michbar.org/journal/article.cfm?articleid=679&volumeid=53.

A little web surfing and you'll undoubtedly come up with more resources.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping attorneys do their best, at whatever they decide to do, since 1978.

How to Protect Your Law Firm from Embezzlers

Fraud is on the increase, reports the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and leading the pack is the category of occupational fraud. That means employee fraud and in a law office that can cost you big time, in both dollars and client relations.

The ACFE is the world's largest anti-fraud organization, dedicated to reducing business fraud. In their 2008 Report to the Nation, they found that nearly a trillion dollars of business annual revenues were siphoned off due to fraud. Now, their newest report indicates the level of business fraud is rising.

Driven by hard economic times, a recent ACFE national report says that instances of fraud have increased in the last year over past years and they report it is expected to continue to increase.

The report, "Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession", blames the increase on "intense financial pressures during the economic crisis." The mere existence of an opportunity for fraud to occur was not enough, according to ACFE.

Occupational fraud includes law firm embezzlement. The National Law Journal recently reported on a host of examples of law firm embezzlements, which are more commonly commited by support staff, usually those in charge of check writing or other accounting tasks that involve firm funds. Often, the victimized law firm doesn't even report the embezzlement. Almost always, the firm owes a fiduciary duty to its clients and partners can end up having to make up the loss themselves.

It all heightens the importance of careful hiring and monitoring of employees, particularly those charged with money responsibilities. Most law firm staffers are hard-working and honest to a fault. But in every barrel, there's probably a bad apple somewhere.

Still, there are things that can be done to protect a firm from financial loss or to catch it before it becomes huge. Here are a few tips.

1. hire carefully, check references carefully and require consent to a criminal background check. After all, if the thief doesn't get in the door, you're ahead of the problem. Sometimes just knowing that you are going to do a background check can discourage a bad applicant.

2. require 2 signatures on checks. The vast majority of employee embezzlement occurs because one person has check writing authority and that just makes it too easy.

3. review all accounts monthly. A partner who has no check writing involvement should review account statements monthly and very, very carefully. It takes more time to be careful, but only minutes to lose thousands. Catching a problem early can't end the problem before it becomes devastating to the firm. And change your reviewer periodically too so that all partners share the responsibility. You don't have to know how to balance a check book to wonder why the same person's name keeps showing up in the payee column or other regularities.

4. account reviews should alternately be private and with the check writer. One month the partner should request the account records from the check writer and do a private closed door review by himself or herself. The next month, the check writer should sit down with the partner and go through the review together.

5. change check writers periodically. Many law firms leave the same person in charge of firm accounts for years or even decades. Changing account control just simply helps to keep people honest.

6. watch for signs of drug or alcohol or gambling problems with key employees. Those are frequently involved as causative factors in employee theft.

7. don't count on your accountant to catch anything. Accountants just add numbers up. Generally they can't tell you anything about the entries being made themselves. But an accountant can tell you if something looks out of line. For instance, they may spot too many or too large a "Misc" expense category.

These are just a few tips that come to mind. In these times, economic pressures are everywhere. With a few precautions you can sharply reduce the dangers to your firm.

Burdge Law Office

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers help their clients since 1978.

Getting Free Case Law

Westlaw and Lexis aren't cheap, but they offer things you can't get elsewhere. But what if you don't need all that high-powered help? Maybe you just want the basics. Law Technology News had a recent article on some free case law resources and we added a couple of our own too.

Here's some web sites where basic legal research can be done to find cases to help your client for free or near-free.

www.Casemaker.us is available as a benefit for many state bar association memberships, but if you aren't a member, there are some other sources to tap. Everyone has their own preference but here's some to take a look at:

www.Findacase.com

www.lawguru.com

www.Findlaw.com

www.precydent.com

www.lexisone.com

www.plol.org , the Public Library of Law

www.altlaw.org

www.justia.com

www.megalaw.com

There are others out there, but if your budget doesn't allow a paid service for your research, these are some places to start out.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers win cases since 1978.

Palm, iPhone, & DataViz Documents to Go

If you've owned a Palm for years and thoroughly enjoyed using DataViz Documents to Go, then loving the iPhone and still toting your Palm has been irritating. Well, the irritation may be coming to an end.

Why? Because Documents to Go (DTG) should soon be available for your iPhone.

DTG was considered by many to be the Cadillac (okay, maybe we should say Lexus now) of the word processing programs for the Palm and it was one of the reasons the Palm was such a success, especially with lawyers. You could take your document and load it on your palm and then edit it on the road using DTG. Then you could print it out and you were ready to go.

iPhone, on the other hand, was static with documents.

There was no editing on the iPhone itself and you had to use internet sources or tricky tactics to use the iPhone not to actually edit on the phone but to go on the internet and edit documents there. That was a hassle because it meant figuring out how to upload the doc, use the iPhone to get to it, edit it there, and then wait until you returned to the office to be able to do much about it. Hassle, hassle, hassle.

Well, DataViz says (on their Twitter, click here) that they have just sent the final DTG app to Apple for approval and posting to the store. In a few days you could have DTG on your iPhone.

It still isn't clear what all the app will do but it's logical that DataViz will want it to be as much like the "normal" version as possible. You can bet that means that you will be able to view Word, Excel and likely PowerPoint files on your iPhone. The technical challange deals with being able to edit any of those. The Word documents very likely will be editable on your iPhone and maybe even an Excel spreadsheet, but PowerPoint just may not be ready for prime time yet. We'll have to wait a few days to see.

Still, DTG on an iPhone is long overdue. They aren't talking price yet but whatever it is will likely be no more than the Palm version and probably much less, given the average app price. Regardless of the price though, we'll very likely order up DTG asap. QuickOffice just never was my cup of tea.

Meanwhile, iPhone plans to reduce its third operating system Summer 2009 and intentions are to enable some significant editing abilities and that undoubtedly is part of what pushed DataViz to get DTG out the door. If they wait too long, the market share projections for DTG could well change as other products come online.

When we get the new DTG, we'll be able to see what's real and how much of the old DTG is lost like vaporware. For now, cross your fingers and get your credit card ready.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping lawyers helping clients since 1978.

Great Site for Free Software Utilities

Downloadpedia is a great site we just stumbled upon. We all use software to do our work and it's worth a look to find a lower cost alternative to the higher cost commercial programs if you can.

They bill themselves as a free content software encyclopedia and that's pretty much what it is, with loads of free software and utilities that is largely open source, including iPod software too. Some of it is deliberately tagged as "for the experienced user" so you have a warning of what you might be getting into, but most of it is for the average, everyday user who just wants to get something done.

One of their best projects, they've put together a list of 50 great free utility programs that you are bound to find something on you can use. Everything from adware and spy programs to website rippers and pdf and more programs in between.

There's even a page with hundreds of free icons and buttons that can be quickly and easily copied for your use in powerpoints or other projects.

Highly recommended. It's worth checking out.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping Consumer Lawyers Helping Their Clients Since 1978

SLAPP Suits Get SLAPPed Back

Picture this. Your client has a legitimate claim and negotiations are fruitless so you file a lawsuit. Then, the defendant files a creative counterclaim that you know has no real legitimate basis.

So why did they file it? To SLAPP your client, that's why.

Merchants and businesses have figured out that they can sometimes get what they want by using (some say abusing) the very system that the consumer is using: the Courts.

A socially unhealthy way to silence critics of any endeavor is to hit them with a lawsuit that can tie them up, both their time and their resources. Such lawsuits have been called a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation ("SLAPP") and the purpose is nothing more than intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.

Fighting a SLAPP lawsuit is not easy and not cheap, and that is often the very purpose of filing it.

Winning the lawsuit is often not real goal of a SLAPP lawsuit at all. The merchant's goals are accomplished if the consumer-defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons their own cause in exchange for having the SLAPP lawsuit dropped. A SLAPP may also intimidate others from taking the same course.

Well, finally there's a new case that says you can slap back. It comes out of New Jersey and may provide some relief to this sort of vindictive and abusive lawsuit. The case is James LoBiondo Jr v Grace Schwartz, decided May 14, 209, Case A-86/87-07. In a long-running series of lawsuits between the parties, the high court has now made it clear that people who file SLAPP lawsuits can get SLAPPed back.

LoBiondo says that the common law cause of action for malicious use of process can be a legitimate claim by a SLAPP suit victim. In some states it's called abuse of process. To win such a claim the victim has to prove a complaint was filed without probable cause, that was caused by malice, that ended in favor of the victim, and that the victim suffered "a special grievance." That last part is a little puzzling, but the Court indicates it will use some flexibility to determine what a special grievance may be.

The right of free speech or to petition the government, if actually infringed, will satisfy the special grievance element of the claim, according to the Court.

The advice of counsel defense is available to defend a SLAPP suit but when asserted, the victim may also sue the attorney too, but there is the additional need to prove the attorney's primary motive was an improper one.

The New Jersey Court adopted the Restatement 3rd of the Law Governing Lawyers and the Restatement 2nd of Torts to lay out the principles and elements of the claims the victim can use.

The bottom line is that SLAPP suits have been used by some parties to intimidate and plaintiffs and prospective plaintiffs from asserting their rights and now the Courts are finding such lawsuits can trigger abuse of process claims back against the abuser. That's only fair.

The purpose of the law should not be to provide the rich and powerful with a means to silence their critics. Such abusers of the legal system should themselves become the target of "SLAPP-back" lawsuits until they stop.

Ronald Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping consumer advocates win cases since 1978.

Arbitrators Gone Wild

Binding Mandatory Arbitration, bma, has gotten rave reviews and acidic condemnations. What you think depends on which side of the argument you are on. But one thing is for sure, it's going to be tougher to get around now with Hall St. Assocs. LLC v Mattell Inc (2008), 128 S. Ct. 1396 (Mar. 25, 2008), a case that hasn't garnered as much tought as it probably deserves.

Before Hall St, there was some argument that an attorney could make that if an arbitrator ignored the law in making their decision, then the decision itself was flawed and could be attacked in court. Not so, now. You think it was bad before? It could get much worse.

Now, the Supreme Court has basically held that ignoring the law is not an appealable ground to attack an arbitrator's decision in court.

Before Hall St, Wilco v Swan (1953), 346 US 427, left some room for doubt and some attorneys successfully argued (though it was not often) that if an arbitrator ignored the law and their decision was actually contrary to applicable law, then the decision was flawed to the point that a court could set it aside. Now? Simple: you're stuck.

What the Supreme Court seems to have concluded, in its "supreme" wisdom, is that no matter what the arbitrator does or says about the law, their decision is "right" even if they get it all wrong.

Now it seems more likely than ever that no matter how badly the arbitrator miscontrues or misapplies the law, even to the point of being totally opposite to what the law says, that's tough. It seems like an extraordinarily harsh result, even for a Court that seems to love arbitration as a mechanism that is little more, in reality, than a private system for "justice."

Still, some courts have said that ignoring the law may actually be "where the arbitrators exceeded their powers" and can justify vacating a bad arbitration result. Comedy Club Inc. v Improv W Assocs. (9th Cir 2009), 553 F.3d 1277, 1290, in spite of Hall St.

The result? Arbitration decisions are likely to be upheld even if the arbitrator was mentally "out to lunch on the law" when the decision was made, unless you're in the 9th Circuit. For the rest of the US? It's still anybody's guess.

For now, with a little help from the Hall St., it looks like it's time for arbitrators gone wild --- and so long as the courts are enthralled with the notion that a secret private form of justice can somehow still be justice, then there's little we can do about it.

The moral of the story? Make sure you trust your arbitrator because unless they are totally drunk or schizoid, whatever they decide is probably what you'll be stuck with.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping Lawyers Help Their Clients Since 1978.

A Projector in Your Cell Phone

We have a projector here for times when we need to go to rural areas and need it. It’s about 4x4x12 in size. Compared to what is coming out now and in the next few months, it’s a behemoth. About a year ago I heard these were in development. Well, now they are in the production and near-production stage.

The latest thing is projectors that are built into your cell phones. Samsung and others have them and there are competing technologies. Here’s a video that can make any powerpoint user salivate at the expectations and possibilities: http://spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=921

To carry a projector inside your cell phone…the ultimate in convenience. What an unexpected stunner that could be in closing arguments.

Ronald Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping Attorneys Win Cases Since 1978

Free Federal Case Law Source Online

From time to time we see something new that's worth a look. This is one of those times.

If you're a young attorney who can't afford to get on Pacer or Lexis or Westlaw to research case law, there are lots of sources out there on the net, including Findlaw, Justia and others. There's a new one worth a look too.

www.websupp.org is a free collection of federal District Court case decisions that can be useful. It fronts a simple search device, apparently based on Google, that only requires a google-type input to yield results.

The database is apparently about a quarter million written opinions and is kept up to date. We received an appellate decision from the 6th Circuit just a few days ago and by doing a simple subject search at Websupp the decision popped up in a fraction of a second.

If you can afford Lexis or Westlaw, great. If not, take a look at Websupp. The price is pretty hard to beat.

Ronald Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping Attorneys Win Cases Since 1978

Ethics: Can You Agree Not to Sue the Defendant Again?

It keeps coming up. Every once in awhile you get ready to settle a case and all of a sudden, when the release comes up, the defendant wants to include something that says you (as the attorney) can't sue the defendant again for some other client in the future. Can you do that?

We first saw this issue arise nearly 20 years ago and it still comes up. Again and again. Texas attorney Steve Gardner gave a great presentation in Portland, Oregon, at the 2008 NACA-NCLC Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, on this (and other) ethical issues.

What surprises us is that this issue keeps coming up again and again.

The answer isn't that tough. But apparently it's hard to accept and it's a very common problem.

Steve says it best. "Assuming you don't have such another plaintiff, can you make this agreement? Oh, hell, no."

Steve's presentation pointed out, with specific citations, that it is unethical for an attorney to agree to limit his/her future representation of victims of the same defendant. It's unethical to make such an agreement. More importantly, it's unethical to even propose such an offer.

It's really very simple. They can't ask. You can't agree.

As Steve points out, the basic concept is that "a client has the right to choose the best lawyer for the job and by taking yourself out of the mix, you are potentially denying a prospetitve, but unknown, client that option."

One attorney does not have the right to ask another attorney to agree to a settlement that requires their opposing counsel to agree in advance not to take on another case against the same defendant. And the second attorney does not have the right to agree to it either.

This kind of settlement means you are taking money now to give up your right to practice law for a future unknown client who may need your help. It's just plain wrong.

Surprisingly, though, it still keeps coming up. Time and again, defense attorneys try to get plaintiff's attorneys to agree to it. Why? Because their client wants to take Mickey Mantle out of the game. Mickey Mantle? That's you. You know, the only competent attorney who knows the defendant and how they play the game.

So, when your opposing counsel wants to offer you a very good settlement for your client and then adds that they want to make sure you aren't going to represent someone else against their client? Just say no.

You can't do it. As Steve Garner says, "it's just that simple."

Ron Burdge
www.TheLawCoach.com
Helping Consumer Law Attorneys Help Consumers. Every day since 1978.