<b>Media & Communications Corner</b>Securing Media Coverage in Key Publications
March 30, 2006
Over the next few months in our monthly column on media relations, Jaffe Associates' media relations team will take a closer look at several of the top publications for legal coverage. We will interview the editors and reporters who cover the news and bring you their perspective on what is important to them and the direction in which they think legal reporting is heading.<br>Our first article in the series looks at the Wall Street Journal Law Page. In January of this year, the WSJ greatly expanded its online coverage of legal issues with a new page dedicated to law-related content and launched a legal industry blog, the only one of its kind by a major daily. We sat down with <b>Ashby Jones</b>, the editor of the page, and <b>Peter Lattman</b>, a WSJ Online legal reporter and the primary writer for the blog, to learn more about the page and its content.
<b>Meyerowitz on Marketing:</b> Lawsuits Too Bad To Be True
March 30, 2006
Lawyers have long been the subject of jokes and put downs, but apocryphal anecdotes demeaning lawyers, the courts, or the legal system particularly irk Karen M. Balaban, a Harrisburg attorney and one of three chairs of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Public Relations Implementation Task Force Committee. Lawyers, she believes, 'should not allow these urban legends to proliferate' to the detriment of lawyers and judges and the public's opinion of the profession. Instead, Balaban says, lawyers, who are trained to help adjudicators find the truth, 'should be more conscious about getting at the facts of the matter.' Balaban emphasizes that faux facts make all lawyers look bad, and asserts that lawyers should investigate and then, when they discover that some stories are false, should say, 'these things are not true.'
Use Marketing Technology to Get a Foot in the Door
March 30, 2006
'Who knows whom?' That's the question. <br>In today's hypercompetitive legal marketplace, the need to leverage information is at an all-time high. It's no longer sufficient to rely solely on law school, a golf club or other social affiliations to get new business. While relationships are still key to opening doors, winning the work requires more.
How To Be Among the 'Listed'
March 30, 2006
Legal publications' lists of lawyers can increase the reputation of a particular attorney, practice or law firm. While getting listed can be a boon for a firm's marketing efforts and for lateral and associate recruiting, unfortunately, 'Sorry, maybe next year,' is the most common phrase heard by law firms vying for these sought after spots.
Think Inside The Box
March 30, 2006
As much as we might try to brand, differentiate, cross-market, and otherwise distinguish our law firms in the legal services marketplace, a law firm's success ultimately comes down to individual lawyers. They are the ones who must bring in the business, retain it and grow it. That is good reason for law firm marketing departments to focus on their internal clients first and foremost. Think inside the box, then build outward to devise strategies and tactics for building and retaining external clients.
Court Watch
March 30, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Law Firm Mergers: What's the End Game?
March 30, 2006
There have been over 170 law firm mergers in the U.S. in the last 3 years. Although the pace has slowed a little since a peak of 82 in 2002, there is no end in sight.
Mixed Reviews For Blogging Law Professors
March 30, 2006
As more law professors are tapping away at their computers on blogs that cover everything from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the death penalty, they also may be chipping away at the ivory tower.<br>An increasing number of law professors are using blogs ' online journals or newsletters ' to break free from traditional modes of legal scholarship. With an immediacy and ability to reach millions of readers, blogs are proving an attractive vehicle among legal scholars for spouting and sharing ideas.<br>But they are also raising concerns that they may lead to a 'dumbing down' of the profession.
