Long willing to spend on radio, television, billboard, bus bench and telephone directory advertising, personal injury lawyers are increasingly turning to technology for to make a cutting-edge appeal to clients.Among them are several firms in Maryland that have created customized smartphone applications to help clients compile an electronic file of helpful information when they first contact an attorney about an auto accident or drunken-driving case, the Associated Press reports.“When you don’t want to be on the back of a bus or some cheesy commercial in between Jerry Springer and Oprah, you need to come up with innovative ways to help clients and help market your services,” says Steven D. Silverman of Silverman Thompson Slutkin White in Baltimore.His firm is fine-tuning a Crash 911 app that it expects to provide on its website and Facebook page. Created at a cost of approximately $2,000, it will allow new clients to use GPS to mark locations as they fill out an … [Read more...] about Law Firm Apps Let New Clients Send Case Info to Their Attorneys ‘Neatly Wrapped Up in a Gift Box’
Auto accident law firms
Law firm won’t split $250K check with attorney’s estate, says his suicide voided fee-share agreement
After Ira Bordow committed suicide at his Wisconsin home last year, his brother found a $250,000 check from an insurance company on the front seat of the dead man’s Lexus.It was made out to Bordow and Styles & Pumpian, the law firm with which the 54-year-old practitioner had been working on an auto accident case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. So executor David Bordow, who was also his brother’s law partner, sent the check to Styles & Pumpian.At that point, what he had expected to be a routine matter became contentious. Styles & Pumpian refused to pay Ira Bordow’s estate the $41,666 cut of the settlement that David Bordow says was due under a fee-sharing agreement. The firm argued that Ira Bordow’s suicide was a breach that voided the contract.“Ira terminated his relationship with us regarding this action without notice and without cause,” Edward Styles wrote in a Jan. 15 letter to David Bordow that is now part of a Milwaukee … [Read more...] about Law firm won’t split $250K check with attorney’s estate, says his suicide voided fee-share agreement
Ex-Client Sues Law Firm, Says He Never Got $100K Settlement
A former client of a Pennsylvania law firm filed suit yesterday in Bucks County for malpractice, contending that his lawyer, Debbie Carlitz, didn’t tell him about a $100,000 settlement in an auto accident case until months after the check was cashed by someone else.Carlitz, 48, maintained a Feasterville office prior to her suspension from practice last year, after falling behind on the state’s continuing legal education requirements, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.Meanwhile, a trial is scheduled next week for a former longtime paralegal and office manager for Carlitz. Bonnie Sweeten, 38, was charged in May with identity theft and filing false reports after allegedly falsely claiming in a call to authorities that she and her daughter had been carjacked.Authorities say Sweeten was never abducted and instead assumed a false identity to travel with her daughter to Disney World. … [Read more...] about Ex-Client Sues Law Firm, Says He Never Got $100K Settlement
Is “Keyword” A Dirty Word in Post-Hummingbird Law Firm Web Marketing?
On September 26, 2013, Google introduced its new algorithm, Hummingbird. As Reuters reported at the time, the search engine giant’s goal was to serve users with an algorithm that would focus on matching “the meaning of queries with that of documents on the Internet.”In other words, Google had moved away from matching search results with merely the words used by Web users in their search queries to results that would match the intent of users.All of which raises the question: After Hummingbird, do you still have to be concerned about keywords in your law firm’s Web content?The short answer is, yes, keywords are still very important. However, post-Hummingbird, it helps to view all of the words in your content as being important. After all, those words carry your law firm’s brand and serve as the launching pad for relationships with prospective clients.Talk the TalkKeywords reflect the language that your potential … [Read more...] about Is “Keyword” A Dirty Word in Post-Hummingbird Law Firm Web Marketing?
Learn From the Big Guys: Tested Marketing Tips Work for Law Firms
Each law firm has a brand in the marketplace – whether by intention or by accident. Your brand is what makes a client choose (or not choose) you as legal counsel rather than a competitor.Your law firm can accept the brand you have and live with it -- but this can be risky in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Alternatively, you can put some thought into creating and managing a brand that works hard for you in the marketplace -- and thrive as a result. The choice is yours.Large companies understand the value of their brands in setting them apart from the competition, and invest in them accordingly. Most law firms are on much-more- limited budgets.However, this doesn’t mean that a smaller law firm cannot develop a good brand and take it to market – without breaking the bank. “There are many lessons that a law firm can learn from big businesses,” said Gerry O’Brion. “Once learned, these lessons can be … [Read more...] about Learn From the Big Guys: Tested Marketing Tips Work for Law Firms