BE CAREFUL TO KEEP OUTSIDE BUSINESS INTERESTS SEPARATE FROM YOUR LAW PRACTICE

A recent decision by the Appellate Division, First Department, underscores how important it is for attorneys who engage in other business activities to keep those activities separate from their law practices. The decision is instructive to attorneys in small law firms who are also involved in other business ventures.

Lee & Amtzis, LLP v American Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co. (2015 NY Slip Op 02919; April 7, 2015), involved the law firm Lee & Amtzis. One of the firm’s two partners was also the principal of a real estate company, Astoria Station, LLP (“Astoria”). Jane Kurtin, a client of the firm, made loans of about $1.5 million to Astoria. Lee & Antzis acted as counsel to both Kurtin and Astoria. When the loans went into default, Kurtin sued Astoria and obtained judgments against it. However, she also sued Lee & Antzis for malpractice, alleging that the attorneys had “induced her to proceed with certain financial transactions in which they had a financial interest; they failed to recommend that she obtain independent legal counsel; they had allowed their legal services to her to be influenced by their own business ventures outside the practice of law; and the attorneys knew their interests and Kurtin's interests were adverse.”

The attorneys advised their malpractice insurance carrier of the claim against the firm. However, the carrier refused to cover the claim, citing a clause in the policy that excludes coverage for any claim arising out of the insured’s capacity as an officer, director, manager, etc. of any business enterprise. Lee & Antzis sought a declaratory judgment that the carrier was required to defend the firm and was granted summary judgment in the Supreme Court.

The Appellate Division reversed, holding that “Lee was a partner in the law firm, by assuming dual roles of providing legal advice to a client, while simultaneously pursuing his own business interests, Lee placed himself, his law partner and the law firm firmly within the exclusions in the professional policy plaintiffs seek protection under.”

Lee’s partner, who was not financially involved in Astoria, also sought a declaratory judgment that the carrier had to defend him. This request was also denied by the Appellate Division: “[U]nder the Business Enterprise Exclusion, it is immaterial that Amtzis did not have an interest in Astoria Station; AGLIC still has no duty to provide him with a defense.”

You can read the decision at

http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2015/653050-11-13711.html

It is not unusual for members of small firms, particularly those whose practices are concentrated in a specific area, to be involved in outside business ventures. We know of attorneys who are involved in real estate, investment, consulting, manufacturing and marketing businesses. The decision in Lee & Amtzis underscores how important it is to keep those activities separate from the firm’s practice. It’s clearly not a good idea to be involved in business transactions with clients of the firm. If you must do so, make sure that full disclosure is made and that the client is represented by independent counsel. If you are a partner in a firm, you also need to be aware of your partners’ outside business activities, so you and the firm do not become the victims of your partner’s malfeasance. Although cross indemnification provisions in your partnership agreement may provide some level of comfort, those provisions are only going to be as good as your partner’s ability to pay.

 

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com

MAKE SURE YOUR WEBSITE IS MOBILE FRIENDLY

On April 21, 2015, Google will implement a major update to its search algorithm. Beginning on that date, the Google algorithm will include mobile device friendliness as a major factor. With more than half the searches now being conducted estimated to be done on tablets and smart phones, this revision by Google is not surprising.

Clearly, this is going to be a major milestone in search engine optimization. If you have a website that was built several years ago, chances are it is not mobile friendly. If your site is fairly new or has been recently updated, it still behooves you to confirm that it is mobile friendly. If you’re not sure if your site is mobile friendly, you can check with your webmaster. You can also check it with one of Google’s free tools. Go to:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

and type in your website’s URL. The tool will analyze each page of your site and let you know whether your site meets their standard. You can also check your site by accessing it on a mobile device. You should be able to tell right away. If what comes up on your tablet or phone looks like a small version of what you see on your desktop, you’re not mobile friendly.

An important aspect of the revision is that it will assess each page of your site individually. In practice, it’s most likely that if your site has been optimized for mobile, all pages will be optimized. However, if your site has some mobile-optimized pages, but some non-optimized pages, Google will look at them separately and promote those that are optimized. Google won’t evaluate the site as a whole, so a site that otherwise ranks highly with Google will only be somewhat adversely affected by the presence of pages that aren’t optimized. Nonetheless, it is to everyone’s benefit to optimize all pages for mobile.

Lastly, the new algorithm will also include Android app indexing as a factor. In this regard, Google recommends the following:

• Add deep link support and specify how to reach specific content within your app.
• Verify your app’s official website on Google Play Console.
• Provide deep links for each web page that has a corresponding deep link, either on each page of your website or in your sitemaps.
• Check for errors in Webmaster Tools so you can fix them.

In other words, ask your webmaster to make sure your site is optimized for Android apps.

To read Google’s official announcement, go to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog at:

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com

TIPS FOR A GOOD PROFILE PHOTO

The results of a recent survey published by Photo Feeler provide a nice set of “Dos” and “Don’ts” for profile photos. The results are based on a survey of 60,000 ratings of more than 800 photos. Whether you are putting your photo on your website, a social media site or in marketing materials, you want to convey a professional image that is also consistent with the message you are trying to communicate.

Here is a quick summary of some of the results:

• Don’t cover or block your eyes with sunglasses or dark tinted lenses.
• Keep your eyes open. Don’t squinch (you know who you are).
• Smile.
• Dress professionally and appropriate for your position. Wear what you would wear to an important client meeting.
• Head shots are preferable to full body photos.
• Don’t use extreme photo settings. If your photo is too bright or too dark, fix it with a photo editing app.

These are just a few of the more salient tips. You can read the full survey results and review the data at

https://www.photofeeler.com/blog/perfect-photo

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com

LAW SCHOOL ENROLLMENT - SOME INTERESTING NUMBERS

A recent article in The New York Times caught our attention. Steven Davidoff Solomon, a professor of law at University of California, Berkeley, discusses the diminishing enrollments at American law schools. We were struck by some of the numbers he cited from recent surveys:

52,488   Law school enrollment in 2010, the year it peaked

37,924    Law school enrollment in 2014

27.7       Percentage decrease over the past four years

2.9         Percentage by which law school applications are down this year compared to the prior year

93.2       Percentage of 2013 Georgetown Law School graduates who are employed

$160,000         Median starting salary of those graduates who are employed in the private sector

86.4       Percent of all 2013 law school graduates who were still in school or had a job

91.9       Percent of all 2010 law school graduates who were still in school or had a job a year after graduation

So, what do these numbers mean and, more importantly, what do they mean for you? Unfortunately, and as the article points out, the predictions are conflicting and the overall numbers don’t necessarily portray what is happening in a particular market, type of practice or other demographic. 

The author tries to sum it up as follows:

“Still, it is hard to see lawyers going away in the United States economy. Whether or not you like it, their importance is greater now in terms of filling needs for compliance and regulation. . . . Twenty years from now, whether the economy is up or down, there will still be lawyers, and plenty of them.”

You can read the full piece at

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/business/dealbook/despite-forecasts-of-doom-signs-of-life-in-the-legal-industry.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone&_r=0

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. 

You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com

8 WORDS TO AVOID WHEN DESCRIBING YOURSELF OR YOUR FIRM

We recently came across an excellent blog post by Don Heymann, a writer and communications expert whose website can be found at

http://www.donheymann.com/

Entitled “8 Words to Avoid When You Need to Talk About Yourself,” it provides some sound, common sense advice to individuals who are putting together their resumes, elevator pitches, etc. Although it is directed at individual job seekers, we found Don’s advice to be particularly apropos to small law firms seeking to market themselves to prospective clients. With Don’s permission, we are pleased to pass along his advice. Here are the words to avoid:

1. Expert / 2. Guru

In the case of an individual, you come across as pompous and egotistical when you call yourself an expert. For attorneys, however, there is an added level of taboo – the attorney advertising rules of most states prohibit an attorney from holding himself or herself out as a specialist unless specifically credentialed as such. Words that convey a similar thought, such as expert are equally prohibited. While it is fine to trumpet your many years of experience practicing in a particular field, or explaining that your practice is concentrated or focused on a particular area, be careful to avoid language that could be construed as running afoul of the specialist prohibition.

3. Motivated

Everyone is motivated. Saying it doesn’t distinguish you in any fashion.  As Don so succinctly puts it, “let your accomplishments demonstrate your motivation.” Talk about what you’ve done, not how hard you intend to work.

4. Passionate

This is another overused word that accomplishes little. Again, rather than describe yourself with a bland generalization, give an example of how your passion has translated into concrete results.

5. Creative

Once again, everyone likes to think of themselves as creative. Instead of using this to describe yourself or your firm, give specific examples of creative solutions you have devised to solve difficult problems.

6. Driven

People like to use this to demonstrate motivation, passion, intensity or ferocity, with phrases such as “we are results-driven” or “results-oriented.” Everyone is results driven. Everyone wants to win in court or obtain the highest possible settlement. Everyone wants to close the deal. People are under the impression that “driven” conveys a positive message. It doesn’t. It’s just meaningless filler.

7. Responsible

This is another redundant, meaningless word. If you’re an attorney or law firm, you’re probably not using it. If you have to say it, you’re probably in trouble. Who is going to hire a firm that has to tell you it won’t commingle funds or breach ethical obligations? Better to say that your clients rely on you to give them good counsel, or something along those lines.

8. Strategic

 Everyone likes to think of themselves as strategic thinkers. That’s why it’s become so overused and tired. If you can, give examples of specific strategies that you have developed for your clients that resulted in successful outcomes.

We’ll let Don sum it up: “Remember the adage, “show, don’t tell” when you’re describing your capabilities. Let others come to realize that you’re motivated, passionate and creative by seeing what you’ve actually done. You’ll come across as more confident, and you’ll avoid sounding like everyone else.”

You can read the original post at:

http://www.donheymann.com/2015/03/8-words-to-avoid-when-you-need-to-talk-about-yourself/

GOOGLE +: A POSTSCRIPT

Earlier this month we put out a post explaining our rethinking of Google +, Google's social media platform. In our post, we explained that we were initially skeptical of the value of Google +, but that as it had developed, its added features and importance in the Google search algorithm made it a social media tool worth using.

However, an article published in the New York Times on February 14, 2014 sheds additional light on Google +, arguing that the benefits to Google far outweigh the benefits to Google + users, many of whom are inactive members.

According to Nielsen data cited in the article, Google + has 29 million unique monthly users on its website and 41 million on smartphones. Facebook, on the other hand, has 128 million users on its website and 108 million on phones. Furthermore, "Google says Plus has 540 million monthly active users, but almost half do not visit the social network."

According to the article's author, Claire Cain Miller:

"Google Plus may not be much of a competitor to Facebook as a social network, but it is central to Google’s future — a lens that allows the company to peer more broadly into people’s digital life, and to gather an ever-richer trove of the personal information that advertisers covet."

The reason is that once you sign up for Plus, it becomes your account for all Google products, from Gmail to YouTube to maps, so Google sees who you are and what you do across its services, even if you never once return to the social network itself. 

Before Google released Plus, the company might not have known that you were the same person when you searched, watched videos and used maps. With a single Plus account, the company can build a database of your affinities."

All of this is true, of course. But just because the balance of value may be in Google's favor, it doesn't negate the value of Google + as a social marketing, and therefore a business development and client relations tool. Google's ability to see what videos you're watching, what maps you use, and what you're searching doesn't diminish the value of using those tools. 

What the article does underscore, however, is the need to be careful and diligent when using Google +. Make sure you have your privacy and other settings and permissions set to meet your needs. That is true of all social media and other sites you use, both personally and for your practice, but it may be doubly important when using Google +.

You can read the New York Times article at

New York Times article on Google + 

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. 

You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com

  

RETHINKING GOOGLE+

We were extremely skeptical when Google launched their social media platform, Google+, back in June 2011. We saw Google + as a relatively weak attempt to compete with Facebook, with few benefits and little innovation. We were also wary of getting drawn further into the Googlesphere, that cyberworld of products and functions Google uses to collect more individual information they can translate into advertising revenue. After all, who needs to be on a platform that is just trying to out-Facebook Facebook? Who has the time to provide content to both platforms?

As Google+ has evolved, however, we’ve increasingly warmed to it, particularly with the introduction of several new features. 

First of all, it’s important to remember that regardless of how you feel about Google, they are still the overwhelmingly dominant search engine on the planet. They didn’t get there just by being first; they got there by being smart. And by leveraging the enormous power of the Google search engine. 

All of which means that the first reason it is worth being on Google+ is that it helps your Google search results. Google’s search algorithm favors content that originates in Google+ (rather than Facebook or Twitter). Moreover, the Google algorithm gives even greater weight to Google+ posts that have been shared or commented on by others. Like we said, they’re very smart.

The Google algorithm also weighs frequency of posting and whether content is original. When Facebook launched its own self-contained search engine in 2011, it cut off Google’s access to its data. Google+ data, on the other hand, is not only accessed by the Google search engine, it is given value in the algorithm.

For local businesses, like small law firms, the local search features of Google that are incorporated in Google+ are another way to improve search engine results. 

Like Facebook, but unlike LinkedIn, Google+ has been conceived as a platform for businesses, not just individuals. Although LinkedIn offers business pages, they must be connected to an individual LinkedIn member. That is not the case with Google+. Although Facebook allows businesses to independently create and maintain Facebook pages, their model is moving increasingly toward enticing companies toward having to pay for improved visibility and enhanced services. At least for now, that is not the case with Google+. 

Google+ now also incorporates a number of useful features, including

Hangouts on Air      This is a free web and mobile platform for video conferencing, live events, broadcasts, and live collaboration. This is a great video conferencing platform, and because Google also owns You Tube, content from Google+ is integrated with YouTube.

Shared Circles        You can share a circle of contacts you have created, making networking simple and fast. Conversely, the circles concept allows you to access the contacts of those in your circle. Similar to LinkedIn, but it takes the LinkedIn idea a step further by allowing you to create circles of specific groups of contacts, not just with all contacts. Plus, it has all the horsepower of the Google universe.

Live Events              This is a unique sharing solution that makes interaction easy before, during and after the event. These can be public or private and can allow collaborative sharing of documents, presentations, white boards and much more. Ever want to conduct your own webinar? Here’s a free way to do it.

Authorship                 Google Authorship connects the original content you create (on your own site or someone else's website) to your Google+ profile and indexes it in Google search. The same is true for blog posts on Google’s Blogspot.com. 

Google+ also contains its own internal search engine. It’s easy to find content within Google+. After all, it’s powered by the Google search engine technology.

In sum, we’re continually warming to Google+, which has come a long way from being a Facebook wannabe. As Google improves it and enhances its features, and as it grows in popularity and usage, Google+ is becoming much more of a significant component in
marketing strategies. If your firm is not yet on Google+, you need to be.


OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. 

You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com