News, views and tips on litigation graphics, trial strategy and the law.

Blogging and Social Media for the Legal Profession: Advice on What Works and Why

At the recent American Society of Trial Consultants convention in New Orleans, I was part of a wide-ranging panel discussion on social media and marketing that considered the benefits and effects of blogging and other social media. Since I’ve been developing this blog and using social media for professional networking to grow my startup firm, this topic genuinely interests me. I started blogging and became active on Twitter and LinkedIn in early 2011 with little to no training, figuring it out as I went along, and I’m always eager to learn from others and share what I know. With that in mind, here are some of the key points made at the presentation that may be useful to attorneys, trial consultants and legal marketers. [Read more...]

What Trial Lawyers Can Learn From a Songwriter to Strengthen Their Case

At the American Society of Trial Consultants annual conference in New Orleans last week, I had the opportunity to be on a panel discussion about social media and blogging for the legal profession. One of my main pieces of advice was to avoid making blogging predominantly about “me-formation”—that is, self-promoting news about yourself—instead of information. Taking my own advice, I’ll blog about my experience at the conference later and first share information about one of the best presentations for trial attorneys I have seen in years.

How many MCLE’s have you attended where within a few minutes you’re biting your lip to not cry? No, this wasn’t about a tragic case where a family lost everything. Rather, it was an attorney presenting a moving song about a girl riding her bike and telling her dad she was ready for him to let go: It’s time for her to do it on her own. With that little piece of a story, sung by E. Thomas McCarthy, Jr., a songwriter/attorney from Michigan, the hook was set. (Click here to hear the MP3.) His presentation, “What Trial Lawyers and Consultants Can Learn From Songwriters,” showed how to bring the art of songwriting and storytelling to the courtroom, and it was really entertaining and useful.

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Law Firm Marketing and Design Lessons Learned While Redoing My Website

Earlier this year, I embarked on a months-long process of building a new, more sophisticated and customized website, which I’m happy to unveil at cogentlegal.com. This post will share some of what I learned about website design and law marketing through the process.

First, let me clear up confusion if you think you’re already looking at my website. You’re not—this is my blog, built separately on a WordPress platform—and I deliberately keep the two separate. I subscribe to the view that a firm’s website and blog are two related yet distinct vehicles with separate roles to play. [Read more...]