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| Chapter 1 - The Necessity for Automating the Practice of Law |
Client Marketing and Retention
Since the 1977 United States Supreme Court decision of Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 97 S. Ct. 2691 (1977), lawyer advertising has been permitted. TV commercials, yellow page ads, seminars, and law firm newsletters attest to the fact that the legal profession has taken the message seriously. Marketing has become a major focus of law practice.
Firms compete and seek to differentiate their services from those provided by competitors.Remember that differentiation is primarily based on quality of product and cost. | “Indeed, the emergence of the Internet as a mass communications medium has made marketing eminently more available to lawyers, regardless of the size of the firm . . . . More people will see your firm’s web site than will ever see your brochure, letterhead or business cards . . . The Internet opens up entirely new ways for you to communicate with your audience. Firms that recognize this, and that leverage their online presence, will be well positioned to compete in the next millennium.” - Richard Klau, founding partner of Red Street Consulting | Technology can create opportunities for marketing your firm’s services. Whether through the use of a web site on the Internet, an extranet for present or potential client, e-mail newsletters, or use of multimedia in a client presentation, all provide the opportunity for selling the services of your firm. Marketing should answer a potential client’s inherent questions about your firm. What type of law do you specialize in, what is the expectation of your clients and perceptions of legal services? For additional information on marketing for your firm, visit www.marketing.findlaw.com. Clients, private citizens, private corporations, and governmental organizations are sophisticated purchasers of legal services. They look carefully at how services are performed by outside counsel. They want to know which lawyers will be employed, what expertise is available, how effectively you employ modern technology, and whether you are sensitive to the production cost for your services. From a marketing perspective, how would technology applications assist in marketing the services your firm offers and in retaining clients? - Will promotion of the uses of technology in the firm attract new clients and differentiate your firm from other firms?
- Will a direct on?line extranet connection with your business clients enhance the services your firm provides them?
- Will a quality content filled web site attract new clients?
- Will electronic imaging, which provides ready access to my client’s business documents, benefit the advice that one gives them?
- Will ASCII copies of business documents from my client, such as accident investigation reports from my client’s insurance carrier, reduce litigation costs and provide a closer tie-in between my firm and my client?
- Will an electronic trial notebook linking testimony, documents, and exhibits, provide the necessary information for my client to consider the practical resolution to his or her case?
- Will real-time transcription of testimony over the Internet during the deposition of an expert witness ensure that the basis of the expert’s opinions are disclosed and examined to maintain the competitive edge for serious settlement negotiations?
- Will a marketing database assist in tracking the firm’s marketing efforts? Periodic reports can be generated quickly to determine who and how clients are referred to your firm.
- Will a database-marketing program ensure that an individual attorney follow his/her proposed marketing plan?
- Will an Internet World Wide Web site provide marketing and access to the firm’s expertise for potential clients?
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Ch.1 - Automating the Practice 
