Of all the professions most similar to law, you’d have to say that politics is the closest.

Both the lawyer and a politician have the same sort of daily routine and case load. The same sort of administrative tasks; and if you’ve ever a lawyer and a politician you’ll know that they share the same sort of temperament.

In big part because law…

Should lawyers and law firms be online?

Should lawyers have a presence on the social web?

Should a lawyer tweet?

What about Facebook?

For the modern lawyer, these are the big questions.

Why social?

Because the economy has changed; digital is up; Whitehall is preaching a form of Anglican self-denying fiscal austerity; the legal economy is coupled to a depressed economy; and because lawyers are starting to get it: they get it that they need to…

Northern Ireland's largest independent law firm, Carson McDowell has been cooking up something special: their marketing and branding campaign really is something different.

While out and about in Northern Ireland I've come across a number of exciting and eye catching Carson McDowell advertising boards. This is new territory for lawyers in Northern Ireland. Such ostentatious acts were long beyond the legal establishment; the reserve rather of car dealers, global merchandisers, drinks…

The leader of a branded networking membership group proudly announces that his is the biggest networking group in London. This post is about why the size of a networking group is not always an accurate indication of it's success or quality, why bureaucracy is a turn off and how networkers can rise above it.

Welcome back, or if you’re new here sign up using our…

Although 74% of small and medium sized law firms in England and Wales have a website, the reality on the ground isn't just so positive.

The reality is that most law firm websites can sensibly be described as…

In partnership with the marketing agency Elephant Creative I've been nurturing an exciting interview series called, ‘Zero to 140: the Law’s Fastest Interview’.

Still in its infancy the idea of the project is simple: hunt out the law’s leading minds and interview them. Easy as that.

The only catch is that the interviewee has to respond in 140 characters or less - as per the title. It’s pretty much an interview over Twitter. And why…

The legal industry is in an age of change. A bleak economic backdrop and continuing headwinds are forcing law firms to refocus and reshape the way they practice law. No longer can law firms afford to do business by the rigid billable hour. No longer will clients put up with stiff legal technocrats; clients want client-centered and commercially minded legal advisors who give more for less.  

But if the legal industry is in…

Is the lure of owning an amount of shares, and not paying capital gains tax on the profit that those shares make (if any) a fair exchange for surrendering  some of your employment rights?

The Chancellor’s proposal as set out in his conference speech has about as much detail as a child’s sketch of a cloud so let’s consider the following scenario. You are invited to an interview for a new job. You are nervous.  Your interviewer explains that the company will give you some shares in…

Lavrynovych & Partners Law Firm has become a legal advisor for OJSC “The Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development” (hereinafter referred to as the UBRD). A relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the companies on September 25, 2012. Legal support of the Client will be provided by a team of lawyers under the guidance of Stanislav Skrypnyck, Partner of Lavrynovych & Partners.

The UBRD’s assets amounted to UAH 147.495 million in the first quarter of 2012. In…

Silly season is upon us and the PI renewal scramble has already started. Yet it isn't so mad this year. Read on to find out if that is because of the ABS', SRA or insurers.

Rates Are Down

Could it be that insurance companies are being more amenable because there are now fewer firms looking for specialist solicitors indemnity? Their market is…

I popped across the pond last week to Boston to attend Inbound12, the self styled biggest Inbound Marketing Conference in the world organised by Hubspot – 2800 attendees there or thereabouts.

As law firms, in England and Wales, we face huge disruption to our legal services market with the advent of…

By developing a relationship with your potential clients over a period of time you stand the best chance possible of securing their business. Targeting these clients with relevant, useful email messages is one of the best ways of keeping your law firm at the top of their minds until they need your services.

Creating an opt-in email form for your website is one way to start building a list of potential clients that want to be kept aware of news and…

What have I got myself in for? 

Dilbert.com

Traditionally law firms haven’t had terribly much to do with their clients.  They provided a service – sometimes excellent, sometimes not – but whatever the client’s feelings about the level of service they were limited in telling their experience to whoever they would come across in person. Social media can provide peer…

ABS’s entrants may wish to procure an established online presence immediately.

This is where www.icomparesolicitors.co.uk can give you the edge over competition. Established back in early 2010 the site has gained an enviable reputation from some of its closest rivals. The legal arena is changing rapidly everyday and this opportunity will provide you with an established presence on all major search engines instantly.

Take…

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But what happens on Twitter stays on Google forever. I was recently reminded by a fellow blogger "We're all publishers now". This post is about considering the ethical perspective of those who are actually reading your output, is it OK to break a few eggs and why are ethics so important?

Welcome back, or if you’re new here sign up to our …

Very few law firms are in a position where they can sell their services directly online, and therefore one of the major aims of their websites is to encourage prospects to contact them.  Typically the reader will either have stumbled across them through a search engine or some other online mechanism or will have been referred to the firm and be using the site to verify that they want to instruct them.  Either way, credibility is critical to a law firm’s site.

Let’s not beat about the…

Hello again,

We recently blogged a piece about Business Continuity and how you can get started building a plan.

Some of it is amusing but its all good advice and if you are new to BC planning -regardless of practice size, it should help.

Business Continuity has a strange reputation for ex military types rocking up to a business and making the HR manager dig latrines in the car park. As much as I wish this were true and would in fact insist then on going along to…

Here is my blog from my Solicitors Marketing System website:

Click below to view.

http://www.solicitorsmarketingsystem.com/blog/blog/solicitors-go-beyond-being-a-legend-in-your-lunchtime/

If you like me are enjoying the BBC series Sherlock, you cannot have escaped noticing how both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson engage avidly in blogging.

In Sunday's episode, Sherlock urged a client to read his blog on identifying different brands of perfume.

Yet, it was only last week that…