PLANO - "All I can do is tell you is that the matter has been resolved and I can't give any more information," Kelly said. "I think it is wise not to make any statements at this point."
Comments are being sought today from the school district, said Weinberg Law Firm, Plano Employment Lawyer.
Johnson, a black custodial aide at Isaac E. Young Middle School, said his white supervisor, Phil Carino, had hung three nooses in a shared office space between September 2006 and July 2007, according to a complaint he filed in September 2007 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Nooses are commonly seen as a racist symbol for their historical association to black lynchings.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Deciding Donte' Stallworth's LA DUI penalty
If we really believe that drunken driving is always a serious crime, then the only difference between that hypothetical player and Stallworth would be luck. Anyone who believes differently, subscribing to the theory that some people drive better than others while intoxicated, is a shameless fool, said Michael Bialys, LA DUI defense lawyer.
The fact that Stallworth served just 24 days in Florida for vehicular manslaughter after hitting 59-year-old Mario Reyes should be irrelevant to the commissioner. It isn't, because perception matters more than reality for a multibillion-dollar industry like the NFL. And too many believe that Stallworth committed the graver crime because he took a human life while Vick hurt and killed only dogs.
The fact that Stallworth served just 24 days in Florida for vehicular manslaughter after hitting 59-year-old Mario Reyes should be irrelevant to the commissioner. It isn't, because perception matters more than reality for a multibillion-dollar industry like the NFL. And too many believe that Stallworth committed the graver crime because he took a human life while Vick hurt and killed only dogs.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Will Obama Keep His Promise to Federal Whistleblowers?
Coleen Rowley, a former whistleblower lawyer Los Angeles turned whistleblower, went public about the bureau's alleged mishandling of the suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui's case. She shed light on FBI and intelligence community issues in 2002 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, charging that the FBI's incompetence may have made the U.S. vulnerable to the 9/11 attacks. After unsuccessful attempts to warn the officials about the dangers of launching the Iraq War, Rowley stepped down from her position as a Chief Division Counsel and went back to being an FBI special agent. She retired from the agency in 2004 after 24 years of service.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Chicago Business Corus Bankshares Inc. on cusp of crisis
FDIC may seize 'critically undercapitalized' Chicago-based lender
By Becky Yerak | Tribune reporter
August 2, 2009
Corus, which has 103 commercial real estate loan commitments totaling $5.37 billion, had $499.1 million in foreclosed real estate on its books as of March 31.
Chicago small business lawyer also has $2 billion in non-performing loans and $1.3 billion in "potential" problem loans.
In Ft. Lauderdale, for example, Corus and the developers of Trump International Hotel & Tower are at the center of a lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of those who bought condo hotel units during the preconstruction phase of the still-unfinished project.
By Becky Yerak | Tribune reporter
August 2, 2009
Corus, which has 103 commercial real estate loan commitments totaling $5.37 billion, had $499.1 million in foreclosed real estate on its books as of March 31.
Chicago small business lawyer also has $2 billion in non-performing loans and $1.3 billion in "potential" problem loans.
In Ft. Lauderdale, for example, Corus and the developers of Trump International Hotel & Tower are at the center of a lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of those who bought condo hotel units during the preconstruction phase of the still-unfinished project.
Ex-Bills star Smith convicted of DUI
Friday, July 10, 2009
By Larry O'Dell, The Associated Press
By Larry O'Dell, The Associated Press
"I understand about your knees and everything," the officer said, adding that Smith didn't have to submit to the tests if he didn't want to.
The former Virginia Tech standout took the tests anyway, but continued to tell Womble about his bad knees.
"I know who you are. I know what you did in your career," Womble told Smith.
Smith also had trouble following Womble's hand movements with both eyes, but Cardon said that could have been caused by his client's multiple concussions or the glare of lights from traffic in the opposite lanes of the interstate.
Cardon also noted that while Womble reported a strong smell of alcohol, the officer testified that Smith's speech was not slurred and that he was cooperative. Cardon said there was insufficient evidence to convict.
But prosecutor Kristin L. Paulding said Smith's problems with the sobriety tests were not just physical -- he also had trouble following instructions. For example, Smith was told to walk nine steps and turn around, but he walked 14 and had to be told to stop.
She also noted that Smith was driving on a shoulder that was clearly marked as closed to traffic and was clocked at 73 mph in a 55 mph zone before he was pulled over. Smith told Womble he and two others had consumed a bottle and a half of wine at dinner.
The judge said there was enough evidence that Smith was impaired.
"Mr. Smith was obviously very cooperative, but he couldn't follow instructions," McCrimmon said.
Smith has had two previous DUI arrests. A 1997 conviction was later dismissed, and he was acquitted in another case in 2003. Smith's injuries were also raised as a defense in the 1997 case.
DUI lawyer pittsburghFriday, July 31, 2009
Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP
LA injury lawyers Ringler Kearney Alavarez LLP have established themselves as a premier law firm by providing clients with consistently excellent service. They pride themselves on their intellect, creativity and tenacity.
These LA injury lawyers have achieved victories in over 100 trials with total verdicts in excess of $250 million.
Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP achieves their verdicts by utilizing their substantial financial resources to obtain the best result possible for each of their clients. This Los Angeles personal injury specialist law firm fights tirelessly for their clients, no matter the cost and no matter the foe.
These LA injury lawyers have achieved victories in over 100 trials with total verdicts in excess of $250 million.
Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP achieves their verdicts by utilizing their substantial financial resources to obtain the best result possible for each of their clients. This Los Angeles personal injury specialist law firm fights tirelessly for their clients, no matter the cost and no matter the foe.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
John Q. Kelly
New York Personal Injury Attorney John Q. Kelly is pleased to announce the launch of his new website for The Kelly Group P.C.
The website can be viewed at www.kellygrouppc.com and features notable cases and clients of Mr. Kelly.
About John Q. Kelly
One of the most renowned litigators in the country, Mr. Kelly has a proven track record in complex civil and corporate litigation nationwide.
His clients include some of the most widely publicized victims in recent times, including:
- Estate of Nicole Brown Simpson
- Parents of Natalee Holloway
- Estate of Kathleen Savio, ex-wife of Drew Peterson
- Estate of Heiress Anne Scripps Douglas
- Former Yankee great Joe Pepitone
The website can be viewed at www.kellygrouppc.com and features notable cases and clients of Mr. Kelly.
About John Q. Kelly
One of the most renowned litigators in the country, Mr. Kelly has a proven track record in complex civil and corporate litigation nationwide.
His clients include some of the most widely publicized victims in recent times, including:
- Estate of Nicole Brown Simpson
- Parents of Natalee Holloway
- Estate of Kathleen Savio, ex-wife of Drew Peterson
- Estate of Heiress Anne Scripps Douglas
- Former Yankee great Joe Pepitone
Friday, September 19, 2008
Another Train Wreck for Metrolink
Metrolink worker sued Burlington Northern Santa Fe, saying his alcoholism returned after the fatal 2002 Placentia collision.
A metrolink conductor who said his drinking problems resumed after the Placentia train crash in 2002 will receive $8.5 million to settle his lawsuit against one of the nations largest railroads.
Patrick Phillips of Riverside agreed Tuesday to settle his suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. The case was set to go to trial next week in Orange County Superior Court.
Phillips, now 52, suffered minor head injuries the morning of April 23, 2002 when a Burlington Northern Freight train crashed into a Metrolink commuter train in Placentia. Three people died and more than 260 were injured in the early morning crash.
Though his injuries were slight, the conductor alleged that the trauma was serious enough to trigger a resurgence of his severe alcoholism, which he said he had controlled since rehabilitation in the early 1990's.
"I have never seen a case like this in 30 years, yet it is indeed what happened here," said Jerome L. Ringler, Phillips' attorney.
"We had extensive medical evaluations by a variety of neurological specialists. All were in accord that his injury, although minor, changed his behavior."
After the train crash, Phillips was hospitalized for evaluation but released about two hours later, Ringler said. In the months after the crash, however, Phillips allegedly resumed his alcohol abuse, resulting in at least two other hospitalizations.
Ringler said his client was finally diagnosed with alcohol-related dementia, a sever mental deficiency.
Phillips, who is now disabled after working 12 years for Metrolink, was unavailable for comment. He is living with a sister in Riverside.
Under terms of the settlement, Phillips will receive $8.5 million, including interest, paid out over 20 years. The amount is worth about $4.5 million in today's dollars.
Officials for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the nations four largest railroads, confirmed the settlement but declined to discuss the case.
Phillips' lawsuit is one of more than 100 Civil cases stemming from the Placentia crash, which federal investigators said was caused by an inattentive Burlington Norther crew that missed a warning signal.
The lawsuits allege the collision could have been prevented by an automatic braking system, long sought by the federal National Transportation Safety Board.
They also contend that the freight train crew was fatigued by overwork and that the Burlington Northern conductor had a history of losing track of signals.
In December, an Orange County jury awarded Pamela Macek, 53, also of Riverside, about $9 million in damages for psychological and physical injuries suffered in the crash. Her case was the first to go to trial.
A metrolink conductor who said his drinking problems resumed after the Placentia train crash in 2002 will receive $8.5 million to settle his lawsuit against one of the nations largest railroads.
Patrick Phillips of Riverside agreed Tuesday to settle his suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. The case was set to go to trial next week in Orange County Superior Court.
Phillips, now 52, suffered minor head injuries the morning of April 23, 2002 when a Burlington Northern Freight train crashed into a Metrolink commuter train in Placentia. Three people died and more than 260 were injured in the early morning crash.
Though his injuries were slight, the conductor alleged that the trauma was serious enough to trigger a resurgence of his severe alcoholism, which he said he had controlled since rehabilitation in the early 1990's.
"I have never seen a case like this in 30 years, yet it is indeed what happened here," said Jerome L. Ringler, Phillips' attorney.
"We had extensive medical evaluations by a variety of neurological specialists. All were in accord that his injury, although minor, changed his behavior."
After the train crash, Phillips was hospitalized for evaluation but released about two hours later, Ringler said. In the months after the crash, however, Phillips allegedly resumed his alcohol abuse, resulting in at least two other hospitalizations.
Ringler said his client was finally diagnosed with alcohol-related dementia, a sever mental deficiency.
Phillips, who is now disabled after working 12 years for Metrolink, was unavailable for comment. He is living with a sister in Riverside.
Under terms of the settlement, Phillips will receive $8.5 million, including interest, paid out over 20 years. The amount is worth about $4.5 million in today's dollars.
Officials for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the nations four largest railroads, confirmed the settlement but declined to discuss the case.
Phillips' lawsuit is one of more than 100 Civil cases stemming from the Placentia crash, which federal investigators said was caused by an inattentive Burlington Norther crew that missed a warning signal.
The lawsuits allege the collision could have been prevented by an automatic braking system, long sought by the federal National Transportation Safety Board.
They also contend that the freight train crew was fatigued by overwork and that the Burlington Northern conductor had a history of losing track of signals.
In December, an Orange County jury awarded Pamela Macek, 53, also of Riverside, about $9 million in damages for psychological and physical injuries suffered in the crash. Her case was the first to go to trial.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Train Crash Attorney Jerome Ringler - Special Message for Chatsworth Train Crash Victims
Special Message for Victims of Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster
On September 12, 2008, an unprecedented tragedy occurred in Chatsworth, California when Metrolink Train #111 struck a Union Pacific freight train which was traveling on the same tracks. Our hearts go out to the victims. But this tragedy should not have happened. It happened because of human error on the part of Metrolink employees. Unfortunately, as the lawyers of RKA know well, human error by railroad engineers is not at all unique as a cause of commuter rail disasters.
Jerome L. Ringler has greater experience in representing victims of commuter rail and freight train disasters than any other lawyer in the State of California, if not the country. He has served as lead counsel in every one of the largest commuter rail disasters which have occurred in Southern California in the past 10 years.
In the Placentia Commuter Rail Disaster of 2003, Mr. Ringler was appointed by the Court as lead counsel for all of the Plaintiffs. He was requested by all of the lawyers representing individuals injured or killed in that incident to try the first case. That case resulted in the largest verdict for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ever rendered by a jury in the United States. That verdict, which was for $9 million, is detailed below in the multimedia section.
In the Burbank Commuter Rail Disaster, which also occurred in 2003, Mr. Ringler was again appointed by the Court to serve as lead counsel. In that capacity he was given the responsibility to try the entire liability (i.e., fault) case for all of the victims. In other words, every one of the dozens of lawyers who represented individual victims in that disaster trusted Mr. Ringler to try the liability phase for them, knowing that their clients would only recover if Mr. Ringler was successful. He was. In fact, Mr. Ringler not only obtained a favorable verdict for all of the plaintiffs, he obtained a $12 million verdict for his own client as well. This verdict was the largest in the State of California for a person with the type of injuries Mr. Ringler's client had suffered. This verdict is detailed below in the multimedia section.
Mr. Ringler is currently lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the Glendale Metrolink Derailment Disaster of 2005. This incident was, before September 12, 2008, the largest Metrolink disaster in history. Interestingly, in that case (which involves 11 deaths and dozens of serious injuries), Mr. Ringler has, against all odds, developed testimony proving that, even though a mentally-ill person placed a jeep across the tracks that the Metrolink train was traveling upon, human error on the part of the Metrolink engineer prevented him from stopping the train before hitting the jeep, which caused the train to derail. In other words, while the jeep certainly never should have been on the tracks, the Metrolink engineer would have been able to stop the train before ever striking the jeep had he only been paying proper attention. That case is scheduled to go to trial on June 8, 2009, with Mr. Ringler as lead counsel.
The verdicts detailed on this page all relate to railroad litigation. However, Mr. Ringler has achieved enormous, record-breaking monetary awards across California in a variety of complex areas. Those accomplishments are detailed elsewhere in this website. To see them, click here.
If you or a loved one has suffered injury or death as a result of the horrific Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster, we are available to discuss your rights with you confidentially and at no charge.
Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Ask for Mr. Ringler,or any of his partners, at (213) 473-1900.
www.rkallp.com
On September 12, 2008, an unprecedented tragedy occurred in Chatsworth, California when Metrolink Train #111 struck a Union Pacific freight train which was traveling on the same tracks. Our hearts go out to the victims. But this tragedy should not have happened. It happened because of human error on the part of Metrolink employees. Unfortunately, as the lawyers of RKA know well, human error by railroad engineers is not at all unique as a cause of commuter rail disasters.
Jerome L. Ringler has greater experience in representing victims of commuter rail and freight train disasters than any other lawyer in the State of California, if not the country. He has served as lead counsel in every one of the largest commuter rail disasters which have occurred in Southern California in the past 10 years.
In the Placentia Commuter Rail Disaster of 2003, Mr. Ringler was appointed by the Court as lead counsel for all of the Plaintiffs. He was requested by all of the lawyers representing individuals injured or killed in that incident to try the first case. That case resulted in the largest verdict for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ever rendered by a jury in the United States. That verdict, which was for $9 million, is detailed below in the multimedia section.
In the Burbank Commuter Rail Disaster, which also occurred in 2003, Mr. Ringler was again appointed by the Court to serve as lead counsel. In that capacity he was given the responsibility to try the entire liability (i.e., fault) case for all of the victims. In other words, every one of the dozens of lawyers who represented individual victims in that disaster trusted Mr. Ringler to try the liability phase for them, knowing that their clients would only recover if Mr. Ringler was successful. He was. In fact, Mr. Ringler not only obtained a favorable verdict for all of the plaintiffs, he obtained a $12 million verdict for his own client as well. This verdict was the largest in the State of California for a person with the type of injuries Mr. Ringler's client had suffered. This verdict is detailed below in the multimedia section.
Mr. Ringler is currently lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the Glendale Metrolink Derailment Disaster of 2005. This incident was, before September 12, 2008, the largest Metrolink disaster in history. Interestingly, in that case (which involves 11 deaths and dozens of serious injuries), Mr. Ringler has, against all odds, developed testimony proving that, even though a mentally-ill person placed a jeep across the tracks that the Metrolink train was traveling upon, human error on the part of the Metrolink engineer prevented him from stopping the train before hitting the jeep, which caused the train to derail. In other words, while the jeep certainly never should have been on the tracks, the Metrolink engineer would have been able to stop the train before ever striking the jeep had he only been paying proper attention. That case is scheduled to go to trial on June 8, 2009, with Mr. Ringler as lead counsel.
The verdicts detailed on this page all relate to railroad litigation. However, Mr. Ringler has achieved enormous, record-breaking monetary awards across California in a variety of complex areas. Those accomplishments are detailed elsewhere in this website. To see them, click here.
If you or a loved one has suffered injury or death as a result of the horrific Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster, we are available to discuss your rights with you confidentially and at no charge.
Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Ask for Mr. Ringler,or any of his partners, at (213) 473-1900.
www.rkallp.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
SEO's Role in Internet Marketing
I found this article today online and thought you just needed to see it. It makes some very good points about SEO and how to get it done.----
The SEO's vital role in internet marketing
Most companies realize the importance of SEO to their Internet marketing strategy. While SEMPO's State of Search Marketing 2007 tells us SEO is still a small percentage of the search dollars spent (10.5%) compared to PPC advertising (87.4%), it is more important than ever, as shown in the data.
* Nine out of ten advertisers (89%) use SEO
* Over half (56%) said they expect to spend more on SEO in 2008 vs. last year
* 54% of advertisers will manage natural search entirely in-house this year
When it comes to in-house SEO, it's important to get the program working right to achieve the best possible results. Attaining in-house SEO functionality is a complex process that takes time; not only that, progress is dynamic and planar rather than static and linear.
1. Get the management team on board
To develop SEO successfully in-house, the entire management team must be involved and in agreement. One way to do this is to show people the research behind the facts. SEO is the most popular search tactic, hands down. Here's some ammunition for getting non-believers on board for SEO success.
a) Start off with the most recent SEMPO data showing 89% of advertisers use SEO. An earlier report (Ad Age 2007 Fact Pack) shows organic SEO was the most popular form of search marketing: 75% of advertisers used SEO, while 71% used paid search. With over half of North American advertisers increasing spending on SEO this year, marketers realize the tremendous power of SEO to generate and increase conversions and provide excellent ROI. Not only that, when you combine SEO with paid search or display ads, you may get a lift.
b) SEO is the mainstay for Internet marketing. Why? Perhaps because SEO links are preferred over sponsored links. B2B users clicked on organic results 75% of the time (Marketing to a B2B Technical Buyer, Enquiro, 2007).
c) Search gives you brand lift. A Google-commissioned study found significant correlation between companies in the top organic/sponsored links and lift in consumer brand affinity, brand recall, and purchase intent (The Brand Lift of Search, Enquiro, 2007).
d) SEO and paid search are top tactics for lead generation. Organic search led the way in lead generating tactics for UK firms (78%), with paid search and email coming in second (72%) in a study performed by E-consultancy.com and commissioned by Clash Media, 2007.
2. Prepare prior to hiring the in-house SEO manager
Challenges and departmental turfs should be explained so the new SEO manager knows what battles he or she may be facing. This kind of preparation can help anticipate cooperation or resistance when determining what assets will be useful from various departments.
a) Announce hiring of the new SEO manager beforehand.
b) Publish the accomplishments of the new SEO manager so he or she will be well received.
c) Arrange for the new SEO manager to meet with various departments beforehand to gain perspective on how SEO can enhance various departmental objectives.
SEO might be a part of marketing, or it can be a department of its own. At any rate, a new SEO manager must leverage any enthusiasm to build the types of lasting relationships with other departments that will serve well in implementing vital changes in site structure and content. Get this buy-in from the very start.
3. Eliminate red tape
Kevin Cheng made a point regarding the role of bureaucratic red tape that can hinder SEO progress. How do you eliminate the red tape to execute needed changes? Again, the answer is early education and pre-selling ideas to stakeholders.
Upper management must have a clear picture of how SEO can help the company achieve its goals and why SEO trumps all other Internet marketing tactics. The SEO manager must identify potential roadblocks and get upper management to support him or her when there's resistance.
Hire an SEO consultant to work with your SEO manager to get the team started in the right direction. With top management backing you up, you can implement the changes and track progress toward achieving goals.
a) Start with small projects and the low-hanging fruit, working up to more complex projects after recording a few successes.
b) Top management must give the SEO manager the authority to get changes made, tracked, and then reported on as progress is made.
c) The SEO manager should sit in on meetings in various departments to be aware of customer needs and product trends.
d) Provide the SEO manager with access to analytics reports for site assessment and to identify areas for improvement.
Basically, the new SEO manager needs to win hearts and minds over to the overarching SEO philosophy while getting to know the company and its short- and long-term planning goals, as these factors must be taken into consideration in planning the SEO strategy.
Success is the result of communication between management and the SEO manager on overall business goals and long-term company planning. Knowing the business goals, the SEO manager can develop a useful plan and strategy. This is critical because SEO executions will require consistent reporting progress to prove positive direction on a day-by-day basis.
The SEO's vital role in internet marketing
Most companies realize the importance of SEO to their Internet marketing strategy. While SEMPO's State of Search Marketing 2007 tells us SEO is still a small percentage of the search dollars spent (10.5%) compared to PPC advertising (87.4%), it is more important than ever, as shown in the data.
* Nine out of ten advertisers (89%) use SEO
* Over half (56%) said they expect to spend more on SEO in 2008 vs. last year
* 54% of advertisers will manage natural search entirely in-house this year
When it comes to in-house SEO, it's important to get the program working right to achieve the best possible results. Attaining in-house SEO functionality is a complex process that takes time; not only that, progress is dynamic and planar rather than static and linear.
1. Get the management team on board
To develop SEO successfully in-house, the entire management team must be involved and in agreement. One way to do this is to show people the research behind the facts. SEO is the most popular search tactic, hands down. Here's some ammunition for getting non-believers on board for SEO success.
a) Start off with the most recent SEMPO data showing 89% of advertisers use SEO. An earlier report (Ad Age 2007 Fact Pack) shows organic SEO was the most popular form of search marketing: 75% of advertisers used SEO, while 71% used paid search. With over half of North American advertisers increasing spending on SEO this year, marketers realize the tremendous power of SEO to generate and increase conversions and provide excellent ROI. Not only that, when you combine SEO with paid search or display ads, you may get a lift.
b) SEO is the mainstay for Internet marketing. Why? Perhaps because SEO links are preferred over sponsored links. B2B users clicked on organic results 75% of the time (Marketing to a B2B Technical Buyer, Enquiro, 2007).
c) Search gives you brand lift. A Google-commissioned study found significant correlation between companies in the top organic/sponsored links and lift in consumer brand affinity, brand recall, and purchase intent (The Brand Lift of Search, Enquiro, 2007).
d) SEO and paid search are top tactics for lead generation. Organic search led the way in lead generating tactics for UK firms (78%), with paid search and email coming in second (72%) in a study performed by E-consultancy.com and commissioned by Clash Media, 2007.
2. Prepare prior to hiring the in-house SEO manager
Challenges and departmental turfs should be explained so the new SEO manager knows what battles he or she may be facing. This kind of preparation can help anticipate cooperation or resistance when determining what assets will be useful from various departments.
a) Announce hiring of the new SEO manager beforehand.
b) Publish the accomplishments of the new SEO manager so he or she will be well received.
c) Arrange for the new SEO manager to meet with various departments beforehand to gain perspective on how SEO can enhance various departmental objectives.
SEO might be a part of marketing, or it can be a department of its own. At any rate, a new SEO manager must leverage any enthusiasm to build the types of lasting relationships with other departments that will serve well in implementing vital changes in site structure and content. Get this buy-in from the very start.
3. Eliminate red tape
Kevin Cheng made a point regarding the role of bureaucratic red tape that can hinder SEO progress. How do you eliminate the red tape to execute needed changes? Again, the answer is early education and pre-selling ideas to stakeholders.
Upper management must have a clear picture of how SEO can help the company achieve its goals and why SEO trumps all other Internet marketing tactics. The SEO manager must identify potential roadblocks and get upper management to support him or her when there's resistance.
Hire an SEO consultant to work with your SEO manager to get the team started in the right direction. With top management backing you up, you can implement the changes and track progress toward achieving goals.
a) Start with small projects and the low-hanging fruit, working up to more complex projects after recording a few successes.
b) Top management must give the SEO manager the authority to get changes made, tracked, and then reported on as progress is made.
c) The SEO manager should sit in on meetings in various departments to be aware of customer needs and product trends.
d) Provide the SEO manager with access to analytics reports for site assessment and to identify areas for improvement.
Basically, the new SEO manager needs to win hearts and minds over to the overarching SEO philosophy while getting to know the company and its short- and long-term planning goals, as these factors must be taken into consideration in planning the SEO strategy.
Success is the result of communication between management and the SEO manager on overall business goals and long-term company planning. Knowing the business goals, the SEO manager can develop a useful plan and strategy. This is critical because SEO executions will require consistent reporting progress to prove positive direction on a day-by-day basis.
Online Marketing Event in Ohio
Leading online marketing experts will be gathering in Columbus on May 19th for an intense day of sessions, training and education, as the Ohio Web Leaders (OWL) hosts "Building a Roadmap for an Integrated Marketing Strategy", the group announced today.
The event will be held from 8:30 am until 4 pm at the Northpointe Conference Centre. Registration for the event is available at OhioWebLeaders.com.
The conference will focus on integrating online and traditional marketing campaigns to generate more sales, leads and awareness online through corporate websites.
"Ohio is home to a vibrant online marketing community," said Bill Balderaz of Webbed Marketing, a Columbus-based Internet marketing agency one of the charter members of OWL. "Online marketing agencies, technology firms, software solution providers, web design firms, and other Internet marketing experts all call Ohio home," he added. "This event is about bringing the online marketing community together to share knowledge with the larger marketing community."
The one day session will feature six sessions covering a wide range of topics including web design, search engine marketing, blogging for businesses, viral marketing and search engine marketing.
"Our goal is to have marketing managers from around Ohio attend this event and leave with a solid roadmap to help them drive more business with their web sites," said Tom Augustine, President of MindsOn Marketing, a marketing communications and web development agency. Augustine will be leading the web design session at the event.
"In one day, attendees will learn the basics for creating a solid integrated marketing campaign that uses both online and traditional tactics to drive visitors to their websites--and turn those visitors into sales and leads," Augustine said.
The conference will also feature Columbus-based ClearSaleing, ClearSaleing helps Internet retailers and direct marketers improve the performance of their search engine marketing and any other form of online advertising and prove their results through a technology that measures and optimizes online advertising. The company was founded by Ohio entrepreneurs Mike Lanese and Randy Smith and former Google executive Adam Goldberg.
"ClearSaleing has great clients and partners here in Ohio," Goldberg, who will be speaking at the event, said. "We're excited to take part in this event. This event is brining some of the most innovative online marketing minds in Ohio together. I'm looking forward to being a part of it."
The conference will feature a session on blogging for business by Jennifer Laycock, Editor of Search Engine Guide. Laycock, an internationally known speaker and blogger, specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer's clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. She has been the featured speaker at dozens of online marketing events around the world.
"We're thrilled to have Jennifer Laycock featured at this event," Balderaz said. "Her support is key in building a strong online marketing community in Ohio."
"Blogging is one of those things that tends to get misunderstood in the marketing realm. Companies either push too hard, or don't push hard enough," Laycock explained. "Learning how to leverage blogs for conversation with customers and seeing the amazing results that can come with reaching out to your community online can go a long way toward helping a company improve their business prospects on the web."
Nihar Bihani, an organic search engine expert formerly with Columbus-based ECNext, will lead the day's session on organic search engine optimization. Bihani has managed organic search engine optimization programs for some of the largest and most visited business web sites on the Internet.
The conference will also feature a panel discussion with Ohio marketing managers who have successfully integrating online and traditional marketing to drive more business via the web.
"Integration is key," said Amy Marshall of Webbed Marketing, who will be leading the panel with Randy James from MindsOn Marketing. "The most successful web sites attract visitors from multiple channels, including both traditional and online campaigns."
"We're excited to have attracted such an all-star line up to our first event in Ohio. We know that attendees will learn a lot from the experts who are in this world every day. At the end of the day, we want marketing executives to leave knowing they have a plan to drive more business from their websites," Augustine said.
About Ohio Web Leaders
The Ohio Web Leaders (OWL) is an innovative group of marketing professionals located in Ohio who have a passion for helping businesses use the Web to drive their growth. By forming OWL and bringing similar professionals together with similar goals, we can learn and network with one another.
The mission of the Ohio Web Leaders (OWL) is to provide a platform for marketing professional to share effective Internet strategies that work to learn, integrate and understand how to utilize the Internet to grow their business. From building a compelling website to influencing target audiences online, Internet marketing strategies are quickly becoming a critical component to many businesses to drive their goals. And because the market is ever-changing with new ideas and technologies, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest online marketing trends and run your business. OWL wants to help marketing managers get access to the people and information they need to take advantage of the marketing opportunities using the Web.
The event will be held from 8:30 am until 4 pm at the Northpointe Conference Centre. Registration for the event is available at OhioWebLeaders.com.
The conference will focus on integrating online and traditional marketing campaigns to generate more sales, leads and awareness online through corporate websites.
"Ohio is home to a vibrant online marketing community," said Bill Balderaz of Webbed Marketing, a Columbus-based Internet marketing agency one of the charter members of OWL. "Online marketing agencies, technology firms, software solution providers, web design firms, and other Internet marketing experts all call Ohio home," he added. "This event is about bringing the online marketing community together to share knowledge with the larger marketing community."
The one day session will feature six sessions covering a wide range of topics including web design, search engine marketing, blogging for businesses, viral marketing and search engine marketing.
"Our goal is to have marketing managers from around Ohio attend this event and leave with a solid roadmap to help them drive more business with their web sites," said Tom Augustine, President of MindsOn Marketing, a marketing communications and web development agency. Augustine will be leading the web design session at the event.
"In one day, attendees will learn the basics for creating a solid integrated marketing campaign that uses both online and traditional tactics to drive visitors to their websites--and turn those visitors into sales and leads," Augustine said.
The conference will also feature Columbus-based ClearSaleing, ClearSaleing helps Internet retailers and direct marketers improve the performance of their search engine marketing and any other form of online advertising and prove their results through a technology that measures and optimizes online advertising. The company was founded by Ohio entrepreneurs Mike Lanese and Randy Smith and former Google executive Adam Goldberg.
"ClearSaleing has great clients and partners here in Ohio," Goldberg, who will be speaking at the event, said. "We're excited to take part in this event. This event is brining some of the most innovative online marketing minds in Ohio together. I'm looking forward to being a part of it."
The conference will feature a session on blogging for business by Jennifer Laycock, Editor of Search Engine Guide. Laycock, an internationally known speaker and blogger, specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer's clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. She has been the featured speaker at dozens of online marketing events around the world.
"We're thrilled to have Jennifer Laycock featured at this event," Balderaz said. "Her support is key in building a strong online marketing community in Ohio."
"Blogging is one of those things that tends to get misunderstood in the marketing realm. Companies either push too hard, or don't push hard enough," Laycock explained. "Learning how to leverage blogs for conversation with customers and seeing the amazing results that can come with reaching out to your community online can go a long way toward helping a company improve their business prospects on the web."
Nihar Bihani, an organic search engine expert formerly with Columbus-based ECNext, will lead the day's session on organic search engine optimization. Bihani has managed organic search engine optimization programs for some of the largest and most visited business web sites on the Internet.
The conference will also feature a panel discussion with Ohio marketing managers who have successfully integrating online and traditional marketing to drive more business via the web.
"Integration is key," said Amy Marshall of Webbed Marketing, who will be leading the panel with Randy James from MindsOn Marketing. "The most successful web sites attract visitors from multiple channels, including both traditional and online campaigns."
"We're excited to have attracted such an all-star line up to our first event in Ohio. We know that attendees will learn a lot from the experts who are in this world every day. At the end of the day, we want marketing executives to leave knowing they have a plan to drive more business from their websites," Augustine said.
About Ohio Web Leaders
The Ohio Web Leaders (OWL) is an innovative group of marketing professionals located in Ohio who have a passion for helping businesses use the Web to drive their growth. By forming OWL and bringing similar professionals together with similar goals, we can learn and network with one another.
The mission of the Ohio Web Leaders (OWL) is to provide a platform for marketing professional to share effective Internet strategies that work to learn, integrate and understand how to utilize the Internet to grow their business. From building a compelling website to influencing target audiences online, Internet marketing strategies are quickly becoming a critical component to many businesses to drive their goals. And because the market is ever-changing with new ideas and technologies, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest online marketing trends and run your business. OWL wants to help marketing managers get access to the people and information they need to take advantage of the marketing opportunities using the Web.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Using Simple Online Techniques to Increase Business
It's possible to spend thousands of dollars - or read tens of thousands of words - and still get nowhere in the world of online marketing. A session titled "A Common Sense Approach to Online Marketing" tried to highlight the essentials, however, since the path to success can be relatively simple.
Matt McGee, the SEO manager of Marchex, started things off by discussing an SEO success pyramid. At a very basic level, he pointed out that commitment, planning, and patience are necessary. "You have to have enthusiasm," McGee noted. "You have to stay on top of the game."
Keyword research, a concentration on design and usability, and a use of tools and analytics come next. In regards to analytics, McGee said, "It is how you determine your success or failure."
And in order to guide things towards that first outcome, seek out customers on local and social sites. Manage your reputation all the while. "[The] pyramid boils down to the human element," McGee observed. "Small businesses depend on word-of-mouth."
Wendy Piersall, the founder of eMoms at Home, then stepped in to back up some of those points. Her site has been successful, and she said, "Visibility is key . . . just going out and introducing yourself. Also, in regards to networking and enthusiasm, she added, "You're doing this because you love it and let that passion shine through."
Matt Bailey, the founder of Site Logic Marketing, was the last to speak, and he assured the audience, "Search engine optimization has a great return on investment just by using the basics." Work on keywords, content, and links to your site. As for design issues, he pointed out, "Usability is as easy as getting your mom to sit down and use your site."
Matt McGee, the SEO manager of Marchex, started things off by discussing an SEO success pyramid. At a very basic level, he pointed out that commitment, planning, and patience are necessary. "You have to have enthusiasm," McGee noted. "You have to stay on top of the game."
Keyword research, a concentration on design and usability, and a use of tools and analytics come next. In regards to analytics, McGee said, "It is how you determine your success or failure."
And in order to guide things towards that first outcome, seek out customers on local and social sites. Manage your reputation all the while. "[The] pyramid boils down to the human element," McGee observed. "Small businesses depend on word-of-mouth."
Wendy Piersall, the founder of eMoms at Home, then stepped in to back up some of those points. Her site has been successful, and she said, "Visibility is key . . . just going out and introducing yourself. Also, in regards to networking and enthusiasm, she added, "You're doing this because you love it and let that passion shine through."
Matt Bailey, the founder of Site Logic Marketing, was the last to speak, and he assured the audience, "Search engine optimization has a great return on investment just by using the basics." Work on keywords, content, and links to your site. As for design issues, he pointed out, "Usability is as easy as getting your mom to sit down and use your site."
Online Marketing is all About Focus
Many small businesses will spend thousands of dollars on websites, yet won't market them properly, says David Cree, an Internet marketing consultant.
This is where search marketing is effective, he says.
Search marketing involves carefully determining how people will be searching on the web for the product you are selling.
It includes search engine optimization -- putting the right content on businesses' websites to increase the lik-elihood it will come up near the top of search results.
It also includes working with the advertising arms of search engines and purchasing common phrases that people would use to find a product.
"Search marketing is really the biggest and quickest avenue into e-business and spreading your market," Cree says.
But search marketing isn't just about having people find your product on the web -- it's also about having robots finding your product on the web.
"We market to robots that scan the web to determine what the rankings are going to be on search engines," says Cree, president of Clearpath, an Alberta-based web marketing consulting firm.
A large component of search marketing involves search engine optimization.
"Making sure that your site is optimized will tell Google what to rank you for -- what phrases is this site about," he says.
"What it won't tell it is how well it should rank you and the million other sites that are about the same thing as you."
And it's more than just the content on your website. Search engine optimization is also about what's not on your website. That's where marketing comes into play.
"Essentially, that's a political popularity contest," says Cree. "(Search engines) go out to the web and see how many people are linking to you. How much buzz is there out there about you and your company?"
A web marketing campaign can create a buzz in several ways. One of the best methods is through blogs and social networking sites, says Cree. "People don't realize that about 35 per cent of Canada is on Facebook."
Another way to build up a website's popularity is through search engine advertising. Many search engine companies sell keyword phrases to businesses that potential customers will use to search for a product.
If they use that phrase in a search, the companies that purchased that phrase will have a small ad, linking to its website, appear on the search results page.
Finding the right phrase is essential to this strategy's success, Cree says.
Search engine advertising is about finding the right description that will differentiate a business from others -- much like with traditional marketing.
It differs from more traditional methods in that it lets a business focus on consumers or businesses that would need its product, says Cree.
"You only pay for the people who click on your ad. You're only paying for highly targeted marketing."
Online Law Firm Marketing
This is where search marketing is effective, he says.
Search marketing involves carefully determining how people will be searching on the web for the product you are selling.
It includes search engine optimization -- putting the right content on businesses' websites to increase the lik-elihood it will come up near the top of search results.
It also includes working with the advertising arms of search engines and purchasing common phrases that people would use to find a product.
"Search marketing is really the biggest and quickest avenue into e-business and spreading your market," Cree says.
But search marketing isn't just about having people find your product on the web -- it's also about having robots finding your product on the web.
"We market to robots that scan the web to determine what the rankings are going to be on search engines," says Cree, president of Clearpath, an Alberta-based web marketing consulting firm.
A large component of search marketing involves search engine optimization.
"Making sure that your site is optimized will tell Google what to rank you for -- what phrases is this site about," he says.
"What it won't tell it is how well it should rank you and the million other sites that are about the same thing as you."
And it's more than just the content on your website. Search engine optimization is also about what's not on your website. That's where marketing comes into play.
"Essentially, that's a political popularity contest," says Cree. "(Search engines) go out to the web and see how many people are linking to you. How much buzz is there out there about you and your company?"
A web marketing campaign can create a buzz in several ways. One of the best methods is through blogs and social networking sites, says Cree. "People don't realize that about 35 per cent of Canada is on Facebook."
Another way to build up a website's popularity is through search engine advertising. Many search engine companies sell keyword phrases to businesses that potential customers will use to search for a product.
If they use that phrase in a search, the companies that purchased that phrase will have a small ad, linking to its website, appear on the search results page.
Finding the right phrase is essential to this strategy's success, Cree says.
Search engine advertising is about finding the right description that will differentiate a business from others -- much like with traditional marketing.
It differs from more traditional methods in that it lets a business focus on consumers or businesses that would need its product, says Cree.
"You only pay for the people who click on your ad. You're only paying for highly targeted marketing."
Online Law Firm Marketing
Lawinfo.com Launches Online Preferred Listings
I found this interesting article on PRweb:
LawInfo has launched an online Preferred Listings forum for attorneys nationwide to maximize their online exposure for optimum business results. These Preferred Listings have been designed to facilitate maximum online lead generation for private practices as well as corporate firms, and will be showcased on LawInfo.com, Lawsmart.com, and Leadcounsel.com, as well as accessible throughout 2,000 geographically focused and 80 media partner web sites. Top areas of law that attorneys can list their firm include Bankruptcy, Business Law, Criminal Law, Drunk Driving, Estate Planning, Family Law, Immigration, Labor and Employment, Personal Injury and Workers' Compensation, based upon geographic availability. Over 1,000,000 users visit LawInfo and its family of sites per month--making LawInfo.com a frontrunner in online lawyer marketing.
In addition to providing a Preferred Listings forum for attorneys, LawInfo's legal resource center (LRC) can also help the public locate qualified legal experts nationwide--including bail bondsmen, expert witnesses, private investigators, court reporters, process servers, paralegals and litigation funders. Further, LawInfo.com has created the largest interactive legal forum with over 1,200 message boards as a resource for the Internet community. The boards provide an opportunity to research information and share commentary on a multitude of legal topics.
LawInfo.com has also expanded its free online legal resource center to include a comprehensive legal blog--incorporating interactive polls, providing access to volumes of legal archives, supplying streaming video and audio clips and keeping a live feed on breaking legal news that is updated around the clock.
For over a decade, LawInfo's mission has been to assist the public in locating qualified attorneys and legal services. In addition to the Preferred Listings forum, LawInfo.com provides marketing packages for attorneys and legal professionals crafted by a team of specialists that integrates web design, content development and internet marketing with targeted traffic-generation tactics. LawInfo is staffed by experienced legal industry professionals and their corporate offices are located in San Marcos, California, just thirty minutes north of San Diego.
LawInfo has launched an online Preferred Listings forum for attorneys nationwide to maximize their online exposure for optimum business results. These Preferred Listings have been designed to facilitate maximum online lead generation for private practices as well as corporate firms, and will be showcased on LawInfo.com, Lawsmart.com, and Leadcounsel.com, as well as accessible throughout 2,000 geographically focused and 80 media partner web sites. Top areas of law that attorneys can list their firm include Bankruptcy, Business Law, Criminal Law, Drunk Driving, Estate Planning, Family Law, Immigration, Labor and Employment, Personal Injury and Workers' Compensation, based upon geographic availability. Over 1,000,000 users visit LawInfo and its family of sites per month--making LawInfo.com a frontrunner in online lawyer marketing.
In addition to providing a Preferred Listings forum for attorneys, LawInfo's legal resource center (LRC) can also help the public locate qualified legal experts nationwide--including bail bondsmen, expert witnesses, private investigators, court reporters, process servers, paralegals and litigation funders. Further, LawInfo.com has created the largest interactive legal forum with over 1,200 message boards as a resource for the Internet community. The boards provide an opportunity to research information and share commentary on a multitude of legal topics.
LawInfo.com has also expanded its free online legal resource center to include a comprehensive legal blog--incorporating interactive polls, providing access to volumes of legal archives, supplying streaming video and audio clips and keeping a live feed on breaking legal news that is updated around the clock.
For over a decade, LawInfo's mission has been to assist the public in locating qualified attorneys and legal services. In addition to the Preferred Listings forum, LawInfo.com provides marketing packages for attorneys and legal professionals crafted by a team of specialists that integrates web design, content development and internet marketing with targeted traffic-generation tactics. LawInfo is staffed by experienced legal industry professionals and their corporate offices are located in San Marcos, California, just thirty minutes north of San Diego.
Why so few Women at the Top?
Let’s turn our attention away from all-things Potter for a moment and consider this fact: Just eight percent of law firm leaders are women, according to a report released in November by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL).
Why? It’s an issue addressed this week by Leigh Jones of the National Law Journal.
For starters, there’s a timing issue. Jerry Clements, the woman in charge of 700-lawyer Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, says that when she graduated from Baylor University School of Law in 1981, big law firms were just beginning to hire women, she said. The supply of women attorneys with enough experience to lead law firms is still relatively small, she said.
Still, while the pool of all lawyers who even want to run a law firm is relatively small, the pool of women lawyers eager to take on the tasks is even smaller, said Valerie Ford Jacob, co-managing partner of 684-attorney Fried, Frank (pictured).
Among the downsides of the job, according to Jacobs: giving up a full-time legal practice, “extensive travel to far-flung offices, the constant demands of business development and, in some cases, the need to maintain a practice with managerial issues.”
A major reason that women lag so far behind in top leadership roles at law firms is because, in general, those are not jobs they want, said Joel Henning, a consultant with Hildebrandt International. “The best women lawyers get satisfaction out of their practices, and they see little attraction in becoming housekeeping-type law firm leaders,” Henning said. “Many women would rather do their housekeeping chores somewhere else, not in their law firms.”
Paula Hinton, a litigation partner at Vinson & Elkins, disagreed, adding that she would embrace the chance to lead a big law firm. She pointed to a lack of opportunity as the reason for the shortage of women leaders. “The job of a law firm leader has changed,” she said. “Their role is much more in the marketing and strategic planning arena, not in the housekeeping arena.”
Why? It’s an issue addressed this week by Leigh Jones of the National Law Journal.
For starters, there’s a timing issue. Jerry Clements, the woman in charge of 700-lawyer Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, says that when she graduated from Baylor University School of Law in 1981, big law firms were just beginning to hire women, she said. The supply of women attorneys with enough experience to lead law firms is still relatively small, she said.
Still, while the pool of all lawyers who even want to run a law firm is relatively small, the pool of women lawyers eager to take on the tasks is even smaller, said Valerie Ford Jacob, co-managing partner of 684-attorney Fried, Frank (pictured).
Among the downsides of the job, according to Jacobs: giving up a full-time legal practice, “extensive travel to far-flung offices, the constant demands of business development and, in some cases, the need to maintain a practice with managerial issues.”
A major reason that women lag so far behind in top leadership roles at law firms is because, in general, those are not jobs they want, said Joel Henning, a consultant with Hildebrandt International. “The best women lawyers get satisfaction out of their practices, and they see little attraction in becoming housekeeping-type law firm leaders,” Henning said. “Many women would rather do their housekeeping chores somewhere else, not in their law firms.”
Paula Hinton, a litigation partner at Vinson & Elkins, disagreed, adding that she would embrace the chance to lead a big law firm. She pointed to a lack of opportunity as the reason for the shortage of women leaders. “The job of a law firm leader has changed,” she said. “Their role is much more in the marketing and strategic planning arena, not in the housekeeping arena.”
Chief Marketing Officers Dropping Like Flies at Big Firms
If it seems a little drafty in some high-rises, it might be the revolving door of marketing departments in several large firms.
In the past few months, at least four law firms in Pennsylvania have seen the departure of their chief marketing officer or other high-ranking marketing staff.
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Drinker Biddle & Reath are, or soon will be, without a chief marketing officer, and Duane Morris lost two senior marketing directors in recent months.
Ballard Spahr is in the process of searching for a new CMO, Buchanan Ingersoll has brought in someone under a different title and Drinker Biddle will fill the vacancy with two people internally who will retain their respective director titles.
Duane Morris is open to filling its recently vacated senior marketing manager and senior director of marketing/CRM manager positions either externally or from within its ranks.
Despite the turnover, most everyone at these firms who spoke to The Legal Intelligencer for this article was optimistic about the increasing tenure of senior marketers in large law firms. They said firms are taking more seriously than ever before the role of business development as part of a profession that, increasingly, looks like an industry.
The legal marketing scene in Philadelphia, however, isn't picture-perfect.
Marketing consultant Stacy West Clark said the turnover in the city is different from that of places like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Whereas those cities see turnover due to talent wars and firms plucking off CMOs for more money, Philadelphia is more of a "doom and gloom" scenario, she said.
CMOs and other higher-level marketers are leaving or being asked to leave Philadelphia firms more often because it wasn't the right fit, and those firms aren't always looking to fill the vacant positions, she said.
BALLARD SPAHR
Blain Banick started at Ballard Spahr in October 2004 as the firm's CMO. He left the firm in the fall of 2007 to take a similar position at Dallas-based Haynes & Boone.
Ballard Spahr Chairman Arthur Makadon said the western Canada native never quite took to the East Coast and moved with his family to Texas.
Despite the gap in a CMO position, Ballard Spahr decided to continue full-steam ahead with its large-scale branding campaign scheduled to be launched in January 2009.
Makadon said there were some concerns within the firm about continuing the branding efforts while looking for a new CMO. The firm had already started, however, what Makadon called a "very expensive" process and hired an "upscale branding firm" to start working on the project.
He said losing a CMO in the midst of this process has been fairly seamless because Banick created a well-trained staff. Marketing directors Ellen Ragone and Paul Bonner are handling the majority of the CMO duties until a new person is hired, and Makadon said he is more involved with firm marketing than he's ever been.
Ballard Spahr spent the first few months after Banick's departure interviewing recruiting firms to help with the CMO search. The firm hired John Lamar of The Alexander Group in Texas, and he has spent the past six weeks to two months finding candidates to be interviewed by the firm.
Interviews are about ready to begin, and Makadon said there are, currently, two definite candidates, with the prospect of a few more being added to the interview list.
While the position doesn't have to be based out of Philadelphia, Makadon said that would be ideal because the majority of the marketing staff -- between 20 and 25 people -- are based in the city.
The two candidates who will be interviewed are both from the law firm world, but he said that doesn't have to be the case. The firm would be open to interviewing marketers from other professional service industries, he said.
Makadon said he isn't sure why legal marketers don't stick around for more than an average of two or three years. If a firm found the right person, he said he would think it could make for a long-standing relationship.
Serving as a CMO in the legal industry is a challenging job because there are so many constituencies to please, Makadon said.
As the evolution of law firm marketing departments continues, he said firms should be learning from their experience.
"We'll be wiser this time than we were last time," Makadon said.
He said the tenure for these positions would continue to increase as legal marketers become more experienced and have more to offer the firms.
DRINKER BIDDLE
Stephen D. Barrett joined Drinker Biddle as its CMO in September 2005 and has been commuting from his Boston home to Philadelphia each week. He would spend the week in the city and travel back to Massachusetts for the weekend.
Despite trading in his long commute, firm managing partner Andrew C. Kassner said Barrett may have felt he accomplished what he was looking to do at the firm.
"He's a builder," Kassner said. "He saw an opportunity here to help us build, and he may be looking for the next challenge, wherever it may be."
Since joining the firm, Barrett helped build the marketing department from around 10 members to 25. There are 12 marketers in Philadelphia, seven in Chicago and two in Washington, D.C., and there will soon be four in New Jersey.
Kassner said he was pleased with the progress Barrett made over the last few years. He said Barrett came in with a vision of how to build a marketing and client relations department in the firm and went ahead and did it.
Building a strong staff, Kassner said, worked out in the firm's favor, given Barrett's coming departure. Instead of hiring a new CMO, Drinker Biddle will split the responsibilities between its two marketing directors.
John Byrne, the firm's director of communications, and Kristin Sudholz, director of practice development, will work together on carrying out the marketing plan Barrett created.
Byrne, based in Philadelphia, started at the firm in July 2006. Barrett hired Sudholz in March 2007 after the firm merged with Chicago-based Gardner Carton & Douglas. She is based in Chicago.
DUANE MORRIS
Since January 2008, Duane Morris has seen the departure of its senior marketing manager, Holly Lentz Kleeman, and its senior director of marketing/CRM manager, Pat Purdy.
When the firm saw a changeover in leadership at the beginning of the year from major marketing proponent Sheldon Bonovitz to litigator John Soroko, some people questioned what would happen to Duane Morris' robust marketing department.
All those involved said there has been no decrease in support of the marketing department under Soroko's leadership and Kleeman and Purdy's departures were completely unrelated to the change.
Kleeman, who was the No. 2 person behind CMO Edward M. Schechter, left in January to start her own business, Lentz Productions. She focuses on business development and marketing for firms of all sizes.
She had been at Duane Morris for eight years and said that was one of the main reasons she left.
"Eight years is a really long time for legal marketing," she said.
Kleeman said Purdy's departure may have had something to do with her leaving the firm considering Purdy used to work for Kleeman's husband, and Kleeman brought her on board at Duane Morris.
But more than that, Kleeman said, Purdy had a really great opportunity at another firm. She now works for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York.
While the legal industry is often slower moving than other professional service sectors, Kleeman said she does see legal marketing becoming more accepted and the positions staying filled longer. She said Schechter is the exception to the conventional wisdom that CMOs stay in their positions for only a few years. He has been at Duane Morris for six.
"[Firms] are realizing that, like it or not, they're going to have to behave a little bit more like a business," Kleeman said. "Once they do it, they find out it's not that painful."
Although Kleeman credited the marketing department's existence to Bonovitz and recognized that Bonovitz and Soroko have different leadership styles, she said Bonovitz is still active in the firm. She said she thinks Soroko sees the effect Bonovitz made with the marketing department and would look to maintain that.
"Who knows what's going to happen at Duane," Kleeman said. "With a former chairman and a chairman there, that will be interesting to observe."
Schechter said the leadership change at Duane Morris has had no bearing on the marketing department.
"While marketing and business development is often impacted by the change of a chair, in that regard, we're running against the grain," Schechter said. "[Soroko] is very supportive of what we're doing."
He said Kleeman and Purdy's departures were completely unrelated to the leadership change. The two just had good opportunities, he said.
It is a great time for legal marketing, particularly at Duane Morris, Schechter said. In the process of building one of the largest marketing departments in the country in relation to the firm's attorney head count, the work of the marketers hasn't gone unnoticed. That has presented several opportunities for members of the department, he said.
Duane Morris is looking to fill both positions and will look both internally and at external candidates. He said both Kleeman and Purdy were important members of the team and contributed significantly to the department's growth.
In response to speculation that he may be looking for a position at another firm, Schechter dismissed the idea and said he was staying at Duane Morris. He said the opportunities he has there, in terms of the ability to use innovative marketing and business development programs as well as the support from management, are "incredibly strong relative to other firms."
"It's a great position to be in when you have that level of support from leadership and the partners and have a team here who's awesome," Schechter said.
BUCHANAN INGERSOLL
Buchanan Ingersoll's first CMO, Mark P. Trice, announced in August 2007 that he would be leaving the firm to move to Texas. He had started at the firm in June 2006, right before its merger with Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling.
He left legal marketing completely, instead joining the marketing team of financial, human resources and information technology company Vcfo Inc.
At the time of his departure, Buchanan Ingersoll Chief Executive Officer Thomas L. VanKirk said the firm might not hire a new CMO but rather bring someone in under a slightly different title. He said then that the firm hired a CMO more for the business development side of marketing given that Buchanan Ingersoll already had a strong communications arm.
VanKirk stuck to his word. A few weeks ago, the firm brought on Linda L. Fleming as its director of business development. She is based out of the firm's Alexandria, Va., office and works alongside Pittsburgh-based Director of Communications and Public Relations Lori K. Lecker.
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS
Morgan Lewis has also been making some changes in its marketing department. The firm recently lost its director of communications, Paul Webb, and decided to do away with the position.
Instead, the firm created a new position, chief marketing and communications officer, to oversee what used to be two separate departments.
Morgan Lewis recently hired Michael Baltes, who was the former director of communications at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to fill the new position.
A firm spokeswoman said management felt the marketing and communications departments should work more closely together and report to one person. She said Mona Zeiberg out of Washington will continue to serve as the firmwide director of marketing.
In the past few months, at least four law firms in Pennsylvania have seen the departure of their chief marketing officer or other high-ranking marketing staff.
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Drinker Biddle & Reath are, or soon will be, without a chief marketing officer, and Duane Morris lost two senior marketing directors in recent months.
Ballard Spahr is in the process of searching for a new CMO, Buchanan Ingersoll has brought in someone under a different title and Drinker Biddle will fill the vacancy with two people internally who will retain their respective director titles.
Duane Morris is open to filling its recently vacated senior marketing manager and senior director of marketing/CRM manager positions either externally or from within its ranks.
Despite the turnover, most everyone at these firms who spoke to The Legal Intelligencer for this article was optimistic about the increasing tenure of senior marketers in large law firms. They said firms are taking more seriously than ever before the role of business development as part of a profession that, increasingly, looks like an industry.
The legal marketing scene in Philadelphia, however, isn't picture-perfect.
Marketing consultant Stacy West Clark said the turnover in the city is different from that of places like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Whereas those cities see turnover due to talent wars and firms plucking off CMOs for more money, Philadelphia is more of a "doom and gloom" scenario, she said.
CMOs and other higher-level marketers are leaving or being asked to leave Philadelphia firms more often because it wasn't the right fit, and those firms aren't always looking to fill the vacant positions, she said.
BALLARD SPAHR
Blain Banick started at Ballard Spahr in October 2004 as the firm's CMO. He left the firm in the fall of 2007 to take a similar position at Dallas-based Haynes & Boone.
Ballard Spahr Chairman Arthur Makadon said the western Canada native never quite took to the East Coast and moved with his family to Texas.
Despite the gap in a CMO position, Ballard Spahr decided to continue full-steam ahead with its large-scale branding campaign scheduled to be launched in January 2009.
Makadon said there were some concerns within the firm about continuing the branding efforts while looking for a new CMO. The firm had already started, however, what Makadon called a "very expensive" process and hired an "upscale branding firm" to start working on the project.
He said losing a CMO in the midst of this process has been fairly seamless because Banick created a well-trained staff. Marketing directors Ellen Ragone and Paul Bonner are handling the majority of the CMO duties until a new person is hired, and Makadon said he is more involved with firm marketing than he's ever been.
Ballard Spahr spent the first few months after Banick's departure interviewing recruiting firms to help with the CMO search. The firm hired John Lamar of The Alexander Group in Texas, and he has spent the past six weeks to two months finding candidates to be interviewed by the firm.
Interviews are about ready to begin, and Makadon said there are, currently, two definite candidates, with the prospect of a few more being added to the interview list.
While the position doesn't have to be based out of Philadelphia, Makadon said that would be ideal because the majority of the marketing staff -- between 20 and 25 people -- are based in the city.
The two candidates who will be interviewed are both from the law firm world, but he said that doesn't have to be the case. The firm would be open to interviewing marketers from other professional service industries, he said.
Makadon said he isn't sure why legal marketers don't stick around for more than an average of two or three years. If a firm found the right person, he said he would think it could make for a long-standing relationship.
Serving as a CMO in the legal industry is a challenging job because there are so many constituencies to please, Makadon said.
As the evolution of law firm marketing departments continues, he said firms should be learning from their experience.
"We'll be wiser this time than we were last time," Makadon said.
He said the tenure for these positions would continue to increase as legal marketers become more experienced and have more to offer the firms.
DRINKER BIDDLE
Stephen D. Barrett joined Drinker Biddle as its CMO in September 2005 and has been commuting from his Boston home to Philadelphia each week. He would spend the week in the city and travel back to Massachusetts for the weekend.
Despite trading in his long commute, firm managing partner Andrew C. Kassner said Barrett may have felt he accomplished what he was looking to do at the firm.
"He's a builder," Kassner said. "He saw an opportunity here to help us build, and he may be looking for the next challenge, wherever it may be."
Since joining the firm, Barrett helped build the marketing department from around 10 members to 25. There are 12 marketers in Philadelphia, seven in Chicago and two in Washington, D.C., and there will soon be four in New Jersey.
Kassner said he was pleased with the progress Barrett made over the last few years. He said Barrett came in with a vision of how to build a marketing and client relations department in the firm and went ahead and did it.
Building a strong staff, Kassner said, worked out in the firm's favor, given Barrett's coming departure. Instead of hiring a new CMO, Drinker Biddle will split the responsibilities between its two marketing directors.
John Byrne, the firm's director of communications, and Kristin Sudholz, director of practice development, will work together on carrying out the marketing plan Barrett created.
Byrne, based in Philadelphia, started at the firm in July 2006. Barrett hired Sudholz in March 2007 after the firm merged with Chicago-based Gardner Carton & Douglas. She is based in Chicago.
DUANE MORRIS
Since January 2008, Duane Morris has seen the departure of its senior marketing manager, Holly Lentz Kleeman, and its senior director of marketing/CRM manager, Pat Purdy.
When the firm saw a changeover in leadership at the beginning of the year from major marketing proponent Sheldon Bonovitz to litigator John Soroko, some people questioned what would happen to Duane Morris' robust marketing department.
All those involved said there has been no decrease in support of the marketing department under Soroko's leadership and Kleeman and Purdy's departures were completely unrelated to the change.
Kleeman, who was the No. 2 person behind CMO Edward M. Schechter, left in January to start her own business, Lentz Productions. She focuses on business development and marketing for firms of all sizes.
She had been at Duane Morris for eight years and said that was one of the main reasons she left.
"Eight years is a really long time for legal marketing," she said.
Kleeman said Purdy's departure may have had something to do with her leaving the firm considering Purdy used to work for Kleeman's husband, and Kleeman brought her on board at Duane Morris.
But more than that, Kleeman said, Purdy had a really great opportunity at another firm. She now works for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York.
While the legal industry is often slower moving than other professional service sectors, Kleeman said she does see legal marketing becoming more accepted and the positions staying filled longer. She said Schechter is the exception to the conventional wisdom that CMOs stay in their positions for only a few years. He has been at Duane Morris for six.
"[Firms] are realizing that, like it or not, they're going to have to behave a little bit more like a business," Kleeman said. "Once they do it, they find out it's not that painful."
Although Kleeman credited the marketing department's existence to Bonovitz and recognized that Bonovitz and Soroko have different leadership styles, she said Bonovitz is still active in the firm. She said she thinks Soroko sees the effect Bonovitz made with the marketing department and would look to maintain that.
"Who knows what's going to happen at Duane," Kleeman said. "With a former chairman and a chairman there, that will be interesting to observe."
Schechter said the leadership change at Duane Morris has had no bearing on the marketing department.
"While marketing and business development is often impacted by the change of a chair, in that regard, we're running against the grain," Schechter said. "[Soroko] is very supportive of what we're doing."
He said Kleeman and Purdy's departures were completely unrelated to the leadership change. The two just had good opportunities, he said.
It is a great time for legal marketing, particularly at Duane Morris, Schechter said. In the process of building one of the largest marketing departments in the country in relation to the firm's attorney head count, the work of the marketers hasn't gone unnoticed. That has presented several opportunities for members of the department, he said.
Duane Morris is looking to fill both positions and will look both internally and at external candidates. He said both Kleeman and Purdy were important members of the team and contributed significantly to the department's growth.
In response to speculation that he may be looking for a position at another firm, Schechter dismissed the idea and said he was staying at Duane Morris. He said the opportunities he has there, in terms of the ability to use innovative marketing and business development programs as well as the support from management, are "incredibly strong relative to other firms."
"It's a great position to be in when you have that level of support from leadership and the partners and have a team here who's awesome," Schechter said.
BUCHANAN INGERSOLL
Buchanan Ingersoll's first CMO, Mark P. Trice, announced in August 2007 that he would be leaving the firm to move to Texas. He had started at the firm in June 2006, right before its merger with Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling.
He left legal marketing completely, instead joining the marketing team of financial, human resources and information technology company Vcfo Inc.
At the time of his departure, Buchanan Ingersoll Chief Executive Officer Thomas L. VanKirk said the firm might not hire a new CMO but rather bring someone in under a slightly different title. He said then that the firm hired a CMO more for the business development side of marketing given that Buchanan Ingersoll already had a strong communications arm.
VanKirk stuck to his word. A few weeks ago, the firm brought on Linda L. Fleming as its director of business development. She is based out of the firm's Alexandria, Va., office and works alongside Pittsburgh-based Director of Communications and Public Relations Lori K. Lecker.
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS
Morgan Lewis has also been making some changes in its marketing department. The firm recently lost its director of communications, Paul Webb, and decided to do away with the position.
Instead, the firm created a new position, chief marketing and communications officer, to oversee what used to be two separate departments.
Morgan Lewis recently hired Michael Baltes, who was the former director of communications at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to fill the new position.
A firm spokeswoman said management felt the marketing and communications departments should work more closely together and report to one person. She said Mona Zeiberg out of Washington will continue to serve as the firmwide director of marketing.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Law Firms Lean Towards Business Development
The scales are shifting in professional services marketing. The days when it sufficed to perform ‘marcomm’ activities – like brochures, advertising, public relations, firm events and branding – have passed. Today there is pressure on marketers to show return on investment.
In short, marketers must move from the ‘expense’ side of the ledger to the ‘revenue’ side.
Adding urgency is the fact that the US (and soon the world) is in a recession – consumer spending is down, unemployment is up, home prices are down, oil prices are near an all time high and the war in Iraq is wasting billions.“We are in a recession right now – it’s pretty obvious,” said Sara Kraeski, Director of Business Development of Davis, Graham & Stubbs in Denver, at a recent conference.
Partners today don’t want to know how much your project costs, they want to know how much it will earn. Smart marketers are changing their focus to business development activities:
* Advising teams going on tender competitions and beauty parades.
* Developing proposals that win new business.
* Identifying targets for clients to pursue.
* Helping professionals write personal business development plans.
Coaching is the single best activity in which to be proficient.The good news is that ‘BD’ is a learnable set of skills, and the abilities that make a top professional – being a good listener, analytical, expert questioners, organized and hard-working – are the same skills of those of top salespeople.
law firm marketing, marketing director, business developmentYou as the marketer must help the professionals write business development plans.The priorities of the plans are pursuing clients first, then referral sources, next becoming visible in a business organization and finally targeting business executives. It’s all about relationships – the more a professional has, the more clients he or she will have.
First you’ll need support from the top. Announce to firm management that you have a plan to increase its revenue significantly. That will get their attention.Then explain that you will work with the fee earners who have the most potential (not the new associates or the 40-year old ‘service partners’ who have no clients).Your plan is to magnify their new business production.
I recommend that professionals spend 200 hours per year on business development. This equals four hours per week – a goal easily attained by meeting a referral source for coffee, visiting a client’s offices at lunch and attending a trade association meeting at an event.
Here’s why this works. If you have 10 professionals who are active four hours a week, they should meet two ideal clients per week.This works out to 1,000 contacts per year. Let’s suppose they are just terrible at what they do and have a 90% failure rate. It still works out to 100+ new clients/matters per year. And that is a return on investment the partners can take to the bank.
In short, marketers must move from the ‘expense’ side of the ledger to the ‘revenue’ side.
Adding urgency is the fact that the US (and soon the world) is in a recession – consumer spending is down, unemployment is up, home prices are down, oil prices are near an all time high and the war in Iraq is wasting billions.“We are in a recession right now – it’s pretty obvious,” said Sara Kraeski, Director of Business Development of Davis, Graham & Stubbs in Denver, at a recent conference.
Partners today don’t want to know how much your project costs, they want to know how much it will earn. Smart marketers are changing their focus to business development activities:
* Advising teams going on tender competitions and beauty parades.
* Developing proposals that win new business.
* Identifying targets for clients to pursue.
* Helping professionals write personal business development plans.
Coaching is the single best activity in which to be proficient.The good news is that ‘BD’ is a learnable set of skills, and the abilities that make a top professional – being a good listener, analytical, expert questioners, organized and hard-working – are the same skills of those of top salespeople.
law firm marketing, marketing director, business developmentYou as the marketer must help the professionals write business development plans.The priorities of the plans are pursuing clients first, then referral sources, next becoming visible in a business organization and finally targeting business executives. It’s all about relationships – the more a professional has, the more clients he or she will have.
First you’ll need support from the top. Announce to firm management that you have a plan to increase its revenue significantly. That will get their attention.Then explain that you will work with the fee earners who have the most potential (not the new associates or the 40-year old ‘service partners’ who have no clients).Your plan is to magnify their new business production.
I recommend that professionals spend 200 hours per year on business development. This equals four hours per week – a goal easily attained by meeting a referral source for coffee, visiting a client’s offices at lunch and attending a trade association meeting at an event.
Here’s why this works. If you have 10 professionals who are active four hours a week, they should meet two ideal clients per week.This works out to 1,000 contacts per year. Let’s suppose they are just terrible at what they do and have a 90% failure rate. It still works out to 100+ new clients/matters per year. And that is a return on investment the partners can take to the bank.
Should I start my own blog?
Darren Rowse has a great article over at ProBlogger where he raises the question “Should I Change My Website Into a Blog?” He mentions six reasons to do so, while including five reasons you may not want to. Darren’s reasons include:
Reasons to do a blog:
1. “Blogs give Individuals, Companies and Brands ‘Voice’;
2. “Blogs are Conversational;
3. “Blogs build Trust;
4. “Blogs build Profile;
5. “Blogs are Immediate (meaning that you don’t have wait for your writings to be published); and
6. “Blogs are a doorway to Search Engines and Social Media.”
Reasons not to:
1. “Blogs Take Time to Mature (so don’t expect a quick return);
2. “Blogs Take Daily Work (not if you don’t post daily, two or three times a week can work);
3. “Blogs Take More than Writing (it can also involve monitoring comments, having a good design, marketing your site, etc.);
4. “Bloggers Can be Anti-Trust/Profile Building (meaning that depending on what you write and your tone, you could actually impact your reputation adversely); and
5. “Blogs Rely Upon YOU as a Conversation Starter.”
For higher visibility for your law practice, blogging may just be the answer. But if you aren’t going to make the commitment to sustain it, then maybe not.
So, the question is: Do you want to increase your visibility, dialogue, and credibility with your intended audience? Blogging is one vehicle to consider as part of your business development mix, IMHO.
Check out Darren’s article for more, such as whether to turn your web site into a blog or start a new site, as well as some recommended reading. You may also want to look over the 38 comments he got in response to his post to see what others think about the idea.
Reasons to do a blog:
1. “Blogs give Individuals, Companies and Brands ‘Voice’;
2. “Blogs are Conversational;
3. “Blogs build Trust;
4. “Blogs build Profile;
5. “Blogs are Immediate (meaning that you don’t have wait for your writings to be published); and
6. “Blogs are a doorway to Search Engines and Social Media.”
Reasons not to:
1. “Blogs Take Time to Mature (so don’t expect a quick return);
2. “Blogs Take Daily Work (not if you don’t post daily, two or three times a week can work);
3. “Blogs Take More than Writing (it can also involve monitoring comments, having a good design, marketing your site, etc.);
4. “Bloggers Can be Anti-Trust/Profile Building (meaning that depending on what you write and your tone, you could actually impact your reputation adversely); and
5. “Blogs Rely Upon YOU as a Conversation Starter.”
For higher visibility for your law practice, blogging may just be the answer. But if you aren’t going to make the commitment to sustain it, then maybe not.
So, the question is: Do you want to increase your visibility, dialogue, and credibility with your intended audience? Blogging is one vehicle to consider as part of your business development mix, IMHO.
Check out Darren’s article for more, such as whether to turn your web site into a blog or start a new site, as well as some recommended reading. You may also want to look over the 38 comments he got in response to his post to see what others think about the idea.
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