Karasma Media Legal Marketing Blog by Kara Smith

Posts Tagged ‘Martindale Hubbell’

Should European in-house lawyers be allowed to be members of the bar – Legal pros using social connect internationally

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

I am excited and enthusiastic about a conversation happening among barristers practicing international law.

European Parliment; Strasbourg, France

On the Martindale-Hubbell Connected German Law Group Blog, a London based journalist who specializes on the European legal market commented,

“There is no privilege for in-house lawyers in Europe. As it stands now, any lawyer who wants to benefit from legal privilege has to be completely independent of the client they are taking instructions from…

Attorneys need to… re-focus their efforts on trying to persuade their local bar associations to allow them to join their organizations on equal term with private practice lawyers. Only once a significant minority of European countries treat in-house lawyers as just as “independent” as their private practice colleagues is the ECJ ever likely to change its opinion on corporate counsel privilege.

A scenaro which makes this situation worse, is often in-house counsel based in the United States is granted privilege by a European judge due to their US origin, in accordance with the standard practice here.

See the Poll on Martindale Hubbell Connected’s German Law Group Forum asking:
Should (German) in-house lawyers be allowed to be members of their bar?

It occurred to me that this situation is exemplary of the kinds of imbalances within the international legal community that attorneys using social media platforms designed specifically for them, will have the ability to bring to light and alleviate. Martindale Hubbell Connected’s closed community on is ideal for this, due to the scrutiny, reputation, and expertise of the firm; while other newer platforms may not be as oriented in the needs the international legal service provider.

Many law firms and individual practitioners alike work to resolve their areas of concern and skepticism about social media, from a strictly theoretical perspective. However, those who are actively embracing the nuances online social media interaction are going to be far out in front in there ROI as a result of using it masterfully over time. Legal organizations working globally are going to more subject to this than any other practitioners.

Log -in here to read and contribute to this discussion on Martindale Hubbell Connected
Joining Martindale Hubbell Connected is free of charge, the only requirement is that you are a legal professional.

Legal Marketers: Responding to social media inquiries is more important than you think

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

We all receive inquiry calls from people seemingly interested in the services we offer. Would you ever not respond to a phone call because you don’t recognize the telephone number?

hello

I received this e-mail today:

I found you on Twitter and wanted to just take a moment of your time to reach out to you in hopes you or someone you may know can help me, you never know and I am taking a leap of faith.

Long story short, I left my ex nearly 3 years ago, divorce was final in May of 2009, and I got the worst divorce. We receive zero money for child support, zero alimony, and zero for the business (restaurant) we had. I had very bad representation and I have been looking for pro bono help since the second week of May 2009 after I realized that I had been had. I have 2 amazing kids and want to file a motion to overturn the final judgment (which I have one year to do-year is literally around the corner) based on fraud (my ex did not disclose his true financials at the mediation).

I have been given various different advise from attorneys that I have had free consults with but because of the economy, I have yet to meet a family law attorney willing to help me for free. I have gone to every legal aid and resources and still no help. I know you’re in New York, but if you know anyone that might be able to help me, I live in Tampa Bay Florida, I would be very greatful, thankful, and appreciative.

Thank you in advance.

Initially I responded by saying that I did not know of any one who could assist her directly and suggested she research via Avvo.

Her response:

Thank you for the quick response! Wow, I really didn’t even expect to get a response at all! I will check out the link and you never know right! Thank you again for your kindness!

Fortunately, I participated a webinar on Martindale Hubbell Connected conducted by Pro-Bono Net later the same afternoon. I forwarded her the link to their consumer site, www.lawhelp.org, an online resource that helps low and moderate-income people find free legal aid programs in their communities, answers to questions about their legal rights, court information, links to social service agencies, and more.

The point is, I feel it’s important that Twitter not be disregarded as a source for viable client leads or people reaching out for your assistance.

I sent the contact information of 4-criminal defense attorneys to a human resource director in the mid-west inquiring for one of his colleagues. He and I initially connected from his following me on Twitter, he connected to me on Linked In and we’ve had subsequent conversations regarding business generation for minority owned law firms.

As of January, Twitter had more than 30-miillion users in the U.S. alone, so it’s far from being “useless”.

It may be true that some communication via online platforms from anonymous sources need to be taken “with a grain of salt”. However, with more than 30 million Americans communicating on Twitter, and millions more on LinkedIn and Facebook the time has long past that legal marketers can ignore initial service inquires or requests for assistance.

Additionally, while we may not be able to assist people directly, it’s equally important that we’re savvy enough with our community to be able to direct them to sources who can.

Pro Bono Net is a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to justice for the disadvantaged. Their website for lawyers, www.probono.net, promotes collaboration and makes it easier for pro-bono attorneys to get involved, saving time and connecting them with opportunities, training events, mentors, and searchable libraries of practice resources.

If you’re an attorney and would like to learn more about how to get involved at www.probono.net