Attorney Journal, San Diego, Volume 143

SAN DIEGO

Volume 143, 2015 • $6.95

What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession

Robert Denney

McIntyre’s Civil Alert— Organized Succinct Summaries

Monty A. McIntyre

3 Proven Email Tactics Law Firms Can Use to Find Qualified Leads

Stephen Fairley

Google Search Queries on Mobile Devices Exceed Desktop Searches— How Savvy Law Firms Should Respond

Public Relations & Law Firms … Yielding Returns Together

Marjorie Marr

7 Steps to Improving Nonverbal Communication

Jeff Wolf

The 3 Marketing Systems Your Business Must Have in Place for Maximum Revenue

Jeremy Reeves

Wade Rawlins

Law Firm of the Month

Mission Legal Center P.C. The Munoz Family Helps Families When Tragedy Strikes

2015 EDITION—NO.143

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 The 3 Marketing Systems Your Business Must Have in Place for Maximum Revenue

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by Jeremy Reeves

8 3 Proven Email Tactics Law Firms Can Use to Find Qualified Leads

by Stephen Fairley

12 COMMUNITYnews EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Wendy Price

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CREATIVE SERVICES Skidmutro Creative Partners

22 7 Steps to Improving Nonverbal Communication

PHOTOGRAPHY Bauman Photographers

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES info@AttorneyJournal.us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournal.us OFFICE 30211 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 P 858.505.0314 • F 858.524.5808 www.AttorneyJournal.us ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

by Jeff Wolf

24 McIntyre’s Civil Alert— Organized Succinct Summaries

STAFF WRITERS Jennifer Hadley Bridget Brookman Karen Gorden

WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka

16 Mission Legal Center P.C. The Munoz Family Helps Families When Tragedy Strikes

by Jennifer Hadley

CIRCULATION Angela Watson

CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Jeremy Reeves Marjorie Marr Robert Denney Stephen Fairley Todd R. Wulffson Ashley Halberda Monty A. McIntyre Jeff Wolf Wade Rawlins

LAW FIRM OF THE MONTH

26 What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession

by Robert Denney

by Monty A. McIntyre

26

29 Google Search Queries on Mobile Devices Exceed Desktop Searches—How Savvy Law Firms Should Respond

by Wade Rawlins

30 Public Relations & Law Firms … Yielding Returns Together

by Marjorie Marr

Editorial material appears in Attorney Journal as an informational service for readers. Article contents are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Attorney Journal.

Attorney Journal makes every effort to publish credible, responsible advertisements. Inclusion of product advertisements or announcements does not imply endorsement.

Attorney Journal is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2015 by Sticky Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from Sticky Media, LLC. Printed in the USA

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Annual

RED BOUDREAU Trial Lawyers Dinner

HONORING

ALAN K. BRUBAKER

Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie LLP

2015 Recipient of the Daniel T. Broderick III Award

Saturday, September 12, 2015

326 Broadway San Diego, CA 92101

COCKTAILS: 6:00 p.m.

DINNER: 7:30 p.m.

Purchase Tickets at: www.neighbor.org Sponsoring Organizations: •American Board of Trial Advocates •Consumer Attorneys of San Diego •San Diego Defense Lawyers

Proceeds from this event go directly to St. Vincent de Paul Village. Over 10,000 homeless children have been helped by this dinner in the past 30 years.

This Event is Generously Presented by: Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company

E

ver wonder what the difference was between struggling businesses and businesses that seem to dominate everything they do?

I have. It’s something I’ve been studying my entire career while working with businesses everywhere, from startups to those making millions each year.

And from what I’ve discovered…

• It has nothing to do with the market (there are successful businesses in every market, after all) • It has nothing to do with price points (there are businesses successful selling $1 widgets, up to million-dollar contracts) So what is it?

THE “SECRET” IS HAVING 3 UNIQUE SYSTEMS IN PLACE 1. One for turning prospects into clients.

2. Another for turning new clients into immediately more profitable clients.

The 3 Marketing Systems Your Business Must Have in Place for Maximum Revenue

by Jeremy Reeves Jeremy Reeves is the CEO & founder of www.GetDreamClients.com. They help coaches, consultants and service professionals get and stay fully booked at all times, increase their fees and enjoy more time freedom through strategic automated marketing. To learn more, including a complimentary training workshop on how to attract and close as many dream clients as you can handle, visit www.GetDreamClients.com. This article is being reprinted with permission from Consultwebs. the premier provider of innovative online legal marketing to ethical U.S. law firms seeking growth and profit.

Website: http://www.consultwebs.com.

3. And a third for turning those clients into repeat, higher value raving fans who spread your message for you.

Let’s start with the first…

System #1: The Acquisition Path The acquisition path is the marketing system you put in place to turn prospects into first-time buyers of your service. During this phase, prospects are first learning about you. Out of the three systems, this is the one most people focus on the most (even though it’s the least profitable).

Most people have no follow-up system in place. When potential clients find out about you they either do business with you right then, or they’re lost forever.

That’s a bad position to be in.

To make this process more effective you’re going to want to use several strategies including: • Coming up with the perfect value proposition.

• Segmenting your email campaigns so you’re speaking directly to the wants and needs of your prospects.

• Retargeting prospects to “follow” them and present offers that are specific to the reasons they visited your website.

• Trust-building campaigns to establish trust.

• Authoritative content so they see you as an authority in your marketplace (which also builds trust).

• Long-term nurture campaigns so you’re in frequent communication with them, leading to you being in front of them when they’re finally ready to make a buying decision.

• Low-risk offers to have them make the leap from prospect to clients.

• Surveys to determine exactly who they are, what they’re struggling with and how you can help solve their problems.

• … and many others!

The purpose of this stage is to take them from the current stage of the buying process they’re in to the moment they realize that you are the ONLY choice as the solution to solve their problem. Your marketing

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

systems need to be set up in a way to make the sale to anybody, whether those persons are nearly ready to buy when they first learn about you or are just starting their research.

System #2: The Profit Generation Path If you want to grow your business quickly, your main goal should be to acquire the maximum amount of clients upfront and then have back-end profit systems in place to make them more valuable to your business.

Many businesses use something called a “loss leader” model where they acquire a new customer, either at break-even or even a slight loss. This allows you to scale your business because you know your back-end will make those loss leaders more profitable overall.

However, this is mostly used when selling products.

Since you’re a lawyer, that’s not necessary. The reason I bring it up is because it’s a great exercise to think about how you could make that happen—if you have to.

If you can figure that out, it means you’ve come up with a way to dramatically increase your overall lifetime customer value. When you dramatically increase how much an average client is worth to your business it allows you to spend more, which takes your business to an entirely new level.

One of the ways you can do this is in your profit generation path.

The profit generation path is the point in between the prospect and client stage.

It’s the stage where you make an immediate upsell the moment they buy from you.

For example, the second you generate a new client you can offer them additional services which add more value to them.

An easy example of this is buying a new car, followed by the salesman asking you if you want one of about a dozen “extras” such as an extended warranty, upgraded tires or seats, or a custom paint job, just to name a few.

The point of this stage is to decrease the amount of time it takes to make that new customer more profitable to your business. Instead of waiting several months to hit your ROI goals, you can do so in a matter of minutes.

And once you’ve done that you can move into the final system…

yet you simply walk in, take one handful, walk out and never return again.

Crazy, I know. But that’s exactly what happens in 95% of businesses today.

It’s also why you need to have follow-up systems in place for your clients. To stay top of mind, offer them additional services they may find valuable, ask for referrals and make sure they never even consider doing business with any of your competitors.

WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE? Now that you know what you need to do, the first step is taking a look at what you already have in place and which of these three systems would give you the fastest revenue growth.

For example, if you already have no problem getting new clients but aren’t converting them into repeat buyers, you should start with #2 or #3.

On the other hand, if your clients tend to become raving fans on their own, put your time into getting more clients, at a lower cost, on a more consistent basis.

In other words, your next step is finding the holes you have in your marketing, and fixing them!

I hope this article has helped you and given you a clear path as to what you need to do to increase revenue in your business this year. n

System #3: The Profit Multiplier Path Your final stage includes systems you have in place for your customers. Think about what you have in place now. What happens to a customer after they buy from you?

Do you follow up with them… ask them how the order/ experience went… make sure they’re getting the most value out of your product/service… offer them additional products/ services that can help them… or ask for referrals?

If not—you need to.

I’m always stunned by how many businesses make a sale, collect money from those customers who allow their business to be profitable… and then never get in touch with them again!

Remember Scrooge McDuck’s room full of gold?

It’s like being given access to that room for an entire year,

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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aw firms and other service providers often struggle with effective ways to use email and newsletters to find qualified leads. This is primarily because they misunderstand the purpose of these keep in touch emails.

They are best used to keep you at the top of mind for former clients and referral partners. Often, a direct call-to-action such as “call for a free consultation” doesn’t work. It’s better to offer them a variety of options.

Here are a few creative ways for law firms to entice prospects to take the next step: 1. Web forms and surveys. Law firms that offer free appointments

can repackage that offer in a more creative way by including surveys or web forms in their e-newsletters and making a free appointment the «prize» for subscribers who fill these out. For example, take this survey to find out how vulnerable your small business is to an employee lawsuit. At the end of the survey they can get the results along with an offer for a free consultation with a labor & employment attorney or a small business lawyer to give them the results.

2. Free reports. Free reports that are offered to prospects on your

3 Proven Email Tactics Law Firms Can Use to Find Qualified Leads

by Stephen Fairley Stephen Fairley is CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, LLC, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in small law firms. Over 8,000 attorneys have benefited from applying their proven Rainmaker Marketing System. Stephen is a best-selling author of 10 books and a nationally recognized law firm marketing expert. He has appeared in the American Bar Association’s journal, Harvard Management Update, Inc and Entrepeneur. To receive your FREE copy of his book “Top 10 Marketing Mistakes Attorneys Make” visit http://www.RainmakerRetreat. com or http://www.TheRainmakerInstitute.com or call 888-588-5891.

website, via social media or through your e-e-newsletters are a great way to discover qualified leads. First, you have to have a good handle on topics of interest to your target market. Then you generate a 3-5 page report with a snappy title that addresses any of your prospects› problems. For example, “The Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make And Why They Get Sued By Employees” or “5 Things Never to Say to Your Insurance Company When You’re in an Accident» or perhaps “10 questions to ask any divorce attorney before you hire them.” In exchange for receiving the free report, you ask prospects to provide you with an email address and phone number, which you can then use to reach out to them personally to further develop your relationship.

3. Webinars. Hosting a free webinar on a topic of interest to your

target market is another good way to gather qualified leads. You can promote your event through your e-newsletter as well as on social media, which helps you build your email list of qualified leads. At the conclusion of your webinar, offer something of value like a free consultation and make it extra enticing by limiting it to the first five people who respond. Webinars are a good tool when: (a) your clientele is spread over a wide geographical area (immigration); (b) your topic area is sensitive (bankruptcy); or (c) you›re targeting executives, business owners, or general counsel (business or litigation).

4. Social media. For people who are in the early stages of their

search for an attorney and not ready for a consultation, inviting them to «like» your Facebook fan page or connect with you on LinkedIn or even follow you on Twitter can be a good alternative.

You will need to tinker with various tactics to discover what works best for your prospects, as not every tactic will work for you. The important thing is to keep making your engagement with prospects interesting for them, and not serving up the same old thing in every communication they receive from you.

EMAIL MARKETING STATS YOU SHOULDN’T IGNORE 8

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

Email marketing software and services provider Emma recently

aggregated the most recent research on email marketing from industry sources and they are worth sharing with you for the insight you can gain to make your email marketing program more effective: • The average open rate for welcome emails is 50%, making those types of emails highly effective. Whenever someone signs up for anything and provides their email address, an automated welcome email is a no-brainer and a great chance to engage your prospects.

• 51% of email is now opened on a mobile device, so always use responsive design email templates to ensure your emails look great on any screen.

• 80% of people just scan emails, so be sure you have bold headlines for your main subject and engaging graphics.

IS YOUR LAW FIRM MAKING THE BEST IMPRESSION?

• Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than leads that are not nurtured. Having an automated series of emails triggered by time or events can pay off big for you.

• The human finger is approximately 46 pixels square, so be sure your call-to-action buttons are large enough for mobile readers to tap.

• 58% of people check their email first thing in the morning, so send your emails early to increase your open rates.

• The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, so choose good images that tell your story.

• People check their mobile phone up to 150 times a day. Using email and social media together can reinforce your message in the places people visit most often.

• iPhones cut off a subject line after 32 characters, so be sure the most important words are at the beginning of your subject line.

• Using white space improves comprehension by 20%, so don’t crowd your content.

• Eye tracking data shows that readers look at the same section of the screen where pictures of people are looking, which makes that area a perfect place to put your call-to-action.

• The #1 reason people unsubscribe is because of too many emails.

Use automation to send emails at just the right time instead of blasting emails out with every little piece of news.

We’ll help you put your best foot forward.

From logos and brochures to websites, strategy, writing and beyond, we’ve got you covered!

• Adding video to your emails can increase click rates by 300%.

• Email conversion rates are 40 times greater than that of Facebook and Twitter. Use social media to encourage people to sign up for your emails, and then use those emails to convert your browsers into buyers.

Jenny Strauss, Vice President (215) 460-0835 jenny@skidmutro.com

• Personalized emails improve click rates by 14% and conversions by 10%.

• People share content they feel will entertain or benefit others.

94% of people consider how what they share will be of use to others before sharing.

Use these stats to improve your email marketing program and you should increase your open and click-through rates—which in turn will increase the number of qualified leads for your law firm. n

View our portfolio at skidmutro.com Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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COMMUNITY news n Christina Baine DeJardin, Partner at Peters & Freedman, L.L.P. has been selected as the recipient of the CAI-Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) Volunteer of the Year award for 2014.

“I am both surprised and humbled to be the recipient of the 2014 CLAC Volunteer of the Year CHRISTINA BAINE DEJARDIN award. The entire CAI Coachella Valley Chapter really came together to make CLAC a priority. There are so many members of the Chapter who brought this goal to fruition, and I look at this as an honor that does not belong to me but belongs to the Chaptwer,” said Christina Baine DeJardin, Partner at Peters & Freedman, L.L.P. The nominees considered for CLAC Volunteer of the Year award exhibited the following accomplishments: Embracing and promoting the “Buck A Door” Program, presenting the CLAC Moment at chapter events, encouraging member participation in fundraising events, creating new CLAC Fundraising events and improving on already existing fundraising events. Additional accomplishments included initiating chapter LSC’s (Legislative Support Committees), complete with creating Committee Charters, organizing consistent meeting schedules and encouraging chapter members to participate in the committees. n Lawyers Club of San Diego has named Ms. Tara M. Duester, an Associate at Brown Law Group, as a new board member.

Lawyers Club of San Diego is a voluntary specialty bar association of attorneys, judges, law students and others in the San Diego community, men and women, who share interests and goals. The TARA M. DUESTER objectives and purposes of the organization are to consider and address, by all lawful means, common problems of women in the community with the overall objective to advance the status of women and children in law and society.

Ms. Duester also serves as the newsletter editor for Lawyers Club of San Diego. As a long-time member of the organization, she also devotes time to the Professional Advancement Committee and the Community Outreach Committee, which strives to improve the lives and status of women and children in San Diego through hands-on projects and partnerships with groups such as Lawyers Club’s Partnership in Education with Central Elementary School which includes twice-yearly Read-Ins where volunteers read, interact, promote literacy and serve as role models to underprivileged K-5 children.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

n Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP is pleased to announce that Daniel E. Gardenswartz will take the reins as managing partner of the firm, effective July 1, 2015. Gardenswartz has more than 22 years of legal experience and 20 years with Solomon Ward. In his practice, Gardenswartz represents businesses and individuals in employment, business, consumer DANIEL E. GARDENSWARTZ and construction litigation, including complex class action trials and business disputes. He also regularly advises senior executives and in-house counsel on dispute prevention.

A frequent lecturer at professional seminars focused on his areas of practice, Gardenswartz is also an adjunct law professor at Western CUNA Management School and member of various non-profit boards. He has earned the San Diego Super Lawyer® (employment and labor) distinction each year since 2008, and has been identified by San Diego Magazine as a “Top Lawyer in San Diego” since 2013. Gardenswartz, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif Honor Societies, received his J.D., with academic distinction, from Emory University School of Law and his B.A., with academic distinction, from George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs. n Phillip C. Wing has joined Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley LLC as of counsel. His practice focuses on litigation and risk management, particularly in the areas of real estate and construction disputes, contractor licensing and liability, landlord-tenant issues, premises liability and business litigation. Wing previously spent 29 years as a partner with Circuit, PHILLIP C. WING McKellogg, Kinney & Ross, LLP of La Jolla, where he concentrated on civil litigation.

Wing is admitted to practice before all California State Courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, United States Tax Court, and the United States District Court for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern districts of California.

He is also a member of the Litigation and Construction sections of the California State Bar and the San Diego County Bar Association. A highly respected attorney, Wing has the AVPreeminent Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been recognized as a Top Lawyer in San Diego by San Diego Magazine and a Top Lawyer in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times.

Have a Press Release you would like to submit for our Community News?

Email it to PR@AttorneyJournal.us

COMMUNITY news n Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek is pleased to announce that Edward O’Connor, Jacob Spaid and David Stone have joined the firm as associates.

O’Connor’s practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on real property, construction and business disputes, as well as related EDWARD O’CONNOR JACOB SPAID insurance and appellate issues.

He was an associate at SCMV from 2007 until 2012, when he traveled to Dublin to serve as a legislative consultant at Ireland’s Parliament.

He received his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from Harvard University and is admitted to practice in California, New York and Massachusetts.

Spaid joins the firm’s litigation department. He represents clients in state and federal courts primarily in the areas of employment, insurance, contractual DAVID STONE disputes and general civil litigation. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from California Western School of Law and his M.B.A. and B.S., magna cum laude, from San Diego State University.

Stone joins the firm’s business department. His practice focuses on transactional business with an emphasis in real estate finance, development, acquisitions and sales, joint ventures, corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions and transactional tax structuring. He received his J.D. and L.L.M., with academic distinction, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Southern California. n The law firm of Balestreri Potocki & Holmes is pleased to announce that Senior Counsel, Renee Botham, has been elected President of the San Diego Association of Insurance Professionals for the 20152016 term. The San Diego Association of Insurance Professionals is a professional association dedicated to developing leaders in the insurance industry.

The SDAIP provides its members with unique and proprietary education programs, leadership opportunities, and the ability to network with RENEE BOTHAM insurance professionals in all career categories, lines of insurance and cultural and experiential backgrounds.

Botham’s practice focuses primarily on litigated matters involving the construction and hospitality industries. She has significant experience in trying and mediating complex premises and construction issues. She also has represented the interests of real estate professionals, engineers, attorneys, theme parks, entertainment venues, concert promoters, and employers in a broad variety of litigated matters. Botham received her J.D. from California Western School of Law in 1998. She also holds an undergraduate degree in Law & Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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MISSION LEGAL CENTER THE MUNOZ FAMILY HELPS FAMILIES WHEN TRAGEDY STRIKES by jennifer hadley

LAW FIRM

OF THE MONTH

2015 2014

“

THE very dynamic of being a family-run law firm helps us understand what our clients go through. We see how a tragedy or serious injury affects not only the injured person but also their relatives and friends. This understanding comes across in our relationships with our clients and is demonstrated in our advocacy,” says Rosalio (Ross) Munoz, Founder of Mission Legal Center.

“Being a family business also allows for closer collaboration in meeting our clients’ needs. Our personal strengths as individuals and as family members combine to give our clients the best and warmest care possible,” adds David Munoz, Co-Founder of Mission Legal Center, and Ross’s eldest son.

Indeed the father and son team of Plaintiff attorneys—backed

by Munoz matriarch Maria, and supported by younger son Bobby, who serves as the firm’s case manager—works tirelessly to serve the needs of those who have been harmed or exploited at the hands of powerful, oppressive entities. The family’s roots in law and service were first sown decades ago in El Paso, TX, where Ross began working towards his lifelong desire to “help the underdog.”

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143 2015

MUNOZ FAMILY ROOTS IN LAW Even in his youth, Ross recalls having an innate sense of equitable justice for those he saw being oppressed at the hands of others. “As a teenager I found myself defending people and ideas of the disadvantaged. My favorite cartoons before that were Underdog, Superman and Tarzan. I also loved Rocky Balboa,” he laughs.

In some ways, Ross may have been viewed as an underdog in his own right. Neither he nor Maria had college degrees, when they found out they were expecting son David. “I was 20 and Maria was 19. We worked different jobs with different hours.

I would work swing shifts while Maria was working day shifts.

They were lean years,” he recalls.

Eventually, recognizing that furthering their education was not only vital to supporting their family, but also something that Ross and Maria craved, Ross left his job to attend college fulltime. “Maria supported the family and I made extra money playing in a rock band,” he says.

The financial hardship was all worth it. After graduating from college, Ross was accepted and given a full scholarship to Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock. Somehow between raising David and younger son Bobby, Maria was also able to attend college, while Ross completed law school. “We made it work,” Ross says simply.

The family of four eventually returned to their hometown of El Paso, where Ross began work as an associate in a medium

Š Bauman Photographers

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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© Bauman Photographers

The Mission Legal Center Team: Maria Muñoz, Rosalio Muñoz, David J. Muñoz, Paralegal Shelley Dedman and Law Clerk Kelsey Solberg.

sized Plaintiff’s firm. “I learned the trade of Plaintiff’s work, and I also took on the partners’ pro bono family law cases and mandatory court appointments to criminal cases. After a few years, I discovered that many of the clients I was representing were those who I either brought to the firm, or who were pro bono or court appointments. It wasn’t long before I discovered there was a vast disproportion between the fees I was generating for the firm, and my base pay. I had always envisioned working for myself, and being able to have the ability to make important decisions for my clients and my family, so I left the firm and opened my own office in 1995.” Ross maintains the Munoz Law Firm in El Paso to this day.

Meanwhile, oldest son David was growing up with dreams of his own to help people. However, in his mind’s eye, he’d be helping people as a physician. “I wanted to be a doctor most of my life,” David says. After majoring in biology, he further went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Physiology. “I worked really hard to get into medical school just to be put on a year-long wait list. I was really bummed about it and my dad said ‘Just try law school. If you hate it, you can go to medical school next year.’ Within the first six weeks I knew law was where I was meant to be.”

David didn’t know it at the time, but by studying the science of the human body, he was arming himself with incredibly useful knowledge and an invaluable understanding of just how devastating injuries can truly be to a victim. He would also soon find that his ability to easily read and understand medical records would prove extraordinarily useful in his work as a Plaintiff’s attorney.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

TEXAS TRANSPLANTS RECEIVE A WARM WELCOME Although Ross had a thriving practice in Texas, and had served as a Small Claims Court judge for a dozen years in Texas, he and Maria had always harbored dreams of moving to San Diego. “San Diego was one of our favorite vacation spots and we always dreamed of living here,” says Maria. Thus, when the real estate market and ensuing recession hit, Ross and Maria came to invest in a summer home with plans of one day retiring in San Diego. “David and Bobby were living in San Antonio, and we called to tell them the news. They were excited and said that if we moved, they would move with us. The 10-year plan turned into a 6-month plan,” Ross says.

Upon arrival in San Diego, David and Ross set about to immerse themselves in the San Diego legal community. “We began networking immediately. We joined the Chamber, and Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, and we researched other Plaintiff attorneys who were very visible. We paid a number of visits to various Plaintiff’s lawyers to introduce ourselves. They were incredibly helpful and hospitable and gave us pointers and wished us well. Many of them seemed pretty intrigued by our father-son dynamic,” David says.

David does admit that although he was excited to launch the firm with his father in their new city, the two weren’t immune to the growing pains of launching a new firm. “In the beginning we clashed a lot on how anything was done. My father had experience in running a law office with all of the ups and downs and different hats he had to wear to run his office and Court.

case and getting them the justice they deserve, is what makes them happy.”

“We have tried cases for other attorneys who have reached a stone wall with the insurance companies, who refuse to pay a reasonable settlement for their clients. In those cases, we have doubled or quadrupled the insurance company’s top offer,” says Ross. “Fellow attorneys have always been pleased with how we handle cases and care for their clients. Receiving a great referral fee doesn’t hurt either,” adds David.

Other cases have been referred to David and Ross from opposing defense counsel, jurors from trials, or physicians.

“Medical providers send us clients because they trust us to make sure they are fairly paid and the client/patient is justly compensated. Too many attorneys will not pay medical providers or pay them very little, despite the superior care they have provided their patient,” he says.

MISSION LEGAL CENTER’S BRIGHT FUTURE IN SAN DIEGO With a bustling firm that is growing each year, Ross and David have plans to remain in the heart of the San Diego legal community for years to come. But they still have plenty of goals. David, who was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers,

© Bauman Photographers

I was eager to make the firm as technologically advanced as I could. In the end, we have found a good compromise while making sure we adapt to the times,” he says.

To that end, Mission Legal Center became paperless, and utilizes cloud computing, voice over IP and various other technologies that make their office efficient, mobile, and accessible from anywhere. “We believe it’s important to adapt and utilize anything new that can help us in both the office and trial presentation,” David adds. To further ensure that the office would run efficiently, Maria, who had previously been Vice President of a bank, took the reins as Office Manager of Mission Legal Center.

Initial hiccups aside, Ross and David shared the same conviction for how their clients should be served. “Our personal injury clients truly need help. They have probably been ignored or treated poorly by an insurance company and want us to take over and make things fair. We also represent clients who have a case for a Jury Trial,” says David. As such, he says, “Every aspect of our firm is geared toward client comfort. They have already been through enough stress; they shouldn’t be intimidated by their lawyer, too. Everyone in our office is hand-picked to ensure there is a comforting environment. The office is designed to be modern, yet soothing. We are friendly and reassuring. We personally meet with each client and prepare the intake, and although we encourage them to feel comfortable and confident in our staff to answer their questions, we frequently provide updates personally. We contact clients regularly to see how they are feeling, and how their treatment is going.”

“We also speak Spanish. It is scary to go through a lawsuit, particularly if you don’t speak the language well. Being able to communicate to clients in their native language calms their nerves and gives them confidence in our firm and their case,” says Ross.

David and Ross also share a belief that costs should always be kept to a minimum for the benefit of the client’s recovery.

“We are very cost-conscious. Many lawyers will run up costs without thinking about it. At the end of the day, this is the client’s money, and unnecessary expenditures result in the client losing money in their net recovery. We spend only what is necessary for the case. We run our office efficiently. Many firms take business loans out to survive. We have never taken one dime from a bank to pay our expenses or to launch the firm. Being a lawyer is only half of the job. You also have to be a business owner. Your family, employees, and clients count on you to keep the business up and running,” explains Ross.

Suffice it to say, the Munoz family has kept that business running remarkably well and has earned a solid reputation amongst peers and clients alike due to their skills, compassion, and impressive results. In fact, today a whopping 90% of their business stems from referrals. “Ross and David are cut from the same cloth,” says Maria. “They both love trial work.

Standing in front of a judge and jury, pleading their client’s

Contact: Rosalio Munoz David Munoz Mission Legal Center P.C., www.missionlegalcenter.com info@missionlegalcenter.com 619-564-4455 2515 Camino Del Rio S. Suite 350 San Diego, CA 92108

© Bauman Photographers

EXPERIENCE

and has been included in the San Diego Business Journal’s Best of the Bar, will return to the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College this fall for the graduate program.

In addition, he says, “I try to take every trial CLE available, so that I’m constantly learning and improving my skills.”

As for Ross? He’s planning to continue growing his mediation practice in addition to juggling a busy book of clients. The Munoz family as a whole also looks to show appreciation for what they have had the opportunity to do with their lives through charity work—often benefitting the homeless and orphanages. They also love participating in the Mission Beach cleanup every year as a way of giving back to the city they love.

Father and son also intend to remain very active with CASD, which they say has introduced them to terrific attorneys who share their drive to help others.

David says, “Consumer Attorneys of San Diego turns your firm from a few into a few thousand. It builds us all up, so we’re better lawyers. We are united in trying to help people. We may be relatively small as individual attorneys but we are taking on huge companies who have a lot of money.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that my father and I do this work because we want to be proud of what we do, plain and simple. We help people when they need it the most; we represent the little guy. We can’t change what has happened to many of our clients, but we can at least steer things back in their direction to achieve justice.” n

ROSS MUNOZ

DAVID MUNOZ

» EDUCATION

» EDUCATION

• Texas Tech University School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence - 1992

• Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Trial Practice—2013

University of Texas System, El Paso, BA—Bachelor of Arts

• St Mary’s University of San Antonio School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence—2008

» AWARDS • Top One Percent (1%), National Association of Distinguished Counsel—2015 • 10 Best Client Satisfaction, Texas & California, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys—2014

» AWARDS • Best of Bar, San Diego Business Journal—2015

• CLE Completion, CAALA—2011

• Rising Star, Super Lawyers—2015

• Dedication and Contribution, Texas Justice Court Training Center— 2008

• Top Attorney-Finalist, San Diego Daily Transcript—2014

• Dedication and Contribution, Texas Justice Court Training Center—2007

• Outstanding Young Attorney Nominee, San Diego Daily Transcript - 2013

• Contribution, El Paso Youth Services Association—2007

» MEMBERSHIPS • State Bar of California, 2009 Present • San Diego County Bar Association, 2009—Present • Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, 2009—Present • Better Business Bureau, 2005—2012 • Vista Hills Rotary Club, 1999—2005 • State Bar of Texas Admission, 1992—Present

» NOTABLE CASES • Terrazas v. Complex—$3,800,000

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

• St Mary’s University of San Antonio, Bachelor of Arts—2002

• CLE Completion, CAALA—2012

• Alvarez v. Various Providers—$9,000,000

20

• University of Texas System, San Antonio, Master of Science—2004

• Hernandez v. Various Medical Providers—$200,000

• Top Attorney-Nomination, San Diego Daily Transcript—2013

» MEMBERSHIPS • American Association for Justice, 2014—Present • San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2013—Present • San Diego County Bar Association, Young/New Lawyers Division, 2012—Present • 6 Degrees of San Diego, 2011— Present • San Diego Chamber of Commerce, 2011—Present

7

Steps to Improving Nonverbal Communication

by Jeff Wolf

B

usinesspeople learn early in their careers the importance of a firm handshake and making eye contact when meeting other businesspeople for the first time. Both the handshake and eye contact are examples of how nonverbal communication contributes to first impressions.

Murray Johannsen, in an article titled “Nonverbal Communication,” appearing in Legacee online, describes the subtlety of handshakes: “The example from the American culture is the amount of pressure one exerts on the other person’s hand during a handshake. One puts a certain amount of pressure into the handshake, and it should be neither too much nor too little. Another aspect of this is, when grasping another’s hand, the web of your hand intersects the web of their hand.”

If a handshake can communicate so much, that’s indicative of the need to pay attention to all areas of nonverbal communication. The question then becomes: How do you improve your nonverbal communication skills as you listen to and speak with others?

Step 1: Watch yourself . . . and others. When communicating,

focus on the use of your body. The goal is to increase the expressive nature of your body, when appropriate, without 22

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

being overdramatic. Be aware that gestures are often more useful with groups, such as in meetings and presentations. If a person’s words fail to match his or her nonverbal cues, it‘s best to trust the nonverbal messages. Listen with your eyes. In most cases, the nonverbal message is more accurate.

Step 2: Maintain eye contact. Eye contact is crucial when

speaking with anyone, particularly coworkers, superiors, or direct reports. It promotes trust and understanding. Try to increase eye contact when speaking with others, and see if they‘re making and maintaining eye contact with you. If someone avoids eye contact, you‘ll likely sense the person‘s discomfort or dishonesty. You can ease another‘s discomfort by asking questions that enhance communication.

Step 3: Work on your posture. Your mother emphasized

the need to stand up straight and avoid slouching in your chair. As it turns out, Mom was giving you your first lesson in nonverbal communication. Posture is a nonverbal indicator of confidence level.

A gesture conveys a message by using one part of the body, whereas a postural shift involves the movement of the body as a whole. A closed posture (folded arms and crossed legs) indicates a closed personality and a lack of confidence. Open posture

(arms spread in a relaxed manner) is a much more confident pose. Posture should also be in sync with conversations so you avoid sending mixed messages. When you’re sitting behind your desk or at a meeting table, sit up straight. Don’t slump; it conveys disinterest and inattention. Leaning back, or rocking back and forth in your chair, tells others you‘re bored.

In contrast, leaning forward in your chair when listening to someone speak demonstrates active interest in both the person and conversation.

There are times when experience really matters.

Step 4: Straighten your desk. A sloppy desk or office sends

the message that you‘re disorganized and careless. Messy desks may be a symptom of a larger problem such as inefficiency, which stems from an inability to find files or other important papers. Disorganization creates stress and limits productivity.

Instead of creating vertical piles on your desk, rely on to-do files that can be stored inside a drawer.

Step 5: Read your audience. If you’re making a presentation,

©2015 Executive Law Group, Inc.

be aware of your audience’s nonverbal communication. As your presentation progresses, watch for signs of slouching, yawning, or dozing off; this means you’ve lost their attention. If, on the other hand, the group is energized and interested, participants’ body language may convey that they want you to ask for their thoughts and input. Learning to read a group’s mood enhances your abilities as both a speaker and manager.

Step 6: Listen to your voice. Paralanguage, or paralinguistics,

involves the various fluctuations in one’s voice, such as tone, pitch, rhythm, inflection, and volume. These cues can have a powerful effect on communication. A loud or very forceful tone, for example, may convey a stronger and more serious message, as compared to softer tones. Sarcasm can also cause problems in the workplace. A manager‘s sarcastic tone creates stress because his tone (joking) is meant to contradict his words (hurtful or biting).

STEP 7: Question yourself. Throughout the day, monitor

your progress. Ask yourself the following questions about your performance: How was I perceived at the meeting? Could I have done something differently? Were people really interested and paying attention to what I was saying? Did I listen well to others?

As you answer these questions, your self-awareness will increase.

None of these six steps can be taken for granted. True, some people are more aware of slight distinctions of nonverbal communications than others, but everybody can learn to use the six steps and thereby make dramatic improvements in their ability to communicate effectively with others. n Jeff Wolf is the author of Seven Disciplines of a Leader and founder and president of Wolf Management Consultants, LLC, a premier global consulting firm that specializes in helping people, teams and organizations achieve maximum effectiveness. A dynamic speaker and highly requested executive coach, he was named one of the country’s top 100 thought leaders by the prestigious Leadership Excellence Magazine. For more insights from Jeff Wolf, check out his book, Seven Disciplines of a Leader.

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23

McIntyre’s Civil Alert Organized Succinct Summaries

by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. Monty A. McIntyre has over 29 years of experience as a mediator and arbitrator. More than 34 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer representing both plaintiffs and defendants in business and commercial, bad faith, brain injury, construction, land use/CEQA, medical malpractice, personal injury, real property and wrongful death cases. To schedule a meeting with Monty A. McIntyre contact Kelsey Hannah at ADR Services, Inc. at (619) 233-1323 or kelsey@adrservices.org

U.S. SUPERME COURT Employment Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie and Fitch Stores, Inc. _ U.S. _ (2015), 2015 WL 2464053: The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals’ summary judgment for defendant. Regardless of whether an applicant informs the potential employer of a need for an accommodation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits a prospective employer from refusing to hire an applicant in order to avoid accommodating a religious practice that it could accommodate without undue hardship. (June 1, 2015.)

9th CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS Class Actions Allen v. Bedolla, _ F.3d _ (9th Cir. 2015), 2015 WL 3461537: The Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s approval of a class action settlement, between day laborers and Labor Ready Southwest, Inc., that was negotiated in the absence of a certified class. The district court properly denied a motion to intervene by objectors to the settlement. The settlement approval was reversed because the district court failed to show that it had explored comprehensively all factors and did not give a reasoned response to all non-frivolous objections. Because the settlement was negotiated absent class certification, the procedural burden was even more strict because such agreements must withstand an even higher level of scrutiny for evidence of collusion or other conflicts of interest than is ordinarily required under Rule 23(e) before securing the court’s approval as fair. (Jun 2, 2015.)

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT Torts State Department of State Hospitals v. Superior Court (Novoa) (2015) _ Cal.4th _ , 2015 WL 3451562: The California Supreme Court 24

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

affirmed the Court of Appeal’s ruling that, while the Sexually Violent Predators Act imposed a mandatory duty on defendants, the alleged breach was not the proximate cause of the death of plaintiff’s sister. The complaint sufficiently alleged a breach of the Department of Mental Health’s mandatory duty to conduct an evaluation with two evaluators. But the Court of Appeal properly ruled that the distance between defendant’s alleged breach of a mandatory duty and plaintiff’s injuries was too great to support a Government Code section 815.6 action. (June 1, 2015.)

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL Arbitration Oregel v. PacPizza, LLC (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 3455317: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of a petition to compel arbitration. The trial court properly denied the petition and found that defendant had waived its right to compel arbitration because defendant petitioned to compel arbitration 17 months and more than 1,300 attorney hours after plaintiff filed a class action against his former employer.

(C.A. 1st, filed May 1, 2015, published June 1, 2015.)

Civil Procedure (Attorney Fees) Animal Protection and Rescue League v. The City of San Diego (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 3395449: The Court of Appeal affirmed the part of the trial court’s order granting attorney fees under the private attorney-fee statute in Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. A municipality may be considered an opposing party for purposes of section 1021.5 when it confesses error in response to a petition for writ of mandate challenging the municipality’s action. (C.A. 4th, May 27, 2015.)

Maroney v. Iacobsohn (2015) _ Cal.4th _ , 2015 WL 3524602: The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for plaintiff and dismissed defendant’s appeal. Plaintiff did not trigger the 15-day motion for new trial time limit when she attached a file-stamped copy of the judgment to her motion to tax costs. However, the trial

court order granting a conditional motion for new trial for plaintiff was a nullity without legal effect. (C.A. 2nd, June 4, 2015.)

conflict with the carrier. (C.A. 4th, May 22, 2015.)

Employment

City and County of San Francisco v. PCF Acquisitionco, LLC (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 3378853: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order denying the eminent domain defendant’s motion for litigation expenses. The City’s final pre-trial settlement offer, made 20 days before trial and contingent on obtaining approvals from three other government entities, was not reasonable under Code of Civil Procedure 1250.410 and did not bar a defendant who rejected it from later recovering its litigation costs. (C.A. 1st, May 26, 2015.)

Honchariw v. County of Stanislaus (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 3504816: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend. The inverse condemnation action, filed after a successful writ of mandate proceeding, was barred by the 90-day statute of limitations in Government Code section 66499.37 because the mandate action did not allege that an unconstitutional taking occurred when the county denied the developer’s subdivision application. (C.A. 5th, June 3, 2015.)

Mira Overseas Consulting Ltd. v. Muse Family Enterprises, Ltd. (2015) _ Cal.App.4t _ , 2015 WL 3473386: The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment entered after a bench trial. A judgment granting a fraudulent transfer claim, as well as monetary damages, relates back to the date on which the claimants recorded a lis pendens. (C.A. 2nd, June 2, 2015.)

Shoen v. Zacarias (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 2452527: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting an equitable easement to a trespassing neighbor. While a trial court has the power to issue an equitable easement authorizing a trespasser to continue her trespass in exchange for paying damages if the hardship on the trespasser in ceasing the trespass is “greatly disproportionate” to the hardship on the land owner in losing use of the trespassed-upon portion of her land, a trespasser’s hardship in having to remove portable patio furniture did not qualify for this relief. (C.A.2nd, May 22, 2015.)

Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Medical Foundation (2015) _ Cal. App.4th _ : The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment for defendant in an action for disability discrimination and wrongful termination. The plaintiff employee’s alleged disability, an inability to work under a particular supervisor because of anxiety and stress related to the supervisor’s standard oversight of job performance, was not a disability recognized in California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. (C.A. 3rd, May 26, 2015.)

Noe v. Superior Court (Levy Premium Foodservice Limited Partnership) (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 3463006: The Court of Appeal denied plaintiffs’ writ petition challenging the trial court’s ruling that plaintiffs could not pursue a Labor Code section 226.8 claim against joint employers because neither entity had made the alleged misclassification decision that plaintiffs were independent contractors. The petition was denied because the Court of Appeal ruled that section 226.8 cannot be enforced through a direct private action. However, the Court of Appeal concluded that section 226.8 is not limited to employers who make the misclassification decision, but also extends to any employer who is aware that a co-employer has willfully misclassified their joint employees and fails to remedy the misclassification. (C.A. 2nd, June 1, 2015.)

Verdugo v. Alliantgroup, L.P. (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _, 2015 WL 3407191: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s summary judgment for defendant based upon a forum selection clause. Although a party opposing enforcement of a forum selection clause ordinarily bears the burden to show enforcement would be unreasonable or unfair, the burden is reversed when the underlying claims are based on statutory rights the California Legislature has declared to be unwaivable.

In that instance, the party seeking to enforce the forum selection clause has the burden to show enforcement would not diminish unwaivable California statutory rights. Defendant’s speculation that a Texas court would apply California law failed to show that enforcing the Texas forum selection clause and related choice-of-law clause would not diminish plaintiff’s statutory rights under California law. (C.A. 4th, May 28, 2015.)

Insurance Centex Homes v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 2437957: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order sustaining the carrier’s demurrer without leave to amend to two causes of action by plaintiff developer, an additional named insured under the policy, seeking declaratory relief and Cumis counsel under Civil Code section 2860. The trial court properly ruled that the declaratory relief claims were not actual and ripe, and that plaintiff had not alleged facts sufficient to support its claim of a

Real Property

Torts Doe v. Superior Court (The First Baptist Church of San Jose) (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ : The Court of Appeal granted a writ petition and ordered the trial court to reverse its order sustaining a demurrer to two causes of action alleging fraudulent concealment of information from parents about a camp employee’s suspected molestation of their minor daughter at summer camp. The camp not only had a duty to control the actions of its employee, but once the camp learned about the pool incident involving the minor, which was verified by two percipient lifeguard witnesses, the camp’s duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent further harm to the minor included an obligation to disclose the suspected molestation to the parents. (C.A. 6th, May 29, 2015.)

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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L

ike all of our previous reports, this update is based on information we are continually compiling from many sources—not only clients but also leaders in the profession as well as knowledgeable observers. Some of our findings are obvious but we include them because they continue to affect the profession. Other of our findings may not have been recognized yet but, we believe, will have an impact sooner or later. Put together they paint a picture of a profession that not only continues to change but has already entered a state of confusion and uncertainty.

PRACTICE AREAS RED HOT

What’s Hot and What’s Not in the Legal Profession

by Robert Denney Robert Denney Associates Inc. provides strategic management and marketing counsel to law firms, companies and non-profit organizations throughout the United States. Previous Communiques as well as information about our services may be viewed on our web site.

• Labor & Employment. The Labor Department’s efforts to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act regarding minimum wage and overtime pay has caused contentious debates over the legal definition of an “employer” and an “employee” at companies like McDonald’s.

There are also legislative battles in a growing number of states on raising—or not raising—the minimum wage. Meanwhile unions continue their organization activity.

• Health Care. After the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, regardless of what it is.

HOT

• Elder Law. Has been “getting hot” for several years because—as you may have noticed!—people are living longer. Has even become a separate practice area from Family Law as more firms hire paralegals or social workers to assist estate planning clients in selecting assisted living and extended care facilities.

• Energy. In the U.S., oil and gas continue to be hot while various forms of “clean energy” continue to raise issues. However, oil has cooled off considerably in many of the foreign markets due to the continued drop in oil prices and the continued surplus in the U.S. Fracking is still hot in some parts of the U.S., cool in others.

• Public Finance. The growing number of infrastructure projects is part of the reason for the increase in municipal bond transactions.

• Mergers & Acquisitions. Due to the improving economy and availability of financing.

LUKEWARM

• Litigation. There has been some decline in the major litigation that was going to the largest firms. Some of the reasons: 1) Clients are making greater use of contract lawyers and outsourcers (many of whom are off-shore) and 2) More companies are

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

developing pricing, project management and process improvement policies. Just as the night follows the day, layoffs—particularly of associates—show signs of resuming.

So far there has been less of an impact—note we say “less”—on mid-size firms and litigation boutiques that have maintained lower fees or have developed alternate fee arrangements. But the key question is, “Is this trend towards less litigation permanent?” Some thoughtful litigators say “no” because litigation always increases in a poor economy and they believe the economy will be soft for the foreseeable future.

COLD

• Bankruptcy. A casualty of the economic recovery. Some firms have even spun off the practice area. But another recession would heat the area up pretty quickly.

HOTTEST INTERNATIONAL MARKET • Singapore. Major U.S. firms have either been opening offices here or acquiring them through merger because it is a regional financial center that has a key role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Historic note: Our 2003 Midyear Update reported that “Singapore has cooled off.”

MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT • There are many examples of creative and well-implemented strategies which, in some cases, are also productive. As we listed in our 2014 year-end report, websites, Google and LinkedIn are the three major sources in-house counsel use in searching for attorneys.

OTHER TRENDS & ISSUES—NEW, OLD, HOT OR COLD • The Great Divide. Depending on which reports you read, revenues at the 15 largest and most profitable U.S. firms reportedly grew 6.6% in 2014 while revenues at the next tier of 170 firms increased only 4% although two of those firms reported 19% increases. However, the picture gets more confusing because some of these firms raised their standard rates more than 9% over the last three years and hourly rates for the super-star deal, tax and trial lawyers at these firms soared well past $1,100. But, because of discounts and writeoffs, according to Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor, collection realization for these firms has dropped since 2007 from 92% to 85%. In other words, even with some substantial increases in revenues, the gap between the “sticker prices” and the resulting “cash in the door” actually widened for some firms.

Beyond this top tier of approximately 200 firms, the picture in many firms is not good. Revenues are flat or have

declined and some of the firms have looked for mergers.

Some industry experts say the picture will get worse because litigation will continue to dry up and, to quote one expert, “Overall, there are still too many lawyers chasing too little work.”

• The big get bigger. Meanwhile, at least five firms are committed to a “go big and go global” strategy—Denton’s (6,600 lawyers), Baker & McKenzie (4,600 lawyers), DLA Piper (4,500 lawyers), Norton Rose Fulbright (3,800 lawyers), King & Wood Mallesons (2,700 lawyers).

• Realization rates. As noted above, they continue to fall— and not just at the larger firms.

SOME SOURCES SAY THE OVERALL AVERAGE IS NOW AS LOW AS 83%.

• Law school applications continue to decline. According to the Law School Admission Council, as of mid-April there was a total of 47,172, down 4.7% from that point last year and from over 80,000 at the same point five years ago. In the peak year of 2004, there were over 90,000 applications.

• Law school enrollment. Has been declining since 2011.

It was down 4.4% last year.

• 2014 law school graduates. As of March 15 this year, 60% were employed, up from 57% for the class of 2013.

However, this is probably the result of fewer entry level lawyers looking for work than for any actual improvement in the job market.

• Total legal employment—lawyers, paralegals, legal consultants, process servers, notaries and patent agents— was approximately 1,120,000 in 2014, According to several sources this was “tens of thousands” less than it consistently was from 2003 to 2007.

• Uniform Bar Exam. Reversing its prior decision, which we reported in our year-end report last year, New York has now adopted the Uniform Bar Exam. This makes it the 16th and largest state to adopt the nationally standardized test. Now the dean of the University of California-Irvine School of Law says it’s time for California to make the switch too. In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, he goes on to say that “legal education would also benefit if all states adopted the uniform test.”

• Parental Leave. In May, Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe announced it was increasing its parental leave program for primary caregivers to 22 weeks. Writing in Fortune, chairman and CEO Mitch Zuklie stated it will be “the leading policy in the large law firm market.” The firm is also reviewing its policies in its 16 foreign offices.

• Patent Reform. Although there is still some opposition, it Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

27

Peterson Reporting.

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appears substantial reform will be passed this year. This should considerably reduce the amount of patent litigation, much of it the result of suits filed by patent-holding firms or “patent trolls.”

• Partner departures. While many firms are initiating a reduction in their equity partner ranks, others are discouraging departures they did not initiate by increasing enforcement of contract provisions for notice and repayment of capital.

• On-demand legal services. UpCounsel continues to raise investors and build-out its marketplace of startups and small businesses, doing what it describes as “blocking and tackling work.”

• Cybersecurity. Firms continue to either substantially increase their internal processes and systems or turn to experienced providers.

• Partner evaluations. A number of firms use evaluations to classify certain partners as “unproductive” and either remove them from equity partnership or get them to leave the firm.

However, as discussed in my article in the March issue of the excellent newsletter Of Counsel, certain firms are realizing that properly conducted evaluations can improve their overall performance as well as their profits.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

Peterson AttJrnl HPV.indd 1

• Practice organization. St.Louis-based Husch Blackwell has become the first known firm to abandon the traditional practice group structure by area of law and organize the entire practice into industry groups—natural resources, finance, agri-business, health care, real estate and manufacturing & technology. This is an obvious approach that we have been advocating for years. Look for other firms to follow.

7/12/13 5:04 PM

• The Big Four. The combined revenues of Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC exceed those generated by the 100 largest law firms combined. But most significant is that Britain and Australia have authorized multidisciplinary practices (MDPs) which let lawyers share profits with members of other professions. Since then the Big Four have been acquiring small law firms, recruiting lawyers as lateral entry partners and recruiting at law schools in these two countries while merging in law firms in China, Germany, Canada and Spain.

As a result, their combined legal revenues have grown at double-digit rates. Of course they are currently prohibited from practicing law in the U.S.—but this trend will eventually develop into competition for U.S. law firms. n

Google Search Queries on Mobile Devices Exceed Desktop Searches—How Savvy Law Firms Should Respond

by Wade Rawlins

T

Wade Rawlins is a Web Content Editor for Consultwebs and analyzes law firm websites and identify new pages or legal topics that should be added to reach prospective clients. Consultwebs is the premier provider of innovative online legal marketing to ethical U.S. law firms seeking growth and profit. Website: http://www.consultwebs.com.

he way consumers seek information passed a noteworthy milestone a couple months ago. You might know the answer already if you have noticed how many people are focused on their phones in restaurants, airports and other public places.

Google announced on May 5 that for the first time, the volume of Google search queries on mobile devices such as smart phones exceeded the volume of searches made on desktop computers in 10 countries including the United States.

The increase in the number of mobile queries reflects the way people access information today. Go to any restaurant and notice how many people are looking at mobile devices during lunch or dinner.

“Billions of times per day, consumers turn to Google for I want-to-know, I want-to-go, I want-to-do, and I want-to-buy moments,” Google posted on its AdWords blog. “And at these times, consumers are increasingly picking up their smartphones for answers.”

Google did not offer more specific details about mobile search traffic volume, but the underlying point is clear. Mobile platforms are now on equal footing with desktop computers as communications channels. Mobile is not a back door channel.

It’s the future.

People are increasingly living their lives online, using their smart phones and mobile devices to check email, surf the web, get directions, and search for a restaurant or other services including legal services. They want immediate answers to their questions.

Last year, Google’s Matt Cutts said at SMX West, the search marketing expo, that he wouldn’t be surprised if mobile queries soon surpassed desktop queries, according to a searchengineland.com. It seems clear that Google views mobile as an area for revenue growth.

For savvy law firms, that means you need a website that is mobile friendly, likely one that uses responsive design.

Responsive design will adjust and arrange elements of a website to suit the size and orientation of a device on which it is viewed,

providing for an improved user experience.

If prospective clients visit your website on their mobile device and the text is too small to read or they must zoom in repeatedly to find hyperlinks, they will likely get frustrated quickly and look for another law firm website that is easier to navigate.

Haven’t you done the same thing when shopping online? Your law firm website needs to be easy to view on mobile devices when people are looking for legal services.

As a writer on Moz.com noted, there is no middle ground in mobile friendliness. Your website is either mobile friendly or it’s not mobile friendly.

Google has a mobile friendly test tool here, which allows you to punch in a url and find out how the individual page performs. It will identify issues such as whether the font sizes are legible, the tap targets are size properly and whether there are resources such as JavaScript or CSS present that delay the rendering of the website on a mobile device.

Another way is to use your cell phone to visit a website. How does it look? Is it easy to read?

In February, Google announced a mobile friendly update to its algorithm that will give more weight to mobile friendly pages in mobile search results. Pages designed only for larger screens will see a decrease in rankings in mobile searches, Google said. The update did not apply to tablets or desktops, only mobile devices.

As Magnus Simonarson wrote in a forward-looking blog post in March, law firms’ websites that are not mobile friendly will pay the price in lower rankings. You should be making plans to make your website mobile friendly.

Wade Rawlins is a Web Content Editor and works closely with other members of our Consultwebs.com Content Team to analyze law firm websites and identify new pages or legal topics that should be added to reach prospective clients.

He also researches topics for Web pages, blogs and press releases based on a client’s legal areas of concentration and identifies keywords that help the pages rank high in search engine results. n Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

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Public Relations & Law Firms …

Yielding Returns Together

by Marjorie Marr Marjorie Marr is a PR Specialist at Consultwebs.com and manages social responsibility and community campaigns for clients. Consultwebs is the premier provider of innovative online legal marketing to ethical U.S. law firms seeking growth and profit.

Website: http://www.consultwebs.com.

C

ommunication is an increasingly important element for any law firm. Given the saturation and fragmentation of media, it is far more difficult to reach large numbers of consumers through traditional advertising. Not only is advertising expensive, but it is also seen as less credible by consumers who are looking to their social networks or an independent news source for brand, product and service recommendations. In fact, according to Starch Media, 86% of Americans say that learning through news coverage is viewed as more influential and credible than seeing a company’s advertising.

Public relations can be highly effective and make a big difference with firms trying to establish and maintain a significant competitive advantage by emphasizing their business’ unique qualities and values.

only keeps law firms in the public eye in a positive light but also feeds into the overall marketing mix affecting search engine ranking and social networking, which is instrumental in maintaining and growing clientele.

TODAY’S PUBLIC RELATIONS MARKET

• case studies

In today’s market, law firms need to manage their public relations with a growing number of audiences including: • traditional and online media outlets

• awards and certification

• trade and legal media outlets

• and more

• bloggers

Companies are increasingly going to be held accountable not only for the quality and price of their products and services, but also for their corporate citizenship, as these are key components of law firms’ reputations. Or as Janet Raasch of the National Law Review put it, “do well by doing good.”

At the end of the day, PR is a powerful medium that yields great returns. A news story about a product or service has 6 times the visibility and 3 times the credibility of an advertisement of the same length or size (Starch-Research).

Law firms today would be wise to follow billionaire businessman Bill Gates’ advice, “If I only had two dollars, I’d spend one dollar on PR.” n

• employees • prospects • clients • referral sources • rankings publishers • conference organizers • social networks Having a strong media relations strategy and continually pushing out informative, relevant and interesting stories not

30

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

FOLLOW THE STORY Stories can be drawn from a multitude of resources, ranging from: • the firm’s personal story • the causes it supports • helpful resources • scholarships • contests and events

• change in management • crisis management

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 143, 2015

31

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