Attorney Journals, San Diego, Volume 211

SAN DIEGO

Volume 211, 2021 $6.95

10 Ways to Optimize Your Firm’s Website for the Best User Experience

Robyn Addis

Legal Tech Innovation: The Future Is Bright

Sarah Moran

Lawyers, This Is How to Find More Speaking Opportunities

Nancy Myrland

California Case Summaries

Monty A. McIntyre

7 Tips for Hiring Remote Workers

Ken Crowell Final Round of Interview Process Should Not Be a Coronation

Kirk C. Stange Profits on Purpose: How to Make Money and a Difference

Morgan MacLeod

Attorney of the Month

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2021 EDITION—NO.211

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Hiring Remote Workers for Your Law Firm? Keep in Mind These 7 Tips— After You Investigate

by Ken Crowell

8 Legal Tech Innovation: The Future Is Bright

8

by Sarah Moran

10 Final Round of Interview Process Should Not Be a Coronation

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Wendy Price

by Kirk C. Stange

12 Lawyers, This Is How to Find More Speaking Opportunities

CREATIVE SERVICES Penn Creative CIRCULATION Angela Watson

by Nancy Myrland ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH

PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths STAFF WRITERS Dan Baldwin Jennifer Hadley CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Robyn Addis Ken Crowell Morgan MacLeod Monty A. McIntyre Sarah Moran Nancy Myrland Kirk C. Stange WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Info@AttorneyJournals.com SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournals.com OFFICE 30211 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 www.AttorneyJournals.com ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

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16 Alexandra Eaker Pérez, Eaker Pérez Law, San Diego Built to Thrive in a Tax Crisis

by Dan Baldwin

22 Profits on Purpose: How to Make Money and a Difference

by Morgan MacLeod

24 California Case Summaries

by Monty A. McIntyre

28 Ten Ways to Optimize Your Firm’s Website for the Best User Experience

22

by Robyn Addis

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Hiring Remote Workers for Your Law Firm? Keep in Mind These 7 Tips—After You Investigate

by Ken Crowell

W

hen you suddenly have a job opening in your firm, the first step is to determine how you got there. Your firm is either growing, or someone is leaving. It’s well worth the time to analyze what kicked off that change.

You should first do an internal audit of what is working well within the firm and, more importantly, what’s not working. Let’s say your firm fired an employee and you’re now hiring their replacement. You should methodically take an in-depth look at the circumstances, asking yourself “How did we get to where we are right now?”

• Did we hire the wrong person?

• Did they lack the required skill set?

• Did they lack the mental aptitude for the role?

• Did the job description accurately describe what the employee would do on a day-to-day basis?

• Or did the applicant just not understand what was needed to be successful?

The next key question is “Can this position be successfully performed remotely?” Back-office, non-client-facing positions, such as accounting or IT, can be easily transformed to remote work. But the friendly smile of the receptionist is not easily replaced with just an empty desk and a “Please wait” sign.

Whether or not the position will be remote, a common process should be followed. After the internal audit, you should next review the job description and assess the skills and personality of the person who recently held the job. Was it a fit? Where was it missing the mark?

You’re looking for people who are accountable, responsible, and take ownership for their actions. You’ll want the perfect match to also be client-centric, with a mindset of making them happy.

A further step is to consider where you see this position growing in the future.

Imagine where you want your legal firm to be in 12 months, 36 months, and 60 months. You would ask “What type of person should I recruit to help us reach our business goals for my firm, from where we are now to where we want to be?”

One goal could be that you are aiming for a higher, more profitable level of clientele. You should then aim for a person with more polish and grace. You want to assess your candidates on multiple attributes. To work successfully at your firm, they 6

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

would have to possess attention to detail, above-average aptitude and terrific problem-solving skills. Delicate situations will arise and you need people who understand what is the best outcome for the client and how to work toward that outcome.

After you’ve narrowed the field of candidates to one, be certain the new hire understands exactly what the job is about. This may involve them coming to work with your office staff for a day or two to see what a typical workday looks like.

Like online dating, both sides must be happy. Unlike online dating, the process of hiring in the legal profession can get very costly. You want the job to be great for the candidate, to reduce the odds that they quit after a few weeks. Situations like that can be expensive because the cost of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding a new employee can be as much as $240,000.

7 Tips to Hiring the Right Legal Assistant, Even if Remote 1. Take your time: Yes, you want to fill that empty chair, but a bad hire can hurt your firm’s profitability. CareerBuilder found that 43 percent of the companies felt rushed to hire, and consequently made bad hires.

2. Look for a good match for your team: A bad match can crush morale. In one study, 60 percent of hiring managers reported that bad hires didn’t get along with co-workers. To make matters worse, the firms’ productivity plummeted by a third. Remote team members need to have great written communication skills, as they won’t be physically nearby to convey their requests and plans.

3. Know your needs: Check out the U.S. Labor Department’s O-Net OnLine list of duties—from tasks to tech—for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. Use this as a starting checklist for your firm’s needs. You could also outline your process to streamline it and so that all firm stakeholders understand the process. It helps to have everything spelled out for everyone involved.

4. Have clarity around your key concerns: Legal skills tests allow firms to quickly identify the best candidates in essential areas including technology, writing skills (gram-

mar/spelling), and legal terminology, as well as customer and professional service capabilities. You wouldn’t want to hire someone who might misplace a comma—to the tune of five-million dollars! Be 100% sure that the candidates have the specific legal knowledge your firm requires. If you aren’t 100% sure that the candidates have this knowledge, develop a plan about how you will get to 100% certainty.

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5. Be ready with your key questions: Read their resumes and check their references. You want to be prepared, just as you would be ready in a deposition. If you reserve an hour to interview the candidate, take that full amount of time to dive deep into their personality and skill set. Ask powerful, probing interview questions and look beyond any recommendations you’ve received on the candidate’s behalf. If you like the candidate, don’t wait too long to make an offer. Without clarity about the hiring process, you risk tarnishing your firm’s brand. As you evaluate your potential candidate, examine the skills and experiences, and remember to consider their potential—how will their growth add substance to your firm?

6. Make it easy to apply and set up an interview: These days it’s easier than ever to apply for jobs. With remote hiring the norm, be sure your application process is optimized for mobile use. A Glassdoor study found that 58% of job seekers are looking for work on their phone. Be sure that application is quick and easy, or your candidates may abandon their effort.

After you’ve narrowed down your list of possible candidates, use an automated scheduling system to book the interviews. Interviewing via video is a great strategy for remote workers, as Forbes reports 60% of hiring managers and recruiters are using such technology. Video interviews will show if the candidate can manage technology, at a minimum level, on their own.

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7. The pandemic has shifted the game in even more ways: Remote work means that the new employee will be spending many more hours working from home than the predecessor.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021 7 7/12/13

5:04 PM

Legal Tech Innovation: The Future Is Bright

by Sarah Moran

R

ecently, I had the opportunity to (virtually) attend the first three days of Legalweek, the premier conference for those in the legal tech industry. Obviously, this year’s event looked much different than past years, both in structure and in content. But as I listened to legal and technology experts talk about the current state of the industry, I was happily surprised that the message conveyed was not one of doom and gloom, as you might expect to hear during a pandemic year. Instead, a more inspiring theme has emerged for our industry—one of hope through innovation.

Just as we, as individuals, have learned hard lessons during this unprecedented year and are now looking towards a brighter spring, the legal industry has learned valuable lessons about how to leverage technology and harness innovation to overcome the challenges this year has brought. From working remotely in scenarios that previously would have never seemed possible, to recognizing the vital role diversity plays in the future of our industry—this year has forced legal professionals to adapt quickly, utilize new technology, and listen more to some of our most innovative leaders.

Below, I have highlighted the key takeaways from the first three days of Legalweek, as well as how to leverage the lessons learned throughout this year to bring about a brighter future for your organization or law firm.

“Human + Machine” not “Human vs. Machine” Almost as soon as artificial intelligence (AI) technology started playing a role within the legal industry, people began debating whether machines could (or should) eventually replace lawyers. This debate often devolves into a simple “which is better: humans or machines” argument. However, if the last year has taught us anything, it is that the answers to social debates often require nuance and introspection, rather than a “hot take.” The truth is that AI can no longer be viewed as some futuristic option that is only utilized in certain types of ediscovery matters; nor should it be fearfully viewed as having the potential to replace lawyers in some dystopian future.

Rather, AI has become essential to the work of attorneys and

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

ultimately will be necessary to help lawyers serve their clients effectively and efficiently.

Data volumes are exponentially growing year after year, so much so that soon, even the smallest internal investigation will involve too much data to be effectively reviewed by human eyes alone. AI and analytics tools are now necessary to prioritize, cull, and categorize data in most litigations for attorneys to efficiently find and review the information they need. Moreover, advancements in AI technology now enable attorneys to quickly identify categories of information that previously required expensive linear review (for example, leveraging AI to identify privilege, protected health information (PHI), or trade secret data).

Aside from finding the needle in the haystack (or simply reducing the haystack), these tools can also help attorneys make better, more strategic counseling and business decisions. For example, AI can now be utilized to understand an organization’s entire legal portfolio better, which in turn, allows attorneys to make better scoping and burden arguments as well as craft more informed litigation and compliance strategies.

Thus, the age-old debate of which is better (human or machine learning) is actually an outdated one. Instead, the future of the legal industry is one where attorneys and legal professionals harness advanced technology to serve their clients proficiently and effectively.

Remote Working and CloudBased Tools Are Here to Stay Of course, one of the biggest lessons the legal industry learned over the past year is how to effectively work remotely. Almost every organization and law firm across the world was forced to quickly pivot to a more remote workforce—and most have done so successfully, albeit while facing a host of new data challenges related to the move. However, as we approach the second year of the pandemic, it has become clear that many of these changes will not be temporary. In fact, the pandemic appears to have just been an accelerator for trends that were already underway prior to 2020. For example, many organizations were already taking steps to move to a

more cloud-based data architecture. The pandemic just forced that transition to happen over a much shorter time frame to facilitate the move to a remote workforce.

This means that organizations and law firms must utilize the lessons learned over the last year to remain successful in the future, as well as to overcome the new challenges raised by a more remote, cloud-based work environment.

For example, many organizations implemented cloud-based collaboration tools like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace to help employees collaborate remotely.

However, legal and IT professionals quickly learned that while these types of tools are great for collaboration, many of them are not built with data security, information governance, or legal discovery in mind. The data generated by these tools is much different than traditional e-mail—both in content and in structure. For example, audible conversations that used to happen around the water cooler or in an impromptu in-person meeting are now happening over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and thus may be potentially discoverable during an investigation or legal dispute. Moreover, the data that is generated by these tools is structured significantly differently than data coming from traditional e-mail (think of chat data, video data, and the dynamic “attachments” created by Teams). Thus, organizations must learn to put rules in place to help govern and manage these data sources from a compliance, data security, and legal perspective, while law firms must continue to learn how to collect, review, and produce this new type of data.

It will also be of growing importance in the future to have legal and IT stakeholder collaboration within organizations, so that new tools can be properly vetted and data workflows can be put in place early. Additionally, organizations will need a plan in place to stay ahead of technology changes, especially if moving to a cloud-based environment where updates and changes can roll out weekly. Attorneys should also consider technology training to stay up-to-date and educated on the various technology platforms and tools their company or client uses, so that they may continue to provide effective representation.

Information Governance Is Essential to a Healthy Data Strategy Related to the above, another key theme that emerged over the last year is that good information governance is now essential to a healthy company, and that it is equally important for attorneys representing organizations to understand how data is managed within that organization.

The explosion of data volumes and sources, as well as the unlimited data storage capacity of the Cloud means that it is essential to have a strong and dynamic information governance strategy in place. In-house counsel should ensure that they know how to manage and protect their company’s data, including understanding what data is being created, where that data resides, and how to preserve and collect that data

when required. This is important not only from an ediscovery and compliance perspective but also from a data security and privacy perspective. As more jurisdictions across the world enact competing data privacy legislation, it is imperative for organizations to understand what personal data they may be storing and processing, as well as how to collect it and effectively purge it in the event of a request by a data subject.

Also, as noted above, the burden to understand an organization’s data storage and preservation strategy does not fall solely on inhouse counsel. Outside counsel must also ensure they understand their client’s organizational data to make effective burden, scoping, and strategy decisions during litigation.

A Diverse Organization Is a Stronger Organization Finally, another key theme that has emerged is around recognizing the increasing significance that diversity plays within the legal industry. This year has reinforced the importance of representation and diversity across every industry, as well as provided increased opportunities for education about how diversity within a workforce leads to a stronger, more innovative company. Organizational leaders are increasingly vocalizing the key role diversity plays when seeking services from law firms and legal technology providers.

Specifically, many companies have implemented internal diversity initiatives like women leadership programs and employee-led diversity groups and are actively seeking out law firms and service providers that provide similar opportunities to their own employees. The key takeaway here is that organizations and law firms should continue to look for ways to weave diverse representation into the fabric of their businesses.

Conclusion While this year was plagued by unprecedented challenges and obstacles, the lessons we learned about technology and innovation over the year will help organizations and law firms survive and thrive in the future.

In fact, attorneys already have an ethical duty (imposed by the Rules of Professional Conduct) to understand and utilize existing technology in order to competently represent their clients. n Sarah Moran is an eDiscovery Evangelist and Proposal Content Strategist at Lighthouse. Before coming to Lighthouse, she worked for a decade as a practicing attorney at a global law firm, specializing in ediscovery counseling and case management, data privacy, and information governance. At Lighthouse, she happily utilizes her ediscovery expertise to help our clients understand and leverage the ever-changing world of legal technology and data governance. She is a problem solver and a collaborator and welcomes any chance to discuss customer pain points in ediscovery. Sarah earned her B.A. in English from Penn State University and her J.D. from Delaware Law School.

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

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Final Round of Interview Process Should Not Be a Coronation

by Kirk Stange

F

inding the best talent available for a law firm is a vitally important task. The quality of the individuals hired makes a huge difference for the clients that hire your law firm. It also makes a difference within your law firm for the morale of other employees.

To hire the best talent available, a process must be followed to fill any open position. The process typically involves first posting the job to any number of job websites. The first round of interviews then takes place after the law firm reviews the resumes. For any open position, the more candidates the law firm meets, the better. But at a minimum, a firm should attempt to meet at least five individuals for any open position. The more candidates they meet, the better the chance that a good hire is made. If the law firm meets less than five candidates for a single position, the prospect of making a good hire drops dramatically.

After the first round of interviews, the law firm needs to check references and perform background checks. After the reference and background checks, and after pondering the interviews, the law firm will generally need to hone in on the best two or three candidates. The best two or three candidates should then be set for a final round interview.

How Should the Final Round Interview Process Look?

Ultimately, the final round interview in any hiring process should provide the law firm with some choices. In terms of the candidates, it should be a competition for the position. For this reason, having two or three candidates in the final round is a necessity. In some instances, there might only be two good candidates left. In other instances, maybe three or four candidates might still be in the running for the position. If that is the case, all three or four can be in the final round.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

But at a bare minimum, the final round of the interview process almost always has to entail a minimum of two candidates. Both candidates need to be qualified and hirable based on their application, first-round interview, and the reference and background check.

With at least two candidates in the final round, the law firm is given a choice. The firm can then see how each candidate performs and answers relevant questions in the final interview before making a decision. Often, it makes sense to have lots of law firm members in on the decision-making process. With the ease of video and audio technology, getting consent to record the final round of interviews can make sense if not all in the decision-making process can be present in-person. The video or audio can be disseminated to those in the law firm taking part in the hiring decision for their review.

Mistakes Leading up to the Final Round One mistake some law firms can make is only having one candidate in the final round interview process. In other words, they do not have multiple options in the final round. It might be that the first round of interviews did not entail meeting five or more candidates. The pool was much smaller and many candidates were excluded along the way for various reasons. In some cases, the law firm might have keyed in on one or two people from the start because there was a shortage of resumes or maybe somebody looked fantastic on paper. Perhaps one of the candidates was a referral from another employee of the firm and thus the law firm was predisposed to want to hire this candidate from the start When there is only one candidate in the final round of interviews, it essentially turns into a coronation. In other words, since there are no other candidates in the final

round, the law firm either has to hire the only person in the final round or make no hire whatsoever.

When this happens, law firms often make the hire because they have to fill the position. After all, they may not have the time or energy to begin the interview process again.

But, oftentimes, the only candidate in the final round is not really a good fit for the position. When somebody hired is not a good fit, it leads to turnover, bad morale, or unhappy clients. Further, sometimes the one candidate in the final round does not even accept the position.

The Final Round of Interviews Should Involve Multiple Choices To make better hires, law firms need choices. To ensure there is a choice and not a coronation, there has to be a minimum of two candidates in the final round. If there are not two candidates in the final round, the law firm should go back and look through their resume bank. Is there somebody else who fell through the cracks for some reason? Is the job posting boosted appropriately on job sites?

Or, has the law firm engaged in active recruiting for the

position? If this has not happened, the firm must think about taking those actions immediately so that the final round involves a choice and not a coronation. Without at least two candidates, the decision will be to either hire the lone candidate or make no hire at all.

Many candidates can also sense when the law firm has met multiple candidates or whether the firm is singularly focusing on them. When a law firm is only focusing on one candidate, the negotiation can become tougher.

In the end, having choices allows the law firm to look thoroughly at the candidates. When thoroughly looking at candidates versus just pushing one candidate through, better hires are often made. Any law firm that is hiring should want to make good hires versus coronating a single candidate. n In 2007, Kirk C. Stange founded Stange Law Firm, PC with his wife Paola and has worked diligently to grow the firm to what it is today. In addition to practicing law, Kirk spends time educating attorneys and other law professionals at CLE Seminars through the Missouri Bar, myLawCLE, the National Business Institute and other organizations. To learn more, please visit www.stangelawfirm.com.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

11

Lawyers, This Is How to Find More Speaking Opportunities

by Nancy Myrland

T

he people, companies, and institutions you want to do business with, as well as those who can play a part in helping you accomplish your goals, are your target audiences. They are an important part of the foundation of your marketing and business development plans.

Speaking and presenting to your target audiences is important. It helps you gain exposure to those people, and it helps them get to know you even better. It also helps you build credibility with those audiences because they get to see and hear you while you share your knowledge with them.

That means you need to find ways to speak in front of these people. You need to give presentations and to be invited to the table to do so. Today we’re going to discuss a very important concept that will change the number of speaking opportunities you see coming your way.

How Do I Find More Speaking Opportunities?

Recently, I saw a question on a legal marketing listserv from a legal marketing professional who said that one of her lawyers wants to speak more, and he wants to get in front of more audiences. She asked for recommendations for him.

Some of our colleagues offered ideas such as: • Call your local chamber of commerce. They are always looking for speakers.

• Contact your bar section. Volunteer to speak in front of other lawyers because they could be referral sources.

Several other good suggestions were offered. I observed the conversation for a bit before I offered my advice because it is way too easy for me to offer my two cents, which soon becomes five, and then ten cents. I can’t help it because my brain is wired to serve, and teaching and brainstorming with others are ways I can do that.

It’s Time to Look at This From a Different Perspective My suggestion was to think about this from a different perspective. First, do all of those things that everyone had already suggested. They are important.

The other thing I recommended she do was to help her lawyer understand that he is in charge of speaking opportunities and that he has control of the number of them that come his way because he can become his own media empire.

How Can You Build a Media Empire?

Media empire wasn’t the exact term I used at the time, but let’s break this down a bit. What does that mean? Well, it means that if you want to get in front of more people, then you can take control by strategically using social and digital media to do that.

Don’t wait for somebody to invite you to be a guest on their podcast, or to give a presentation to a nonprofit, a business, or a trade association. If you want to get in front of those people, put yourself in front of those people.

Tell Me the Ways How do you do that? There are a number of ways you can do that, but first, you should have an idea what you want to talk about. If you and I sat down right now, and I asked you: • What are the five things you would love to talk to your target audiences about?

• What messages do you wish they knew about your practice area?

• What topics are they concerned about?

• What developments should they be watching carefully?

• What challenges are looming?

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

I have a feeling it would be very easy for you to come up with five or ten ideas about what you would like to say that might be helpful to your audiences. In the process of publicly answering those questions, you would be demonstrating your knowledge. You don’t have to answer all of those ideas in one sitting. Spread them out.

Different Ways to Get in Front of the Right Audiences Once you have these five or ten topics, or more if you are on a roll, then those can become the topics to communicate on whatever social or digital media platforms make the most sense for your target audiences.

One way is via a podcast, either yours or someone else’s. You could share your ideas on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat.

You can write it in a blog post. If you want to dabble in video, you can create short videos on Stories on Facebook, Instagram, and now we have Stories on LinkedIn. If you don’t have them, you’re going to. I’ve been testing them for the past few weeks or so. Stories are simply 15- or 20-second videos that you place on those platforms. Again, this is very short form content.

Stories go away in 24 hours so you don’t have to worry about them if you’re not really excited about how they turned out. All you have to do is hold your phone or put it in a clamp. There are inexpensive desk clamps that will help provide a steady shot.

With pre-recorded videos, you can secure your phone in a clamp or you can hold it, then press record and talk for a couple minutes about one of these five or ten points that you identified as being important to your clients, your prospects, your referral sources, and any other target audiences you have chosen.

Just upload them right from your phone and add a comment. Preface what you’re uploading and say something simple like: “I want you to know about {Topic A}. There are 2 quick things you need to know about it today.”

Be Consistent if You Want to Make a Lasting Impression If you do what I have mentioned on a consistent basis, then you are going to get more mileage than if you wait to get invited to speak in front of groups. Don’t abandon that effort because those are important, but know that there are only so many of those opportunities to speak and to give presentations.

If I waited to be accepted to speak in front of my international association at its annual conference as the

primary way to help my clients understand what they need to know, I could be waiting years, which is not good for them, or for me. There is a finite number of opportunities, so I need to take control of my message and create my own opportunities.

Give Yourself Permission to Take Control You also need to take control of this and start sending your own messages and creating your own opportunities. Write down those topics that you would like to talk to people about and then decide whether or not you would like to communicate them via the written word, the spoken word, or via video.

Again, don’t sit back and wait for other people to give you a chance to present. Become your own media producer and decide that you are going to post and control your messages and your presentations to your target audiences.

Again, continue to try to get in front of groups to present to them in more traditional ways, because that is important and is a good idea. Right now, that is a little challenging because communication has become primarily virtual. Meetings and conferences are going through a transition. Don’t give up on those but take control and send your own messages.

Create Your Own Opportunities • Look at this from a different perspective.

• Don’t wait for others to invite you.

• Become your own media empire.

• Learn various ways you can send your own message.

• Be consistent to make a lasting impression.

• Take control.

• Build your own media empire.

Okay, it doesn’t actually have to be an empire, but you know what I mean.

Please do me a favor and let me know your thoughts about this topic. Send me an email at nancy@myrlandmarketing.com. n Nancy Myrland is a Marketing, Business Development, Content, Social and Digital Media Speaker, Trainer and Advisor to lawyers, legal marketers and law firms, specializing in helping you grow your firm and your practice through the understanding, creation, and integration of marketing and strategic plans with content, social and digital media.

Learn more at www.myrlandmarketing.com.

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

13

SPECIALIZING IN COMPLEX BUSINESS LITIGATION

BET-THE-COMPANY CASES OVER 65 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE REFERRALS/SUBSTITUTIONS ACCEPTED AT ALL STAGES OF LITIGATION, INCLUDING TRIAL • Complete defense jury verdict in real estate dispute and more than $400,000 collected for attorneys’ fees and costs in Batter v. McElhinney, et al. (2019)(Jason Kirby).

• $2.1 million jury verdict for firm client in Doe v. San Diego Unified School District, et al. (2018)(Jason Kirby & Michael Kirby).

• $1.1 million arbitration award for firm clients on cross-complaint after zeroing plaintiff on $6 million damage claim in Step Strategy Advisors v. Solid Gold Health Products for Pets, Inc., et al. (2018)(Jason Kirby lead counsel).

• Michael Kirby received the 2021 Best Lawyers in America® distinction for (1) Bet-the-Company Litigation, (2) Commercial Litigation, (3) Litigation – Real Estate, and (4) Litigation – Securities.

501 West Broadway | Suite 1720 | San Diego, CA 92101 | 619-487-1500 | www.kirbyandkirbylaw.com

Built to Thrive in a Tax Crisis JOURNALS

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Eaker Pérez Law Finds Innovative Solutions to Complex Tax Problems Through Expertise and Diverse Collaboration to Strengthen Businesses and Families.

A

lexandra Eaker Pérez and her team bring highly specialized tax counsel at Eaker Pérez Law to zealously find solutions to complex tax problems, allowing clients to rebuild their businesses and lives with a compassionate touch.

“Attorneys and CPAs reach out to us because a tax issue has come up for one of their clients.” Tax issues come up for people when they are working through a hitch in their life—a business split, lawsuit, divorce, change in their accounting department. They are working through a major event in their business or life and now the tax agencies have contacted them. It’s in these tender moments that people urgently need the dedicated guidance and wisdom of Alexandra “Alex” Eaker Pérez, M.S., J.D., LL.M. Founder and Principal Tax Attorney of Eaker Pérez Law. “People work tirelessly to build their businesses and their families look up to them. The tax agencies—IRS, FTB, CDTFA, and EDD—are aggressive and have superior position to other creditors. And that’s where we swing into action. Turning a business on the brink around is the most rewarding part of what we do. We solve the immediate tax problem with the state and IRS, including tax litigation and criminal tax defense, and we go further to help them improve their compliance. I love to see my clients go forward on a better path,” she says.

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Born and Raised in Small Businesses Eaker Pérez was born into a Texas agricultural family of ranchers, harvesters, and farmers. “We’re just too stubborn to give up. We’ve also adapted our agriculturebased businesses to the changing world,” she says. And that stubbornness has served her well when facing government tax agencies.

Her parents were the first members of both families to attend college and both hold advanced Degrees.

Scientists at their core, each of her parents had a passion of research and development and a curiosity for the world around them.

Eaker Pérez grew up spending her summers working on her family’s ranch in the southwestern part of the Lone Star State. By the age of eight, she worked on roundups and at the livestock auction with her grandfather, where she learned the art of buying and selling cattle, sheep, and horses. Her other grandfather was a harvester who spoke frankly to her about profitability from the fluctuating prices of wheat, corn, and grain—teaching her small and large lessons about investing.

The work she learned on the ranch was comforting, fulfilling, and provided motivation and discipline she’d

© Bauman Photographers

The Eaker Pérez Law Team: Maricella Lopez, Leslie Miranda, Nikki Prescott, Justin Tardio, Anthony Altala, and Wenting Mao.

later use in her chosen profession. “Whether you’re raising cattle or wheat, you get up before the sun comes up and you do whatever needs to be done,” she says. “You don’t think twice about the work that needs to be done and you’re satisfied at the end of a 14-hour, 107°F, summer day.”

Worldwide Tax Experience Eaker Pérez came to Southern California as an undergraduate, earning her B.A. in Political Science in three years, time that included a stint at Oxford University in England where she was recognized with honors. She worked in professional sports, first with the then-San Diego Chargers and then with the San Diego Padres, before attending law school. While in law school, she jointly pursued a master’s degree in Personal Financial Planning, a program ranked first nationally, again completing a four-year degree in three years while simultaneously working in finance.

She returned to San Diego upon graduating with her Juris Doctorate and Master of Science where she has

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practiced as a tax attorney for more than a decade. “My third year of law school, I fell in love with tax law. Most of my classes that last year of law school were tax related, including the Federal Income Tax Clinic. During my year at the Federal Income Tax Clinic, I settled quite a few cases with the IRS. I remember one case settled on the steps of the Courthouse. The Federal Income Tax Clinic was my first exposure to U.S. Tax Court. When I graduated from law school, I knew that I wanted to litigate tax cases.”

That drive led her to Richard Carpenter’s office where she practiced tax law litigating tax cases in U.S. Tax Court and Federal District Court. “My first case in U.S. Tax Court spanned five years: an Innocent Spouse Claim for a woman going through a nasty divorce. Her husband hid a second life from her including business activities. As a loving, supportive wife, she signed off on all the paperwork he put in front of her. Through their divorce, she discovered a substantial IRS bill. She had three children, one with special needs, and lacked the

means to pay the taxes. I was able to persuade the IRS to abate the full liability against her. I will never forget how grateful she was when we told her the IRS agreed to a full concession. We’ve stayed in touch over the years since her case ended, it’s been beautiful to see how she’s moved on with her life, how well her and her children are doing.”

To sharpen her tax chops outside of the courtroom, Eaker Pérez took tax classes in the evenings and on the weekends, earning her LL.M. in Taxation from the University of San Diego. Her work ethic, experience, and passion for tax eventually gained the attention of a partner in the prestigious Paris office of the international tax accounting firm, PwC, where she worked on U.S. tax issues affecting multinational businesses.

Regardless of these adventures, her love for our community kept bringing her back to San Diego, which she’s called home for almost two decades. A San Diegian at heart, she says, “One of the few things in life that I’ve failed at is leaving San Diego.”

From Zero to 100 in Four Months Eaker Pérez launched her firm with four clients on day one and rapidly grew to nearly 100 clients four months later. All clients were referrals from within her own network—a testament to the trust and belief of her colleagues, friends, and family.

“I pulled the trigger and hung my shingle. Clients and cases poured in, and it’s grown exponentially from there,” she says.

That growth brought expansion as Eaker Pérez added to her firm’s team, but remained committed to doing so thoughtfully and with intention. An early adopter of the work-from-home movement, Eaker Pérez has encouraged telework arrangements for her team since founding her firm and she says the policy has paid off in spades. “I realized that people work harder, faster, and smarter when they’re home with a good work-from-home setup. And leaning into that really helped me build a happier, high-performing team.”

She also defends clients in criminal tax matters and whitecollar proceedings including structuring, tax evasion, filing false returns, mail fraud, wire fraud, embezzlement, civil forfeiture, and civil penalty actions.

In the civil tax realm, she’s no stranger to successfully litigating tax positions in U.S. Tax Court and Federal District Court. It’s in this niche tax litigation realm that Eaker Pérez stands out. “In the last six months, I’ve spent almost 100 hours in Court over Zoom,” she explains. “I enjoy appearing in Court via Zoom. The ease of technology allows for great efficiency for the Court and the parties. We embrace change. Every case and client is different. We have grown accustom to Congress passing new tax laws and the Tax Code changing frequently.”

Her client base includes everyone from the private yacht and jet crowd to small business owners and everyday people who find themselves in hot water with the IRS. “People can get lost in the overwhelming monster of bureaucracy that is our tax system. We understand the system and speak the language, and we’re able to give our clients a voice with a sort of lockbox discretion that affords clients privacy and security in prickly situations with the IRS or state tax agencies,” she says.

Eaker Pérez recently represented a Mexican restaurant against the IRS in U.S. Tax Court where she successfully refuted the IRS’s attempt to assess more than $1 million dollars against the business. The case resolved with the IRS entering into a stipulated judgment that the business owed nothing from their previous seven-figure assessment, resulting in the case being dismissed.

Innovation, Compassion, and Problem-Solving for Businesses The three key values of Eaker Pérez Law are innovation, compassion, and problem-solving as they relate to business tax issues.

Eaker Pérez brings an intimate understanding of tax authorities—including the IRS and state taxation agencies in California and Texas—to a wide range of client matters including tax audits, offers in compromise, offshore disclosure cases, state and federal payroll taxes, state tax nexus, state sales tax, excise tax, and tax issues in divorce.

Alexandra Eaker Pérez, Founder of SeafoodSanDiego.com

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“When you love what you do, it’s easy to share that passion with others.”

The pandemic year has presented both challenges and opportunities. In March 2020, Eaker Pérez quickly realized the pandemic would have far-reaching and substantial impacts on businesses and our community. She sprang into action without hesitation.

“I knew that businesses would need help and resources to be able to survive what I anticipated to be the long haul of the pandemic and that just about every business would need to pivot in some way,” she says. Since remote work was already part of Eaker Pérez Law, that part of the pandemic shift was business as usual. From the last week of March through October, she and her team presented at a litany of virtual conferences and webinars, to audiences including countless private organized groups for business owners, executives, HR and accounting departments to the Better Business Bureau to the American Bar Association’s Taxation Section annual meeting in October.

Eaker Pérez knew she could do more, so she launched the website SeafoodSanDiego.com as a way to showcase and lift up local San Diego businesses on a world-wide platform. “Seafood San Diego is a way to elevate our local regional seafood economy to a global audience to purposefully increase outside engagement in our local community through education about our local businesses that bring seafood to consumers. We are giving a platform to our local restaurants to shine for the rest of the world to learn about and come to San Diego and enjoy,” she says. n Contact Eaker Pérez Law 925 B Street, Suite 605 San Diego, CA 92101 Aperez@EakerPerezLaw.com (619) 348-5944 www.EakerPerezLaw.com

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© Bauman Photographers

EXP ER I ENCE

“When you love what you do, it’s easy to share that passion with others,” she says. Her passion for tax is seen in her frequent speaking appearances, quotes, and by-lines. From local publications like the San Diego Union Tribune and KUSI to regularly appearing in the pages of Tax Analysts and before Congressional Committees including the Joint Committee on Taxation, House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance Committee, Eaker Pérez is a valued source for key news outlets and decision-makers on complex current tax issues.

» AWARDS • SuperLawyers, Rising Star, 2017 – 2021 • San Diego Leader in the Law Finalist, 2019 • Avvo Rate 10.0 (Superb) • Avvo Clients Choice Award, 2015 • Outstanding Young Attorney Nominee San Diego Daily Transcript, 2012 – 2014

» MEMBERSHIPS • Taxation Section of CLA, past Chair of Income & Other Taxes and YTL, Committees • Board of Trustees, First United Methodist Church, San Diego • LEAD San Diego, Advance class of 2018 • San Diego County Bar Association, past Taxation Section co-chair • American Bar Association Taxation Section, • Adopt-A-Base pro bono tax counsel, MCRD and Naval Base San Diego

» RECENT FEATURES • American Bar Association Fall Meeting, Tax Section Speaker, 2020 • United Way Women’s United financial literacy Speaker, 2019 • San Diego Union Tribune quoted October 2, 2020 regarding politician’s tax returns • Tax Considerations in Operating a Law Office—Author, San Diego Lawyer, 2020 • Better Business Bureau, Payroll Taxes in 2020: Beyond the Pandemic—Speaker, 2020 • Tax Notes Today, quoted January 2, 2018 regarding excise taxation • Tax Notes Today November 29, 2016 regarding excise taxation • Tax Notes Today A Justification for Gross Income Exclusion of Excise Tax Credits • Litigating with the IRS. TYLA eNEWS. August 26, 2015

Profits on Purpose: How to Make Money and a Difference

by Morgan MacLeod

P

lain and simple, purpose drives brand. It is the backbone of how businesses are formed, helps to explain the benefits people receive from our services, and focuses our business and marketing efforts for growth and competitive advantage. In essence, it is a firm’s “why” at the highest level.

For law firms, purpose—and by extension, a firm’s purpose-driven brand—can often be found in the reason why founding partners set out to create their firm. What injustices were they attempting to right? Who did they set out to help and why were they driven to this cause in the first place?

For some, like social justice or environmental law firms, identifying the “why” is a simple exercise. For others, like business law firms, it may not be as easy or as clear. Many professionals have forgotten why they chose to practice together or what drove them to law in the first place. However, identifying and amplifying the “why” can help a firm hone their brand’s purpose.

Consumers are looking for businesses that behave better and are good corporate citizens. According to Accenture, “Customers aren’t just making decisions based on the stalwarts of product, selection or price.

They’re now assessing what a brand says. What it does.

What it stands for.” In Accenture’s most recent survey, the study discovered that 62% of consumers “want companies to take a stand on current and broadly relevant issues like sustainability, transparency or fair employment practices.”1 The idea of purpose branding should not be viewed as entirely altruistic but, instead, as the interplay of capitalism and activism, where purpose is a means for generating profit while, at the same time, maintaining a balance of goodwill toward the community and the environment. Profit, when viewed in this light, becomes part of the reason “why.” We need to view our firms

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through a more holistic vantage point, one that sees financial success and corporate social responsibility as diametrically aligned.2 According to Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, a global investment management company, “Purpose is not the sole pursuit of profits but the animating force for achieving them. Profits are in no way inconsistent with purpose—in fact, profits and purpose are inextricably linked.”

Forward-thinking firms should interlink their goals for profit with an investment in social responsibility and understand that, as law firms, they have a role in improving society, community and the environment through the work that is done.

While these ideals might seem politically aligned, it is important to note that the world’s top purpose-based brands are from all parts of the political spectrum and include well-known companies such as Unilever, Toms, USAA, Chick-fil-a, Tesla, Patagonia and many more.

Even professional service firms like IBM, Deloitte and several insurance firms made the Purpose Power Index’s list of top 100 purpose brands in 2019.

In 2018, our 28 Sustainable Living Brands—those taking action to support positive change for people and the planet—grew 69% faster than the rest of our business.

That’s up from 46% in 2017. They also delivered 75% of our overall growth.—Unilever Purpose branding is everywhere, and companies around the globe that adhere to these tenets have become some of the most successful profit generators of all time. These companies differentiate through clear, meaningful and motivational brands that are authentic and backed by strong corporate social responsibility strategies and actions.

In the legal profession, we are uniquely positioned not only through our access to knowledge but also our ability

to shape laws, change behaviors, connect individuals, and mobilize corporations and people behind a mission that can have a very powerful impact on society.

Those leading the challenge include the Equal Justice Initiative, which is “committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States,” and was recently featured in the motion picture Just Mercy, as well as countless other litigation, employment and environmental firms around the globe.

Even business firms that take their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives beyond words on a website and into their communities and courts are making money with a mission.

Beyond civic duty, purpose branding aligns businesses and people around a common direction, helps to attract the best talent and results in greater profit. Through steadfast and sustainable actions, it can increase your firm’s goodwill, positively impact your bottom line, forge new partnerships and gain presence in the marketplace.

While not all firms will be able to fully embrace purpose branding in its entirety, surely all of us can

1 2

consider whether we can make small differences in the world to make it better. We should measure ourselves not only by our profits but by how much we enrich the lives of our people, our clients and our communities.

With a little vision, we can all be bold enough to rise to the challenge. n Morgan MacLeod, co-founder of Cubicle Fugitive, is a brand, marketing and digital strategy expert with a passion for creating meaningful and memorable brands that build client loyalty and new business for professional service firms. She applies more than 20 years of industry experience to lead award-winning business strategies, brands, advertising campaigns and website development projects. Recognized as a leading practitioner, MacLeod is frequently invited to speak on topics related to branding, marketing, business development and client service. Between presenting at conferences, leading the Cubicle Fugitive team, volunteering as LMA Canada 2021 President and running the business, she never loses sight of the most important thing—her clients. For more information on branding for law firms, reach out to morgan.macleod@cubiclefugitive.com and visit their website www.cubiclefugitive.com.

“To Affinity and Beyond: From Me to We, The Rise of The Purpose-Led Brand,” Accenture Strategy “Purpose Series: A Purpose-Driven Brand Is A Successful Brand,” Forbes, January 16, 2019

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23

California Case Summaries New California Civil Cases

by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. These recent cases summarized by Monty A. McIntyre are from his publication California Case Summaries™. Monty prepares short summaries, organized by legal topic, of every new published California civil and family law case that California lawyers can subscribe to on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. For more information go to https://californiacasesummaries.mykajabi.com. A California civil trial lawyer since 1980 and a member of ABOTA since 1995, Monty serves as a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. handling cases in the areas of business, elder abuse, employment/wage & hour, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice, medical malpractice, personal injury, real property and wrongful death. To schedule a matter, contact Monty’s case manager Christopher Schuster at ADR Services, Inc. at (619) 233-1323 or christopher@adrservices.com.

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL Arbitration Domestic Linen Supply Co., Inc. v. L J T Flowers, Inc. (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 7090196: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order denying petitioner’s petition to compel arbitration and its order awarding respondent attorney fees of $32,757.04. The trial court reasonably concluded there was no agreement to arbitrate for the following reasons. The form of the rental agreement was deceptive. The arbitration clause was not above the purchaser’s signature, where one would expect to find it. Instead, it was after the purchaser’s signature, on the back of the agreement. The back was filled from top to bottom with closely spaced lines of small type. The arbitration clause was number 15 of 21 paragraphs. There was nothing to distinguish paragraph 15 from any other paragraph. There was no heading, boldface, italics, or capitalization that would draw attention to the paragraph, and it was hidden in a thicket of fine print. The attorney fee award was proper because petitioner brought an independent petition to compel arbitration, and the denial of the petition terminated the action leaving respondent as the prevailing party entitled to an award of fees. While the arbitration agreement only allowed petitioner to recover fees, respondent was properly awarded attorney fees under Civil Code section 1717. (C.A. 2nd, December 4, 2020.)

Garcia v. Haralambos Beverage Co. (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 22015: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion to compel arbitration in a putative wage and hour class action. Defendant’s 24-month

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delay in filing its motion to compel arbitration was unreasonably long. Because defendant engaged in substantial discovery and other litigation activity during this delay, substantial evidence supported the trial court’s conclusion that defendant had acted in a manner inconsistent with arbitration. Finally, substantial evidence supported the trial court’s finding that defendant’s delay impaired plaintiffs’ ability to realize the benefits and efficiencies of arbitration. (C.A. 2nd, January 4, 2021.)

Attorney Fees 347 Group, Inc. v. Philip Hawkins Architect, Inc. (2020) _ Cal. App.5th _ , 2020 WL 7136870: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order denying defendants’ motion for attorney fees as the prevailing parties on plaintiff’s causes of action for fraudulent conveyance and conspiracy. Plaintiff originally sued defendants, including Philip Hawkins Architect, Inc. (Architect) for breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Architect defaulted, and later filed bankruptcy. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint alleging breach of contract, common counts, fraudulent conveyance, and conspiracy. During a pretrial hearing, plaintiff requested a default judgment on the contract claim against Architect and, per an agreement with the other defendants, dismissed the contract claim against them. Plaintiff maintained its causes of action for fraudulent conveyance and conspiracy against the other defendants, seeking to establish they were alter egos of Architect and liable under the contract with Architect. Only the individual defendant appealed. The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court, concluding defendant was entitled to attorney fees under Civil Code section 1717 because the action, although consisting of only tort claims, was on the contract, and plaintiff would have been able to collect attorney fees from defendant in the event it had prevailed. (C.A. 3rd, December 7, 2020.)

Civil Code Aghaian v. Minassian (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 7777923: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order sustaining demurrers, without leave to amend, to two causes of action alleging fraudulent transfer against defendants Shahen and Alice Minassian under Civil Code section 3439.04(a)(1) and aiding and abetting fraudulent transfer against defendant Arthur Minassian. The Court of Appeal reversed, concluding that plaintiffs pleaded facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action for fraudulent transfer of two pieces of real property in Sherman Oaks under section 3439.04 (a)(1) and also alleged facts sufficient to state a cause of action against Arthur for aiding and abetting a fraudulent transfer. (C.A. 2nd, December 31, 2020.)

Nagel v. Westen (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 58119: The Court of Appeal reversed in part the trial court’s order granting defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings and dispositive motion in limine on the basis that defendants could not be liable for plaintiffs’ claims under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (UVTA; Civil Code, section 3439 et seq.) without identifying a third party transferee who benefited from the transfer of assets by judgment debtors/defendants Tracy Westen and Linda Lawson. Westen and Lawson sold their house and were later found liable in an arbitration for failing to disclose, as the sellers, material facts regarding water damage to the house. The arbitrator concluded the house was worthless and its only value was the land and awarded plaintiffs over $4.5 million for the loss of the home, the futile efforts to repair it, plus attorney fees and costs. By the time plaintiffs pursued collection, Westen and Lawson had sent the bulk of their assets out of California including applying the proceeds of the sale to an expensive home in Texas to take advantage of that state’s unlimited homestead exemption; and, with aid and counsel of Westen’s siblings, masking additional assets in a variety of funds, annuities and investments in Nevada and Minnesota. The trial court reasoned that no transfer had occurred when Westen and Lawson simply converted their assets from non-exempt to exempt but did not relinquish ownership or control. Ruling on an issue of first impression, the Court of Appeal disagreed and held that, under the UVTA, physically relocating personal property and transmitting or transporting sale proceeds out of state, then transmuting them into a different legal form, may constitute a direct or indirect mode of parting with assets or one’s interest in those assets.

As a result, plaintiffs adequately alleged a “transfer” under the UVTA. (C.A. 2nd, January 7, 2021.)

Torts Ko v. Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc. (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 7639590: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order sustaining defendants’ demurrer, without leave to amend, to plaintiffs’ third amended complaint. Plaintiffs

alleged negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) from watching defendant vocational nurse Thelma Manalastas abuse their disabled son while they were out of the house. Plaintiffs alleged they witnessed the abuse in real time as they watched the livestream of video and audio on plaintiff Dyana Ko’s smartphone from a “nanny cam” in the home. The trial court sustained the demurrer because plaintiffs were not physically present when Landon was abused, and thus they could not satisfy the requirement established by the Supreme Court in Thing v. La Chusa (1989) 48 Cal.3d 644, 668 (Thing) that plaintiffs must be present at the scene of the injury-producing event at the time it occurs and be aware that it is causing injury to the victim. The Court of Appeal disagreed, concluding that plaintiffs’ “virtual presence” during Landon’s abuse through a real-time audiovisual connection satisfied the contemporaneous presence requirement of Thing. Recognition of a NIED claim where a person uses modern technology to contemporaneously perceive an event causing injury to a close family member is consistent with the Supreme Court’s requirements for NIED liability and the court’s desire to establish a bright-line test for bystander recovery. (C.A. 2nd, December 23, 2020.)

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT Civil Procedure Sass v. Cohen (2020) _ Cal.5th _ , 2020 WL 7653773: The California Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision that reversed the trial court’s order granting a default judgment against defendant in an accounting action. The California Supreme Court held that a plaintiff seeking an accounting must comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 580’s requirement to state a specific dollar amount to support a default judgment granting monetary relief. It is not enough for the complaint to identify the assets in a defendant’s possession and request a fraction of their value. The Supreme Court, however, declined to decide a subsidiary issue regarding the proper method by which a court should determine whether the amount awarded in a default judgment exceeds the amount demanded. (December 24, 2020.)

Employment Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc. (2021) _ Cal.5th _ , 2021 WL 127201: Answering a question posed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court ruled that its decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) applies retroactively to all cases not yet final as of the date its decision in Dynamex became final.

(January 14, 2021.) n

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

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27

10 Ways to Optimize Your Firm’s Website for the Best User Experience

by Robyn Addis

Many of these recommendations boil down to putting yourself in the shoes of your website audience ...

L

ess than one second. That’s all it takes for a visitor to form an opinion about your website. Depending on how your site performs or how it visually appears could mean the difference between a future client or not.

Does your website need a facelift? Or maybe a complete overhaul?

Whichever the case, use the tips below as a checklist to ensure you are providing the best user experience for your visitors.

There is something to be said for making a good first impression.

Make your website count.

 Write in Plain English Lawyers have their own specialized language, necessary for legal briefs and arguments. But when writing website content, consider your audience. Who is reading this? Who do you want to be reading this? Clients, prospects, potential hires, referral sources, members of the media, opposing counsel, and others will visit your site, so your message and tone should be crystal clear and consistent. Your voice can be professional and authoritative, but still approachable.

... your voice can be professional and authoritative, but still approachable.

While keeping your prose readable, also include visuals to help break up any wall of text. People are increasingly accustomed to consuming content visually—infographics, videos, and other ways.

The message in these visuals must also be easy for your website visitor to understand. If the purpose or meaning of a graph or infographic is confusing, you risk losing your audience.

 Emphasize Video Yes, we just said that visual content is becoming more and more important. According to HubSpot, having a video on your landing page can increase conversion rates by more than 80%!

This will also humanize the attorneys at your firm ...

However, don’t just post video for video’s sake. Make sure your videos serve a purpose: think about what could help your audience.

If you hear one type of question from your clients again and again, consider a brief FAQ video that answers the question at a high-level and exhibits your knowledge on the subject-matter.

This will also result in humanizing the attorneys at your firm.

One well-thought-out, high-quality video is better than a dozen random, irrelevant ones.

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 Personalize the User Experience Personalization is the practice of customizing a user’s experience of your website based on their past behavior or what you know about them. A familiar example of this is how Amazon presents each user with recommendations based on information they gather.

You are not likely to do this on the scale of Amazon, but the idea is similar: you want to present users with relevant content, so they stay on the site longer, interact with the site, and ultimately contact your firm, via email, phone, form, chat, text, or submitting an RFP. Visitors have come to expect personalized website content. We’ll say it again: know your audience.

 Make Sure There Are no Dead-Ends Guide the visitor through your site. Don’t leave them wondering where to go next; rather, usher them to the next relevant page or piece of content. If a visitor comes to the end of a page and has to choose where to go next, they could leave the site altogether.

Avoid that by offering related content. For example, on a legal alert page about changes in tax law, include links to bios for tax lawyers who work in this area, links to other tax law legal alerts, and finally links to descriptions on the tax practice and other practices that folks who need legal tax services may also need.

Don’t leave them wondering where to go next ...

We can take cues from e-commerce sites that sell you a smoke alarm and suggest that you might also be interested in 9-volt batteries–get the two-pack while you’re at it!

 Capture Visitor Data Professional services are rarely (if ever) an impulse purchase, so prospective clients may visit your website several times before they decide to contact you. Having a form to collect user data, in exchange for valuable and relevant free content, is a great way to start channeling your prospects.

However, forms can also be roadblocks for visitors, so make sure they’re not too onerous to fill out and the content is worthwhile in exchange for the visitor’s contact information. Consumers have become more wary of giving out personal information. Establish your credibility by managing expectations. Let the visitor know what they will gain from downloading the resource.

 Deploy Fresh and Timely Content Make sure you’re not featuring an article from January 2020 talking about strong job numbers and soaring employment. (Whoops!

We’ve actually seen this.)

Institute a quarterly review to ensure content on static pages — Home, About, Careers, Diversity, etc.—is accurate and timely.

Additionally, use your content calendar to help keep the website content fresh and up-to-date. If you don’t have one handy, you can adapt our social media content calendar to keep your writing on task. Having relevant and timely content is one way to establish credibility with users. If you give a user value, you gain their trust and communicate your authority on the topic.

Institute a quarterly review to ensure content on static pages ...

One other thing: consider dumping the carousel. I know, I know, the carousel is visual, it moves, it’s eye-catching. But, also, its frequent movement can make people think it’s an ad, so they may ignore it. Moving elements can have a negative impact on accessibility, especially for those with motor skill issues. Many people can have a hard time reading all the text before a slider advances. Since each slide’s content is only visible some of the time, content may easily be missed.

 Focus on Web Accessibility Consider this: one in four people are living with some sort of disability. Be it auditory, cognitive, physical, or otherwise, these disabilities impact how a person visiting your website is able to navigate and interact with the information you are sharing.

If clients and prospects can’t access content that is important to them on your website, what does that tell them about your priorities as a firm?

 Connect Content Across the Site All content should be neatly organized and tagged by attorney, practice, and type, so related content is automatically filtered and presented together—possibly on a practice area page. These pages essentially become a one-stop-shop for a topic, but the beauty is that the website visitor will not stop, they will keep clicking through.

For example, if there is a litigation practice area page, in addition to the titillating description of your firm’s practice, also include the following: bios of your litigators, industries in which they practice litigation, related legal alerts/news/blog posts on litigation, matters and verdicts from your litigation practice, quotes and testimonials, and related practices or sub-practices that clients and prospects hiring litigators may also be interested in.

But these should not just be listed on the page, your 2021 website should dynamically present the relevant, related information because it’s all categorized and tagged in the content management system of the site.

 Make Your Site’s Navigation Mobile-Friendly Think about how many times you pick up your mobile device every day. You are not alone: about 60% of searches are carried out on mobile devices. So you already know that your law firm’s website must have a mobile-friendly design, but how can you optimize your design for mobile navigation?

Your mobile site is not simply a smaller version of the same website ...

Think “thumb-friendly.” Touch targets are any on-screen element that someone can click, touch, or interact with in some way. Size matters here: some users may have a harder time tapping smaller buttons, which can be an accessibility issue. You want users to be able to navigate your site with ease. Google recommends building mobile pages with a minimum touch target size of 48 pixels with a properly set viewport. And touch targets should be spaced about 32 pixels apart, both horizontally and vertically.

Your mobile site is not simply a smaller version of the same website layout on desktop. Elements should be rearranged, reorganized, and even reimagined for use on mobile devices because your real estate is much more limited than on a full site, and bigger touch targets are one design element to focus on.

Bonus: In addition to design, review your Google Analytics reports to see which pages are viewed most on mobile, and focus on those first. Bios with live phone and email links and locations with easy links for directions to the offices are even more relevant when not tied to the desktop. The screens are smaller and so are the attention spans of folks on mobile —imagine what distractions they might be facing, so you need to cut to the chase. To that end: keep labels as short as possible; limit the number of options in mobile menus; consider what links need to be included to help visitors complete priority tasks.

Finally, consider search as part of the navigation. Website visitors are accustomed to searching for exactly what they are looking for and don’t want to trudge through menus and pages to find it.

Again, think of Amazon and Google.

 Build a Website for Voice Search Smart speakers and virtual assistants are changing the way we live and the way we search for information online. In fact, it is predicted that this year, over half of all searches will be done via voice. I use the voice feature on my phone every day for search, texting, and other messages. It feels faster, easier, and more convenient to talk when I’m on the move, rather than stopping, taking off my winter gloves, and typing something. I prefer it even if I’m home, but elbow-deep in cookie dough—just like the commercials!

But search is more than just talking into your phone. The value within voice search is the way the search algorithms have evolved to assess the intent of the search performed and provide the result the searcher really wants. Isn’t that what we all want–someone (or something) who knows what we’re looking for?

The best way to make your website friendly for voice searches is to utilize search engine optimization best practices. The keyword research and tagging serves as the same metadata to communicate the website and page content to smart speakers as SEO. Many of these recommendations boil down to putting yourself in the shoes of your website audience. Providing value to the website visitor in exchange for their time, making their experience easy by presenting relevant content in an intuitive way, and designing and developing a site that is accessible to everyone are the keys to your best 2021 website. n Robyn Addis is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Legal Internet Solutions Incorporated. Connect with her on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/robynaddis.

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 211, 2021

29

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