Attorney Journals, San Diego, Volume 194

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SAN DIEGO

Volume 194, 2019 $6.95

Best Attorney Websites of 2019

Jacob Sanders It’s Not Stalking if You’re Offering Value to Your Clients

Tara Weintritt

Consider this Version of the Reptile: It’s Not Fear, It’s Anger

4 Compelling Reasons Why Lawyers Should Consider Starting a Podcast

Jay Harrington Client Intimacy

Ken Broda-Bahm

Make Your Firm Family-Friendly

Jeff Wolf

Kate Reder Sheikh Learning to Develop Business? Think Like a Stand-Up Comic

Dale Durham

Attorney of the Month

Kelly Bagla,

Bagla Law Firm, APC, San Diego Grabbing Life by the Pearls

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2019 EDITION—NO.194

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Four Compelling Reasons Why Lawyers Should Consider Starting a Podcast

by Jay Harrington

8 Consider this Version of the Reptile: It’s Not Fear, It’s Anger

by Ken Broda-Bahm, Ph.D.

10 Make Your Firm Family-Friendly … Don’t Just Say You Are EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor

by Kate Reder Sheikh

12 Community News

EDITOR Wendy Price

14 Learning to Develop Business? Think Like a Stand-Up Comic

CREATIVE SERVICES Penn Creative CIRCULATION Angela Watson

by Dale Durham

PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH

16 Kelly Bagla, Bagla Law Firm, APC, San Diego Grabbing Life by the Pearls

STAFF WRITERS Dan Baldwin Jennifer Hadley CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Ken Broda-Bahm, Ph.D. Dale Durham Jay Harrington Jacob Sanders Kate Reder Sheikh Tara Weintritt Jeff Wolf 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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by Dan Baldwin

22 Client Intimacy

by Jeff Wolf

16 24 Best Attorney Websites of 2019

by Jacob Sanders

28 It’s Not Stalking if You’re Offering Value to Your Clients

by Tara Weintritt

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

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

Attorney Journals is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2019 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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4 Compelling Reasons Why Lawyers Should Consider Starting a Podcast

by Jay Harrington

Lawyers are building new and innovative thought leadership platforms using video and audio.

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ultivating a reputation as a thought leader is the best form of legal marketing because it allows a lawyer to create a credible, authentic relationship with prospects and meet them where they are, which is online, in control, and searching for solutions to the challenges they face. As a consequence of putting thought leadership out into the marketplace of ideas, lawyers generate business development opportunities because they remain top-of-mind with their prospective clients.

One of the prerequisites to becoming a thought leader is having a platform from which to share one’s ideas. Traditionally, lawyers have expressed thought leadership from behind the podium at speaking events and on their firm’s website or blog. Today, lawyers are building new and innovative thought leadership platforms using video and audio. Podcasting, in particular, has been gaining steam in 2018 and 2019. That said, we’re still in the very early stages of the audio revolution in legal marketing.

This summer, my business partner and I finally got around to launching a podcast. It’s called “The Thought Leadership Project.” Having consulted with several law firms over the years to help them start their own podcasts, I deeply understood the value of having a podcast as a thought leadership platform, but never got around to creating my own.

Why? I fell victim to the “Cobbler’s Kids” syndrome. I procrastinated and put off this important initiative. Perhaps you have, too, despite your best intentions. The purpose of this post, therefore, is to give you some insights and motivation that will help you get your law firm’s podcast up and running.

The good news: A podcast can be extremely beneficial and it’s less complicated and time-consuming than you might think to get started.

Every lawyer who produces thought leadership content— or wants to—should consider starting a podcast. Here are four reasons why:

1. It’s Personal I’m a big advocate of written thought leadership, especially if it involves guest posting on platforms (like JD Supra) that are 6

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

read and trusted by your target audience. However, the written word is simply not as resonant on an interpersonal level as audio. When someone hears your voice, your inflections, your sense of humor, and your passion on a podcast, they form a deeper connection with you than they would by merely reading something you wrote. Business development is still an intensely personal endeavor, so the more directly you can connect with your audience through your thought leadership the better.

2. It Will Expand Your Network By nature of having a podcast, you’ll reach new people who prefer audio content over written content. Podcasting gives lawyers the opportunity to draw prospective clients and industry influencers within their network.

When consulting with law firms on how to create a successful podcast, I consistently implore my clients to consider developing a podcast format that involves interviewing guests.

Sure, it takes more work to book and prepare for guest podcast interviews but the payoff is worth it. Not only is the content often more engaging, but by giving an influential general counsel, investment banker, or other prospective client or referral source a platform to share their ideas, you have the chance to develop a connection that may otherwise have been out of reach.

Most invitations to lunch are declined these days. The opportunity to appear and shine on a podcast, on the other hand, is an offer that many can’t refuse.

3. You’ll Improve Your Communication Skills Every seasoned podcaster will tell you that their first few episodes are terrible.

Any podcaster’s first 10 episodes are akin to the first draft of a book manuscript—not nearly as polished as the finished product. I can tell you from my own experience that my early episodes contain way more “ums,” “ahs,” and other verbal tics than I hoped for. There are questions I wish I would have phrased differently when interviewing guests. The reason that episodes get better over time is that through the practice of

podcasting your communication skills will get better.

You’ll notice your verbal tics as you listen to past episodes and consciously commit to eliminate them.

Your enhanced communication skills will not only improve your podcasting—they’ll spill over and make you better on the phone with clients, in the courtroom, boardroom, and behind the microphone at public speaking events. Yes, you’ll hate hearing your own voice.

But the feedback you’ll derive will be invaluable.

4. You’ll Save Time I’ve written two books and hundreds of articles on legal marketing and business development topics over the last decade. In my nascent days of podcasting, I can tell you that the volume of my writing will go down as the level of my audio content goes up.

One reason for the shift is that, as attention spans dwindle and tastes change, I believe that audio consumption will continue to rise. People can consume podcast content on-the-go, during margin time in the car, on the subway, or on the treadmill. Another big reason is that it takes less time to create a podcast episode than it does an in-depth written article.

If you’re a busy lawyer who wants to create more thought leadership content, you can easily create one 30-minute podcast episode per week in one hour of time (assuming you outsource some aspects of production).

Conversely, a typical fully-developed blog post often takes three to four hours to write and edit.

The best podcasts deal with specific issues and are targeted to specific audiences.

Have you bought into the idea of starting a podcast yet? If so, here are a few more tips that will help you to create an effective podcast, not merely another run-ofthe-mill one.

Pick a Niche The best podcasts deal with specific issues and are targeted to specific audiences. Having a niche focus (the narrower the better) to the thought leadership you share on a podcast allows your audience to know what to expect. It enables you to take a deeper dive on topics of importance to those you hope to target for business development.

As a result, your audience will be more engaged with your content and come back for more. You’ll be top of mind with the very people—even if it’s a relatively small number of people—who can influence buying decisions.

You’ll become a trusted insider in a niche area, rather than an outsider who’s held at arm’s length. If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of a niche for thought leadership marketing, check out episode 1 of my podcast.

Keep it Simple with Technology One of the main sticking points that prevents lawyers and law firms from starting a podcast is uncertainty about technology.

Don’t let this stop you. Yes, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but if you’re moderately competent with technology you can figure it out. Plus, you can outsource the more technical tasks, such as some of the initial setup and audio mixing, to consultants and/ or in-house IT and marketing professionals within your firm.

To get off the ground, you’ll need a good microphone (I use a Blue Yeti), software to record the podcast audio (I use Zoom), and a podcast host (such as a website or Libsyn) to store your audio files and distribute the RSS feed to iTunes and other podcast platforms.

Be Consistent Most successful podcasts produce fresh content on a consistent frequency in order to create and meet listener expectations.

You don’t have to produce a podcast episode every week to be successful, but it is important to maintain a consistent cadence with your podcast output.

That said, statistics show that podcasts that produce new episodes weekly grow at a faster rate than those that publish on a less frequent basis. So if you’re serious about podcasting, do your best to “sell” yourself an hour each week to make it happen.

Create a Process The more you can systematize your podcasting process the easier it will be. From recording at a specific time each week, to establishing an editorial calendar so you’ll be clear on what topics you’re addressing in advance, to having the right resources in place to produce and promote your episodes, there are a number of strategic issues you’ll want to address in advance to make the process run smoothly.

“Podfading” is a term that describes the typical new podcast that starts off with a bang then fizzles out over time. You can avoid the fade by establishing clear processes to keep yourself on track.

Want to become a thought leader? It’s not only about having great ideas. You need to build a powerful platform to share your ideas with your target audience. Consider starting a podcast.

It’s not as hard as you may think. n Jay Harrington is the owner of Harrington Communications, a leading digital marketing agency for law, consulting, and accounting firms. He specializes in helping law firms build engaging websites and digital marketing strategies through creative design and storytelling. Jay is author of the recently released book The Essential Associate: Step Up, Stand Out, and Rise to the Top as a Young Lawyer. In 2016, his first book, One of a Kind: A Proven Path to a Profitable Law Practice, was published. Jay is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, and previously he was a commercial litigator and corporate bankruptcy attorney at Skadden Arps and Foley & Lardner.

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

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Consider this Version of the Reptile: It’s Not Fear, It’s Anger

by Ken Broda-Bahm, Ph.D.

D

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efendants in many areas of litigation are likely familiar at this point with the Reptile approach to trying plaintiffs’ cases. A central pillar of the strategy, and its namesake, is the idea that personally relevant fear appeals can be wielded in order to awaken the primitive, or ‘reptile,’ regions of the brain, and that cognitive reset helps the plaintiff. I have written previously about the problems involved in taking this idea too literally: There is little to no evidence that a distinct and quasi-independent “Reptile Brain” exists and can take over the more logical parts of the brain. But still, in my view, the Reptile works because it speaks to motivation, or the question of what would make a juror want to side with the plaintiff.

Looking at some recent reporting, I believe there is an additional way of understanding how the Reptile strategy might work, and that is based in anger more than in fear. A recent article in The Boston Globe takes a look at the role of anger, not in a litigation context, but in a political context.

The focus is on people who have “lost” relatives to angerinducing political programs on talk radio, cable news, and online. As the article shares, there is a biological basis for anger to be seen as a highly involving route, even an addictive route, to changing one’s viewpoint. As I read this, I noted that it squares with some of our own research and experience in reactions to cases. When the plaintiff can tap into anger against a defendant, they’re able to motivate a liability verdict and higher damages. That makes me think that anger plays more of a role than fear in getting jurors closer to the emotional override of the brain’s skeptical logic centers that the Reptile approach envisions. In this post, I’ll look at why that might be the case.

jumping-off point, the article explores the role of anger in driving viewpoints. At heart, the authors write, there is an attraction. “Anger’s ubiquity, its stickiness, indicates that we get something out of it.” And what we get, according to the neurologists they interview, is a rush of cortisol, dopamine, and other chemicals. “When we feel outrage, we’re responding to a potent cocktail of neurochemical reactions, physiological sensations, and conditioned responses. It’s a survival mechanism linked to our deepest, oldest brain system, the limbic system.”

That brain system is what the plaintiff true believers somewhat metaphorically call “the Reptile.” The amygdala, a nerve center in the medial temporal lobe, regulates our stress response, and suppresses or redirects the functioning in the more logic-driven prefrontal cortex. Dr. Jean Kim, a psychiatrist for the US Department of Health and Human Services, explains, “The nature of anger is that it shuts off your cortex, your logic center, your thinking — it’s literally overriding that center of your brain.”

“People get a literal rush from getting angry,” Kim continues, “It feels good. It feeds into your sense of self and you end up liking it.” Of course, we would not want to take this too far and personify “anger” as a kind of invading spirit, the way the Reptile proponents see “fear.” It is not necessarily a matter of fully short-circuiting rationality or getting a primitive brain to wholly supplant the more modern brain. Critical thinking is still important in bringing an audience to the point of anger. But in getting people to that point, anger is attractive in a way that fear is not. Anger grabs our attention, conveys power and confidence, and makes us feel righteous.

The Biological Basis: Anger Addiction

The Practical Basis: Why Would Anger Work Well in Litigation?

The Boston Globe article focuses on a documentary made

by Jen Senko called, “The Brainwashing of My Dad,” that chronicles her father’s later-life personality transformation after becoming a regular consumer of venom-laced political programming from Fox and Rush Limbaugh. From that

Working as part of many trial teams, I’ve worked with some attorneys who are calm and conversational from start to finish of trial. But I’ve also worked with some others who, particularly as we move to closings, are working themselves up to a point of barely restrained rage, which

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

they hope the jury will pick up on and adopt as their own. The latter group is, more often than not, the side that is asking for money.

And our experience has been that anger works. It is contagious, and when the plaintiff is able to tap into anger over the defendant’s choices and actions, that pushes them toward a liability verdict and toward higher damages. While it’s less common, some defendants in some case circumstances are also able to locate a source of anger that can motivate jurors. Unfairness, contributory negligence, or the idea of a frivolous suit or an exaggerated damages request can motivate. More often, however, it is the plaintiff focusing on specific facts and decisions that spark anger.

For example, over the course of products liability mock trials during at least the past decade, we have focused on what drives jury decisions. More than the severity of injury and more than objective signs of negligence is deception. If the company lied, or hid, or misled about the product and its associated risks, then jurors will be highly motivated to find that company at fault and to seek out the higher range of damages. The company’s deception doesn’t add to fear so much as it adds to anger. If the company is seen as abusing its power and acting in bad faith, then jurors are motivated to punish that arrogance.

Results like this reinforce the notion that the truer route

to a juror’s emotional response might be anger rather than fear. And if the Reptile really is an anger strategy rather than a fear strategy, then this carries a few implications for defendants: • Identify and test the facts and arguments that are likely to serve as “anger triggers” in your case. Where could a reasonable factfinder see impunity, dishonesty, or arrogance?

• Reframe these facts and arguments in the best light possible.

• Failing that, consider any “anger-defusing moves” you could take, such as acknowledging some kind of “lesson learned,” even if it is not a concession of liability • Think about what might make fact-finders angry about the other side, and how you can leverage that. n Ken Broda-Bahm, Ph.D. is a Senior Litigation Consultant at Holland & Hart in charge of assisting plaintiffs and defendants seeking to maximize their message effectiveness in jury trial, bench trial, arbitration, and mediation settings by providing strategic advice, messaging, opening statement assistance, witness preparation, demonstrative exhibit advice, jury selection, mock trial and focus group research. Learn more at https://www.hollandhart.com.

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

9

Make Your Firm Family-Friendly …

Don’t Just Say You Are

by Kate Reder Sheikh

T

here’s been much discussion in the legal industry lately about female- and family-friendly workplaces. Working Mother came out with its 2019 ranking of U.S. law firms that “utilized best practices to recruit, retain, promote and develop women lawyers.” The magazine identified 60 law firms where women make up at least 37% of new equity partners.

These firms offer extended parental leave benefits, and many include reimbursements for egg-freezing and fertility treatments.

That’s great—on paper. But in my experience as a law firm associate and now as a recruiter, saying you’re female- and family-friendly doesn’t mean much if it’s not ingrained in your firm’s culture.

Take the recent spate of stories on how taking a long parental leave can threaten a woman’s partnership ambitions. These stories bear out what I hear from associate candidates all the time: The official policy is one thing, but the reaction of partners on the ground to taking advantage of that policy is something else altogether.

So, what can law firms to do to be truly family-friendly?

Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Am Law 100 firms offer fewer than five weeks of parental leave on average for secondary caregivers. Across the U.S., seven in 10 fathers took off 10 days or fewer as their full leave—a practice that hurts not just dads but women and entire families.

Parental leave policies that are gendered or rely on disability payments do not treat adoptive parents equally, nor do they account for the role that a new nonbirthing parent plays in a baby’s first months. They also create gender imbalances in families by hindering that parent from participating equally in childcare. In fact, gender-neutral parental leave can help ease the gender pay gap and boost equality in the workplace.

The first truly progressive step that firms can take is to decouple the ideas of “family-friendly” and “female-friendly.”

We need gender-neutral parental leave, and we need it to apply equally to all different family structures.

Bias-Prevention Programs We also need training for partners and supervisors to respond positively to announcements that parental leave is being taken. A candidate I worked with received the old “wink wink” when he announced that he was taking six weeks of parental leave. The partner said, “Sure, six weeks, we’ll see about that!

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

Hopefully your job will still be here!” The candidate left shortly thereafter, and we negotiated his full leave at his new firm.

Firms also need to honor the circumstances when a parent goes to reduced time to care for their family. I was recently speaking with an associate who went down to 80% time and explicitly asked that she not be sent pressing items between 5 and 7 p.m., when she’s feeding and bathing her baby. Inevitably, she receives a proper fire drill email during those hours, and then frustrated emails that she hasn’t responded—also within that same 5 to 7 p.m. period.

Don’t Punish People Lawyers should not lose a year of seniority in the partnership hunt by taking parental leave. Until parental leave is fully gender-neutral, and until men take as much leave as women do, this policy is inherently prejudiced against women. You should not be docked a year for taking four months. If firms want to make qualified, excellent female lawyers into partners, they will do away with this antiquated toll.

On a related note, firms shouldn’t disqualify candidates from promotion to partner if they happen to be on leave during partnership decisions. Being on leave should not make that person ineligible. Not only is earning partnership a long road that is not defined by a period of recent months, but the optics of being out on leave and making partner suggest to associates that they really can have it all.

Offer Leave from Day One Parental leave should not be a special benefit that accrues with service. It shouldn’t be gained through longevity and loyalty to the firm. It’s much more fundamental than that. While it’s not ideal to take a leave immediately, the firm is making a longterm investment in its people—and being out on leave at the beginning should be a non-issue in the grand scheme of things.

Paper policies are insufficient to creating a family-friendly workplace. In order to continue to recruit and retain top talent, firms should make these deeper, cultural changes a serious priority. n Kate Reder Sheikh is a Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa covering San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Her focus is on providing a concierge level of service to associates and clients alike. Leveraging her background as a litigator in San Francisco.

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COMMUNITY news n Butterfield Schechter LLP is pleased to announce that attorney Paul Woodard has been named as the firm’s newest partner. Paul’s practice focuses on employee benefits law, employee stock ownership plan, pension, profit sharing and 401(k) plans, ERISA litigation, business law PAUL WOODARD and litigation, qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs), estate planning and trust litigation. Mr. Woodard is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern, Central, and Eastern Districts of California; the United States Tax Court; and the Ninth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. Paul has also been selected as President of the Western Pension & Benefits Council, San Diego Chapter Executive Committee.

Mr. Woodard has also taken an active role in the legal community as the co-chair of the Wills for Heroes, San Diego Chapter, and as an At-Large Board Member of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Community Service Committee. Since 2017, Paul has served as Co-Vice President for Corporate Relations of the Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce. n Srinivas Hanumadass—an attorney with San Diego plaintiffs’ law firm CaseyGerry—was recently elected to the board of directors of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), a statewide professional organization of attorneys representing consumers in SRINIVAS HANUMADASS personal injury, product liability cases and other causes.

According to CaseyGerry’s managing partner, David S. Casey, Jr., Hanumadass’ new role represents another chapter in the firm’s longtime involvement with CAOC. “Since David S. Casey Sr. founded the California Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Association (now CAOC) in 1961, our firm has continued to support and advocate for this outstanding organization. We are proud to have Srinivas carry on the legacy of my father and the firm and represent us on the CAOC board,” he said.

Hanumadass specializes in serious personal injury litigation and is active in the legal community. He has served as vice president and secretary of the San Diego County Bar Association and served two terms as president of the South Asian Bar Association.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

n Higgs Fletcher & Mack (HFM) Of Counsel attorney Douglas (Doug) Butz will receive the prestigious Daniel T. Broderick III Award for civility, integrity and professionalism at the 35th Annual Red Boudreau Trial Lawyers’ Dinner benefiting Father Joe’s Villages this Saturday, September 14th.

DOUGLAS M. BUTZ The Broderick Award is presented annually to a San Diego trial lawyer who demonstrates the highest standards of professionalism and civility in their practice. A committee comprised of members of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers of San Diego, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and San Diego Defense Lawyers nominate and select the award winner each year. Butz has represented regional, national, and international law firms in a variety of professional liability matters for nearly four decades. He has a proven track record of courtroom success in the trial of high exposure cases and has tried in excess of 100 cases in courts of unlimited jurisdiction. n Noonan Lance Boyer & Banach LLP (NoonanLance) recently secured the dismissal of a $30 million federal lawsuit brought by the United States against its client Dr. Tarek Shawaf. The Central District of California suit, filed in 2016, sought damages caused by the 2013 Mountain Fire in JIM LANCE Mountain Center, California, that burned for more than two weeks.

The U.S. asserted a claim in excess of $30 million for fire suppression costs, damage to federal lands, penalties and interest. A NoonanLance team of attorneys led by Partner James Lance represented Shawaf, the owner of a vacation home in Mountain Center, where the government alleged the fire started. NoonanLance Partner Ethan Boyer and Associate Genevieve Ruch also played key roles in the case. The caretakers of Shawaf ’s property, Jim and Donna Nowlin, were also named as defendants. David Bona of Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP in San Francisco represented the Nowlins. The U.S. claimed that the fire started in an electrical junction box on Shawaf ’s property, which the U.S. alleged was not properly maintained.

Experts hired by Lance and Bona disputed this theory based on their on-site investigations and extensive testing.

n Neil Dymott is proud to announce that shareholder Benjamin J. Howard’s nomination for membership into the prestigious Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) has been unanimously approved by their Board of Directors. The Federation is a distinguished composition of legal community members who are at the BENJAMIN J. HOWARD forefront of defending clients in civil lawsuits. Mr. Howard’s selection demonstrates that he possesses the Federation’s desired qualities of professionalism, fellowship and the promotion of knowledge of the law.

Membership is by nomination only and currently stands at a little over 1400 throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, Puerto Rico as well as other geographic areas.

Other Neil Dymott attorneys who are honored to be members of the prestigious FDCC include shareholders Michael I. Neil and Clark R. Hudson. n Former federal prosecutor and seasoned litigator Robert G. Marasco has joined Procopio as a Partner. He will represent clients in the health care industry with legal services including fraud and abuse, privacy, and data security compliance. He will also be aiding a wide variety of corporate and individual clients with complex civil and whiteROBERT G. MARASCO collar criminal litigation matters.

“Rob is an experienced litigator with a deep understanding of the complex compliance challenges companies face under federal and state laws, particularly in the health care industry,” said Procopio Managing Partner John D. Alessio. “We’re thrilled to have him return to the Procopio family as a Partner.”

For nearly five years Marasco served in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, in both the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of California. He was the lead prosecutor on hundreds of investigations and managed all aspects of litigation. His focus was on white collar violations of federal laws and regulations, including health care fraud violations.

n Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP (CGS3), a San Diego-based commercial real estate law firm, announced today the addition of its newest partner, Marjorie J. Burchett. Previously a partner with Withers Bergman LLP, she joins CGS3’s mixed use, distressed assets and finance practice groups and will be based in the MARJORIE J. BURCHETT firm’s San Diego offices.

According to CGS3 founding partner Sean Southard, Burchett is another testament to the firm’s enduring commitment to attracting best-in-class lawyers. “Marjorie is an outstanding real estate attorney who specializes in handling complex transactions across all asset classes. She is especially skilled at working with mixed use, urban infill, master planned communities and condominium developments – all areas in which we are experiencing robust growth,” Southard said. “She also brings a wealth of expertise in finance on both the borrower and lender sides.”

Burchett has worked with major residential, resort, commercial, mixed use and master planned developments projects over the past 30 years. n The law firm Antonyan Miranda is proud to welcome experienced attorney and academic Steven Berenson to the firm as a Senior Associate Attorney, effective July 29, 2019.

Berenson has spent the past two decades as a full-time law professor at three American Bar Association (ABA) approved law schools. Most STEVEN BERENSON recently, Berenson taught at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where he founded and directed the Thomas Jefferson Veterans Legal Assistance Clinic, which provides pro bono legal representation to homeless veterans.

Earlier in his career, Berenson spent nearly five years as an Assistant Attorney General in the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, where he focused on civil governmental litigation and consumer protection enforcement. In that role, Berenson argued cases in state and federal court and was counsel of record in numerous reported decisions from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

13

Learning to Develop Business? Think Like a Stand-Up Comic

by Dale Durham

R

isk intolerance can be bad news for the aspiring partner.

After all, a risk adverse entrepreneur is an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp. But lawyers who are in the early stages of their career and beginning to build a book of business should stop thinking like a lawyer and instead think like a stand-up comic. The job of a junior comic and the aspiring partner are the same: Build an impactful reputation now to attract business later.

Embrace Discomfort A comic will often exclaim she “killed” when her set goes well, and she “died” when it does not. Comedians think of themselves as warriors, comedy ninjas in a fight for survival with their enemy, the audience. On the other side, I’ve heard law firm leaders describe their partners as either “trappers or skinners,” borrowing the language of the fur trade. “Eat what you kill” is often used to describe a law firm’s partner compensation system. Rainmakers, like comics, are expected to be killers, like fishermen landing a huge client and mounting it on the wall as an origination credit.

Why do lawyers and comics both use violent language to describe their jobs? Because these endeavors are risky and difficult to execute. For comics and attorneys both, competition is fierce, and failures are often public. When a joke fails to land, it feels like social death. Most law firm partners are compensated on their ability to originate business; every failure is money lost.

Aspiring partners must embrace the inherent discomfort in putting themselves out there. The earliest stages of business development require only that lawyers strike up a conversation in person or reach out to a stranger by phone or email. For most, these kinds of network-building actions summon fears of social rejection. The human brain tries to avoid this fear like it tries to avoid physical pain. To overcome this demotivating quark of psychology, one must recognize that taking a social risk, like the public performance of jokes or the intentional building of a network, is not tied to one’s physical safety or survival. Stated plainly: The stakes are no longer life and death. Acknowledge feelings of risk and act anyway.

Build a “Tight Five” Junior stand-ups spend years constructing a “tight five.” That is, five minutes of tested material with structure—an opening, a closing and repeatable beats—that dependably elicit laughs.

This is a comic’s starting point. It’s in perfecting her first “tight five” that a comic learns the craft of comedy. Skills like the 14

Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

ability to elongate a laugh, to read and control the mood of an audience, to handle hecklers and to manipulate audience expectations. As she hones the themes of her “tight five” through performance, she also finds her distinguishing style.

For entrepreneurial attorneys, “the elevator pitch” is the starting point. Young lawyers must take the time to intentionally develop their personal story—with a beginning, middle and end.

The story must be repeatable but also adaptable to a particular audience or a spontaneous occurrence. It must describe both individual capabilities and those of the firm (being a good lawyer is a given; what distinguishes you, your group, your firm, your office?). This is the prep work; landing the clients comes later.

Find an Open Mic A young comedian performs as often as possible and often for free. Why? Because nothing is better for building a reputation than performing a “tight five” in front of strangers. For the beginner, an open mic night at an established comedy venue offers a chance to examine her own material as reflected by the audience response. It’s in the crucible of an unforgiving room where these lessons are learned.

Aspiring partners must do the same. They should seize every chance to deliver their pitch and build their brand—to family and friends, lawyers and non-lawyers, potential future clients and those unlikely to send business. Deliver the pitch at networking events, dinner parties and even to fellow parents on the playground. Pay attention to the listener’s response and learn from it.

Opportunity comes from unexpected sources. It’s up to young lawyers to create the conditions for future opportunities now by priming their network to consider their skills, capacity and expertise.

Eventually, the comedian leaves the open mic circuit for larger and further flung venues. Yet, she continues her strategy of building a noteworthy reputation in pursuit of larger goals. As the comedian dreams of Madison Square Garden, so too should the aspiring partner consistently pursue network growth and brand articulation in the hunt for a book of business. n Dale Durham is a Director of Major, Lindsey & Africa in their Los Angeles and Orange County offices and a member of the Associate Practice Group. Dale’s focus is on placing associates into law firms in order to maximize their career trajectory. In doing so, Dale works closely with leading law firms, both BigLaw and top-shelf boutiques, in building highly skilled legal teams.

GRABBING LIFE

by the Pearls Kelly Bagla, Esq.

by Jennifer Hadley

As Bagla Law Firm, APC celebrates 10 years of success, Founder, Business Lawyer, Best-Selling Author, Entrepreneur (and Inventor!) Kelly Bagla continues to work tirelessly to help fellow business owners thrive.

“I help entrepreneurs, because I am one,” says Kelly Bagla, Founder of Carlsbad, CA-based Bagla Law Firm, APC. However, she’s quick to note that law is her first love and credits the invaluable experience she received as a young lawyer with laying the strong foundation upon which Bagla Law Firm has been built. “Law truly is my first passion,” she says.

Born and raised in England as the youngest of 7 children, Bagla recalls wanting to be a lawyer even as a child. “I didn’t even really know what a lawyer was, but it’s what I wanted to do,” she says. Her decision to focus on business law, including earning her LL.M., was inspired by watching her father become a business owner after working his way up from an employee on the factory line in a denim factory, to owning the factory.

“I saw him reap the rewards of having worked so hard. I saw him making the lives of his employees better. They loved him, because he was one of them. I definitely got my love of business from my dad. He’s also the person who taught me that if I wanted something, I had to want it from the heart, and I’ve never forgotten that.” With that core conviction in place, Bagla set her sights on business law, and accepted a position with the

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largest international law firm in the world, Baker Mackenzie.

“Working for that firm, and learning from some of the brilliant legal minds, definitely allowed me to not only sharpen my legal skills, but in the process become a top attorney well versed in corporate and securities law. I worked with a wide variety of clients and was constantly exposed to new and exciting businesses. I got to know really inventive people who were always thinking outside of the box.”

After spending her formative years as a young attorney at the powerhouse firm, Bagla decided to also gain experience in working at a small firm. “I next worked for a small IP firm.

Whereas I learned how to practice law at the large firm, I learned how to sell, which is crucial for any business owner, at the small firm,” she says. Soon enough though, the latent entrepreneur in her started demanding attention. “I began to see that if I could bring in business for the firm, why couldn’t I do it for myself? I wanted to explore my options.” Thus, in October 2009, Bagla opened Bagla Law Firm, APC. “It was the best decision I have ever made, and I’d do it all over again,” says Bagla.

JOURNALS

ATTORNEY

OF THE MONTH

© Bauman Photographers

2019

Pearls of Wisdom “I knew I wanted to be different from your typical law firm, so I decided to treat my clients as I would want to be treated by any professional. My firm creates more of a partnership with my clients. Although a ‘partnership’ has a legal definition, it is also defined as an essential part of any business that is looking for support. Creating partnerships with my clients and peers is the cornerstone of my practice. Being available for my clients and peers without having them feel as if they are in a financial chokehold is my key to success,” Bagla explains. “I charge a flat fee, so there are no surprises.”

Likewise, Bagla says her loyalty to fellow attorneys has proven a smart business tactic. “My business has thrived because of referrals from attorneys and clients.” In turn, Bagla is equally dedicated to referring business to her peers. “I’m very loyal and once I find a great attorney, I always refer my clients to them for their specific expertise.” Suffice it to say, the strategy is working in her favor, as Bagla’s very first firm client remains a client today, and she’s built a strong network of partnerships with business litigators and IP attorneys.

“My law firm has a unique service whereby I help clients with their startup needs, their growth needs, and their plans for exiting the business. Because of my experience, I’m able to apply big firm strategies to small business clients on a flat rate basis. I think outside the box and creatively provide solutions to business problems. Entrepreneurs who want to start their business go through virtually the same struggles that those who came before them went through. I’ve come across every case imaginable as far as entrepreneurs go, and what they need to start a business. So, I focus my talents on them,” she says.

Although Bagla works with business owners in virtually all industries, she has carved a niche in working with real estate investors to protect assets through customized asset protection strategies and planning. Additionally, Bagla is known for helping international clients to create a domestic presence.

“My ultimate goal is to have a positive effect on the statistic of failing companies in America,” Bagla says. “So many businesses fail because they simply aren’t set up right from the start. Entrepreneurs need to have their legal ducks in a row.

Consider, for example, that huge corporations often have work they would like to contract out to local businesses. They aren’t going to contract it out to a sole proprietor. Small business owners miss out on so much potential business because they aren’t incorporated, or don’t have proper contracts, or even in some cases don’t have a proper domain or email address. A Qualcomm type of company, for example, isn’t going to hire Jim Jones if he’s got a Gmail account for his business email.

Entrepreneurs need to present themselves professionally to get the business they need to survive.”

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With a business failure rate of upwards of 80%, Bagla recognized in 2017 that entrepreneurs had limited options for properly setting up their companies, which is vital to longterm success. “They had two options. The first was to use the services of a law firm to create the startup package the right way, but it can be very expensive. The second option was for the entrepreneur to spend hours and hours researching what legal documents they need, and then find an online company to buy the documents because online companies don’t sell startup packages. They also aren’t law firms, so they can’t give legal advice, which most, if not all entrepreneurs need.”

During the process of writing what would ultimately become a bestseller on Amazon, and after successfully inventing a line of plush toys called Eardorables, which she ultimately licensed to Mattel, Bagla realized that she could provide a third option, in an effort to give more businesses the best chance for success.

Why Wear One Strand When You Can Wear Two? In 2017, Bagla was nearing completion of her book, Go Legal Yourself! (a guide for business owners that explains the four phases of the Business Legal Lifecycle®, and how to set up a business for success from the start), when she realized she had everything she needed to develop a third viable option for entrepreneurs. Through creating an online legal resource company that would allow people to incorporate their business the right way without paying law firm fees, Bagla aimed to assist even more entrepreneurs.

“Typically, the most successful entrepreneurs are those who come from a corporate background. They tend to be well versed in the legalities of business ownership. So, when they launch consulting businesses, for example, they know that everything they’ve worked so hard to earn is at risk when they start a new business. They know to protect those accumulated assets. Unfortunately, first-time entrepreneurs rarely know that they need to protect themselves from such risks,” she says.

“The purpose of GoLegalYourself.com is to help entrepreneurs, period.” Bagla says. “There is only one right way to legally start a business and you need to make sure you start with a solid legal foundation. Unless you use a law firm to help you start your business, you don’t know what you don’t know when it comes to legally protecting your assets. Starting a business is a risky endeavor because you can get sued for anything at any time. GoLegalYourself.com packages have everything legal you will need to start and grow your business the right way.”

While GoLegalYourself.com is a relatively new business, Bagla expects that within five years, GoLegalYourself.com will be the go-to website for people to use to start their own

Š Bauman Photographers | Makeup by Erica Bessinger | Hair by Mane Bar

© Bauman Photographers

At home with husband (Brent Waters) and their sweet dogs Bella, Lady, Schotzy and Princess.

businesses. “It’s exciting. I’ve always had a creative side and I’m putting it into practice by promoting GoLegalYourself.com. It’s my passion to help entrepreneurs succeed, and by providing them with the right legal tools to start their business, I’m helping them lay a solid legal foundation upon which they can build their business,” she says.

Bagla also hosts the Go Legal Yourself! podcast, which is available in 25 countries. “I promote and interview other professionals from different industries who share their success and failure stories. There’s so much you can learn from another’s failure.” The Go Legal Yourself! podcast is available in the app store, and a subscription includes a free e-copy of her book, Go Legal Yourself!.

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Although Bagla is passionate about helping all entrepreneurs to establish legally solid businesses, she says that helping military servicemembers and veterans start their own businesses is particularly rewarding. She chooses to honor their service by offering discounted legal services rates and volunteers her time to speak to various Veteran groups including Vetrepreneur and Veterans in Business. Bagla is also a monthly contributor to both San Diego Veterans Magazine and Homeland Magazine.

The World Is Her Oyster With her signature pearls, vivacious personality, successful law firm, and two best-selling books to her credit (her second

Contact Kelly Bagla, Esq. 5857 Owens Ave, Suite 300 Carlsbad, CA 92008 760-784-9109 kelly@baglalaw.com www.baglalaw.com

© Bauman Photographers

EXPERIENCE

book, Go Own Yourself was released in 2018 and is also already a bestseller on Amazon) it’s no surprise that Bagla has become a sought after speaker for a variety of conferences and seminars. She’s spoken to audiences at Startup Grind powered by Google, Veterans in Business Network, the San Diego Educational Forum for Business Owners, SCORE San Diego, and others.

She’s also been repeatedly recognized for her success, and her efforts to help others. She was named a Business Woman of the Year by the San Diego Business Journal in 2018. She was also named the “Powerful Women Entrepreneur” of the year at the 2017 DREAMS Inspiration awards. She’s been featured on all of the local news outlets, along with appearances on national news programs. She was also affectionately given the nickname of “Queen of Business Law®” by a client, and the moniker has stuck.

So, with opportunities galore at her fingertips, a thriving law firm, and a growing online legal resource company, what does Bagla intend to do now? “Being a lawyer is a fulltime job. Being partners with my clients is a fulltime job.

I am accessible and available, but I’m definitely busy. My goal for the future is to continue working towards living a balanced life.”

Continuing she says, “I love traveling, I am a bit of a gym rat—I won the title ‘Ms. Southern California’ and hold a professional bodybuilding card)—I love reading biographies, and I’m dedicated to my husband Brent Waters, and our four dogs, the loves of my life. But for me, a balanced life will always include working hard. Yet working hard just for the sake of having a nice life isn’t my motivation. I have a nice life.”

“I’m going to continuing working hard, because I’m a gogetter, and my parents taught me to believe in myself. I also inherited my mother’s stubbornness, so I tend to set my mind to something and give it everything I have. One of those goals for the future is to open a non-profit animal sanctuary for abandoned and senior dogs called The 4 Paws Resort,” she explains. “There’s nothing more rewarding than caring for and receiving a dog’s love.”

For now, though, Bagla is taking a moment to enjoy the success she’s created in San Diego, her home for the last 17 years. “It’s been an honor and a pleasure to celebrate my thriving firm over the last 10 years. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years have in store.” ■

» EDUCATION

• WHITTIER LAW SCHOOL (COSTA MESA, CA) Master of Laws (LLM-Hons) 2003 • UNIVERSITY OF WALES (SWANSEA, U.K.) Bachelor of Laws with Honors (LLB-Hons) 1999 • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY (HAYWARD, CA) Bachelor of Science (BS) 1996

» ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Founder of Go Legal Yourself LLC • Inventor of Eardorables (featured on The Toy Box and made by Mattel) • Producer and host of Go Legal Yourself Podcast • Author of bestselling book on Amazon Go Legal Yourself • Author of Go Own Yourself

» FEATURED IN

• Inventors Digest • Dreams, Los Angeles Luxury Lifestyle Magazine • The Growth Formula: How Industry Leaders Overcome Fear, Debt & Financial Challenges • California Business Journal • SD Voyager • Starcentral – Entertainment Magazine for the everyday A-List • Monthly contributor in Homeland Magazine • Monthly contributor in San Diego Veterans Magazine • The American Dream TV • Business Women of the Year Awards 2018 by San Diego Business Journal • Marquis Who’s Who – Top Lawyer • Channel 10 • Fox • KUSI News • The Telegraph • U-T San Diego • The C W • Daily News Los Angeles • Wall-Street.com • The Tribuen Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

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Client Intimacy

by Jeff Wolf

T

he first commandment of marketing is Know thy client! Client research is the key to knowing your clients. And the better you know your clients, the more successful you are likely to be in meeting their needs along with your own.

Four concepts capture what today’s clients want: faster, better, cheaper and their way. There is no mistaking the message. The firm that can shave delivery and turnaround time, provide better quality, and tailor its services to the client’s precise needs is a firm to be reckoned with.

To gain an insurmountable edge on the competition, add one more dimension: first-class client care. It pays to provide outstanding client satisfaction (not just service) as part of the package you present to clients. In today’s servicesensitive, service-focused, service-centered economy, firms that offer high-quality client satisfaction keep clients 50 percent longer, have 30 percent lower business development and marketing costs and have about 12 percent higher net profits.

In concept, delivering quality satisfaction is simple: • Make sure you know what clients want and expect of you • Be flexible in meeting those demands • Treat clients like partners rather than adversaries or end users • Make it easy for them to do business with you This mission is easier to talk than walk. But you can make a go of it if you listen and understand your clients’ wants and needs, respond effectively to clients’ evaluations of their experiences with you, and discern what your clients will want in the future, which calls for an intimate knowledge of your clients’ wants, needs, and expectations.

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Knowing your clients intimately means more than research. It means listening to, understanding, and responding to your clients’ evolving needs and shifting expectations, and often in unique ways. It means knowing their business so well that you can anticipate problems and opportunities, and work together on solutions and strategies. So, listening and responding to clients must become everyone’s business.

How can you foster the kind of intimacy that creates longterm loyalty among clients? Start by seeing client matters not as a random collection of experiences, but as relationships built on trust, knowledge, caring and experience.

Clients are no longer shapeless, featureless, mass markets. They are specific, narrow groups with their own unique personalities and views of what constitutes quality service. What clients want, how they want it, and how they do or don’t get it, add up to a service-satisfaction index that determines whether they’ll continue doing business with you. You need a rich, constant flow of fresh, timely information about your clients and how they view your services today. n Jeff Wolf, is known as one of the country’s top business development coaches, is a highly sought-after consultant and has worked with hundreds of attorneys to become successful rainmakers. He has been featured on NBC, CBS, CNBC and FOX, is a commentator for the Legal Broadcasting Network and is the author of two books and numerous articles. As founder and president of Wolf Management Consultants, LLC, he has built a valued practice that addresses the critical problems confronting lawyers and law firms today in the areas of business development, career development, skill development and firm development. He may be reached at jeff@wolfmotivation.com or in his San Diego office 858-638-8260.

Best Attorney Websites of 2019

by Jacob Sanders

M

ore than just a fancy business card, legal website design can be a branding vehicle, an experience for clients, a sales machine, and an essential component to a law firm’s marketing strategy.

But the truth of the matter is, when it comes to website design, most law firms favor something within standards, rather than something outstanding.

We’ve scoured the Internet for what we think are the very best examples of legal websites—websites from strongly branded firms featuring clean design, simple copy, and a sense of humor and style. So here are our picks for Best Attorney Websites of 2019…

Small.Law

www.small.law

A brilliantly understated web design, Jeremy Hessing-Lewis, a Vancouver-based business attorney, has totally embraced his solo/small law firm identity and matched it with a spartan aesthetic to create this masterpiece of a homepage.

Responding to the oft-complained problem of “just being a number” that clients typically have when dealing with larger law firms, Small.Law cleverly uses design to positively frame the “small’ narrative and highlight the benefits of hiring a solo attorney.

Craig, Kelley & Faultless www.ckflaw.com This Indiana personal injury law firm’s website hits all the right notes—strong branding with a video, simple copy focused on the practice area, several points of conversion above-the-fold, and social proof iconography.

Another great example on Craig, Kelly & Faultless of focusing web design around a type of case is the creative asset, Fatal Thursdays.

This immersive dive into statistics around trucking accidents in their state of Indiana, offering alternative routes, provides a strong signal to potential clients and search engines alike, that this is the law firm to handle trucking cases in Indiana. (current client of Consultwebs)

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Thiessen Law Firm www.thetexastrialattorney.com One thing about being an attorney online is that you’re constantly being researched and vetted by opposing counsel, other law firms, judges, potential clients, and current clients. You have to maintain a certain level of representation and reputation management. That’s why the Thiessen Law Firm website is so boss! Pristine design, strong sales opportunities, and this bad-ass photo of the lead attorneys and a doberman? What’s so fantastic is that Mark and Taly embrace their brand, are 100% the nicest people on the planet (you should listen to their interview on our podcast), and they know this website has one job—stand up for them and represent their brand. Well done!

YLaw Group www.ylaw.ca YLaw Group, an award-winning Vancouver family law firm, states right on their homepage, “At YLaw we do everything different, that’s why we’re successful.” In regards to their website design, you can clearly see they’ve embraced their mission to stand out. Extremely free of copy and reliant on humorous imagery, packed with points of CTA (calls-to-action), trust icons and links prominently displayed, this design gets the nod, not only for the design itself but because the design sets the tone for the firm experience. So much more than a business card.

Autumn Witt Boyd Law Firm www.awbfirm.com Your website isn’t just a place to close the deal, or get the million-dollar call. It can also be a place of education, connection, and a chance to close on a more important deal—a long-term (and billable) relationship with clients.

Autumn Witt Boyd is a business and IP attorney working in Tennessee who has embraced content marketing as a business development strategy, as well as offering services not as a single template, but based on a client’s needs.

Instead of waiting to discuss options with potential clients,

the AWB Firm provides guidance upfront with how-tos, videos, lead-generating templates for common business forms, and options for a more in-depth consultation. Your website is a chance for you to provide value upfront, and the AWB Firm captures this sentiment perfectly. If you’d like to hear more about how Autumn uses content marketing for her law firm, listen to her interview on LAWsome.

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Palace Law www.palacelaw.com Patrick Palace, a workers’ comp lawyer in Tacoma, Washington, and the main shareholder of Palace Law, isn’t like most attorneys. In 2016, the Law 500 recognized Palace Law as one of the top law firms nationwide for its growth and innovation.

Patrick has been president of the Washington State Bar and currently serves on the National Council for Bar President’s Executive Council. Whether on webinars, podcasts, (our podcast), radio shows, keynote presentations, or his own TV show, Patrick is an outspoken practitioner of law, and he has traveled the world spreading the legal gospel. His most recent project is a legal tech summit for lawyers. He also owns his own winery, Sunken Cellars, and preaches and teaches mindfulness and yoga.

So it’s little wonder that his website is a standard-bearer for

attorney website design. Extremely simple and clean, visual focus on the practice area, several points of contact as well as an amazing chatbot called “PatBot,” which uses machine learning to gather intel on potential clients and provide them, if possible, with legal advice for their workers’ comp case.

Women’s Divorce & Family Law Group www.womensfamilylawyers.com This Illinois family law firm has a fantastic website, a clear brand connection, elegant copy, and a strong focus on educational content marketing. Not only does the site have the classic distinctions of a high-converting landing page, there is an extremely useful graphic that outlines the firm’s entire process when handling divorce.

The firm’s Roadmap to Divorce is a fantastic example of how easy it can be to deliver value and education when design and marketing combine. Not only does the roadmap help current clients, it can help potential clients correctly set their expectations earlier in the case process, saving innumerable staff hours explaining the process again and again.

Bick Law LLP

www.bicklawllp.com

When stunning natural photography and graphic design meet up on this California environmental law firm’s site, it’s plain to see why Bick Law’s website is the perfect site to close this year’s honorees.

With an amazingly playful focus on their practice area, Bick Law combines their taglines with nature, the environment, and the human world to create an intoxicating blend that just works.

Very pristine design, super clean, strong, bold, branded copy paired with high-contrasting images, this website is the perfect illustration of what an attorney’s website could become. n Jacob Sanders is a Marketing Content Strategist at Consultwebs.com and a Grammy-nominated musician and composer who brings that creative spirit to a diverse array of social media and content marketing projects. Before joining Consultwebs, Jacob served as Marketing Director for Denverbased Sawaya Law Firm and as a social media marketing manager for several organizations and events, including Live Music Pros, Elephant Corral and the Denver Taco Fest. Jacob can be reached at https://www.consultwebs.com.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

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It’s Not Stalking if You’re Offering Value to Your Clients

W

e conducted a business development training workshop last week that included one-onone coaching with each of the participants.

The purpose of the coaching sessions is to take the training, advice and exercises from the sessions and make them personal and relevant to each participant’s practice, prospects and clients. As part of the pre-work, we ask the individuals to bring lists of 10 prospects or clients they want to reconnect with, deepen or expand.

The participants share the history and status of each relationship, and we discuss and strategize together on outreach or added value they might provide to create meaningful touch points with each relationship.

It struck me how often the lawyers said something about “stalking” or “not wanting to bother” contacts after one or two previous outreach attempts. Most lawyers only had one, two or maybe three interactions with these relationships and believed anything more was excessive.

However, research shows that it takes seven to nine meaningful touch points for clients and prospects to consider you or your firm for engagement or work. Far too many lawyers are giving up or leaving it in the client’s hands to stay connected, and relationships are becoming stale or lost because of that.

The reality is if you are providing value, offering insight, sharing helpful information, helping them avoid risk, helping them save money or connecting them to beneficial contacts, clients and prospects see valuable outreach—not stalking. But if you are reaching out every few months to check in and do not have much to add to their lives, they may feel annoyed by your consistent outreach. People are busy and your clients do feel overwhelmed, but they have time for people that make their lives easier.

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Attorney Journals San Diego | Volume 194, 2019

by Tara Weintritt

Consider the following suggestions to connect in a strategic and valuable way: • Connect clients to someone who will benefit them personally or professionally.

• Share an article, blog post or event that may benefit them and tell them specifically why they should care or why you are sending it to them.

• Share information or themes from an event, conference or meeting they may have missed.

• Have a budget conversation before they ask and help them meet or exceed their budget goals.

• Help them fill open positions or hiring needs through your network.

• Assist them in getting on a board that interests them.

• Understand how they are bonused and help them accomplish those goals.

• Solve a problem for them before they even realize it is an issue.

• Offer insights and approaches to problems or industry trends you are seeing from your work with other clients.

• Ask what you can take off their plate that they cannot seem to accomplish.

• Be genuine. People can sense when your outreach is selfish and one-sided. n Tara Weintritt is a partner with Wicker Park Group. Her practice includes training and conducting client feedback interviews, client service training, mid-matter and end of matter feedback training and business development strategies based on hundreds of in-person and telephone interviews. One of her key areas of practice includes developing near and long-term strategies to implement the focus, improvement and change necessary for the firm to become true trusted advisors to their clients. To learn more, please visit: wickerparkgroup.com.

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