Attorney Journal, San Diego, Volume 145 by Attorney Journals

SAN DIEGO

Volume 145, 2015 • $6.95

Mergers Have Increased Substantially this Year, but Pay Attention to the Red Flags

Robert Denney How to Handle Negative Facebook Reviews

Travis Haney

Incorporating Creative Landing Pages to Get Clients

Landon Biehl Keeping Top Legal Performers on for the Long Haul

Whitney Price Outsource Your Marketing, Not Your Life

Stephen Fairley MEDIATOR OF THE MONTH

Tom Sharkey from Judicate West, San Diego A Star in the San Diego Legal Community

Attorney of the Month Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, San Diego

Anna Yum

Speaking Up for the Underdog

McIntyre’s Civil Alert Organized Succinct Summaries

Monty A. McIntyre

2015 EDITION—NO.145

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Outsource Your Marketing, Not Your Life by Stephen Fairley

10 The Long Haul: Keeping Top Legal Performers

by Whitney Price

12 COMMUNITYnews 14 How to Handle Negative Facebook Reviews by Travis Haney EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor

EDITOR Wendy Price CREATIVE SERVICES Skidmutro Creative Partners

16 Anna Yum, Founder of Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, San Diego Speaking Up for the Underdog

CIRCULATION Angela Watson

by Jennifer Hadley MEDIATOR OF THE MONTH

PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths

22 Tom Sharkey A Star in the San Diego Legal Community

STAFF WRITERS Jennifer Hadley Bridget Brookman Karen Gorden CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Robert Denney Monty A. McIntyre Landon Biehl Stephen Fairley Travis Haney Whitney Price WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka ADVERTISING INQUIRIES info@AttorneyJournal.us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournal.us OFFICE 30211 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 www.AttorneyJournal.us ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH

by Jennifer Hadley

24 McIntyre’s Civil Alert Organized Succinct Summaries

by Monty A. McIntyre

26 Incorporating Creative Landing Pages to Get Clients by Landon Biehl

29 Mergers Have Increased Substantially this Year, but Pay Attention to the Red Flags by Robert Denney

Editorial material appears in Attorney Journal as an informational service for readers. Article contents are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Attorney Journal. Attorney Journal makes every effort to publish credible, responsible advertisements. Inclusion of product advertisements or announcements does not imply endorsement. Attorney Journal is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2015 by Sticky Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from Sticky Media, LLC. Printed in the USA

ummer is vacation time, so what do you have planned? If you are like most smallbusiness owners I know, you won’t be going anywhere without your smartphone, tablet or your laptop. That’s because you’ll undoubtedly be working.

Outsource Your Marketing, Not Your Life by Stephen Fairley Two-time international bestselling author, Stephen Fairley is CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, LLC, the nation’s largest law firm marketing company specializing in marketing and lead conversion for small to medium law firms. Over 10,000 attorneys nationwide have benefited from learning and implementing the proven Rainmaker Marketing System. Over the last 12 years, he has become a nationally recognized legal marketing expert and been named “America’s Top Marketing Coach.” He has spoken numerous times for over 35 of the nation’s largest state and local bar associations and has a large virtual footprint with his highly successful Rainmaker legal marketing blog and has over 150,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For more information, please visit www.TheRainmakerInstitute. com or call 888.588.5891.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

If you could change that, would you? Well, you can. If you learn to delegate the things that others can do better and focus on your core competencies. For many years, I allowed my business to control me and dictate my life. I was afraid to take vacations longer than a week because I was certain my company would implode without my physical presence. If things were good, I was flying high, but if we lost a client or didn’t land the “next big deal,” I could be miserable to be around. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I’ve now reached nirvana, and I never, ever allow my business to control me or my feelings. I can’t say that I never feel down if something goes wrong in my company, as I often take things too personally, but the lows aren’t nearly as bad as they used to be and typically don’t last nearly as long. It’s taken several years and a lot of time, energy and hard work to get where we are now. But I’m proud to know that last year was our best year ever, and we are on track to double our revenues this year. I don’t share this with you to impress you, but to impress upon you that we absolutely, positively could have never achieved these goals without two things: (a) a strong, supportive team and (b) written systems we have put into place to help us “run” the business. We have assembled a dynamic team of over 60 people who are truly specialists in what they do. A growing number of law firms are finally recognizing what non-legal companies have known for decades: to build a financially successful business, you must focus on your core competencies and either delegate or outsource the rest of your business functions. As the owner of a small law firm, you are unlikely to have any expertise in accounting or payroll processing, and you may not have a large enough law firm to justify hiring a fulltime bookkeeper, so your best option is to outsource that to a company that specializes in that specific area. Not to mention the fact that you didn’t go to law school to learn how to process payroll or to handle employee issues or to deal with difficult clients or run a small business. You went to law school to learn how to practice law and become a technically skilled attorney. A similar parallel can be drawn to marketing—with some notable exceptions. Most of the time labor-intensive parts of marketing can be outsourced, for example: designing and developing a new website, writing content for your blog, running your social media marketing campaigns, improving your Google rankings with search engine optimization (SEO), or sending out a monthly e-newsletter. There are some things you cannot outsource or delegate, like going to lunch with a referral source to solidify the relationship or giving a presentation to a group of potential clients, but for every one marketing activity you cannot outsource there are three or four you can.

5 Steps for Outsourcing Your Marketing Efforts

When it comes to outsourcing your law firm’s marketing and business development efforts, here’s a five-step process we recommend our clients follow: 1. Identify the marketing strategies and business development tools that will work best for your practice area. 2. Analyze your firm’s realistic ability to effectively design and implement the plan using existing, internal team members. 3. Select which strategies your firm will handle internally and which ones you want to outsource. 4. Interview and select an outsourced legal marketing company who can assist you. 5. Set realistic goals and benchmarks. Not all marketing strategies work for all practice areas. How you market a personal injury firm is very different from how you develop business for a commercial litigation firm. Once you have selected which marketing tools you want to use, the next step is to analyze your law firm’s current ability to design, develop, implement and maintain the marketing plan. You must be realistic! The worst thing you can do is try to do it all by yourself or force your staff to do it. If your plan is to “dump” a bunch of marketing activities onto an already overwhelmed office manager because s/he took a couple marketing classes in college, then don’t be surprised when it implodes. In the end either it will only be done half-heartedly and haphazardly or it will not get done at all! If you believe all you need to do is get your two associates to land one new client per month by going to some networking events, then I wish you good luck with that. One of the ways I have seen work is when a law firm dedicates 25-50 percent of one person’s time just to marketing and business development. Any less than 25 percent of their time is probably not meaningful. Give them very specific tasks to do, be sure they have the proper skills and training to succeed, meet with them every week to review their progress, and set realistic, measurable goals they can achieve within a certain timeframe. Many attorneys become frustrated when they try to “pull the team together” and get them to “do some marketing.” Then there are the attorneys who try to do it all on their own. They falsely believe they are saving money by handling most or all of their marketing efforts by themselves. However, we have found this is actually the most expensive way to do marketing. Think about this—how much do you charge per hour? $200? $300? $400? More? If you charge only $200 per hour for your expertise and it takes you only one hour to research, write and post a 300-400 word article on your blog, then that one blog post “cost” your business $200! If you do that 20 or more times every month, which is the best practice according to the latest research, that means you are spending $6,000 per month or $72,000 per year just on blogging! Certainly you can find or hire a part-time writer for

less than that. Some business strategy experts would even go further and say it actually costs you twice as much because not only is it taking an hour of your billable time, but that was an hour that you weren’t charging to a client. Either way, that’s a huge expense. If an attorney came to you and said they are launching a brand new practice area and expected to reach a high level of expertise in that practice area within a few months but they were only planning to invest a few hours each week learning about the new practice area, you would probably question either their intellect or their commitment to excellence. Why would you think it’s any different when it comes to marketing your law firm? It takes years of dedication working with thousands of different attorneys, running test after test and trying dozens of different marketing techniques with different practice areas to truly become an expert attorney marketer! I would propose that it’s not something you can truly achieve an expertise in by practicing a few hours a week, any more than you can become an expert litigator by reading a John Grisham novel.

How to Evaluate a Legal Marketing Provider

When working with any outsourced legal marketing company on your business development efforts, here are the questions I recommend you ask to evaluate their services: 1. Do they specialize in working with attorneys in small-to medium-sized law firms? 2. How many attorneys have they worked with? 3. What is their experience working with attorneys in your specific practice area? 4. Do they understand the business of law (how the law works)? 5. What is their knowledge of legal ethics and how attorneys are restricted in how they market their services? 6. Have they researched how prospects “buy” legal services— both online and offline? 7. What is their knowledge of your competitors? 8. How many of your competitors are they currently working with providing the exact same service they are offering to you? 9. Is their service geo-exclusive, or are they offering the same services to all your direct competitors? 10. Do they have the assets to allow you to compete, or are they a one-person show? 11. Is this a “done-for-you” service, or will you or your staff do the heavy lifting? 12. Are you “leasing” their marketing efforts or is it a “workfor-hire” service? Who owns the end product when you part ways? Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

13. Will they be around for the long term? Are they growing or declining? 14. Who will actually be implementing the service (it probably won’t be the salesperson selling it to you)? What are their credentials? Can you speak with them? 15. What are the processes, procedures, protocols and systems they use when implementing the service? 16. How do they measure results? How will you know if they are successful? How long will it take before you start to see results? 17. What are the timeframes to develop and deploy the marketing service? 18. Can they give you the contact information for several references?

Three Things You Should Never Outsource

That said, there are certain activities that you and only you, as the owner or managing partner of your law firm, must do. Here are three important marketing efforts that I never recommend you delegate to someone outside of your law firm:

1. Building meaningful relationships with your clients. While you can and should have staff members involved in doing the actual work and even managing the client relationship on a daily basis, you cannot abdicate the relationshipbuilding responsibility with your key clients. 2. Meeting potential referral sources. You need to have a systematic approach to setting up introductory meetings with potential referral sources and following up with them after the meeting. You can delegate or outsource both of those activities. However, the actual face-to-face meeting needs to be conducted with a partner in the law firm. You are the face of your business. 3. Giving a legal seminar to promote your law firm. Presenting to potential clients or referral groups is generally best done by the owner or managing partner of the firm. You can have an assistant prepare your slides and handouts, but unless you have another attorney that has a specialized area of expertise or is a significantly better presenter, you should be the person giving the actual talk. There are many marketing tasks that you can and should delegate or outsource because it’s simply not the best use of your time. But the three listed above are well worth your time because of their potential to deliver a massive ROI. n

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015 9

LONG HAUL

THE

Keeping Top Legal Performers by Whitney Price If you were the principal at an existing firm, how do you ensure top employees are in it for the long haul? While finding jobs for law school graduates may have been difficult in previous years, a recent New York Times article points to several studies indicating a possible uptick in law school enrollments and job placement after graduation, indicating that competition for legal talent may be on the increase. Additionally, the American Bar Association reported that law schools are seeing a “slight rise” in the percentage of 2014 graduates obtaining entry-level jobs compared to 2013 grads—71 percent of 2014 graduates were employed in long-term, full-time positions where bar passage is required or a J.D. is preferred 10 months after graduation. And it’s not just lawyers that firm owners need to be concerned with; legal support staffers play a vital role in keeping law firms running smoothly and efficiently. With ‘people’ being your most important asset, how do you ensure that you can retain great employees once you are established in your legal practice? Whitney Price, vice president and relationship manager at Torrey Pines Bank, has worked with hundreds of legal firms, and draws on 18 years in the banking industry. John Morrell is Chairman and Managing Partner of Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, one of the oldest legal firms in San Diego; and James S. Iagmin of Williams and Iagmin LLP and John Kyle of Kyle Harris LLP, two principals that recently started San Diego-based law firms shared their thoughts on how to ensure employee retention. 10

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

MONEY MATTERS, TO A POINT … It seems like money would be the biggest element in retaining top talent, and compensation is a factor, with law firm salaries rising by more than inflation since 1995, according to the National Association for Law Placement. But Iagmin and Kyle agree that money is not the most important consideration. “Beyond paying employees well, law firms need to treat people fairly and give their employees meaningful work that allows them to be their best and make them feel that they’re making a difference,” offers Iagmin. “Money is good but only goes so far,” adds Kyle. “People want to be valued as part of the team and feel like contributing members. People enjoy being part of an entrepreneurial venture.” John Morrell, whose firm has been around for nearly 75 years, said, “we treat people fairly with the understanding that we are in this for the long haul together—it’s not merely an employer/employee relationship. We have a generous family leave program for those at the lawyer level and plan several yearly events that include our employees and their families, such as our yearly San Diego Zoo outing,” said Morrell. “We also believe in an open door policy to support all staff members. It’s important that our employees know they are heard.”

“ With ‘people’ being your most important asset, how do you ensure that you can retain great employees once you are established in your legal practice?” POSSIBILITY FOR GROWTH A mathematical model developed by professors at Kellogg School and the Chinese University of Hong Kong confirms money is not the only motivator. Researchers examined how companies can best motivate workers when cash may not be available to hand out. They determined that promotions can be extremely effective, particularly in smaller companies that offer good odds at making partner. However, in larger firms (often presenting lower odds advancement to top spots), money may be more important. Similarly, a 2014 Towers Watson study cites career growth as the third most frequent reason employees joins a firm and the second most frequent reason for leaving. Price notes that she has seen great success from firms that mentor new talent and stated, “Mentorship and access to managers that are accessible, reasonable and advocates of personal growth through training and education has been an important driver.” She has applied these same growth techniques, which have helped Torrey Pines Bank retain valuable employees. Rachel Cantor with RJC Associates, a consulting firm that provides leadership, career and team development and selection services to law firms, says, “law firms, particularly larger firms, invest heavily in recruiting new associates—only to find that those associates often leave the firm within a few years before they are truly productive.” Tips from corporation hiring managers include: • Take a systematic approach to the onboarding of new employees, identify their goals and aspirations and put together a plan to motivate and support their performance. • Assign a more senior-level mentor to help the new hire become a functioning member of the organization. Law firms that want to convey the importance of nurturing, developing and integrating new hires to the firm’s long-term success should offer incentives for positive behaviors. Cantor states, “Simply praising the importance of activities will not change behavior.” Law firms often invest heavily in technical skills training but may not pay much attention to relationship management, which can have even more of an impact on client retention, satisfaction as well as on individual career success.

FLEXIBILITY CAN PAY OFF Legal firm owners may look to ways to provide flexible work environments and hours, where possible. Flexible arrangements may offer new parents and others the ability to accept an offer and stay with the firm longer, because they feel that their needs can be accommodated through benefits and policies.

Finally, Price suggests, “While positive relationships, competitive salaries, a flexible work environment and value for opinions can help to retain top performers, realize that some individuals may always feel an entrepreneurial pull to break away on their own, and no matter how hard you try, it is often a decision they need to make on their own.”

GENERATIONAL VALUES CAN IMPACT THE WORKFORCE While experienced law firm owners look to retain good employees, the intrinsic values and entrepreneurial spirit of many millennials show that they do not fit into traditional job roles and typically only retain jobs for about 3-5 years. Many business owners have streamlined internal onboarding and training processes in order to utilize their skills and increase productivity before they opt to move on to another firm, start their own practice or do something completely different. As a group, millennials tent to be very entrepreneurial, according to an article titled, “Millennials are Born Entrepreneurs” by Maria Contreras-Sweet, the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, which states, “Between one half and two thirds of millennials aspire to start their own business.” They’re the most diverse and educated generation and are the first to have grown up with the Internet and social media; they are the largest generation in our country right now, 86 million strong. With younger lawyers looking to start their own firms, baby boomers may be at the point in their careers where they’re ready to step down from leadership positions and work for someone else. This shift in roles could be a win/win for both groups, as more experienced law professionals could share their knowledge and experience and help the millennials through the growing pains of starting a new enterprise and avoid costly mistakes that they may have made themselves.

MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY According to a recent Gallup survey of over 1 million employees, the #1 reason employees quit is because they feel “a disconnect or poor relationship with their boss or immediate supervisor.” One of the most significant characteristics of a boss or leader is the ability to create a strong connection and having mutual accountability. The study states that this builds a foundation of trust leading to good working relationships and long-term employees. Oftentimes if there is high turnover, it may be time to evaluate the boss. n For more on Torrey Pines Bank’s legal/professional banking services, please visit www.torreypinesbank.com or contact Whitney Price at wprice@torreypinesbank.com. Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

COMMUNITY news n Vincent J. Bartolotta, Jr., Esq. of Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire in San Diego, CA was recently inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) at their Mid-Year VINCENT J. BARTOLOTTA, JR Meeting held July 2225, 2015. The International Academy of Trial Lawyers limits membership to 500 Fellows from the United States. The Academy seeks out, identifies, acknowledges and honors those who have achieved a career of excellence through demonstrated skill and ability in jury trials, trials before the court and appellate practice. Members are engaged in civil practice on both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s side of the courtroom, and the trial of criminal cases. The Academy invites only lawyers who have attained the highest level of advocacy. A comprehensive screening process identifies the most distinguished members of the trial bar by means of both peer and judicial review. Mr. Bartolotta has been evaluated by his colleagues and the judges in his jurisdiction and has been highly recommended by them as possessing these qualifications and characteristics. Chartered in 1954, the Academy’s general purposes are to cultivate the science of jurisprudence, promote reforms in the law, facilitate the Administration of Justice, and elevate the standards of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession. A Rancho Santa Fe resident, Vincent J. Bartolotta, Jr. is a founding partner of Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire. He specializes in plaintiffs’ litigation with an emphasis in business disputes, condemnation, and major injury cases. A tenacious litigator, Bartolotta is recognized annually by Woodward/White as one of the Best Lawyers in America—a recognition he’s received every year since 1987. He is also a recipient of the San Diego Bar Association’s Daniel T. Broderick Award for Civility, Integrity & Professionalism. He is a past President of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) - San Diego Chapter. Bartolotta’s charitable activities include Past President of Rancho Santa Fe Youth; member and past Chairman of the Board of Directors of St. Vincent de Paul Village; member of the American Ireland Fund, San Diego Chapter, he is a member of the Century Club, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Nice Guys. 12 Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

GARY PERL

KARINE WENGER

n Gary Perl, Karine Wenger, Marlene Stanger, Teodora Purcell, and Monica Sherman of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP (“Fragomen”) have been named to The San Diego Daily Transcript’s “Top Attorneys” list. The list recognizes attorneys in San Diego County who have made exceptional contributions in their respective fields. 150 attorneys were selected in 15 categories. Five of the 10 attorneys selected for Immigration law are from Fragomen. “It is an honor to be recognized by our peers as Top Attorneys for our contribution to the practice of immigration law,” said Gary Perl, managing Partner of Fragomen’s San Diego office. “We constantly strive to provide our clients with value through our leadership, relationships and exceptional service to our San Diego clients who are leaders in their industries.”

MARLENE STANGER

MONICA SHERMAN

TEODORA PURCELL

n Attorney Ruth Ryan-Cruz is proud to announce she has founded Ryan-Cruz Law, APC in San Diego. Ryan-Cruz Law opened its principal office in Mission Valley, California. Ryan-Cruz Law’s mission is to provide quality legal services and make a measurable difference in the lives of the community members served. Ruth attended California Western School of Law and currently serves on the CWSL Alumni Board of Directors executive board. RUTH RYAN-CRUZ Before establishing the firm, Ruth practiced as an associate attorney at a boutique law firm in downtown San Diego with deep experience in various transactional and some litigation matters.

Have a Press Release you would like to submit for our Community News? Email it to PR@AttorneyJournal.us

COMMUNITY news n Larson & Solecki LLP, a real estate and business law firm, is pleased to announce that Ari C. David has joined the firm as Of Counsel. Mr. David is an experienced tax, estate planning, and business planning attorney formerly in private practice. He counsels clients on an array of estate planning, business and retirement matters, with an emphasis on tax planning. Mr. David is knowledgeable about the tax consequences of a variety of estate planning measures, as well as methods to delay or lessen tax burdens. Mr. ARI C. DAVID David advises tax clients relative to offshore disclosure, cancellation of debt, IRC section 1031 and section 1042 exchanges, as well as represents clients undergoing IRS or FTB scrutiny. He also advises clients regarding the formation and operation of business entities, asset protection strategies and business succession planning. Mr. David holds a JD from Suffolk University Law School and a BA in communications from National University. Larson & Solecki has offices in downtown San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, Temecula, and Orange County. n Higgs Fletcher & Mack, has announced the hiring of Rebecca Briskin as its newest attorney. The trust and estates lawyer is a 2010 graduate of the Cal Western School of Law. “Rebecca has a solid track record in all aspects of estate planning, trust administration, uncontested conservatorship, guardianship and probate matters in addition to a range of contested and court-appointed cases,” said Henry Angelino, Executive Director of Higgs Fletcher & Mack. “We’re excited to have her aboard.” REBECCA BRISKIN Prior to joining Higgs Fletcher & Mack, Briskin was an associate attorney with the Bolander Law Group, where she drafted a variety of probate petitions, accountings, discovery, correspondence, settlement offers and agreements as well as mediation/Mandatory Settlement Conference briefs. Briskin is also an active volunteer, most notably for children. She is a two-time past chair of Skate for the Kids, a fundraising event to benefit Ocean Beach Elementary to allow community youth to meet professional skateboarders. n Procopio is pleased to announce that Erik T. Johnson has recently joined its Labor and Employment team as an associate. Erik focuses his practice on representing employers in federal and state court litigation involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, unfair competition and wage and hour claims. He has represented clients before the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement ERIK T. JOHNSON and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also counsels employers on a broad spectrum of day-to-day employment matters, including employee discipline, terminations, leaves of absence and wage and hour issues. In addition, he assists employers in drafting policies, employee handbooks and employment-related agreements to ensure compliance with state and federal laws while also serving the employer’s individual business needs.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015 13

How to Handle Negative Facebook Reviews by Travis Haney

acebook is an important tool for law firms when it comes to online marketing strategies. With an optimized Facebook presence, you can connect with your community, keep people up to date on your business, drive traffic to your website, and spotlight why potential clients should choose you over competitors. Facebook’s review feature can play a role in this. Facebook gives users two options for describing their experience with a local business. A “rating” of one to five stars. A “review” contains a star rating as well as a written statement. Positive reviews left by former clients can encourage new clients. Facebook displays your Ratings (on a 5-star scale) near the top of your business page. The closer your score is to 5, the more reputable and trustworthy your business appears. Of course, being an open platform, not all reviews will be positive, regardless of your businesses performance. This brings up the question, “What do I do about negative reviews?”

WHAT ABOUT NEGATIVE REVIEWS? First and foremost, don’t panic. A negative review or rating, no matter how scathing, will not likely be the end of your business. When it comes to handling negative reviews and ratings on your Facebook business page, you have a few options. As with most review features, individual reviews cannot be deleted. However, you can click “I don’t like this review” from a drop down menu in the upper right corner of the review post. If the review appears to be spam or without merit, Facebook may remove it. Unfortunately, if the person only leaves a rating without a written review, you do not have these options. If Facebook does not remove the review, you have the option of hiding all reviews on the page. This can be done by going into your Page Info section of your page settings. Next click on Address, then uncheck the box labeled “Show map, check-ins and star ratings on the Page.”

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

As you would expect, this also hides the map that displays your office location, number of people that have checked in at your office and star rating from everyone who visits your page. This method is not usually recommended as it also hides a number of positive aspects of your business page and prevents users from leaving new reviews, even positive ones. You can reach out to the reviewers by commenting on their review post. If it is possible to address their review in a friendly manner, they may remove their review or even change it to a positive review.

FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE Another effective way to deal with negative reviews is to actively seek out more positive reviews (you are already doing this anyway, right?). Positive reviews decrease the weight of negative reviews. Having a few 1-star ratings doesn’t lock your page out of having a high rating overall. It is also worth noting that on your page, Facebook only innately displays the “most helpful” reviews. These are the reviews with the most interaction. If your 5-star reviews have the most interactions, Facebook will display those ahead of the negative reviews. In short, all business pages will likely receive a negative review at some point, often regardless of your businesses performance. Knowing how to handle a negative review can make all the difference. n Travis Haney is a Social Media Consultant with Consultwebs. com, Travis Haney helps clients to take advantage of the many networking and marketing opportunities available through Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other social media outlets. In addition to creating and managing our clients’ social media accounts, Travis regularly creates content for posts and replies to comments and messages. He also collaborates with other team members to advance our clients’ PPC campaigns.

SPEAKING UP FOR THE

Underdog Former prosecutor Anna Yum gives a voice to criminal defendants and personal injury victims who need help fighting back against governmental and insurance giants.

ward-winning Trial Attorney Anna Yum is no shrinking violet. Over the past decade she’s become one of the most recognizable faces in criminal defense in San Diego courtrooms. In fact, the fearless Yum has not only served as the voice and advocate for some of the most high-profile criminal defendants in San Diego, but she’s also been featured as a legal analyst on national news networks including Fox News Channel and HLN, and on various programs such as Hannity, Shepard Smith Reporting, Neil Cavuto, Dr. Drew on Call, Nancy Grace, and many others. Articulate, confident, and wildly experienced in the courtroom, the former Deputy District Attorney has spent the better part of the last decade speaking up for those who feel they have no voice when defending themselves against the government, and those whose lives have been immeasurably changed as the result of an injury, and need a passionate advocate to take on insurance giants.

FINDING HER OWN VOICE “My parents influenced my desire to become an attorney,” Yum says. “They are immigrants from South Korea. I personally saw the struggles they endured to make a living and to support our family. They owned a jewelry store in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago. As immigrants, they spoke in broken English and I would observe their struggles in communicating with some of their customers. Many times, they would be discriminated against because of the language barrier. It was difficult to watch my parents face ridicule,” she recalls. On the other hand, Yum excelled in public speaking and writing from a young age, leading her father to encourage her to pursue a career as an attorney. “He would always say, ‘When you get older do you want to work here at the store and fight with customers all of the time? Or do you want to get an education and a law degree? Remember that a law degree gives you power. No one can take that away from you.’” 16

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

BY JENNIFER HADLEY

All the same, after graduating from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies and International Studies, Yum first took a position with global powerhouse accounting firm Ernst & Young, where she was ultimately transferred to Los Angeles. Yet the feeling that she was supposed to be helping those who didn’t have a voice never went away and she was soon moving to San Diego to attend the University of San Diego School of Law. Much as she had excelled in public speaking and writing earlier in her education, in law school, Yum excelled in mock trial and knew that she wanted to accomplish two things. “I wanted to be a public servant and I wanted to be in the courtroom,” she says. “I was told that I would have to wait at least 5 years before I saw the inside of a courtroom if I were to pursue the civil litigation route. I wanted to try cases and be in the courtroom as soon as I could after law school. Criminal law afforded me the opportunity to do so,” she says. From her very first experience in criminal law, as a clerk at the San Diego Public Defender’s office, Yum knew she was in the right practice area of law. She was also fortunate to work with the late Jack Hochman, who she counts as one of several incredibly influential mentors in her career. “While I was a post-bar clerk at the Public Defender’s office, I asked my supervisor who the best trial lawyer was, because I wanted to learn from him. She told me it was Jack Hochman. I went to Jack and told him I wanted to learn from him. He took me under his wing and we tried 3 or 4 cases together. He always encouraged me to continue to learn, and to try to self-improve. [He said] when you stop focusing on learning, that’s when you should start worrying. As long as you continue to learn and to push yourself to become a better lawyer, you will continue to be successful.” Yum followed his suggestion, and upon being admitted to the bar accepted a position as a Deputy District Attorney for

VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS

Finishing the San Diego Rock and Roll Half-Marathon.

Riverside County, where she would garner extensive trial experience, and learn more than she could have dreamed about how the prosecution side of criminal law works. “I was promoted very quickly because I tried so many different types of cases and won. I handled everything from misdemeanor DUIs to general felonies, domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse, and gang cases,” she says. In fact, during the time she served as a Deputy District Attorney, Yum was nominated as both Misdemeanor Deputy District Attorney of the Year as well as Sexual Assault Child Abuse Deputy DA of the month. She also had the fortune of meeting a second influential mentor, Charles Quirk, a criminal defense attorney, during her time at the DA’s office. “Charlie and I handled a case together when I was a DA. When I opened my practice in San Diego, I reached out to him. Since then, we have successfully tried a number of cases together. I learned and continue to learn from him regularly. Charlie has always said, ‘Don’t focus on perfection. You’re going to make mistakes during your career. That’s why it’s called the practice of law. It’s how you respond to mistakes which will really define you. Trial law is about learning how to think on your feet and to respond to situations that you did not expect,’” Yum recalls. 18

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

Soon enough, Yum found she could no longer ignore her longstanding desire to help the underdog, or give a voice to the voiceless. “Working for the DA’s office provided me the opportunity to try many cases; but, when I was a DA, defendants were just defendants to me. I didn’t know them as people. They were just an entity. I knew that if I transitioned to criminal defense, I wanted to help people on a personal level, who needed a voice.” Yum also astutely recognized that Asian American women criminal defense attorneys were not exactly in abundance in San Diego County. “The idea of trying to break into this new niche was exciting to me. Frankly, I believe that the private criminal defense sector is a mostly male-dominated field,” she says. “I found it empowering, to be a female minority, and I decided I was going to do the best I can, and if I failed, I couldn’t say I didn’t try. I don’t think that I would’ve had the confidence to open my practice without the trial experience that I garnered at the DA’s office, along with my Christian faith. It was a daunting task but being raised in a strong Christian family, I had faith that my career would continue to be successful.” However, Yum knew that although she would be a minority as a woman in the field, she definitely had experience that many criminal defense attorneys never received. “I knew that many defense attorneys in my field either opened up their businesses right out of law school or they worked for the Public Defender’s office. My DA background distinguishes me because I can easily spot the legal issue and arguments from the prosecution perspective. I can think like a prosecutor and therefore, I don’t approach my cases with blinders on,” she says. With that, the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum was formed in 2008, and suffice it to say Yum has never looked back. “Criminal defense provides me with the ability to learn about peoples’ lives, their stories, and their pasts. The personalization provides me comfort in knowing that I am doing what I can to help them in what are some of the most harrowing times their lives—especially when their liberty is at stake,” she says. To that end, Yum is dedicated to providing clients with her own personal time, rather than handing off clients to law clerks, associates or paralegals. “I personally handle all of my cases, so that when a client hires me expecting to work with me, they know that I will not pass the case off to another person. I’m very accessible to my clients. I give them my personal cell phone number so that they can text, email or call me and they know that they will be able to get a hold of me. I think communication is one of the most, if not the most, important aspects of the attorney-client relationship. Lawyers get a bad reputation for not calling their clients back. I am not that type of lawyer.” Continuing she adds, “I also make it a practice to consistently visit my clients in custody. They need to be kept apprised of their case and it is important that I communicate with them while in custody, along with their family.” For the record, Yum gives credit

and no judgement,” she says. That is because she says her goal is always three-fold: To get the best resolution for her client, with the fewest consequences that will affect her clients’ lives in the long term, and to always do her best to perform excellent legal work. Admittedly, Yum holds herself to high standards. “My reputation and integrity mean the most to me. I think I have distinguished myself as a hard-working, aggressive and honest attorney who really cares about my clients, who also happens to be a female and a minority,” she says. As far as being a woman and a minority is concerned, Yum has been pleased to find that in a male-dominated practice area, many of her clients prefer that she is a female. “I provide a different style or perspective when handling their case. There’s also a sensitivity associated with my style which enable clients to open up to me and to feel comfortable with my ability to communicate with them,” she says. However, those who have mistaken her niceness and civility for weakness have learned all too quickly that when it comes to defending her clients, Yum is tenacious, passionate, and remarkably quick on her feet. In fact, it is because she’s so articulate and experienced that she has become a fixture on local and national news as a legal analyst dissecting the nation’s

Anna with husband Eddie and their son Jake.

©Bauman Photographers

to a third influential mentor, Judge Gale Kaneshiro, who Yum met in 2009 during a preliminary hearing, for reiterating to her just how important the in-person visits with her clients in custody could be when it comes to earning their trust. “To see an Asian American woman who has been on the bench of the Criminal Justice system for so many years has been so inspiring to me. She is someone I admire so much. She was one of the first to tell me that if I want to really connect and resonate with my clients, I had to meet with them regularly and to earn their trust before advising them on their respective cases,” she adds. The clients and cases Yum takes run the gamut from small misdemeanors such as DUI, petty theft, battery, vandalism, and domestic violence to serious felonies involving murder, attempted murder, sexual assault, and lewd or lascivious acts on a minor. “At times I will represent clients who are brand new to the criminal justice system. They have never been in trouble with the law before. They are scared, and they don’t know what to expect. Other times I represent clients who have had numerous run-ins with the law, and it’s not their first rodeo, so to speak,” she explains. Regardless of the type of crime her client is charged with, Yum says that her approach remains consistent. “It is important for me to approach every client with empathy, understanding

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

FIRM FUTURE: CONTINUING TO CHAMPION THE UNDERDOG Though Yum has a firm foothold in criminal defense, she refuses to be pigeonholed into any exclusive area of practice. In fact, over the past several years, she’s been enjoying helping other proverbial “underdogs” to have a voice by lending her diverse experience and tenured trial acumen to personal injury plaintiffs. In the same way that her criminal defense clients are up against a bigger adversary when facing off against the government, personal injury victims are often facing insurance companies with seemingly unlimited resources. “I see the similarities between the two practice areas and I always try to put myself in my client’s shoes, and empathize with what they are going through,” she says. As such, several years ago, when Yum attended a personal injury seminar hosted by prominent San Diego Personal Injury Attorney Dan Gilleon, she decided to introduce herself. “I told him I would love to work on cases together because I was delving into personal injury on the plaintiff’s side. A few weeks later he called me to work together on a few cases. Since then we have continued to work on several high-profile cases,” she says. As far as the future is concerned, Yum has a full plate, both personally and professionally. Married to her husband Eddie— who recently graduated from law school and who is currently awaiting his own bar results—the two are first-time parents to an infant son. Despite it being a “hectic time,” Yum says she wouldn’t change a thing about the way her life or her practice is going. “I’m definitely not complaining. My family has always been extremely close. My husband, parents and my sister have always been my biggest fans; they have always supported, encouraged and prayed for me throughout my career, and I’m forever grateful. I’ve also had wonderful mentors, who have taught me so much. I feel very thankful and fortunate for the blessings in my life.” n Contact: Anna Yum Law Offices of Anna R. Yum www.annayumlaw.com annayumlawsd@gmail.com 501 West Broadway #700 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 233-4433

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

©Bauman Photographers

EXPERIENCE

most riveting cases. She’s also earned numerous awards over the past decade including National Trial Lawyers “Top 100 Trial Lawyers,” American Society of Legal Advocates “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40” in Criminal Defense, “2011 Top Lawyers” as recognized by San Diego Metro Magazine, and in 2015, she was named a Super Lawyers® Rising Star.

» EDUCATION • Northwestern University, ranked 12th in the country, with a Bachelor of Science in Communications Studies and International Studies • University of San Diego School of Law, Juris Doctor (J.D.) Judicial Externship with Senior Federal Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi in the Central District of California.

» LICENSES • Admitted to practice law in California. • Admitted to practice law in the United States District Court, Central District of California. • Admitted to practice law in the United States District Court, Southern District of California. • Admitted to practice law in Illinois.

» ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS • • • • •

San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyers Club San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association San Diego County Bar Association Illinois State Bar Association The National Trial Lawyers: National Women Trial Lawyers

» AWARDS • 2015 Super Lawyers Rising Star • The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Trial Lawyers • American Society of Legal Advocates 2015 Top 40 Criminal Defense Lawyers Under 40 in the State of California • Avvo Top Attorney Practicing Criminal Defense • 2013 & 2014 Avvo Client’s Choice Award • 2011 San Diego Metro Magazine Top DUI Attorneys in San Diego • 2011 Semi-Finalist for San Diego Daily Transcript Young Attorneys

» LEGAL ANALYST/COMMENTATOR • Fox News Channel • Fox Business • Discovery ID • HLN/CNN • KUSI • Fox 5 San Diego

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

Tom Sharkey has long been one of the most successful players in the San Diego legal community as both an award-winning trial attorney and sought after neutral with Judicate West

He’d also developed a clear picture of the type of neutral he would be, and developed his own strategies that would ensure that he could help to bring resolution to as many disputes as possible.

Practice Makes Perfect

“All litigated cases have risk which has to be realistically assessed. My goal is to be absolutely honest and fair with the litigants and their attorneys, whether plaintiffs or defendants, in assessing that risk in order to assist them in reaching a fair and reasonable resolution to their cases,” Sharkey says. “The attorneys and their clients want the opportunity to present their positions to a person who they trust and have confidence in, with whom they have developed a rapport, and I strive to develop that type of relationship from the very beginning.” To that end, Sharkey says, “I read the mediation and arbitration briefs submitted by counsel very carefully so I have a complete understanding of the facts and the law applicable to the cases that are submitted to me. I also listen very carefully to the lawyers as well as their clients when I meet with them either in a joint session or separate caucus in mediations, or in opening and closing arguments, as well as the sworn testimony presented by witnesses and experts in arbitrations.” Continuing, Sharkey says, “I inform all parties that my function is not to make binding rulings as a judge on evidentiary matters, credibility of witnesses or to serve as an advocate for one side or the other but that my role is to facilitate settlement negotiations between the parties and give risk assessments to both sides. This may occur from time to time during the mediation by giving ‘reality checks’ on the various issues in the case to help the parties arrive at a realistic and practical resolution of the case.” Regarding those practical resolutions? “I make my own confidential, personal evaluation of what I believe a reasonable verdict range may be if the case is tried, as well as a reasonable range for settlement. I inform the parties that I will not express my opinion unless both sides request that I do so, and only after the parties have had an adequate opportunity to engage in negotiations themselves. When the parties have reached an impasse, I will make a mediators proposal attempt to achieve settlement. Attorneys want to settle, and their clients want to settle, if there is a reasonable offer, but it is not my job to inject myself into the case, unless it is requested.” By way of example, Sharkey describes a recent wrongful death case arising out of an aviation accident which involved complicated and unique insurance issues and issues relating to Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). “The parties on both sides were understandably very emotional about the case and there was a great deal of hostility. The case eventually settled in the evening hours after a long day of

mediation. Counsel informed me that their clients had developed a sense of trust and confidence in me and after meeting with me privately, they had a better and much more realistic understanding of the insurance issues and the FAR piloting issues, which enabled them to set aside much of their emotion and hostility and reach a fair and realistic settlement,” he recalls. When it comes to his role as Special Master or Discovery Referee, Sharkey says that creating the relationship of trust is equally important. He has also formulated an expedited briefing and hearing schedule, which reduces the length of briefs and accelerates the time within which the hearings are set. The goal in doing so, according to Sharkey, is to eliminate a great deal of attorney work, all the while providing substantial savings to the clients. Incidentally, Sharkey has served as Special Master on extremely high-profile cases including the closure of the De Anza Mobile Home Park. If it sounds like Sharkey has his finger firmly on the pulse of attorney needs in today’s world of budget cuts and calendaring delays, that’s because he is intentional about understanding the challenges the younger generation of his attorney clients are facing. Admittedly, Sharkey is an established face to tenured attorneys, but attorneys newer to practice aren’t necessarily familiar with his lengthy and admirable career. To ensure he stays firmly in the game, Sharkey says that in addition to his busy schedule of mediations, arbitrations and work as Special Master/Discovery Referee, he continues to love his involvement in professional organizations. “It is important to me to keep in touch with attorneys, who are now my clients, and I love being able to work with younger attorneys, so I remain active and involved in the American College of Trial Lawyers, ABOTA, and the Enright Inn of Court. It’s always a pleasure meeting new generations of attorneys,” he says. All in all, Sharkey says that his career couldn’t possibly be any more fulfilling. “It really doesn’t get a whole lot better than this. I’m still flying, I’m still working out at my gym at home and riding my bike, and my wife and I have wonderful children and grandkids. I’ve been very fortunate, and serving as a mediator, arbitrator, Special Master and Discovery Referee has been an absolutely wonderful way to continue my career.” n Contact: Tom Sharkey Judicate West www.judicatewest.com tomsharkeylaw@gmail.com (619) 814-1966 402 W Broadway, Suite 2400 San Diego, CA 92101 Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT INSURANCE (CUMIS COUNSEL) Hartford Casualty Insurance Company v. J.R. Marketing, LLC (2015) _ Cal.4th _ , 2015 WL 4716917: The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal ruling that Cumis fees that were excessive, unreasonable, and unnecessary could not be recovered by the carrier from Cumis counsel. In this case, the commercial general liability carrier initially refused to defend its insured against a third-party lawsuit. Compelled by a court order, the insurer subsequently provided independent counsel (Cumis counsel), under a reservation of rights, to defend its insured in the third-party suit. The court order required the insurer to pay all “reasonable and necessary defense costs,” but expressly preserved the insurer’s right to later challenge and recover payments for “unreasonable and unnecessary” charges by counsel. The Supreme Court concluded that, under the circumstances of this case, the insurer could seek reimbursement directly from Cumis counsel. If Cumis counsel, operating under the court order, sought and received from the insurer payment for time and costs that were fraudulent, or were otherwise manifestly and objectively useless and wasteful when incurred, then Cumis counsel would have been unjustly enriched at the insurer’s expense. (August 10, 2015.)

McIntyre’s Civil Alert Organized Succinct Summaries by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. Monty A. McIntyre has over 30 years of experience as a mediator and arbitrator. More than 35 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer representing both plaintiffs and defendants in business and commercial, bad faith, brain injury, construction, land use/CEQA, medical malpractice, personal injury, real property and wrongful death cases. To schedule a meeting with Monty A. McIntyre contact Kelsey Hannah at ADR Services, Inc. at (619) 233-1323 or kelsey@adrservices.org

TORTS (GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIMS) Cordova v. City of Los Angeles (2015) _ Cal.4th _ , 2015 WL 4758177: The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal ruling that affirmed a trial court summary judgment for defendant on the basis that the allegedly dangerous condition (magnolia trees planted in the center median on Colorado Boulevard) did not cause the conduct of the third-party driver that caused the accident. The California Supreme Court ruled that Government Code section 835 did not require the plaintiffs to show that the allegedly dangerous condition caused not only their decedents’ fatal injuries, but also the third-party conduct that precipitated the accident. (August 13, 2015.)

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL ATTORNEYS Coldren v. Hart, King and Coldren, Inc. (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 4640041: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order disqualifying counsel for defendants on the basis that there was an unwaivable actual conflict between the two defendants. The Court of Appeal ruled that plaintiff lacked

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

standing to object to defendants’ choice of counsel, and also found that there was no actual conflict between the two defendants, because plaintiff’s action was a direct action not a derivative action. (C.A. 4th, filed July 13, 2015, published August 5, 2015.)

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EDUCATION Newark Unified School District v. Superior Court (Brazil) (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 4594095: The Court of Appeal granted a writ petition. In order to harmonize Government Code section 6254.5 with Evidence Code section 912, which has been construed not to effect a waiver of the attorney-client and work product privileges from an inadvertent disclosure, the Court of Appeal construed section 6254.5 to not apply to the inadvertent release of privileged documents. (C.A. 1st, July 31, 2015.)

EMPLOYMENT Connor v. First Student, Inc. (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 4768123: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the basis of the holding in Ortiz v. Lyon Management Group, Inc. (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 604 (Ortiz). The Court of Appeal reversed because it disagreed with the analysis in Ortiz. The Court of Appeal found that nothing in either the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA, Civil Code section 1786 et seq.) or the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (Civil Code section 1785.1 et seq.) precluded the application of both acts to information that relates to both character and creditworthiness, and concluded that the ICRAA was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to such information. (C.A. 2nd, August 12, 2015.)

EVIDENCE Newark Unified School District v. Superior Court (Brazil) (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 4594095: See summary above under Education.

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TORTS Doe v. San Diego-Imperial Council (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2015 WL 4600256: The Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s ruling sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend to a complaint alleging childhood sexual molestation, because plaintiff failed to file a certificate of merit as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1. The tolling provisions of Insurance Code section 11583 did not relieve plaintiff of the requirement of filing a certificate of merit. (C.A. 4th, July 31, 2015.) Soto v. BorgWarner Morse TEC Inc. (2015) _ Cal.App.4th _, 2015 WL 4323186: See summary above under Punitive Damages. n

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

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Incorporating

Creative Landing Pages to Get Clients by Landon Biehl

taying ahead of your competitors in any business scenario is crucial, especially in the legal field. Striving to gain attention from your specific niche or expertise area is what sets any organization or company ahead of their competitors. With the constant updates in SEO and new marketing strategies being released, maintaining an optimum website, with the most current trends and legal “need-to-knows,” becomes even more critical for the success of a firm. Landing pages play a crucial role in how your firm is perceived by the potential client. Questions a firm should ask themselves include: • Is the information presented on my website unique in providing a different viewpoint on an important topic? • Does my landing page provide a “spark,” which allows the viewer to realize the potential my firm has to offer? If your answer to the above questions is “no,” then you might need to consider some important changes to your firm’s website structure. Designing creative landing pages that allow participation and interaction from outside sources besides just potential clients can be a great starting point. The majority of internet users enjoy signing petitions, joining causes, and having a sense of joining forces with a cause they believe in. For example, AT&T advocates against texting and driving. The “It Can Wait” campaign has generated strong community ties and has helped significantly increase perceptions of the corporation, through this creative landing page and campaign.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

THE BEST EXAMPLES OF CREATIVE LANDING PAGES Some of the most unique projects that have sparked the interest of New York City safety advocates include the development of the #WalkSaferNYC accident map. The Hecht Kleeger and Damashek Firm made up of personal injury attorneys who represent car accident victims wanted to create a creative landing page that allowed further firm exposure. The map was created to raise awareness for the most dangerous intersections in New York City for pedestrians and motorists alike.

As a result, the interactive resource page was featured in many news outlets, and received attention from various outlets throughout the United States.

“MY MOM IS A FEDERAL HERO” VIDEO COMPETITION

The Harris Federal Firm represents federal workers seeking compensation. The firm felt a need to raise awareness for federally employed parents on Mother’s Day. As a result, the “My Mom is a Federal Hero” video competition was designed to encourage participation among federal mothers, as well as reward them for all of the hard work they do for their families. The winner received a $1,000 Amazon gift card. The contest went viral and created social buzz via Twitter and Facebook. The firm had a significant backlink increase as a result.

TWO IMPLEMENTATIONS EVERY CREATIVE LANDING PAGE NEEDS

These days, executives come in many varieties.

A landing page that creatively represents a firm’s strategy, and sincere interest in a particular area, allows for a more powerful impact on those visiting the page, and attracts interest to a particular matter from visitors.

CALL TO ACTION

It is critical for a firm to have a “call to action” on creative landing pages. Leaving viewers with information they want to read about is excellent, but with no call to action, you are leaving your potential clients with no way of taking further action. In fact, an alarming seventy percent of law firm homepages do not have a call to action. Leaving potential clients with relevant information, yet lacking any way to allow them to become involved or spark their interest further, is one grey area that many firms can easily avoid. You can combat these barriers in thoughtful ways like inviting viewers to sign a petition you have created, or better yet, share the creative page you have designed. If the information on your creative landing page sets you apart, and leaves the viewer feeling passionate about the topic, their willingness to share with others is much higher. In the example below, the firm felt passionate enough to participate in a local arthritis event, and included a call to action at the bottom of their creative landing page, encouraging others to participate and/or take a survey designed to generate perspectives on arthritis.

SHARING TOOLS With a call to action in mind, a firm should ask: “Does my site allow for my creative page to be easily shared?” With the large amount of prospective clients on social media today, it’s extremely important for pages to feature social share buttons. Visitors would much rather click a share button, rather than copy and paste a link. In addition, using social sharing buttons allows the website creator the ability to control what text is shared. If you are advocating for a cause, this is a great opportunity to insert a social hashtag that is automatically shared among those who click share buttons. It’s also an excellent opportunity to visualize who visited your landing page, and also has aligning viewpoints on the subject. Designing creative landing pages will allow your firm to stand a higher chance of gaining a larger number of clients, as website visitors are exposed to the firm’s creative landing pages. Taking an initiative, or standing for a cause, will engage your visitors and encourage interaction with your page, and potentially become clients. Firms should be making all attempts to design and implement strategies that will expand their brand’s outreach, through use of creative landing pages and adding a unique value that industry competitors may not. n Landon Biehl is a Senior Outreach Specialist with www. Consultwebs.com, Landon targets prospects with potential interest in client services and resources. He also helps to create and implement new marketing tactics and campaigns, with a particular focus on building linking partners. Landon can be reached at (910) 386-8920.

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here have already been a record number of mergers completed or announced this year. The principal reason, of course, is the picture in the legal profession. For many of the top 200 firms, mergers, which in most cases are really acquisitions, are the major piece of their growth strategy in a flat or shrinking market. For other firms, merger is the alternative to dissolution. However, a look at history reveals that about 50% of all mergers subsequently fail. In many cases the reasons for these failures were issues that were evident beforehand and should have been recognized and addressed by one or both of the firms involved. We describe these as “red flag issues” because they should either be resolved before the merger is finalized or indicate that the firms should not merge. These are the red flags that arise most often. • Although they have agreed to seriously consider merging, one or both of the firms does not make it a high-priority item, dragging their due diligence or the discussions on for an extended period of time. • A major client that represents a significant amount of the revenues —and also probably the profits—of one of the firms announces it is taking its business to another firm. • There are wide differences in the partner incomes between the firms. • The firms have different work ethics as indicated by wide differences in average billable hours.

Mergers Have Increased Substantially this Year, but Pay Attention to the Red Flags by Robert Denney Robert Denney Associates Inc. has provided management, strategy and leadership counsel to law firms, companies and non-profit organizations throughout the United States and parts of Canada for over 30 years. Bob also serves as an outside director on company boards and has served as an interim CEO in turnaround and crisis situations. For a comprehensive discussion of the merger process, visit our web site www. roberetdenney.com, and click on the article, “A Primer on Law Firm Mergers.”

• The acquiring firm requires partners to buy-in and contribute capital while the firm being acquired does not. • One of the firms has a substantial amount of debt while the other firm is debt free. • One firm has an unfunded pension liability and the other firm does not. • The practices do not fit. An example from two litigation firms for whom we performed merger due diligence: One firm was highly profitable and its practice consisted mainly of major, “bet the company” cases for large corporations. The other firm was marginally profitable and its practice was largely commodity litigation with a high percentage of insurance work at far lower hourly rates. Note: They wisely decided not to merge. • Conflicts. Legal conflicts can usually be identified and possibly resolved. However, there can also be business conflicts such as when a major client of one firm says it will withdraw all its work because a major competitor is a client of the other firm. • The major rainmaker in one firm opposes the merger and threatens to leave, taking his/her clients and even an entire practice group. • Different compensation systems. Partner compensation in one firm is based on billable hours or collections while,

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

in the other firm, partners are compensated mainly on origination, regardless of billable hours. Another example: One firm has a formulaic system while the other firm has a subjective system. • “Unproductive partners” whose billable hours or collections are far below those of the other partners in either firm. However, their firm wants them to be partners in the merged firm, or at least be included in the firm, while the other firm does not. • Management in one or both of the firms has not informed the other partners that it is in the process of negotiating a merger. Then, with little notice or time for discussion, presents the merger to the partnership for approval. • The name of the new firm. This has been the “deal breaker” in a surprising number of potential mergers that were called off. When a smaller firm is merging into a much larger one, this is rarely an issue because the larger firm’s name will usually be retained. However, when it would be a so-called “merger of equals,” this issue often becomes extremely BSVAD_MARC_FINAL_new2.pdf

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 145, 2015

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sensitive because both firms want their firm’s name to survive in whole or in part. • But the first red flag that can appear is early in the process when the firms are drafting the confidentiality agreement before any information is exchanged. This document should include a stipulation that, if the merger does not occur, neither firm will attempt to recruit lawyers from the other for a specified period, usually one year. This is often referred to as a “cherry-picking clause.” If one or both firms are unwilling to agree to this, it should raise a huge red flag that the merger, if it eventually did occur, would sooner or later fail. Negotiating a merger is a complex and delicate process. However, there would be fewer failed mergers, or considerably less time and resource spent on potential mergers that never occur, if firms recognized and addressed the red flags. To paraphrase the old adage: “Look long and hard before you leap.” n

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