ORANGE COUNTY
Volume 211, 2023 $6.95
5 Reasons Law Firms Need a Content Marketing Strategy
Kevin Vermeulen Unlocking the Potential of TikTok for Law Firms
Guy Alvarez
What to Do if You Are Defamed on Social Media
Max Goodman
Knowledge is Great, but Infuse Your Thought Leadership with This
Wayne Pollock
8 Ways to Build Your Email Marketing Campaigns to Generate More Leads
Noreen Fishman
The Power of Storyboard Visuals in Trial Arguments: A Litigator’s Secret Weapon
Amanda Panagakis Should You Use the Same Website Company as Others?
Kirk Stange
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2023 EDITION—NO.211
TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 The Power of Storyboard Visuals in Trial Arguments: A Litigator’s Secret Weapon by Amanda Panagakis
8 Should You Use the Same Website Company as Others? by Kirk Stange
10 California Case Summaries by Monty McIntyre
12 Eight Ways to Build Your Email Marketing Campaigns to Generate More Leads
EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Wendy Price
by Noreen Fishman
PUBLICATION DESIGN Penn Creative
14 Knowledge is Great, but Infuse Your Thought Leadership with This
CIRCULATION Angela Watson
by Wayne Pollock
PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths STAFF WRITERS Dan Baldwin Jennifer Hadley CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Guy Alvarez Noreen Fishman Max Goodman Monty McIntyre Amanda Panagakis Wayne Pollock Kirk Stange Kevin Vermeulen ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Info@AttorneyJournals.com SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournals.com
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LAW FIRM OF THE MONTH
16 Phillips Law Group, Serving Orange County Making It Personal for 30 Years by Dan Baldwin
22 What to Do if You Are Defamed on Social Media by Max Goodman
24 Five Reasons Law Firms Need a Content Marketing Strategy
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by Kevin Vermeulen
OFFICE 30213 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 www.AttorneyJournals.com
26 Unlocking the Potential of TikTok for Law Firms
ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via email or postal mail.
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by Guy Alvarez
The Power of Storyboard Visuals in Trial Arguments: A Litigator’s Secret Weapon by Amanda Panagakis
In the world of litigation, where the battle for justice is fought through words and evidence, the importance of effective communication cannot be overstated. Trial attorneys play a crucial role in persuading judges and juries to see the facts from their perspective. One powerful tool that has gained significant prominence in recent years is storyboard visuals. These visual aids provide attorneys with the means to convey complex information, engage their audience, and build a compelling narrative. In this article, we will explore what storyboard visuals are and why they are essential for trial attorneys seeking success in the courtroom.
4. Memory Retention: Studies have shown that people tend to remember information better when it is presented visually. Storyboard visuals create memorable associations between the information and the visual elements presented, helping jurors recall the details of a case more accurately during deliberation.
First of All, “What Are Storyboard Visuals?”
6. Time Efficiency: Efficiency is paramount in the courtroom, and trial attorneys often have limited time to present their case. Storyboard visuals can save time by condensing complex information into a concise format. This allows attorneys to focus on key arguments and evidence, rather than drowning the jury in paperwork.
Storyboard visuals are a method of organizing and presenting information in a visual format, typically a sequence of images or slides, which convey a narrative. They are often used in trial arguments to help attorneys present their case in a clear and compelling manner. Storyboard visuals can include photographs, diagrams, charts, timelines, and even animations, all designed to support and enhance the attorney’s spoken words. Storyboards should use as few words as possible but, instead, rely on pictures to tell the story.
What Benefits Does the Use of Storyboard Visuals Offer in Trial Arguments? 1. Clarity and Comprehension: The courtroom is a complex environment, and legal cases often involve intricate details and technical information. Storyboard visuals can simplify this complexity, making it more accessible to judges and jurors who may not have a legal or technical background. When used effectively, these visuals can clarify complex concepts, making them easier to understand and remember. 2. Engagement: In today’s multimedia world, people are accustomed to processing information through a combination of visual and auditory cues. Storyboard visuals engage the audience, capture their attention, and maintain their interest. They break up the monotony of lengthy verbal arguments and ensure that the audience remains attentive throughout the trial. 3. Persuasion: Visuals have a powerful impact on human cognition and emotion. When an attorney combines compelling visuals with a well-crafted narrative, the case becomes more persuasive. A persuasive storyboard visual can evoke empathy, clarify causation, and influence jurors’ emotions and decisions. 6
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5. Organization: Storyboards force attorneys to structure their arguments and evidence coherently. By planning the sequence of visual aids, attorneys ensure that their arguments follow a logical and persuasive flow. This organization can make a substantial difference in how effectively a case is presented.
7. Rebuttal and Cross-Examination: Storyboard visuals are equally valuable during cross-examination and rebuttal. Attorneys can use these visuals to challenge opposing witnesses or arguments, dismantling the opposition’s case systematically and convincingly.
The Research and A Case Study Empathy is a potent human emotion, one that can drive individuals to action, especially in legal cases. The connection between empathy and the motivation to help others has been extensively studied (Batson et al., 2005; Oceja et al., 2014; Van Lange, 2008). Research has shown that when people feel empathy for someone, they are more inclined to offer assistance. Furthermore, studies have revealed that individuals are more likely to help those who share similar qualities or experiences (Hauser, Preston, & Stansfield, 2014). Limited research has explored the biological basis of emotions and their connection to visual stimuli (Ren et al., 2013). While past research has categorized emotions into discrete types, the link between visuals and emotional responses remains relatively unexplored (Ren et al., 2013). Visual stimuli have the potential to evoke empathy and motivate individuals, and this connection may have significant implications in legal cases. This article delves into the impact of storyboard visuals on empathy and value in legal cases, specifically in the context of medical malpractice trials. The central hypothesis is that storyboard visuals
can elicit empathy among jurors, leading to a greater understanding of the damages suffered by the injured party and subsequently influencing the monetary award they receive.
The Challenge of Creating Emotional Connections in Courtrooms In the structured setting of a courtroom, establishing an emotional connection between jurors and the injured party can be a formidable challenge. Surprisingly, very little research has investigated the use of visuals in legal decision-making processes (Park & Feigenson, 2013). To address this gap, a quantitative experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of storyboard visuals on emotional connection and monetary value in medical malpractice cases.
Research Questions Three main research questions guided this study: 1. Is there a significant difference in the level of emotional connection between study groups (using storyboard visuals vs. not using storyboard visuals)? 2. Is there a significant difference in the determination of the case’s value between study groups? 3. Is there a significant correlation between a juror’s emotional response to an injured client’s case and the monetary damages awarded? METHODOLOGY
The study was grounded in the Appraisal theory, which suggests that emotional processes result from the evaluation of a situation, including an individual’s ability to cope with it (Blanchette & Caparos, 2013). Questionnaires were used in both control and experimental settings to measure the impact of storyboard visuals on emotional connection with the injured party’s case and monetary value. PARTICIPANTS
A total of 108 participants, potential jurors in medical malpractice cases, were recruited online. The control and experimental groups each consisted of 54 participants, equally divided between male and female jurors. Participants’ ages ranged from 21 to 68 years, and demographic analysis confirmed that the two groups were demographically equivalent. RESULTS
The analysis of the data revealed significant findings: 1. Emotional Connection: There was a statistically significant difference in the level of emotional connection between the control group (no storyboard visual) and the experimental group (with a storyboard visual). The experimental group demonstrated a higher emotional connection with the injured party. 2. Monetary Value: The experimental group awarded higher monetary damages to the injured party compared to the control group. This difference was statistically significant.
3. Correlation: A strong positive correlation was observed between the emotional response of jurors to the injured client’s case and the monetary damages they awarded.
Implications The findings of this study have several implications for the legal field: 1. Enhancing Emotional Connection: Medical malpractice attorneys can use storyboard visuals to establish emotional connections between jurors and injured parties. These visuals can evoke empathy and increase jurors’ motivation to help the injured party. 2. Support for Appraisal Theory: The study supports the Appraisal theory by indicating that empathy is formed after interpreting another person’s situation, as measured through the Empathy Measure Questionnaire. 3. Practical Use of Visuals: While visuals may not provide a direct method for calculating damage amounts, they can create emotional connections that motivate jurors to help the injured party. Visuals offer an effective means of communication with jurors. 4. Future Practices: This study suggests that attorneys should consider incorporating visual storyboards when presenting cases to create emotional bonds between jurors and injured parties. The use of visuals can lead to increased monetary damages awarded to the injured party.
Conclusion Storyboard visuals have a powerful impact on empathy and monetary value in legal cases, which this article demonstrates specifically within the context of medical malpractice trials. The study’s findings offer valuable insights for attorneys and legal professionals seeking to enhance juror understanding, empathy, and ultimately, the monetary awards granted to injured parties. As the legal landscape evolves, the incorporation of visuals into legal strategies should be increasingly essential in securing justice for those in need.
In the high-stakes arena of litigation, the use of storyboard visuals is no longer a luxury but a necessity. These visual aids offer attorneys a competitive advantage in conveying their arguments persuasively, engaging the audience, and ensuring that the judge and jury fully understand the facts of the case. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling, trial attorneys can not only make their arguments more accessible but also more compelling, improving their chances of securing a favorable outcome for their clients. As technology and communication methods continue to evolve, the strategic use of storyboard visuals will become an increasingly vital skill for the modern trial attorney. n Amanda Panagakis is a senior trial consultant at www.firstcourt.com and provides valuable support and expertise to attorneys and their clients during legal proceedings. Her role is multifaceted, her three responsibilities are Jury DeSelection and Analysis, Trial Strategy Development, and Communication and Persuasion.
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Should You Use the Same Website Company as Others? by Kirk Stange
L
aw firms do have many options when deciding what website company to use. There are lots of companies out there that can create and manage a law firm’s website. Some law firms, however, opt to use the same company as other law firms in their city, state, and practice area. The truth is that certain companies focus on helping law firms with their website and internet presence. These companies (which most law firms and lawyers are familiar with) often solicit law firms quite heavily for their business, which can result in a quasi-monopoly in a state or city. The net result can be that many law firms in the same geographic and practice areas use the same company. Ironically, many of these law firms compete heavily for the same business while using the same company to host, manage, and optimize their web presence.
What Are the Pros of Using the Same Company as Other Law Firms? Whether a law firm should go to a company that assists many law firms in their city and state is a personal choice. On the one hand, if the marketing outfit commonly puts up many law firms’ pages, they may have a sound system for helping law firms with their web presence. One may argue that they must do a good job creating an attractive and appealing website. Otherwise, why would so many other companies use them? Indeed, other law firms would not use the same company if they were not good, one may think. The marketing company may also know the language and visual imagery necessary to create a successful law firm website. Many marketing companies might indeed have experience with putting up a website, but not for law firms. They might also help in providing off-site links that can help raise a website in the search results. The marketing company may also be suitable for running pay-per-click ads on Google or Facebook.
What Are the Cons of Using the Same Company as Other Law Firms? However, the cons can be vast in number. Suppose multiple law firms in the same practice area and locality use the same company. In that case, it can be a conflict of interest for the company in many ways. 8
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In other words, a bidding war can be created where law firms use the same company. Law firms might have to pay for more content, videos, and search engine optimization to rank above their competitors in the organic search or if pay-perclick techniques are used if the same company is being used. In essence, the law firm may have to buy a greater loyalty from the marketing outfit than their competitor that also uses them. A law firm’s marketing approach can also be meant to be confidential in many respects. If multiple firms use the same company, there is also a risk that the marketing company inadvertently tells other law firms what other firms are doing that utilize their services. The danger of confidential information leaking can be pretty significant.
What Is the Right Approach? Ultimately, the decision on whether to use the same marketing company as others is up to the law firm. But if a law firm does enough research, they can likely find a marketing company to help them that does not work with other law firms in their city and state. The truth is that many companies can help a law firm with their website. However, in a particular locality, there can be a domino effect where law firms are just imitating what other law firms are doing by hiring the same company because that is easy. So, before hiring the same company that other law firms use in their locality, it is often wise to seek out somebody different. One of the best ways to do this is to do a search of law firms in other cities and states to see who other firms are using in these places. It can also be helpful to research marketing companies for law firms with positive reviews and articles written about them. While the choices may seem limited for a law firm, there can often be more choices than a law firm initially thinks if they look beyond who other law firms in their locality are using. n In 2007, Kirk C. Stange founded Stange Law Firm, PC with his wife Paola and has worked diligently to grow the firm to what it is today. In addition to practicing law, Kirk spends time educating attorneys and other law professionals at CLE Seminars through the Missouri Bar, myLawCLE, the National Business Institute and other organizations. To learn more, please visit www.stangelawfirm.com.
California Case Summaries New California Civil Cases by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. is the publisher of California Case Summaries™ which provides short summaries, organized by legal topic, of every new civil case published each month, quarter and year to help California lawyers always know the new cases in their practice areas to get a competitive advantage and better results (https://cacasesummaries.com). Monty has been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980 and a member of ABOTA since 1995. He currently works as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. conducting Zoom hearings throughout California. To use Monty contact his case manager Haward Cho, haward@adrservices.com, (619) 233-1323. Monty also mentors lawyers to become excellent trial lawyers, and mentors associates to become excellent lawyers with his Master Lawyer Mentoring™ services. For more info visit Monty’s website at montymcintyre.mykajabi.com.
CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL Employment Accurso v. In-N-Out Burgers (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 5543525: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order denying a motion to intervene as a matter of right in a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA; Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.) action in Sonoma County, under Code of Civil Procedure, section 387, by Tom Piplack and Brianna Marie Taylor, who were lead plaintiffs in representative PAGA actions in Orange and Los Angeles Counties against defendant because Piplack and Taylor failed to bear their burden of proving inadequate representation or potential impairment of their protectable interests. However, the Court of Appeal concluded that the denial of permissive intervention was an abuse of discretion. Had the trial court found an interest sufficient to satisfy the threshold requirement for intervention, as the Court of Appeal concluded it should have, the permissive intervention standard does not require a showing of inadequate representation, which was the stumbling block Piplack and Taylor failed to overcome for mandatory intervention. The order denying intervention was vacated and the case was remanded for further proceedings. (C.A. 1st, August 29, 2023.) Cruz v. City of Merced (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 5949217: The Court of Appeal reversed in part, and affirmed in part, the trial court’s order denying petitioner’s challenge to the decision of the City Manager of respondent to terminate
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petitioner from the police force, even though the personnel board (Board) had determined, in an appeal of petitioner’s initial termination, that respondent failed to show petitioner had submitted a false police report or had conducted an illegal search, but concluded that petitioner was not truthful in explaining certain details concerning the search and recommended that petitioner be demoted without backpay instead of terminated. The Court of Appeal concluded that the trial court prejudicially erred in applying collateral estoppel to conclusively establish the illegality of petitioner’s search, and concluded there was insufficient evidence that petitioner omitted material facts in his police report. However, the Court of Appeal concluded that substantial evidence supported trial court’s determination that petitioner’s court testimony was untruthful. The case was remanded to the trial court for it to determine, in its independent judgment, whether the surviving charges were insufficient to support petitioner’s termination. (C.A. 5th, filed August 23, 2023, published September 13, 2023.)
Insurance Infinity Select Ins. Co. v. Super. Ct. (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 5031130: The Court of Appeal granted a writ petition ordering the trial court to vacate its rulings that reformed the policy issued by petitioners to increase the policy limit to $750,000, and instead enter a new ruling declaring petitioners’ policy limit was $50,000. Plaintiffs argued it was unlawful for defendants/petitioners (defendants) to issue a policy with a $50,000 limit because the insured, as a motor carrier of property, was required by the Motor Carriers of Property Permit Act (MCPPA) (Veh. Code, § 34600 et seq.) to have a minimum of $750,000 in coverage. In the trial
court plaintiffs were suing defendants for bad faith. Plaintiffs previously sued defendant’s insured and his employee for injuries suffered in a three-vehicle collision. The parties in that case, as well as defendants, settled that case with an agreement that the plaintiffs’ damages from the collision totaled $3,565,995.23, plaintiffs were assigned the claims of the insured and his employer against defendants for bad faith refusal to settle, and plaintiffs could sue defendants to establish liability for damages in excess of the stated $50,000 policy limits without having to first obtain a judgment against the insured and his employee. The Court of Appeal granted the writ petition, ruling that under the undisputed facts an insurer that issues an insurance policy to a motor carrier of property is not required to provide coverage in the amount of $750,000. The motor carrier of property—not the insurer— bears ultimate responsibility for meeting the requirements necessary to obtain a motor carrier permit. Because a motor carrier of property can meet its insurance obligation with several policies, even where an insurer intends to issue and certify a policy under Vehicle Code section 34631.5, it is not obligated to issue the policy in the full amount of $750,000. The carrier was not required to confirm whether the motor carrier of property had complied with its financial responsibility obligations. (C.A. 5th, August 8,2023.)
CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT Corporations Turner v. Victoria (2023) _ Cal.5th _ , 2023 WL 4939730: The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal decision affirming the trial court’s order sustaining defendants’ demurrer, without leave to amend, to plaintiff’s complaint alleging causes of action under Corporations Code sections 5142, 5233, 5223, and 5710. The trial court and Court of Appeal concluded that plaintiff no longer had standing to bring her action because, at the time that she filed the complaint, plaintiff was no longer a director of the Conrad Prebys Foundation. The California Supreme Court disagreed, concluding an examination of the statutory text, its surrounding context, the legislative history, and the overarching purpose of the director enforcement statutes revealed that the statutes do not impose a continuous directorship requirement that would require dismissal of a lawsuit brought under these statutes if the director-plaintiff failed to retain a director position. Each statute grants a director standing to bring a lawsuit. None expressly requires continued service as a director as a condition for pursuing the lawsuit, and there is no indication that the Legislature intended to impose such a condition. (August 3, 2023.) n
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Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 211, 2023
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8 Ways to Build Your Email Marketing Campaigns to Generate More Leads by Noreen Fishman
E
ven though online marketers seem to come up with new strategies almost weekly, email marketing remains one of the most reliable and profitable forms of online marketing. As social media continues to grow and content marketing techniques dominate SEO methods, email marketing continues to show a strong track record and high rate of success. If your law firm wants to get the most out of email marketing, though, it’s important to do everything you can to create campaigns that maximize lead generation and minimize costs. Email serves as a powerful direct communication channel that enables your organization not only to pinpoint potential leads but also to foster meaningful relationships with them, ultimately guiding them toward conversion into valued customers. Here are eight essential tips that will help you to do exactly that.
Don’t Overcomplicate Email Marketing One of the biggest causes of failure with email marketing is simply overcomplicating the whole process. Compared to other digital marketing techniques, email is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. Whether it’s going to ten people or ten thousand, the bottom line is that you are just writing an email. Writing a good email message is going to do more for you than any other “trick” you might come across.
Use Relevant Subject Lines Subject lines have the potential to make or break an email campaign. In an email message, the subject line serves the same purpose as the headline on an article. It’s a big factor for drawing clicks. The pivotal moment when your audience decides whether to open your email hinges on their assessment of the subject line. While you can’t guarantee that any email gets opened, you can almost guarantee that people are going to see that subject line in their list of new emails. Make sure the subject line of the messages you send are relevant, interesting, and most of all, they tell the reader what they can expect to see if they open the email. If you’re giving away an eBook, putting on a webinar, 12
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or have something else of value for your readers, don’t try to be overly creative and surprise them. Put it right in the subject line and get them excited to see what’s inside. Enhance the effectiveness of your subject lines by making them actionable. Instead of a generic phrase like ‘New eBook,’ infuse a strong Call to Action (CTA) into your subject line. For instance, ‘Download our new eBook’ not only informs your audience about the content but also encourages them to take immediate action, directing traffic to your other platforms.
Keep Designs Clean Sloppy design and formatting can make someone close your email just as quickly as they opened it. It gives an instant impression of a lack of professionalism and can drive away leads that would have otherwise converted. If you are running a do-it-yourself campaign, you should strive to keep things as simple as possible. Write your messages the same way you would write any other email and don’t try to be too fancy with anything. Consistency is key when it comes to follow-up emails. By keeping them consistent in terms of color scheme and layout, you reinforce your brand’s identity. Consider incorporating your company’s logo into the email design as well; not only does this add a touch of professionalism, but it also establishes a visual connection between your brand and the content of the email. If you’re looking for a bit more than a plain black and white email message, you can hire a professional designer to create something for you or check with your email service provider to see if they have ready-made templates you can use.
Strive for Easy Readability Every email message your firm sends out needs to be easily readable and digestible. You should use large, clear fonts that readers won’t need to squint to see. Make sure the body of your message is easy to scan, just like you would a blog post. Make important points bold, or use bullet lists to make them easy to see. Above all, ensure that your call to action (CTA) is prominently displayed, starting right from the subject line, and seamlessly integrated throughout the email body. Utilizing action-oriented
words like ‘attend,’ ‘register,’ or ‘read’ not only creates a clear and compelling CTA but also guides your recipients towards taking the desired actions you intend them to. Write your messages assuming that the recipients will be reading it while they are doing something else like commuting to work or waiting in line. This will help you to streamline your messages and make sure that you’re highlighting the most important information. Ensure that there is an easy way for the reader to actually complete the action after the email. Including hyperlinks within the email can streamline downloads and attendees.
Define the Purpose of Each Email Complete email campaigns can be made up of just a few individual messages or a few hundred messages. Either way, each individual message should have a clearly defined purpose as it’s put together. With one message you may want to educate the readers about a certain area of law. With a different message, you might be trying to get people to sign up for a webinar. Or you might be trying to drum up some attention for your social media presence. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish with each email message, you should have that purpose in mind right from the beginning and stick to it as you go through the process of creating the message.
Details That Can Make a Difference Going beyond the basics of just writing a good email message, there are several things you can do to make each message more effective. By keeping an eye on some of the less obvious details, you can tune your messages and campaigns to continually get better results over time.
Use Specific Targeting No matter how big or small your email list is, you’ve probably got more than one audience under the surface. Some subscribers might be older while others are younger, and there are probably people interested in the different types of services that your firm provides. If you separate each of these subgroups and market to each of them with messages designed for their specific interests, you will be much more successful at converting leads. Using specific targeting strategies allows you to send the right message to the right people at the right time. This can lead to higher open rates, click-through rates, and most importantly, conversion rates.
Write Engaging Content Just like blog posts, if you want people to read your emails, the content has to be engaging, relevant, and interesting.
Everything should be coherent, not a mismatch of random topics just there to fill up a page. Short and interesting articles in your emails will get your readers back to your website, your blog, or wherever else you’d like to direct them. Remember, the key to engaging email content is to provide value to your recipients. Make sure content meets their needs, interests, and preferences, as this will increase conversion rate.
Test Your Messages Even if your campaigns are doing well, it’s important to keep testing new ideas. You never know when you’ll come across something that can boost your returns even more. Most email service providers will allow you to conduct A/B testing or split testing. The basic idea is that you can send out two similar messages with specific differences, like the subject line or the wording of a call to action and see which generates a better response. When the test is complete, you can pick out the characteristics of each batch that worked the best and use those to improve future emails. When conducting A/B testing, it’s crucial to methodically test one variable at a time to isolate the specific impact of each change. Typically, you can experiment with elements such as subject lines, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, images, and send times. This approach ensures that your test results yield statistical significance, providing valuable insights. Over time, these tests serve as a valuable tool for refining your email campaigns and enhancing their overall effectiveness.
Analyze and Tune The most important thing to remember is that email marketing is not a “set it and forget it” kind of thing. You should regularly monitor things like open and click-through rates to make sure everything is going as planned. Sometimes just a small change in content can take your messages from people’s inboxes to their spam folders. If you’re not watching what’s going on, results could be disastrous. At the same time, you may need to make changes to keep open rates stable. If people start to think they’re just seeing the same thing over and over again they will understandably lose interest. Takeaway: It doesn’t matter if your firm is just starting out with email marketing or if you’ve been doing it for a long time. Law firms of every size and type can benefit from an integrated email strategy. n Noreen Fishman is the director of client services at Good2bSocial. Her primary responsibility is to help clients achieve their digital marketing goals. This includes managing the Good2bSocial team, ensuring constant communication with clients and updating them on their progress. Connect with Noreen on LinkedIn or www.good2bsocial.com.
Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 211, 2023
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Knowledge is Great, but Infuse Your Thought Leadership with This by Wayne Pollock
Y
our wisdom differentiates you from peers and competitors. Make sure your thought leadership communicates the wisdom you bring to your clients’ matters. The most effective and persuasive thought leadership is infused with wisdom. It doesn’t just rely on the author’s knowledge. The “problem” with knowledge is that anyone can become knowledgeable about a subject by reading about it, by researching it, and memorizing facts. But wisdom is something different. Wisdom involves the ability to make sound judgments. You develop wisdom by experiencing real-world situations and learning how to apply your knowledge and previous experiences to those situations. That’s important because clients don’t want theoretical thinkers. They want people who have been there, done that regarding the same or similar issues they’re facing. This experience gives clients comfort that a particular attorney understands what they’ll need to do to help them secure a good legal result or business result. When you infuse your thought leadership with wisdom and give more to your audience than basic knowledge that could have just as easily come out of the mouths of other attorneys, you’re going to see a number of benefits.
Thought Leadership Infused with Wisdom is … More Likely to be Consumed When you infuse thought leadership with wisdom regarding issues current or prospective clients might be facing, they’ll be more likely to consume it because they are getting information that they’re unlikely to get from many other sources. That’s because most thought leadership focuses on knowledge, not wisdom. Current and prospective clients that consume your wisdomfilled thought leadership aren’t just learning about what the law is or what a recent court decision said. They’re hearing from
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your wisdom regarding what to do (or not to do) regarding that recent court decision or other legal or business issues.
More Persuasive Your thought leadership becomes more persuasive when you infuse it with wisdom because it sends signals to current and prospective clients that you are more likely to be the lawyer for them than anyone else because, through the wisdom you’re displaying, you understand how to approach problems like the ones they’re facing. You’re not just knowledgeable about those problems. You are someone who can take their relevant experiences dealing with those problems and apply them to a client’s particular situation.
Comforting to Your Target Audience When you infuse wisdom into your thought leadership, you also comfort your target audience because you are demonstrating to them that you have experience handling an issue or situation. What may be uncertain to your target audience or to a prospective or current client is not uncertain to you because, as is clear from the wisdom you’ve infused in your thought leadership, you’ve helped other clients manage similar issues. You’re communicating to your target audiences that they have a guide—you—through what might be a difficult, troublesome, and expensive process for them.
Uniquely Personalized to You When you infuse your thought leadership with wisdom, your thought leadership becomes personalized to you and your experiences. Chances are good that no one is going to have the same perspective that you have. This separates you from the pack. Your work experience, the clients you’ve worked with, and your path from law school throughout your career to where you are today have all given you personal and business experiences. These experiences have led to the wisdom you are applying in any given situation and (should be) communicating in your thought leadership.
How to Infuse Wisdom
Make it Drip With Wisdom
In terms of how to actually infuse wisdom, you will want to draw from experience. You will want to share anecdotes about your real-world experiences while you’re, of course, being mindful about confidentiality and privilege. (When you infuse wisdom in your thought leadership, don’t worry about spilling your special sauce. Your special sauce is three things: (i) your knowledge, (ii) your wisdom, and (iii) you applying both to the particular facts and circumstances of a client’s situation. When writing thought leadership, you’re not facing a client’s particular facts and circumstances. Thus, there’s no special sauce to spill.) Let’s say you’re a securities lawyer. When you inject wisdom in your thought leadership, you wouldn’t be just talking about recent court decisions or what the SEC’s recent rule making is covering. Instead, you’d be discussing how to navigate securities litigation when plaintiffs’ firms invoke those recent decisions or integrate them into their litigation strategy, or how your clients may need to tweak their operations to comply with the SEC’s rule making based on your experience with clients that have had to do the same after prior rule making. If you’re a deal lawyer, infusing your thought leadership with wisdom doesn’t mean giving an overview of representations and warranties. It means talking about why particular representations and warranties should be included in a particular kind of deal in a particular industry based on your experience. Finally, if you’re an employment attorney, injecting wisdom into your thought leadership doesn’t mean merely discussing proposed legislation or administrative agencies’ actions. It means explaining how employers’ processes and procedures might need to change, or how longtime best practices will need to evolve, if that proposed legislation becomes law or those agency actions aren’t reversed.
Wisdom is a differentiator. When current and prospective clients are evaluating attorneys to help them navigate new legal or business issues, they want attorneys who aren’t just knowledgeable but wise as well. They want attorneys who know how to help them with those issues because they’ve helped clients before with those same or similar issues. When you infuse wisdom into your thought leadership, you are demonstrating to your target audiences that you are the right person to help them with their legal or business issues. You don’t just have knowledge about those issues, which anyone could develop with relatively minimal effort. Instead, you have experience and judgment, which could be the difference between taking a successful approach to a client’s legal or business issue and taking an unsuccessful approach. Displaying that experience and judgment through wisdom you convey in your thought leadership can equally be the difference between a reader of your thought leadership retaining you to assist them with a legal or business issue versus them retaining somebody else. n Wayne Pollock is the founder of the Law Firm Editorial Service. The Law Firm Editorial Service sets free the knowledge and wisdom trapped inside Big Law and boutique law firm partners by collaborating with them to strategize and ethically ghostwrite book-of-business-building marketing and business development content. Learn more at: www. lawfirmeditorialservice.com.
FIRM FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW
Corey F. Schechter PARTNER
Butterfield Schechter LLP is San Diego County’s largest firm focusing its law practice primarily on employee benefit legal services. Our experience in employee benefits law and business law provides creative solutions for the most pressing business concerns. We are also dedicated to employee ownership and know all things ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plans). Learn more at www.bsllp.com.
Marc S. Schechter Paul D. Woodard
FOUNDING PARTNER
mschechter@bsllp.com
PARTNER
Helping You See ERISA and Employee Benefits Law Clearly Practice areas include: ESOPs - Pension, Profit Sharing, 401(k) Plans - ERISA Litigation - ERISA Compliance - IRS and DOL Audits - Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans - Stock Options Plans - Business Transaction & Succession Planning - Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs)
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Making It Personal for 30 Years by Dan Baldwin
“Jeffrey Phillips is truly a brilliant attorney and businessman. I would not hesitate for a moment to contact him if you needed a personal injury attorney in Arizona, you would be fortunate to have him and his team. If you have a car accident, slip and fall in a store, or get punched in the face, call Phillips.” —Sandro Salcedo
P
hillips Law Group celebrates 30 years of taking legal matters personally—a business philosophy that has earned more than $1 billion for more than 155,000 satisfied clients. Based in Arizona, the firm has offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City. The firm’s primary practice areas are automobile/truck injuries, motorcycle injuries, workplace accidents, slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, and defective product cases. The primary office of the firm is in Phoenix, but Phillips and his team serve clients throughout the United States. Due to the frequent backand-forth travel between Arizona and California, many travelers from the Golden State finding themselves in legal challenges find convenient, professional, and personal services readily available in the Copper State. “People from California who face legal challenges in Arizona are more confident when they have aggressive representation here that is combined with local resources in our California offices. We really do offer the best of both worlds in those cases,” Phillips says.
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JOURNALS
LAW FIRM
OF THE MONTH
2023 2021
Attorney: Timothy Tonkin, Founder: Jeffrey L. Phillips, and Attorney: Jose A. Montaño
They have achieved remarkable successes across the board for their clients. For example: $23 million for a product liability case, $4.3 million for a wrongful death case, $2.25 million for a slip and fall case, $1.4 million for a class action employment case, and $1 million for premise liability. Their record in tough response to insurance firm offers is equally strong: when offered only $900,000 the firm earned $4.65 million; offered zero, the firm earned their client $900,000; offered $100,000 they earned their client $7.650 million and those are just a few examples of their ongoing dramatic results. Clients often offer equally expressive compliments to the firm’s efforts. “I was recently served court documents that I was being sued from an accident that happened years ago. For someone who has never been through something like this and is not familiar with the court lingo or where to even begin, it was very frustrating and stressful. I reached out to a family member who knew Tracy Laskos and the great reputation of Phillips Law Group and within the hours of the initial call for help, I had a direct number to lead attorney Nasser Abujbarah. Nasser heard my case and almost instantly put me at ease by explaining the process and how easy it was to handle. Nasser spoke to me like he was a friend, not like I was a client. I am so grateful to Tracy Laskos and of course my cousin Stephanie for helping out and giving me the directions that I needed to get through this situation. I plan on referring my friends, family and patients that are in need of a personal injury attorney to call Phillips Law Group. Thank you!” —Angelica Valenzuela Phillips Law Group employs more than 100 people in eight offices. In 2023 Phillips Law was certified as a Great Place to Work. The Great Place to Work organization provides national recognition to firms providing “an outstanding employee experience and an amazing workplace culture.” The certification process involves surveying the workforce and the completion of a questionnaire about the company and its culture. The survey showed that 95 percent of Phillips Law Group say it is a great place to work. Employees are eager to explain why that designation is accurate. “Phillips Law Group provides a collaborative environment in which both attorneys and staff work together to achieve the best outcome for clients. As an attorney here at PLG, I’m lucky to be surrounded by seasoned attorneys and knowledgeable staff that share my enthusiasm for helping accident victims. The team here at PLG treats clients with respect and empathy while fighting hard to get the results they deserve.”—Aaron Sherrell Founding Partner Jeffrey Phillips says, “We’ve proudly cultivated a connected, caring workforce where people are willing to give extra to get the job done. We also believe our commitment to community service is very attractive to prospective staffers who get the chance to give back to the community as much as they can to clients at Phillips Law Firm.”
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Making It Personal from Personal Experience Philips began his legal career as a criminal defense attorney but changed his primary focus to helping those injured through the negligence of other people and organizations. He has represented individual persons as lead counsel in more than 40 jury trials, obtaining verdicts throughout Arizona, including tribal lands. The decision to change his focus was intensely personal. Many years ago, Phillips lost his mother due to a case of medical malpractice, which truly makes his drive to serve personal injury and related clients very personal. “That loss made me determined to advocate for injured people and to fight to make things right for clients seeking justice in cases of auto accidents, serious injury, medical malpractice, and more. Our focus is on getting real justice for people harmed due to the negligence of others,” Phillips says. His personal record is as exemplary as that of his firm. Phillips is a 1986 graduate of Arizona State University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, earning the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honors. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1990 from the Law School at Arizona State University in Tempe. His record of achievement includes: member of the National Trial Lawyers Association, Leaders Forum member of the American Association for Justice, Premiere member of the American Academy of Trial Attorneys, member of the Western Trial Lawyers Association, member—Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, member—Consumer Attorneys of California, as a Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association—Top 25 member, Trucking Trial Lawyers Association—Top 10 member, member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, member of the National Brain Injury Trial Lawyers—Top 25, member of the State Bar of Arizona and a former member of the State Bar of Arizona Fee Arbitration Committee, member—Orange County Bar Association. His personal commitment to the law, the community and his clients is reflected in the many positive comments earned by his team. “Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value. As someone who is familiar with the inner workings of the auto insurance industry, I can wholeheartedly endorse Steven J. Jones and Phillips Law Group as someone I would want on my side should litigation take place. They handled my case professionally, honestly, and with satisfactory results which I would not have expected without enlisting their help.” —Maxim Neverov
We’ve proudly cultivated a connected, caring workforce where people are willing to give extra to get the job done.” —Jeffrey Phillips, Founding Partner
Attorney: Timothy Tonkin, Founder: Jeffrey L. Phillips, and Attorney: Jose A. Montaño
Personal Involvement in the Community “Giving back to the community is more than a slogan to us; it is a guiding principle of our firm and something that is always in the forefront of our minds—individually and as an organization,” Phillips says. The attorneys, paralegals, and support staff of Phillips Law group are extremely active in the professional community and the community at large. They regularly collaborate with organizations such as Maggie’s Place, Nourish PHX, Arizona Helping Hands, Women4Women Tempe, the Arizona Animal Welfare League, Feeding Arizona, My Hope Bag, A New Leaf, and many more. Giving back to the community is a guiding principle of the firm. They recently founded the Phillips Law Group Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring and enriching the vibrant Arizona community that is their home base. Employees are regularly given opportunities to participate in volunteer events—which happen at least weekly.
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“At the base of everything we do is our empathy for the client. This isn’t just business for us. My life was impacted by medical malpractice, making this work extremely personal. I do my absolute best to pass along those feelings and that commitment to my team. We have been in business this long because we really care about our clients and go the extra mile for them. And having served thousands of clients who often refer us to their friends and loved ones, we think that reputation is clear, and we uphold it in our commitment to clients that shines through,” Phillips says. n Contact Phillips Law Group 3101 North Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85012 (692) 258-8888 www.phillipslaw.com
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What to Do if You Are Defamed on Social Media by Max Goodman
E
veryone is a little braver when hiding behind their keyboard. Words fly a little easier online where the speaker and target of the speech do not occupy the same physical space. The exponential echoes of manufactured gossip and defamation, however, spread even faster online. Social media platforms like X (formally Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Discord, and Twitch are the new arenas for discussion, community, and yes, defamation and harassment. Many platforms allow users to post anonymously which only further emboldens online impersonation, cyberstalking, blackmail, and other unlawful speech. Not all offending speech is defamation, however. An online post, tweet (or retweet), video, or comment is online defamation only if it is (1) a false statement about a specific person; (2) posted or communicated to another person (or to the internet generally); and (3) damages a person’s reputation. If you believe you have been defamed online, there are several steps you can take to squarely address it, to unmask anonymous posters, and to hold them accountable.
Preserve Evidence Before you report the offending online content or block the user, preserve evidence of the defamation including comments or retweets. Take screenshots of the offending content and the defamer’s profile. Download the offending video or record the livestream. If you receive any messages from others concerning the offending content, save those as well. If the offending content were deleted before you could preserve it, online tools like the Wayback Machine can be used to show how a specific website (or social media account) appeared in the past. Those tools have their limits, so it is critical to preserve this evidence immediately.
Report to the Platform Every social media platform has terms of service which provide specific ways for users to report prohibited posts. Posts which promote violence, divulge private information (such as someone’s credit card number or street address (doxing)), or which are otherwise harassing violate those policies. If the offending post falls into those categories, you can report the post directly to the platform (after you preserve the post). Reporting the post is the quickest path to its removal. If the nature of the online defamation is sufficiently extreme, then a letter to the defamer (from a law firm) possibly followed by a lawsuit may be appropriate. 22
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Demand Letter If the defamer’s posts are not removed or if they keep creating new accounts to further defame you, a demand letter from a law firm may discourage them. In the letter (which is served to the defamer), your attorney outlines the offending conduct, attaches the defamatory posts, and demands that they take down the offending accounts or posts while threatening to sue if they do not comply. The letter is accompanied by a demand that they preserve key evidence should a lawsuit become necessary. If they destroy or delete evidence after receiving that preservation letter, they will be penalized in the lawsuit.
Lawsuit to Unmask Anonymous Users Online offending speech often supports lawsuits alleging defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress among other claims seeking removal of the offending speech and monetary damages. Lawsuits are especially useful however, to unmask anonymous users. Victims of anonymous defamatory online posts, reviews, blackmail, cyberstalking, or other harassment can file a type of lawsuit called a “John Doe” lawsuit. In a John Doe lawsuit, the court allows the claim to proceed against the unknown user. Attorneys then use these John Doe lawsuits to subpoena the platform hosting anonymous posters (for example, Facebook) and begin the process of unmasking that user. Those platforms will, however, often only produce the IP address (i.e., the unique identifying number assigned to every device connected to the internet) of the anonymous poster. A subsequent subpoena to the corresponding internet service provider (e.g., Comcast or AT&T) is then required to obtain the anonymous defamer’s identity. (Social media companies do not make it easy to unmask anonymous users.) The John Doe lawsuit can then be amended to name the user as the defendant, and they can be held accountable for their unlawful conduct. There are options for those who are victims of defamation on public platforms even when you don’t know who is behind the comments. With the proper documentation and legal guidance those victims can protect their reputation and seek justice. n Max Goodman is a member of our Business Litigation Service Group and handles complex breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, and tortious interference claims. He defends various restaurant and hospitality groups in claims concerning the Dram Shop Act, negligence, and intentional torts. For our media clients, Max defends defamation and false light claims defending free speech. Learn more at www.amundsendavislaw.com.
Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee ADR Services, Inc.
To schedule, contact Haward Cho: (213) 683-1600 and (619) 233-1323 or haward@adrservices.com
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5 Reasons Law Firms Need a Content Marketing Strategy by Kevin Vermeulen
T
he legal industry is very unique in terms of marketing. For one thing, it’s highly competitive. Additionally, much of legal marketing relies on compelling content and thought leadership—that most legal professionals don’t have time to create. Plus, there are certain ethical and legal considerations that make creating legal content more complicated.
Why Is Content Marketing Important for Law Firms? For those reasons plus others, it can be a truly daunting task to create thoughtful legal marketing content—but it’s a necessity. Content marketing is absolutely essential for any law firm or attorney who wants to generate web traffic and ramp up their leads. In case you need more convincing, let’s take a look at some of the reasons that legal organizations need web content marketing.
SEO Matters (A Lot) and Content Marketing Improves It
Your website needs content, that much you know. Everything from the copy on your service pages to your blog tells prospects what your firm is about. All of that content also tells search engines what your firm can offer. Content provides that much-needed context to search engines so that they understand how trustworthy and valuable your site is. You’ll rank higher if search engines are able to quickly assess what services you offer, where you’re located, who you serve, etc. By having a better understanding of all of this, search engines know when to serve up your website during search inquiries. The more opportunities for that to happen, the better. Plus, your content provides lots of opportunities for implementing researched keywords so that you can rank even higher—thus attracting more traffic.
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Great Web Content Can Attract Backlinks Backlinks occur when other sites find your content useful and then link to it. Such links offer strong signals to Google and other search engines that your site is credible and valuable to others. Backlinks can also be a powerful source of referral traffic. The more valuable your content is, the more links you’ll attract. Concentrate on building high-quality, informative content for your audience, answering common questions. Another great way to encourage backlinks is to publish original research and statistics—these are often searched for and cited in other works. For example, an infographic or white paper that compiles information from real clients could be valuable in another person’s research.
Strong Content Drives Social Sharing Here is where you want to get creative. Legal content doesn’t have to be stuffy. Consider creating short videos that explain complex topics, or putting together visually aesthetic infographics. Your goal is to create content that is so helpful, people feel the need to share it. Including social proof like testimonials and case studies are also helpful in getting reallife people to show your content to others. Make sharing easy by including share or post buttons where they are easily visible on all content, and being active on social media and YouTube. The more that your content is shared, the more traffic your site will receive. Note: the caveat here is strong content—not all content is worth sharing. Think about the information that is truly valuable, and who you’re trying to reach. If you stumbled upon your latest blog, would you share it?
Use Conversion-Optimized
Content for Nurturing Leads
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving your content, website, or campaigns to convert visitors into leads. CRO practices will help you gain traffic and then turn that traffic into more qualified leads. Some
of the basics are adding compelling calls-to-action on pages and posts, and making sure your website speed, navigation, and contact forms all operate quickly. Look for ways to personalize content so that you can increase on-site conversions and reach potential leads in new spaces. You can also use content to reach people who are in different stages with your firm—you can reach new leads with introductory content and send more tailored content to people who have already engaged with your firm. Make content a part of your overall lead nurturing strategy and you’ll see better results.
Informative Content Is Better for Your Website’s Authority
In the legal industry, what you know is crucial. Displaying what you know is an important part of gaining trust, both with prospects and with search engines. Things like client reviews, referrals, guest blogging, and other tactics are also helpful for improving overall website authority and reach. By publishing informative and educational content on
your website, you can showcase your legal expertise and build trust with your audience and with search engines. Takeaway: Investing in great content will pay dividends over time. Creating a thoughtful content strategy will pay off in terms of increased visibility, traffic, brand awareness, and leads. We encourage you to take the time to build out an intentional content strategy based on the specific niche you serve and the interests of your audience. n Kevin Vermeulen is Partner and Chief Operating Officer for Good2bSocial. He has over 30 years of marketing and advertising experience, including 22 years working in various senior management roles, including Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer for ALM Media, a leading legal publisher, helping lawyers, law firms, consultants and companies grow their business. During Kevin’s tenure at ALM, he worked with professional services companies in the financial, digital, real estate and legal industries. Learn more at: www. good2bsocial.com.
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Unlocking the Potential of TikTok for Law Firms by Guy Alvarez
W
ith 1.7 billion users today, a growth of 17% from 2022, it’s safe to say TikTok is one of the fastestgrowing social media platforms we’ve seen yet. And its unique biteable video format has permeated every level of the social media sphere, causing a huge push for short-form videos, and even influencing Instagram to move away from photos and more towards videos. But with such a young audience, many legal marketers may feel TikTok isn’t worth the investment, or they may be unsure of how a law firm should even go about posting on TikTok. (What’s a ‘For You’ page? What’s a ‘Sound’?) The truth of the matter is, TikTok is no longer just for Gen Z dance videos. Many lawyers have been quick to get on the app, and the algorithm has made it worth their time. Due to TikTok’s rapid pace with trends, and its hyper-adaptive algorithm, many lawyers and law firms have found success by creating relatable content that not only generates brand awareness but most importantly humanizes their brand and informs their audience. So, how can law firms start using TikTok?
Why Should Law Firms Be on TikTok? Many law firms and lawyers think TikTok isn’t worth their time. Sure, it’s nothing compared to LinkedIn, but TikTok’s fun and creative nature offers a wonderful opportunity for firms and lawyers to think outside of the box and really connect with their audience on another level. As a young app, TikTok lacks many of the formalities and expected production costs that have permeated other video platforms like YouTube. Because brands on TikTok can be their most authentic selves, law firms can really showcase their personality and culture. TikTok provides an opportunity to show your audience that you’re not just another lawyer speaking legalize into the atmosphere. You’re a real person, just like them, who’s there to educate, offer advice, and above all else have some fun. Still not convinced TikTok is worth the investment? You can easily repurpose your TikToks as Instagram Reels or Facebook videos too. And above all else, recent conversations from tech giants have shown there’s a huge push toward video for social 26
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media. So, getting comfortable with short-form social media videos could also do your brand some good.
An Overview of TikTok for Law Firms TikTok is a video sharing app that allows users to share videos that are as little as 15 seconds to as of recently, 10 minutes long. One of the reasons TikTok has become so popular is that it has simplified the video creation process. Users can shoot and edit their videos in the app, with features such as filters, noise reducers, enhancements, speed effects, subtitles, and much more. The app is set up with two different feeds for users—a For You page and a Following page. The Following page is akin to any other social media platform, it’s simply a feed that shows you videos from pages you are following. However, the For You page has revolutionized the way social media algorithms work. The For You page is a feed that shows users content from both accounts they do and do not follow that the app believes they would enjoy. As TikTok’s popularity continues to surge, the platform has introduced an exciting new feature called the TikTok Shop, providing users with the opportunity to both purchase and sell a diverse range of products.
Definitions • FYP—For You Page. This is the page where users can view videos from those they aren’t/may be following that have been selected by the algorithm based on the user’s past preferences. • PFP—Profile Picture. Make sure you have a branded profile picture that showcases some personality and fits into the circle sizing. • POV—Point of View. Often users make POV videos where they show themselves doing something as if someone else is watching. Usually, the action that is being depicted in these videos is something very typical of the user. (Example: The caption may read ‘POV: I’m meeting with another happy client after winning their case in court’ and the video may be a clip of them smiling and shaking hands with someone)
• Sound—Every video on TikTok is accompanied by a sound. In basic terms, it’s simply the auditory components of a video. What makes them unique is that users can add music, voice-over, whatever, and save this Sound to the Sounds library, where any TikTok user can take the Sound and repurpose it for their own videos. Often, certain sounds will become trendy and develop a large following. • Duet—Duets allow your own video to play simultaneously next to someone else’s video (usually someone you’re responding to). This is a great way to network with those in your industry/ audience. (Example: you’re a personal injury lawyer and you see a video of someone sharing their experience settling in court. You may ‘duet’ the video and add some captions with commentary.) • Storytime—Similar to YouTube, many users find fame by sharing stories about their experiences. (Think case study, but a lot more casual and verbal instead of written.) • Transition—Like any video, a transition is how you move from one scene to the next. However, on TikTok, many transition ideas will become trends, and they can be used in tandem with certain sounds and ideas. When you’re researching trends, pay special attention to how others are cutting between scenes. Using the right transitions can really help ensure your videos fall in line with what your audience wants to see. • Stitch—Similar to duets, this feature allows you to respond to another video on your own. Only in this case, the new video you create will only include a short clip from the one you’re responding to. This is a huge trend that’s easy to hop on. People will post specific videos saying ‘Stitch this with a time you…’. • Repost—The repost feature allows you to repost TikToks that belong to other users from your own TikTok account to share with your audience.
What’s the Secret to the Algorithm? TikTok’s For You page means any user has the potential to get their content seen—even if they don’t have a large following. That’s the beauty behind it. The goal of the For You page is to show users content that they will enjoy the most. It’s believed that past engagement has a huge impact on which videos are selected for users. Basically, if a user is engaging (liking, commenting, sharing, saving) with many videos on a particular topic, with particular hashtags, particular trends, or with particular sounds, TikTok will show them more videos of a similar nature in their For You page. As an example, many law firms have found engagement by hopping on the ‘5 Things I Wouldn’t Do as a ____’ trend. They’ve formatted their videos in the way others have while executing their trend, and they’ve used hashtags most often
associated with that trend. Therefore, if a user is watching and engaging with many ‘5 Things I Wouldn’t Do as a ___’ videos, then it’s very likely they’ll see Lawyer Joe’s video on ‘5 Things I Wouldn’t Do as a Divorce Lawyer’. Now, imagine that on a large scale. The #5thingschallenge hashtag currently has 179.2 million views…. Think of all the people who will potentially see Lawyer Joe’s ‘5 Things I Wouldn’t Do as a Divorce Lawyer’ video.
How Do I Create TikToks? Yes, TikTok is a lot more laid back than other platforms. But its uniqueness is a double-edged sword. You can’t simply repurpose YouTube videos and expect them to perform. You have to understand the trends, trending sounds, dialect, and audience in order to find success. This involves a lot of social listening, some goal setting, and some creativity. 1. Decide what type of video you want to make—As we said, a clip of you speaking legalese won’t do well. Explore TikTok, or follow an account where they break down the latest trends (check out @trendbible). Choose which trend you’d like to hop on, and review the wealth of videos under that trending sound or hashtag. Take note of sounds, caption conventions (which parts are spoken vs. written out), transitions, facial expressions, etc. 2. Connect this trend to the legal industry—How can you make this trend work for the legal industry? If people are doing day-in-a-life videos, create one focused on a ‘day in a life as a lawyer’. If there’s a trend where people are sharing advice or tips, hop on that and share your own tips as a lawyer. There are even a lot of sounds that are popular but don’t have a rigid structure. You can simply use a trending sound and hashtags to share some thought leadership content via spoken word. (Think blog post, but spoken and much more casual.) Above all else, get creative, but keep in mind the conventions for different trends like specific transitions, sounds, word choice, etc. 3. Shoot your video—It’s time to shoot! Grab a tripod, friend, or shoot selfie style. It may take a few tries but don’t worry, you can always save your attempts to ‘Drafts’ and try as many times as needed. When you’re ready to shoot, simply hit the + button at the bottom of your screen. Then select any effects you’d like to use in the bottom left corner. The bottom-most panel is where you can select the length of your video (3m, 60s, or 15s), and above that is where you select the speed. (In most cases just do 1x, this will be normal speed.) The right-hand panel is where you can add effects or enhancements. When you’re ready to go, hold down on the red circle to start shooting. At the very top, you’ll see the music icon. This is where you can select the ‘sound’ you’d like to use.
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4. Final Adjustments—When you’re done shooting, release your finger and hit the red circle in the bottom right corner with a check. From there, you can use the right panel to add text, adjust clips, captions, etc. (Hint: try using the ‘noise reducer’ at the bottom—it’ll make your audio much clearer.) Always try to add auto-generated captions—this will ensure every user is able to understand your video. And don’t be afraid to give your video a title so people know what it’s about. You can add text by hitting the T button, typing, and then dragging the text where you prefer. After that, hold down on the text so you can set the duration where you’d like it to play. 5. Time to Post—Hit Next, now it’s time for a caption! First, make sure to turn on comments, duets, and stitches. This will ensure people can engage with your video on every level. And make sure your video is set to be shared with Everyone, not just followers. (This’ll ensure you’re on the For You page). And don’t forget to toggle to ‘Manage Video Quality’ so you can ensure your video is of the highest quality. Now’s the time for a caption. Do your due diligence and research which hashtags work best for your industry, and for this trend. And don’t forget to capitalize on any number of trending hashtags to maximize your video’s potential. Make sure your caption is something that showcases your firm’s personality and adds some context to the video.
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Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 211, 2023
A Look at Lawyers Doing it Right • @lawbymike (7.4M Followers, 160.7M Likes) • @thelawyerangela (1.6M Followers, 25.2M Likes) • @kennedylawfirm (1.6M Followers, 36.1M Likes) • @husbandandwifelawteam (319.5k Followers, 14.6M Likes) • @thepaynelawyer (242.8k Followers, 3.6M Likes) • @lawyerpaige (1.7M Followers, 11.8M Likes) Takeaway: Remember, above all else, TikTok is about showcasing your brand, lawyers’ personalities, and company culture. TikTok can be highly educational, so this is a great opportunity to share some thought leadership content. But remember, while TikTok is young, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any conventions or best practices. You must prioritize social listening and do your due diligence to understand what’s trending, what will perform well, and how to execute your videos. n Guy Alvarez is the founder and Chief Engagement Officer. Guy is intimately familiar with all aspects of the professional service firm. First, he worked as a law firm associate. Later, he joined ALM Media where he built websites for some of the largest US law firms. After ALM, Guy honed his skills while running KPMG’s Global Digital Marketing group. Learn more at www. good2bsocial.com.
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