Law And More

"Growth and Opportunty Project Report" - Read on train home why the GOP died and won't have a resurrection Easter

Here you can scan on your commute back home this evening the "autopsy" (its own word) the Republican National Committee created about its being killed during the 2012 elections. 

From what it concludes about its "sins," there doesn't seem much hope that it can have a resurrection this coming Easter Sunday or any time soon.  No morning in America.

Among the most damning findings is that the GOP doesn't care about people.  That isn't a promising position to be in, at least not in politics.

Also, it has become stuck in the past with the Reagan Revolution, that is its glorification of Ronald Reagan who was an old white guy who few under 50 recall.  That being said, it's obvious that the GOP is on the wrong side of demographics, in age, with people of color, women, and the ethics (I'm a half breed, part Italian, part Eastern European).

In addition, conservatives in general never achieved a comfort level with technology. Its big success story had been the medium of television - e.g. Fox News.  Liberal digital sites, ranging from Gawker.com to Abovethelawc.om, have a ball making fun of the conservative point of view.

The question, then, is whether this party should even attempt a comeback or whether its more in-touch members such as Chris Christie and Jeb Bush should carve out a new kind of middle of road party.  Time will tell.

Legal Blogging: The way to viral

What is the law of attraction creating the force which drives legal blog material viral?  Lawyers, the legal media, and those selling to the legal sector need to know that.

Recently, on this blog I accomplished that.  Here is the case study. It's an art, not a science.  And it takes a community.

Mark Herrmann: Talk about the law of attraction

Some have greatness thrust upon them, as Malvolio observes in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."  And, some, goes the thinking according to the law of attraction, have the mindset and pursue the activities that pull good things to them.

Whatever is going on, attorney Mark Herrmann continues to win grandly in a downsizing profession where even the best and brightest are getting sidelined.  His latest piece of good fortune is for his employer Aon to transfer him to London.  London!

Recently he published a wonderful book "Inside Straight," based on the columns he blogs for the legal tabloid Abovethelaw.com.  Many would kill to even to get a love link from David Lat at ATL.  Here you can order the book. 

He went to Aon after being a partner in the elite unique organizational culture of Jones Day.  The world is still reeling to even imagine that he left that noble institution.  What confidence. 

For years I have been "studying" Herrmann to find the dots which make up his success and then try to connect them.  No luck, at least not so far.

Happy holiday season to Herrmann and his family in London.

Secrets: Have they become impossible and do they matter a lot less?

In some ways, the controversy over privacy - that is our right to secrets - seems naive.  Sure, the digital powers that be are collecting a ton of data about us.  But, our secrets are mattering less and less.

Actually, as any astute observer of human beings knows, there probably were few secrets even before the digital age could expose them.  Unhappy families, as Tolstoy observed, are fairly transparent.  Despite my parents' attempts to conceal the dynamics of our dysfunctional family system, that some things were very wrong was obvious in that I was such a loud fat girl (horrors in the 50s)  and one sister was such a withdrawn skinny girl.

Keeping secrets was likely an illusion.  But even if that succeeded it matters less now when sugary understandings of human nature have given way to embracing our shadow side.  Also, in such a fluid world economy it is almost expected that we will screw up over and over again, have to repair the professional and personal damage, and start over.  Watchers of Rajat Gupta anticipate a roaring comeback, probably beginning in India.

After all this is an era in which smarts and talent, which produce results, are treasured.  So what if the genius is on the continuum of autism? Been in prison for a DUI?  Could happen to anyone.  Can't hold on to a relationship?  Maybe that's not your strength.

The beauty of current life is the almost infinite possibility of crime/failure, consequences, and comeback.  I am, therefore I will screw up.  And, of course, everyone knows all about it.

Class of 2015: From get-go, develop niche expertise

The power brokers always knew it: Develop a clear niche or brand identity.  Law students must embrace that same marketplace reality.

In my hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey, the Hague Machine was known for getting your uncle a job in the Medical Center and, during a snow storm, your street cleaned.  That is, its branding was delivering on what matters in an ethnic blue collar urban area.  Those were jobs and essential services.

From the get-go, future lawyers have to be equally shrewd about shaping their career path.  The Class of 2015 better figure out fast what niche they will develop expertise in, credentials such as published articles, and contacts.  The world doesn't have the time to sort through a diffuse brand identity.

In his book "Inside Straight," Aon lawyer and Abovethelaw.com columnist Mark Herrmann hammered that in his new business development section.  Prospects scan law firm websites and individual lawyer biographies to find very specific experience such as winning litigation on the side of the defense in medical device cases.  When I do assignments for a public relations agency which handles law firms, increasingly I am updating digital content to reflect this reality.  Lawyers tend to be inward-looking creatures.  They neglect putting themselves out there on the web and through mobile as recognized experts and successful litigators in X or Y field.  That should be reinforced with media relations, speaking engagements, and special events such as seminars at corporate offices.

The beauty of intellectual growth in law school is something to savor. However, that can't be at the expense of building a brand in a special line of business.

Stuck Lawyers: Move that body

Call it voodoo, the law of attraction, or luck.  It favors those who are out there, on their feet, making nice with and listening to their fellow social animals.  It works against those tethered to a desk.  That's what the experts are hammering about the new model of success for a turblent global economy continually disrupted by technology.

For example, in their new book "Get Lucky," Thor Muller and Lane Becker explain how just leaving your cubicle or corner office breaks you open to getting lucky in your professional life.  On your feet, moving around the world, you bump into new perspectives, information you didn't have before, additions to your network, and the space in which to see connections between ideas you might not have seated at desk.

Millennial Kate Sirignano runs hot boutique Image Marketing Consultants.  The growing demand is for putting on special events.  Call it the post-Facebook era.  Human beings want to eyeball other human beings, press some flesh, and enjoy a beer and a hotdog together.  Media sense this.  Reporters are more apt to cover your story if it's bundled as a special event.  Throw in a celebrity as Image Marketing Consultants did with Mike D'Atoni, USA Men's Olympic Basketball Coach, for Save a Suit Foundations collections and distribution outreach, and the media are bound to show.

In your mind's eye  trace your steps from your product liability area of the office over to the Intellectual Property folks.  What you overhear and the perspectives you elicit could provide a whole new way you might formulate the strategy for your client whose microwave allegedly injured 43 children.  You might come to see a technical glitch which could be the liability of the software developer.

You can also move that body to hosting a briefing for media on emerging trends in class action litigation.  Put it on where they are or very near their offices.  Your name in a wraparound article can be the way you will be bringing in new business.

"For special events in the legal sector, it's the performance art which closes the deal," Kate Sirignano, Image Marketing Consultants

For new business development around the world, special events are the way to go in the legal sector.  That has always been the situation, ranging from putting on continuing education seminars in the U.S. to briefing the Chinese about U.S. product liability law.  Given the increased competition, that's even more the case.  So, Law and More has asked Kate Sirignano, Chief Executive Officer of Image Marketing Consultants, to provide some unique insight on event planning.

****************************************************************************

JG:  Professional services firms, including law, are sponsoring more and more special events.  Why?

KS: Prospects are bombarded with so much background noise from sellers.  They have had it and demand to look sellers in the eye.  

Because you'll be reaching a relatively small group, the investment per person will be higher than other marketing vehicles such as delivering a keynote address at a convention.  That means you better do it right.

JG:  How to do it right?

 KS:  There are three  parts, Jane. 

One, you have to construct the event around what the prospects need to know and can't find out as well or as conveniently elsewhere. 

Two, there has to be urgency in the scheduling.  Prospects need to know this now or their business could suffer. 

Three, since there is uncertainty involved you have to overplan and trial run everything. When we sponsored a media conference to showcase a new GM car at a Boston hotel, the car didn't fit into the elevator.  We had built that kind of possibility into the process.   

JG: Okay, the law firm does it right.  Then why do some get business from this and too many don't?

KS:  Performance art.   The firm which puts on the best show and then has the confidence to ask for the sale usually closes the deal.

JG: What do you mean by "performance art?" 

KS: That is a seamless web of player presence, continually adjusting the script to resonate with prospects, pulling out all stops on brilliance of expertise without giving away the store, and indications of the ability to grant many more favors in the future of the relationship. 

JG: And the firm asks for the sale.

KS: There are a number of different ways to do that, depending on the culture of the buying organization.  But it must be done. 

JG:  Thanks, Kate.

****************************************************************************

Kate Sirignano is now a consultant on marketing to Law and More.  You will hear from her regularly and you can reach her directly at Image Marketing Consultants, kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com.

"Breaking Bad" - Criminal lawyers can predict what Walter White will do to stay on top

Sure, one-time lackluster chemistry teacher Walter White has turned into a crook who knows how to win.  The creator of "Breaking Bad" Vince Gilligan told THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that this coming season, which begins Sunday, White will continue to win.  The question is what he will have to do to stay on top?  What further moral and emotional deterioration will take place inside him and the lives of those he touches?

Last season we viewers had a strong hunch that White was behind the poisoning of a little boy in order to get even with crime boss Gus Fring.  Thanks to him, his brother in law could have been offed.   Fring also had threatened to kill his wife, son, and baby daughter.

This season what will he be willing to endure to hold onto the man he has become.  He could evolve into the cool cucumber Fring had been. Or, who knows, he could have an epiphany and go straight and happily operate his and his wife's car wash.

Beyond All Rajaratnam's Men, One Woman: Investing can be legit, lucrative

The Law of Attraction in Successful Investing doesn't always mean sucking up insider information from All Raj Rajaratnam's Men and One Women (Danielle Chiesi who's at Camp Cupcake).  Actually, it often just boils down to hustle.  Passive investor types shouldn't be hanging out in the current volatile market.

Wealth can be built, preserved, and grown through simple alertness, willingness to dig especially in out of the box ways, patience, and an integrative intelligence which allows for connecting the dots.  An example of that? Warren Buffett, of course.

I take a look at legit, lucrative investing for the financial information company Motley Fool. Here you can review how I have connected the dots.

 

Females in Professional Services: Instead of funny, gain edge with warmth, caring

In professional services, the law of attraction operates very differently for males and for females.  Most of us have observed that.  Now that's confirmed through research. 

In BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK, Venessa Wong reports on a study done by linguist Judith Baxter from Aston University in the UK.  In her analysis of 14 large companies she found that being funny is a leadership tool for men but a negative for women.  Tina Fey aside, the world is not made for funny ladies.  Sarah Palin captured national attention at the Republic National Convention by framing issues in a witty manner. She was not engaging in comedy.  Hillary Clinton wears the look of great gravitas which tends to be interpreted as confidence.

The leadership tool which women can use to gain an advantage is warmth.  We can broadcast we care.  That starts with our ability to listen. For example, whether a superior or a client or a prospect comes into our office, instead of defining the situation through taking the lead in the conversation, we give them the floor and listen.  That listening stance can be reinforced by taking notes. 

Other ways of demonstrating that we are feeling human beings who care?  Here are some tips:

• Ask questions, even simple ones as how was it getting through the traffic
• Remember details and bring them up
• Maintain eye contact and lean-into body language
• Smile
• Outline solutions which have worked in other situations, which reassures that their problem can be resolved
• Frame everything in a positive fashion since human beings grew up having to assume mum had all the answers
• Ask for suggestions
• Never leverage the power tool of seeming in a rush.

Even away from the workplace, humor doesn't often work for females.  Males seem from primitive times to need to command the situation.  In social contexts they often do that through being funny, especially recounting humorous incidents.   Last week, outside on the sidewalk after a meeting of a church group, a male held me hostage with amusing gossip about another member.  This week, it was in the grapevine about what a great conversationalist I am.  I didn't say a word.  This head of a trade association is someone we all want on our network.