Law And More

Legal Marketers - Tell How Your Law Firm Is Pivoting

The term "pivot" will peak.

And then another word will replace it.

Those still putting out there "pivots" will sound like yesterday.

But, currently, everything, such as careers, must be positioned and packaged as "pivots." Not doing so dooms the speaker, texter, emailer, journalist, thought leader or politico as out of the loop. That also applies to those playing in that very special sandbox: legal marketing. 

As legal marketers and the lawyers they promote know: We are our language.

It had been Donald Trump's use of workingman's language that catapulted him onto the global radar. Immediately he differentiated himself from the typical potential presidential candidate. And the media, which served him so well back then, moved in to take a closer look. 

 Next week I'll be pivoting to the next in my communications career. That's because this week I had two articles published, for my own byline, in third-party media. This is the one on how COVID-19 is reshaping marketing. 

Takeaway for legal marketers: Boost attention. Tell the world about your law firm's pivot. It doesn't have to be major. Just some new wrinkle on WFH. 

The Message Glut. You need bold strategy/ghostwriting. Let’s talk about what will work. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Legal Marketers & The Message Glut: Learning from Boston University Student-Run AdLab/PRLab

Legal marketers are working 12 to 14 hours a day.

After all, the partners can't go out there and wine and dine prospects or rent a booth at a beauty show.

So, the law firm is depending on you. And because they are, you have more status. 

But what kinds of results are you getting amid The Message Glut? 

In Odwyerpr.com today, I tell how the brass at Boston University realized that the only way to send a marketing message was boldly. Otherwise, well, don't bother sending it. 

Those powers that be allowed the student-run AdLab and PRLab to launch the @fckitwontcutit (F*ckitwontcutit) campaign.

See, the stakes are high. Those returning to campus had to have the Ah-Ha Moment that COVID-19 is real and not just for old people. Otherwise they could die. And take lots of members of Gen Z, along with professors and administrators, with them. 

Well, you legal types will want to at least know this: Boston University trademarked @fckitwontcutit. Yes, the administration knows that there is value (bigtime) in innovation.

And messaging at Boston University will never be the same. History might chronicle this campaign as the Communications Boston Tea Party.

The Message Glut. You need bold strategy/ghostwriting. Let’s talk about what will work. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Uber's Playbook: Pitch to Public, Delay Court Rulings Being Enforced through Legal Appeals

In California, Uber has not been doing so hot. The latest ruling reclassifies Uber's gig workers as employees. But that's on hold as Uber appeals.

Bloomberg Law examines the Uber playbook. It is betting its business model - depending on gig workers - on how it is playing its game in CA.

There, AB-5, which became law in January 2020, requires that gig workers, with some exceptions, are reclassified as employees. 

A key strategy in the Uber game plan is directing its arguments to the public. It invested in the funding of getting on the ballot for November a Proposal that exempts from AB-5 app-based transportation and delivery carriers. 

It also is "educating" the public on how AB-5 will eliminate jobs in CA. In essence, Uber, it is telling the public, couldn't "afford" to employ the large number of drivers it does currently.

Indirectly, if it ceases operating in CA, it could also deliver a harsh message that it means business. It has threatened to shut down service in CA if it can't retain its gig economy model. That will not only eliminate the drivers' jobs. In addition, those who depend on Uber for affordable transportation will be stranded. During the COVID-19 epidemic, many are fearful of using public transportation.

Another key strategy is to do whatever is necessary to achieve delays in what the courts can mandate. In London, it has been involved in that kind of delay process for 5 years.

Uber has the resources to play a long game in public outreach and in terms of litigation and regulations. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

BU Trademarks @fckitwontcutit

The fundamental of marketing is to identify and figure out how to appeal to the mindset of the target market. The language is especially important. 

In the serious matter of protecting university students from the coronavirus, the stakes are high in that.  As BusinessInsider documents, across the U.S., young adults are being affected the most by the pandemic. 

So, what is being done?

Boston Magazine reports that the Boston University student-run AdLab and PR Lab came up with a bold experiment. The objective of the campaign is to shake students returning to campus out of their denial about the high contagiousness of COVID-19. It embodies how students think and actually talk.

The meme is: F*ck It Won't Cut It or @fckiwontcutit. The brass in administration has approved it. Yes, BU has trademarked it. 

Of course, this innovation is news in the global distressed industries of advertising and public relations. There is bound to be plenty of chatter.

But the bottom line, as in all marketing, is the question: Does this dog hunt?

Will students dutifully maintain social distancing, wear masks and maintain hand hygiene? Or will BU have the same amount of COVID-19 infections and deaths as campuses not embracing such a cool type of warning?

However, that could all be mere speculation about results. 

The game might never be played or not for long. BU can decide against reopening or shut down campus pronto after opening. After all, many schools at Harvard, including the Law School, have gone total remote in instruction for the fall semester.

Time will tell. But time is not on the side of those vulnerable to the virus. At the top of the list are young adults. Gen Z and the youngest of Millennials could be wiped out.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Not the Lawyer You Used to Be - Lifequakes & Story Time

"I don't know who I am."

That's how people in transition usually sum up how they feel. Lawyers who had depended on their work to have an identity usually feel especially dismal when there could be change. Or the change has already happened. Those upheavals range from a stealth layoff to being forced into early retirement. 

But what would be more accurate and what would make moving forward less painful is if they noted "I need a new story."

We are the stories we tell about ourselves.

Both professionally and personally.

Way back when in a less chaotic era we used to call that the "elevator speech." In a sentence or two it summed up what we were about. If it concerned our professional identity, it could help our career. For instance, "I'm Joe and I help big companies sell a lot of products." 

In transition, that identity, once so solid, is shifting. In the interim and then longer term, folks can gain control of the process if they put together a fresh narrative. That tells the world where they are in their careers and personal lives. More importantly, it delivers the message to themselves that they are in-charge.

That's especially needed in what Bruce Feiler, author of "Life Is in the Transitions," has called "lifequakes" or seismic shifts. As MarketWatch reports, Feiler anticipates lifequakes to increase in number and intensity.

So, as folks sense a lifequake coming to rattle their lives to the core, a multi-dimensional tool could be conjuring up a new story.

The partner at a law firm gets it: The firm wants him out. He isn't bringing in enough new business or billing enough hours. The way to emotionally, socially, and professionally manage that experience is to capture it in a story that moves the process forward. An example? "I'm reviewing what could be Next. This is the first time in 30 years I looked up from my desk." 

A former star in public relations contacted me for a complimentary consultation on her career. She wanted another one. So typical she framed that in the narrative embedded in the past, in who she used to be. "At Corporation X, the world knew my name. I made a lot of money. The media quoted me." 

To have a shot at a Next, she had to extricate the story from the past to possibility. During four coaching sessions, she came to manage this lifequake with the story "I fix brands. That could be your personal or social brand. Or the brand of, say, Uber." That got people interested. Even before she had fully established her communications boutique she had business. 

In COVID-19, it's the rare professional, parent or retired who isn't being rattled by a lifequake.

How to start on the new story? 

Accept that what was is no longer. Then be ready to take the first few steps. Get those down in one or two sentences. Let language take charge. It's not what is happening. It's how people manage that whatever. Christians came up with the narrative of how the word was made flesh. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

NBC "Dateline" Documentary Featuring Lawyer Norm Pattis Nominated for Emmy Award

The disappearance of Connecticut Gold Coast wife, mother and writer Jennifer Dulos transfixed the world.

It had all the usual suspects in news grabbers: wealth, pedigree, beauty, divorce, a custody battle, a suicide and even a celebrity lawyer.

Jennifer was never found. The divorced husband, Fotis Dulos, was arrested and later committed suicide. Had Dominick Dunne still been alive he would have done a series on it for Vanity Fair. 

Instead, NBC's iconic "Dateline" parachuted in with an analysis of that piece of CT legal history. Of course, major questions still hover. Therefore, the "Dateline" documentary likely will be followed by othere deconstructions over the next centuries.

But that particular "Dateline" documentary - well, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has nominated for the 41st Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Here are the details.

When NBC received the good news of the nominations it notified that celebrity lawyer who had been in the loop - Norm Pattis. Since he had been the criminal defense attorney for Fotis, Pattis had been prominently featured in the documentary.

As is usual with Pattis' approach to how he represents his clients, the defense was no ordinary one.

In fact, Pattis proposed conducting a trial post the suicide to have Fotis acquitted and his name cleared for his family. In addition, in the days Fotis remained alive after the attempt, Pattis was on the scene, ministering to his needs.

Pattis' role in the documentary confirms that in the current era of fascination with legalities, the lawyer often becomes the story. That can overshadow the alleged crime, the defendant and the supposed victim.

No fools, those in the soup have it in their self-interest to hire a celebrity lawyer to represent them. That practically guarantees having their contentions covered in great detail and on a sustained basis in the court of public opinion. 

Pattis has extended his thought leadership beyond legal issues and causes.

For example, LinkedIn Updates has become one of his platforms for political and cultural analysis. His provocative observations have attracted a steady following. Their interest is so fierce that they will argue among themselves in the comment section of LinkedIn.

Frequently Pattis is on talk shows. His supporters are pushing him to get his own talk show and start podcasting. 

So, who does the judging for the Emmy Awards? The process consists of a review by a pool of 875 peer professionals. They are from the niches of television and streaming/digital in the News & Documentary Industry.

The actual Emmy Awards for documentaries will be presented on Tuesday, September 22nd, at 8 P.M. EDT. That will be streamed, including on mobile. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Language Lay-Low: Mike Pence Is "Disappointed"

Although this is a visual era, words still function as public relations workhorses.

One of those words is "disappointment."

It can damn whomever or whatever is discussed and, simultaneously, position and package the speaker as sophisticated. Yeah, wasn't it always a smart rhetorical move in upscale circles to understate.

As Law.com reports, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence labeled U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts a "disappointment."

Predictably, Roberts has been doing what so many approved for SCOTUS do: Surprise. He has turned out to be more a legal thinker than a one-dimensional conservative. 

The strategic use of language has even penetrated parts of society not considered sensitive to the power of words.

A blue-collar trucker who sometimes hires me for marketing communications for his wife's enterprises wasn't happy with the first draft of a mission statement. He indicated that by saying he was "disappointed." I have a hunch that cancel culture has forced everyone to pay extreme attention to rhetoric.

Meanwhile "cool" seems to be losing its cool. That could be because there still are so many COVID-19 hotspots around the world. Little seems cool if you anticipate you could become very sick, perhaps even die.

Observation: The gush hypermanic ethos of talk show hosts such as Ellen and Oprah could also be over. I call it "Language Lay-Low."

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Quinn Emanuel $185 Million Fee - Belief in Protestant Ethic Seems So Schoolgirlish

Quinn Emanuel figures it has "earned" a $185 million fee in its legal work for health insurers who hadn't been paid by the Obama Administration. That number has been calculated on the basis of results. The law firm's work resulted in the insurers receiving $3.7 billion. 

The issue involved, reports Bloomberg Law, is that in terms of hours the fee would come to Quinn Emanuel's earning $18,500 an hour. There are those who object, including litigation funders. 

However, the fee only represents 5% of the results, note supporters of Quinn Emanuel.

At its core, this dispute is not really about high fees charged by elite law firms. That is so boring. The marketplace, including its dynamics during COVID-19, takes care of that. 

It gets down to questioning the Protestant Ethic. That had been woven into a system of beliefs by Max Weber. Essentially the meme is: Work hard. 

Such an ideology - actually almost a religion - dominated Americana since Puritan times. Hard work was valued in itself. Ironically, it still is. Those who sinned or stumbled professionally were advised to "Work Hard." That was the path to salvation.

Currently, that adage is still being touted, in some circles.

Many help-wanted ads on Craigslist, for example, indicate the need for a "hard worker." Yeah, an eye-roll. Professionals who want to get ahead in an organization sense that employer doesn't understand how success happens, is sustained and scaled. 

For players, the Protestant Ethic seems downright misleading. It's obvious that it can be even counterproductive. Looking for the way not to have to work hard can be the real path to wealth - as well as power and influence.

Through inventing the Mac, then the iPhone, Steve Jobs eliminated the need for lots of old-fashioned kinds of work. 

Before that, Ronald Reagan's branding was about not working hard. He came across as confident, a quality needed in a leader.

I landed a communications contract (one hat I wear) by pitching to the prospect a shortcut to boosting rankings on search engines. No, we weren't going to work hard together.

Mouthing platitudes about hard work can seem downright schoolgirlish. Even small business owners, at least those still in business in coronavirus times, understand that the game is about results - the bigger the better, the sooner the better. It's not about hours the workforce plows into a project.

The Emanuel Quinn fee controversy can be a flashpoint in law firm billing. The billable hour can be tossed. It could be replaced by performance-based metrics. 

More generally, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors who tell youth to work hard will have no credibility. As a sometimes career coach, I advise the over-50 unemployed/underemployed I guide to ditch their own hard-work ethos. It's all about what they can accomplish for an employer.

The pitch should be: This is what I can do for you - better and faster than those others competing for work. 

One professional in the real estate loop, after two years searching for a better job, reframed his marketing to just that: Promised results, supported by documentation of those created for other employers over the years. Those were his new marketing materials. Immediately, he received an interview. A prospective employer flew him to its headquarters and hired him on the spot. 

Sour grapes: Too long I worked hard at a doctoral degree that wasn't marketable. Early in the game the savvy owner at a business where I worked part-time recommended I pull the plug. Get a job in media or at a public relations agency, he counseled. I didn't. I assumed my unusually intense hard work would land me one of the few jobs in the field. I limped away from that disaster getting it that betting on the right horse, not hard work, is the key career fundamental. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Law Firm Marketers Gaining More Status/Power, Also Lots More Work

So much of law firm marketing involved pitching in-person. The continuum extended from the long meal in an upscale restaurant to a presentation on a hot topic such as sexual harassment. 

Without that personal reach, law firms have to rely more on the skills and creativity of their in-house marketing group.

As a result, reports Intapp, marketers have gained a place at the table. Although still a staff function, the Marketing Chief Officer (CMO) has broken into the corridors of status and power. 

Along with that they have also picked up a punishing work load. More are putting in 12 to 14 hour days. 

However, no matter what the business - law or salty snacks - marketers are in the hot seat. What they do is measurable. If the numbers don't align with expectations, they are gone. According to Spencer Stuart, the average tenure for the CMO across industries has dropped to about 43 months. 

Meanwhile, around the world, marketers have been going on social networks (anonymously) sharing their stories of too much work without any increase in compensation. To try to deal with that some marketers in the Philippines have been making frequent job changes. The self-employed marketers or whose services include some kinds of marketing lament about the low fees being offered them.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Lawyers Who Had Been English Majors Will Recall "King Lear" - #Nobodylikesme

At one time it was okay for a student planning to apply to law school to major in English.

That was then.

But many of those former English majors are now partners. They will recall that a meme of William Shakespeare's tragic drama "King Lear" is self pity. Amid the suffering he brought on himself, the king cries out that he is more sinned against than sinning.

That mindset seems to be that of U.S. president Donald Trump.

He laments #Nobody Likes Me.

The context does not seem to an invitation for people to submit feedback. Like, the embedded content isn't a question: Why don't people like me?

Instead it reaches out for reinforcement of the speaker's perception of himself as, well, a wonderful man of the people.

Takeaway: A liberal arts education continues to have value.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.