I have written an ebook as a precursor to the full book on this topic. This will serve as a practical how-to manual with best practices for lawyers wishing to collaborate with branded networks to market their practice, deliver legal services to clients online, and for lawyer brand building and client development.
2. Consumer Law Revolution:
The Lawyer’s Guide to Working with Online Marketing Tools
By Stephanie Kimbro, Esq.
Updated January 2013
This ebook contains excerpts from the book expected to be published by the ABA LPM in the
summer of 2013.The full book contains a detailed discussion about the ethics issues involved in
online lawyer advertising and collaboration with branded networks, a history of online lawyer
advertising and regulation, case studies and interviews with legal technology companies, and an
appendix of ABA and state-based ethics opinions and cases related to the topic.
Some of the companies reviewed and/or interviewed for the full book include Rocket Lawyer,
SmartLegalForms.com, LawZam, AttorneyFee.com, LawGives, Lexspot, EagleFee, Law99,
LegalSonar, MyLegalBriefCase.com, LawDingo, UpCounsel, LegalForce (Trademarkia),
LawPivot, LawGuru, Fizzlaw, LawQA, Pearl.com (formerly JustAnswer),Virtual Law Direct,
Yodlelaw.com, LegalReach, Tabulaw, ExpertHub, LegalMatch, MyLawSuit, Jurify,
AttorneyBoost, Mobilex Exchange, Wirelawyer, Lawyers, Findlaw, Nolo, Total Attorney’s,
Legal Leads, Avvo (and Avvo ignite), myRight.me, Justia, JDSupra, Docracy, Shpoonkle, and
ExpertBids.
3. CONTENTS
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 4
What is the Consumer Law Revolution? .................................................................................... 5
What is Lawyer Collaboration with a Branded Network?.......................................................... 7
The Lawyer Mindset................................................................................................................... 8
How Branded Networks Operate.................................................................................................. 10
The Basics................................................................................................................................. 10
What are the Online Marketing Tools?..................................................................................... 12
Working with Lawyer-Focused Companies ................................................................................. 14
Online Directories..................................................................................................................... 14
Online Lawyer Matching Services............................................................................................ 16
Lawyer Review, Bidding and Fee Comparison Sites ............................................................... 16
Law Q&A/Law Related Public Chat Rooms and Forums........................................................ 17
Direct Online Lead Generation for Lawyers ............................................................................ 19
Legal Document and Form Sharing/Publication Sites.............................................................. 20
Direct Communication with Prospective Clients Through a Platform..................................... 20
Expert Systems.......................................................................................................................... 21
Best Practices for Collaboration with Online Marketing Companies........................................... 22
Understanding the Terms of the Collaboration......................................................................... 22
Disclaimers ............................................................................................................................... 24
Security of the Hosted Content................................................................................................. 24
Using the Marketing Tool to Engage with the Public............................................................... 25
Termination of the Collaboration.............................................................................................. 27
How does the company market directly to the consumers?...................................................... 27
Combining Collaborative Methods............................................................................................... 30
Closed Loop Marketing ............................................................................................................ 31
Mobile Applications Used as Online Marketing Tools ............................................................ 32
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 34
About the Author .......................................................................................................................... 37