HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE THE INTERNET TO MARKET A LAW FIRM WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE STATE BAR RULES
Presented by: SYLVIA A. CARDONA Phone: (210) 736-6600, ext.170 Fax: (210) 735-6889
[email protected] CHAD M. RUBACK The Ruback Law Firm 8117 Preston Road Suite 300 Dallas, Texas 75225 (214) 522-4243
[email protected] www.appeal.pro
Written by: CHAD M. RUBACK
State Bar of Texas SUCCESS STRATEGIES AND KEY LESSONS FOR YOUNG LAWYERS 2012 March 2, 2012 Houston CHAPTER 11
Sylvia A. Cardona Shareholder | San Antonio
P: (210) 736-6600, ext.170 F: (210) 735-6889
[email protected] Ms. Cardona is a Shareholder in the San Antonio office of Langley & Banack, Inc. Her practice focuses on business litigation and international law where she represents clients in both State and Federal Court proceedings. She has handled disputes involving contract, insurance, real estate, deceptive trade practice, negligence, business torts, bankruptcy, construction, and professional liability issues. Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Cardona has experience representing clients in cross-border transactions. Ms. Cardona served as the First Latina President of a 24,000 member organization, the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA), in 2008-2009, and is currently a Director of the State Bar of Texas (SBOT), representing District 10, Place 2. In that capacity, she is a board advisor to the SBOT Judicial Section Committee and alternate board advisor to the SBOT Standing Committee on Court Rules. Ms. Cardona serves on the SBOT Bar Journal Board of Directors and actively participates in various SBOT committees, including the Continuing Legal Education Committee, the Local Bar Services Committee and the Texas Minority Counsel Program Committee. Ms. Cardona was co-chair of the SBOT Annual Meeting Committee in 2010-2011. She is the immediate past Chair of the Litigation Section of the San Antonio Bar Association and is a fellow of both the San Antonio and Texas Bar Foundations. Ms. Cardona has served as a speaker at several CLE programs, state-wide and local. As part of her many volunteer efforts, Ms. Cardona enjoys speaking to elementary, middle and high school students about the importance of an education and the importance of voting. Her service to the community has been featured in numerous publications and media, including the San Antonio Express News, San Antonio Woman, Univision/Dallas, KSAT 12, La Prensa, San Antonio's only bilingual newspaper, and KENS TV's Texas Spirit Campaign. Ms. Cardona was named a Rising Star in the legal community by the San Antonio Business Journal (40 Under 40 awards), recognized by her peers as one of San Antonio's Best Lawyers in Scene in San Antonio magazine, honored as a Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star by Texas Monthly, and selected as a rising star by her peers in Scene in San Antonio magazine. She is also the recipient of several law and community service based awards.
Practice Areas Commercial Litigation International Law Education
Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, 2002 University of Oklahoma College of Law, J.D., 2001
Honors:
Order of Barristers Academic Achievement Award/AmJur in Appellate Advocacy Semi-Finalist, A.T.L.A. Trial Team Competition Speaker Award, 6th Place, Jessup International Moot Court Competition Speaker Award, 10th Place of 204, Intrascholastic Moot Court Competition Member, National Moot Court Competition President, Hispanic Law Student Association
University of Texas at San Antonio, B.A., 1998
Major: Political Science Major: Mexican American Studies
Bar Admissions
The State of Texas, 2001 United States Supreme Court, 2005 United States District Court, Western District of Texas, 2005 United States District Court, District of Colorado, 2009 United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, 2010
Professional Associations See biography above. Languages Spanish
C HAD M. R UBACK ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 8117 Preston Road • Suite 300 • Dallas, Texas 75225 Telephone (214) 522-4243 Fax (214) 522-2191
[email protected]
Experience
The Ruback Law Firm appellate attorney 2005-present Godwin Gruber, P.C. n/k/a Godwin Ronquillo, P.C. appellate attorney 2001-2005 McCauley, Macdonald, Devin & Huddleston, P.C. n/k/a Macdonald Devin, P.C. appellate attorney 1998-2001 Fort Worth Court of Appeals briefing attorney to Justice Lee Ann Dauphinot 1997-1998
Education
Southern Methodist University School of Law Juris Doctor 1997 The University of Texas at Austin Bachelor of Business Administration 1994
Published Articles
Dallas Business Journal Texas Lawyer The Appellate Advocate (the journal of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section)
Featured Speaker
State Bar of Texas Appellate Section Dallas Bar Association Collin County Bar Association Frisco Bar Association Plano Bar Association Southern Methodist University School of Law
Leadership
Dallas Association of Young Lawyers president 2006 board of directors 2001-2007 judiciary committee chairman 2000-2001 Dallas Bar Association board of directors 2005-2006
Honors
Barrister in the William “Mac” Taylor Inn of Court AV Rated (signifying “very high to preeminent legal ability”) by Martindale-Hubbell named one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” by D Magazine1 1
Chad has been included on this list in 2005 and every subsequent year that the list has been published. This is true of only four other appellate lawyers.
How to Effectively Use the Internet to Market a Law Firm Within the Boundaries of the State Bar Rules
Chapter 11
TABLE OF CONTENTS HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE THE INTERNET TO MARKET A LAW FIRM WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE STATE BAR RULES ......................................................................... 1
i
How to Effectively Use the Internet to Market a Law Firm Within the Boundaries of the State Bar Rules
Chapter11
I.
If a law firm does not have business, the firm will fail.
II.
The key to bringing in business is getting people to think of you when they need a lawyer in your practice area. This is true for (a) people you’ve met and (b) people you’ve not yet met. The internet is a great tool for helping people think of you (whether you’ve met them or not).
III.
I’m a big proponent of networking, but the time you spend networking is a waste if people you’ve met don’t think of you when they need a lawyer in your practice area. By connecting online with your contacts, you will stay on their radar screen. You will also stay on their radar screen by being well-ranked in search engine results pages (“SERPs”). And being well-ranked in SERPs has the added benefit of making you accessible to people you’ve not yet met.
IV.
Take advantage of free listings. A.
Examples of sites offering free listings: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Twitter Facebook (personal page and business page) LinkedIn (personal page and business page) Google Plus (personal page and business page) State Bar of Texas profile YouTube Martindale (a short listing is free) J.D. Supra Justia Avvo
B.
To find more sites offering free listings, just search for my name in Google to see where I’m listed. Complete as much info on these free listings as possible (including photo, video, educational background, work history, links to your website and other web pages, etc.). This has two benefits. First, it makes you look more established to people who look at that free listing. Second, it has the potential to help you with your SERP rankings. For guidance as to what a complete profile looks like, look at my listing on any of these sites.
C.
Consider not paying for internet exposure (e.g., Martindale/Lawyers.com, Findlaw, Texas Legal Directory, etc.) until you have reasonably exhausted opportunities for free exposure.
1
How to Effectively Use the Internet to Market a Law Firm Within the Boundaries of the State Bar Rules
Chapter11
V.
On sites that allow you to connect with people (e.g., LinkedIn), spend some time looking for people you already know. By sending them an invitation to connect, you will encourage them to look at your profile and learn more about your new firm. After you meet people, send them a request to connect. It is a good way to follow-up and might be perceived as less creepy than sending an email to someone you only spoke to for a minute. And periodically interact with your connections via status updates, comments, “likes,” etc.
VI.
Be consistent in how you list your address, firm name, etc. across the web. This helps with SERP rankings.
VII.
“Under construction” says not yet open for business. So, even if you aren’t ready to put up a robust website, at least put your name and address on there.
VIII. Blogging, even sporadically, is a great way to help people think of you. There are some free options, including Blogger and WordPress. IX.
State Bar Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct A.
Rule 7.04 provides that a lawyer cannot advertise that he or she is a “specialist” in an area of law if not board certified in that area of law. But Rule 7.04 comment 2 indicates that it is permissible for any lawyer to advertise an area of practice.
B.
Rule 7.04(j) requires that an advertisement specify the city of the lawyer’s principal office. This is expressly made applicable to websites by interpretive comment 17(A)(3). However, interpretive comment 18 provides that a lawyer with only one office will satisfy this requirement by including the name of the city in which that office is located without having to actually state that the principal office is located there.
C.
While Rule 7.01 prohibits a lawyer from practicing under a “trade name,” interpretive comment 17(I) expressly permits use of a domain name other than the lawyer or firm’s name as long the domain name does not violate Rule 7.02 prohibitions against false or misleading communication. One such prohibition, in Rule 7.02(a)(4), is against comparing “a lawyer’s services with another lawyer’s services unless the comparison can be substantiated by reference to verifiable, objective data.”
2
How to Effectively Use the Internet to Market a Law Firm Within the Boundaries of the State Bar Rules
D.
Chapter11
Rule 7.07(c) requires a lawyer’s website to filed with the State Bar’s advertising review committee. Does this apply to internet listings other than the lawyer’s website? 1.
Rule 7.07 comment 6 provides that the filing requirement does not apply to communications “not prepared to secure paid professional employment.” An argument could certainly be made that use of social media to facilitate discussion is not primarily for the purpose of securing paid professional employment. And interpretive comment 17(D) expressly provides that the filing requirement is not applicable to blogs or to status updates (such as those posted to Facebook or Twitter) if the blogs or status updates are “considered to be educational or informational in nature.”
2.
Rule 7.07(e) provides that the filing requirement of Rule 7.07(c) does not apply to an advertisement that is limited to basic information such as the lawyer’s name, address, email address, telephone number, fax number, office hours, area of practice, admission to practice before one or more courts, and links to websites. Rule 7.07(e) does not indicate whether including an attorney’s educational background would trigger the filing requirement.
3.
Gene Major, director of the State Bar’s advertising review department, offered further clarification in a July 2010 Texas Bar Journal article. While Rule 7.07(e) does not state whether an attorney’s educational background could be included without triggering the filing requirement, Major indicated that including educational background is not the sort of thing that would trigger the filing requirement.
4.
Although a less authoritative source than Major, Debra Bruce offers a more definitive answer about what must be filed. Bruce is the former vice-chair of the Law Practice Management Committee of the State Bar of Texas. She writes “The Advertising Review Department of the State Bar of Texas takes the position that LinkedIn and Facebook profiles do not need to be filed for advertising review.” http://solopracticeuniversity.com/2010/03/11/a-dozen-socialmedia-ethics-issues-for-lawyers/
3
