Have you ever been searching for something online, and used the search query “near me” or added your city to what you’re searching for? If so, you’re not alone. Recent studies have shown that almost 50% of Google searches have local intent—that is to say, the searcher is looking for a business or service geographically nearby.
Based on that stat, it’s not hard to understand why law firms are paying special attention to Local SEO recently. As most searches are done through Google, we pay the most attention to Google’s service for local search, which is called Google My Business.
Especially in the current environment with COVID-19, Google My Business is critical to helping your firm communicate with clients.
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I am writing this from my kitchen table—probably where a lot of you are reading this whether you are on your laptop or your phone! My kids just tumbled back in through the door (outside time is over, free time [aka device time] has started), and I am wishing I could go outside, too. A lot of us in the Corporate Counsel Section are busier than ever. We are dealing not only with operations, but now strategy and the fires a virus has started. Some of us are wondering if we will have a job when this is all over. Like the saying goes, “my journey is not yours.” This is a stressful and lonely time (see the recent Loneliness in the Law blog post regardless of your situation. And it is compounded by worries around family members, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Read more
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Unsubstantiated claims regarding a variety of cleaning and “disinfection” procedures are flooding the market—from a surprising number of sources. Here are a few helpful hints:
CDC Guidance – The CDC has published guidance for cleaning and disinfecting most businesses and public spaces. The guidance recommends a two-step process of cleaning all potentially affected surfaces, followed by applying an EPA-approved disinfectant for that type of surface or a 0.1% solution of bleach in water. Note that cleaning operations must comply with OSHA requirements for hazard communication and blood-borne pathogens.
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I vividly recall the validation and fellowship I experienced after serving in my first Wills For Heroes Clinic during my second year of law school. Classmates forged bonds with each other, and attorneys seemed reenergized by the mission of these clinics—to help first responders ensure that their final wishes are honored. Fast forward to present day 2020: COVID-19 has forced our profession to pause, retreat, and stay apart. During a time when we want to come together as a profession and address the challenges that COVID-19 has created for our society, we’re isolating, communicating over endless Zoom meetings, and grappling with the cognitive dissonance of screen time and virtual interactions. These are not easy times for any of us, either for those who are sheltering-in-place, or for those with loved ones on the frontlines who are facing their own challenges. However, the way that we as North Carolina attorneys respond to these challenges will characterize our profession once the stay-at-home orders are lifted, and it’s business as usual.
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If you’re involved in an interstate adoption and need to comply with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), you should know how the COVID-19 crisis affected the procedure for submitting a request for approval of a placement to North Carolina ICPC.
North Carolina’s ICPC Administrative Assistant and ICPC Specialists are all working remotely while Governor Cooper’s Stay at Home Order remains in effect. Accordingly, for now at least, do not send the ICPC request to the ICPC Office in Raleigh. There’s no one there! Read more
Hello Section Members! We hope everyone is staying healthy (and sane!) during these uncertain times. We want to first thank everyone for participating in our initial Pro Bono effort for the year during the Annual Conference in February. Free Legal Answers participation has grown since that time, and we are so happy that our Section’s participation helped to increase those registration numbers. We continue to encourage our Members to register and/or log-in to Free Legal Answersto continue to provide Pro Bono legal services to the community.
Although we cannot schedule in-person events at this time, we would love to find a way for our Members to remain engaged in our Pro Bono goals for this year even while everyone is working remotely. Please look out for more information to come from the Pro Bono Subcommittee about Pro Bono events in which you can participate. Also, if you have identified a Pro Bono need or idea in which you think our Members would enjoy participating, please do not hesitate to contact Mallory Lidaka ([email protected]) or Samantha Aktug ([email protected]). Thank you again for your continuing support of our Section.
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Good day Counselor. I hope this post finds you and yours safe and well in these unusual times. The COVID-19 pandemic has given most of us more free time than we have had in a long time.
While you definitely need to use some of the free time to recharge your battery and engage in some non-work activities, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to improve your practice.
Here are a few quick tips:
Review your list of current clients. Make and execute decisions on some of the cases that you have not worked on in a while. Disengage from the cases you need to get out of and re-engage on the cases that you need to work on. Reconnect with the client if it has been a while since you have touched base. Assess statutes of limitations in all unfiled cases.
In all of your litigation cases review your case management plan. If you do not have a case management plan create one and think through the steps needed to execute it. Discovery, motions, depositions, mediation, and establish timelines if appropriate. Also, devise estimated costs for the different phases and facets of the case, so you can better account for your time and fees as well as what it may cost your client for your handling of the case.
Review your monthly expenditures and determine if you need to cut any items, add any items, or reassess some of the items on which you are currently spending.
Go through your list of accounts receivable, aka clients who owe you money. Consider whether you need to provide deferrals, payment plans, reductions, or waivers. Assess the probability of receiving payment and then proceed accordingly.
Think and rethink your current areas of practice. Is it time for you to disengage from certain areas of practice? Is it time for you to learn and undertake new areas of practice? Identify areas of practice in which there is a shortage of attorneys in your geographical area.Nowadays, you can use technology to broaden the geographical area that you service and cover. You can also use technology to obtain resources and content and relationships to help you learn new areas of practice and obtain mentorship and guidance as you begin handling new cases. Often, to get the connections, resources, information, and additional fresh perspectives for your cases and practice, you have to look nationally versus locally. For me, joining the National Association of Consumer Advocates is one of the best career moves I have made. I should have done it years earlier.Do not keep doing what everyone else is doing and pulling your hair out about how you will beat or keep up with the competition. To the contrary, think outside the box, do something different, fill the voids around you, and see the results. This is especially important for the new lawyer.
Connect with some of your colleagues and your top referral sources. Identify your top clients and reach out to them directly with a card, phone call, or other means of communication.
Review and update your website. Do not delegate or leave this task to someone else. You are the legal expert and should have the best idea as to what content is needed in the current legal marketplace of new clients. It is okay to have your web developer review your proposed edits but do not let the developer be solely responsible for the content on your site. And if you do not have a website, seriously look into getting one . . . and soon!
Determine ways you can gain an edge on your competition. What are your strengths and unique selling propositions that can separate you from your competition? Also identify any current weaknesses or limitations that you can work on to better improve your standing in the marketplace.
Find ways to give back. Mentor young lawyers. Be a resource for people who are interested in a legal career. Connect with your college or law school alumni association and take a leadership role. Donate money or time or resources to the community. Start a scholarship fund for high school students seeking to attend college or college students seeking to attend law school. Reach out to local organizations and groups as to how you can provide free consultations for workshops or resources/information to better educate them on their rights.
Remember where you came from. If your family and friends and hometown provided you support that helped you to accomplish your goal of becoming a lawyer, think of ways you can reconnect and give back to say thanks. Remember that these people and institutions should represent your warm market and can often be the source of new clients and relationships that can really boost your practice.
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Over the last several weeks, we have experienced things in our professional and personal lives that none of us would have contemplated just a couple of months ago. Most court cases have been continued until June 1. We are learning to work remotely. We are conducting meetings and mediations via Zoom and Webex . . . all while many of us are attempting (and I personally stress the word “attempting”) to homeschool our children and maintain some degree of sanity along the way.
These certainly are unprecedented times, the likes of which we may never experience again. When we look back on this, we will hopefully be able to identify lessons learned along the way. Adaptability and a willingness to change will be among those lessons, as will the ability to embrace new technology and to be more flexible in general. Perhaps the most important lessons we can learn center on developing more patience and showing grace to ourselves and others. I suspect many of us will be applying some of these lessons to our individual practices, even after things have returned to “normal.”
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The quarantine 15, the freshman 15, the “it’s tailgating season” 15 . . . whatever you want to call it, weight gain is a fixed science. It comes down to energy balance: consuming more calories than you expend. But managing this during quarantine can be simple!
From my professional perspective, it boils down to three pretty straightforward concepts: nutrition, movement, and consistency.
Nutrition: Don’t Treat Your Body Like a Dump Truck
Mindless eating seems to be a primary culprit of the dreaded “quarantine 15.” But by implementing some simple dietary habits into your day, executing a more mindful approach to your nutrition becomes much easier!
By Brian Craig
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