November 6, 2015 nº 1,692 - Vol. 13
"To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say."
Will Durant
In today's Law Firm Marketing, A common mistake that prevents prospects from responding to your marketing message
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On Friday, the first thing we do, let's love all the lawyers
For a profession sometimes held in contempt, it was a plaintive plea: Lawyers were looking for love. "Whereas, Lawyers have consistently been the target of verbal bashing, derogatory portrayals and literature is rife with lawyer bashing dated back hundreds of years," reads the preamble of a resolution unanimously passed by the American Bar Association's law practice division last month. "Lawyers throughout the nation," it said, "are urged to celebrate 'Love Your Lawyer Day' to help promote a positive and more respected image of lawyers and their contributions to society." There is no law that says you must celebrate Love Your Lawyer Day on Friday. And no one expects the occasion to become a federal holiday. But the thought of dedicating a whole day to loving litigators is resonating with the legal profession, if not the wider public. The idea was the brainchild of a legal marketer from Florida. A turning point came this year when the ABA division not only embraced the day but asked the entire legal community to observe and promote it. Local bar groups across the country have enthusiastically complied. "#LoveYourLawyerDay is today! Get the word out however you can," tweeted the New York State Bar Association.
Can an on-demand lawyer startup transform the legal business?
John Suh is certain he can put lawyers back to work. A perfect illustration of how he plans to do it can be found in a bland office building in Pasadena, Calif., that is headquarters to the Arroyo Law Group. You could be forgiven for confusing Arroyo, at which a group of lawyers helps small businesses navigate legal problems, for a typical law office. A closer look, though, reveals oddities. Employees arrive and leave whenever they want. In the course of a day, they take around a dozen half-hour calls from clients, many of whom they have never heard from before, and may never talk to again. The company, which functions more like a call center than a traditional law firm, represents the most serious challenge that the American legal industry has faced in recent history. That's because Arroyo gets all its clients from LegalZoom, at which Suh is chief executive. With its Uber-for-lawyers model, Suh hopes LegalZoom can upend the legal business. "If the legal system only works for the 1 percent of Americans that can afford it, and 99 percent can't use the benefits, that's not a system, it's an oligarchy." The law could use fresh energy. In the past decade, the number of working lawyers has fallen by more than 50,000. Solo practitioners, the mom-and-pop shops of jurisprudence, have been in a death spiral for even longer. Since 1988, income for stand-alone attorneys, of which there are 354,000 nationally, declined by 31 percent. In 2012, their average income was $49,000, according to tax returns. Meanwhile, the typical person (PDF) who needs legal services makes $100 less per hour than what lawyers charge, and most small businesses opt not to hire attorneys when they have legal problems, research shows.
Patents in telecoms
The 2nd Conference on Patents in Telecoms in Washington D.C. ends today The event was organized by the following institutions, with the support and the sponsorship of Licks Attorneys: UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law, the George Washington University Faculty of Law, GSMA, ITU and ETSI. Otto Licks will be the moderator of the seventh panel – Patent Assertion Entities I: An Overview and Impact. Other members that will be in attendance are Carlos Eduardo Aboim (partner) and Roberto Rodrigues.
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As Taiwan gears up for elections, China, as always, looms large
A summit between leaders of China and Taiwan this Saturday will be the first in more than 60 years. It complicates Taiwan's already high-stakes presidential race.
A common mistake that prevents prospects from responding to your marketing message
By Tom Trush
Think of a number between 1 and 10.
Once you have your number, multiply it by 9. Then, if you have a two-digit number, add the two digits together and write down the number.
What I'm about to run you through is an exercise in taking direction.
It's a fact that few people make decisions without direction or some type of guidance.
To translate this truth into your promotional efforts, your writing must explain what you want your prospects to do after reading your marketing materials.
Leave the choice up to your prospects and you'll end up disappointed. That's because people need validation for even the most basic decisions.
When you give them a "call to action," you appeal to their need for guidance. This direction can be something as simple as calling your office, visiting your website or (my personal favorite) requesting a free article/report.
Now, take the number you wrote down earlier and subtract 5 from it. Once you have your new number, write down the letter in the alphabet that corresponds to that number (for example, 2 = B).
In most situations, your call to action should be easy. The simpler the process, the more likely your prospects will respond.
In the case of this exercise, the directions are simple, so there's little chance of making a mistake -- another factor that keeps your prospects from taking action.
If they have a hint of doubt about what will result from your call to action, they won't take the next step.
Remember the letter you wrote down? Spell out the name of a country that starts with that letter. Then look at the second letter of that country and write down the name of an animal that begins with that letter.
By now you've written down several letters and numbers, proving that you take direction if given a chance -- just like your prospects. What you have to be careful of is assuming prospects will make a decision you view as logical.
That's why testing is so important in marketing.
Okay, finally, think of the color of the animal you wrote down and spell that word on your piece of paper.
If you made it this far, you should now have a country, animal and color listed.
Now all you need is proof that you made the right decision to follow all these steps. With your prospects, this confirmation comes in the form of valuable information that addresses their problems.
When you meet this demand, your chances of turning prospects into clients are much better than seeing a grey elephant roaming wild in Denmark.
Tom Trush is available at https://www.writewaysolutions.com.
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© Trey Ryder
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Adopción
La Corte Constitucional de Colombia declaró exequibles tres artículos del Código de Infancia y Adolescencia que regulan los procesos de adopción, "bajo el entendido de que, en virtud del interés superior del menor, dentro de su ámbito de aplicación están comprendidas también las parejas del mismo sexo que conforman una familia". (Presione aquí)
Repostulación
La Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional de Bolivia sancionó la Ley de Convocatoria a Referéndum Constitucional. La normativa que da paso a la consulta nacional sobre la reforma constitucional para ampliar a dos las posibilidades de reelección continua del Presidente y del Vicepresidente del Estado, recibió la luz verde del Poder Legislativo previa aprobación nominal en su estación en grande, artículo por artículo. (Presione aquí)
UN rights experts: Brazil anti-terrorism law may restrict freedoms
Several independent UN human rights experts said Wednesday that a recent Brazilian draft law may infringe upon civil rights in its efforts to counteract terrorism. The bill was approved by the Brazilian Senate last month. The legislation broadly defines a terrorist act as one which "infringes upon persons, through violence or serious threat, and is motivated by political extremism, religious intolerance or racial, ethnic, gender or xenophobic prejudice, in order to cause widespread panic." Terrorists may receive a sentence of up to 30 years in prison depending on the severity of their crimes. The bill stirred public interest groups after the drafters removed a clause that would have exempted political, religious and civil movements. While Senators acknowledged the importance of maintaining civil rights, they also argued that potential terrorists may use such movements as a guise for their own agenda. UN experts and various human rights organizations are concerned that the bill may be deliberately misused to criminalize acts of free expression. The experts further stressed that states are obligated to respect fundamental civil rights when constructing security bills that may endanger such freedoms. The lower house must review the bill's amendments made by the Senate before presenting the legislation to the president.
ACLU challenges Louisiana Internet age verification law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging a new Louisiana criminal law that requires websites to implement age-verification systems to protect material that may be harmful to any minor. HB 153, passed in June of this year, states, "Any person or entity in Louisiana that publishes material harmful to minors on the Internet shall, prior to permitting access to the material, require any person attempting to access the material to electronically acknowledge and attest that the person seeking to access the material is eighteen years of age or older." The ACLU and its Louisiana affiliate are representing booksellers and publishers that claim their constitutional rights are being infringed upon by this new law. Specifically, the complaint says that the new law "violates the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to, and the Commerce Clause of, the United States Constitution" for many various reasons "and unconstitutionally burdens Plaintiffs' exercise of their rights thereunder." The booksellers claim that the law forces them to choose between restricting access to all content at the front of the website or attempting to go through millions of pages to check for material that may be deemed harmful in order to restrict only those materials, hindering business either way as well as violating First Amendment rights.
Germany to speed up asylum process
Germany has unveiled plans to speed up the asylum process, after the governing coalition resolved a rift on the issue. Chancellor Angela Merkel said they would create up to five special centers for asylum-seekers deemed to have little chance of staying. Germany says it expects to receive at least 800,000 asylum seekers this year. Earlier, the European Commission said that three million migrants were likely to arrive in Europe by the end of 2017. The huge influx of asylum seekers has caused political turmoil across the EU with member states disagreeing about how to deal with the crisis.
Anonymous posts Ku Klux Klan list
Anonymous has shared details of about 1,000 alleged Ku Klux Klan (KKK) sympathizers on the internet. It follows threats from the white supremacist KKK to use "deadly force" against those protesting about the killing of a black teenager in Missouri. Anonymous, a loose coalition of hackers, said the data was "a form of resistance" against racial violence. A list of alleged KKK members published earlier in the week appears to have been bogus.
Trans-Pacific Partnership: vast trade deal made public
The long-awaited text of the landmark trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been released to the public for the first time. The TPP is one of the world's most extensive trade agreements, bringing together 12 Pacific rim countries, including the US and Japan. The deal was struck last month after five years of tense negotiations, but continues to face fierce opposition. The text still has to be translated into the languages of the signatories. It also must still be ratified by lawmakers in each member country and some of the countries involved need it to undergo a legal review.
Adidas push to end 'racist' Native American mascots
Sportswear company Adidas has announced that it will offer free design resources to US high schools that agree to drop Native American mascots. The company has also offered to help pay for the costs of the changes. According to advocacy groups, there are approximately 2,000 schools in the US that have Native American mascots. The pledge comes on the same day Obama is hosting leaders from the 567 federally recognized native tribes in Washington. The use of Native American mascots and symbolism in sports is at the center of a national debate in the US. Critics say such imagery is racially offensive and it exploits native people through stereotypes.
California law adds new twist to abortion, religious freedom debate
A California law will soon require pregnancy centers that oppose abortion to provide notice to their clients of the availability of abortion services in the state. Clinics are crying foul — and suing.
British bankers convicted in New York Libor trial
Two British bankers have been convicted by a New York jury of manipulating inter-bank lending rates. Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti were changed with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and committing wire fraud, by misreporting the London interbank offered rate (Libor) as it related to the US dollar. Both worked for Dutch lender Rabobank. The Libor scandal blew up in 2012 when it emerged that banks had been lying in the figures on which Libor was set. The Libor rate is a key figure in setting global borrowing rates. The US Department of Justice reached a deal with Rabobank in October 2013 for $1bn over its role in manipulating Libor.
'Mafia Capital' mobster trial opens in Italy
One of Italy's biggest organized crime trials in years - dubbed Mafia Capital - has opened in Rome, where councilors and gangsters allegedly stole millions of euros of public cash. A one-eyed, neo-fascist gangster called Massimo Carminati is accused of having run the criminal network. He will be questioned via a prison video-link. According to prosecutors, mobsters flourished under Rome's former right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno. It was a Mafia-type network, they say. Forty-six defendants are on trial in the corruption case, which concerns millions of euros allegedly stolen from city hall. The suspects were arrested last December.
N.Y. Attorney General investigates whether Exxon Mobil lied on climate change
Investigators want to know if the company deceived investors and the public about risks associated with climate change. The company protests that it has included those risks in its reports for years.
Turkey sacks Ankara police chief after suicide bombings
Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar
MPs approve Osborne's budget rules
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England
Israeli-Palestinian violence: What you need to know
CNN International, London, England
Heidi Klum is 'mom and a dad at the same time' since her split from Seal in 2012
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England
Denmark's Princess Marie denies boob job after Her & Nu magazine claimed she had one
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England
Tense times in Jerusalem
EuroNews, International news, Ecully Cedex, France
Israel seals off East Jerusalem after 'Day of Rage' attacks
France 24, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
?? Sanat to present a rich program in its new season
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey
'Blood moon' prompts Mormon announcement: This is NOT the end of the world
Independent The, London, England
Pompeii's pilferers punished with a curse from the gods
Telegraph The, Conservative daily, London, England
The Apprentice 2015: episode 1, live
Telegraph The, Celebrity news, London, England
Hung ouster in motion, Chu calls for party unity
China Post, English-language daily, Taipei, Taiwan
Up to 10 Million People Made Sick by Their Phones
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea
Pope Francis makes historic first US visit
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India
Minister vows to return donations from firms involved in bid-rigging
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan
Financial services startup Square files for $275M IPO
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand
Ukraine President cancels trip over protests in eastern Ukraine
Straits Times, Pro-government, Singapore
Beat the post holiday blues
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia
Nike says expects revenue of $50 bn by 2020
The Economic Times, Business, Mumbai, India
It's official ó the 1% finally own 50% of everything
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario
New York teen dies after beating at church during 'counselling'
Globe and Mail The, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada
Liberty Reserve Brought Down By 'Joe Bogus': How The Feds Arrested Arthur Budovsky
International Business Times, Business news organization, New York, U.S
Wall St declines as Wal-Mart's weak forecast drags on retailers
Reuters, Business News, New York, U.S
Malaysia's embattled PM facing stern test as parliament returns
Reuters, World News, New York, U.S
Blue Jays cut lead to 2-1 against Rangers in Game 5
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario
US troops to help fight Boko Haram
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England
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