May 15, 2015 nº 1,626 - Vol. 13
 

"I shall try to tell the truth, but the result will be fiction."

 Katherine Anne Porter

In today's Law Firm Marketing, how to vastly increase your credibility

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• Top News

Obama calls for elimination of phone data collection

Obama on Tuesday called for a rewrite of the Patriot Act, including elimination of the National Security Agency (NSA) phone data collection program. Obama's call follows a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which found that the Act does not authorize the NSA to collect millions of Americans' phone records. The president is urging Congress to adopt certain changes in an attempt to end such warrantless collections before June 1, when an important part of the Patriot Act is set to expire.

US House rejects NSA bulk collection of phone data

The US House of Representatives has voted to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records. A 338-to-88 overwhelming vote in favor of the USA Freedom Act, already backed by the White House, means Senate backing would make it law. The bill would empower the agency to search data held by telephone companies on a case-by-case basis. Bulk collection was revealed in 2013 by ex-security contractor Edward Snowden. Supporters of the Freedom Act, including privacy and civil rights advocates, say it protects privacy while preserving national security powers. The bill, which only affects people within the US, would amend sections of the USA Patriot Act, which was passed after the 9/11 attacks and which will expire on 1 June. The amendments would ban the agency's mass collection of telephone data - phone numbers, time and duration of calls - as well as emails and web addresses. (Click here)

Greek finance minister lashes out at E.C.B. chief

Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, on Thursday once again demonstrated his flair for inflaming the debate about his country's economic future. He made statements at an Athens conference that were interpreted — falsely, he later insisted — as a threat not to pay billions of euros that Greece owes to the European Central Bank. But Varoufakis did not backpedal from separate comments he made to the Greek Parliament on Thursday, saying that the "soul" of the central bank's president, Mario Draghi, was "filled with fear" at the thought of giving Greece a break on its debts, because of the potential reaction among hard-liners in Germany. Varoufakis's remarks are unlikely to endear him to the central bank at a time when Greece needs its help to avoid economic collapse. The central bank's Governing Council is already weary of what some of its members regard as irresponsible behavior by Varoufakis and other members of Greece's leftist government. Far from giving Greece a break, the Governing Council is expected to tighten the screws next Wednesday by placing further restrictions on emergency cash the central bank provides to keep the Greek banking system from collapsing.

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• MiMIC Journal

China to invest $50bn in Brazil infrastructure

China is planning to invest up to $50bn in Brazil for new infrastructure projects. The deal is due to be signed by banks from both countries during a visit by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Brazil next week. The money will go towards building a railway link from Brazil's Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast of Peru to reduce the cost of exports to China. It says the fund will also finance a joint venture to produce steel. Brazil currently exports much of its iron ore to China. As well as the giant railway project, the money is expected to be invested in car parts, energy, ports, hydroelectric power and railways.

Modi meets Li Keqiang and other leaders in Beijing

Indian PM Narendra Modi is meeting Premier Li Keqiang and other leaders in Beijing on his second day in China. Modi and Li discussed a long-running border dispute among other matters. The two also signed 24 agreements worth $10bn covering education, railways, and scientific research.

China imposes smartwatch and wearable tech army ban

China has forbidden its armed forces from wearing internet-connected wearable tech. Security concerns had been raised after one recruit had received a smart watch as a birthday gift. One expert said the move was a natural extension of restrictions already placed by most armies on mobile phones. Army leaders had sought the advice of experts last month after being alerted to an incident in which a soldier had tried to use a smart watch to take a photo of his comrades stationed at the eastern city of Nanjing.

• Law Firm Marketing

Admit a negative to vastly increase your credibility
By Trey Ryder

When you make a statement that seems to be against your interest, your credibility soars.

In fact, this method is so powerful that one of this past century's most successful mail-order copywriters used the technique in almost every print ad he wrote.

Near the beginning of the ad, he admitted a weakness in his product. Consumers know that no product is perfect, so this writer's admission immediately increased his credibility. They thought, finally, here's a person who's being honest.

>From that point forward, consumers believed they could trust whatever this man told them, so he dramatically increased his credibility and his sales.

Here's an example of how this is done. Think how you would react if you were the person hearing the message.

You and your guest enter a nice restaurant. You decide to order stuffed pork chops. Then the waiter leans over and in a soft voice, as if sharing a secret, suggests you order something else instead. He says this evening's pork chops aren't as good as they usually are. Then he suggests two less-expensive entrees.

Do you believe the waiter? Of course. You'd be a fool not too. Did he increase his credibility with you? Yes. Substantially! From that moment on, you trust everything he says because he made a statement that appears to be against his interest.

Later, if he were to recommend an expensive wine or specialty dessert, would you decline? Most people wouldn't. So although you concluded that he said something against his interest when he recommended a less expensive entree, he might have been setting you up for the kill with the expensive wine. After all, his tip is a percentage of what you spend. And the wine will far more than make up for what he seemingly gave back on the pork chops.

Whether being straightforward and honest -- or setting you up for things to come -- the waiter greatly increased his credibility by admitting a negative.

You can use this principle too.

When talking with a prospect, feel free to admit how little you know about an area of law, as long as it's not your primary practice area. Then when you offer facts about your background and experience in your primary field, you prospect will believe that you are as strong in your specialty area as you are weak in your non-specialty field.

I use this method, too. In my presentation and articles, I point out how specialized marketing has become. I explain that we now have specialists in insurance marketing, grocery marketing, and high-volume retail marketing. I explain that we have specialists in different marketing methods, such as catalog marketing and post card marketing.

Then I point out that my specialty field is lawyer marketing and I use exclusively my method of Education-Based Marketing. By admitting weaknesses in other areas, I'm being honest. And by claiming skill and specialization in lawyer marketing, my prospects conclude I'm being honest and straightforward there, too.

If you try to make prospects believe that you are well versed in all areas of the law, you won't succeed because prospects know better. You're in a much stronger competitive position when you admit how little you know about other areas, and by providing facts about your background and experience that prove you are a highly skilled specialist in your chosen practice area.

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© Trey Ryder
FREE LAWYER MARKETING ALERT: If you'd like to receive Trey Ryder's weekly Lawyer Marketing Alert, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Write "Subscribe LMA" in the subject line and write your name and e-mail address in the body of the message.

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• Historia Verdadera

EE.UU. x Venezuela

Cada vez más empresas estadounidenses argumentan que no pueden hacer frente a las distorsiones cambiarias en Venezuela, y se han visto obligadas en algunos casos a borrar activos en el país de sus estados financieros o a abandonar definitivamente sus operaciones a través de ventas o cierres de los negocios.

• Brief News

FedEx loses bid to dismiss charges over online drug shipping

FedEx Corp. can be prosecuted for illegal drugs hidden in its 4 million daily deliveries, a judge ruled. US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco rejected the company's bid to dismiss charges it conspired with "rogue" online drugstores. If the government wins the case, it may seek almost $1 billion in fines. Separately, Breyer on Thursday ordered the FBI and other agencies to turn over communications that FedEx says show it has long cooperated with the government's crackdown on companies that are shipping drugs without proper prescriptions. As a drug-trafficking and money-laundering case heads toward trial, the parcel-shipping service is trying to show it's being punished after doing the right thing. The company said as far back as 2002, 12 years before it was accused of scheming with "rogue''" online drugstores to deliver controlled substances to dealers and addicts, it was assisting federal agencies with investigations of pill purveyors. FedEx helped the government win convictions of the very companies the shipper is accused of conspiring with. The evidence sought by FedEx to show that it was acting in good faith may plant seeds of doubt in the minds of jurors or a judge.

A trade deal read in secret by only a few (or maybe none)

To study the draft Trans-Pacific Partnership text, senators have to go to the basement of the Capitol and enter a secured, soundproof room and surrender their cellphones.

Burundi coup bid: Some coup leaders arrested

Three renegade generals who launched a failed coup against Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza have been arrested. However coup leader Gen Godefroid Niyombare is "still on the run", a presidential spokesman said. Earlier, Niyombare said that he and his followers were going to surrender, adding: "I hope they won't kill us". Nkurunziza is expected to make a national address.

Brazil gun killings rise to highest level in 35 years

A report on violence in Brazil says around 42,000 people were shot dead in 2012 - the highest figures for gun crime in 35 years. The study, by the UN and the government on the most recent available data, said almost all the deaths were murders. More than half of those killed were young men under the age of 30 - two-thirds were described as black. The Brazilian Congress is debating a controversial bill that would limit access to firearms. Gun crime murders have been dropping in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo but rising in the north and northeast of the country. The report says a slow justice system and flawed police investigations as well as the widespread availability of firearms are to blame. It says Brazil has become a society which tolerates guns to resolve "all sorts of disputes, in most cases for very banal and circumstantial reasons." A law to ban the carrying of guns in public and control illegal ownership came into effect in 2004.

Nato to counter 'hybrid warfare' from Russia

Nato has pledged to counter "hybrid warfare" from Russia. The alliance said it must adapt to the mixture of conventional military tactics, subversive campaigns and cyber-warfare that Russia was using in Ukraine. Nato says that Russia is backing rebels in Ukraine - a claim denied by Moscow. Three Baltic countries are preparing to ask for a permanent presence of Nato troops on their soil to act as a deterrent to the Russian military. "Hybrid warfare combines different types of threats, including conventional, subversion and cyber," Nato chief said.

US and Cuba to hold talks on opening embassies

The US State Department has said that US and Cuban negotiators will meet next Thursday to discuss re-establishing embassies in each other's capitals. The talks will focus on the practical measures needed to reopen embassies in Havana and Washington. Although relations have improved in recent months a US trade embargo remains in place.

Why everyone's talking about Israel's new justice minister

Ayelet Shaked is a secular Jew who belongs to a religious party closely tied to West Bank settlers. She's faced criticism for controversial statements about Palestinians. Politically, Shaked is part of the religious, Zionist Jewish Home party, which draws its strength from Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank. Negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just to name her justice minister were drawn out and difficult. In part, that's because the justice minister wields real power. "The justice minister is in charge of the ministerial committee on legislation — which is a very important committee when it comes to passing bills."

Lawmakers spar over whether Amtrak funding cut matters

Obama has said the US must invest more in its infrastructure, in the wake of a train derailment in Philadelphia that claimed eight lives. He said he was talking to congressional leaders to secure passage of a transport bill. "It's not about funding. The train was going twice the speed limit," said House Speaker John Boehner. Democrats advocated for an amendment that would fund advanced technology.

Amtrak train crash victims face $200 million injuries cap

There are many questions surrounding Tuesday's Amtrak crash. The amount of money victims could receive for injuries isn't one of them as federal law caps total rail-accident damages at $200 million. Congress established the limit in 1997 on all rail accidents, not just Amtrak, as part of a compromise to bail out the ailing railroad. It's an arbitrary cap imposed regardless of the number of victims or how horrific the accident. In this instance, medical injuries alone could exceed $200 million. The 1997 law limits damages against all defendants for all claims arising from a single accident, which means a judge will ultimately need to decide how the money gets divvied up among victims.

Dutch court clears man who assisted in dying mother's suicide

A Dutch court on Wednesday cleared a man of all criminal charges for assisting his 99-year-old mother to commit suicide. An important goal of the case was to set further precedents for assisted suicide in the Netherlands, a country where the act is already legal in certain situations.

FDA plans to ease restrictions on gay blood donors

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday released a set of proposed guidelines outlining a plan to end the national lifetime ban on blood donations from homosexual individuals. The ban, which many activists and medical groups say after 32 years in no longer justified, was enacted to prevent donations from donors at an increased risk of carrying HIV. The proposal suggests, among other things, that donations would be barred from male individuals who have engaged in sexual activity with another male within the previous year. Other countries including Australia, Japan and the UK have adopted similar measures in recent years. Many medical experts have stated that the lifetime ban is no longer supported by science. Gay activists claim that although the policy shift is progress in the right direction, the one-year deferral period still has the potential to stigmatize the homosexual community. David Stacy of the Human Rights Campaign stated, "This policy prevents men from donating life-saving blood based solely on their sexual orientation rather than actual risk to the blood supply."

Ukraine approves martial law regulations allowing relocation of foreign citizens

The Ukranian Parliament on Tuesday approved controversial martial law regulations that will purportedly allow for extrajudicial detention and relocation of foreign citizens "who threaten or undertake aggression towards Ukraine." If enacted, the new law will also allow Ukrainian authorities to condemn private property and proscribe conduct and political parties that clash with the country's accepted notion of "independence." The law will likely affect a greater number of Russian citizens, as Parliament adopted a declaration in January naming Russia as an "aggressor state." The law will take effect if Parliament chooses to approve a similar measure introduced by the Ukrainian president.

SEC enforcement said to review legitimacy of Avon offer

The US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement division is reviewing the legitimacy of a takeover offer of Avon Products Inc. that sent its shares soaring Thursday. A filing with the SEC indicated a private-equity firm made a bid to buy Avon. The company said it never received an offer. The SEC filing included errors, including naming a law firm that doesn't exist. Phone calls to the contacts listed on the filing were unsuccessful.

Calif. moves closer to banning vaccine 'personal belief' exemptions

The bill would require children to be vaccinated against measles and other diseases before entering kindergarten. If it becomes law, it would be among the strictest in the nation.

Wyoming law bans 'data trespassing'

A new state law gives police the power to cite people for trespassing if they step onto private land to gather "data" – including photographs – that they plan to give to the government. The law doesn't say someone actually has to give the data or photographs to authorities, only that they intend to. And law professor Justin Pidot said a broad reading of the measure suggests it might also extend in some cases to public lands, like a national park after hours. The law is similar to "ag gag" laws in Utah and Idaho that make it illegal to secretly take photos or videos on farms without explicit permission.

Justice Department to tear up past UBS settlement

For more than a year, UBS AG held out hope that the US Department of Justice would look past alleged violations of a 2012 settlement related to interest-rate rigging after the Swiss bank self-reported new infractions and provided evidence that will culminate in settlements with five of the world's largest banks for allegedly manipulating foreign currencies rates. The unprecedented move to void a settlement with a major financial institution comes after more than a year of talks between UBS and the Justice Department. It is a sign of the department's increasingly aggressive negotiating posture with financial institutions, and calls into question the staying power of past bank settlements if they run into trouble.

Debt-collection watchdog faces debt-collection grievance

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has emerged as the federal government's chief watchdog of debt collectors, by fielding, investigating and responding to thousands of complaints from consumers with stories about getting hounded about debts they say they don't owe. One recent complaint came from a former CFPB intern who says the problem she's having is with the agency itself.

Senate passes customs bill

The Senate passed a bill to crack down on unfair foreign-trade practices, including currency manipulation, as part of Obama's push to get fast-track legislation passed.

• Daily Press Review

Burundi arrests three in connection with coup attempt
Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar

B.B. King, blues guitar legend, dies at 89
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

UKIP's Farage rules out quitting
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Blues legend B.B. King dies at 89
CNN International, London, England

Cheryl heads to Cannes with husband Jean-Bernard
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Meet Robbie Williams' wife Ayda Field who is even WILDER than the singer
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Barack Obama 'committed to' Arab allies in the Gulf
EuroNews, International news, Ecully Cedex, France

Burundi coup chief Niyombare says putsch plotters surrender
France 24, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

Cappadox festival set to revive Cappadocia
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi resurfaces in audio urging supporters to join terror group
Independent The, London, England

Major Ukrainian TV provider drops Russian channels
Moscow News The, Independent, Moscow, Russia

Chinese police discover 51 migrants packed into six-seater van
Telegraph The, Conservative daily, London, England

'If you consume more calories than you burn off, what do you expect?'
Telegraph The, Celebrity news, London, England

'King of the Blues' blues legend B.B. King dead at age 89
China Post, English-language daily, Taipei, Taiwan

Top-Rated Shows Vie for Ratings on Friday Night
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Burundi Loyalist troops detain coup leaders
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India

ISM to establish regional centre in AP
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Abe Cabinet OKs bills to relax limits on SDF operations abroad
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Cyprus' rival leaders restart peace talks after hiatus
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

China's CSOP Asset Management offers first ChiNext exchange-traded fund to foreign investors
The Economic Times, Business, Mumbai, India

U.S. Marine helicopter wreckage from earthquake mission found in Nepal
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Nearly 800 migrants reach land in Indonesia, others sent back to sea
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

IACHR Tackles Violence Against Native Peoples in Costa Rica
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Asian shares rise, poised for weekly gains
Reuters, Business News, New York, U.S

Bomb threat disrupts season finale of German TV model show
Reuters, World News, New York, U.S

Shooting victim Kofi Patrong wins right to sue Toronto police
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario

Burundi coup leaders arrested
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

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