General Legal

By Chelsea Callanan

I graduated law school in 2008 – by December of 2012 I was making a transition into my fourth (and final) legal position. I had been the Goldilocks of Maine law firms. I started with Papa Bear (a 120+ lawyer firm), moved to Baby Bear (a boutique firm of less than 5 lawyers), and then tried Mama Bear on for size (a firm of 15 lawyers). What I didn’t realize about myself in any of the career changes was that what I really wanted to do was to work for myself. None of the settings, firms, or opportunities that I had experienced gave me that chance, and so none were a good fit for me although they were each amazing opportunities in their own right.

For me, it’s a good thing I realized I wanted to work for myself, and that my husband was game to have me join his previously established law firm in a very autonomous capacity. It made sense for us financially and based on our lifestyle goals and priorities. And it was a good thing, because the reality was that while I was figuring out what I wanted in my career through ad hoc transitions, I was making myself un-hirable and unmarketable. If I had not taken the time to really do some digging internally, about what it was that I was looking for, I might have sought out yet another transition and added another 1-2 year job stint on my resume that would be hard to explain away later.

With the rapid evolution of technology, it can be difficult for attorneys to keep up to date on all of the advancements that can be useful in their practices. To help their nearly 27,000 members better understand current trends in legal technology, NYCLA held their first Tech Trends Meet-Up last night. Amicus Creative’s CEO Fred Cohen was one of five presenters at the event, speaking to attendees about the key elements of an effective attorney website.  He spoke on the importance of captivating design, quality content, search engine optimization and provided some insight into the best way to evaluate and select a website developer.

We were happy to sponsor the event and get to share some of our expertise with the enthusiastic attendees.  If you work with an organization that could benefit from a presentation on attorney websites, please contact our offices. We’re happy to speak on a wide array of online marketing topics from website basics and search engine optimization to integrated site tools which can engage visitors.

 

During our initial design consultation, we often ask our new clients if they have a tagline, or quite simply a motto, that they have used to describe their firms in past marketing pieces. Many times, they respond with the following: “I’d love to develop a tagline but I don’t know where to start.” Developing a tagline can undoubtedly be difficult. After all, how do you summarize what your firm is all about in a few words? In this post, you'll find a few pointers to help you get started and get the creative juices flowing.

There is no time more fitting to reflect on the past year and express our sincerest gratitude to all of our wonderful clients. As most of you know, our team has been hard at work developing and launching LegalVault, improving capabilities within the Site Manager and writing more legal content for your websites. All of our successes in 2009 would not have been possible without your helpful suggestions and continued support.

The entire team at Amicus Creative joins together in wishing all of our valued clients and friends a very happy holiday and a joyous new year.We look forwarding to working with you in 2010!