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Marketing Ethics

Blogging: It’s a Matter of Trust

December 14, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that my word is my bond, something that you can trust.  My blog is comprised of many, many words, all of which form a trusted bond with my audience and other bloggers.   I worked hard to establish this trust and I take it seriously, as do most legitimate [...]

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If Bloggers Must Disclose, Why Shouldn’t the Bar Associations?

July 5, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

According to this CNET post of last month (and as you’ve probably already heard), the Federal Trade Commission is planning to adopt guidelines this summer which would require bloggers to disclose any freebies, payments or other financial benefits that they receive in return for promoting a product.  The proposed guidelines are available here.  Since I’ve always [...]

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Should the Law Marketing Message Fit the Medium?

July 24, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Lawyers sell advice and legal services.  So should lawyer marketing focus on, or educate clients about what lawyers provide – or try to identify ways to get in front of prospective clients for any reason.  That’s the question that law marketer Russ Lawson considers in this post which discusses a  99 cent/gallon gas promotion by [...]

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The Florida Bar won’t let lawyer promise to help you get rid of “that vermin you call a spouse”

March 27, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Ah, I suppose it was just a matter of time before the Florida Bar went after divorce lawyer Steven Miller, who ran these provocative ads that insult overpriced downtown lawyers and promise to help clients “rid themselves of that vermin [they] call a spouse.” According to this story (3/27/07), when Miller submitted his ad for [...]

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Second Life for Marketing

March 9, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

In this post at Legal Blogwatch, I highlighted this article, Fantasy Life, Real Law from the ABA Journal (March 2007) on how lawyers are using the virtual community Second Life.  While some lawyers have set up virtual offices on Second Life, others use the site to make connections with real world clients. As I wrote [...]

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Whose Blog Is It Anyway?

February 8, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

My blogging buddy, Chuck Newton recently posted on the latest  brawl between Greatest American Lawyer and his former firm.  Seems that GAL’s firm is suing him a second time, this time for rights to GAL’s blogs, which the firm claims it would have developed itself. Newton doesn’t think the firm’s suit against GAL will fly, [...]

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BigLaw In Violation of NY’s New Advertising Rules

February 2, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Both Eric Turkewitz of New York Personal Injury Law Blog and Nicole Black of Sui Generis have posted here and here on a number of large New York law firms that failed to comply with New York’s new advertising ethics rules by labeling their websites as “attorney advertising.” In this situation, I can’t say that [...]

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Website Dispute Brought to the Bar

January 5, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Let me make two things clear at the outset of this post.  First, Greg Siskind, who pioneered use of the internet for lawyer advertising and public education through his website, Visa Law is one of my heroes.  I remember visiting his website back in 1994 in the nascent days of the Internet and recognizing right [...]

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Who Do These New York Bar Rules Target – Let’s Not Kid Ourselves

June 17, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

I have to confess that when I initially heard about New York’s proposed gag rule on attorney advertising, I suspected that it was just another way to perpetuate the biglaw/smallfirm double standard by targeting forms of advertising like websites and weblogs that have proven especially beneficial for small law firms.  And indeed, Dennis Kennedy fears [...]

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Watch What You Wish For…

March 6, 2006 by Carolyn Elefant

In response to posts criticizing the Nevada Bar’s heavy handed approach to an attorney who advertises himself as “The Heavy Hitter,” (see here, here and here), Jon Stein of The Practice blog endorses increased regulation.  Jon, who is a personal injury attorney himself believes that undignified advertising gives the professsion a black eye and hurts [...]

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