My Shingle

Ratings/Testimonials

The Shout-Out Lawyer

July 13, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

This tape is remarkable not so much for the content (the abuses of freemium – which is somewhat interesting) but rather, for displaying something that we rarely see:  a client giving a lawyer a shout-out. If you don’t believe me, skip ahead to 1:38 of the tape, where Ben Chestnut, MailChimp’s co-founder, describes how moving [...]

Read more Client Relations 2 comments

Should Lawyers Post Video Testimonials From Clients?

June 23, 2010 by Carolyn Elefant

Don’t get me wrong — I’m an unabashed fan of video for lawyers.  As I’ve said many times, most recently in this presentation, video satisfies Internet users’ craving for intimacy, as well prospective clients’ natural curiosity to get a peek at the lawyer behind the online presence.  Likewise, I’m also believer in the persuasive power [...]

Read more Ratings/Testimonials 9 comments

Ratings Rate With Clients

May 12, 2009 by Carolyn Elefant

Lawyers may not be fans of ratings systems, as I’ve posted previously.  But what lawyers, or bar associations think about ratings doesn’t matter, if clients think otherwise.  And as the Washington Post reports, increasingly, consumers are turning to ratings to make decisions about service providers like real estate agents, plumbers and movers.  Moreover, at least [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

Why You Get As Much As You Give When It Comes to Testimonials

January 23, 2008 by Carolyn Elefant

Most of the time, we give testimonials because we believe in the person who has solicited our recommendation and because it’s a nice thing to do.  But if that’s not enough incentive to give a testimonial, then consider this benefit:  testimonials can also make you look good! For example, let’s say that you’ve used a [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 0 comments

This Solo Has No Problem With Avvo

December 25, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

For a few days now, the blogosphere has been abuzz with news of the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against lawyer directory and rating service, Avvo and the subsequent Wall Street Journal’s endorsement of Avvo. These events evoked an impassioned post by respected solo-centric blogger Susan Cartier Liebel, who argues that Avvo’s rating system [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 12 comments

A Tale of Two Lawyer Ratings Systems

June 15, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Imagine a lawyer rating system that assigns lawyers different categories of grading and purports to provide an objective way to assess a lawyer and through “third party validation of ethics and legal ability provides that extra level of confidence that the right lawyer or firm has been selected.” A ratings system that takes years of [...]

Read more Ethics & Malpractice Issues 6 comments

What Judge Bork’s Choice of PI Counsel Says About Lawyer Rankings like Avvo and Marketing

June 8, 2007 by Carolyn Elefant

Over at some of the more conservatively inclined blogs, like Overlawyered, there’s some interesting discussion over whether conservative judge and jilted Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork betrayed his conservative principles by suing the Yale Club for $1 million (both compensatory and punitive damages) for injuries sustained following Bork’s fall from a dais a speaking event [...]

Read more Marketing & Making Money 4 comments

Client Endorsements Banned from NJ Lawyer Websites

May 29, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

And yet another stupid bar rule, this time out of New Jersey, where the Advertising Panel Lays Down Rules for Law Firm Ads on Wed:  Catchy URLs OK, but not client endorsements (New Jersey Law Journal, 5/31/05).  The article reports: In two opinions published May 23, the committee says law firms are free to adopt [...]

Read more Ethics & Malpractice Issues 2 comments