I’m moderating a webinar this August 27, 2014, 4pm Eastern Time about dominating your local market. Every attendee will receive a complimentary copy of the best-selling legal technology book Online Law Practice Strategies ($50 value).
I saw Jabez Lebret (the presenter) speak at the Maryland State Bar Annual Meeting back in 2013 and was blown away by what he had to say. His book is very substantive and me being the gigantic nerd that I am, I read it in a day. He taught me to use Yelp as a lawyer before everyone was using Yelp. His advice is always the latest and greatest.
Here is the link for the webinar.
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The Maryland State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section had a fantastic meal at Wit & Wisdom in Baltimore this past Tuesday. Lacy Durham of the American Bar Association was our guest of honor. Judge Reed of the Baltimore City Bar and Judge Brown of the Maryland Bar were in the house as well. Executive Chef Zach Mills greeted our table and we enjoyed many delicious creations of his. A fun night was had by all!
I’ll be speaking on “Best Practices for Working with Substantive Sections” on June 19th, 2014. I’m very lucky to be speaking with ABA YLD Affiliate leaders Keya Koul, past young lawyers chair of New Mexico and Russell Kelly, chair-elect of South Carolina young lawyers division. These two leaders and myself (Treasurer of the Maryland State Bar Young Lawyers Section 2014-2015) will discuss how our state affiliates reach a wide array of members and the public by combining resources and collaborating with various committees and local bar associations. Register here.
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Press Release for Scott MacMullan Law, LLC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2014
Scott W. MacMullan appointed to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Homelessness & Poverty for the 2014-2016 term.
The American Bar Association (ABA), founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA’s most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. The ABA has 410,000 members. Its national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois; it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, DC.
About Scott MacMullan Law, LLC
Scott MacMullan Law, LLC provides general legal services in the State of Maryland the District of Columbia. The firm provides counsel and advocacy in a wide range of civil and criminal matters. Specifically, helping people who have been injured through no fault of their own. The firm’s motto is “Local Knowledge You Can Trust.”
For more information contact 443-494-9775 or [email protected]
The American Bar Association (ABA), founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA’s most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. The ABA has 410,000 members. Its national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois; it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, DC.
This is the American Bar Association’s mission: To serve equally our members, our profession and the public by defending liberty and delivering justice as the national representative of the legal profession
The ABA achieves its mission through tireless work toward four goals.
Goal I: Serve Our Members.
Objective:
- 1. Provide benefits, programs and services which promote members’ professional growth and quality of life.
Goal II: Improve Our Profession.
Objectives:
- 1. Promote the highest quality legal education.
- 2. Promote competence, ethical conduct and professionalism.
- 3. Promote pro bono and public service by the legal profession.
Goal III: Eliminate Bias and Enhance Diversity.
Objectives:
- 1. Promote full and equal participation in the association, our profession, and the justice system by all persons.
- 2. Eliminate bias in the legal profession and the justice system.
Goal IV: Advance the Rule of Law.
Objectives:
- 1. Increase public understanding of and respect for the rule of law, the legal process, and the role of the legal profession at home and throughout the world.
- 2. Hold governments accountable under law.
- 3. Work for just laws, including human rights, and a fair legal process.
- 4. Assure meaningful access to justice for all persons.
- 5. Preserve the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary.
Click Here.
My presentation for the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section’s Sound Advice library. Enjoy.
Kara Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools, et al. (4th Cir. July 2011)
In a case involving cyber-bullying, a student sued the school district for limiting her First Amendment free speech rights by suspending her for creating a hate website against another student at school. The Fourth Circuit determined that the speech created actual or reasonably foreseeable “substantial disorder and disruption” at school; therefore, this was not the “speech” a school is required to tolerate and did not merit First Amendment protection.
Did the Fourth Circuit get the case right?
Click here for the full opinion.
“Come to me when you need a lawyer.” That is what Legal Marketing Guru Micauh Buchdahl suggested you tell people and friends when marketing yourself. This is against the conventional wisdom that a lawyer should tell someone that they specialize or have a “special emphasis” (ridiculous ethics rules) in a certain area of law. The idea being that when something happens to the person in that area of law they will immediately think of you.
Not everyone has a family law issue or gets injured or has a complex business transaction on a daily basis. Years might pass before anything happens to them or even someone they know. In this high-tech world, let’s be honest, people forget. And when they forget, they go to the internet. They want to remember that nice lawyer they met a few years back, but their problem is immediate and they need immediate answers.
A happy medium might exist between the general: “Come to me if you need legal help” and the specific: “I am a global climate change lawyer that focuses on the Chesapeake Bay” or “I help injured people and families going through tough times.” (*What I do.) Maybe the happy medium is that we tell other lawyers what we specifically work on and we tell clients a more general picture of us. But this seems to change when we are networking with attorneys that are not from our region. When that is the case, wouldn’t we rather be, for example, their “Maryland Lawyer” or their “Annapolis Lawyer”? It also might change if you are working with more sophisticated business clients who know their industry better than some newer lawyers who practice in that industry.
The idea being that if someone comes to you as their lawyer, you can refer them to a lawyer that you know specializes in their specific problems area of law. That lawyer you refer work to can then refer work that you do back to you.
I guess in the end it is all about finding information about the person you are networking with, connecting with that person, and, most importantly, making sure you are remembered by that person. (I like to mention sometimes in the conversation that I’m a Scottish guy named Scott or Scott (the Scot). You might laugh, but it works on a lot of levels.) I like telling people to come to me if they need a lawyer. I hope to have built trust with them that they will feel safe that I will either handle their matter or I will refer them to a lawyer who will deftly handle it. Continuous and respectful follow-up is vital.
The best kind of follow-up networking is becoming friends with the person you connected with. People seem to remember people who are going to benefit themselves as friends or colleagues on a long term basis. Clients that you help that become friends are the best kind of clients and the best kind of referral sources. Remember: “It can take a long time to make an old friend.”
What do you think? Do you like the general pitch or the specific pitch? Or does it depend on the situation and person?