The Advocate Capital, Inc. Blog

Are you using LinkedIn to grow your practice? Many of our clients and non-clients are having success with it. In case you are not familiar with it, LinkedIn is a free, business-oriented social network launched in 2003. It has over 50 million users!

Using its Facebook-like method of building a personal network, Linkedin can be used to connect with other like-minded people in our profession and publicize your practice. Another useful aspect of Linkedin are the many specialized groups that members often create. These groups become great forums for sharing information and referrals.

One such LinkedIn group in our profession is called Bisnar's Lawyer Marketing Mastermind Group, which is a place for attorneys to ask marketing and management questions and share ideas. Many of our clients have joined this group to benefit from the content and discussions there. The group was founded by noted southern California attorney John Bisnar. John's group has over 300 members all around the country who learn from each others ideas and discussions.

You need to join LinkedIn to request to be connected. So, if you are not already a LinkedIn participant, I suggest you get started today. And if you do, feel free to add me to your network. My LinkedIn profile is here http://www.linkedin.com/in/dantaussig.

I was quoted in a recent article in American Lawyer magazine which is also available at their website here.

The article is mostly accurate, but I think it fails to capture a couple of important distinctions between Advocate Capital, Inc. and other lenders in our industry.

First, we are not looking for law firms that need money. Of course law firms that are having financial difficulties usually find us, but we can't help them. That's why we reject such a large majority of the applications that we receive. Our future clients are not scouring the Internet looking for sources of cash. They are busy running successful law practices. What we offer them is a powerful, strategic financial tool (case expense funding) that gives them access to the after-tax cash they have tied up in case expenses at very little net-cost to the firm.

Secondly, we are one of the few (only?) lenders still actively looking for new customers and funding new clients. We know this because we monitor all UCC filings and terminations by the major lenders in our industry. Fact is, none of them have filed a new UCC in over a year. Maybe they're flying under the UCC radar, but I doubt it.

We are very thankful to have taken the path of "quality instead of quantity". Whereas some of our competitors may have grown faster than us at times, we're glad to be where we are now: enjoying sustainable growth and happy to have a client base of high-quality, profitable law firms.

It's been a busy week for us in the press with hundreds of news outlets picking up the story about our new website. The story below ran on the websites of CNBC, Forbes and Fox Business, along with many more.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov 10, 2009. Advocate Capital, Inc. recently launched a new multi-media website designed to introduce its various financial services to trial law firms through the United States. The new site can be viewed at http://www.advocatecapital.com.

In addition to traditional content, the website makes extensive use of high-end video production that is cutting-edge for the law firm funding industry "We've received rave reviews on the content from both existing and prospective clients," said Michael J. Swanson, Advocate's CEO. "In fact, several of our clients actually appear in the videos, giving testimony to the tremendous value that Advocate Capital, Inc. adds to their law practices."

"We've taken the traditional corporate website to the next level." Dan A. Taussig, Advocate's Chairman commented, "Our site doesn't just promote our company; it also provides ways for our clients to network with each other, obtain referrals and drive traffic to their own websites. It's a unique synergistic approach to Internet marketing."

One Advocate client who is participating in the website is attorney Angel Reyes, III, the Managing Partner of the Dallas, TX firm of Reyes-Bartolomei-Brown. "We're excited about the opportunity to network with other Advocate clients around the country. Our law firm is always looking for new ways to achieve justice on behalf of our clients. We think this is one more excellent resource to help us attain that goal." Reyes-Bartolomei-Brown is known nation-wide for using state-of-the-art technology in order to achieve maximum verdicts on behalf of their clients. More information regarding Mr. Reyes' law firm can be found at http://www.reyeslaw.com.

Other new features of the new Advocate web platform are several interactive calculators and guides. "We now have interactive tools on the site that enable prospective clients to see first-hand the very positive, long-term impact that our services can have on their firm's financial success, as well as the minimal impact it has on their individual clients." said Paul B. Myers, Advocate's President. "Plus we've developed a new 'Help Me Choose' tool. It's an interactive guide the helps attorneys evaluate which of our products and services would be best for their firm."

Advocate Capital, Inc. is the premier provider of strategic financial products and accounting services to successful plaintiff law firms nationwide. Advocate recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of serving trial law firms. For more information, visit http://www.advocatecapital.com.

CONTACT: Tina Burns
Tel: 615.577-5447
Fax: 615.377.9212

Email: TBurns@AdvocateCapital.com

Lawrence S. Eisenberg, a long time consultant of Advocate Capital, appeared on the CBS show 60 Minutes on Sunday, November 1, 2009. In this very interesting story Larry first appears around the 6:00 mark. He represents liver transplant patients and the story is about an alleged Japanese organized crime boss who paid cash for a liver transplant at UCLA Medical Center.

Larry has handled successful, high-profile cases. If you need to refer out a personal injury or wrongful death case in the Orange County/Los Angeles area, give him a call. Here is his law firm's website: http://www.eisenberglawyers.com/

Congratulations to Larry on the national television exposure!

Our friend, Art Italo, has a great article on his website that really does an excellent job of analyzing the concept of networking for law firms. Of course we've all heard of the concept of networking. That's nothing new. But Art goes much deeper than just proposing that we all exchange business cards once in a while.

He explains three types of networking: Opportunistic, Strategic and Leveraged. He then goes on to recommend a much more proactive and thoughtful method of networking than many of us probably use. Click here to read the entire article on his website.

We've known Art for years. Several of Advocate Capital's clients have used Art's consulting services to help grow their practices and increase profitability. We highly recommend giving him a look.

Congratulations to ACI client Harold I. Resnic, Esq., who recently had a nice win in a motor vehicle accident case where he recovered $300,000.00, which was three times the policy limit. In the case, Attorney Resnic alleged that the insurance company for the at-fault driver committed bad faith settlement practices in negotiating the case.

Harold I. Resnic, Esq. has been practicing law all over the state of Massachusetts for 35 years. With offices located in downtown Springfield, MA, Attorney Resnic specializes in medical malpractice, personal injury, workers compensation and consumer protection law.

If you think you have a case or need to make a referral in Massachusetts, call Harold at 413.733.7110 or contact him via email at hresnic@conversent.net

Labels: Victories

I feel very fortunate to have been invited to be a guest speaker at the M&L Marketing and Management Seminar in Costa Rica in January. The name of my presentation is "Access To Capital for Plaintiff Law Firms". It should be a fun an informative few days and if you are a client who is attending too, please let me know here.

I've just recently learned of M&L Marketing. They are an exclusive group that brings together some of the best legal marketers in the country, all personal injury attorneys, for idea-sharing meetings several times a year. Only one law firm per geographic marketplace is permitted to participate, so there is a great spirit of non-competitive collaboration.

If you'd like more info about this excellent group, my contact there is Micki Love. You can contact her here, or call her at 270.782.6000. She's always been very helpful. Their home page is here . M&L was founded by J. Marshall Hughes and Lee Coleman, principals of the premier PI firm Hughes & Coleman with offices throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.

- Mike Swanson

Labels: Friends