Strategic Ways for Your Law Firm to Stand Out
Authored By: Iris Garrett
The hunt for new clients can feel like it never truly ends, especially for solo attorneys and those running their own firms. According to the 2016 State of the U.S. Small Law Firm Survey, 78-percent of small law firms say finding new clients is one of their biggest challenges. Another challenge for small law firms? Marketing, an area that goes hand in hand with attracting and engaging potential clients. So how can you combat both challenges, bring in new business, all whilst practicing law? Think about ways to stand out.
In an article in Above the Law, Amy Larson details several ways for solo and small law firms to strategically attract, engage, retain, and get referred by clients. We’ve outlined a few of her tips below.
Attracting Clients – Larson says providing a strong, clear image of your law firm can help attract your ideal clients, but make sure that it is accessible on any device or channel they may use to find you. She also suggests targeting only prospects whose needs and preferences align with your firm.
Engaging Clients – Larson says the best way to engage with prospective clients is by understanding their needs, knowing your differentiators and moving faster than your competition. Before a meeting, she suggests getting a feel for your potential client’s risks and how your firm can provide them with a competitive advantage.
Retaining Clients –Larson says providing clients with high-quality engagement, transparency, excellent service and quick responsiveness to their needs will keep them coming back to your firm. She also suggests delving into new practice areas, so clients don’t turn to a competitor with more specialties.
Getting Referrals from Clients – Larson says your clients can be your biggest advocates, and not just through word of mouth. She also suggests providing a digital platform so they can easily refer new business to your firm.
To read Amy Larson’s full article, click here.
Photo Credit: Vadim Guzhva
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Meet ACI Client Timothy Bailey
Authored By: Candace Whitman
President and CEO Michael J. Swanson interviewed Attorney Timothy Bailey of Bailey, Javins and Carter, LC about his experience as an Advocate Capital, Inc. client.
Attorney Bailey shares how Advocate Capital, Inc. has impacted his firm and allowed them to get even better results for their clients.
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Webinar: The AdvoTrac® Case Expense Funding Service
Authored By: Krista Kemmerly
We invite you to join our webinar next Tuesday with President and CEO Michael J. Swanson and special guest, Training Specialist, Billie Hardison.
Throughout this webinar, Mike Swanson and Billie Hardison will explain how our AdvoTrac® Case Expense Funding Service works and how it has helped successful law firms get even better results for their clients.
The AdvoTrac® Case Expense Funding Service Webinar is on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 with Michael J. Swanson and Billie Hardison.
- 11:00AM – 12:00PM Pacific (Los Angeles)
- 12:00 PM-1:00PM Mountain (Arizona)
- 1:00PM – 2:00PM Central (Chicago)
- 2:00PM – 3:00PM Eastern (New York)
Space is limited, so register for the April 24th webinar now: https://www.advocatecapital.com/webinarapril24
It’s OK if you register but are unable to attend. You’ll get an email to a video recording of the webinar when it’s complete so that you can view it later.
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Spring 2018 AdvoTrac® Improvements
We enhance our proprietary software, AdvoTrac ®, with new capabilities and features on a regular basis. AdvoTrac® is Advocate Capital’s differentiator, a strategic tool for our clients and employees. Our clients gain access to their accounts via the web portal, and they often have suggestions on how to improve AdvoTrac®.
Here are the Spring 2018 AdvoTrac® improvements:
Reports – We added three brand new reports to the portal: Principal Balance by Date Range, Initial Case Funding by Date Range and Closed Cases.
The Principal Balance by Date Range report allows a user to view their firm’s principal balance for each day within the date range parameters. This can help the firm to understand their utilization trends.
The Initial Case Funding by Date Range report allows a user to view which cases funded for the first time within the date range parameters. The report shows the case name, memo information, date and amount. This can help a firm audit their funded cases if needed.
The Closed Cases by Date Range report allows a user to identify which cases were paid and closed within the date range parameters. The report shows the case name, date opened, date closed and the payoff amount, helping the firm with reconciliation.
Since we added three more reports to the reports tab, we felt it was time to alphabetize the drop-down menu creating a more user-friendly experience.
In addition to the new reports, we modified the Reprint Payoff Quote for cases paid off online. We removed the remittance address, per diem amount and changed the text from “Amount Payable” to “Amount Paid” to ensure clear communication. These changes were previously made to the Payoff Quote but not on the Reprint Payoff Quote.
When a Request for Loan Advance is received, our accounting department emails a Transaction Detail for Funding report to the client confirming their request is complete. The report now includes the firm’s account manager name and contact information, making it easier to contact them should there be any questions.
Funding Requests – If a client has working capital availability, they can select a radio button on the funding screen to fund working capital, eliminating the need to scroll all the way to the bottom of their case listing to choose working capital as a case to fund. This function previously existed but was inconsistently working if a client had a reopened working capital line. The radio button visibility has been corrected.
Payments – When a client has multiple bank accounts set-up for payments, and the client fails to select the bank account, an error message appears. The error message “Bank Account Required” was moved beside the bank selection field instead of the middle of the page, making it easier to notice.
We added our new remittance address for paper checks to the Payoff Quote with a yellow highlight and to the frequently asked questions page in the portal.
Monthly Summary Emails – On the 15th of every month, AdvoTrac® sends an email to clients summarizing their account activity. We removed the word “new” from the funded cases line, which was confusing the type of funding that occurred on the account.
Training – We added two new videos to the help and training section: “Creating a User” and “Modify or Unlock a User.”
The training videos for Reports Part I, Reports Part II and Reports Part III have been updated.
All video titles were revised, removing the “How to” text at the beginning making the titles more concise.
Step by step PDF instructions are now available for all tutorials.
Administrative – A firm administrator may notice the following changes when modifying or creating a user:
- A help bubble was added beside the working capital visibility permission set, explaining what users with this access would be able to see.
- The help bubbles were changed to the Advocate Capital green and font, making them easier to see.
We would love to hear from you! If you have ideas for additional improvements to AdvoTrac, please send them to me at TBurns@AdvocateCapital.com or call me at 615-577-5447.
If you would like to read about the Winter, 2018 AdvoTrac Improvements, click here.
Tina Burns
Vice President
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Poet Laureate, Jose E. Hernandez
Here at Advocate Capital, Inc., we are proud to count our clients as the best and brightest trial lawyers across the country. But trial advocacy is not the only skill our customers possess!
I recently received this poem from Joe Hernandez, Chief Financial Officer for the Law Offices of Ezequiel Reyna, Jr.
Tapping the Line
I tested the revised funding process
And it works mighty fine
Unlike Johnny Cash’s song
I “tapped” the line.
By submitting a list of our contributions
On a spreadsheet using Excel
Allowing the importing of data
And learned that it went well.
The user-friendly process
Is Super Friendly and Kool
Beta testing is over
It is a wonderful tool.
Many thanks Joe for being our valued client AND writing a poem about your experience. If you are an Advocate Capital client and would like to learn more about our online options, please contact TrainingTeam@AdvocateCapital.com.
Donna A. Jones
Senior Vice President
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ABA Commission on the American Jury Conducting Survey on Decline of Jury Trials
Authored By: Candace Whitman
In the United States, the number of jury trials has been decreasing. The American Bar Association Commission on the American Jury is conducting a survey of judges, lawyers, court staff, and other participants in the legal system to collect data on the causes for this nationwide decline in jury trials. They will analyze this data to determine the issues and inform potential policy initiatives.
The Commission invites legal professionals to contribute their opinions and prospective by taking their survey from now until June 1, 2018. They anticipate publishing their results in late 2018.
The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. It does not request personally identifying information and the data will be analyzed and reported in the aggregate.
If you would like to participate in this important research survey, click here.
Photo Credit: Wavebreak Media Ltd
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Employee Participation: AdvoReaders Book Club
There are many reasons to join a book club. Here are five that the team at Advocate Capital have taken to heart.
- You meet interesting people. By socializing with team members, you learn more about them on a personal level, and this brings everyone closer.
- You read things you would not otherwise read. For the AdvoReaders Book Club, selections are placed in a box by members and drawn at random. The book selection each month is always something unique.
- Some books need to be discussed. That moment in a book that creates an audible gasp or laugh out loud should be shared. What better way to share that than with your co-workers, especially when they have read the same book.
- You eat great food. The AdvoReaders have changed things up and started enjoying themed meetings. We meet during lunch and share great pot-luck style food. Our last book “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarty had a kindergarten class as the general setting for the characters. Our theme was kindergarten food. We snacked on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice boxes, mac and cheese, and a dirt cake.
- Sometimes it is fun just to chat. It is nice to have a reason to socialize with co-workers outside of the normal workday. The book club brings a little fun to the office during lunch hour once a month.
Whether you are an avid reader or want to try something new, a book club can be a great use of your time. We at Advocate Capital love our book club and look forward to reading more exciting books in the coming year.
Check out our latest book club event on our Facebook and Google+ pages.
Rebecca Stottlemyer
Executive Client Manager
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What’s Being Done to Fight the Opioid Crisis?
West Virginia has asked Tim Bailey’s firm, Bailey, Javins & Carter, L.C., to represent its interest in litigation against one of the major distributors of opioids into the state. In today’s video, Mr. Swanson interviews Tim Bailey about the opioid crisis in the U.S. and what is being done to fight against it.
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AIEG 2018 Spring Seminar
Authored By: Candace Whitman
Are you planning to attend the AIEG 2018 Spring Seminar in Nashville, TN?
AIEG’s mission is to improve the ability of its members to represent those harmed through unwavering support, unparalleled sharing of documents and knowledge, and by providing insightful and substantive seminars with nationally recognized faculty.
The seminar will take place April 17-20 at the Hilton Nashville Downtown. Please stop by our booth to say hello and learn more about case expense funding. Jeff Glueck, Vice President of Strategic Solutions, will be there to represent Advocate Capital, Inc. and talk with you about The Advocate Flexline®.
While you’re there, don’t forget to register to win a pair of Beats Studio Wireless Headphones. We look forward to seeing you next week in our home city of Nashville!
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CVS Released HIV Status of up to 6,000, Lawsuit Claims
CVS is under the microscope after a recently filed federal lawsuit claims the company unintentionally revealed the HIV status of up to 6,000 Ohio residents. The breach allegedly happened through a prescription mailing.
The Dayton Daily News reports the lawsuit claims a letter that had information about getting HIV prescriptions through a CVS program was sent to about 6,000 participants in the state’s HIV Drug Assistance Program between July and August 2017. CNN news reports the envelope’s window allegedly showed the status of the participants.
CVS says the letter’s envelope window was intended to include a reference code for the assistance program, not the recipient’s health status.
Three unidentified HIV-positive plaintiffs are seeking class action status and a jury trial. They claim the company was aware of the issues months ago and did not notify those affected or the federal authorities.
CNN reports one plaintiff identified as John Doe Three says he lives in a small town in Gallia County where, “everyone knows everyone” and has experienced “significant distress as a result of this disclosure.”
CNN says he is scared to leave his home and has “experienced complications and health issues since this disclosure, up to and including just in the past several days.”
In a statement to CNN, CVS said “CVS Health places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of those we serve, and we take our responsibility to safeguard confidential information very seriously,” the statement said.
“As soon as we learned of this incident, we immediately took steps to eliminate the reference code to the plan name in any future mailings.”
The lawsuit also named Fiserv, the company that CVS hired to mail the letters.
Photo Credit: Le Do
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