Attorney Journals, Orange County, Volume 209

For Last-Minute Trials

At Bentley & More LLP, we provide aggressive legal representation to consumers and employees across California. Our attorneys are fierce litigators with decades of experience advocating for our clients. While we are effective in resolving many kinds of conflicts outside of litigation, we have a proven track record of fearlessness in taking matters to trial and beyond.

~ C. Michael Alder, Esq., Alder Law, Los Angeles, California, CAALA Past President and Former Trial Lawyer of the Year

Law firms rely heavily on digital marketing to fuel their growth. That doesn’t mean that their plans are always successful, though. Sometimes, despite the most thoughtful planning and diligent execution, your law firm marketing strategy won’t produce the results you want. There are plenty of reasons for this, and it’s essential to understand where things are getting derailed. By understanding the common areas where things go wrong, you can sidestep the pitfalls and create a digital marketing strategy that boosts awareness for your law firm and positions you properly in your sector.

15 Things That Can Go Wrong with Your Law Firm’s Digital Marketing Strategy

Your website, CRM, and marketing automation systems can all contribute to your digital marketing success. The proper use of all of these tools will enhance your marketing strategy and enable you to accomplish your goals. However, aside from making adjustments within these specific areas, it’s important to consider these fifteen things that commonly go wrong when it comes to marketing strategy.

1. There’s No Strategy in Place at All

If you don’t have a strategy in place, or are unable to articulate it, then your firm is relying on luck. Many law firms are willing to invest in tactics but do so without an overarching strategy to guide those tactics.

Law firms need an overarching strategy such as a structured document that provides a clear framework for reaching their target audience, including details on planned activities and the relevant methods of communication. This document should also include your business goals and a plan to measure success. Start by defining your SMART goals, then figure out what tactics you will use to achieve these goals, and define key performance indicators that you will use to measure if you’ve reached these goals.

Reasons Your Law Firm’s Digital Marketing Strategy Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

by Noreen Fishman

2. Focusing on Tactics Instead of Strategies

As we just mentioned, many firms choose to implement tactics rather than an integrated marketing strategy. Well-executed tactics can produce positive results, but relying on such tactics is not smart for the long term. For example, if you decide to invest in social media, you may put a plan together or outsource those activities. But without a thoughtful approach to developing content tied to business goals, your efforts are not likely to lead to increased traffic or brand awareness. A systemized approach will help marketers create repeatable programs and measure outcomes.

3. Executing the Same Strategy as Your Competition

There are certainly things about your law firm that set you apart. It’s important to make sure these unique selling propositions are at the center of your strategy. Doing the same things as your competition will not help set you apart, no matter how well executed. Rather, look for gaps and opportunities where your competition is not.

4. Not Focusing on the Needs of Your Clients

Firms need to take the approach of strengthening their relationships with clients, not just marketing to them. It’s important to focus on the experience of your clients and position marketing from there. Always look to provide value to your clients and prospective clients. Start by defining who your target audience is. Then, build out client personas, which are personified characters that represent the different segments of your target audience. All of your strategies should be created with these client personas and your target audience in mind. You should have a deep understanding of your audience, their needs, thoughts, desires, and challenges.

5. Marketing Strategy Isn’t Aligned With Corporate Objectives

Research shows that firms that align marketing with business development experience better results. Marketing and business development should collaborate across several areas and both departments should work with firm leadership to understand larger objectives.

6. Poor Targeting

Is your marketing getting to the right people? Even if you have great messaging, if you’re not reaching the people who are most receptive, you’re unlikely to be happy with your results. It’s often a good strategy to narrow targeting rather than broaden it.

We understand that many law firms have multiple target audiences, which is why developing unique client personas is extremely important. Personas will guide your targeting strategies and help you to determine what kind of content you should be creating for your target audience. As you’re building out these personas, you should pay special attention to their demographics and interests. This will help you understand what channels are best for reaching them and will allow you to better target the right people with the right messaging.

7. You Assume Social Media Is the Same Across the Board

Law firms should not be posting identical messages to each social media network. Different channels have different audiences, peak times, and character limits. And each one is built for a different style of writing.

8. No Calls-To-Action

When it comes to digital marketing, it’s easy to get caught up in simply creating social media videos or blog content without a thought as to how it will help you drive leads and new business. The same thing happens on websites. It’s amazing how many law firms we see without clear, obvious calls-to-action. Remember, if you want people to perform an action, you have to ask them.

9. You Expect Immediate Results

Successful marketing requires both time and money. It also takes time to understand what’s working and what’s not.

We often tell clients that it takes 6-12 months for marketing to generate results. Yes, you will see some leading indicators of success along the way, but it takes time to really get the momentum you’re after in marketing.

10. Failing to Test, Adjust and Optimize

Having a strategy in place is important, but it needs to be flexible. Adapting your strategy and tactics based on testing and results will improve your results over time. This is why measurement is so important. Think of your strategy as a guide, but then use data along the way to optimize programs.

You need to keep track of what’s working and what’s not so you can decide what to tweak throughout the year.

11. Lack of Personalization

76% of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase from brands that personalize. Personalization is more than just a nice to have. It’s a necessity.

As we mentioned, it’s essential that you have a deep understanding of your target audience/ client personas. Not only should you attune tactics to different client personas, but you should also adjust tactics based on the different stages of the buyer’s journey. Different audience segments should be receiving different messaging and content offerings based upon how close they are to making a decision. You can also easily personalize your messaging by adding personalization tokens in emails or on your website.

12. Your Creatives Are Lackluster

Your creatives and visuals have a big impact on how prospects see your firm and whether or not they’re inspired by what you have to say enough to take action. Leveraging stale creatives that have been used over and over will leave your audience bored. And lacking any sense of creativity and always sticking with the ‘safe’ option won’t help you stand out. Get creative and implement a strong sense of brand identity in all your visuals.

13. You Neglect to Audit

Audits should be done at least once a year so that you can have a deep understanding of what’s working and what’s not. At the end of every year, you should audit all your channels and look at their performance month to month and year to year. Pay attention to what performed poorly versus well and what strategies and tactics were in place. Take note of what needs to be done next year to improve the poor performing channels.

14. Inconsistency

You can’t go from posting on social media every day and sending emails once a week to no communication for weeks at a time. Your audience will be confused, and you’ll no longer be at the forefront of their mind. While it’s important to focus on quality over quantity, it’s also equally as important to commit to a consistent schedule. Digital marketing is like anything else, you must practice consistency if you want it to work.

15. You Rely Too Heavily on Your Team

No team is perfect, and in fact, it’s rare that law firms have an in-house team that can handle every aspect of digital marketing. There’s so much expertise that goes into building a successful strategy, from SEO to website design to social media management. If your firm has been trying to do it all, then that may be why you’re not getting the ROI you need. Consider outsourcing some strategies to a legal marketing agency. Their expertise will prove invaluable.

Takeaway

Digital marketing in today’s world is increasingly complex, and without a proactive and thoughtful strategy to guide your efforts, your tactics are less likely to be successful. Hopefully, this article has given your law firm an idea of digital marketing strategy problems to look out for, but it’s by no means comprehensive. n

Noreen Fishman is the director of client services at Good2bSocial. Her primary responsibility is to help clients achieve their digital marketing goals. This includes managing the Good2bSocial team, ensuring constant communication with clients and updating them on their progress. Connect with Noreen on LinkedIn or www.good2bsocial.com.

As firms move through the year, plans are in full swing for a strong finish in 2023. Indeed, we have counseled law firms regarding the many creative and ethical ways to market themselves—TV commercials, billboards, radio advertising, internet advertising, and of course, the seemingly endless marketing through daily social media. As attorneys, we are trained to be excellent communicators, but how does that translate when trying to effectively communicate with our target market via social media platforms?

In today’s world of split second likes, loves, and replies on LinkedIn, Twitter, and others, attorneys have to be aware and deliberate about what we post to our social media. What we post and how we post it establishes our brand. Indeed, social media can prove to be a double-edged sword, being both helpful as a marketing tool and equally as harmful as an ethical pitfall. Are your social media efforts in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct? How does your social media portray you personally? How does your social media portray you and your law firm professionally? Does your marketing meet the high expectations of our noble profession?

Everything you choose to post is a building block to enhance your professional brand whether posted to your business, social media or your personal social media. When posting to your social media for your business think about what message you are sending. We recently learned of an attorney who markets himself on TikTok. This particular attorney chooses to tout himself and his abilities through videos. He weaves stories of his victories including details of case fact patterns. In and of itself, video is a wonderful way to market yourself. The problem is not that this attorney wants the world to know about his successes, the problem rests in the message. You see, this attorney brags about getting his

Is Your Law Firm’s Social Media Marketing Ethical?

by Dena Stoddard

clients lesser sentences than they deserve in criminal cases. The revealed disturbing fact patterns usually involve someone driving under the influence, causing significant physical damage to another’s property, and oftentimes involve personal injury to innocent bystanders. He can’t believe his luck at the outcomes he gets for his clients and can’t wait to share it on his social media outlets. But what message is he really sending? Is he telling the public that it is OK to break the law, cause harm to others, and then hire him to get them out of their charges with little more than a slap on the wrist? Is that really what we want the public to believe? Are these sort of messages even ethical? Is he breaching his duties of confidentiality and loyalty to his clients? What about his former clients that may not have gotten a similar stellar result? Is he opening himself up to a potential lawsuit or Bar complaint by a former disgruntled client that wonders why they did not get a similar result?

Although some states have not created a policy on social media, the ABA has instituted guidelines to assist lawyers in understanding their obligations while using social media. These guidelines can be found in ABA Formal Opinion 14-480. Some of the guidelines include:

Duty of Confidentiality

According to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6, online communications are governed by the duty of confidentiality even if the information is public record.

If it is reasonably likely that a third party could ascertain the identity of a client from the information used in a social media post, it might be a violation of Rule 1.6. In one instance, an attorney from Illinois

cited in ABA Formal Opinion 14-480 received a 60-day suspension for posting about her clients on social media without their permission.

Advertising and Client Solicitation

Any communication discussing a lawyer’s services through any form of media could be considered advertising according to the ABA’s rules regarding the solicitation of clients. Make sure you are familiar with these rules and proceed accordingly, as it can often be difficult to determine whether a social media post actually serves as an advertisement.

Creation of an AttorneyClient Relationship

Be aware of any comments and responses that you make on social media that might later indicate the establishment of an attorney-client relationship by implication or the perception of an attorney-client relationship.

When using social media to market your legal services, it is important to create a strategy to follow so you can ensure that you are acting in line with your ethical obligations. Below is a helpful checklist of items to consider:

• Know the rules and responsibilities lawyers have on social media in your jurisdiction.

• Identify your goals.

- What do you hope to gain from your social media marketing campaign?

- Are you looking to build your client base?

- Do you want to build greater brand awareness within the legal community?

- Do you want to generate discussion about a particular issue or your practice area?

• Do your research.

- What are your competitors doing on their social media sites to market themselves?

- Does the type of marketing and message resonate with you and what you believe your client base will connect with?

• Consider your content.

- Think about how your content will be received by others. Will the content portray you in a positive, professional light? Will the content reflect on the legal profession positively?

- Consider whether the content shares any confidential information from a client such that you would breach an ethical duty. The ethical duties of client loyalty and client confidentiality are so fundamental to the attorney-client relationship that you must always keep them top of mind given the ease with which one can share information on social media platforms.

- Could someone reasonably ascertain the identity of your client from the information you intend to share on your social media platform? If so, it could be a Rule violation.

- Before posting content to social media, ask yourself, “Is this information I would feel comfortable announcing publicly at a State Bar related event?”

In this ever-increasing world of social connectedness, make sure you are thoughtful and informed in how you proceed to market yourself and your law firm. What information you share with the world and the tone in which you share it could end up being more damaging to your law practice than helpful. Ensure your actions and words are in line with the Rules of Professional Conduct, and make sure that your communications portray you and the legal profession in a professional and positive light. n

Dena Stoddard practiced for nineteen years prior to joining Chandler Law. She has practiced primarily in the areas of Child Advocacy and Medical Malpractice Defense. Dena is a litigator who is dedicated to her clients and throughout her practice has gained the experience and knowledge she needs to achieve results. Learn more at: www.chandler-law.net.

In today’s data-driven decision-making environment, many businesses rely heavily on the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of their data. Poor data quality can quickly undermine these efforts, leading to costly errors, missed opportunities and compromised business performance.

In this article, Chris Fritsch explores common data quality issues faced by organizations and provides actionable strategies to help you avoid them, ensuring your data remains a valuable asset for driving success.

 Inconsistent Data Entry

One of the most prevalent data quality nightmares is inconsistent data entry. When multiple individuals enter data using different formats, standards, or abbreviations, it becomes challenging to maintain data consistency and accuracy. To mitigate this issue, establish clear data entry guidelines, provide training to employees, and implement data validation rules to enforce standardization. Regular data quality audits and ongoing data stewardship efforts will help maintain data integrity over time.

 Duplicate Records

Duplicate records can wreak havoc on your data quality, leading to incorrect analysis, wasted resources and poor customer experiences. Implementing de-duplication processes and utilizing algorithms or tools to identify and merge duplicate records can significantly improve data accuracy. Regularly conducting data cleansing activities and establishing procedures to prevent duplicates during data entry can save you from the nightmare of duplicate data.

Six Common Data Quality Management Issues and How to Solve Them

by Chris Fritsch

 Incomplete or Missing Data

Incomplete or missing data can hinder your ability to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. It is crucial to establish data capture protocols that ensure all required fields are consistently populated. Automated data validation checks can help identify missing data during entry, while periodic data audits can address incomplete records. Additionally, incentivizing employees to maintain data completeness and conducting regular data hygiene practices will contribute to better data quality.

 Lack of Data Governance

Without proper data governance, organizations may face data quality nightmares due to inconsistent standards, lack of accountability and poor data management practices. Establishing a data governance framework that includes clear ownership, defined roles and responsibilities and standardized data policies is crucial. Regular data governance reviews, data quality assessments and ongoing training and communication about data governance practices will ensure a strong foundation for data quality management.

 Data Integration Challenges

When data is scattered across multiple systems or departments, data integration becomes a significant challenge. Disparate data sources, incompatible formats, and inadequate integration processes can lead to data inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Implementing a robust data integration strategy, utilizing appropriate integration tools, and establishing data transformation rules can help streamline data integration

processes. Regular data reconciliation and validation checks will ensure data integrity is maintained throughout the integration process.

 Lack of Data Quality Monitoring

Data quality is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Without regular monitoring and measurement, it is difficult to identify and rectify data quality issues. Implement data quality monitoring mechanisms, such as automated alerts, reports, and dashboards, to proactively identify anomalies or deviations from established quality standards. Conduct periodic data quality assessments and establish data quality metrics to measure and track progress over time.

Effective data management is the key to avoiding data quality issues that can hinder your business success. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article— addressing inconsistent data entry, managing duplicate records, ensuring data completeness, establishing data

governance, tackling data integration challenges, and implementing data quality monitoring—you can maintain high-quality data that drives accurate analysis, informed decision-making, and operational excellence. Keep in mind, prioritizing data quality is an investment that pays off in improved efficiency, better client experiences and a competitive edge in today’s data-centric business landscape. n

As a CRM Success and Business Development Technology Consultant, Chris Fritsch works together with leading professional services firms across the country to help them select and implement the right Client Relationship Management and eMarketing solutions to support their marketing and business development efforts and maximize value and return on investment. Chris frequently writes and speaks on legal marketing, technology and business development topics including CRM, email marketing, data quality and competitive intelligence. She is also the author of a leading CRM blog at CRMSuccess.net.

mschechter@bsllp.com

You See ERISA and Employee Benefits Law Clearly

Paul D. Woodard PARTNER

Corey F. Schechter PARTNER

Butterfield Schechter

LLP is San Diego County’s largest firm focusing its law practice primarily on employee benefit legal services. Our experience in employee benefits law and business law provides creative solutions for the most pressing business concerns. We are also dedicated to employee ownership and know all things ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plans). Learn more at www.bsllp.com.

Empowering Justice The Unstoppable Growth and Diverse Impact of Gomez Trial Attorneys

From a Visionary Founder to a National Force: Advocating for Rights, Diversity, and More Justice for More People

by Dan Baldwin

Growth—attorneys, team members, practice areas and offices—has most defined Gomez Trial Attorneys since its formation in 2005. “We have dramatically grown so we can help more people that need us. It’s really that simple,” says John Gomez, Founder and CEO of Gomez Trial Attorneys.

In the firm’s 17 years in operation, their attorneys have earned reputations as top lawyers in their practice areas with a record of more than $1 billion won for clients. Practice areas include car accidents, truck accidents, personal injury, sexual abuse and assault, employment law and mass torts. That list is growing.

More Help for More People and Even Bigger Dreams for the Future

Gomez graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Diego and then attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1993. He clerked for a Federal Judge before working for Latham & Watkins, where he represented Fortune 500 firms in complex litigation. He worked as a federal prosecutor and for a prominent plaintiff’s attorney before founding GTA in 2005.

Gomez built the firm trying cases. One of the firm’s written core values is “We Try Cases to Juries.”

“For a very long time, we only focused on catastrophic personal injury cases. But we saw a need for the very highest level of trial representation for people injured in smaller injury cases too, typically auto accidents. Because the insurance companies know us and our trial reputation, we feel like we can get better results for those clients as well,” Gomez says.

The firm’s historical track record seems for Gomez to be just a jumping off point. He has dramatically expanded not only the practice areas of the firm, but also the number of offices and personnel. “We will continue to grow and in five or ten years down the road our goal is to be the most active trial firm in the country. That sounds ambitious, and it is, but we’re going to work hard to achieve that. I have the right team to make it happen,” Gomez says.

In addition to expanding their representation in car/truck accidents, he has also expanded the firm’s involvement in employment law. GTA now represents employees who suffered wrongful employment conduct, including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and discrimination. The firm handles cases on an individual and on a class-wide basis.

Finally, Gomez and his firm have become significantly more active in mass torts—representing thousands of consumers in cases involving defective drugs, medical devices, and other wrongful conduct that affects large numbers of people, including cases involving institutional sexual abuse. For example, Gomez Trial Attorneys is currently handling thousands of “hairrelaxer” cases. These are cases against companies that manufacture and sell products that straighten hair. Recent studies show a link to cancer. The firm also represents hundreds of former Marines and their families who suffered contamination through exposure to water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

More Locations and More People for More Service

Gomez Trial Attorneys currently has 26 lawyers and close to 100 employees. New offices have opened in Solana Beach, El Centro, Riverside, Temecula, Palm Springs, and the Tampa/Saint Petersburg and Pensacola areas of Florida.

Taking His Firm National

Part of Gomez’s positive attitude comes from his ability to select the right people for the right job.

He mentions trial lawyer Elizabeth Zwibel as an example, who is now Managing Partner and Lead Trial Lawyer for Gomez Trial Attorney’s Florida operations. She currently handles cases in Florida, Washington D.C., and Virginia.

“Liz has 33 years of experience and has put together a great team in Florida. I thought she and her team would provide a great addition to our national trial capabilities. The decision was really lawyer-driven. She’s a great lawyer and a great human being. I wanted her as part of our team, so with that coverage we can handle any case anywhere,” Gomez says.

Emilia (Mila) Arutunian, a Partner in the firm, is the team leader of the firm’s employment and labor team. Partner Josh Harris heads up the mass tort practice and Partner Allison Worden is the Director of Litigation. Partner John Greer has been critical to the growth of the firm’s auto accident practice.

Team members from Gomez Trial Attorneys’ San Diego office.

Gomez says, “I’ve surrounded myself with a great leadership team which allows me to focus on the things I enjoy, which is trying cases and being out in the community.”

San Diego Remains Home Base

While the vision is national, GTA and Gomez still consider San Diego home base. The firm’s brand new 35,000-square-foot headquarters is located in downtown San Diego and features a state-of-the art courtroom and presentation space, podcast and production studios and a modern and functional workspace that feels more like a Google campus than a law firm. Another recent change is that Gomez now advertises the firm’s services on television. “Advertising is just a way for us to reach more people who need help. And our advertising sets us apart from our competitors. Just like our trial results.” Gomez says.

A Commitment to Both Diversity and the Future

Gomez is particularly proud of the firm’s gender and ethnic diversity. GTA’s leadership, attorneys and team are all predominantly female, ranking the firm among California’s leaders in gender diversity among competitors. Women and allies in the firm have also formed and run “Women Leaders of GTA,” which is a GTA group committed to the advancement of women in law and beyond. The group regularly hosts educational and other events both in conjunction with other community groups and for GTA’s internal team also.

Diversity goes beyond gender at GTA. As Gomez states it, “I’m a proud Latino and we have the largest Latino founded plaintiff’s law firm in the country. I’ve intentionally recruited Latino lawyers and staff that are able to provide the highest level of legal services to our Latino clients in both their native language and with cultural sensitivity.” Gomez adds, “We really want to be the go-to legal source for that community.”

John’s next big project: Civil rights. Gomez says, “I want to do big impact civil rights cases in which institutional practices or policies disproportionally affect communities of color, and particularly, Latino and Hispanic people. I am working hard to build a team that can help me do just that.”

Trial Work Remains at the Core

Throughout its history, GTA has been known as a go-to trial firm. Gomez, for his part, has won an unprecedented 12 separate “Outstanding Trial Lawyer” awards and has obtained six verdicts of more than one million dollars in which the defendants offered absolutely nothing to settle prior to trial. He is one of very few lawyers nationally that has tried mass tort bellwether, class action and injury cases to verdict. Among his notable results have been an $8.3 million verdict in the nation’s first DePuy ASR hip case, a $16.2 million verdict against El Pollo Loco, a $10.8 million verdict against Pizza Hut and a $7.5 million verdict against Starbucks.

The firm’s busy trial practice continues. Earlier this year, for example, Gomez obtained an $8.4 million dollar verdict in a zero-offer “trip and fall” case. He and other attorneys at the firm will try a large number of additional cases to verdict this year in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

GTA San Diego Headquarters

Expanding the Family Too

The growth isn’t just limited to law. It’s a family affair too. Gomez has three children from a previous marriage. JD, 16, is an aspiring Olympic dressage competitor. Michael, 14, is a freshman at St. Augustine where he plays football and soccer. His twin Analise attends the prestigious Cate boarding school and plays volleyball, soccer, and surfs. Gomez is also now remarried, and he and his wife Leah have a 15-month-old baby girl named Jolie. Gomez says, “Family, for me, is everything. It’s why I work hard and do what I do every day. To have the joy and love of a baby in our home at this stage of my life is just an amazing blessing. We couldn’t be happier.”

Other than trying cases and being a proud husband and dad, Gomez is also very active in a number of charitable and community organizations. He is a member of the Rock Church and an active jiu jitsu practitioner and competitor.

GTA’s first core value is “We always do the right thing,” and Gomez works hard to live that core value in everything he does. n Contact Gomez Trial Attorneys

755 Front Street San Diego, CA 92101

(619) 237-3490

www.GetGomez.com

» EDUCATION

• J.D., Yale University Law School (1993)

• B.A, University of San Diego (1989)

» HONORS AND AWARDS

• Consumer Attorneys of San Diego Trial Lawyer of the Year twice

• Outstanding Trial Lawyer by the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego 12 times

• Lawyer of the Year by Lawyers USA

• Plaintiffs Products Liability Attorney of the Year and Class Action and Mass Tort Attorney of the Year by Best Lawyers in America

• Number 1 San Diego Attorney by Super Lawyers peer polling

• ABOTA Member

• Lawyers USA named him the national Lawyer of the Year in 2010

• He has been named a Top 100 California Attorney overall by the Los Angeles Daily Journal

• San Diego Inn of Court President 2022-2023 year

• Community Youth Athletic Center, Board of Directors

• San Diego Brain Injury Foundation, Board of Directors

» LANGUAGE

• Gomez speaks, reads, and writes Spanish fluently

© Bauman Photographers

Jolie turns one!

Your people will leave if you don’t support them or create a positive environment in which they can grow and thrive...

It’s been an unprecedented few years for law firms. A global pandemic. Shifting to a hybrid remote environment. The Great Resignation. Quiet quitting. Five generations in the workforce. The rise of AI tools. A focus on mental health.

Law firms have been forced to adapt and innovate, and quickly. It hasn’t been easy for some firms. Others are thriving.

It’s never been more important for law firms to focus on improving and innovating their values, communication norms, time and output expectations of lawyers and professional staff, career development opportunities, social connections between colleagues and approach to decision making. This is all part of your firm’s culture and can greatly impact your reputation and ability to recruit and retain people in such a competitive landscape.

I’ve had my fair share of working in tough law firm environments as well as others that were supportive and wonderful. Every firm is different, and you really never know how you will fit in—and if the culture is a good fit for you—until you actually immerse yourself in the day-to-day life at a firm.

But we have a lot of choices today—and that’s something that law firms need to recognize. Your people will leave if you don’t support them or create a positive environment in which they can grow and thrive.

I had the opportunity to speak on a panel discussing law firm culture and how law firms can better position themselves for the future at the ARK National conference.

Here are some key takeaways from my panel:

• Your Culture Is Your Foundation: Don’t underestimate the significance of cultivating a strong and positive culture within your firm. It forms the bedrock for attracting and retaining talent, driving innovation, and ultimately achieving long-term success.

• Inclusivity Fosters Excellence: Fostering an inclusive environment where everyone’s voice is heard and valued

How Law Firms Can Build a Stronger Internal Culture

by Stefanie Marrone

is critical to law firm success today. By embracing diversity, law firms can unlock fresh perspectives, enhance collaboration, and deliver exceptional client experiences.

• Communication and Transparency: Our panel highlighted the power of effective communication and transparency in shaping law firm culture. Open lines of communication build trust, enhance teamwork and enable individuals at all levels to contribute to the firm’s growth and vision.

• Technology Integration: Law firms must embrace technological advancements to streamline their operations and enhance efficiency. Implementing innovative tools can optimize workflows, improve collaboration, and deliver better client service.

• Focus on Well-being: Promoting employee well-being is crucial in adapting to the changing culture. Law firms should continue to prioritize mental health support (not just during Mental Health Awareness Month), offer resources for work-life balance, and provide opportunities for professional development and growth. Most importantly, they should walk the walk when it comes to creating a law firm culture that is truly supportive.

• Embrace Change and Innovation: Law firms tend to resist change or be averse to it. Some will even say, “Well that’s the way we’ve always done things,” or, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” and that is not a growth mindset for the future of law. Continue to embrace change and proactively seek innovation opportunities (in recruitment, tech, management, and work style, etc.). By fostering a culture that values adaptability and forward thinking, firms can thrive in an ever-evolving legal landscape.

• Invest in Professional Development: Investing in the professional development and well-being of employees will help them stay at your organization. Encourage professional development, provide learning opportunities, and support ongoing education for employees, including encouraging them to have a personal brand.

• Flexible Work Arrangements: Recognizing the evolving needs and expectations of employees, law firms should continue offering flexible work arrangements. This can include remote work options, flexible hours, or compressed workweeks. By embracing flexibility, firms can enhance work-life balance, improve employee satisfaction, and attract a wider pool of candidates.

• Technology Integration: Law firms must embrace technological advancements to streamline their operations and enhance efficiency. Implementing innovative tools such as legal research platforms, document management systems and project management software can optimize workflows, improve collaboration, and deliver better client service. Keeping up with technological advancements is essential to staying competitive today.

• Client-Centric Approach: Clients’ expectations continue to evolve, and law firms need to adapt accordingly. Firms should prioritize client-centricity by actively listening to clients’ needs, delivering tailored solutions, using technology to enhance the client experience, and providing excellent client service. Emphasizing a client-focused culture can lead to longterm client relationships, referrals, and a stronger reputation in the market.

• Embrace Remote Collaboration: The pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work and virtual collaboration. Law firms should continue to embrace remote collaboration tools and practices beyond the pandemic. Investing in secure communication platforms, video conferencing tools and project management software can facilitate seamless collaboration among teams, whether they are working in the office or remotely.

Creating and nurturing a law firm culture that supports its people’s success (both as employees and as human beings) and treats everyone fairly is critical to your firm’s success. Continuing to innovate and challenge norms empowers law firms to help their employees, clients and business thrive. Thank you to everyone who attended my session at the ARK Conference 2023! It was great to see so many industry friends too. n

Stefanie Marrone advises law firms of all sizes, professional service firms, B2B companies, recruiters, and individuals on the full range of marketing and business development consulting services designed to enhance revenue, retain current clients, and achieve greater brand recognition. She also serves as outsourced chief marketing officer/marketing department for small and mid-size law firms.

If you’re contemplating expanding, niching, or otherwise changing your legal practice, craft thought leadership content that leads the way.

While promoting his October 1977 album “Heroes,” the late David Bowie said, “Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.”

Many lawyers and law firms hear tomorrow coming and want to expand their practices or move into a niche.

But they wait until those practices or niches are live before crafting thought leadership that’s relevant to the clients (and referral sources) served by those practices or niches.

That’s a mistake.

If Your Legal Practice Is Going Somewhere, Your Content Should Point in That Direction

When attorneys think about developing their practice and what direction their practice might take, it’s important that their thought leadership content speaks to both the clients (and referral sources) they have today and the clients (and referral sources) they want tomorrow.

Obviously, when you are creating thought leadership and calibrating it to your target audience, you want it to speak to the clients (and referral sources) you serve today.

You want the content to be relevant, valuable, and compelling to the kinds of clients (and referral sources) you have today because you want them to see you as an authority and to know that you’re the person that can help them with their legal issues and/or business issues (or their clients’ legal issues and/ or business issues).

But as you think about the kinds of clients you want more of, you can use your thought leadership as a tool to start connecting with them even before you’re perhaps ready to work on their cases.

By creating content that is relevant to them and the issues that they’re dealing with, you can indicate to current and prospective clients (and referral sources) that you’re capable of handling—

Your Thought Leadership Should Talk to the Clients You Have Today—and the Ones You Want Tomorrow

by Wayne Pollock

and that you want to handle—the types of cases, legal issues, and/or business issues you are covering in your content.

Now, of course, when you haven’t practiced for very long in an area of law or you haven’t served clients in an industry for very long, you’re not going to have the wisdom that comes with years and years of practicing in that area of law or serving those clients.

So you’re not going to want your content to focus on best practices and other opinion-based content that would only be credible if it’s written by someone with a lot of wisdom gained from spending many years practicing in an area of law or serving a particular industry. But you can still write content that focuses on legal developments—whether that’s new court opinions, legislative actions, or administrative agency actions— or news and analysis of notable industry developments.

Taking Your Content in Two Directions—Simultaneously

Once you’ve decided that you will be expanding your practice, niching your practice, or otherwise moving your practice in a direction that would require you to tweak the things you talk about in your thought leadership content, consider developing a plan for transitioning the focus of that content.

For example, maybe you start with 100% of your content focused on the clients (and referral sources) that you want today. Then, your content slowly shifts to 90% focused on today’s clients (and referral sources) and 10% focused on tomorrow’s clients (and referral sources).

Over time, you can adjust those percentages as you become more interested in the new area of law or industry, gain more experience in either, or as you increasingly believe either provides you a promising (and lucrative?) business opportunity.

This strategy works for attorneys regardless of the area of law they practice or the size of their firm.

Whether you’re a corporate attorney serving businesses and want to niche down into serving one kind of business or one kind of industry, or you’re a personal injury or criminal law attorney who wants to take on more types of cases or only specific kinds of cases within your practice, your content can

serve as an indicator to past, current, and prospective clients (and referral sources) that you are moving into a new area with your practice.

The best part about this strategy is that it is fail-safe.

If you write content regarding a new area of the law or a new industry you’re planning on moving into, but your move into that practice area doesn’t pan out, no one’s going to care. Clients and referral sources will just look at your content regarding that area of the law or industry as content you were writing as part of your general marketing and business development efforts.

Because it’s content you’re posting on your firm’s site, on your social media channels, or in a third-party publication, the content will have an “out of sight, out of mind” aspect to it. In other words, because clients and referral sources are bombarded with content daily, eventually they will forget you were writing about these topics if you were only doing so for a limited amount of time.

And, even if they were to see a listing of your articles or blog posts on your online bio regarding the area of law or industry you were planning on venturing into but did not venture into or did not do so for very long, they’ll think nothing of it. It’s not unusual to see attorneys write content over time that covers a variety of topics.

If You Hear Tomorrow Coming, Your Thought Leadership Should Reflect That

When you are using thought leadership as part of your everyday marketing and business development efforts, you obviously want it to be talking to your current clients and referral sources and the kinds of clients and referral sources you want today.

But if you’re planning on changing the area of law you practice or the industry you serve in any way, your thought leadership should start talking to the clients and referral sources you want tomorrow as those plans turn into reality.

Wayne Pollock is the founder of the Law Firm Editorial Service. The Law Firm Editorial Service sets free the knowledge and wisdom trapped inside Big Law and boutique law firm partners by collaborating with them to strategize and ethically ghostwrite book-of-business-building marketing and business development content. Learn more at: www. lawfirmeditorialservice.com.

California Case Summaries New California Civil Cases

by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.

Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. is the publisher of California Case Summaries™ which provides short summaries, organized by legal topic, of every new civil case published each month, quarter and year to help California lawyers always know the new cases in their practice areas to get a competitive advantage and better results (https://cacasesummaries.com). Monty has been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980 and a member of ABOTA since 1995. He currently works as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. conducting Zoom hearings throughout California. To use Monty contact his case manager Haward Cho, haward@adrservices.com, (619) 233-1323. Monty also mentors lawyers to become excellent trial lawyers, and mentors associates to become excellent lawyers with his Master Lawyer Mentoring™ services. For more info visit Monty’s website at montymcintyre.mykajabi.com.

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT

Employment

Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc. (2023) _ Cal.5th _ , 2023 WL 4553702: The California Supreme Court ruled that where plaintiff has brought a PAGA action comprising individual and non-individual claims, an order compelling arbitration of the individual claims does not strip the plaintiff of standing as an aggrieved employee to litigate claims on behalf of other employees under PAGA. To have PAGA standing a plaintiff must be an “aggrieved employee”, someone (1) who was employed by the alleged violator and (2) against whom one or more of the alleged violations was committed. (July 17, 2023.)

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL

Civil Procedure

Braugh v. Dow (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 4312617: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for relief from a default and default judgment in a partition action. Plaintiff, a lawyer, sued her former partner alleging several causes of action, including partition of real property they owned jointly. Plaintiff personally served defendant. Because she was a party, the service was not effective and the default and later default judgment were void.

The trial court properly granted defendant’s motion to set aside the default and default judgment. (C.A. 2nd, July 3, 2023.)

Park v. Nazari (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 4729968: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion to strike (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) plaintiff’s complaint against defendants and their attorney for fraudulent transfer, quiet title, and declaratory relief. Defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion sought to strike the complaint in its entirety. During the motion hearing, defendants’ counsel suggested the trial court could strike some, but not all of the allegations in the complaint. The trial court properly denied defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion. Because defendants moved to strike only the entire complaint, and did not identify in their motion individual claims or allegations that should be stricken even if the entire complaint were not, the trial court was permitted to deny the anti-SLAPP motion once it concluded—correctly—that the complaint presented at least one claim that did not arise from anti-SLAPP protected conduct. (C.A. 2nd, July 25, 2023.)

Employment

Thai v. International Business Machines Corp. (2023) _ Cal. App.5th _ , 2023 WL 4443934: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order sustaining defendant’s demurrer, without leave to amend, to plaintiffs’ complaint alleging violation of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA; Labor Code § 2699 et seq.), section 2802(a) which requires an employer to reimburse an employee “for all necessary expenditures . . . incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.” Plaintiffs alleged that after Governor

Newsom’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order defendant failed to reimburse plaintiffs for the expenses necessarily incurred to perform their work duties from home. The trial court sustained the demurrer, concluding that the Governor’s order was an intervening cause of the work-from-home expenses that absolved defendant of liability under section 2802. The Court of Appeal disagreed, concluding that the plain language of section 2802(a) flatly requires the employer to reimburse an employee for all expenses that are a “direct consequence of the discharge of [the employee’s] duties.” Under the statutory language, the obligation does not turn on whether the employer’s order was the proximate cause of the expenses; it turns on whether the expenses were actually due to performance of the employee’s duties. (C.A. 1st, July 11, 2023.)

Torts

Camacho v. JLG Industries (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 4618687: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s motion for directed verdict in plaintiffs’ action alleging strict products liability, failure to warn, and

related claims against defendant after plaintiff Raul Camacho (Raul) fell out of a scissor lift manufactured by defendant when he was installing glass panels. During the jury trial plaintiffs alleged the scissor lift as designed with a chain across the entrance invited human error, and the foreseeable risk of harm could have been avoided if defendant had marketed only its alternative design with a self-closing gate, and also alleged there was a defective warning label on the lift. At the close of evidence, defendant moved for a directed verdict. The trial court granted the motion, ruling that in order to show causation plaintiffs needed to prove if the chain had been latched, the accident would have happened anyway. The Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that plaintiffs made a prima facie showing of causation. To overcome the directed verdict motion, plaintiffs only needed to make a prima facie showing that the scissor lift as designed with a chain was a substantial factor in causing Raul’s injuries, because the alternative design with the self-closing gate would have prevented his fall. Under a risk-benefit test, it would then be defendant’s burden to prove the benefits of the chain outweighed the risks. (C.A. 4th, July 19, 2023.) n