Attorney Journals, San Diego, Volume 236

Technology Can Help Fix the Revolving Door in Your Litigation Department

Rachel Bailey

Courtroom Technology: What’s on the Horizon

Dan Martin

When to Redesign Your Law Firm’s Website

Sam Youngblood

The Benefits of Creating Video Content

Sarah Brodsky

What Is a Pillar Page? And Why It Matters for Your Law Firm’s SEO Strategy

Guy Alvarez

Guidelines for Creating Ads Using AI

Jeff Edelstein

Attorney of the Month

Empathy,

• $22,659,551 settlement for clients defrauded in a local Ponzi scheme in Levin v. Chicago Title, et al. (2021)(Michael Kirby & Jason Kirby).

• Complete defense jury verdict in real estate dispute and more than $400,000 collected for attorneys’ fees and costs in Batter v. McElhinney, et al. (2019)(Jason Kirby).

• $2.1 million jury verdict for firm client in Doe v. San Diego Unified School District, et al. (2018)(Jason Kirby & Michael Kirby).

• $1.1 million arbitration award for firm clients on cross-complaint after zeroing plaintiff on $6 million damage claim in Step Strategy Advisors v. Solid Gold Health Products for Pets, Inc., et al. (2018)(Jason Kirby lead counsel).

Video content is everywhere on the internet, from YouTube and TikTok to embedded videos on even the most reputable websites. With shorter attention spans and less time to commit to content consumption in a fast-paced world, many industries have found that video content is an ideal medium to distribute their thoughts and ideas to an audience. In fact, it’s estimated that over three billion users engaged with video content at least once per month in 2022. However, many law firms have not utilized this medium amidst their bag of other law firm marketing tools. Incorporating video content into your law firm’s digital marketing strategy can open up unexpected opportunities for your company.

What Is Video Content?

First, it’s important to understand what video content entails. This may seem completely obvious—video content is self-explanatory as a name; content for your law firm website created through the medium of video. But just as blog content and case studies have their own structures and tricks of the trade to get the most out of them, so too does video content.

For example, there are many directions in which a piece of video content can go. Your videos can introduce the world to the human side of your law firm’s attorneys, explain a complicated concept in concise and straightforward language, or create video testimonials to encourage new clientele and build trust. Knowing what types of videos you want to create and understanding your audience will set you up for success in your video marketing campaign. Let’s take a closer look at some specific benefits of creating video content.

Demonstrate Communication Skills to Prospective Clients

As an attorney, you are an advocate for your clients. Advocation can include, depending on your area of law,

The Benefits of Creating Video Content for Your Law Firm

by Sarah Brodsky

communicating with your client, opposing counsel, witnesses, government officials, and others. A prospective client wants to know that you can communicate their case effectively, with accuracy and empathy. Showing that you can break down complex issues into consumable and understandable pieces while demonstrating your humanity can make your video content an effective marketing tool.

Increase Search Engine Traffic

Your marketing team and SEO partners are always looking for ways to have your content reach new heights and increase your search engine traffic. While the primary search engine usually discussed is Google, YouTube has become the second largest search engine, and your SEO team wants to make sure that you’re generating as much traffic as you can. In general, the stronger content you create, the more it’ll appear in search results, and that will directly correlate with new traffic coming to your law firm’s website. Work within Google’s best practices to see continued success with your video content on that platform, as well. Ensuring that you have a clear video description, appropriate schema, and accurate closed captioning will make a difference in traffic to your video content.

Positively Impact Conversion Rates and Lead Generation

One of the main goals in digital marketing is to create conversions—that is, you want to not only attract the attention of a potential client, but you want them to then convert, or complete an action that brings them closer to becoming a paying client. For example, in law firm digital marketing, a conversion is often a phone call or a completed contact form submission. Marketers have found that in recent years, video content has become one of the most effective tools for bringing

in conversions, which then become potentially-paying leads. According to HubSpot, 86% of video marketers say that video has been effective for generating leads. Similarly, 81% say that video has had a positive impact on sales. Creating high-quality video content can and will lead to more conversions, more leads, and a heavier caseload for your law firm.

Educate Potential Clients More Clearly and Efficiently

As a law firm, you handle extremely complex problems that most lay people don’t fully understand—that’s why they come to you! Your potential clients want to understand what you can do for them, and they want to learn that information quickly—often faster than a blog post or case study can provide. Video content can prove to be a very effective tool in educating your potential clientele in an efficient way. In fact, viewers tend to retain 95% of information when viewing a short video, as opposed to 10% when reading that information in text. Showing a potential client that you can communicate with them in ways that they’ll understand and retain can lead to a strong working relationship.

Create a Clear Brand Voice and Personal Impression

Your law firm is not composed of robots, nor is it a monolith. You want your law firm to have a unified voice, but you also want to make it clear that each of your attorneys is a trustworthy, knowledgeable person with their own personality and abilities. What does your firm stand for as a whole? Who do you most like to help? And on a more personal level, who are the faces behind the firm? Videos are an excellent medium to demonstrate the voice of your firm and the compassion and individuality of your attorneys. Stand out from the competition by making a strong personal impression on your potential clients. n

Sarah Brodsky is a Senior Digital Analyst at 9Sail. 9Sail is a search marketing firm that combines search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-perclick (PPC) management to help businesses solve their issues with lead generation, brand awareness, reputation building and management, and generating targeted website traffic. Learn more at: www.9Sail.com.

When a key litigation support practitioner or associate leaves your firm in the middle of a case, is your organization ready? Unfortunately, it is not a matter of if, but when this will happen. The average turnover rate among the AmLaw 200 is 26.3 percent over the past four years, meaning in the next 12 months one out of every four attorneys will either be a departure or a new hire. Legal technology provides important advantages in keeping case teams on track through some inevitable changeover.

If you feel like your law firm isn’t filling support staff roles or is having trouble filling those positions with qualified talent, then you are not alone. The International Legal Technology Association’s survey of firms with less than 500 attorneys confirms these feelings. When asked the greatest challenges facing the litigation/ practice support result today, more than 30% of respondents said difficulty finding or retaining talent and nearly 20% said lack of law firm investment in non-lawyer support staff.

When your legal technology is structured so that your team’s knowledge and work has been captured and shared teamwide so that it can be utilized after they depart, disruptions are kept to a minimum and there is less chance of lost work. Case management software provides continuity of knowledge, streamlined workflows, and accessible collaboration when staff unexpectedly leave or if support roles go unfilled.

Continuity of Knowledge

Case management software provides continuity in two ways.

First, firms using case preparation software won’t lose someone’s analysis just because they’ve decided to move on. That’s because it gives team members secure access to case documents, evidence, transcripts, and witness profiles through a cloud-based workspace, where they can collaborate to build their analysis within the system by creating annotations, linking materials, and adding important tags and metadata. All this work product is maintained in the cloud-based software, not stashed away on a word processing document.

Second, it’s easier to onboard a new team member into one integrated system than into a number of different tools. They can pick up where their predecessor left off. Examination outlines, exhibit lists, and chronologies live in one place instead of being constructed in silos on different software platforms.

Technology Can Help Fix the Revolving Door in Your Litigation Department

by Rachel Bailey

Having one piece of preparation software to learn also shortens the learning curve for new team members.

In the ILTA survey, 39% of respondents listed cost and cost recovery as a top-three consideration in moving to a cloud-based program. Case management software helps reduce staff costs because continuity is maintained when staff turnover occurs.

Streamlining Workflows

Case management software also makes your team more efficient. Your team can prioritize high-value analysis and clientrelationship building, which are best accomplished by humans, rather than manual and repetitive tasks.

With records in one place, transcripts can be annotated, highlighted, and tagged, notifying other members of the team of key information during case preparation. Advanced search functions can filter thousands of pages to the data you need in an instant. Chronologies and characters can be organized. Deposition designations can be streamlined.

If your firm has lost support staff and hasn’t been able to hire replacements, case preparation software can help cut the time that work would have taken using legacy methods.

Accessible Collaboration

It’s much easier to build a case within a collaborative system where everyone has access to underlying analysis and can see what has already been accomplished.

This is especially true given today’s dispersed litigation and arbitration teams. Three-fourths of respondents in the ILTA study said they or their firm works in a hybrid model and 13% said they were fully remote.

Case management software can be accessed from anywhere without the need for downloads and installation. Modern case analysis systems also have features like permissions, customizations, and portals so that different roles on the team can get the data that’s most important to them. n

Rachel Bailey is a Product Marketing Manager at OPUS 2. Rachel has a background in data-driven storytelling and thought leadership in legal tech. Learn more at www.opus2.com.

Dan Martin, Trial Consulting Lead at IMS Consulting & Expert Services, shared his predictions concerning the types of trial technology that attorneys soon will be seeing—and using—in the courtroom and in online trials.

When Dan Martin first started in the trial consulting profession 25 years ago, the practice of videotaping depositions was still fairly novel. Today, not only are many depositions videotaped, but their capture is often accomplished remotely.

The attorneys Dan partnered with in the ’90s were still arriving at trial laden with graphics printed on large boards, a presentation medium that, while not forgone, has largely been supplanted by video displays. He has seen Ultra HD (4K) video slowly begin to take the place of plain old HD, which took the place of standard definition…and so on. Once satisfied with 2-dimensional graphic images, clients are increasingly requesting 3D animations.

And the swiftest legal technology transformation Dan has witnessed took place about two years ago, when legal proceedings through the use of Zoom technology began to be conducted online.

INNOVATION IN TRIAL TECHNOLOGY

As a trial consultant expert at IMS Consulting & Expert Services (one of the largest litigation support firms in the world), Dan has his fingers on the pulse of the courtroom technology industry. He and his colleagues typically are not only among the first to offer new technological tools to law firms, but they also play a role in the development of these innovations and are very often the catalysts for their widespread usage in courtrooms.

Courtroom Technology: What’s on the Horizon

by Dan Martin

When asked about courtroom tech and media trends on the horizon, Dan predicted we will continue to see a widening frontier in trial graphics that mirrors technological innovations taking place all around us.

Dan shared, “My guess is that we’ll begin to see some level of augmented reality and virtual reality technology make its way into courtroom displays available to juries. To me the question is how ubiquitous that technology will become in the coming years. Lots of courts provide jurors with their own individual display monitors. It’s not farfetched to assume that jurors will be reaching down for a headset in five or ten years.”

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are similar in that they enable people to experience 3D images virtually, but there are differences between the two technologies. AR adds virtual images to a real-life setting, while VR replaces the real-life setting with a completely virtual reality.

They could walk around the structure and examine it from every angle. VR, on the other hand, might be used in an environmental case, for instance, to allow jurors to fly over the scene of a contamination site, and thus, gain a sense of the scope of damage.

Holograms

Dan offered another prediction too: “We’re probably not far off from seeing hologram technology come to the courtroom. It’s pretty exciting to think of all the potential applications for storytelling, and ultimately as a teaching tool. Imagine using holograms to present an anatomy tutorial in a personal injury case or to spin a chemical compound around in front of a jury box in a biopharma patent case.”

Holographic technology is similar to AR technology in that they both can be used to bring a nonreal 3D object into a real-life space. They differ in that holograms are created by a process that uses a split laser beam and photographic plates and AR is created digitally. Also, the resolution of a hologram is lower than that of an AR image; however, the hologram has an advantage in that it can be seen with the naked eye, meaning no headsets are needed.

3D Animation

While Dan is excited to see these innovations appear in the courtroom, he said the high-tech tools his graphics team already has at its disposal, in most cases, relay information to jurors just as effectively.

“In addition to traditional trial graphics and simple 2D animation, 3D animation continues to be an amazing tool. We’ve used 3D for years to teach concepts, to put forth a version of events, or provide the lay of the land. Now we’re seeing apps that use LiDAR-type scan data to quickly develop objects in 3D space. Anyone can play with this stuff,” he continued.

Dan was referring to the new LiDAR sensor feature that is available on iPhones versions 12 Pro and up. LiDAR stands for light detection and ranging, and this technology uses waves of light pulses to generate information about the shape of an object or objects within a scene. A person with an iPhone can now download a scanner app, scan any object or scene with their phone, and then bring that scan into a 3D program (such as Blender) and use the information to create a 3D image for screen or to create a tangible model.

The 3D image created by an iPhone can even be placed directly into a PowerPoint program. Using the morph feature within that program, the object’s movements can be displayed in a series of still slides—thus allowing jurors to see the image from every angle—or the object can be entirely animated on one single slide.

Drone Footage

Dan and fellow IMS Trial Consultant Andrew Buckley recently created an internal presentation entitled Camera Obscura: A Peek Inside the Black Box of Media Production at IMS. This demonstration contained drone footage of a swamp that was remarkably crisp and clear, so our viewers felt like they were actually there.

When asked if drone footage of that caliber is rare within the trial graphics industry, Dan responded:

“Anyone filming in 4K video these days, and most are, can achieve crisp imagery. What sets our drone videos apart from that of other trial consulting firms is the level of artistry, the viewpoints that we are able to capture. In order to create high-level drone footage, you need a skilled pilot who possesses the sensibilities of a professional photographervideographer. At IMS, we happen to have a great one: my colleague Andrew Buckley.”

CHALLENGES TO CONSIDER

Adopting New Technology

While state-of-the-art display methods are widely used by law firms and their clients, including during online trial proceedings, some courtrooms may be a bit behind the times.

“Your new tech is only as good as your display, and in terms of display equipment, lots of courts are stuck in the past,” Dan revealed. “We graphics people love our color-corrected 4K monitors and widescreen presentations, but the hot seat operators—the people who have to deal with actual tech in the courtroom— are often dealing with outmoded courtroom equipment with different parameters and are trying to fix things on the fly.”

Dan gave two reasons why courts are sometimes slow to adopt recent technologies. The first is that they need to be absolutely certain innovations will not be unduly persuasive. Second, initially, new technology is very expensive, and courts may have little incentive to upgrade.

“We are always going to design for the highest quality,” he said, “but we still need to be able to display those graphics in a courtroom that has old-fashioned equipment. They’ll be high quality, just not at their full potential. And the truth is, we’re not designing solely for the courtroom. Leading up to trial, graphics preparation aids the attorneys in their strategy development. Sometimes it’s the power of a great presentation that leads the other side to decide to settle.”

Connecting Messages With Media

The arsenal of display tools trial consultants and graphic designers have available to them has grown immensely and will continue to do so. But just like a power drill will not do the job of a tweezer, no tool is intrinsically

superior to another. Each has their own purposes, and some are better suited than others to relay particular messages to jurors.

“We never put the media before the message. We help tailor the presentation to the narrative and the strategy. It’s that alignment that keeps jurors alert and intrigued.”

Dan and his team consider several factors when making determinations about the mediums to use in a legal matter. They make their decisions based on the key points that are crucial for jurors to receive; the testimony styles, capabilities, and preferences of attorneys and witnesses; and the cost. Our trial consultants and designers often have the luxury of being able to choose between several display alternatives—all of which are capable of effectively doing the job.

GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE

The only constant in life is change, and that adage is particularly true when it comes to trial technology. When AR, VR, and even holograms one day hit the

courtroom, Dan and his trial consulting and graphics teams will be ready to utilize them. They ever invest in new technological tools, become proficient in their use, and share them with their attorney partners.

The one thing that never changes is Dan and his teammates’ overarching goal, which is to ensure attorneys are optimally positioned to win cases. n

For more than 20 years, Trial Consulting

Lead Dan Martin has been providing notable litigators throughout the country with winning visual courtroom strategies. Dan is skilled in all vehicles of visual message delivery, including graphic imagery, 2D and 3D animations, multimedia tutorials, field recordings and site documentation, and also in the techniques of audio enhancement. His goal is always to ensure that judges and jurors receive clear, pungent, and appealing visual communications that promote their understanding of case issues and motivate them to side with his clients. Learn more at www.expertservices.com.

world full

and monopolies, count on us to keep it real.

The winning argument doesn’t just … happen. It takes education, and then a commitment to continuous learning, research, preparation, talent, timing, and a host of other factors. While you were busy honing those skills over the years and building a practice; laws changed, technology changed, tactics changed. The best legal websites also don’t just … happen. Law firm websites have to change over time, too. But when? And how? Any why?

Imagine if your favorite restaurant didn’t offer online ordering at the start of the pandemic. I bet its site has this feature now. According to a recent study by PYMNTS.com, “digital still drives 30% of sales for more than half of all restaurants and remains crucial to their financial viability.” In a relatively short time frame, online ordering via a restaurant’s website or app has become business-critical in the food industry today. Legal websites have the potential to generate new business, too, but only if the effort is made to modernize them for today’s client expectations.

In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about this topic—whether you’re approaching a website redesign on your own or with a partner like Omnizant.

What Is a Website Redesign?

First things first: A website redesign typically entails changes or updates to a website’s content, user interface design, architecture, or navigation. The goal being to improve the site performance and experience for visitors. All websites have two sides—a front end (what you see) and a back end (what you don’t see)—that influence

How to Know When It’s Time to Redesign Your Law Firm’s Website

by Sam Youngblood

how they function and perform. Both sides are essential factors to consider in a website redesign project.

The front-end elements of a site include the layout, buttons, photos and graphics, navigation, and animations. It’s what visitors engage with and often gives the first visual impression of your firm. On the back end, that’s the code, system, and technical architecture that ensures everything works.

Hints Your Site Could Benefit From a Refresh

A widely accepted best practice in marketing is to redesign your website every five years or less. Personally, I think a site starts to look stale at year three. Beyond the passage of time, there are many reasons your firm might want to upgrade the website.

• It’s getting harder to attract new visitors and there’s been a drop in recurring visitors.

• The site loads slowly because it’s cluttered with landing pages and features that are no longer relevant.

• Your firm’s branding and former business model have nothing to do with the new one anymore. Maybe you want to serve new markets (i.e., more cities) or focus on different practice areas.

• People are spending less time on your site and the bounce rate and exit rate have significantly grown.

• Unsupported technologies, like Flash, that were once popular are now obsolete and difficult to fix.

• The cost and time it takes to maintain custom code on a legacy site or a buggy third-party platform may exceed redesigning the site from scratch.

• It’s not compliant with web accessibility standards.

• The starter website you built on Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, or another off-the-shelf provider, isn’t scaling with your firm and it’s setting an unprofessional or false impression.

• Competitors’ sites are offering a superior experience to prospective clients and are outranking yours in search results.

• Your firm’s ownership or leadership has changed, but the website hasn’t.

• Other technical issues are limiting your site’s visibility. As you can see, there’s a lot to consider. I’ll unpack the top three reasons to redesign that might be holding your website back the most.

1. Your Website Does Not Help Grow Your Firm

If your site isn’t generating consultation requests or calls, if it’s ranking poorly on search engines, or if the content no longer reflects the firm’s expertise, those are signs it’s misaligned with your business goals and can benefit from a redesign. An effective website attracts visitors, delivers helpful content, and inspires them to become clients, which creates additional revenue.

2. Your Site Is Hard to Navigate

A website can be beautiful and still completely unusable. In fact, the majority of websites are designed to be aesthetically pleasing instead of easy for people to navigate. This is a mistake, especially for a legal professional. When a website is mobile-friendly and thoughtfully designed to meet web accessibility standards, it gives your firm an edge over the competition.

3. Your Site’s Design and Technology Is Outdated

A professional-looking website lends credibility and authority to your practice. A dated website can give the impression that the site is abandoned, or the attorney is out of touch. Even images or links can break when a site sits untouched for too long. Visuals do matter. And if you’re rebranding, then you absolutely need a website redesign as well.

How to Get Started

Redesigning a website doesn’t actually start with graphic design, as the name implies. It takes a range of skill sets to produce a professional website and get it to rank well. However, it is possible to create a website without an agency partner as long as you don’t skip these steps … Before jumping into a redesign, you’ll want to:

• Review your website’s current performance in Google Analytics, or another insights and reporting tool.

• Align your business goals with the goals for your website.

• Determine your target audience, the ideal client for your legal services.

• Create brand and messaging guidelines to refer to.

• Keep any of your existing, most highly trafficked web pages intact, or put redirects in place to maintain how they rank in search engine results.

Even if your website seems ‘good enough,’ it can still be optimized to enhance your firm’s online presence. When designed, developed, and optimized properly, a website that’s routinely updated will start working as hard as you do. n

Sam Youngblood is a Senior Manager, Community Engagement at Omnizant. Sam is a business-minded creative with more than 15 years of diverse marketing and communications experience in the fields of legal, energy, and fintech. Learn more at www.omnizant.com.

EMPATHY, TENACITY, AND UNPRECEDENTED RESULTS The Power of Personal Connection in Personal Injury Law

by Dan Baldwin

I think the biggest reason for our success is because we care. I invest the time to get to know my clients and understand what they’re going through. Unless you really know your client, you can’t fully connect with the jury. People wonder sometimes how we are able to get such big verdicts, but it all boils down to making that connection with people,” says Rob Marcereau, founder of Marcereau Law Group, a full-service boutique personal injury firm.

Marcereau credits two primary factors for his remarkable success: a willingness to invest the time to gain an intimate and thorough knowledge of each client and a commitment to go the distance for those clients if the insurance company refuses to offer fair value for their injuries.

Results prove the statement. In 2022, Marcereau won multiple seven-figure jury verdicts: a $1.4 million San Diego negligence case in which the best offer prior to trial was only $150,000. He won a $4 million jury verdict in Orange County for a motor vehicle accident case. The insurance company’s best offer before trial was $300,000.

A Specialty in Handling Complex, Emotional Distress Cases

While Marcereau and his staff handle numerous catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, a significant number of his cases involve solely emotional distress damages involving complex facts. Marcereau and his team help children who have been victims of sexual abuse or hazing—claims that involve significant discovery against schools or institutions. He and his team also handle many cases involving fertility center malpractice, such as using the wrong sperm to impregnate the mother, implanting the wrong embryo, or losing/destroying embryos. Although these fertility cases involve solely emotional distress damages, Marcereau and his team are often able to frame them in such a way as to avoid the damages caps imposed by MICRA and have recovered millions for families affected by fertility malpractice. Mortuary negligence is another practice area they have developed. In a recent trial in downtown San Diego,

Marcereau represented the family of a 27-year-old young man who lost his life in an auto accident. The family showed up to the wake only to be told by the mortuary that they had accidentally cremated the body the night before. The mortuary’s story didn’t add up and the family suspected that they had been given the wrong ashes. DNA tests on ashes are impossible so there was no way to prove or disprove whose ashes the family got, but discovery revealed a lot of inconsistencies with the company’s internal documents. On the eve of trial, the mortuary offered $150,000 to settle the case. Their argument was essentially:

the young man had already passed away and any additional emotional distress regarding after-death care wasn’t worth that much. A prominent San Diego mediator urged Marcereau to take the $150,000 offer, reminding him of how conservative the San Diego jury pool is. The jury ended up awarding a $1.4 million verdict and his client collected every cent.

“It was a really satisfying win for some wonderful people. I had the privilege of getting to know them over the course of a few years, and they’ve adopted me as an honorary member of their family,” Marcereau says.

Rob Marcereau, Founding Partner

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH 2023

© Bauman Photographers

When he isn’t litigating high-stakes cases, Rob keeps busy with his twin boys.

© Bauman Photographers

The personal touch is not just to provide a sympathetic ear or emotional comfort. Often, such intimate contact with the family or individual person leads to case-making discoveries. Marcereau says, “I will meet my clients at their home, I’ll spend a lot of time with them. We’ll share meals and I will really listen to them. It’s usually only after several meetings that they start to open up and I’ll learn things that are so valuable to the case—little stories or anecdotes or a detail that will really resonate with the jury. I can’t overstate how important it is to get to know your client—it not only benefits them emotionally but ultimately benefits their case.”

From Big Firm Business Litigator to Headline-Making Trial Lawyer

Marcereau never had an “ah-ha” moment in which he realized the drive to become a personal injury lawyer. The move was perhaps telegraphed by his enjoyment of competitive sports and public speaking in high school.

The choice of careers evolved during his college years. He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and chose to earn his Juris Doctor at USC Law School, where he paid his own way. Heavily in debt upon graduation, he joined a big law firm to repay those student loans.

“Although I excelled at the firm and liked my colleagues, I was working insane hours for big corporate clients on cases which, in the grand scheme of things, didn’t really make a difference to anyone’s life. It was a pretty depressing existence for me.”

He eventually made partner, but that achievement brought very little real satisfaction. After ten years, he decided to start his own firm, representing individuals and families in personal injury. “It was a complete 180 in my career and a big risk, but it paid off. I’ve never been more satisfied or happier in my job. I love what I do.”

His first trial was genuinely a landmark case that made national headlines. He represented a volunteer at an elementary school in Irvine named Kelli Peters. She was framed for crimes she didn’t commit by two very prominent lawyers in Orange County—Kent and Jill Easter. The couple planted drugs in Peter’s car—a plastic baggie of marijuana, Percocet, Vicodin, and a pipe. They called the police from a payphone using a phony accent to try to disguise their involvement.

Peters, called “the PTA mom everybody knew” by the local media, was detained at the school by police for more than two hours while they investigated. Although the police quickly figured out it was a set-up, Peters and her family were publicly humiliated by the ordeal.

The challenge in that case was getting the jury to understand how the damage was more than the effects of a two-hour detainment. The family suffered fear and embarrassment for almost an entire year until the Easters were tracked down and

arrested. Marcereau won a $5.7 million jury verdict against the Easters. The case was on the cover of the LA Times, was on Good Morning America, and even Dr. Phil. It is being made into a movie with Julia Roberts starring as Peters.

Marcereau and Peters remain friends to this day. When asked about Marcereau, Peters was effusive in her praise:

“I was a victim of the craziest crime you will ever hear. I was stalked, harassed, and tormented by a woman, who then talked her attorney husband into planting drugs in my car and trying to set me up at my daughter’s school and the place I volunteered every day. These people were actually both attorneys, and they were out to get me. Rob was recommended by a friend, and he stepped in to help me without hesitation. He consulted me through a criminal trial the DA brought against these people and then I hired him to be my civil attorney to go after these people, who were found guilty of multiple felonies, for emotional and punitive damages. After an epic civil trial, where Rob was absolutely brilliant, he won a multi-million-dollar award for me and my family. I can’t say enough good things about Rob. He is, in my eyes, not only a great attorney, but my hero.”

Experiences with such victims developed a commitment to go the distance for his clients regardless of the challenges. Opposing counsel knows up front that when facing Marcereau Law Group, the firm is not intimidated by the size of the opposition nor has the slightest hesitation about going to court. Marcereau says that they often see value in cases that other attorneys don’t. Many of their seven-figure verdicts were obtained after low six-figure offers by the defense.

“There’s nothing like going to trial. I love speaking to a jury and persuading them to my side. In a way, it’s a bit like show business or performance art. The best part, though, is being there with your client and fighting for them. It creates a bond like nothing else.”

Throwing a “Hail Mary” Pass

An example of just how dedicated and just how far Marcereau and his staff will go to protect a client involves a genuine investigative “Hail Mary pass.” A client showed up around a year and a half after he had suffered a serious motorcycle accident. A truck had dropped a metal scaffolding on the highway that caused him to crash. He almost lost his leg. Unfortunately, the truck never stopped and there were no identifying marks on the scaffolding other than the letters “KON.”

Marcereau’s firm didn’t even have the scaffolding to examine—just a cell phone picture of it. Marcereau’s team ran an exhaustive search for any construction companies named KON or with those initials but came up empty. There was urgency to the case because the two-year statute was looming. That’s when Marcereau threw the “Hail Mary pass” by posting an ad on Craigslist offering $10,000 for any information leading to the culprit.

The firm was inundated with responses—most of them crackpots. Marcereau noticed one that looked promising. A person emailed and said he thought it might be a roofing company near his home named “Konrad Roofing.” Marcereau drove to their facility and looked around trying to find other scaffoldings with “KON” on them. He struck out. With the statute looming, this was his best lead. In fact, it was his only lead. So, he filed a lawsuit and acted as though he knew for a fact that Konrad Roofing was responsible. He fully expected an angry letter from opposing counsel threatening malicious prosecution. It never came.

Marcereau then sent Requests for Admission to Konrad Roofing, asking them to admit that they owned the scaffolding and that one of their drivers had dropped it. Once again, Marcereau expected denials. Instead, they admitted it was them, and later paid their entire $1M commercial policy to settle the case. The settlement was life changing for his client.

Big Law Expertise in a Boutique Law Firm

“I learned my craft at a big firm doing business litigation and I still approach my cases with that mindset. We conduct extremely thorough written discovery, videotape every deposition, and often bring motions to compel. We often bring motions for summary adjudication on a defendant’s affirmative defenses, which always surprises the opposing side. Even though we are a boutique law office, we like to ‘big firm’ the defense and get them on their heels,” Marcereau says.

Marcereau’s expertise, reputation and total commitment to his clients draws business from other attorneys. Marcereau pays hundreds of thousands in referral fees every year. Half of their cases are referrals from other lawyers and firms.

“I’m known as a litigation and trial specialist and often get brought in after a case fails to settle pre-lit, or just before trial. I get referrals from other PI lawyers, from lawyers in the business world, from expert witnesses, and—funny enough— from my former opposing counsel in the defense world. I’m proud of the fact that I get many personal injury referrals from defense lawyers,” Marcereau says.

These days, Marcereau continues to have many irons in the fire. “We’re always busy, which is how I like it,” Marcereau says. They just took on a huge case against the Los Angeles

Angels. A fan was hit by a ball that was thrown into the stands by an Angels outfielder. The outfielder was giving away a souvenir baseball, but instead of tossing or handing it to the crowd, he threw it at high velocity. The ball struck their client in the eye and caused permanent blindness. Marcereau also just took on another case against a fertility center in which the center botched a genetic test on the family’s embryo. The child ended up being born with a condition requiring a lifetime of medical treatment and therapy. Marcereau was recently brought in to handle another wrongful cremation case against a mortuary, and a massive school hazing case involving a high school football player who was sexually assaulted in the locker room.

About these and other cases, Marcereau says, “Most of the time, I meet clients at one of the very worst moments in their lives. It’s incredibly rewarding to stand up for those people. They’re grateful that someone is willing to listen to them and fight for them, do what is necessary to get them a just outcome. That may sound like a commercial, but the feeling is real. There’s nothing else like it in the world.” n

Marcereau

Rob Marcereau

“I’ve never been more satisfied or happier in my job. I love what I do.”

ROB MARCEREAU

© Bauman Photographers

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool to create and enhance advertising campaigns, but it is important to ensure that the ads are legally compliant. Generative AI, a type of AI that can create new content, including text, images, video, audio, code, and simulations, has become increasingly popular for use in many industries, including advertising. However, there are a myriad of legal issues that can arise when using AI to create ads.

Many advertisers, advertising agencies and public relations firms are now using AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s new Bing search engine and Google’s new Bard chatbot to brainstorm ideas for ads and advertising campaigns. Using AI merely to help brainstorm new ideas presents some legal risks. However, using AI to create ads, either in whole or in part, presents numerous legal risks.

Here are some guidelines to follow when creating ads using AI to help reduce some of the legal risks.

1. Document the Creative Process Used to Create Ads When Using AI

Under recently published guidance by the U.S. Copyright Office, works created with the assistance of AI may be copyrightable as long as they involve sufficient human authorship. The Copyright Office has stated that “it is well-established that copyright can protect only material that is the product of human creativity.” According to the policy statement, works created by AI without human involvement cannot be copyrighted because they do not meet the human

Guidelines for Creating Ads Using AI

by Jeff Edelstein

authorship requirement. “When an AI technology receives solely a prompt from a human and produces complex written, visual, or musical works in response, the ‘traditional elements of authorship’ are determined and executed by the technology—not the human user.” However, a work containing AI-generated material may be copyrightable, such as when a human selects or arranges “AI-generated material in a sufficiently creative way that ‘the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship.’”

Therefore, advertising that is created solely by AI is not entitled to copyright protection in the United States. There must be sufficient human involvement, which should be documented. A best practice is to document how the advertising was created, such as by saving the history of the prompts used, subsequent steps taken to modify the prompts, steps taken to modify the output, and other ways in which the advertising was created.

Copyright protection for advertising created with AI varies by country. In the United Kingdom (UK), advertising and other works created solely by a computer can be protected. The UK Intellectual Property Office has stated that “computer-generated works without a human author . . . are currently protected in the UK for 50 years.” The European Union (EU) is less clear. It has stated that an AI-generated work “could qualify as a work protected under EU copyright law on condition that a human being initiated and conceived the work and subsequently redacted the AI-assisted output in a creative manner.”

When there is no copyright protection for advertising created by AI, companies may not be able to enforce their rights over others if the advertising is copied, even if it is blatantly copied.

2. Review All Claims to Ensure That They Are Truthful, Nondeceptive and Substantiated

Advertising created by AI is subject to the same false advertising rules as all other advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prohibits advertising that is false, misleading, or unsubstantiated. False advertising is also prohibited under state and local laws and can result in law enforcement action by the FTC and other federal agencies, state attorneys general, and local district attorneys, as well as lawsuits by competitors under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act and lawsuits by consumers, including class actions.

The remedies for false advertising consist of ceaseand-desist orders, injunctions, monetary penalties, and/or corrective advertising. In addition to monetary penalties, financial losses from false advertising can include fines and attorneys’ fees; the cost of defense; the cost of replacing existing advertisements, displays and packaging; the cost of fielding consumer complaints; the cost of issuing refunds; and the loss of sales due to damage to consumer trust.

FTC Chair Lina Khan has stated that the FTC will be taking an active role in ensuring that the rise of AI does not violate consumer protection and antitrust laws. In a guest essay in The New York Times, she wrote: “As companies race to deploy and monetize A.I., the Federal Trade Commission is taking a close look at how we can best achieve our dual mandate to promote fair competition and to protect Americans from unfair or deceptive practices.”

Additionally, objective claims for products and services must be true, nondeceptive and adequately substantiated. AI chatbots can make up facts that may seem plausible but are not true and generate misinformation. According to an article in The New York Times, “because of the surprising way [AI chatbots] mix and match what they’ve learned to generate entirely new text, they often create convincing language that is flat-out wrong, or does not exist in their training data. A.I. researchers call this tendency to make stuff up a ‘hallucination,’ which can include irrelevant, nonsensical, or factually incorrect answers.”

Advertising created in whole or in part by AI can contain hallucinations and other misinformation. Of course, claims for products or services based on AI hallucinations are likely to be false. Consequently, it is important that advertising created by AI be carefully reviewed to make sure that it is not false, misleading, or unsubstantiated.

3. Be Careful to Avoid Copyright Infringement

Many AI chatbots are trained by analyzing huge amounts of data from the Internet. Advertising created by AI reflects this data. In some cases, the output of AI can include identifiable portions of the training data. When such outputs are used to create advertising, there is a risk of infringement of third-party copyrights by reproducing copyrighted material without permission. Advertising created by AI may also constitute a derivative work of copyrighted material, which also creates a risk of copyright infringement.

Specifically, if the advertising created by AI is too similar to a copyrighted work, the advertising may violate the Copyright Act or foreign copyright laws and expose the advertiser to copyright infringement claims. The difficulty is that because users of AI are not aware of all the copyrighted material on the Internet (and used to train the AI), users may not know how similar the advertising is to a copyrighted work and may publish infringing advertising. Even if this does not give rise to copyright infringement claims, it can cause significant damage to the advertiser’s reputation.

Advertising created by AI should be carefully reviewed to ensure that it does not infringe third-party copyrights or result in reputational damage to the advertiser.

4. Be Careful Not to Use an Advertiser’s Confidential Information for Prompts

Prompts are the queries that users input into an AI system to generate an output. Prompts can be used by AI software for training purposes to improve their models. Users should be careful to avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information when creating prompts, since AI systems can incorporate the prompts to generate outputs for other users.

If an advertising agency, a public relations firm, or an employee of an advertiser uses the advertiser’s confidential information in prompts to create advertising with AI, this could result in liability based on a breach of confidentiality.

Likewise, if a prompt uses a company’s trade secret, providing that data to an AI model could result in the information losing its trade secret protection.

If a prompt uses information subject to the attorneyclient privilege or work product doctrine, that information may lose its privileged status due to waiver of the privilege.

Prompts that contain personal information can raise privacy law compliance obligations. There are United States and EU requirements regarding notice, consent, and data rights, such as the rights of individuals to access, delete or correct information. Many states have stringent consumer privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was strengthened as of January 1, 2023. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to the online collection of personal information about children under 13 years of age. In the EU, companies must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when using AI tools. The GDPR covers the use of personal data to train, develop or deploy AI.

5. Review the Terms of Use of the AI System

Companies using AI to create advertising should review the terms of use of the AI system to understand the ownership and other rights involving the prompts and the output generated by the AI system, such as advertising.

For example, OpenAI’s Terms of Use provide:

As between the parties and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you own all Input. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, OpenAI hereby assigns to you all its rights, title, and interest in and to Output. This means you can use Content for any purpose, including commercial purposes such as sale or publication, if you comply with these Terms. OpenAI may use Content to provide and maintain the Services, comply with applicable law, and enforce our policies. You

are responsible for Content, including for ensuring that it does not violate any applicable law or these Terms.

These terms apply to all OpenAI products, including ChatGPT, GPT-4 (OpenAI’s most advanced AI model) and DALL-E2 (an AI system used to create images and art from text inputs).

Since the AI system may have rights to use the output, the system may reproduce the same or similar content for another user. This can result in copyright infringement claims and reputational harm based on plagiarism.

6. Establish AI Usage Policies for Employees

Considering the risks when using AI to create advertising, advertisers, advertising agencies and public relations firms would do well to develop AI usage policies for employees. If a company permits its employees to use AI to create advertising, there should be protocols for the use of AI tools and for review of the advertising before it is published.

Specifically, the usage policy should contain guidelines for employees to seek approval to use AI to create advertisements and to use AI for other purposes. The guidelines should also cover what the review process of the advertising will entail, including higher-risk areas that employees should be aware of when using AI to create advertising. It is important for employees to understand that they should not use AI to create advertising unless they are permitted to do so by their employer. For example, the guidelines could prohibit employees from using AI tools for advertising unless approved by the legal department. n

Jeff Edelstein is one of the leading advertising, marketing, and media lawyers in the United States. He represents clients in all areas of advertising, marketing, and media law. Jeff has developed a well-earned reputation for the numerous successes he has achieved on behalf of leading companies involved in false advertising challenges before the National Advertising Division (NAD) and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the primary self-regulatory bodies of the advertising industry; the television networks; and in the courts. Learn more at www.manatt.com.

As the legal industry becomes increasingly competitive, law firms need to develop effective SEO strategies to enhance their online visibility and attract potential clients. One common approach is to create pillar pages, which are comprehensive content pieces that cover a particular topic or theme in-depth and link to related subtopics. In this blog article, we explore what a pillar page is and why it is a crucial element of a successful law firm’s SEO strategy. Whether you are a lawyer or a legal marketer, it’s packed with valuable insights to help you optimize your website and improve your ranking on search engines.

What Is a Pillar Page?

A pillar page is a comprehensive and long-form piece of content that covers a broad topic in detail. It serves as the central hub for all related subtopics and provides valuable information to visitors to your website. By creating a pillar page, law firms can establish their expertise in a particular niche, attract more traffic from search engines, and improve their website’s overall SEO. The page should be well-structured with easy navigation to subtopics and include internal links to relevant pages on the website.

To create an effective pillar page, it’s essential to research your audience’s needs and interests and provide up-to-date information that adds value. Regular updates to the page will keep it fresh and engaging for visitors, encouraging them to return for more information. By incorporating multimedia content such as videos, podcasts, and images, you can further enhance the visitor experience on your page and increase the likelihood of repeat visits.

Why Pillar Pages Matter For Law Firm SEO Strategy

Pillar pages are critical for a law firm’s SEO strategy for several reasons. First, they enable law firms to organize their content in a way that enhances their website’s overall

What Is a Pillar Page? And Why It Matters for Your Law Firm’s SEO Strategy

by Guy Alvarez

architecture. By creating a central hub that links to related subtopics, law firms can improve their website’s navigation and usability, making it easier for visitors to find the information they need. They can also improve their website’s overall structure and indexing by interlinking pages and creating a clear hierarchy of content.

Pillar pages also help law firms establish authority and expertise in a particular area of practice or industry. By providing comprehensive and up-to-date information on a specific topic, law firms can demonstrate their knowledge and experience to potential clients. They can also attract more traffic from search engines, as pillar pages often rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) than short-form content pieces.

Finally, pillar pages allow law firms to target long-tail keywords that may not be feasible in shorter pieces of content. By covering a broad topic in detail, law firms can include a variety of related long-tail keywords that align with their target audience’s search queries. This can help them rank higher on search engines for these keywords, ultimately improving their online visibility and attracting more potential clients.

What Are Topic Clusters and Cluster Content?

Topic clusters and cluster content are related to the concept of pillar pages. A topic cluster is a group of related subtopics that are linked to a central pillar page. Cluster content, on the other hand, refers to individual content pieces that cover each subtopic in more detail. The purpose of creating topic clusters and cluster content is to provide a more comprehensive and organized approach to content creation and website architecture.

By creating topic clusters, law firms can organize their content in a way that improves their website’s structure and usability. Each cluster content piece provides more

in-depth information on a particular subtopic, and the internal links between the cluster content pieces and the pillar page help visitors easily navigate through the available content. This approach also signals to search engines that your website has a clear and organized structure, which can improve your visibility on SERPs.

For example, a law firm that lists intellectual property as one of its areas of practice may decide to create an intellectual property law topic cluster. The firm would then create a pillar page on intellectual property law followed by subtopic pages on copyright law, patent law, and trademark law. The firm would then link all of the subtopic pages to the pillar page and from the pillar page to the subtopic pages.

Once this structure is complete, the firm would then create cluster content that would support each subtopic page. This content might include articles or blog posts on public performing rights, public performance licenses, reproduction rights, mechanical licenses, and synchronization licenses. Once these articles are created and published, you would link them all to the subtopic page.

Creating high-quality cluster content that offers value to visitors is crucial for the success of a law firm’s SEO strategy. By providing up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative content on specific subtopics, law firms can establish their expertise, attract more traffic from search engines, and ultimately convert potential clients into paying ones.

How Do You Create a Pillar Page?

Creating a pillar page requires careful planning and execution. Here are the steps involved in creating a successful pillar page:

Choose a broad and relevant topic: The topic of your pillar page should be something that aligns with your target audience’s needs and interests. It should cover a broad topic that has several subtopics to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject matter.

1. Develop a detailed outline: Once you have chosen the topic, create a detailed outline of the pillar page. The outline should cover all the subtopics you want to include in your pillar page, and each subtopic should have its own section.

2. Research and write high-quality content: Once you have the outline, conduct detailed research on each subtopic and compile high-quality content. The content should provide in-depth information on each subtopic to ensure that all the essential details are covered.

3. Optimize for SEO: Ensure that your pillar page is optimized for SEO by including relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and page titles. Add internal links within your pillar page to help visitors navigate through the content and signal to search engines that your content has a clear and organized structure.

4. Publish and promote: Once your pillar page is complete, publish it on your website and promote it on your social media channels, email newsletters, and other marketing channels. This will help drive traffic to your website and improve your online visibility.

Takeaway

In summary, pillar pages, topic clusters, and cluster content are essential elements of a successful law firm’s SEO strategy. By organizing content around a central pillar page and creating related subtopics, law firms can improve their website’s structure and usability and establish their expertise in a particular area of practice or industry. By incorporating multimedia content, targeting long-tail keywords, and providing comprehensive and high-quality information to visitors, law firms can attract more traffic from search engines and ultimately convert potential clients into paying ones. With the right approach, pillar pages and topic clusters can be powerful tools for improving your law firm’s online visibility and success. n

Guy Alvarez is the founder and Chief Engagement Officer. Guy is intimately familiar with all aspects of the professional service firm. First, he worked as a law firm associate. Later, he joined ALM Media where he built websites for some of the largest US law firms. After ALM, Guy honed his skills while running KPMG’s Global Digital Marketing group. Learn more at www. good2bsocial.com.