Business cards have probably been around since the beginning of time. There has always been a need to let people know who you are, what you do, and how they can get in touch with you if they need what you want. But just because they’ve been around forever and they should do certain things doesn’t mean you can just sloppily throw something together and be done with it.

In this article I’m going to help you as you decide what to do with your business card. I’m going to give you three things every attorney’s business card should have. Hopefully, by the time your finished reading this you’ll have a good game plan for putting together a great business card.

1. Contact Information

This should be obvious, right? I mean the whole point is to let people know how they can get in touch with you and where you operate from. But, I’ve seen people time and again leave off critical information. For example, I knew this Seattle bankruptcy attorney who thought it would be smart to just have his email address on there. That way he could control how people contacted him. The only problem is, some people don’t use email, and most of those people don’t use email because they can’t afford it. As a bankruptcy attorney this is a bad thing.

Put all of your contact information on your business card. Make it easy to get in touch with you or your office.

2. Some Kind of Critical Information

There are certain things every attorney in every arena would want people to know right of the bat. You should include that information on your business card – giving something away right up front that’s valuable increases your worth in the eyes of your client.

Continuing with our Seattle bankruptcy attorney example, The same guy who only had his email address on there also had the genius idea of listing the 5 main things you get to keep, typically, when you declare bankruptcy. This is information almost everyone who calls his office wants to know, so he gave it away for free.

3. Something That Grabs Your Potential Client’s Attention

One of the great things about a business card is it gives you the ability to leave an impression. That impression can be good or bad, depending on what you do, and grabbing the person’s attention typically is a good thing.

What does that mean to an attorney? How is it possible to be different? It just takes a little bit of time to think of something that connects you to your industry in a cool, exciting, fresh, or fun way. For example, let’s say you’re a bankruptcy attorney. You could just have a regular old stuffy business card, but that’s boring. You could also try to think outside the box, creating an experience with your business card. Instead of having a card that looks like everyone else’s you could have one that is edgy, that shows you’re different. You could make it look and feel just like money, for example. Whatever it is, it just needs to make you stand out from everyone else.

All it takes for you to have an awesome business card is to sit down and think about it a little bit. And that time, while valuable doing other things, is very valuable for this exercise. Your business card is your calling card. Making it be “you” is critical.

That’s right, I said “every.” That means you, working for that criminal defense firm. That means you, working for the public defender’s office. And obviously, yes, that means you, working on your own or owning your own DUI defense firm. Why do we all need a marketing plan? It’s critical to success, that’s why.

When I opened my law firm a few years ago I knew I’d be competing with a ton of other Salt Lake City DUI attorneys out there. That’s just common sense. What I didn’t know, at least at the beginning, was how I was going to compete with them and actually win – taking cases that should have been theirs and making them my own. That’s where the marketing plan comes into play.

1. If You Don’t Have a Plan You’re Like a Ship Without a Rudder

One of the greatest ways to get where you’re going is to have a destination. Without a marketing plan that’s impossible. Without knowing where you are and where you want to be, you can’t create a plan on a day to day basis to move forward. And if you’re not moving forward you’re moving backward.

Your marketing plan serves as your game plan for success. You start out with big goals and break them down until you know what you need to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to reach your goals.

2. Without a Marketing Plan You Won’t Know Who Your Ideal Client Is

Part of successfully marketing a DUI defense practice is identifying the people that you want to help and then putting yourself in front of them at a time and in a place that is conducive to them accepting your help. And, by the way, saying your potential client is “anyone that is charged with a DUI” is not identifying your ideal client. There is no way everyone charged with a DUI is right for your firm. If you’re in private practice, what if they can’t pay you?

3. You Can Have an Idea of What Tactics You’ll Employ and When

When you’re in law school they don’t really talk to you about the business of law – they don’t explain that you don’t just get to rent an office, put up a sign that says you’re a Salt Lake City DUI attorney, and wait for the clients to come banging on your door. And they don’t tell you there are many many different potential ways to try to get in front of clients. But marketers will be more than happy to tell you that once you open your doors.

If you don’t have a plan, as these marketers begin to call you won’t know which ones you need to give a chance to and which ones you need to tell to go fly a kite. And if you don’t know that you’re opening yourself up to spending a lot of money on a lot of things that won’t get you any results.

If you don’t have a marketing plan you aren’t destined for failure necessarily. But if you don’t have a marketing plan you’re going to have a really hard time reaching that level of success that you really want. When I decided I was going to be the best of the best of Salt Lake City DUI attorneys I knew I was going to have to have clients. The marketing plan is what’s put me on the right path to reaching that goal.

Before you start reading this article I want you to do something – imagine you are a person that has recently been arrested for DUI. You need a Houston DWI attorney to help you out and you turn to the internet to try to track someone down. Go online right now and look at the websites of some of the people trying to help you and think about what you are looking for for that kind of help.

Are those websites giving you what you want? Probably not.

This article isn’t proposing that an ebook on your website is going to make people call you over others – it’s not as simple as that. But I can promise you that an ebook will help you and your business in at least three ways, and I hope by the end of this article you’ve got a plan in place to create your ebook and get it up on your website. Being a Houston DWI attorney is competitive, both in the courtroom and out of it. You need to do everything you can to get ahead of the competition.

1. It’s a Great Way to Set Yourself Apart

Writing an ebook isn’t hard, but it does take some time and a little commitment. For most that extra bit of effort is too much – they won’t do it. When your ebook is created, you’ll have a way to instantly set yourself apart from everyone else – and you’ll let them know it. When people go to a website they are looking for something that makes you different from everyone else – they are looking for something that tells them you are a Houston DWI lawyer they can trust. And this ebook is just one of many things that will, even subconsciously, direct them toward your firm.

2. It Will Establish You as an Expert

Most people might not say this, but when they are looking for a criminal attorney, people want a hired gun – they want someone that can get them out of trouble, and they don’t really care how. And, quite honestly, if the reason the case is resolved is some minor technicality (at least in their eyes) then that might be all the better, because then they’ll have a story about the DWI attorney that “got them off.”

An ebook doesn’t establish you as a hired gun, but it will help demonstrate to people that you know what you are talking about and that you get results (it’s definitely okay to include a couple of anecdotes in your ebook to get your point across). People want to know when the chips are down you’ll stand up for them – an ebook can go a long way to doing that.

3. It Allows You to Speak Directly to Potential Clients Before They Come In

Here’s the thing about trying to get someone to sign up with you – people are, by nature, skeptical of lawyers. When they are out there looking for help, they are expecting, in some small way, to get screwed. What an ebook can do for you is give you another opportunity to build some trust with your potential clients.

When you write this ebook, sure, you should include a lot of helpful information – you should write out 15 questions everybody asks and then include 5 things you think everyone needs to know. But interspersed within that information should be a subtle sales pitch – talk about what you do as a Houston DWI attorney that others won’t do – what you do that sets you apart from everyone else. Treat it like subliminal sales copy – talk to the potential client with the idea of persuading them to call you.

There you go – three reasons to create an ebook for your DWI practice. Don’t wait – do it today – the sooner you do, the sooner your business will pick up.

This site is all about what it’s like to be a lawyer, what it takes to own a successful law firm, and about the practice of law in general. This article fits squarely into the owning a successful law firm category. And having a successful website is step one to owning a successful law firm.

In this post we’re going to use the example of an Atlanta DUI attorney I know who made some small changes to his website that translated into great results.

1. Add as Much Video as You Can, Speaking to Your Clients

One of the great things about the evolution of the website is that is starting to change from a vehicle to provide people with information and it’s becoming a way to interact, communicate, and engage with people in a way that mimics a conversation. The sooner you stop thinking about your website as an information purveyor and start thinking of it as a relationship builder, the sooner you’ll see increased business.

People are nervous about DUI attorneys because they aren’t sure they can trust them With a video, you have an opportunity to speak directly to your customers and tell them why they should be hiring you over everyone else (and one of the main reasons will be that they can trust you).

Without video, your site can’t make the impression it can make and should make.

2. Put an Ebook Up for All to See

When people think about the Atlanta DUI attorney they want helping them, they want someone they can trust and they want someone that will get the job done – they want an expert in the field. A great way to demonstrate your expertise is with an ebook. You can make it for next to nothing, you can pack it with helpful information that shows you know what you’re talking about, and you can use it to show people you’re an expert in the field.

Not sure how to make the ebook? It’s easy. Sit down with a notepad and write out the fifteen most frequently asked questions you get from people. Then, write out the five things you think every person should know about getting a DUI and about hiring a DUI attorney. You now have 20 chapters, the perfect size for an ebook. Now just sit down and start writing.

3. Make Your Site as Clean and User Friendly as Possible

Do this right now – go through your site and think about how a potential client sees the information. Is it organized in a way that makes it easy to understand? Are there things that don’t make sense or aren’t necessary? Is the information you’re presenting easily digestible and does it demonstrate why someone should hire you over the DUI attorney whose website is one click away? Probably not.

One of the easiest ways to stand out from the crowd is to not look like the crowd. Don’t use the language everyone else is using. Don’t use the same images. Tell people specifically why you are different from everyone else.

There you go, three ways an Atlanta DUI attorney I know made his website stand out from the crowd (and better for business). What are you waiting for? Get started today.

We love getting your comments, by the way, so if you have other suggestions for standing out or for making your site better let us know.

Days away from the first hearing for Actos bladder cancer lawsuits, lawyers are still conducting evaluations for eligible claimants.

On average, personal injury lawyers around the country evaluate nearly 40 new cases of Actos bladder cancer every week. Lawyers expect the number of eligible claimants to reach more than a thousand, in the coming months, as news about the court hearing on Actos and its link to bladder cancer flood the Internet and the airwaves.

The first Actos lawsuit hearing is set for March 22 in Louisiana before Judge Rebecca F. Doherty. There are at least 170 cases filed before the federal court assigned to head the multidistrict litigation for Actos bladder cancer claims.

Who Is Eligible To File An Actos Lawsuit?

While bladder cancer is main reason for most Actos lawsuits, they are not limited to it. Aside from bladder cancer, lawyers are also pursuing litigation for heart failure and liver problems.

In 2007, the FDA required Takeda to place a boxed warning for heart failure on the Actos package insert.

Also in the same year, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that Actos increased a patient’s risk for serious heart failure but noted that the drug rarely caused myocardial infarction, stroke, or death.

In 2008, another study published by the Journal of Cardiac Failure (JCF) validated JAMA’s findings. Though JCF’s study associated Actos to elevated incidence of heart failure, it absolved the diabetes drug from deaths due to cardiovascular problems and the ability to worsen heart failure.

Aside from heart failure, premarket clinical trial also revealed that Actos could cause a rise in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzyme three times above the normal level. Increased levels of ALT is a sign of heart problems, kidney dysfunction, and liver damage.

How Do Lawyers Link Actos Use to the Existence of Serious Medical Condition?

Actos lawyers may use a combination or all of the following to establish the link between Actos use and an Actos user’s development of heart failure, kidney damage, and/or bladder cancer:

• Documentation of a claimant’s Actos use and the onset of the medical condition.
• Black box warning for heart failure in 2007 and bladder cancer in 2011.
• Results of specific studies relating to Actos use particularly the three recent studies published in 2011.
• Any data Actos lawyers’ deemed necessary to strengthen an Actos user’s claim.

Type 2 diabetes drug Actos became one of the most prescribed drugs in the world, after rival Avandia (rosiglitazone) was linked to a 43 percent increased risk for heart attacks in 2007. In the belief that Actos was a safer drug hand-in-hand with the restriction for the use of Avandia, physicians started to recommend the diabetes drug to their patients. Succeeding studies, however, proved that both drugs carry an increased risk for heart failure.

In 2011, three large-scale studies, once again, linked Actos to serious medical condition: bladder cancer. The said deadly side effect is the impetus behind a growing number of Actos lawsuits. At least 2.3 million Americans were given prescription order for Actos in 2010.

Get a personal injury attorney in a room alone and they’ll probably admit that most personal injury claims come as a result of carelessness.  The driver or person at fault may care about the injured person in general but not at that particular moment.  In order to show the person was careless at the moment the injured person must prove guilty party was violating a duty of care.

A duty of care is being obligated to avoid an accident or injury.  One version of that is the driver being responsible enough to not place a person or car in a path of danger.  The duty of care comes from the rules of the road.  Swerving out of the way or stopping before it happens is two ways to show a duty of care toward the other person or people.

Whether it is known to the driver or not everyone has a duty of care.  When that care is violated a person is injured—or killed.  Showing duty of care does not limit itself to the road.  It can be on a person’s property, around pets, taking medication and more.

Figuring out if a person is responsible for breaching the duty of care is not a difficult task.  Look at the surroundings–the street signs on the road, the items on the property, the way a pet acts around you, the label on the medication and so on.  The duty of care involves observation and common sense.  After looking a person has the knowledge to know what is right and what’s wrong.  A decision is made and something happens.  When the person breaks the rules and someone gets hurt this kind of information will strengthen the case in court simply by recalling what happened.

Details like this are a sticking point in whether a person is responsible for those injuries.  In a personal injury law blog this is explained in better detail.

This site is about being an attorney. Part of being an attorney is marketing your services. You can’t be a lawyer without clients, right? The idea, of course, is that business will always be great. The phone will always be ringing, and people will always be clamoring for your services. But sometimes that simply isn’t the case. Sometimes business slows down. It slows down for all of us from time to time.

As a Houston DWI attorney, I’ve experienced those downturns too. What I’ve learned from those slow times is invaluable, and I’m going to share it with you today. After reading this, hopefully you’ll feel a little less nervous about your situation, and even if your nerves aren’t relieved, hopefully at least you’ll have a plan moving forward.

1. Don’t Freak Out and Make Rash Decisions

One of the worst things you can do when business slows down is start doing a bunch of stupid stuff. I knew a guy that thought he was experiencing a downturn (it ended up just being a slow couple of weeks) and he freaked out. He started cancelling his marketing projects, scrapped everything he was doing and starting trying to do something else. Turned out he was on the right track, it was just a slow couple of weeks.

He was able to regroup because he came to his senses quickly enough. When this happens to you, don’t be hasty – take a step back and let the situation marinate for a week or two. Find out if it’s really a downturn or if it’s just a slow couple of weeks. You’d hate to scrap something that was actually working for you!

2. Tweak, Don’t Destroy

One lesson I learned early on is that you’ve got to give your marketing efforts a chance to work. And, once you’ve given them a chance to work, you don’t give up on them until you’ve experimented a little to see what you got.

Here’s a perfect example – my website. I thought I had the best website around, until I started getting visitors to the site but no calls. Now, I could have just scrapped the whole product and started over, but I didn’t. I started tweaking the site. I made a change here and waited to see what happened. I made a chance there and waited to see what happened. Sure enough, before long people were calling the office looking for a Houston DWI attorney, and we were ready to help them. Experiment a little bit and see what happens.

3. Go With What Got You There

What I’m talking about here is making sure you are taking care of the people you’ve already helped. Do they know how much you appreciate referrals? Is there anything you could do for them now to help them out (legitimately)? If so, call and them and let them know. If not, give them a call anyway and just check in to see how everything is going.

One easy way to get a new revenue stream going is to make sure you are helping out the clients that you’ve helped before. Provide value to their lives, remind them that you are there to help, and before long you’ll have an entirely new source of revenue pouring in. (And, by the way, this is a lot easier if you aren’t in DWI defense, which is typically a one stop shop – though it can be done)

There you have it, how a Houston DWI attorney fights a downturn in business. What are you doing when business slows? What do you think of my suggestions? Don’t be shy, let us know!

This isn’t an article about marketing, this is an article about sales. Whether or not any attorney wants to admit it, sales are a big part of being a lawyer, particularly if you own your own firm or are a partner in a law firm. People have to sign up for help, right? That’s done through a sales process.

I don’t think anyone would dispute that some people are better at sales than others. But, I don’t think that means we can’t all get better at sales and get more clients. And I’m going to talk about that in this article.

By the title of the article I think you can tell who this is going to be directed to – Houston DWI attorneys – but that doesn’t mean everyone can’t learn something from it. It’s just always easier to tell a story with examples, and this is the example I want to use.

This article is going to outline the process I think would be most effective for a DWI attorney to use to sell their services. You’ve done the hard part, you’ve gotten the client to call your office and learn more about how you can help them. Now you’ve got to get them to sign up with you.

Step 1: Make a Connection

The first thing I do whenever I meet a potential client is try to make a connection with them. I do this in a couple of ways. First, I make sure that we don’t just dive into the meeting when they get to the office. I make some small talk with them, ask them a couple of questions about finding the office, and ask them how their day was. If there’s a compliment to be made (nice shirt or something like that) I make it.

Once that’s done I always outline what the meeting is going to be like. I tell them about this first part (which we’re about to get to), the second part, which is when I tell them about us, and then the third part, when I tell them about the legal stuff that’s going on. Whenever I’m done with something I always ask if they have any questions.

The first thing I let any potential client do is tell their story. Until they let you know what’s happened, they aren’t going to be able to focus on what you are saying anyway, so you might as well get it out of the way. This a great way to make a connection with them as well, because you can sympathize with where they’re at with their situation.

Step 2: Sell Them on Your Firm

This is an important part of the process, because it’s your one chance to show the potential client why they should pick you over everyone else. It’s no secret that you aren’t the only Houston DWI attorney in the area. And, in some cases, you may not even be the “best” DWI attorney around. But if you don’t tell them why you think your firm is right for them, they’re never going to know why you should pick them.

During this stage I’ll often ask them a few more probing questions about their life, including their job, their history, and anything else I think is relevant. Again, I’m just looking for more ways to connect with them.

One other important thing I do here is specifically tell them why I think we’re different from everyone else and why we’re better than everyone else. This is the time that, if you’re feeling modest, you need to push that aside. People have a hard time judging attorneys’ credibility, so you’ve got to show them why you’re so good.

Step 3: The Informational Stage and Fee Set

This is usually the quickest part of the meeting, and it consists of letting them know all of the consequences they are facing because of the charges. For DWI attorneys, these can often be quite scary for people. The key is to make them understand that you can help them out.

This is also the time when I tell them what my fees are. Now, this is the important thing about setting fees, whether you are a Houston DWI attorney or some other kind of attorney – once you quote the fee, stop talking and wait for a response. Too often we’re nervous about the fee we’re quoting and that shines through when we make a bunch of nervous chatter. Just quote the fee and wait to hear what they say. You’ll be surprised how often (if you do the other steps right) how often people just say “okay, I’m ready to sign up.”

There you have it, three great ways to get more clients. What have you found effective? Let us know!

Can I keep my house and car in bankruptcy? The rules of what you can keep in after Chapter 7 liquidation depend on where you live when filing. Let’s look the exempt property rules for a Hawaiian bankruptcy.

1. Your Residence

Hawaii only exempts the first $20,000 of home equity for most bankruptcy filers. The only exception is for those over 65 or a head of family such as a married couple; these cases can shield 30,000 from the property sale from the bankruptcy. If the home or property was sold within 6 months of filing bankruptcy, the filer can keep that amount of equity. The homestead exemption applies to homes, condominiums and plots of land smaller than an acre.

Hawaii is not a community property state. It separates debt held by one spouse from the assets held by both spouses. In Hawaii, property held as tenancy by the entirety or the couple jointly is typically exempt from bankruptcy to liquidate the debts held by only one spouse. However, if the debt is held by both spouses, the Tenancy by the Entirety property can be sold to pay off their joint debts. Speak with a Hawaii bankruptcy attorney about whether or not Tenancy by the Entirety protects your home from seizure in a bankruptcy.

2. Your Car

Only the first $2,575 of equity in a vehicle can be sheltered. If the car is sold for more than this, the debtor receives $2,575 and the rest of the proceeds go to pay off their debt. The only caveat is that this limit applies to personal vehicles. Motor vehicles necessary to earn a living are 100% exempt.

For example, a tow truck driver can exempt their tow truck but will only receive $2,575 back after the sale of their personal car. Jet skis, motorcycles and recreational vehicles must be sold and no equity is given back to the debtor.

This article, though informative, should not be relied upon solely to answer your questions. If you are facing bankruptcy in Hawaii you should consult with a Honolulu bankruptcy attorney to find out whether your car can be kept as a tool of the trade or can be classified as necessary to your ability to support yourself and your family.

Bankruptcy is a complicated matter. Like all legal matters, there are rules that, if not followed, can have dire consequences for you. If you are in trouble, don’t wait to get help because you are scared or embarrassed. Consult a bankruptcy attorney today.

One of the easiest ways to open a successful DUI defense practice is to get referrals. The great thing about referrals is they come to your office with a built in sense of that “know, like, trust” that you want every potential client to have. Although referrals are great for business, generating referrals is generally a little tougher. After you read this article, though, you’re going to have a great system to seek out those referral relationships and make the kind of money that you’ve always wanted to make.

1. Step 1: Identify Potential Favorable Referral Sources

This is probably the most important step in the whole process. If you don’t identify the people that can actually send you business, then even if you execute the rest of the plan to perfection you aren’t going to get any business – your referral sources aren’t going to have any business to send you.

When you think about who might send business to an Atlanta DUI attorney, I immediately think of a few potential resources. First, obviously, is other attorneys. But, you’ve got to be more specific than that. You need to identify attorneys that have clients that are likely to call for DUI help. Those are practice areas that help individuals. Some areas that immediately come to mind for me are family law, bankruptcy, and personal injury.

In each of those instances, those attorneys are creating relationships with their clients that could result in a call if they were in trouble for something like a DUI. And you want to be the DUI attorney they get referred to.

2. Step 2: Figure Out a System for Rewarding the Referral

In most industries you can reward a referral in the way most referral sources like to be rewarded – with cash. But the practice of law is a little different – in most cases you can’t pay for referrals – they are supposed to come out of the goodness of people’s hearts. Because that’s the rule, that’s the one we’ll play by – you just have to get a little more creative on how you say “thank you” for the referral.

In some ways, just knowing they sent someone that relied on their recommendation to a bad ass DUI attorney is enough. But in many ways it isn’t. One way you can say thank you is by sending them business whenever you get the chance. Another is saying thank you in a very loud way – i.e. facebook, twitter, etc. And finally, if the relationship is good enough, you may want to discuss a business arrangement – in that case you can then pay them for the business they send you.

At the end of the day, though you need to have some kind of a system in place for saying thank you to referrals. If you don’t you’ll see those recommendations dry up pretty quickly.

3. Step 3: Pitch the Referral to the Referring Source

This is the final step in the process. You’ve identified the people you want to be in a relationship with, you’ve thought of some creative ways to say “thank you” that don’t break the rules, and now all you need is the actual relationship to exist.

It’s time to start pitching.

What I’d do if I were you is put together a short presentation based on steps one and two and then ask them what they think about that kind of set up. You may also want to do a little bit of education on why you think you’re the best Atlanta DUI attorneys around.

If you all agree to some terms, then it’s extremely important that you follow up on your end. One slip up early can ruin the relationship. Set up three or four of these and in no time you’ll be turning clients away you’ll be so busy.