Top 3 Ways to Market Yourself and Your Law Firm

    Welcome to the last week of March! It’s amazing to think that the semester will be over in about 2 months. Wishing you a great week ahead! As we head into April, I want you to keep a positive mind, keep working hard, and keep your focus on your J.D. degree. Before you know it, the semester will be over and you’re J.D. degree will be in your hand! This week, I want to write about how you can market yourself and your law firm upon graduating from law school. I’ve chosen  top 3 marketing tips I know of and will share with you more details about them below. The information provided in this blog post is purely from what I know and have gained over the years. I hope this is of a help to you! I want to spread my knowledge with my fellow classmates because I believe one should work hard to make their dreams a reality, but do so in a way that will help others grow as well.

Top Three Ways to Market Yourself and Your Law Firm

- Instagram Profile: Instagram is a hotspot for business owners to market their business and that too, for free. I believe it is key to start an Instagram account purely for your profession. You can name it your law firm’s name or your own name with your title of Esq. at the end. The whole purpose of your professional Instagram account is for you to market yourself and your law firm. Post a picture of yourself getting sworn into the bar; post a minute video explaining what areas of law you practice in; post a story of what you’re doing in your office on that particular day. The list can go on and on. I’ve been followed by and follow many attorney profiles across America. The content they post are informative about their firm and what kind of areas they practice in. It’s a great place to showcase your verdicts and get your name out there among the many generations that use Instagram. Instagram also has a messaging feature where people can message you if they have an inquiry or if they are interested in your services.  

- Business Cards: Business cards are essential for a professional to market themselves and their business. Business cards are easy to carry around, slip a few in your wallet and the next time you’re at a cousin’s wedding and someone gets wind that you’re a lawyer and starts asking for legal advice, whip your card out and tell them to book an appointment with you in your law firm. Business cards provide quick information about you, your firm name, where you’re located, and your motto. Perhaps add them to Christmas cards you send out around the holiday season or give a few to your family and friends so they can keep on their fridge to showcase when they have guests over. Business cards can get you great business if you really think about it! 

- Conferences: This is a must! I highly suggest attending conferences all over the world. Doing so will allow you to meet other highly motivated attorneys like yourself. Meeting other lawyers at these national, regional, and local conferences will aid you in building connections across the U.S. and even across the world. A huge advantage of attending these conferences is that you get to build your network which leads you to greater chances of an attorney referring cases to you. What a beauty! While attending conferences may seem costly at the moment, it will provide a great return for you in the future, both financially and socially. 

    Thank you for reading to the end! If you’d like more marketing ideas, comment below and I’d be happy to write another blog post about this topic! I hope you gained something valuable from this post. 

What Marketing Ideas Do You Have?

Probation for a College Admissions Bribery Scam

    Wow, can you believe we’re in the second to last week of March? Time is flying! I hope you all are having a beautiful day and wishing you a beautiful week ahead! Have you heard about this college admissions scheme involving 50 people who basically took bribes from wealthy parents to get their children admitted into the top schools? Yup, this happened. Read on to find more about the case and what eventually happened. 

Niki Williams is a 46-year-old former employee of the Houston Independent School District. She was one of 50 people who were arrested for being involved in a college admissions bribery scheme. Specifically, Williams was in charge of administering the college entrance exams at the public high school where she worked and she took bribes from the admissions consultant, Rick Singer, who was at the center of the scheme, in exchange for allowing someone to take exams in place of the children of Singer’s clients or to correct their answers. 

Prosecution wanted Williams to be imprisoned for 6 months; however, the U.S. District Court Judge, Indira Talwani, said it will be punishment enough that Williams has lost her job and will carry a felony conviction. The judge further concluded, “Certainly [Williams] did this for the money, but this wasn’t any pattern of self-interest in any kind of a larger scale. This makes me see this as a bad mistake [Williams] made – a very bad mistake – but not something that would dictate that [Williams] would be likely to ever do something like this again.” 

Williams was sentenced on December 21st and was also ordered to repay the $12,500 she got from the scheme. Others involved in the scheme include “Full House” actor, Lori Loughlin, and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Loughlin was sentenced to 2 months in prison, while Giannulli was sentenced to 5 months in prison. The couple admitted to paying half of a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California. 

Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly Vo. 49, No. 52

If You Were the Judge in this Case, What Punishment Would You Give?

What's Your Hobby?

    Welcome to the first Sunday of March 2021! I want you to take a moment and realize that the semester is over in approximately 2 months… how crazy! Time is flying and soon you will have your J.D. degree in hand handling cases left and right! Keep that visual in your mind as you study for exams and when you feel stressed out. You have what it takes to become the best Attorney that you can be! Never forget that. This week, I want to talk about something fun and important to all of us: hobbies! I know that when life gets busy, it’s easy to push away our hobbies and get to work, but in reality, we need these hobbies to keep us sane! More specifically, we need them to help us de-stress and enjoy some time for ourselves. 

    According to Psychreg, an award-winning psychology blog platform, “Research has shown that people with hobbies rarely suffer from stress, depression and low mood and so it is vital for our mental health that we find activities that will get us out, make us feel happier and more relaxed.” (Why Is Having a Hobby Beneficial for Your Mental Health). For me personally, I love artwork and getting a canvas out, my paint brushes all colorful, and get creative! Starting law school, I didn’t give any importance to my art materials. I didn’t even bring them with me when I made the big move from IL to MA. It was only at the end of my second year of law school that I realized I need to brush up on my art skills. 

    My fiancé was kind enough to buy me a whole art set with hundreds of colors of paint, pastels, and color pencils. It fills me with so much joy every time I open it up. I find myself to be happy in that moment and appreciate life more. While I draw, I think of all the blessings in my life. It allows me to think happy thoughts, look back on life, and how far I’ve come, and I think about where I will go. It’s a time of reflection for me. It truly does allow me to de-stress and live life in the present. I highly recommend you to find a hobby or pick up your hobby even while in law school because it’s as important as studying. 

    Hobbies can include a variety of activities such as playing an instrument, hiking, playing a sport, going bird watching, writing poetry, reading novels, and the list can go on and on. For your mental health, for your physical health, and for your happiness, I highly recommend you dedicate some time out of your day or week to pursue a hobby of yours. I’m sure you will find a sense of peace from it and attain happiness by spending some time on something you enjoy doing. 

    A person once said, “When passion meets work, work becomes a hobby.” (Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel). For us law students, we might well have a passion for law and so maybe our work as attorneys will be a hobby. I think that is a blessing.  

Do You Think A Person’s Job Can Also Be Their Hobby?