Columbus Bar Association - Common Ethics Mistake Law Firms Make When Marketing Online - Chris Homer

COMMON ETHICS MISTAKES LAW FIRMS MAKE WHEN MARKETING ONLINE

Chris Homer chomer@gngf.com | @chrishomer24

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CHRIS HOMER

Legal Marketing Expert

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LAW FIRM MARKETING @

TorchAward for MarketplaceEthics

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OUR BOOK

Includes Chapter Contributions from:

AVVO Clio

Fujitsu

Complimentary Book

Scholarship

Video

Content

Hosting

Directory Listings

Mobile Sites

Search

SocialMedia

Websites

Analytics

SUCCESSFULLAW FIRM

WEB PRESENCE

Website Social Links Content Hosting Directories Mobile Video

2005

Online = Website

2017

Online = Presence

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MILLENNIALS

• 18-33 years old now

• Yes, they are adults and many are middle managers with great

income

• They grew up with mobile devices not phones

• On average send over 100 texts a day

• 2/3 rather text than speak to someone on the phone

• They knew Amazon the retailer before Amazon the river

• 75% are on social media (from a mobile device)

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GEN Z

• <20 years old…. but

• Largest population in U.S.

• Prefer Images vs. text (snapchat, instagram, video)

• Can work multiple screens at once (iPad, computer, TV,

smartphone, games) and have only seen touchscreens

• Learn as much from YouTube as school

• Low attention span - “Bite-size media”

• Leaving Facebook??

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THE INTERNET MINUTE• 701,389 logins on Facebook

• 69,444 hours watched on Netflix

• 150 million emails sent

• 527,760 photos shared on Snapchat

• 347,222 tweets on Twitter

• 28,194 new posts to Instagram

• 2.4 million search queries on Google

• 972,222 Tinder swipes

• 2.78 million video views on Youtube

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TYPES OF SEARCH TERMS

Branded (Protect Referrals) Law Firm of Daley & Homer Justine Daley Chris Homer

Non-Branded (Grow Your Leads) Estate Planning Attorney Probate Attorney Real Estate Attorney

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TWO ETHICS AREAS Protect your referrals

• Reviews

• Branded search

• Website & Attorney bio

pages

• Accurate directory

information

Grow your leads

• Linkable content

• Backlink acquisition

• Onsite Search Engine

Optimization

• Google and Facebook

Ads

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KEY CHANGES IN 2017

• Mobile search and traffic is continuing to increase

• New ads in local search

• Local 3 pack and even Google Maps app

• Voice search is changing search behavior

• Reviews are becoming more and more important

• Facebook is growing

• Backlinks are still king

REVIEWS

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REVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT2016 Survey:

• 92% of consumers now read online reviews (vs. 88% in 2015)

• 69% of consumers say a review must be written within 2-3 months to be relevant

• Only 14% of consumers consider using a business that has a 1 or 2 star rating

• 48% of consumers will visit the website after reading positive reviews

• 40% of consumers form an opinion by reading just 1-3 reviews (vs. 29% in 2015)

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REVIEWS

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THREE PACK (NOW WITH ADS)

• Body One • Body Two

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PEOPLE ARE CRAZY

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PEOPLE ARE CRAZY

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REVIEWS ETHICS

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REVIEWS - THE ETHICS• Don’t make up profiles to write reviews

• You can’t write your own online reviews

• Don’t pay for reviews

• 7.2[B]: A lawyer shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services except…”

• Responsible for reviews you can control October 2016: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Boards/BOC/Advisory_Opinions/2016/Op_16-008.pdf

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REVIEWS - THE ETHICS

EXAMPLE: You ask Joe Smith to leave you a review:

“Jim will win every time. He won $1 million for me in an auto accident lawsuit, Jim is the best Personal Injury attorney ever!!”

How do you control?

7.1[3]

An advertisement that truthfully reports a lawyer's achievements on behalf of clients or former clients may be misleading if presented so as to lead a reasonable person to form an unjustified expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters

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A CULTURE OF REVIEWS

• Ask for paper internal review at closing meeting or you can use an online form on your website

• Good review? What’s their email address?

• Ask and provide a how-to guide

• Provide guidance on what NOT to say

• It’s not easy in Legal Profession

DIRECTORIES

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Firm WebsiteSitelinks

FacebookAvvo

Yelp & YP

Birdeye

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SLIDE TITLE

• Body One • Body Two

Directory Listings

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KNOWLEDGE GRAPH

• Body One • Body Two

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YELP

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DIRECTORY ETHICS

• Ethics issues arise when you “Claim” the listing

• Online Directories are acceptable form of advertising (Rule 7.2-5(a))

• Business description • Categories / Services (Rule 7.4)

• “A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law or limits his or her practice to or concentrates in particular fields of law.”

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DIRECTORY ETHICS

• A lawyer can only claim designation, specialist or expert only if permissible

• Business description + Categories + Practice Areas + NAP

• Caution: you could be responsible even if you hire a firm to “claim” your directory listings

• Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants

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DIRECTORY ETHICS• 7.1

[2] Truthful statements that are misleading are also prohibited by this rule. A truthful statement is misleading if it omits a fact necessary to make the lawyer’s communication considered as a whole not materially misleading. A truthful statement is also misleading if there is a substantial likelihood that it will lead a reasonable person to formulate a specific conclusion about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services for which there is no reasonable factual foundation.

WEBSITES

WEBSITES THAT GET CLIENTS

P A S T

2002 2014

LEGALWEBSITES

COMMUNICATE

S O L V EI N F O R MS E R V E

MARKETING

P R E S E N T

COMMUNICATE

S O L V EI N F O R MS E R V ECOMMUNICATE

SOLVEINFORMSERVE

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YOUR WEBSITE

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ESTABLISHING YOUR WEBSITE

• Design & Structure

• Conversion

• Content

• Ethics

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WEBSITE COMPONENTS• Name / “Brand”

• Where are you located? How can I get a hold of you?

• Phone Number / Contact Form / Chat / Text?

• Do you understand my problem? What can you do for me?

• Proof I should call you?

• Easy to navigate and find things

• Schema Markup for Google (business, attorney, and reviews) - ask your webmaster

• How do I call you?

• What do you do?

• What can you do for me?

• Proof I should call you?

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Your WebsiteName/BrandHow do I contact you?

What can you do for me?

Easy to Navigate

Proof I should call you

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Do you understand my problem?

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Proof I should call you

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WARNING: Attorney Client Relationship

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WEBSITE ETHICS

• Make sure your web and content developers understand what you can and can’t say about your experience, expertise, trial publicity, etc.

• Hiring Someone: the partner or lawyer must take reasonable efforts to ensure that the [company] they retain's actions are within the professional obligation of the lawyer and not violate the Rules of Professional Conduct - 5.3.

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WEBSITE ETHICS

• Do not mislead with your website copy 

• Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services

• No testimonials on website without consent (re-post online reviews?)

• Avoid saying "I can save your business" or "higher my firm and you will walk free" - nothing that could lead someone to expect results

• Don’t compare your firm to another like "Our firm is better than Smith and Smith" unless you can factually substantiate 

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WEBSITE ETHICS

• Watch the content of your website pages

• Comparative Speech in title tags, meta descriptions, copy

• If you have pages in another language, e.g. In Spanish, then you must have a disclaimer in that language. Simple stating that your firm Hablamos Espanol does not require a Spanish disclaimer

• Disclaimer on your website should be on every page. 

• A copy or recording of advertisements or written communication needs should be retained by the law firm for 5 years (hint: take frequent backups of your website)

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YOUR WEBSITE DISCLAIMER

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BLOGGING/CONTENT ETHICS

• No Names Please

• Do not talk about clients without consent in blogs or online content

• Trial Publicity

• Tread lightly if you are going to talk about the case at all

• Hunter vs. Virginia (1.6, dismissed, but…..)

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ANSWER CARDS

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THE FUTURE IS MOBILE

*IDC Research Report 2013

have their phone on or near them for all but up to 2 hours of their waking day.79%

reach for their smartphone immediately after waking up62%

say they can't recall the last time their smartphone wasn't next to them.25%

Among smartphone owners age 18-44

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MOBILE TRAFFIC ON THE RISE

Leads are also coming from mobile devices

45% of leads came from mobile devices based during August 2016*

*from GNGF data

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MOBILE WEB PRESENCE

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MOBILE WEBSITE

• Body One • Body Two

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ETHICS ON MOBILE WEBSITE

• Even on mobile it is still a website.

• Don’t forget the disclaimer

• If required to say “this is advertising” at a certain font size in

your state, make sure the mobile doesn’t scale it too small.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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SOCIAL NETWORKS

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FACEBOOK

• There are 1.71 Billion monthly active users on Facebook

• 1.13 Billion people log into Facebook every day

• 4.75 Billion pieces of content are shared daily

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FACEBOOK DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

• Kids leaving Facebook

• Fastest growing demographic is adults ages 35-55

• Behavior is drastically changing

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LINKEDIN

• There are 433 million users • 40% of users check LinkedIn daily • 59% of LinkedIn users don’t use

Twitter

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BEWARE OF “SKILLS”

“Opinion rules that a lawyer may accept an invitation from a judge to be a "connection" on a professional networking website, and may endorse a judge. However, a lawyer may not accept a legal skill or expertise endorsement or a recommendation from a judge.”

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TWITTER

• There are 310 Million monthly active users

• 44% of created accounts have never sent a Tweet

• 80% of users access Twitter via a mobile device

• A day’s worth of tweets would fill a 10 million page book

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“FOLLOWING”

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“FOLLOWERS”

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SNAPCHAT FASTEST GROWING

• Under age of 35

• Semi-Private

• Discovery Issues

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

What counts as advice? • Dealing With Unrepresented Person

• If the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the “unrepresented person misunderstands the lawyer's role”

• If you are engaged in a discussion LinkedIn and there is a possibility that the person misunderstands your comments make sure to inform them of your relationship and do not give legal advice. 

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

Is this Advertising? - Facebook Page Post Ad • Yes

• May want to submit a copy of Page Post Ad as Advertising • Keep records of Ads by not deleting them Don’t Imply Results or Mislead

• Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services • Don’t say things that could lead someone to expect results • Don’t compare your firm to another like "Our firm is way better than

Smith and Smith" unless you can factually substantiate

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS

• Other Issues • Don’t “friend” potential jurors • Accidental Discovery • Using Social For Discovery • Using Social as Evidence (Competence?) • Advising Clients About Social • Commercial Speech = Advertising

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ETHICS GAME

Case is finally over. Unanimous verdict! Celebrating tonight.

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ETHICS GAME

Another great victory in court today! My client is delighted. Who wants to be next?

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ETHICS GAME

Won a million dollar verdict. Tell your friends and check out my website.

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ETHICS GAME

Won another personal injury case. Call me for a free consultation.

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ETHICS GAME

Just published an article on wage and hour breaks. Let me know if you would like a copy

Questions?Book Form

THANK YOUChris Homer

chomer@gngf.com | @gngfound