A Chance to Grab a Better Law Firm Website Name

Website and Domaine Blog 3-28-13There’s a big shake up going on in the world of internet domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is accepting applications for new generic Top Level Domains (TLDs). Top Level Domains are the second half of your website name – the part that follows the “dot,” such as .com, .net and .info. Historically, ICANN authorized only 22 generic TLDs and 248 country code TLDs, like .ca or .fr. Recently, however, ICANN began accepting applications for the issuance of new descriptive TLDs, such as .book or .auto.

So why should you care about all this mumbo jumbo? Read more

Post Date: March 28, 2013

CLE – Just Ethics: “Leveraging Social Media in a Law Practice… and Ethical Obstacles to Avoid”

January 13, 2012
South Texas College of Law
Emilie Slohm Room
12:00pm – 1:00 pm

Leveraging Social Media in a Law Practice… and Ethical Obstacles to Avoid

Presented by Debra Bruce

Attorneys use social media for many purposes. Some uses, such as improving jury selection, investigating cases, and impeaching witnesses are designed to help the attorney with his/her litigation practice. Other uses, such as building client relationships, finding a job, and informing the public about issues result in more practice-related benefits. Finally, attorneys use social media to better serve their clients and simply to keep in touch with friends. In this interactive session of Just Ethics, Debra Bruce will alert attendees to what (and where) the ethical boundaries are before they overstep them.

Accredited for 1.0 hour of participatory credit, including 1.0 hour of legal ethics.

Post Date: January 12, 2012

Debra’s Speaking at the HBA Labor & Employment Law Section

Debra will be speaking at the HBA Labor & Employment Law Section on Monday December 12th from 11:30am – 1:00pm on “Social Media Issues in Employment Law” (includes .25 hours ethics credit) at the Magnolia Hotel: 1100 Texas Ave., Houston, Texas 77002

Cost: $30 for section members and law students, $35 for non-members or persons without an advance reservation. See more info here.

RSVP by 11:00 a.m. on December 7 to Anel Valdez at anel.valdez@jacksonlewis.com. No phone calls please.

Seating is limited and valet parking is available for $7.00; first 30 participants will receive free valet when requested. If you make a reservation and do not attend, you are expected to pay the cost of the lunch unless you cancel by 11:00 a.m. on December 7.

Post Date: December 8, 2011

How Lawyers Can Handle Bad Reviews and Complaints on Social Media

When I spoke recently at the State Bar of Texas annual meeting about social media success stories for lawyers, I got a familiar question: “What should I do if someone trashes me online in social media?”

Almost every lawyer has experienced a client with unreasonable expectations, or one who got bad results because of their own bad behavior or bad facts. I can’t even count how many different people over the years that I have heard claim that they got cheated in their divorce settlement because their lawyer was in cahoots with the other side. (None of them told a credible story.) The difference today is that they can widely publicize their opinions and dissatisfaction online. I have been taken aback by the vituperative language used in anonymous comments to blogs and news posts. Given these common occurrences today, there is a definite risk that someday you will face an unfavorable rating or an untrue statement about your services online.

Some attorneys cite fear of negative comments as a reason for eschewing social media altogether. They are uniformed, however. Ratings and comments can be posted about your legal services on many sites whether you engage social media or not. If you don’t play, you won’t know what they say. Read more

Post Date: August 31, 2011

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