Law Firm Marketing & Management

About the time this Wisconsin Lawyer arrives in your mailbox, the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated will be hitting newsstands. As it does every year, Vogue’s “September issue” will highlight the fashion trends for the coming year. In December, Time will name its “Person of the Year.” These signature issues are planned many months – often as many as 6-12 months – in advance of publication. That planning is key to their success.These hotly anticipated publications are carefully crafted
Continue Reading What Your Firm Should Have in Common with Sports Illustrated

Social media is one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools that modern lawyers can use to market themselves. However, determining which platforms to use, properly setting up accounts, and deciding what to post and how often can be a daunting task. This is especially true when considering the many ethical rules that attorneys must follow when using social media, as violating the Rules of Professional Conduct can result in disciplinary actions that are costly to defend, cause reputational
Continue Reading Ethical Social Media Use for the Modern Attorney

Getting the most out of the professional and business associations you belong to is something I’m always talking about with my clients.
Most of these organizations have websites, newsletters, magazines, and social media accounts they need to fill with useful content. Some of them make a point of highlighting their members whenever possible. Putting yourself and your work forward when there is an opportunity to get before a bigger audience is a great way to raise your profile.
The
Continue Reading What Do You Know About WisLawNOW?

I recently co-authored an article on nine ways you can be a better ally with two other nonresident members of the State Bar of Wisconsin — Roya Bahrami and Ioua Alen Marcyn B. Lagazo. As we note in the article, “Being an ally isn’t about being “woke.” It’s about being a decent human being.”

There is a growing sense among bar associations throughout the United States that lawyers should be required to take continuing legal education courses that focus
Continue Reading Become a Diversity Ally: 9 Ways to Make a Difference

Senior Vice President Tom Watson To Succeed KunzkeWisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company President and CEO Katja Kunzke is retiring after more than 17 years in the top spot. Kunzke took over the position in June of 2004. She will leave WILMIC as the longest-serving President and CEO in the company’s 35-year history.Kunzke piloted WILMIC through a wave of change in technology, shifts in the lawyer population in Wisconsin, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. During her tenure, WILMIC has
Continue Reading Longtime WILMIC CEO Katja Kunzke retiring

WILMIC and the State Bar Senior Lawyers Division Announce the Release of the new Succession Planning Guidebook:Winding Down: Considerations for Exiting the Practice of Law


Click the image above to access the guidebook (PDF)

This publication is available at no cost

  • Transitioning Your Law Practice — When Do You Know It’s the Right Time?
  • What Is My Law Practice Worth? Valuation of a Law Firm and a Law Practice
  • Case Studies – Merging Practices, Selling a Practice, Closing a


Continue Reading Check Out WILMIC’s Succession Planning Guidebook

To be a lawyer is to be a writer. In this profession, there’s no way to escape putting pen to paper, or more realistically, fingers to keyboard. Many attorneys do so much writing on behalf of clients, the thought of setting time aside to write for one’s self is overwhelming. However, getting published is a powerful marketing tool.Read more on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s website, or in the December 2021 issue of Wisconsin Lawyer magazine.
Continue Reading The Write Way to Build Your Practice

Last week, Attorney Krekeler gave a presentation along with Lori Kannenberg Dorn of Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, Jeff Krause of Affinity Consulting Group, and Gia Pionek of Pionek Valle Law Group about Lessons Learned from the Pandemic. Here’s his recap of it:
“For the second year in a row, the State Bar of Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference featured a presentation on lessons we have learned from the pandemic.

A year ago, we had no idea we
Continue Reading Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

CEO Katja Kunzke and a distinguished group of policyholders and partners discuss making connections in this video version of the 2020 Annual Report from Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company.

Take an inside look at WILMIC’s mission, purpose and policyholder commitment by clicking on the video below.

The post Check Out WILMIC’s Annual Report Video first appeared on Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company.
Continue Reading Check Out WILMIC’s Annual Report Video

I’ve got a new blog post up on the State Bar of Wisconsin Nonresident Lawyers Division – NRLD blog. It’s something I wrote for fun, not about legal marketing, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I often talk to my clients about finding ways to amplify their voice by leveraging their network. This sort of post is what I’m talking about.
It was worth my time to write this post not just because it was
Continue Reading Amplify Your Voice Using Your Existing Network

Get Your Credits Without Leaving Your Home or Office!Practicing Law In the COVID EraHow the Pandemic Has Changed Family Law and Estate Planning Practices, andWhat New Risks May Be Lurking As a ResultProgram is free to WILMIC policyholders

SPEAKERS

Atty. Gregg Herman, Loeb & Herman, S.C.

Atty. Bill Williams, Bell Moore & Richter SC

Atty. Brian Anderson, WILMIC

Atty. Matt Beier, WILMIC

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Family LawGregg Herman, Matt Beier and Brian Anderson

  • Issues of family law affected by COVID


Continue Reading Registration open for WILMIC CLE Summer Seminar

On July 20, I am joining forces with Amanda Sexton from FocusWorks Marketing for a workshop on social media for lawyers. The event is being hosted by the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Attendees will walk away from this seminar with a social media action plan they can implement right away. We will also address the following topics:

  • Choosing platforms that make sense for your business;
  • Figuring out what to post;
  • Hashtags, hyperlinks,


Continue Reading Social Media for Lawyers: How to Use it Effectively and Ethically

It’s summer, and almost everyone is looking ahead to what we hope will be something that resembles what we remember as “normal,” such as getting back into the office and eventually gathering in person to see each other again. The pandemic isn’t over, of course. Meanwhile, what is the aftermath of the past year and what have the effects been on your practice, your clients, and your own personal health and well-being?

It’s okay to feel stress and anxiety,
Continue Reading Managing Risk and Work-life Balance: In Search of ‘Normalcy’

The cloud-based program has also now expanded to provide operational accounting for law firms.TrustBooks was created in 2015.  It is a cloud-based program that not only makes trust accounting easier for lawyers, and is geared toward legal accounting, it has also now expanded to provide operational accounting for law firms.  This is the only trust accounting software we have seen that is geared specifically to legal trust accounting.The website for the program can be found at https://trustbooks.com/.Tom BoyleWe
Continue Reading Co-founder of TrustBooks Software Says It Makes Trust Accounting Easier

Lawyers tend to be mobile, often working in several different capacities after they graduate from law school. It is not uncommon for a lawyer to start out working in private practice, then work in-house for a company, move into the fields of academia or government, only to finish their career back in private practice. The fact that there are so many different ways to utilize a law degree is one of the reasons that people decide to go to
Continue Reading Understanding How Your “Claims-made and Reported Coverage” Works under Your WILMIC Policy

By Jay Reeves
Here’s a modest proposal: every law school should start teaching a course in lifting and moving heavy objects.
The class could be taught by adjunct faculty from U-Haul, Mayflower and All My Sons. Hand trucks and work gloves would replace laptops and textbooks. Students who shine would make Lug Review.
Our profession collectively – and our Law Lives individually – would be better off as a result.
Unfortunately, although I attended the finest law school in
Continue Reading Wellness Corner: Henry’s Rules for Moving Things