Online Legal Marketing

Interview with Lawyer Rex Bush: The Benefits of LawyersandSettlements.com

By Jane Mundy

For many years, Rex Bush handled auto claims but he recently shifted focus to pharmaceutical claims, thanks mainly to LawyersandSettlements.com.

Rex Curtis BushQ: What marketing and advertising techniques did you first use before employing LawyersandSettlements.com (LAS)?
I started my practice with a main focus on auto cases and it was quite successful. I got most of my cases from a yellow page ad and from schmoozing chiropractors. I also got some cases from TV ads but none of these methods was as successful as LawyersandSettlements.com.

By 2002 I wanted to branch out My first pharma project was Fen-Phen and I advertised through flyer distribution and newspaper inserts. But I soon found out that flyers didn't work for other types of Pharma cases. Then I read a book by Robert Allen on how to use the Internet to generate 'multiple streams of Internet income'. I browsed online and stumbled across LawyersandSettlements.com.

Q: How did you start out with LAS?
For the first few months I implemented the core program and got one of the first Ortho Evra Patch cases. I had a hard time finding a lawyer to take it because two years ago, there was only one lawyer in the country handling Ortho cases. Today, my practice is 80% pharma. The rest are auto cases but I am phasing them out.

Q: How did LAS help?
LAS helped me because they are often aware of hot potential claims before the majority of lawyers are aware, especially when it comes to Pharma litigation. LAS identifies emerging Pharma claims early on. Working with them, we know of potential issues before other law firms have them on their radar.

Q: Did other methods of advertising work with Pharma cases?
Three years ago, I did some TV advertising for Zyprexa. But I found that my cost per case with L&S has been half of what it was with TV ads. Naturally, I am not doing any more TV ads. And no more Yellow Pages: for the past two years, I have only advertised with LAS.

Q: Are there any other advantages besides cost per lead?
Sure -- the big one is time. I spend much less time on my cases. Again, thanks in part to LAS, I found my own niche: there are Pharma litigation lawyers and there are case referral lawyers -- I am in the latter group. In fact most lawyers focusing on Pharma refer out their leads and only about 10 percent of Pharma law firms actually handle the litigation. The rest of us refer leads to those litigation firms.

Q: Why?
Pharma is a specialty -- it is an area of torts but it also has its own case law. Law firms in that 10 percent are experienced with discovery and suing the drug companies. And it takes a lot of money. From a business standpoint, you can have more leverage and make more money per hour by referring cases to someone else. And this leverage enables me to focus on the kind of cases I want.

If a case meets our criteria we call that individual and if they are still interested in pursuing the case, we forward their contact information to the law firm that will handle the litigation, so our time is very well leveraged.

Q: What advantage does LAS have over TV?
Here is a typical scenario: With a TV ad I need someone on the phone just about 24/7 to screen cases and a lot of data is required. With LAS, they already have an intake form so when I get a lead, the pre-screening interview has already taken place and I can screen out the bogus leads right away. From a TV ad, one lead can take an hour. Now it takes me a few seconds. I had to field calls with TV leads and spend time face-to-face with potential clients because the ads were local. And each screening took up a lot of time.

Q: Has LAS helped you in other marketing and advertising strategies?
I had been working with LAS for 18 months when I started to get concerned about how dependent I was becoming so I asked Kristoff [LAS VP of Business Development] to build a website for me. I originally wanted my own site as a backup. It was 'live' in December, 2006 and I got my first case from it a few months later. This surprised me because I had set up another website last summer, focusing on Utah personal injury -- I didn't get any cases.

And the price was right: Other developers quoted a lot more money and I doubt they could have done a better job, mainly because they weren't familiar with pharma claims.

Q: Do you think the majority of lawyers know how to utilize the Internet?
Lots of guys have websites and I think many of them are discovering the Internet but they aren't utilizing it properly. I talk to other lawyers with websites and I have looked at their sites -- they aren't getting any traffic because they are in a specialized area of expertise and I think you need someone to help you, someone who knows what they are doing because it isn't enough just to set up a website. It is like putting an 'open' sign in a store window in an empty store and waiting for customers to rush in.

Q: Are there any other LAS services that you find useful?
I read the LAS newsletter that I get via e-mail and it gives me clues -- possible cases. And here is another thing: Kristoff deals with a lot of lawyers so he has a feel for 'hot claims' and I have benefited from that. I chat with Kristoff every few months and come up with ideas.

As well, LAS writes pages for my website -- I get one page written for every hot claim. I used to write my own content but it took an enormous amount of time -- a whole afternoon on one page. And overall, they weren't as good as the pages LAS writes. One of the advantages is that the LAS writer has experience with this type of content and it shows. Now I have a professional, good looking site.

Q: What about blogging?
I was going to have Kristoff set up a blog for me but he did some research and said it would be more effective for me to do it myself -- that way, it wouldn't cost anything. He helps me to spend my money wisely. So I set up my own blog -- on his advice -- and realized it is not something I want to do. He really saved me some money!

Q: What cases are you currently handling?
I have five Ortho Evra Patch leads from LAS that are in litigation. Zyprexa is also a good program: I received many leads from LAS. As well I have Fen-Phen, Zicam (some cases are settled), Guidant, HRT, Fosamax, and Depo Provera US and Canada.

Glad to hear LAS is keeping you busy.

Rex Bush has been handling personal injury cases since 1984 when he was fresh out of law school, working for a small law firm in the Salt Lake City area. Mr. Bush has successfully brought claims against the State of Utah, Fortune 500 company Amoco Oil, State Farm Insurance, WalMart, the United States Government and many other large corporations and government entities.

He has been fortunate to work with and learn from some of the top lawyers in the country including Greta Van Susteren, John Coale, Gerry Spence, Pat Mulligan, Marty Rubinstein and George Fleming.

Mr. Bush has written articles on personal injury for the benefit of other attorneys. As well, he is consulted weekly by other attorneys who have questions about personal injury claims.

He has held many leadership positions in law related activities and in 1996 was honored by the Utah State Bar for "outstanding service to the legal profession".

Rex Curtis Bush
Bush Law Firm
Phone: 801 288 2874 (BUSH)
Email: rexcurtisbush@yahoo.com
www.healthlawcentral.com

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