People want information quickly and easily
As any lawyer will tell you, the first hour a new client has with you is the most valuable. The reason? You give your client two immediate payoffs, namely information and relief.
The First Payoff
Plaintiffs in medical cases of any sort are usually inexperienced litigants. Many of them have never talked to a lawyer before. They had to start at square one to find you. The first thing you will give them is much needed information–what to expect, what’s the general process, what they will have to do and what you will do. You show them the big picture. That’s the first payoff.
The Second Payoff
The second, and biggest, payoff comes at the moment in the interview when the client decides he can trust you, that you are a good lawyer and that you really want to–and can–help him. The client feels able to safely transfer the job of solving the problem to you. The new client feels relief, even immense relief, and leaves your office feeling a lot lighter for the first time in weeks. Even if some of what you told him was a disappointment.
Providing these services, even before the case has even begun, takes good lawyering. In addition to that, when you are billing on a contingency basis, you will face carrying the client all the way to judgment or settlement. It’s a big investment. Who you represent is very important, and a good marketing plan can help you with that.
It’s by now clear that you ought to have an Internet presence to attract clients. Clients (and their friends and family members), will be looking for you there. They are not just sitting on the couch, flicking through the channels, and absently watching a TV ad. They are on the Net, actively and intently looking for information and legal help.
One of the most economical ways for a trial lawyer to market on the Net is through OLM’s LawyersandSettlements.com, an internet news magazine which reports on class actions and tort actions–against defendants like medical device makers, drug manufacturers and all the rest.
LAS publishes up-to-date news and feature articles covering more than 80 areas of tort law cases. The story profiling and intensity, for any given subject–say, the Guidant pacemaker and defibrillator recalls–are based on the marketing needs of the individual lawyers and law firms supporting the magazine. The heavier and longer the marketing campaign, the more articles. The more articles, the more hits.
Sending signals to Google
The writers write the articles for online use, bearing in mind the mechanisms of Net search engines. They use the important keywords for each topic. When these keywords, say for example, “Guidant pacemaker”, “Guidant recalls”, and “pacemaker failure” are found in the title or first paragraph an article, the article will be found by search engines like Google, and will then show up on the result page. Just how high on the search result list they are placed depends on a number of factors, including the reliability reputation of the source. LAS has earned a high reliability index, which means a high placement on the page. Placement means a lot, since the higher your placement, the more clicks you will get. For you, more clicks means more client leads.
If you were to ask Google News today to search for stories relating to “medtronic sprint fidelis recall lawsuits” (as I did just now), you would get a search result containing 20,400 entries. The second and sixth on the list of entries are LAS articles, published Nov. 3 and October 30.
When did you first hear about the FDA and its skirmishes with Shelhigh Medical Devices? Or about Kugel Mesh patches? Suddenly these stories hit the news, and almost immediately, people who think they might have a claim are looking for advice. They are on the internet within hours or days of the story breaking, looking for more information. If you want to help them, it’s a good idea to be there waiting for them.
How valuable it is for a person with a problem to find the right specialist! People hurt by a defective medical device need a lawyer who has the technical knowledge–and maybe even experience with the very manufacturer–to help. People want information quickly–and this is the moment to let them connect with you easily.
Timing is all.