Attorney Sharon Chirichillo graciously offered to participate in our guest blogger series. Sharon founded The Law Offices of Sharon Chirichillo, a 6 lawyer DUI criminal defense firm located in Olympia, WA. She was an early adopter of Avvo and is a prolific participant in Avvo Answers.
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Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King’s counsel that “[i]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” I became an attorney. His call to action was based in respect and truth. Throughout the process of becoming an attorney I hold on to those tenets.
Before I began my criminal defense six person law office in Olympia, I had read a library full of books regarding small business ownership. Basically the information sifted into three factors: business plan, budget, and marketing plan.
I started by visiting various non-legal business groups in my community to see which one might fit my values and goals. Wanting to serve my community in other ways a fellow business person invited me to join Rotary. It is with Rotary that I crystallized my vision.
There is a Four-Way Test of the Things Rotarians Think, Say and Do: First, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concerned? Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? And finally, the fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned?
These four tests and the commitment to achieve for justice are the foundation in how we govern our practice. Especially in its application to marketing concepts this foundation is keen. Our firm does not play games, psych other people out, and be anything but what we commit for our clients, aggressive representation with compassionate counsel for justice.
Consistently we carry that view to our clients. In fact, truth and our commitment to justice is exactly what attract people to our firm. Bottom line, we deeply care for our client’s outcome and will be tenacious to achieve reasonable and sometimes miraculous results.
Following this connection for truthful marketing concepts, it was a client who first introduced me to Avvo. He pointed out that I had a profile and it was not claimed. I went to Avvo’s site, checked it out and found it fascinating. I was drawn to the features of attorney claiming profile, client rating attorney and peer rating attorney aspects. I have been used to being rated through Martindale-Hubbell and have been an advocate to be rated as an attorney.
Avvo has been a tremendous springboard in promoting access of the public to attorneys. A useful feature is that the public can ask questions for an attorney to answer. I value answering people’s questions. Through the writing, it seems to help the public connect with the legal system. For most people, the legal system is convoluted and inaccessible. Avvo precipitates a bridge for the public to bring a voice that can be heard.
In particular, my clients enjoy Avvo. Most of my client’s are highly computer savvy. My client’s tell me they use Avvo as a way to get informed and ask questions. I find that Avvo helps my client’s to navigate through the haze of the judicial system and feel more secure in getting answers.
I see that Avvo assists me to be beneficial for all concern in promoting the essence of our practice. Our commitment is to our clients to uphold compassionate counsel with aggressive representation towards justice. Avvo assists me to corroborate that genuineness.
