Welcome to the Final Four of Avvo’s Lawyer Madness!

Has your school made it?

Voting in this round is open until Saturday, April 3. After we narrow it down to the final two schools, you’ll need to vote again in the Championship Match-Up to determine the winner by Monday, April 5. Check back here for the winning law school to be  announced on Tuesday, April 6.

Alumni from the winning school at the end of the tournament will receive 3 months of Avvo Pro for free. Vote as many times as you’d like and ask others to do the same!

Seattle University Law School vs U of Minnesota Law School — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Seattle: 7.18
Minnesota: 7.25

U of Washington School of Law vs Wayne State University Law School — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Washington: 7.57
Wayne State: 6.72

Go ahead and vote now!!

Think state attorney regulators aren’t amenable to the changes that technology brings to the practice of law? Well, here’s more evidence to support that view: New Jersey has come out with an official frowning-upon of “virtual law offices”, including those where attorneys rent office space on a non-fixed basis.

Perhaps the New Jersey Committee on Attorney Advertising felt its hands were bound by the state rules requiring that attorneys maintain a “bona fide office,” and that this is the surest way to ensure that the rules get changed. However, it could have easily found a more expansive definition of what constitutes a “bona fide office;” one that takes into account our present world of ubiqutous broadband connections, voicemail and mobile phones. Instead, we get this ridiculousness.

Now solos throughout the Garden State have to choose between taking a stand against their regulators or increasing their cost structures by renting inefficient office space. Not good for solos, and not good for consumers who will bear these increased costs.

During law school, a practicing lawyer told me that “Law is a jealous mistress.” I found this clever until I heard it another 100+ times from lawyers who were either shooting their “free” time or shooting mine. But with a couple of years practicing under my belt, I realized that “The Law” had nothing to with our collective pain – it was the jealous clients. Law was but a residence for my client concubine – a jealous lot that never wanted to know others existed and uncannily needed my attention most when I was in the arms of another.

I came to understand the stress of a philanderer. Every time I was satisfying the needs of one client, inevitably another would call needing an emotional rescue. When it rained it poured – a juggling act often requiring 2, 3, 4 flaming swords in the air at once. It was as if there was a Batman-like light in the sky, telling all clients to call their attorney. So many times, buried in work and lack of sleep, I sat looking at a ringing phone wondering whether I should pick it up. This wonderment was often accompanied by regret that I had yet to buy that cot for my office.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the idea of my clients calling. But too much of any good thing can be tough. And making things tougher was the jealous nature of the situation. Clients that have already paid you for hundreds of hours at hundreds per hour tend to be a bit possessive. You are theirs, and when their world is on fire, they have no interest in hearing about your other dalliances. In fact, they don’t even want to know they exist.

And lawyers perpetuate this jealousy by pretending – due to firm culture or intuition – that no other client exists. You pick up the phone and whisper sweet nothings because another beau is only a phone call away. And most likely that beau has called on your jealous mistress at least once in the last couple of months. The horror.

The result is a quartering of sorts. While trying to be the “one” for multiple clients, the lawyer is often pulled in so many directions that their demise is almost assured. In an attempt to keep the client, they often end up disappointing the client and losing them in whole or part.

Take a look at my most recent Avvocating article where I offer some pointers on how to communicate and ultimately keep your clients. No need to be quartered . . . just communicative.

Mark

Enrique F. Villalba, a 47 year old graduate of Seattle University Law School (formerly University of Puget Sound School of Law) and West Point, was caught this week running a $30 million dollar ponzi scheme out of Ohio.

Villalba claimed his special knowledge of physics allowed him to predict futures markets.  Calling his special strategy “money market plus,” he would promise investors 8-12% per year and limited risk through stop orders.  Instead, Villalba plowed the money into his coffee shop, called Rico Latte, bought real estate and of course paid off some early investors.

An SEC press release explains that Villalba did actually trade some of the money, which resulted in a loss of $17 million dollars.  It also says that Villalba sunk $1.2 million into his Rico Latte coffee shop, which has a private conference room enclosed in glass with a long board of directors conference table, leather chairs and a TV, only accessible by secret code.

Here’s a picture:

An entry for Rico Latte on CityVoter states that it began “as a coffee cart in a small Christian bookstore.”

Although Villalba’s $30 million dollar ponzi is making headlines, it still pales in comparison to New York attorney Marc Drier’s $700 million ponzi.

A record of Villalba being licensed to practice law in any state could not be found in Avvo.

We’re down to the Elite Eight of Avvo’s Lawyer Madness!

Is your school still in the running? It’s time to vote again! Remember, alumni from the winning school at the end of the tournament will receive 3 months of Avvo Pro for free! Voting in this round is open until Wednesday.  Vote as many times as you’d like and tell others to do the same!

Midwest

U of Kansas College of Law vs Seattle University Law School — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Kansas: 7.04
Seattle: 7.18

West

Gonzaga School of Law vs U of Minnesota Law School — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Gonzaga: 7.15
Minnesota: 7.25

East

U of Wisconsin Law School vs U of Washington School of Law — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Wisconsin: 7.12
Washington: 7.57

South

Wayne State University Law School vs Villanova School of Law — VOTE

Average Avvo Rating:

Wayne State: 6.72
Villanova: 6.78

Over the past 3 years, website and blog platforms have come a long way in terms of conforming to Search Engine Optimization best practices. In simple terms, the technology to support SEO is becoming more ubiquitious. However, every now and then I run across sites that still run afoul of SEO fundamentals. Take this visually georgous site for the Atlas Law Group. Unfortunately, the site is built entirely in Flash and the search engines have trouble (although getting better) parsing Flash content. What does this mean in real terms? Well, because the engines can’t navigate in Flash, they can’t even find any of the additional pages on the site (in fact, technically there aren’t any additional pages, the entire site is one single shell built in Flash). So all of the content on the site is invisible. A search for the pages indexed by Google returns only one single page – the homepage. (You can do this search for your own site by doing this search on Google: site:www.atlaslawgroup.com). This search should return all of the pages on your site, if it doesn’t, you may have a technical problem.) To demonstrate why this is such a significant problem, the site doesn’t even rank for the attorney’s name: Megan K. Pionkowski.

Now lets look at what we get when we search for “atlas law group“, the homepage does come up, but unfortunately the snippet reads: “Non-Flash Site Under Construction – Click here for access to the Atlas Law Group Twitter page. loading…” This is hardly a welcoming advertisement for someone looking to hire the Atlas Law Group.

SEO technical problems used to be rampant. Technology has improved so much in the past three years that problems like this should never happen. Be careful who you hire.

Want to guess what the MOST frequently asked question is to Avvo Customer Care? Just take a wild guess…OK OK no more suspense. The most FAQ is [insert drum roll]: How do I improve my Avvo Rating? Well, unfortunately we don’t have an easy answer for you, but this video will sum up our best tips and advice for how to get your Avvo Rating the best that it can be. Oh, and along the way we’ll point out some additional information that potential clients are interested in.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and you’ll get notified of our next video: How to increase your visibility on Avvoикони

It’s the Sweet Sixteen of Avvo Lawyer Madness!

Welcome back! Time to vote once again to keep your school alive! Remember, alumni from the winning school at the end of the tournament will receive 3 months of Avvo Pro for free! Voting in this round is open until Friday.  Vote as many times as you’d like and encourage your lawyer friends (and non-lawyer friends) to do the same!

Midwest:

U of Kansas College of Law vs University of Houston Law Center — VOTE

Georgetown Law vs Seattle University Law School — VOTE

West:

Gonzaga School of Law vs Vanderbilt College of Law — VOTE

U of Minnesota Law School vs U of Florida Levin College of Law – VOTE

East:

U of Texas School of Law vs U of Wisconsin Law School — VOTE

U of Washington School of Law vs Missouri Columbia School of Law — VOTE

South:

Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law vs Wayne State University Law School — VOTE

Baylor School of Law vs Villanova School of Law — VOTE

The job of a lawyer can be tough.  For example, here are seven videos showing what happens when depositions go horribly wrong.  If colorful language offends you, please do not continue.

1) This is a  “Texas style” deposition, if depositions in Texas involve name calling and threats:

2) I have no idea what’s happening here, except that the man putting a bag over his head foreshadows an utter train wreck:

3) Amorous sounds from the other end of the phone interrupt a mesothelioma deposition:

4) Bill Gates and the lawyer deposing him apparently didn’t get along very well:

5) I feel sorry for the woman who has to sit between these two lawyers:

6) This deposition must have been tough for the attorneys, and a nightmare the court reporter:

7) Larry Flynt explains the difference between class and style, among other things:

We’ve moved onto Round 2 of Avvo’s Lawyer Madness!!

See who has advanced – and especially check out the schools in all capital letters – they received the most votes in Round 1 to be brought into the competition!

So now it’s time for you to VOTE again.  Keep your school going! Voting in Round 2 will be open until Monday. Alumni from the winning school at the end of the tournament will receive 3 months of Avvo Pro for free!

Midwest:

U of Kansas College of Law vs William S Boyd School of Law UNLV — VOTE

Michigan State College of Law vs University of Houston Law Center — VOTE

U of Tennessee College of Law vs Georgetown Law — VOTE

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY vs Ohio State Moritz College of Law — VOTE

West:

Syracuse College of Law vs Gonzaga School of Law — VOTE

Vanderbilt College of Law vs SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW — VOTE

U of Minnesota Law School vs U of Pittsburgh School of Law — VOTE

U of Florida Levin College of Law vs North Texas School of Law — VOTE

East:

U of Kentucky College of Law vs U of Texas School of Law — VOTE

Temple Beasley School of Law vs U of Wisconsin Law School — VOTE

U of Washington School of Law vs U of Montana School of Law — VOTE

Missouri Columbia School of Law vs West Virginia College of Law — VOTE

South:

Duke School of Law vs UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law — VOTE

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW (St. Louis) vs WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL — VOTE

Notre Dame Law School vs Baylor School of Law — VOTE

U of of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law vs Villanova School of Law — VOTE