It’s hard to leave my work at the office . . .

I spent July 4th on Cape Cod visiting my in-laws. My wife and I took one afternoon off from kids, fireworks and hot dogs to take a quiet walk around the quaint town of Oysterville, where we stumbled into a bookstore and I ran smack into J. Craig Williams’ new book, How to Get Sued. This is a tiny bookstore in a tiny town and there was Craig’s book front and center as you walk in:

I asked the proprietor why they had a copy. Apparently one of their regular customers was on a flight sitting next to a man who was almost in tears laughing while reading How to Get Sued. The man placed a special order and they picked up an additional copy.

Craig - I can’t remember the name of the place and I can’t find them online, but there are only about 8 stores in Oysterville and the proprietor was extremely excited that I knew you. “Would he do a book signing?”. . . So if you are ever on the Cape (and I think you are occasionally) a trip in to the tiny bookstore in Oysterville could be fun.

What do (nearly) all of these lawyers have in common? They have complete profiles(with photos), as well as high levels of participation in Avvo Answers. Calling all attorneys - you too can be on this list next week!

1. John M. Kaman, San Francisco, CA

2. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

3. John C. Quale, Washington, DC

4. Elizabeth Rankin Powell, Tacoma, WA

5. Jon Michael Zimmerman, Seattle, WA

6. William Head, Atlanta, GA

7. Michael D. Haza, Campbellsport, WI

8. Okorie Okorocham, Los Angeles, CA

9. Jason Matthew Mayberry, Tampa, FL

10. Alec Scott Rose, Santa Monica, CA

Seattle natives always say “July 4th is the first day of summer.” Lucky for us we’ve warmed up a bit earlier this year…because it’s supposed to rain on the 4th. But that hasn’t stopped us from pretending!

We headed to a baseball game at Safeco field to celebrate our birthday earlier in June:

And Martin got his summer gear out and has been sporting his Avvo shirt around the office:

Mark went fishing and caught a brown trout:

And we’re planning a good old fashioned BBQ for later this summer. Stay tuned for great shots from the picnic!

Drop us a line and let us know what you’re up to this summer. Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!

My proud Mother sent me the above clipping from the San Jose Mercury News. Always great to see lawyers waving the Avvo banner. Here is Richard Alexander’s Avvo Profile. I think his Avvo Profile photo does him much more justice!

Richard, feel free to run this ad everyday for the indefinite future.

Be well.

Mark

Thanks to all the folks who turned out for the 2nd Seattle Law Blogger Meetup. Here are some tips I learned from my fellow law bloggers:

• China Law Blog offered that writing a Blawg Review could expose you to legal bloggers outside your niche
• Employment Law Blog noted that though her blog is not regularly updated, potential clients regularly contact her for her expertise based on older posts
• Twitter is the platform of choice for Michael Rice and Randall Moeller
• Seattle Trademark Lawyer proposed using Twitter as a “microblog” for stories that he does not want to write a full- length blog post

Terrific post from Cordell Parvin about the growing importance of website bios. While Parvin notes that he used to hate the annual updating of his bio, he now recognizes the importance of fleshing out one’s online identity in an age when an increasing number of consumers of legal services are seeking help online.

Parvin’s post has a lot of great tips for lawyers regarding presenting themselves in the best light, our favorite being the advice to not have the website photos “taken after the cocktail party at the firm retreat.” With respect to photos, we would also emphasize the importance of displaying photos on all of one’s online profiles, whether it’s a law firm website, Avvo profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Lawyer profiles with photos on Avvo, for example, are clicked on over seven times more often than profiles lacking a photo. Just don’t make it the kind of photo that people click on out of morbid curiousity!

One old truism of advertising is that “long copy sells.” The idea is that pitches that include more detail will convert better than those that only provide high-level information. This truth of this adage gains more and more credence as the cost of a good or service increases (which is obviously true in spades for legal services). The more info you can provide a potential client about your background, your expertise and your approach, the better-positioned you will be to gain that client.

The good news is that even as people flock to the web to research legal services, the cost for a lawyer to present a comprehensive profile, complete with “long copy” in the form of comprehensive background info, downloadable documents, case highlights and video has come way down. You can build out such a profile on Avvo and the social networking sites for free (here’s a great example that incorporates video). Even the cost and hassle of producing a professional video spot has dropped.

Whether its your next client, employer, or partner - you never know when someone is going to be looking you up online. With the resources available today, there’s no excuse to not put your best foot forward.

The Supreme Court today further reduced the punitive damages against Exxon for the Valdez spill. The initial $5 billion judgment against Exxon has now been reduced to just over $1 billion, making attorney Walter Dellinger a $4 billion JD-brandishing superhero to big oil. Exxon profits were just under $4 billion per month in the first quarter of 2008.

1. Alec Rose, Santa Monica, CA

2. Mark Vincent Kaplan, Los Angeles, CA

3. William Head, Atlanta, GA

4. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

5. Melanie L Bossie,
Phoenix, AZ

6. Okorie Okorocham, Los Angeles, CA

7. Thuong-Tri Nguyen, Renton, WA

8. Jonathan Dichter, Bothell, WA

9. David Leibowitz, Waukegan, IL

10. Jon Scott Fox, Bellevue, WA

1. Since when did wearing underwear become dangerous? Macrida Patterson, who is suing Victoria’s Secret, says she was hurt by a defective “low rise v-string” last May when a rhinestone came lose from the panties and hit her in the eye. Lawyer Jason Buccat, of the L.A. firm, Willoughby & Associates, said that a “design problem caused the decorative piece to come loose and strike Patterson in the eye, causing damage to her cornea.”

2. Every rose has it’s thorn… 80’s hair-band, Poison, has filed a lawsuit against Capitol Records for consistently not paying them royalties throughout their monumental careers. Lawyers Mark Passin and Jonathan Stern, of the Santa Monica firm Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George, are representing Bret Michaels and the gang with their sad sad song.

3. It’s not a small world after all… Apparently a beard and turban don’’t really fly if you want to work at Disney World. Sukhbir Channa, a practicing Sikh, was removed from his position in the parade for not having the “Disney look”. With the help of his lawyer, Matt Sarelson, he is suing for “at least $1 million and that the court enjoin Disney from discriminating against Sikh employees and prospective employees.”

Some major stories in the blogosphere:

• Sonic Trial Blog scores an interview with the City of Seattle’s lawyer Paul Lawrence
• Slate’s Hot Document summarizes the Bill Murray/Jennifer Butler Murray prenuptial agreement and has it in its entirety
• WSJ Law Blog covers a new trend “dating terms of engagement”: this one is between Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan and it stipulates, “One date per week, a minimum of a hundred minutes of alone time, not in his apartment and definitely not at Facebook.”
• Lori Drew, the worst person on the internet plead not guilty in MySpace suicide case
• What’s the Matter With Kansas?  Lawyers, Guns and Money explains, sourcing the New York Times
• RIAA’s strategy may really boil down to “be sleazy, intimidate, then profit”
• Florida Bar recommends that Jack Thompson be disbarred for 10 years (Gamepolitics has the sanctions hearing transcript)

Oh and it’s sunny in Seattle