A lot of people subscribe to my blog through my RSS feed, but did you know there's a blog fan page on Facebook?
Become a fan! You can find out out which posts other people find interesting and more easily share posts with your friends.
UCLA Law's Williams Institute, the organization that provided the gay demographic data for my post on gay marriage facts and statistics, is hosting its 9th annual conference on gender and sexuality law at UCLA at the end of this week.
The official description is at the conference website:
Both in scholarship and in judicial opinions, issues related to sexuality and gender constitute one of the most dynamic and vibrant fields in American law. Yet there has been no sustained examination of the field itself and of its importance to constitutional theory more generally. This conference will bring together leading scholars from both inside and outside the field to reflect on how sexuality and gender has changed the law, and how the field itself is likely to change.
If you're an attorney in southern California, or are otherwise interested, you can register for the conference at the website.
I've started a new blog, the Atlanta Divorce Law Blog. It will provide resources and information on Georgia divorce and family law.
I hope the new blog will help make the law easier to understand so that people can make more informed decisions about their families. Check it out!
I like science fiction. One of my favorite TV shows was the remake of Battlestar Galactica, which ended last year. Launching this month is a prequel series to the show, called Caprica, in which gay marriages will be common.
Even though it's science fiction, a TV show featuring gay marriages as normal would be unheard of just a few years ago. I encourage all you fellow science fiction fans to give the show a look when it premiers on January 22.
Thanks to Scott at Gay Marriage Watch for pointing this out.
I'll be taking a break over the next few days while I celebrate the holidays in Salt Lake City with my family. Check back next week when I go over the top stories of 2009 in gay couples law and my predictions for 2010.
Have a great holiday!
My dad told me a long time ago that when it comes to the legal business, the golden rule is that whoever makes the gold makes the rules.
A few posts around the internet in the last few days drive the point home. First was Thomas Friedman's op-ed in the New York Times. He commented on why lawyers are being laid off:
Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive. Therefore, we not only need a higher percentage of our kids graduating from high school and college — more education — but we need more of them with the right education.
Ashby Jones in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog agreed with the op-ed, concluding that "those law-firm lawyers who can bring in the biz — in addition to doing the work handed them — are those who are going to thrive, regardless of the economic situation."
But if you think lawyers would readily agree with that statement, think again. Look at the comments. They're filled with excuses:
-I don’t quite follow how a law school could help improve an attorney’s rainmaking abilities.
-The types of clients that are able to pay big-firm rates are not the type of clients that are going to send their work to a firm because they met one of its senior associates at a mixer.
-Can anybody name a single associate that is trusted by the egomaniac managing partners at any big law firm to deal with actual or potential clients?
-How should associates get business when they don’t have time or the credentials?
-There really isn’t a non-fraudulent way to bill 12 hours per day AND somehow gladhand potential clients at the same time.
-Lawyers are told at every turn not to take risks, not to stick out, and not to offend. Asking for business runs a high risk of breaking one or all of those rules.
-It isn’t like clients are spigots where you can turn them on when you want. Also, you pretty much have to do this with your evenings and weekends.
-Associates are working late every night at the firm. That doesn’t leave much time for developing the social contacts and relationships that will lead to business down the road.
Law students generally think that it's their school's responsibility to teach them what they need to know to be successful lawyers. They carry this mindset into their first jobs, thinking it's the firm's responsibility to give them work.
Maybe it is the school's responsibility--after all, students are paying for it.
But even if it is, so what? Instead of spending time blaming the school for not teaching them how to get clients, students should go out and learn themselves.
For some this means taking outside business development classes. For others it means finding an attorney mentor (attorneys are usually more than willing to help out young lawyers). For me, it's meant starting a blog and learning how I can use the internet and social media to develop a reputation in a niche area of law.
Heather Milligan at the Legal Watercooler discussed three things that students and young associates can do to become better rainmakers:
1. Personally invest in coaching & business development training
2. Take advantage of your firm's marketing department, or local Legal Marketing Association.
3. Take a rainmaker to lunch.
Here's a 4th: write a blog. Not about your personal life or about law school, but about an actual legal topic you find interesting.
For an example of what not to do, see the bloggers featured in the Weekly Law School Roundup. They write about themselves, not about the law or the questions that potential clients might have.
Instead, spend a few hours a week to write about a niche area of law. You'll (1) develop a reputation among professionals as an expert in the field, (2) get questions about the things you write, and (3) learn to write better. And you'll feel satisfied in helping people with real world problems--something you can't do inside a classroom.
The key is to do something. Heather sums it up:
The skills can be learned if you avail yourselves of the resources ... and the resources are out there. You just have to invest your time, and perhaps your money.
Many attorneys think they don't need to keep up with laws affecting gay and lesbian rights if their practice doesn't involve those laws.
They're wrong. Here's why:
1. Gay clients like attorneys that understand their unique legal needs.
Gays are a picky demographic. They are more likely to buy services from firms that target them specifically or that have a good reputation in the gay community. Gay people respond better to attorneys who care about them by keeping up with laws that affect their rights.
Even if your practice area has nothing to do with same sex family law and estate planning, you will earn a gay client's loyalty by showing that you follow the laws that personally affect him.
2. Gay clients are less likely to reduce spending on legal services in a recession.
The recession has reduced demand for most services, but gay people have reduced spending less than straight people. Don't be surprised if gay clients want legal work more often than straight ones as the recession continues.
Keeping up with the laws affecting their rights makes them loyal, coming back to you instead of going to your competitors.
3. Metropolitan legal centers are more gay than the rest of the country.
Gays make up 1-4% of the population in most cities, but are more concentrated in the country's major legal centers:
San Francisco - 15.5%
Seattle, Boston, Atlanta - 13%
NY, LA, Chicago - 6%
Other metropolitan areas are similarly concentrated. Your clients are more likely to be gay if you practice in a big city.
4. Gay people are better conduits of social media.
Gay people read blogs more than straight people and are more likely to seek professional advice on the internet. They're also more likely to share information through Facebook and Twitter, and are almost twice as likely to be on LinkedIn.
Smart lawyers build reputations through blogging and social media. They'll get more bang for their buck if they get gay influencers to listen to them.
5. Laws affecting gay people impact various practice areas.
Court decisions on gay family rights frequently affect the rights of straight couples.
Tax decisions, especially regarding filing rules and wealth transfer taxes, affect the rights of all unmarried households, including brother-sister, roommates, parent-child, and pre-married ones.
With Democrats in charge, expect new laws to spur litigation in various practice areas:
Attorneys don't have to be experts in laws affecting gay rights. But they'll benefit from spending a few minutes to follow them as they develop.
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