London-based Eversheds recently won the 2005 'Best Use of Technology' award from the European Managing Partners Forum. The annual practice-management competition is open to law, accounting, property management, management consulting and other professional services firms. Categories cover marketing, human resources programs, diversity efforts, financial management and more.

Features

Over the next few months in our monthly column on media relations, Jaffe Associates' media relations team will take a closer look at several of the top publications for legal coverage. We will interview the editors and reporters who cover the news and bring you their perspective on what is important to them and the direction in which they think legal reporting is heading.<br>Our first article in the series looks at the Wall Street Journal Law Page. In January of this year, the WSJ greatly expanded its online coverage of legal issues with a new page dedicated to law-related content and launched a legal industry blog, the only one of its kind by a major daily. We sat down with <b>Ashby Jones</b>, the editor of the page, and <b>Peter Lattman</b>, a WSJ Online legal reporter and the primary writer for the blog, to learn more about the page and its content.

Lawyers have long been the subject of jokes and put downs, but apocryphal anecdotes demeaning lawyers, the courts, or the legal system particularly irk Karen M. Balaban, a Harrisburg attorney and one of three chairs of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Public Relations Implementation Task Force Committee. Lawyers, she believes, 'should not allow these urban legends to proliferate' to the detriment of lawyers and judges and the public's opinion of the profession. Instead, Balaban says, lawyers, who are trained to help adjudicators find the truth, 'should be more conscious about getting at the facts of the matter.' Balaban emphasizes that faux facts make all lawyers look bad, and asserts that lawyers should investigate and then, when they discover that some stories are false, should say, 'these things are not true.'

Throughout your career, you will probably attend more than a few networking events, seminars, conferences, trade shows, and cocktail parties. How much thought have you given to how you will introduce yourself? How much time have you spent preparing your elevator pitch or 30 second commercial?

Features

'Who knows whom?' That's the question. <br>In today's hypercompetitive legal marketplace, the need to leverage information is at an all-time high. It's no longer sufficient to rely solely on law school, a golf club or other social affiliations to get new business. While relationships are still key to opening doors, winning the work requires more.

Features

Legal publications' lists of lawyers can increase the reputation of a particular attorney, practice or law firm. While getting listed can be a boon for a firm's marketing efforts and for lateral and associate recruiting, unfortunately, 'Sorry, maybe next year,' is the most common phrase heard by law firms vying for these sought after spots.

As much as we might try to brand, differentiate, cross-market, and otherwise distinguish our law firms in the legal services marketplace, a law firm's success ultimately comes down to individual lawyers. They are the ones who must bring in the business, retain it and grow it. That is good reason for law firm marketing departments to focus on their internal clients first and foremost. Think inside the box, then build outward to devise strategies and tactics for building and retaining external clients.

Features

'Equal justice under law' ' these words, written in stone on the face of the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, express the goal of our judicial system. But what exactly is justice, and when was the last time you and your partners and associates thought about justice as it relates to your practice?