Kevin Quinlan – Lawyer Marketing Consultant, specializing in legal industry website design / web 2.0 search engine promotion for attorneys says developing creative, flash websites is also a trend among law firms.
West Palm Beach, Florida (JusticeNewsFlash.com – News Report) – Cellular phones, digital cameras, flat screen TVs, fax machines, scanners, BlackBerrys, and the internet, are all tools we use to keep in touch with the world’s events, in order to be ‘technologically savvy’ if you will. Yet many of the law professionals are new to learning how to use these Web 2.0 technologies, finds ABA’s Legal Technology Survey Report. The survey compiled its results from 850 lawyers in the nation many of whom use simple websites and e-mail newsletters to receive their news updates. Although most lawyers are unfamiliar with RSS feeds (‘a technology that displays headlines from many sites on a single webpage’), they are extremely cutting edge when it comes to their mobile devices.
Information from the study found that less than one third of lawyers use blogs for information, in addition to RSS feeds, online video and pod casts. It is also seen that younger lawyers use Blackberrys much more than the older lawyers. Statistics show that 72% of lawyers under 40 use BlackBerrys, whereas only 50% of lawyers over the age of 60 use them. In the many features of these phones, lawyers – young and old – have learned how to use them on the go. Emails are exchanged rapidly between lawyers, coworkers and clients. The use of email on a phone increased from 54% to 75% from 2006-2008, but actual legal research is still reserved for books and computers.
Website Trend
Developing creative, flash websites is also a trend among law firms with 100 lawyers or more, and has been since around 2003, with 100% of firms with 100 lawyers or more using web pages. And although the number of solo firms had drastically increased, (17% in 2003 to 52% in 2008), it has still not reached the level of top firms. Some law firms have even gone ‘paperless’ using a system called Efax, which effortlessly downloads incoming faxes into a pdf format. Files are saved on zip drives, making traveling easier and lighter.
Like learning a new language, learning how to use technology takes time and practice. As the world uses technology more and more for communication, business and research, those who do not adapt, will fall behind the times and out of touch. It will be in the best interest of lawyers, young or old, firms big or small to advance in the technology era and be completely up-to-date with new communication and marketing techniques.
Contributor: Kevin Quinlan – Lawyer Marketing Consultant, specializing in lawyer website design, search engine promotion for lawyers Tel: 561-346-2556