January 14, 2009
Social Media For Lawyers Breakfast Seminar - LMA Vancouver January 21, 2009
For Vancouver area lawyers and legal marketers interested in the exploding world of Social Media/Social Networking and wondering what all the fuss is about, I will be presenting a breakfast session next Wednesday, January 21st at downtown law firm Farris Vaughan Wills & Murphy. Any and all interested parties welcome from committed luddites to the merely curious to hardcore techgeeks who will undoubtedly be able to teach me a thing or three along the way.
Details and registration information are available on the Legal Marketing Association Vancouver Chapter website.
Posted by dougjasinski at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 22, 2007
The "War for Talent" in US law firms brings the perks raining down
I came across an interesting law firm retention strategies article in the New York Times this morning about the general ramp-up in perks, benefits, bonuses, and what-have-you that law firms in the U.S. market are resorting to in order to attract and retain top legal talent. The list of incentives in play is an interesting one - random acts of kindness from the happiness committee at Perkins Coie, cash bonuses on top of year-end bonuses at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, a $2000 bonus for employees who buy a hybrid car at DLA Piper, to in-house meals, on-site daycare, concierge and personal valet services elsewhere.
While one lawyer quoted in the article expressed disdain at some of the more exotic perks (pet insurance, concierge services) as an "appalling" attempt to "set up people's lives", my view is that Marina Sirras, who runs a legal recruitment firm in New York, is bang on with her assessment that "money is not the only thing that drives these lawyers right now - they want to be able to have a family and enjoy their family. This has never been as hot an issue". The article touches upon the fact that child-care is often a critical issue in this context, and cites a handful of firms that have experimented with on-site daycare and emergency nanny services. My money says the first big Canadian firm that gets behind child care in a serious way is going to have a significant competitive advantage in the market when it comes to attracting and retaining the associate generation.
Posted by dougjasinski at 11:42 AM | Permalink
October 30, 2007
American law students make diversity a recruiting priority
It seems that law firm practice management advisor David Bilinsky has scooped the New York Times on this story. Recently David posted on his blog about an initiative of some law students in the United States that had set up a blog with a diversity scorecard for law firms. The project, dubbed "Building a Better Legal Profession" uses data provided by the firms themselves. As David so aptly summarized it - "These students are hitting law firms in the numbers."
Lo and behold, yesterday there was a New York Times article on the project, which, needless to say, is the kind of PR that makes an impact.
Jumping to the Canadian context, there is no question in my mind that law students in this country are - as a cohort - equally supportive of workplace diversity, and that the associate recruiting wars here are scaling up to a level where it is going to be incumbent upon leading Canadian firms to examine their own diversity initiatives in the context of both student and client demand.
A year ago I wrote an article in the Lawyer's Weekly on diversity issues, and pointed to pressure from the junior ranks as well as from larger corporate clients that are ahead of the firms themselves as being the drivers of change in this arena. At that time, I suggested five actions law firms concerned about this issue might consider for the year ahead. A year later, they still seem relevant and so I will repeat them here:
1. implement commitments to specific diversity goals and create tracking systems to measure progress;
2. prepare an up-to-date diversity statement for inclusion in RFP responses;
3. make diversity an element of your firm’s student and associate recruitment platform;
4. add a diversity profile to your firm’s Martindale listing; and
5. create a diversity section on your firm website.
Posted by dougjasinski at 11:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBack
October 02, 2007
Video is coming to law firm websites
Earlier this month Skunkworks Creative Group launched a new law student recruiting micro-site for Vancouver law firm Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP that prominently features a multimedia section called BHTV. BHTV features video interviews of several of the firm's young associates speaking on topics such as the firm culture, their expectations and the reality of work at the firm, as well as a guided office tour.
My personal view is that you can expect to see a great deal more use of both video and audio content on law firm websites in the year(s) ahead. 5 key reasons why:
1. Video makes a law firm's core offering - it's people - the centerpiece of the marketing;
2. Video is an excellent tool to help law firms differentiate from their competitors;
3. Video is sticky, meaning that people will stay on your website longer;
4. Video is becoming more prominent both in other professional services and on the Internet generally; and
5. Video is becoming less expensive and easier to produce over time.
Will video replace the written word? (I am reminded at this juncture of the late 70's new wave song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles) The short answer is no. But will most major law firms have at least some video content on their website within the next five years? My bet is yes, for the reasons already noted.
Posted by dougjasinski at 06:17 PM | Permalink
September 26, 2007
Welcome to Water Street
It's been a simultaneously hectic and energizing few months at Skunkworks as we have completed a number of major projects, launched ourselves into several more, and most recently, moved from our old Yaletown office into larger premises on Water Street in the nearby Gastown district of Vancouver.
For those not familiar with it, Gastown is one of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhoods, and sits at an interesting cross-roads on the edge of the downtown business district. On one side sits the Canada Place cruise ship terminal, disgorging a seemingly endless stream of American tourists on their stop-over before heading up the Inside Pasage to Alaska. On the other side is Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. In the middle, sits Gastown, which at the moment seems to be infused with an almost palpable energy as it re-invents itself for probably the tenth or eleventh time. High tech entrepreneurs, Vancouver Film School students, folks down on their luck, small business owners and artisans seem to all be in the mix. It's not typical fare for many lawyers, but it sure feels like the right spot for an agency like Skunkworks that straddles both the legal industry and the advertising agency worlds. All of us at the agency are feeling the sense of renewal that a change of environment often brings, and looking forward to settling in for a longer stretch this time in our newly expanded HQ.
Posted by dougjasinski at 08:51 PM | Permalink
March 19, 2006
2006 LMA Your Honor Awards: Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP is top Canadian entry
The Legal Marketing Association's 2006 annual conference took place in Chicago earlier this month, and marked the organization's 20th anniversary, with what was by all reports, a great event. The "Your Honor Awards" for legal marketing are always one of the conference highlights.
This year we are happy to report that Skunkworks' client Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP was the top Canadian law firm in any category, with a third-place finish in the recruiting category for its summer and articled student recruitment campaign "Student Life". The campaign was a true joint effort between agency and client every step of the way, and more important than the award hardware or where we ended up on the podium is the fact the campaign worked - applications to the firm increased significantly in both number and quality, giving Alexander Holburn a deeper talent pool to draw from and increasing the name recognition of the firm in the local marketplace.
Hats off as well to Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP who received an honourable mention in the website category. After big wins for several Canadian firms at last year's awards (including best of show for Goodman's LLP branding campaign) Canadian firms were not as prevalent amongst the finalists this time around. Time for a homegrown "Own the Podium" strategy for next year's show?
Posted by dougjasinski at 06:23 PM | Permalink
October 11, 2005
Law student blogs: the Canadian list
Steve Matthews at the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog has created a list of Canadian law student blogs. Student recruitment coordinators, start your engines. You can find the list here.
Posted by dougjasinski at 11:17 PM | Permalink
June 23, 2005
Student Pro Bono Work Gets Noticed
UBC Faculty of Law's Law Students' Legal Advice Program is the subject of a recent article in the Tyee which notes that the program has become one of the largest legal aid providers in the province given cutbacks to government-funded legal aid.
Given the interest amongst law students and young lawyers for this kind of practical experience with an altruistic bent, we think there is an undeveloped opportunity out there for law firms to include a structured pro bono initative as a formal component of their student program. Good PR and an extra hook to distinguish your firm during recruitment efforts would be just a couple of the benefits.
Posted by dougjasinski at 03:14 PM | Permalink
