Legal Research & Writing Pro offers Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus memberships.
Silver
As a Silver member, you’ll have the opportunity to participate our next live teleseminar. Teleseminars are held the third Thursday of the month at 3 p.m. Eastern (noon Pacific).
The next program, PR 101 for Lawyers: How to Write Direct-to-Consumer Press Releases That the Media Will Also Love, will take place on November 18
Presented by Joan Stewart, a/k/a the Publicity Hound
This program will take place on Tuesday, November 18
Many lawyers overlook the value of public relations as part of their marketing mix. Today’s press releases are versatile, and can be used to reach consumers directly, as well as to reach journalists in traditional media outlets and bloggers.
Over the last 10 years, most of the rules of press releases have changed. We no longer write press releases only for journalists, but for consumers who are using search engines like Google to search for information online. So, even if the media doesn’t pick up your stories, your releases can pull valuable targeted traffic to your website. This strategy works equally well for attorneys who only do business locally.
Publicity expert Joan Stewart, a/k/a The Publicity Hound, knows scores of professionals who are doing just that. Some of them never get media attention for their releases. But that’s OK. The releases are targeting potential clients who end up hiring professionals (including lawyers). As a newspaper editor, Joan accepted and rejected thousands of press releases.
You’ll learn:
- Why most of the rules of writing press releases have changed, and why this is a huge benefit to firms like yours
- 3 questions to ask yourself before writing your press releases . . . if you don’t know the answers to these questions, you’re just wasting your time
- The 6 elements of a great a press release, including the three elements that many people mistakenly skip because they don’t know any better
- Why your press release doesn’t have to be about anything newsworthy . . . that’s because you aren’t writing it only for journalists
- Why your press releases no longer have to be limited to one page . . . and how to use all that extra space to really promote your practice
- Why a pile of clips from newspaper and magazines is the worst way to judge the success of your press releases . . . you’ll learn what really counts!
- How to write press releases for the search engine spiders . . . the more spiders that find your releases, the more humans will read them
- The importance of keywords, and where to place keywords within your release so the search engines can find them
- A major mistake companies make when choosing keywords and the one keyword phrase that’s a big waste of space
- The best press release distribution services that will give your releases the greatest online exposure
- The dirty little secret about those “free” press release distribution services, and what you must know before you consider using them
- Opportunities to write press releases . . . you don’t even have to think creatively because Joan has done all the heavy lifting for you
- The one thing you must do before you start writing press releases . . . skip this step and most of the traffic that you pull to your website will be worthless
- Where to learn more about how to write and distribute press releases online
. . . plus, we’ll leave plenty of time for your questions.
Can’t make it on November 18 at 3 p.m (Eastern)? Don’t worry: your Silver Membership also includes access to a downloadable recording and a transcript of this teleseminar.
LRWP Silver Membership
Price: $97
Is a Silver Membership right for me? View the membership features comparison chart.
Gold
If you’re ready to take your contract lawyering career to the next level, the Gold Membership is for you.
You could spend a lot of time and money starting a contract lawyering practice on your own, learning the ropes by trial and error. Or you can make a small investment in yourself and your career.
If you’re a practicing lawyer, the price of a Gold Membership is equivalent to a billable hour or two worth of fees. But the value of a Gold membership is much, much greater: just ask yourself how much a satisfying legal career—full of intellectually stimulating work that you can do wherever and whenever you want—is worth to to you.
A Gold Membership includes:
Contract Lawyering Success
This unique e-book covers these critical issues:
- How to Market Yourself as a Contract Lawyer
- The Big Picture
- Pros and Cons of Various Marketing Activities
- Communicating the Contract Lawyer Value Proposition
- Ethical Issues in the Contract Lawyer Relationship
- The Hiring Lawyer’s Duty to Adequately Supervise and Oversee the Contract Lawyer
- Conflicts of Interest
- Disclosing the Existence and Details of the Contract Lawyer Relationship With the Client
- An extensive appendix of ethics opinions from across the country that are relevant to the contract lawyer relationship
- Plus, a sample services agreement (also provided in MS Word format)
You’ll also receive supplements to the e-book whenever they come out, as long as you remain an active member.
Monthly Live Teleseminars
Teleseminars are held the third Thursday of the month at 3 p.m. Eastern (noon Pacific). The next three teleseminars are:
PR 101 for Lawyers: How to Write Direct-to-Consumer Press Releases That the Media Will Also Love, November 18
Presented by Joan Stewart, a/k/a the Publicity Hound
This program will take place on Tuesday, November 18
Many lawyers overlook the value of public relations as part of their marketing mix. Today’s press releases are versatile, and can be used to reach consumers directly, as well as to reach journalists in traditional media outlets and bloggers.
Over the last 10 years, most of the rules of press releases have changed. We no longer write press releases only for journalists, but for consumers who are using search engines like Google to search for information online. So, even if the media doesn’t pick up your stories, your releases can pull valuable targeted traffic to your website. This strategy works equally well for attorneys who only do business locally.
Publicity expert Joan Stewart, a/k/a The Publicity Hound, knows scores of professionals who are doing just that. Some of them never get media attention for their releases. But that’s OK. The releases are targeting potential clients who end up hiring professionals (including lawyers). As a newspaper editor, Joan accepted and rejected thousands of press releases.
You’ll learn:
- Why most of the rules of writing press releases have changed, and why this is a huge benefit to firms like yours
- 3 questions to ask yourself before writing your press releases . . . if you don’t know the answers to these questions, you’re just wasting your time
- The 6 elements of a great a press release, including the three elements that many people mistakenly skip because they don’t know any better
- Why your press release doesn’t have to be about anything newsworthy . . . that’s because you aren’t writing it only for journalists
- Why your press releases no longer have to be limited to one page . . . and how to use all that extra space to really promote your practice
- Why a pile of clips from newspaper and magazines is the worst way to judge the success of your press releases . . . you’ll learn what really counts!
- How to write press releases for the search engine spiders . . . the more spiders that find your releases, the more humans will read them
- The importance of keywords, and where to place keywords within your release so the search engines can find them
- A major mistake companies make when choosing keywords and the one keyword phrase that’s a big waste of space
- The best press release distribution services that will give your releases the greatest online exposure
- The dirty little secret about those “free” press release distribution services, and what you must know before you consider using them
- Opportunities to write press releases . . . you don’t even have to think creatively because Joan has done all the heavy lifting for you
- The one thing you must do before you start writing press releases . . . skip this step and most of the traffic that you pull to your website will be worthless
- Where to learn more about how to write and distribute press releases online
. . . plus, we’ll leave plenty of time for your questions.
Seven Ways to Increase the Lifetime Value of Your Clients in the New Year, December 18
Presented by Cole Silver, Esq., lawyer and certified marketing consultant
Did you know that
- it costs 5-12 times as much to attract a new client as it does to keep an existing client?
- the return on investment is up to 10 times higher for investments in client retention than in new client acquisition?
- 80% of your business will come from existing clients and their referrals?
Do you dislike “outbound” marketing tasks?
In a tough economy, all businesspeople—lawyers included—need to maximize the value of their current assets. Your current clients are your assets.
In this program, lawyer and certified marketing consultant Cole Silver will reveal the 7 steps you can take to maximize the lifetime value of your current clients.
You should attend this “tele-webinar” only if you want to:
- increase revenues and profits
- reduce marketing costs
- lower client attrition
- multiply your referrals
- reduce employee turnover
- liberate yourself from problem clients
- expand your sphere of influence and
- increase your career satisfaction—dramatically
In a “tele-webinar,” you call in to a conference call line to receive the audio portion of the program. If you have access to your computer, you can follow along with a Power Point presentation as well. There is no need to install any software on your computer. If you’re calling in from outside the office, don’t worry: you’ll receive a link to the presentation slides the day before the program, so you can view them at your convenience.
Presenter Cole Silver, Esq. leads The Silver Group, a company specializing in client acquisition and retention strategies for lawyers and professional service organizations. The Silver Group’s high performance training, products and consulting activities have turned personal, professional and organizational visions into reality. As a motivator and innovator with more than 27 years of successful legal and executive management expertise, Cole thrives on sharing empowering business development strategies that help people succeed in their careers.
As a former General Counsel to several high-growth companies (including one of the most profitable banks in the country, a national insurance company, the largest commercial MasterCard issuer in the U.S., an international specialty finance company and the third largest internet payments company), Cole understands what clients want and how to deliver and address their needs. As a result, he offers a point of view and level of experience that few lawyers or marketing experts can convey.
Plain Language Principles for Better Briefs, January 22
Presented by Cheryl Stephens, legal writing expert and author of Plain Language Legal Writing
In Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges, authors Bryan Garner and Justice Antonin Scalia advise lawyers to “[b]anish jargon, hackneyed expressions and needless Latin” from their briefs. You can accomplish this goal, and write more persuasive briefs, by applying the principles of plain language legal writing. Plain language legal writing refers to legal writing that is well thought out, well organized, and understandable to the reader without interpretation: the language is clear, the legal concepts are explained and the technical terms are defined.
In this program, you’ll learn:
- What it means to really know your audience
- What your intro should include
- When and how to use precedent
- Ways to reword legal terms so they’re understandable in plain English
- Methods for reducing wordiness
- When ambiguity is useful, and when it’s a hindrance
- Traps that make your writing cumbersome
- How to structure a sentence for clarity
- How to design paragraphs that work
- What passive voice is good for
. . . and more!
Presenter Cheryl Stephens is the author of several articles and books, including Plain Language Legal Writing. Her plain language blog, Rapport, is a popular resource online. For nearly twenty years, she has been writing, speaking, and teaching about plain language, helping legal professionals to become more successful communicators using plain language principles.
Downloadable Recordings of all Monthly Teleseminars
Can’t attend one of the monthly live teleseminars, or just want another chance to absorb the material? You can listen to the recordings at your computer, download them to your mp3 player, or burn them to a CD to listen to any time.
| What You Get - Gold | Value |
| Contract Lawyering Success e-book and supplements | $197 |
| Monthly Live Teleseminars | $97 per session | Downloadable recordings of all monthly teleseminars | $97 per session |
| Total value | $791 for the first three months alone |
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$297 a $491 savings! Starting in month 4, your credit card will be charged only $82 per session for live monthly teleseminars—a savings of 15%
You can cancel any time after the first 90 days—and keep the book and recordings! |
Is a Gold Membership right for me? View the membership features comparison chart.
Platinum
If you’re ready to jump start your contract lawyering career, you’re ready for the Platinum Membership.
In addition to all of the items that come with the Gold Membership—the Contract Lawyering Success ebook and three live teleseminars (plus the teleseminar recordings)—Platinum members receive three additional teleseminars and an hour of private coaching. Put my experience to work for you, with individualized feedback on any aspect of your contract lawyering practice.
| What You Get - Platinum | Value |
| Contract Lawyering Success e-book | $197 |
| Monthly Live Teleseminars | $97 per session | Downloadable recordings of all monthly teleseminars | $97 per session |
| One-hour private coaching session | $197 |
| Total value | $1,558 for the first six months alone |
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$597 a $961 savings! Starting in month 7, your credit card will be charged only $72 per session for live monthly teleseminars—a savings of 25%
You can cancel any time after the first six months—and keep the book and recordings! |
Is a Platinum Membership right for me? View the membership features comparison chart.
Platinum Plus
If you want to get on the fast track to contract lawyering success, you’re ready for the Platinum Plus Membership.
In addition to all of the items that come with the Platinum Membership—the Contract Lawyering Success ebook, live and recorded teleseminars and one-hour private coaching session—Platinum Plus members have the exclusive opportunity to become LRWP Certified providers.
There are two significant benefits to becoming an LRWP Certified provider. First, you will be authorized to display the LRWP Certified seal (pictured at right) on your website. The seal links back to a page on the LRWP website that explains the significance of the certification (more about that below).
Second, LRWP Certified providers (and only LRWP certified providers) are added to my referral list. Because I’m a solo, I don’t want to supervise anyone else’s work. That means that I never subcontract work on legal research and writing projects that I accept. As a consequence, because I value work/life balance, I don’t accept all of the projects that come my way. Instead, I make referrals.
A steady stream of referrals is the lifeblood of any successful law practice. When you receive a referral, you have the opportunity to develop a relationship with the hiring lawyer. And because you are not paying a fee based on the number of referrals you receive from me, or the payments you receive from hiring attorneys, there are no added bookkeeping burdens. Referrals are not guaranteed, but are at my discretion and depend on the nature of the assignment, the hiring attorney’s specific requirements (if any), and the jurisdiction where the hiring attorney is located.
To become LRWP Certified, you must meet my standards for legal research and writing ability. This will be evaluated via submission of an assigned legal research and writing project. If your initial certification project does not result in an award of certification, you will have the opportunity to participate in additional private legal writing coaching (if you so choose) at a reduced rate before completing another certification project (remember, one hour of private coaching on legal writing or practice management issues is included in the Platinum Plus membership plan).
Platinum Plus Membership isn’t cheap, and it isn’t for everyone: it’s only for highly skilled legal research and writing services providers who are ready to get on the fast track to an intellectually fulfilling career that combines the flexibility to enjoy personal and family time and the ability to earn a comfortable living. Are you ready?
| What You Get - Platinum+ | Value |
| Contract Lawyering Success e-book | $197 |
| Monthly Live Teleseminars | $97 per session | Downloadable recordings of all monthly teleseminars | $97 per session |
| One-hour private coaching session | $197 |
| A spot on Lisa’s referral list (as soon as you become LRWP Certified) |
Priceless |
| Total value | Products: $1,558 for the first six months alone Potential Referrals: unlimited |
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$1,497 Starting in month 7, your credit card will be charged only $48.50 per session for live monthly teleseminars—a savings of 50%
You can cancel any time after the first six months—and keep the book, recordings and certification seal! |
Not quite ready to be a Platinum Plus Member? Start with a Gold or Platinum Membership, and upgrade later. Gold Members can upgrade after a three-month waiting period for only $1,200. Platinum Members can upgrade after a two-month waiting period for only $600—a $100 savings.
| Upgrade from Gold to Platinum Plus
$1,200 |
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| Upgrade from Platinum to Platinum Plus $600 (a $100 savings!) |
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Is a Platinum Plus Membership right for me? View the membership features comparison chart.
The Legal Research & Writing Pro No-Risk Guarantee
We’re so certain that our memberships will give you the information you need to start and run your own successful contract lawyering practice that, if you feel our materials have not provided you with valuable information, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.
In addition to our core training on how to start and run a successful legal research and writing practice, we offer recorded events—including teleseminars and webinars—designed to help your practice grow and prosper. The presenters are all experts in their fields. Events address such popular topics as practice management, marketing and blogging/advanced RSS.
All of our events are geared especially for solo practitioners and lawyers practicing in small firms, and cover issues important to all attorneys, regardless of practice area.
Freelance Freedom: How to Get Started as a Contract Lawyer
Presenter: Lisa Solomon
Want to get started as a contract lawyer, but don’t know where to start? This teleseminar answers these important questions:
- What is the most powerful way to market your services as a contract lawyer?
- How much should you charge, and how can you make sure you get paid?
- What ethical issues arise in the contract lawyering relationship, and how are those resolved?
- Should you obtain your own malpractice insurance?
- If you want to be a legal research and writing specialist, do you need your own Lexis or Westlaw subscription?
- How can you get the best deal from these companies?
- How can you compete with legal offshoring services?
- How can you continue to improve your own professional skills (especially in legal research and writing) without breaking the bank?
This recording is chock-full of information for all types of contract lawyers—whether you want to handle depositions for other lawyers, assist with discovery or trial prep, cover court appearances, or offer legal research and writing services. It’s the perfect audio companion to our Gold Membership.
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to the recording, which is provided in mp3 format. You can listen to it on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD.
Program length: 1 hr. 42 min.
Freelance Freedom: How to Get Started as a Contract Lawyer
Price: $97
Beyond Hourly Billing: How to Implement Flat Fee and Other Alternative Billing Arrangements
Presenter: Allison Shields, law practice management expert
There’s been a lot of buzz recently about abandoning or moving beyond billable hours, but is it possible for contract lawyers to use alternative billing? What are the most common alternatives to hourly billing? What does “value pricing” mean? This program focuses on which alternative billing methods are appropriate for contract lawyers. You’ll learn how to implement those methods, even if you’re a new lawyer. You’ll learn what value billing is and how to talk about it with the lawyers who hire you. And you’ll learn the special problems encountered by contract lawyers in using alternative billing arrangements, when it’s possible to overcome them, and how.
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to the recording, which is provided in mp3 format. You can listen to it on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD.
Program length: 1 hr. 15 min.
Beyond Hourly Billing: How to Implement Flat Fee and Other Alternative Billing Arrangements
Price: $97
Powerful Persuasive Writing Techniques for Your Marketing Material and Briefs
Presenter: Lisa Solomon
This program teaches you how to write more persuasive marketing materials and briefs, using the same powerful techniques that copywriters have been using for years. During this program you’ll learn about:
- The greatest challenge that your marketing copy and briefs must overcome in order to achieve your goal of persuading the reader to take a desired action
- A basic concept underlying all effective persuasive writing—ignore this one and you’re sunk
- How to write a compelling marketing piece or brief that the reader just can’t put down
- The role of emotion in marketing and jurisprudence, and how to skillfully trigger the reader’s emotions
- Two things readers absolutely hate—and how to avoid them
- How to deal with objections to your position
- Closing the deal: conclusions and calls to action
- And more . . . .
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to the recording, which is provided in mp3 format. You can listen to it on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD.
Program length: 1 hr. 32 min.
Powerful Persuasive Writing Techniques for Your Marketing Material and Briefs
Price: $97
The Successful Solo Mindset: Overcome Your Fears to Achieve Your Professional Goals
Presenter: Carolyn Elefant
Many lawyers and professionals long to hang out a shingle, but fear holds them back. Others may face an opportunity to take their practice to the next level—perhaps to hire that first associate or take on a case outside of their comfort level—but rather than embrace these challenges, they hold back or procrastinate about making a decision.
In this course, you’ll learn about some of the fears that solos and solos to be face, such as:
- fear of failure
- fear of asking for help
- fear of loss of financial stability
- fear of “what others will think”
- fear of embarrassment
Next, you’ll get a glimpse into the mindset of successful solo lawyers and entrepreneurs, as well as the foundations of a plan to address each of the fears that prevent you from achieving success. This program will not only offer the inspiration you need to break free from your fears, but will also provide intensely practical steps on how to reach this goal.
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to the recording (which is provided in mp3 format) and course materials (which are in pdf format). You can listen to the recording on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD, and you can save the course materials to your computer or print them out.
Program length: 1 hr. 12 min.
The Successful Solo Mindset: Overcome Your Fears to Achieve Your Professional Goals
Price: $97
Business Competency for Lawyers
Presenter: Ed Poll
Are you interested in launching a solo practice or small firm, but don’t know where to start?
Are you in the process of opening, or planning to open, a solo practice or small firm?
Do you want to take your existing solo practice or small firm to new levels of profitability?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, don’t miss this information-packed program, in which you’ll learn about:
- metrics that measure your success
- the importance of a business plan
- the elements of a business plan
- where marketing fits into your business plan
- the different types of financial statements—and why they’re important for solos
All practicing lawyers need to have a firm grasp of the subjects covered in this program.
Presenter Ed Poll is a nationally-recognized law firm strategist who coaches lawyers and consults with law firms for their greater profitability. Ed enables lawyers to be more effective with their clients, more efficient in their delivery of legal services and more profitable. The net result is more revenue for the family and less stress in the practice of law!
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with links audio and video recordings, plus a Powerpoint presentation. The audio recording is provided in mp3 format. You can listen to the recording on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD. The video recording is provided in .wmv (Windows media) format. Choose whichever format you prefer, or choose both: you can view the video right away, and save the audio recording to review later. If you’re a visual learner, you can print the Powerpoint presentation.
Program length: 1 hr. 6 min.
Business Competency for Lawyers
Price: $97
How Judicial Writing Guides Can Make Lawyers Better Writers
Presenter: Lisa Solomon
While a brief is first and foremost a forum for advocacy on behalf of your client, the closer it approximates judicial writing style, the more favorably the judge will be inclined view the substance of your argument. In this program, I discuss how you can apply the lessons set out in judicial writing guides to write more effective briefs that will make judges want to rule in your clients’ favor. I also reveal how you can get free copies of some of the same instructional materials on legal writing that federal judges and law clerks use.
A few minutes after you place your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to the recording (which is provided in mp3 format) and course materials (which are in pdf format). You can listen to the recording on your computer, or download it to put on your mp3 player or burn onto a CD, and you can save the course materials to your computer or print them out.
Program length: 1 hr. 24 min.
How Judicial Writing Guides Can Make Lawyers Better Writers
Price: $97
Cole Silver’s Raindancing Audio Expert Series
Presenters: Various
Cole Silver, Esq. of The Silver Group is a lawyer and marketing expert who specializes in client acquisition and retention strategies for lawyers and professional service organizations. Over the years, Cole has gotten to know some of the biggest names in the areas of legal marketing and career development.
Now, by special arrangement with The Silver Group, Legal Research & Writing Pro is pleased to offer the Raindancing Expert Audio Series: Business Development and Legal Marketing and the Raindancing Expert Audio Series: Career Planning and Development. Each series consists of in-depth interviews with today’s most renowned legal, business and career experts with one goal in mind—to give you profitable bottom-line ideas, strategies, and tactics to grow your practice and increase your career success.
The audio interview format of the Raindancing Expert Audio Series is specifically geared to addresses the challenges presented by modern law practice. First, our busy schedules don’t leave much free time to read books or attend seminars to learn new ideas to grow our practice. Second, most of us were never taught how to “market” ourselves and aren’t really comfortable with doing so. Cole realized that the most effective way to achieve success easier, faster, and with fewer struggles is to learn from those who have done it themselves, and who mentor other highly successful people.
The two Raindancing Expert Audio Series are so full of great information, we had to give them their own page!
The Business Development and Legal Marketing Expert Audio Series features such experts as Nader Anise, David Maister, Kevin O’Keefe, Trey Ryder, and many more. In fact, there are 54 interviews in this series.
Tell me more about the Business Development and Legal Marketing Expert Audio Series
The Career Planning and Development Expert Audio Series brings you interviews of 28 experts, including Stephanie West Allen, Susan Cartier Liebel, Monica Parker and Simon Tupman, among others.
Tell me more about the Career Planning and Development Expert Audio Series
The Legal Research & Writing Pro No-Risk Guarantee
We’re so confident in the quality of our speakers that, if you feel that an event has not provided you with valuable information, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked. Plus, even if you request a refund, you can keep any course materials you have already received.
Whether you want individualized assistance improving your legal writing or one-on-one advice about launching or running your contract lawyering practice, Lisa can help.
The art of written advocacy is a critical part of a lawyer’s job. Is your writing as effective at producing results for your clients as it could be? In a private consultation, Lisa will evaluate your writing style, identify your personal strengths and weaknesses and help you write clearer, more persuasive briefs. Lisa is an experienced legal writer who has written winning briefs filed in state and federal courts across the country.
Want personal, confidential feedback on any aspect of your contract lawyering practice, from marketing to collections, and everything in between? Lisa is a nationally-recognized expert on contract lawyering who can help you with those business-related issues they didn’t teach you about in law school.
After you reserve your coaching session through our shopping cart, we’ll contact you to set up a time for the session that works for you.
| One-hour private coaching session
$197 |
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| Two-hour private coaching session $297 (a 25% savings!) |
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