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Just about every day I stumble into a new lawyer-turned law firm marketing expert. I have my own opinion of these folks (as you can imagine). But the purpose of this blog post is to help you decide whether or not to hire a former lawyer to teach you about marketing.
Here are six questions you should ask any lawyer who has given up his own practice to become a law firm marketing expert.
Why don’t you practice law anymore?
The reasoning for this question is obvious. If they were good lawyers why would they give it up? If they were successful, why would they give it up? If they were not either, why would you listen to them?
How many clients do you have?
If they only have a few clients, they obviously are not good at marketing. If they don’t make good money, how good can they be at marketing? Ask to see tax returns or financial statements or at least client lists.
Can I call five of your current clients?
If they say no, run away.
Can I call two of your former clients?
All of us have clients who have left us. If this law firm marketing expert claims to not have them, run away. If he won’t let you speak to any former clients, run away.
Do you use the methods you teach?
If the answer is “No” or if they cannot give you examples (or proof) of using the methods they teach, run away.
Where did you learn about marketing?
This is one of those telling questions. Continuing education is good so if they say they are studying with or working with a marketing expert, that is fine. But we are really interested in the practical experience they have had in the past. Did they use these marketing methods to build multimillion dollar business in another industry? We obviously don’t want them practicing on you or trying things with you that they have not used before.
The bottom line is that you must be comfortable with the law firm marketing expert you hire. I encourage you to do thorough research on the background on ANY former lawyer before you hire him/her to teach you about law firm marketing.