Ethics, Technology, and Practice Management

1
At the Frontier Ethics, Technology Practice
Management

• Carl Shusterman, Los Angeles, CA
• Greg Siskind, Memphis, TN
• AILA Texas Chapter Spring Conference 2011

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Hope for the Best BUT Prepare for the Worst!
If it were done when tis done, then twere well
it were done quickly - Macbeth, Act 1, Scene
7.
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Databases and Billing SystemsGet Organized

• Invest in an immigration database billing
  system
• Track progress of cases
• Measure productivity
• of attorneys paralegals

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Weathering the Storm

• Diversify your practice
• What are your areas of specialization?
  Employment-based? Family-based?
• Build bridges of communication
• Contact HR managers, CEOS etc.
• Hold Seminars

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Find Your Niche

• Industry or Occupation (health care, sports, oil
  and gas, universities)
• Type of family case (adoptions, same sex couples)
• Type of employment case (EB-5s, H-2Bs, H-2As, J-1
  hardship waivers)

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Make Sure Your Fees Are Competitive

• Are your fees higher than other immigration law
  firms?
• Let clients pay in installments
• Credit Cards

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Getting on the Web

• Create, use, and update your website
• Provide up-to-the-minute information

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Why Have a Website?

• Presence on the Internet
• Ability to Communicate Internationally
• Diversification of Client Base
• Referrals from Other Attorneys
• Organizational Tool
• Web Access for Clients

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Blogs

• Easier to manage than web sites
• Niche marketing
• Search engines like them

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Blogs (cont.)

• Good way to recycle your content (articles,
  powerpoints, video and audio files)
• Good for people who dont want to write long
  pieces

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Social Networking

• Keep in touch
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linked-In

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Email Campaigns

• Send newsletters and short email alerts to a mass
  audience
• Can customize so that each email is personalized
  and sent as an individual message from you to the
  sender
• ACT! Group your contacts and target your message

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Meet the Press

• Use the press to
• Benefit your clients
• Enhance your image on a local and national scale.

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Advocacy Marketing

• Write op-eds
• Speak to community and industry groups
• Use your web site, blog and social networking
  tools
• Take clients to DC or your state capitol

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Be the one who wrote the book

• Develop a detailed table of contents and
  marketing plan
• Consider self publishing
• Break down writing to small steps

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Be the one who wrote the book

• Find a topic that fits your marketing goals
• Identify potential publishers
• Review the book proposal forms

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It seemed like a good idea. Maybe it really was.

• Review your marketing effort and if all of your
  assumptions were correct, you might simply need
  to keep at it for an extended time period.

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Learn From Your Mistakes

• Understand your weaknesses