Getting the Word Out: Brochures are a simple way to tell prospective clients what a lawyercan doAuthor(s): JILL SCHACHNER CHANENSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 83, No. 9 (SEPTEMBER 1997), p. 84Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27840020 .

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SOLO NETWORK

Getting the Word Out Brochures are a simple way to tell prospective clients what a lawyer can do BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN

Like many other lawyers in small firms, Gerard Adelman used to shake his head in frustration every time a satisfied litigation client took her divorce matter to an attorney down the street.

"People just did not un derstand what a law firm like ours did/' says Adelman of

Weigand, Mahon & Adelman in Meriden, Conn. "They would come to us for a personal in jury case and go someplace else for a real estate closing.

When asked why, they would say, 'Gee, I didn't know you did that work, too.'

"I am always dumbfound ed when people say to me that they did not think that I did different kinds of legal work," he says. "As lawyers, we do not understand the layman's perception of how lawyers work."

Adelman and his two partners decided that the best way to retain clients was to educate them about all the legal services their general practice firm provides. On a desk top computer, Adelman designed a trifold brochure that describes the firm, the lawyers and the types of matters each handles. He had a commercial printer reproduce it.

The brochure then was mailed to clients and now is included with each package of client documents at the conclusion of every matter. Though Adelman has no concrete proof that the brochures have in creased his business, his instinct tells him they have.

"You have to start marketing yourself someplace, and brochures seem like the most logical first step," he says. "Brochures remind people who already know us who we are and what we do."

Unlike clients of lawyers in large law firms, those of solo and small-firm practitioners often as sume that their attorney can only provide a limited number of ser vices, says Christine Ward, director

Jill Schachner Chanen writes regularly for the ABA Journal.

of law firm services for Practice Development Institute in Chicago, which advises lawyers and other professionals on marketing strate gies. Brochures can be the most cost-efficient and effective way to tell existing and prospective clients, as well as referral sources, about

Gerard Adelman: Savvy lawyers market themselves.

the types of work a lawyer does. How a brochure tells what a

lawyer does is critically important. Peter Turai, a solo tax and es

tate planning lawyer in Freehold, N.J., has just designed a brochure for his practice that provides a list of services and a statement of bene fits. "Clients cannot always [recog nize] the benefits they get from the menu of services a lawyer can pro vide," he says. "They do not realize what sort of benefit they get from setting up a revocable trust or a

family limited partnership, for ex

ample." One panel of Turai's trifold

brochure lists the legal services he provides, such as tax and estate planning. Another panel explains how his services benefit clients with statements such as "helping you to pay the least tax legally pos sible" and "helping you keep the In ternal Revenue Service out of your estate."

Says Turai, "We are so used to speaking to other lawyers who un derstand our lingo, but laymen

don't. But they do understand the benefits."

Having a brochure, though, will do nothing unless it is used in connection with a marketing plan,

Ward cautions. "You have to have an objective

in mind when you use a brochure. The No. 1 objective should be to stay on the minds of clients, potential clients and referral sources." Others might include

marketing additional legal ser vices to existing clients, edu cating referral sources about a

practice, or creating an image for a firm.

Having a Plan Ward says the reason

many people do not find bro chures effective is that they do not use them in an overall plan. They should be passed out at every appropriate opportunity, such as client lunches, semi nars and speeches.

"If I am a professional and ask you to send me some infor mation about what you do, as a lawyer, and all you have is a business card?what a missed

opportunity that is," she says. "With all the networking that

goes on now, you do not want to miss the opportunity to reinforce how you can help someone."

Most importantly, brochures should be readily available in a law yer's office. Ward says she is amazed by the number of law firms that do not have them in their reception areas and by the number of lawyers and support staff who do not know of their existence.

While the idea of writing, de signing and printing a brochure xmay seem complicated and expen sive, it really is not.

Readily available, inexpensive desktop-publishing software to cre ate brochures can make it virtually a do-it-yourself project. A simple black-and-white or single-color bro chure may cost only pennies apiece to print.

For the potential return on the investment, most solo and small firm lawyers have virtually nothing to lose by trying their hand at creat ing and handing out brochures.

84 ABA JOURNAL / SEPTEMBER 1997 abaj/peter glass

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