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Clienting: Digital Legal Marketing


Apr 8, 2019

Gyi Tsakalakis and Kelly Street were joined by Justie Nicol, owner of Nicol Law Offices, a Criminal Defense Attorney in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is a savvier than average solo attorney who used technology tools to make her practice run smoother and create better work/life balance. 

Justie has even taught a CLE on tech tools as a solo to boost client experience! When you look at the list of tools below and listen, keep in mind that Justie is a regular lawyer who implemented these tools over time, as she saw a need. She starts with a low-cost or free solution

What Justie uses to streamline her firm and client experience:

  • Wisestamp for email signature (appt scheduler, tweets, etc)

screenshot of lawyer Justie Nicol's email signature

  • Copper CRM
    • Connects with Zapier to her email and more
  • Typeform for intake/conflict check
    • Prior to client consultations, have them fill this out.
    • Send a post-consultation form to see why a potential client didn't choose your law firm
    • Send a post-case form to get client feedback for reviews
  • Zapier, to connect apps and services
  • Acuity for appointments
    • Set expectations with clients so they know when and how appointments should go; filling out a conflict check prior, etc.
    • Consult with everyone who wants one or send them referral sources; just don't let them feel ignored
  • Square for payments
    • Easily end to collect payment at the time of engagement
    • Justie includes a credit card charge policy in her engagement letter, so clients know how payments work
  • Docusign for document signing
    • Engagement letters, etc.
    • AttorneySync uses PandaDoc for document sharing and signing
  • Buffer for social media
  • Trello for content management
  • Outsourcing marketing efforts
    • Content creation
      • Schedule posts, draft one month at a time
      • Use an attorney or an agency who understands legal ethics
      • Posts for referrals and posts for clients
    • Digital marketing
      • Pay-per-click
        • Cost per click, and customer acquisition cost
      • SEO
        • Monitor ad copy to make sure it complies with your state's ethics rules
    • Website updates and buildout
    • Make sure to track Return On Investment for all marketing efforts; Justie likes to try one new method at a time
  • Smith.ai for after-hours receptionist and chatbots for website communication
    • Receptionist service for inbound and outbound calls, filling out the intake form and helping schedule appointments or court reminders for clients.
    • Using a chatbot as an option for communication, even if it isn't something you would want to use.
  • Non-tech: Engagement Letters to set client expectations
    • How you will communicate with them and when it is appropriate to contact you
    • Your lawyer-style; aggressive or not?
  • Quickbooks for firm accounting methods
    • Manually reimbursing credit card charge fees
    • Square & Quickbooks connections
  • Ethics Issues:
    • Engagement letter includes a section about the technology used for information and document security

Contact Justie at justieforjustice@gmail.com or find her on social media: #officedogs

Contact Kelly for more information on Clienting at kelly@attorneysync.com