Why Do Personal Injury Lawyers Struggle to Get Clients?

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Why Do Personal Injury Lawyers Struggle to Get Clients?

The abundance of legal cases from vehicle accidents and workers’ compensation incidents for work-related injuries seem to indicate that there is plenty of work available for personal injury lawyers. However, some of these attorneys still struggle to find clients to represent. While there is no shortage of personal injury clients to represent, some lawyers may have trouble finding and landing them for several reasons. The following shows the most common reasons why some personal injury lawyers are still struggling to find clients to represent.

Neglecting Their Websites

When someone needs a lawyer these days, he or she is far more likely to do an internet search rather than hop in the car to drive around the city in search of one or turn to the Yellow Pages. So, if you are a personal injury attorney, what will greet your potential clients when they visit your website? Whatever they see on your website, perhaps even on your landing page alone, might be enough to make them a future client.

Your website should be professional-looking, pleasing to the eyes and easy to navigate. Sure, you can use it to tout your qualifications and success rate. However, your main objective is to have your website visitors have a look and decide to hire you. The more time they spend on your website, the more your chances of earning their business increases.

Pay attention to the content of your website as well. Is your content current or dated? Does it contain useful information for your target clientele? Make sure to update your website content, preferably with articles that are relevant to your area of practice. Not only will it be a subtle way of touting your expertise, but your website visitors may consider your articles worthy enough to share on their social media accounts. Shares will give you free passive endorsements and more backlinks to your site.

Make your website mobile-friendly as a substantial number of your potential clients will likely be viewing your site using their mobile devices. Ask your web designer to tweak your website to have fast loading times. Studies show that users usually move on to other sites if the website they clicked on fails to load within 3 seconds.

Not Focusing on Brand Awareness

If you are struggling to get more clients to walk through your office doors, chances are that they are not aware of your brand. Part of a sound marketing strategy is to spread brand awareness, and you can do this for your practice in different ways. These include being more active on social media, optimizing your website on search engines and lawyer site aggregators and, if your budget permits, through targeted online advertisements.

You can go cheap with social media posts on your own social media accounts or with groups that are relevant to your practice. Share the articles that you post on your website or actively give online legal advice to those who are asking questions in discussion boards and forums. Search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertisements will require you to shell out some cash, but then you’ll be certain that you are making more people aware of your practice.

Visibility Issues

It’s a good idea to be present in important events in your community as well as in conferences that are related to your practice. Such events will give you a chance to meet people and build your network. If you are in between clients, do pro bono work. This will not only make you more visible, but it will likewise increase the number of your happy clients who will no doubt refer you to their relatives and acquaintances.

The key to building your roster of clients is to become more active in promoting your practice and making potential clients aware that your services are available. Once the clients start trickling in, make sure to go through all of the services that you offer. After all, word of mouth is still one of the best forms of promotion.

What Is Insurance Bad Faith?

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Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP

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When you purchase an insurance policy, you expect your insurer to be there for you when you need them. If you get into a car accident, resulting in damage to your car and injury to your body, you would open up an insurance claim to receive the money you need to fix your car and get the proper treatment for your injury.

If your employee stole your business property, you would expect your insurance company to cover you according to the limits of the policy you purchased. Or, if a fire ravaged your town and destroyed your business headquarters, you’d pursue an insurance claim to pay your expenses and get back up and running.

Whichever situation you happen to be dealing with, you turn to your insurer to pay out the money you’ve been contributing to your premium over several months or even years. When these companies deny benefits without proper cause, they are acting in bad faith.

The Definition of Insurance Bad Faith

What happens when an insurer delays or outright avoids paying a claim? Legally, most courts agree that insurers need to act in good faith and be fair to their customers when handling policy payouts, so when they don’t, their dealings are called bad faith.

Insurance companies uphold bad faith practices for one reason: to protect their profits. They may delay a case or deny a claim simply to ensure that they don’t have to dispense money to their customers.

These companies might use deceptive practices like misconstrue the language of their own policies, make ridiculous demands on the customer to provide proof of loss or not follow through with a comprehensive investigation. For example, if a business owner’s headquarters burn down, and their insurance company never visits the site for an investigation and then subsequently denies the claim, they are acting out of bad faith.

What Is an Insurance Bad Faith Lawsuit?

Thankfully, customers have the power to fight back against insurance bad faith. They can take their insurance companies to court, in front of a jury, who will give a fair and honest opinion to the judge. This is extremely helpful, considering that insurance companies have seemingly unlimited funds and teams of powerful attorneys behind them. Having a jury of peers there puts policyholders and insurance companies on the same level.

When going to court for an insurance bad faith lawsuit, policyholders may be entailed to more in damages than just those that came up because of the insurance claim in the first place. For example, if policyholders had to take off work, shut down their businesses for some time, experienced emotional distress or had to pay attorneys’ fees to deal with the case, the court could require the insurance company to cover these extra costs.

These lawsuits usually fall under common-law tort claims; the law varies state to state. Some states have statutory laws for insurance bad faith, so policyholders may be able to pursue a lawsuit under that as well.

It’s on the policyholder to be able to prove two things: First, that the insurance company withheld benefits that that policyholder paid for, and second, that the reason the benefits were withheld was unreasonable.

Some evidence for the latter would go back to how the insurance company proceeded when presented with a claim. Did they delay the necessary steps? Did they misrepresent the provisions of their policies? Along with collecting this imperative information for the court, policyholders should consult with an insurance bad faith attorney to see what other kinds of evidence would qualify.

Typically, in a court of law, the most common types of insurance bad faith cases are claims denials, business interruption and commercial claims.

Claims Denials

This can apply to a number of different types of insurance policies, and occurs when an insurance company denies a claim without good reason. For example, they may deny a policyholder their money simply so they don’t have to make a payout. Claim denials can occur at any point, such as when the incident first occurs, prior to an investigation or after the policyholder has turned in the necessary documentation and proof that a company required.

Business Interruption

Another type of insurance bad faith claim that often comes up is business interruption. This applies not only for fires, but any type of disaster that caused an interruption in a business’ day-to-day activities.

Businesses will take out these policies to ensure that they are covered for operating expenses and bills that need to be paid in the wake of the disaster. They may need money for things like temporary office space, for example, and will go to their insurance to claim it. Insurance companies can sometimes uphold shady practices like claiming there was arson involved in a fire, even if they never took the time to investigate the situation thoroughly.

Commercial Claims

Along with business interruption insurance, businesses will purchase commercial insurance to protect their employees, investments, property and inventory. If an incident occurs – say, a contractor is installing a piece of equipment and he accidentally breaks it – a business owner has the right to pursue a claim. If an insurance company attempts to blame the business for not hiring the right contractor without any evidence, for example, the insurance company may be held liable of acting in bad faith.

Protecting Policyholders

In order for policyholders to be properly protected, they need to hire skilled insurance bad faith attorneys who are prepared to defend them. Oftentimes, these huge insurance companies, who act aggressively and will do their best to find a way not to pay, intimidate policyholders. With an experienced insurance bad faith attorney on their side, a policyholder can rest assured that they’re in good hands and will receive the compensation they deserve.

Considerations To Make When Hiring a Divorce Lawyer

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Russell Knight

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Divorce is a massive event in a person’s life on both an emotional and a practical level. A divorcing person must abandon their personal identity as spouse, unwind their financial details from their spouse and often create a formal parenting schedule with the same person they are detaching themselves from in all other aspects. This whole process requires good counsel so as to achieve the best possible result for the divorcing person and their family.

Who To Talk When Faced With Divorce?

When pursuing counsel for divorce there are numerous avenues a divorcing person can choose.

A therapist is a fine person to guide you through the emotional turmoil of divorce and develop strategies regarding adopting a new identity as a single person and co-parent. A therapist has little insight into the details of the legal system, though, especially as they apply to financial issues such as alimony and division of debts and assets.

A mediator is a person who can explain the broad terms and possibilities of a divorce settlement to both parties and hopefully bring those parties to an agreed understanding and settlement. The mediator can only use the information that both parties voluntarily present to him or her. If a party withholds or falsely modifies information that impacts the settlement, there is little the mediator can do to get to the truth of the matter. Furthermore, the mediator cannot advise each party as to the various strategies they could employ to achieve their respective goals. A mediator can only try to bring the parties together in a satisfactory “meeting of the minds”

Only a family law or divorce lawyer can truly guide and empower a person considering and/or navigating a divorce. A divorce lawyer can investigate the facts, discovery additional facts, develop a strategy based on those facts and then execute that strategy to either negotiate a favorable settlement or extract a favorable ruling from a family law judge.

How To Pick A Divorce Lawyer

When choosing a divorce lawyer, there are several considerations that should be made.

Does the lawyer practice other areas of law?

Family law lawyers typically focus on just family law for various reasons. There are usually more than enough family law cases to keep any lawyer occupied who chooses to practice in the field. Also, family law may not be deeply complicated compared to, say, Nuclear power plant regulation law but family law is very broad. A divorce lawyer needs to know how to craft a parenting plan that works for both toddlers and teenagers and how to value a business that will be dissolved in a divorce.

Lawyers that practice multiple areas of law show that a) they may not busy enough to do just family law (with all that portends) and b) they may not have the broad mastery of family law that is usually required for effective representation.

Lawyers who practice other areas of the law may still be excellent at providing family law counsel. It all depends on the individual lawyer but multiple practices can justifiably give any divorcing party pause when selecting a divorce lawyer

Does the divorce lawyer have experience?

Lawyers are allowed to practice any kind of law in any capacity, the moment they have passed their respective states’ bar. Does that mean you should hire someone straight out of law school or someone with more experience?

A fresh lawyer may actually be an excellent choice is your case doesn’t have byzantine complications like prenuptial agreements and complicated finances. Family law is not especially deep and few states’ family law statutes exceed a hundred pages. The enthusiasm of a young lawyer focusing on your case may be refreshing compared to an older lawyer who sees every divorce settlement as a form with different names on it.

An older, experienced lawyer may be more effective if your divorce has possible complications. A lawyer’s real skill is “issue spotting” or noticing problematic issues so the lawyer can take advantage or mitigate the damages arising out of those issues. The more issues a lawyer has seen in his career, the more likely the lawyer will notice them while working on your case.

Does the divorce lawyer have staff?

A great deal of the process that happens in a divorce lawyer’s office is processing paperwork. Divorce lawyers must prepare financial affidavits, notices to produce, interrogatories, verify discovery on both sides, and prepare final documents.

80% of this paperwork can be prepared by a person who has not passed the state bar or even attended college (much less law school). So long as a divorce lawyer adequately supervises the person (usually referred to as a paralegal) preparing the documents.

Having paralegals work on a case greatly reduces the cost of the case overall.

If your divorce is full of important details that cannot be left to chance then perhaps a divorce lawyer should be handling all of the matters, no matter how mundane, personally.

Do you connect with the divorce lawyer?

While the divorce process involves numerous documents going back and forth, the divorcing person is more than just a piece of paper. It is important that your divorce lawyer sees you as a whole person who had a family and is now crafting a new family in the midst of all the legal maneuvering

A divorce lawyer who respects you as a person will put a real value on the outcome of your divorce and weigh that value against the costs of the divorce.

This careful consideration is crucial when you’re employing a lawyer who embraces the billable hour system. The temptation for lawyers to make money should never exceed their duty to provide quality holistic legal counsel during your divorce.

Finally, it is important to recall that you are not obligated to continue in your case with the divorce lawyer you started with. You can divorce your divorce lawyer! If at any time you become dissatisfied with your current counsel, you can employ alternative counsel. This can often be a costly process as the new counsel will have to get up to speed with the facts of the case and justifiably charge you for that.

No matter what, please retain a divorce lawyer if your divorce involves any issues whatsoever. Divorce can be a perilous process but never more so without counsel.

The author, Russell Knight, is a Naples Florida Divorce Attorney who has been practicing family law for over 13 years.

How PR Supports SEO, and Vice Versa

By

Joe Marchelewski

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Most law firms have a company or individual handling search engine optimization (SEO) and another that handles public relations of some sort; this is a very smart choice because these are two separate skill sets. What is not good is that these companies rarely communicate. Quality news hits and great SEO can and should go hand in hand, but often one happens without consideration of the other.

In a competitive market such as Los Angeles, having marketing and public relations working together is absolutely necessary for a law firm to be effective in its efforts to promote its work and grab the attention of new, prospective clients. The firms more willing to behave this way will have a competitive advantage over peer firms and ultimately get a better return on investment (ROI) for dollars spent.

PR and SEO Should Complete Each Other, Not Compete with Each Other

Getting quality news hits and mentions leads to great SEO, and if SEO professionals and PR professionals are working together, it makes life much easier for both parties and creates a more cohesive synergy. In fact, SEO is a major component of PR because when a reporter is working on a story, s/he will use Google the same way, trying to find experts on a given topic. Unfortunately, most PR professionals are working hard to get their clients in the press, but ignoring the SEO value and SEO professionals are doing the same, getting higher rankings for clients but not seeing any potential PR value of their work.

Public relations professionals look for quality stories their clients are involved in. For personal injury attorneys, it’s a remarkable lawsuit involving some David vs. Goliath issue. For criminal attorneys, it’s a front-page story about police mishandling evidence. For corporate lawyers, it’s a mega-merger that causes chaos on Wall Street. Whatever the case may be, a PR pro will jump into action looking for the right media outlets to cover the story.

In most cases, these media hits will land in publications that have great authority with Google. The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, NBC, Wall Street Journal and others are highly ranked in search results because Google values content from credible and authoritative websites. Media outlet websites are also highly trafficked, which leads to great rankings, natural social media hits and more. Whenever a potential client searches Google, s/he will no doubt see websites that have been put together with organic rankings in mind. However, in most cases the user will also see publications within the first ten choices.

For example, type in the term “car accident” into Google and half of the top items will be news outlet websites; the term “police misconduct lawsuit” also has several news items on the first page of search results. While getting positive press puts your name on the site, or trusted third-party websites, the ever-changing world of SEO makes life a constant battle for online marketers. To make the matter more complex, Google is always evolving and looking at new information.

Google’s EAT Algorithm & YMYL Websites

In late-2018 Google and their Search Quality Evaluators started placing more emphasis on a little-known acronym called “EAT” to influence website rankings (either directly or indirectly). This acronym stands for Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Essentially, Google is looking to see if the owner/publisher of a website is credible and has a leadership voice, especially when it comes to topics that cover health, money and the law – also known as YMYL websites (Your Money or Your Life). The EAT element of Google’s algorithm looks not only at links from authoritative websites, but (among other things) also takes into consideration “mentions” of your name and/or brand in the news, even without a link to your website. This places a whole new value on effective PR and making it into a story on credible news websites, and also restraining from press releases that provide little value to Users.

Here’s a video on how news mentions, and unlinked references to your law firm can potentially help with SEO:

Avoiding Spam Press Releases

At some point in the early 2000s it became accepted that if a business/law firm published a bunch of online press releases it would be extremely beneficial for SEO. Indeed, press releases get syndicated to dozens or even hundreds of websites, but that doesn’t mean it’s valuable information. It may have worked at one time, but that’s no longer the case because most press release websites now assign a “No Follow” attribute to links within a press release, rendering the backlink virtually worthless for SEO. Google can also spot fluff press releases, but that still doesn’t stop the onslaught of press releases like “Law Firm Announces Free Consultations”, “Law Firm Announces Now Serving Neighboring City”, or “Law Firm Announces No Win, No Fee Arrangements”. Save press releases for newsworthy announcements, and make them count.

We would be remiss if we didn’t address a major hurdle in wrangling Public Relations and SEO professionals – they need to play well in the sandbox together. Many times, the SEO is the website gatekeeper and is prioritizing maximum impact for rankings. However, that may not always be the best use or presentation of the story. Additionally, sometimes PR professionals want information to present a certain way that isn’t always SEO friendly. The best advice for a law firm would be to make sure both professionals know how to work effectively with each other and prioritize your needs over their own. They need to be able to operate independently of the client when there’s breaking news, so when a story hits you’re not juggling reporters, news crews, scheduling, interviews and playing the go-between with your PR rep and website person.

Written by: Joe Marchelewski and Doug Bradley

California is Facing an Elder Abuse Crisis

By

Ed Dudensing

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As birth rates fall and life-extending healthcare improves, California’s population is aging rapidly. At the same time, traditional family support systems are being eroded. With fewer multi-generational households caring for their elderly relatives, the burden of age-related healthcare increasingly falls on corporate-owned assisted living facilities that don’t always provide the level of care families expect for their loved ones. Regulations are failing to keep pace with the growth of assisted living centers that lack the training, expertise and staffing to provide appropriate medical interventions or round-the-clock care. As a result, cases of elder abuse and negligence are on the rise, with complaints of abuse at more than twice the national rate, according to the California State Senate.

The cost of assisted living in California now compares to a hefty home mortgage payment, and often can run as high as $8,000 to $10,000 a month. In their bid to win lucrative business, assisted living centers are looking less like health care facilities and more like comfortable senior-living complexes, with prospective residents and their families enticed by social activities and luxury amenities. Such perks can give the impression of a well-run, resident-focused facility, especially to those who arrive in relatively good health.

But too often the focus on domestic creature comforts comes at the expense of adequate health care delivery. By the time families realize their relative can’t enjoy the amenities because their basic health needs aren’t being met, it may be too late.

As an elder abuse lawyer, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when powerful corporations fail vulnerable people by putting profits before care. I recently represented the family of a 77-year-old woman who choked to death while under the care of Eskaton, a mega-provider with long-term-care facilities throughout Northern California. Her death was attributed to the improper administration of Ativan, a powerful sedative used as a chemical restraint. A Sacramento jury later awarded a record $42.5-million verdict against Eskaton. The case raised serious questions about inadequate training and insufficient staffing levels. It also highlighted wider concerns about subpar corporate oversight and regulations.

Assisted living programs should enforce standards of care capable of averting such tragic outcomes. They need to require employment of onsite physicians and nurses. Powerful drugs like Ativan should not be administered by staff members who are untrained, underpaid, and overworked.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Aging, which is scheduled to launch in 2020, presents an opportunity to implement long-overdue reform of the 1985 Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act to focus more on the delivery of quality health care and less on issues of /financial liability and licensing. If profits take a hit, so be it. Corporate assisted living facilities can no longer be allowed to make the bottom line a bigger priority than the wellbeing of their residents.

Ed Dudensing is a former Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County who represents victims of elder abuse and neglect.

What NOT to Do When Filing a Work Injury Claim in Georgia

By

Benjamin Gerber

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Getting injured is one thing — getting injured at work is an entirely different legal issue. Unfortunately, injury on the job is not that uncommon. After being hurt at work, you’ll want to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits by reporting the accident to your employer immediately.

It is important to know what steps need to be taken when filing a Workers’ Compensation claim in Georgia.

Avoid these 4 common mistakes when filing for Workers’ Compensation in Georgia:

Mistake #1: Waiting to file a report

You’ve been injured at work. You’ve received the necessary medical care. The last thing you want to think about is filing paperwork. So you wait a few days, maybe a few weeks until you’re feeling a little bit better.

What you should do:

As soon as you’re able to, file your paper work. Filing deadline is different for each state. There are usually 2 deadlines: one for your employer and a second for a claim in order to receive benefits. Missing these dates or waiting to start the process can cause you to lose eligibility for those benefits.

Employers may also call your integrity into question. With a less than desirable number of work-related injuries each year, employers are often suspicious when claims are made.

Mistake #2: Not mentioning your injury in the report

You got a bump on the head a few years ago, and last month you may have taken a week off because you hurt your back and needed to recover. No big deal. You’re back to your old self now, and those injuries have nothing to do with your current accident.

What you should do:

This isn’t exclusive to work-related injuries. If you were hurt outside of work — strained a muscle or fell off a ladder while you cleaned the gutters of your home and broke your arm — these should be included. Employers may try to argue your current case was the result of a previous injury, referred to as a Major Contributing Cause (MCC). However, this is much easier to defend than workers’ compensation fraud.

If you fail to report past work-related injuries, you could lose your workers’ compensation benefits and possibly face repayment of compensation already received. Here are some other things you need to know about filing for workers’ compensation.

Be thorough and be consistent.

Even something you deem as a minor detail could help your case, just as any discrepancies could be used against you.

Add the conditions of the environment where you were injured, such as temperature and space, if you were working with any equipment, any coworkers who witnessed your injury, and if there was anything out of the norm.

Mistake #3: Refusing to take a different job with less pay

You’re finally starting to feel like your old self again, the doctor(s) have given you the all-clear, and it’s time to return to work. When you do, your boss may offer you a new job with lighter duties. The problem is it comes with pay that amounts to less than the income received prior to the injury.

What you should do:

Accept the job. Refusal to do so could terminate your position. In order to make a case, you must put forth the effort to prove that even the new duties are too much in order to receive compensation.

Mistake #4: Representing yourself to save on lawyer’s fee

In your mind, the circumstances surrounding your injury look black and white. It’s an open-and-shut case. You’ve collected evidence, put on your good suit, and feel confident that you’ll win your case.

That was before you got to court, when your palms started sweating because legal terminology you don’t understand is being thrown around the room.

What you should do:

Even the seemingly most cut-and-dried cases need legal expertise. Businesses consult with their own legal experts, so it’s a smart decision if you do too. It’s not unlawful to represent yourself, but navigating the law is much easier said than done when you have next to little knowledge.

Regardless of the type of work injury you’ve suffered, you are entitled to full and fair compensation under state law.

If you are hurt on the job, contact the Law Offices of Gerber & Holder for a free consultation.

Sources:

Why Do Personal Injury Lawyers Struggle to Get Clients?

Neglecting Their Websites

Not Focusing on Brand Awareness

Visibility Issues

The Definition of Insurance Bad Faith

What Is an Insurance Bad Faith Lawsuit?

Claims Denials

Business Interruption

Commercial Claims

Protecting Policyholders

Who To Talk When Faced With Divorce?

How To Pick A Divorce Lawyer

PR and SEO Should Complete Each Other, Not Compete with Each Other

Google’s EAT Algorithm & YMYL Websites

Avoiding Spam Press Releases

It is important to know what steps need to be taken when filing a Workers’ Compensation claim in Georgia.

Mistake #1: Waiting to file a report

Mistake #2: Not mentioning your injury in the report

What you should do:

Mistake #3: Refusing to take a different job with less pay

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