Professional legal marketers recently discovered that lawyers were consistently generating two types of client leads. One type of lead increased the number of actual clients and got favorable results and the other type was a complete waste of time.

Question Askers

This is a type of lead that is filled out by people who are window-shopping the legal community with varying degrees of interest and a vague understanding about what an attorney can do for them. They may not even grasp the importance of retaining a specialist in a particular area of law.

Educated, Motivated And Pre-Sold Prospects

This is a type of prospective client that has been carefully qualified, who has received a significant amount of information on the area of law and THEN completes a "Request For Consultation" form. These are educated and motivated clients.
When your firm can obtain these types of leads, the natural result is an increased client acquisition rate.

Some of the more successful legal marketers have developed proprietary Internet based tools that continue to generate the motivated and educated prospect.

There are three basic tools that have been identified and refined to generate real hot “highly targeted” prospects.

THE TARGETED AD

This is a keyword rich advertisement that is unlike the usual "generic" ads seen by the client. These ads address a specific legal problem, identified by the client, and generated by the keyword the client used while searching for a solution.

Once the problem has been identified, the client is delivered to a specific "landing page" with compelling information designed to deliver the exact information the client is seeking at the exact moment they need it.

The Landing Page Storyline

Most law firms that attempt to generate client leads on their own, publish a simple ad that delivers the prospect to the firms website with either too much "general information" or in many cases no useful specific information.

Once you know the right questions to ask, hiring your personal injury lawyer is not only easy, but you will have priceless peace of mind.

Pick any three personal injury lawyers from the phone book or Internet ads that are conveniently located to you and begin the interview process. Remember, they are working for you so it is proper that you should take control of the interview and hiring process before you relinquish control of your injury case to them.

Here are the nine vital questions you need to ask:

1. Are you certifird by (Your State) The New Jersey Supreme Court as a Cival Trial Lawyer?

2. Do you hire trial consultants to help you prepare cases?

3. Do you run mock jury trials to help you learn about what juror's think about your cases?

4. How many personal injury cases have you actually tried in front of juries?

5. What kind of experts have you hired for your clients?

6. What percentage of your law firm's revenue is derived from personal injury cases?

7. Have you successfully handled cases similar to mine? If so, how many and what is your average recovery?

8. Do you routinely offer to advance all costs and expenses of litigation?

9. Are you certified as a trial attorney or a member of any attorney organizations that focus on injury victims?

The answers you receive will give you a pretty good idea if the personal injury attorney is as experienced and successful as you deserve.

Retain an attorney who is willing to go to trial and prepares each and every case with a jury in mind. Insurance companies know very well which attorneys are trial tested, experienced, and willing to duke it out in the courtroom. They are the attorneys who command the respect that gets you a fair settlement.

Any attorney that is unwilling to advance expenses is putting you in a weaken position because if you are unable to support the case through trial it must be settled out of court. That usually spells less compensation for your injury. Insurance companies look for these opportunities to save a bundle at your expense.

Once you have the answers to these questions and you feel comfortable that your attorney will get you a fair and equitable compensation, you are ready to hire them.

Choose a lawyer who focuses their practice in personal injury law, including car accidents, defective products, construction accidents and personal injuries of every description.

It's always a plus if your attorney is certified by (any state) The New Jersey Supreme Court as a "Civil Trial Lawyer", a distinction held by less than 3% of the lawyers in New Jersey.

Deciding to buy a Franchise is a huge decision. Once you have convinced yourself that franchising suits your character and business aspirations, have identified the right franchise, done your sums, attended the initial training and perhaps paid an initial deposit you will be presented with a Franchise Agreement to sign.

Typically this agreement could run to 40 or 50 pages and can be a daunting read to those unfamiliar with commercial contracts. The very nature of a franchise business structure means that the agreement will be fairly complex. Remember that this document provides the framework for your business life over the next seven years or so.

Franchisors, particularly established ones, will rarely change or negotiate the terms of their standard Franchise Agreement as they will want to maintain uniformity across all the franchises. However, it is essential that you understand what you are being asked to sign. Once you have signed an agreement as a business person (without the cotton wool treatment given to consumers) you will struggle to persuade a court later that the terms were unfair or sufficiently unreasonable to be void. You will be stuck with it! I strongly recommend that you seek legal advice from a commercial solicitor familiar with franchising.

Key areas include establishing the true cost of the franchise including ongoing royalties, advertising costs, minimum stock purchases. What location and territorial rights have been granted? Are these exclusive to you? What property and equipment is required? What obligations are there on you and the Franchisor relating to the ongoing operation of the franchise?

Often the most complex area relates to renewal and termination of the franchise. Are you granted an automatic renewal right beyond the franchise term of 5 or 7 years? What renewal fee is payable? Can you sell the franchise on? Usually you will need to give the franchisor first option and/or a right of veto over the acceptability of any proposed transferee, often coupled with a % fee. What are the consequences of an early termination by you if you want or need to get out prematurely? There will usually be a minimum period with forfeiture of the franchise fee, stock and possibly other financial penalties and compensation. What if you are in breach? What circumstances would lead to an automatic termination? Are you given a period in which to remedy your breach?

Ask yourself some "What if?" scenarios. What if you died or were seriously ill? What if you failed to meet your sales targets? What if you wanted to sell product out of your territory? What if a customer sued you for faulty products? If you cannot answer all your What ifs, do seek more advice. Don't be afraid to ask the Franchisor these questions. But don't expect an impartial response. The Franchise Agreement will usually have an express term preventing any reliance upon representations or claims made by the Franchisor in the initial presentations or documentation. Much to the disappointment of many clients who come to us for advice having run an unsuccessful franchise, this applies particularly to any claims as to how much money can be earnt… Buyer beware!

We’ve all had that Eureka moment when we think we have thought of something new. Sometimes we think there may even be a viable business behind it. So how do you go about protecting that idea, particularly if it is so fundamental and integral to the success of your business model? Ask yourself a few questions: Can I protect it so that my competitors cannot copy me? How practical is it to do so? How much will it cost me? Can I enforce it? Is it really that unique? Would I be better off just getting on and doing it? To protect a business idea or model there are five key areas not all of which will be relevant to a particular business: Law of confidence – this is a general duty of confidence which protects confidential information and ideas from unauthorised use or disclosure and is relevant to the early stages of a business idea or model. You can disclose information and retain legal protection from unauthorised use or further disclosure if (a) the information is itself not trivial and (b) it was disclosed in circumstances where an obligation of confidence exists. Read more about confidential agreements and non-disclosure agreements here. Copyright – this protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves, for example, the software, text, image or design. Particular care needs to be taken with photography and website code. We have seen many businesses that have been caught out regarding ownership. The creator of a work will usually be the first owner of the copyright but this can be “assigned” to someone else which effectively transfers all rights. This may leave the creator with something known as moral rights. Read more about the use of the © symbol here. Patents – protects ideas which are new unique processes. The uniqueness needs to be proven as part of the registration and this can be a formidable and expensive hurdle. However, if you have a patent you have an enforceable monopoly right over the exploitation of that idea. Trademarks – these may be unregistered or registered. If you have a brand which you need to protect this could be for you. Do you know the difference between the ™ and ® symbols? Read our mini-guide: Seven practical steps to protect your intellectual property here. Domain names – arguably the modern day version of Trademarks, having key registered domains (eg.123.com or truelegal.co.uk) can be more useful and cheaper to obtain than trademarks, and be sufficient to warn others off using that branding. Design Rights – like Trademarks these come in the form of registered and unregistered rights, and may be available to protect someone copying your design. They are more easily registered than patents and provide a useful and enforceable deterrent. Once you have these some or all of these rights you can exploit them by licensing them to third parties. It is best to formalise these into a Licensing Agreement which needs careful drafting to obtain the maximum protection of your investment to ensure royalties and other licence income is secure. Two great sites to look at if you are new to this field are www.patent.gov.uk and the more user-friendly and business focussed.

Brain injury attorneys help victims who have suffered brain injuries due to an accident. These attorneys are always prepared to pursue a brain injury claim on your behalf. One of the main tasks of a brain injury attorney is to prove whether the brain injury his or client has suffered is severe or mild. It is not easy to differentiate between the two. A good brain injury attorney knows enough scientific jargon to prove his or her point in the court.

If you or your loved one has suffered a brain injury it is better to go to a qualified brain injury attorney rather than a general attorney.

There are several law firms which specialize in handling such cases. Some law firms deal with such cases under the personal injury category. Over a period of time some attorneys taking personal injury cases tend to develop a specialization in brain injury cases.

The brain injury attorneys are generally supported by good research teams well-versed in medical and legal matters. Also, these attorneys keep in touch with medical experts who are consulted about the medical aspects of the case.

As a brain injury can cause severe physical as well as psychological discomfort to the victim, a brain injury attorney must have lot of patience and sensitivity. If you want to file a claim in a court seeking compensation for a brain injury, the sooner you get in touch with an attorney, the better. Sometimes a delay in filing a case can have serious consequences on the final verdict, even if you have hired one of the best brain injury attorneys. But remember that the specialized attorneys who handle such cases come at a cost. The best among them are not affordable for most of the people, but some will work on contingency. Look out for them if you can’t afford to hire an attorney on your own.

It is not essential that you engage an attorney for filing under chapter 7, but the fact is that you cannot do without expert help if you have to meet complicated legal situations. This becomes especially true when you have to deal with a horde of creditors from various fields. There are secured and unsecured loans involving mortgages, alimony, child support expenses, taxes, and student loans. Then there is the trustee appointed by the court to examine your property and documents. The job of the trustee is to ensure that you have mentioned all your assets and that you have not undervalued them in any way. Going by actual practice, the trustee tries to recover as much as property as possible from you, as the more he recovers, the more he is paid. Dealing in such situations can prove to be a nerve-wracking experience, and therefore it makes sense to hire an attorney to handle your case.

Again, since quite a number of people have duped the chapter 7 law to avoid paying their loans, a new, more stringent bankruptcy law has recently been passed that makes it all the more imperative for you to hire an attorney.

A qualified attorney can help your understand the complicated nature of options available to you. For example, he will tell you whether you should file for bankruptcy under chapter 7 or chapter 13. A bankruptcy lawyer’s fee varies from $800 to $1,200 or even more, in view of the new stringent bankruptcy law. A good lawyer can save you many times your expenses that you might have to incur without his expert advice and help.

A bankruptcy attorney can assist you to assess your legal and financial situation. He can take stock of your assets and liabilities and deal with the trustee appointed by the court. If you are a businessman filing for chapter 7, a specialist attorney can make you understand the game of numbers that may help you get exemptions.