I was pleased to see David Bilinsky, writing for the Canadian Bar Association (“CBC”), discuss our legal forms + video guides, free legal health checkup, and this blog (among other things).  In Dave’s Tech Tips, David talked about various online legal websites.  He mentioned many websites that offer legal forms – such as us and legalzoom (which is a great compliment since we’ve only been around for less than 1 month).  The funny thing, and I pointed this out to David in an email, is that many of those websites (www.AdviceScene.com, www.CanadaLegal.com, etc.) actually don’t have legal forms but merely redirect traffic OUR WAY!  Then, in Practice Talk, David wrote the following (in part):

As of yesterday – March 4, 2010 (the day of writing this column) the Canadian legal competitive battlefield changed. Dynamic Lawyers, led by Michael Carabash, B.A., LL.B., J.D., M.B.A., Founder/President, formally launched their website: www.dynamiclawyers.com. [actually, our website launched in November 2008; we only recently launched our legal forms + video guides, which I think what David was referring to]

Have a look – Carabash, a Toronto business lawyer, is one of a growing list of new entrants into the area of online legal services. What makes his web services a bit different is the use of online video guides that aid purchasers to complete the legal forms that he has made available. He also has a blog: http://dynamiclawyers.com/DL_blog/ and an “online legal health checkup”: http://dynamiclawyers.com/cois_interview.php.

Dynamic Lawyers joins other online legal service providers such as LegalZoom: www.legalzoom.com that are seeking to tap the “do it yourself” legal consumer market…

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, dynamiclawyers.com, legal forms video guides

As part of being on Goldhawk Live today, I figured I would share some thoughts on access to justice.

For starters, what exactly does access to justice mean?

Well, most people would probably think it’s all about empowering more people (particularly those with less resources and sophistication) to find good and affordable lawyers who can help them with their legal problems.  Digger deeper reveals that this idea of “access to justice” is all about dispute resolution: faster, cheaper, and more effective ways of resolving disputes.   This could be in the context of court (e.g. family, small claims, etc.), government agencies and tribunals (e.g. Ontario Securities Commission, Real Estate Council of Ontario, Ontario Human Rights Commission, etc.), or mediation / arbitration.  So things like legal aid, pro bono lawyers, duty counsel, paralegals, etc. could help to improve access to justice in this regard.  And making a post on Dynamic Lawyers can also help by having local lawyers (who focus on the area of law you require) compete for your work!  We also have affordable, downloadable, and customizable lawyer-prepared legal forms + video guides which can help you resolve disputes by avoiding going to court (e.g. settlement agreements, auto accident releases, cohabitation agreement, etc.).

But improving dispute resolution for the masses isn’t the be all and end all of “access to justice”.  As Richard Susskind points out in his book, “The End of Lawyers?”, there are 2 additional components of access to justice which are sometimes missed.

First, access to justice means preventing disputes before they arise: prevention is better than than the cure.  You go to a doctor for an annual health checkup, but when is the last time you went to a lawyer for an annual legal health checkup?  Why wait until it’s too late to be proactive?  That’s why we created a FREE legal health checkup.  You can go directly to it here to take the Free Legal Health Checkup.  The idea behind this innovative application is that, by answering a few questions in under 5 minutes, you can get an instant grade to better gauge your legal health.  This can help identify issues of concern in various legal areas (e.g. estates, family, work, employment, real estate, etc.) and hopefully lead you to take action to prevent unwanted and potentially costly / emotionally distressing situations in the future. So by now, you’re seeing that access to justice is more than just a better cure when things go bad: it’s about preventing those disputes to begin with.

But there’s a final aspect of access to justice that’s often left to the back burner (also discussed by Richard Susskind).   This has everything to do with the BENEFITS OF KNOWING THE LAW.  People often look at legal services as a cost, but not as an income-generator or as allowing people to save money.  But if more people knew the law, it could help them do BOTH!  For example, if more and more people understood the following, they could generate or save money:

• Welfare eligibility and benefits
• Employment standards (minimal pay and notice requirements)
• Tax planning in making a will
• Tax planning in using the appropriate business structure (e.g. sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, etc.)

Knowing the law can also empower people so that others (e.g. employers, landlords, the government, etc.) don’t take advantage by infringing on their legal rights.  Those rights could arise at common-law (i.e. judge made law), in a statute or regulation, or based on contractual principles.

So how does Dynamic Lawyers help in this regard?  Well, we not only allow you to get in touch with local lawyers who practice in the area of law you require, but we also offer a TON of free guidance everywhere you look.  That guidance comes in the form of the DL Guide, the Legal Areas page, our Stats and Reports, and our affiliations with other websites (e.g. Legalline, Duhaime, AdviceScene, LegalTree, IsThatLegal, etc.).  We want to help democratize legal services for the everyday person in Canada.

So by now it should be clear that access to justice has 3 fundamental aspects to it (improving dispute resolution, preventative law, and the benefits of understanding the law) and all of them are being addressed by Dynamic Lawyers on a large scale

written by admin \\ tags: Access to Justice, dynamiclawyers.com

Today at 7:00 p.m., I’m going to be a guest on Goldhawk Live (TV) to talk about access to justice.  I’ll be discussing Dynamic Lawyers, our new Legal Forms + Video Guides, and other cool initiatives we and other people have been doing to help improve access to justice.  Tune in…

written by admin \\ tags: dale goldhawk, dynamiclawyers.com, goldhawk live

Our media campaign about Legal Forms + Video Guides officially launches today!  Catch me on CFRB1010 News Talk Radio with Marc Saltzman at 12:00 p.m. noon.  And don’t forget to set your clock one hour-ahead or you’ll miss the interview (don’t worry, we’ll also be podcasting it afterwards).

FYI, on Wednesday, I’ll be on TV again (Goldhawk Live).  Stay tuned…

written by admin \\ tags: dynamiclawyers.com, legal forms video guides

So Professor Fodden COINCIDENTALLY decided to write a blog on Slaw YESTERDAY that discussed a PH.D. thesis from 2007 by Christine Vanda Burns called “Online Legal Services – A Revolution that Failed?”  It’s going to take me a little while to go through this thesis (it’s 729 pages!). But, as Professor Fodden points out in his blog, the big problem is the acquisition and packaging of legal services (i.e. transferring knowledge).  For lawyers, their time can be more lucrative by doing what they’ve always been doing: hourly billings.  But that’s about to change…You see, we have just launched (COINCIDENTALLY, 1 day after Professor Fodden blogged about Professor Burns’ article) a revolutionary new product that will do exactly that: LEGAL FORMS + VIDEO GUIDES.  We have essentially packaged legal knowledge and documents for sale to the masses that can be digestible, interacted with, and which provide effective learning.  All at a fraction of the price a lawyer would charge…check out the promo video:

written by admin \\ tags: dynamiclawyers.com, legal forms, Michael Carabash, online legal services, video guides

Many people have responded to our new FREE Legal Health Checkup application and are curious to see how it works before trying it out themselves.  This gave me the idea to come out with a quick video demonstrating how it all works.  Enjoy and be sure to try it out!

Remember: the reason we developed this Free Legal Checkup is because because a lot of people aren’t aware that they have legal needs.  They live their lives and then face a legal surprise which can be both financially and emotionally devastating.  You should be proactive and protect yourself and your family by taking this FREE legal Checkup from Dynamic Lawyers

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, dynamiclawyers.com, free legal checkup, free legal health checkup

Dynamic Lawyers has just issued a profile report about Toronto lawyer Simon Shields.  Simon is taking his online law practice, IsThatLegal, on the road beginning August 30, 2009.  He coaches self-represented litigants in the areas of small claims court, employment, landlord and tenant, Ontario Disability and Support Program, and even animal rights.  His website is chuck-full of great legal information about court procedure and substantive legal issues.  You should definitely check out the report and read about Simon’s plans and challenges.  Best of luck, Simon!

written by admin \\ tags: dynamiclawyers.com, isthatlegal.ca, Simon Shields

So alongside the release of our new eBook, I’ll be releasing bits and pieces of that eBook right here in the blog.  Remember, just go here to download the full eBook (just scroll to the bottom).

If You Build It, Will They Come?
Just because you have a website doesn’t mean anyone will visit it. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that if you don’t do the things I recommend in this eBook, NOBODY other than existing clients (who found you through some other non-online way) will even know you have a website! Without good quality content on your website, there will be no reason for prospective clients to visit your website in the first place. Without that content being organized and disseminated properly, search engines will not rank your website highly. Without website traffic from search engine users, you will receive little or no inquiries from prospective clients. Without inquiries…well, you get the picture.

So Let’s Do It Already!
So hopefully now you’re convinced of the IMMEDIATE need to build an effective online presence for your law practice. Now it’s time to share my knowledge. I have come up with a simple 4-step approach to effectively marketing yourself online:

1. Strategize: come up with keywords that your target market will use to find you online;
2. Optimize: design your website and your content in a search-engine friendly way;
3. Promote: use link campaigns, directories, e-mail, to disseminate your content; and
4. Evaluate: analyze and improve on your strategy, optimization, and promotion.

Each of these will be examined in turn. But before we get there, I should say a few things about search engine optimization or “SEO” for short.

Search Engine Optimization
There are basically three ways in which your website can be found online. First, someone may knowingly type in your domain name (e.g. www.DynamicLawyers.com). This method of getting people on your website is impractical for so many obvious reasons. Second, someone may come to your website through a link on another website. This method makes your website dependent on the goodwill of third parties, which also has its disadvantages. Third, and most importantly, someone may find your website by using a search engine like Google or Yahoo; by far, this is the most popular and advantageous way for internet users to find your website.

And this is where search engine optimization or SEO comes in: you need your website to rank higher than other websites for specific keywords in the search engine results. The higher your website ranks, the more likely people will be able to find you (and hence, the more likely they’ll follow up with you to retain your services). Most people don’t look past the first or second page of search engine results so it is imperative that you rank high. Rankings depend on many different criteria and algorithms used by search engines to determine how relevant or authoritative your website is for a given topic or set of the keywords being input. While many of these criteria are public knowledge (and which I will get into below), the algorithms used by the search engine spiders to index and rank websites are kept secret and change so often it is hard to keep up!

Now back to the 4-step approach I mentioned earlier…

Step 1: Strategize [Find the Right Keywords!]
The goal is simple: rank high on search engine results for specific keywords. To get there, you need a strategy. The strategy should end up telling you what are the best keyword(s) for your website to focus on. It’s a waste of time to optimize your website for keywords that are not being searched for. So here are 5 techniques I use to help me figure out what people will be entering into search engines with respect to my particular product or service:

1. Know your products/services: You should be able to describe your idea, the benefits to your target market(s) (i.e. your clients and customers), how you differentiate yourself from competitors (i.e. what’s your sustainable competitive advantage), the history or story behind the idea (this is always a great selling feature), the progress you’ve made, and your future plans.
2. Know your industry: You should look around for competitors and figure out what services they offer and how they try to distinguish themselves from others. You should also know where the industry has been (e.g. new, old, dominated by a few players or fragmented along various lines) and what trends are coming down the pipeline.
3. Know your customers: You should not only be able to describe your ideal customer as much as humanly possible (with respect to the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW), but you should map out the different avenues they would take to find your product or service – both offline and online. I use SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS to do this. Ask yourself: who is my ideal client or customer? Create a whole bunch of situations in which someone or something would need to use your product, service, or idea. When you’ve done enough of these situations, you’ll start to see overlap. In fact, you can even group a whole bunch of the situations together. At this point, you will likely have identified your primary and perhaps even secondary target market. You should be able to say something like: “my primary target market is boys between the ages of 15 and 20 who live in Toronto and who play online video games after school”. Finally, you should realize that your customers are entering one of three types of keywords: (1) keywords for browsing, (2) keywords for comparing or reviewing, and (3) keywords for buying. Keep these things in mind!
4. Use Software: You can use software like Google AdWords Keyword Tool (FREE), WordTracker (PAID), or Micro Niche Finder (PAID) to help you find the right keywords. These applications will tell you the volume of selected keywords being searched for on a monthly basis (for example, on www.Google.ca) and the fierceness of competitor websites with respect to those keywords. It is always best to find a high volume, low competition keyword or set of keywords to focus on.
5. Evaluate Your Competitors. You can find the right keywords by looking at your competitors and seeing which keywords they are targeting. This is fairly easy to do. Simply visit a competitor website and look at the top of the page or the Title. For example, the Title of http://www.romanolawfirm.ca is “Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer – Injury Lawyers”. This means that this particular page is targeting these keywords. Another simple way to find competitor keywords – assuming you’re using Firefox – is to select “View” from the main menu, and then “Page Source”. This shows you the code that was used to build the webpage. Often times, you will see keywords in a META Tag (i.e. a non-visible background element that describes the page). Just look for something that looks like <meta name=”Description” content=[“actual keywords followed by a statement about your product, services, and/or organization”]/>” and “<meta name=“[keywords]”> or <meta name=”Keywords” content=[“actual keywords”]/>” near the top of the Page Source. A final way to find out what keywords competitors are using is to purchase software like Internet Business Promoter or SEO Elite, which examine competitors based on many different variables – including ALT Attributes, META Tags, Headers, inbound links, etc.

By using these techniques, you should have come up with an idea of some keywords to focus on. Also keep in mind that nothing stays the same over time. In fact, that’s the only thing that does stay the same. So you should repeat steps 1 through 5 every so often to make sure you are ahead of the game.

written by admin \\ tags: 4 steps, dynamiclawyers.com, evaluate, free ebook, online legal marketing, optimize, promote, search engine optimization, strategize

It’s quite amazing to reflect on the similarities between two websites – Dynamic Lawyers and Advicescene – that are trying to enhance access to justice through technology.  Dynamic Lawyers, started by my in November 2008, allows users to post their legal issue(s) a la Craigslist and have Ontario lawyers respond with free information and quotes.   Advicescene, started by Nancy Kinney in March 2009, features an online Canadian legal wiki, a lawyer directory, and online legal forms and other resources.  Here are some similarities:

• Both websites were started recently by individuals in the legal field (I am a Toronto business lawyer and Nancy Kinney has a law degree).
• Both websites leverage social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to promote themselves.
• Both websites have posted their stories on lawbuzz.ca (and created some controversy in the process!).
• Both websites feature videos and free legal information (not advice).
• Both websites have newsletters and links to other online legal resources.
• Both websites have reached out to and been featured in the media.
• Both websites have reached out to and been featured by prominent legal bloggers.
• Both websites will feature lawyer directories.
• And the list goes on…

Based on our respective goals, Nancy Kinney and I have agreed to collaborate and cross-promote our websites towards the greater good – namely, the enhancement of access to justice and the further democratization of the law.  The bottom line is that we’re doing what Richard Susskind wrote about (i.e. leveraging technology to allow people to find lawyers and legal services and share knowledge and information about their experiences).  As per McDonald’s: “I’m loving It!”

written by admin \\ tags: advicescene.com, dynamiclawyers.com, Michael Carabash, nancy kinney, Richard Susskind

It has been a long time coming…Dynamic Lawyers is pleased to announce that it will be expanding its service to other cities across Ontario.  I have continually been asked why this hasn’t come sooner and my answer has always been: in due time.  But with the success we’ve experienced in Toronto, we are now ready to expand to the following new cities:

• Vaughan
• Windsor
• Richmond Hill
• Barrie
• Burlington
• Guelph
• Kingston
• St. Catherines
• Sudbury
• Thunder Bay
• Oakville
• Niagara Falls
• Thornhill
• Pickering
• Ajax
• Whitby

If you have a legal issue(s) – be it related to family law, real estate, business law, tax law, intellectual property law, presonal injury law, etc., then you should go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post (it’s 100% free and anonymous) to get free information and quotes from local lawyers.

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, dynamiclawyers.com, expanding across Ontario