The underappreciated part of our 13-month road trip has been seeing how places compare to my expectations.

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Considering I am TERRIBLE with geography, usually, this boils down to nothing more than  "I didn't think this place would look like this."

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For example, the La Brea Tar Pits was a more scientific research site than Jurassic Park replicas.

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But the most recent example was North Dakota - what do you think when I say North Dakota? For me, I was expecting just flat expansive land of mostly nothing.

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Instead, I got this:

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It was funny because as we hiked in the South Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park, a guy was filming some content - I'm not sure who/what it was for, but I kept hearing him say something like, "This is North Dakota!" while he stood on the precipice of a cliff with the cool background.

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And let's be honest, the competition for "This is North Dakota" is a lot less than "pi lawyer in a completely saturated market with competitors spending 10,000 as much as you and an industry that sees fewer and fewer claims every year with more technology, lower insurance coverage, etc."

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That's why I present this to you - my content creation system (which we finalized last week...so don't think you are BEHIND the 8-ball here).

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I posted the full thing online in our Solutions For Lawyers, By Lawyers Facebook group. Click here to access it.

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1) Take your topic - from marketing plan/content calendar/ahrefs/answerthepublic/etc.

2) Run it through the following options:

a) Story

Pain/Attention - use a personal story or start with a problem

Agitate - share how things got worse and what happened to you/someone

Intrigue - show them a new perspective to think about that's intriguing

Positive Future - show the future benefits associated with the intrigue

Solution - bring clarity to how they can achieve a positive future with a solution

b) List - hat else does this topic connect to? How does it break down into a list?

c) The rule of law - if it's a law or statute, what's the plain reading of the text.

d) Exceptions - any exceptions to the "rule."

e) My take - be the expert, aka best practices.

f) Has the topic changed over time? How so? 

Why not?

g) Do you have a different take/observation?

h) FAQs around the topic.

i) Others - What resources help on this issue? Books/articles/tweets/posts?

j) Repeat for any/all

Once you've flushed out the topic into different concepts, think about how to create the correct content around this.

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3) Content Ideas

a) long writing

b) short writing/tweets

c) carousel/slide deck

d) long video/short clips

e) presentation

f) interview

g) collaboration

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And as promised, I am breaking it down for you with an example.  

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Finding the Topic

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Considering I am not sure what your content calendar looks like, I just went to answerthepublic.com and typed in personal injury.

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Here is a sample of what comes out

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Pulling one example makes sense for this newsletter: Can a personal injury lawyer drop your case?

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Creating Content Ideas

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a) Story

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Pain/Attention - use a personal story or start with a problem - I almost had to drop a client's case.

Agitate - share how things got worse and what happened to you/someone - client refused to reply to us or stay in touch, almost missing discovery dates

Intrigue - show them a new perspective to think about that's intriguing - we explained ALL the information we were trying to find in discovery and then told them about how it wouldn't be fair if we didn't give the other side some stuff and if our client was honest the whole time, we had nothing to hide

Positive Future - show the future benefits associated with the intrigue - explained prior smoking guns we have found in discovery and the increased offers

Solution - bring clarity to how they can achieve a positive future with a solution - client sets up time to come into the office to finalize the discovery requests

b) List - what else does this topic connect to? How does it break down into a list? Reasons to drop a case (no contact, lying, unethical issues, late conflicts, etc.), ethical concerns when dropping a case (SOL, client's file, a lien on the case, send to other lawyers, etc.)

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c) The rule of law - if it's a law or statute, what's the plain reading of the text (would have staff member research the relevant law)

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d) Exceptions - any exceptions to the "rule" - I doubt this one would apply, but potentially in the above research would be some black letter rules on it that we could talk about in content

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e) My take - be the expert, aka best practices - I HATE dropping a case. (Unless it's an unethical request or a client wanting to be shady), it REALLY gets to me because I know we are the best fit, and I hate a client not having the best representation in their biggest time of need

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f) Has the topic changed over time? How so? 

Why not? - I don't think this applies to this, but maybe there was a change in the research on the law on it

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g) Do you have a different take/observation - I don't want a client's answer to our questions to be "what's best for my case?" I want their answer to be the truth, otherwise, I think all lawyers hate dropping viable cases

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h) FAQs around the topic - what rights do you have as a client when your case is dropped? Can you get your lawyer to reconsider your case? 

Can you get another lawyer to take it?

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i) Others - What resources help on this issue? Books/articles/tweets/posts?  (quick google search lead to) https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/a-primer-on-motions-to-withdraw-and-attorney-liens/ and https://www.attorneys-advantage.com/Resources/Firing-Your-Client (if doing this for real I would also have some research on social media for articles/post/etc. there to expand upon or highlight).

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Creating the Content

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a) Long writing - Jordan Law's written policy on dropping cases, five stories of dropped cases for different reasons, an in-depth parable of a client and the impact on their case by being difficult, our process of deciding to take a case or not

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b) Short writing/tweets - break out written policy into each reason, ethics opinion on the issue, my quick thoughts on dropping cases, write a short post from the standpoint of a file being closed without a solid result a la Pixar's toys no longer being played with

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c) Carousel/slide deck - reasons outlined in a slide deck, relevant ethics opinion guidance, steps a client can take after their case has been dropped, what a lawyer considers when evaluating a case, reasons clients decide to stop moving forward on cases, five things required for us to take a case

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d) Long video - tell stories about dropping cases and why, show a behind-the-scenes team video of us round tabling cases

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Short clips - why I dropped a recent case, a story of a new client where we are the second lawyer for a good reason, do a song parody (50 ways to leave your lover turns into five ways to fire your client)

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e) Presentation - how to be the best client (and maximize your recovery) - go into being responsive and proactive, keeping a pain journal, being honest, attending dr appointments, considerations on more serious treatment

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f) Interview - talk to another lawyer(s) on why they drop cases, speak to clients about what we did or can do to make it easier for them to push their case forward, and have a client share the toughest part of their case and how they got through it, find someone online who is complaining about their lawyer dropping their case and interview them on why it happened and why they feel that way

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g) Collaboration - have the bar ethics attorney write up some guidelines for us to do a guest blog post or joint video on, pick a teacher client who's active with our ideal clients to be interviewed about their experience, and have an intake specialist discuss how they weed cases out quickly

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Honestly, I knocked this out in 5-7 minutes. If I were doing this for real, I would allow 15-30 for each topic and do it in a group setting.

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And note, every answer it's DIRECTLY on point to the topic, but it's close. That's what you want. You want to hit the topic head-on and the related things that are 80% on the topic but take it to a bit of a different place.

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Conservatively, I have 15 different pieces of content here. If I push them out to an average of 3 platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, website blog, newsletter), that's 45 different posts in under 10 minutes of thought.

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I'm also a fan of asking the audience what other questions they have around this topic (that's a piece of content, and if you have engaged followers, you'll get MORE ideas on FAQs to answer and such).

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What's the Catch?

Now...putting them together in a nice way will take more time and effort. Written posts tend to be the easiest for us to do on our own. 

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As lawyers, we tend to write for a living.

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The video might need some graphics and an editor.  

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Carousels need a graphic designer and/or a great Canva template.  

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All of these could use a professional copywriter to write the captions.  

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Ideally, you'd have a social media strategist time the posts and follow up on the engagement.

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That's where social media can get difficult and expensive, but for now, getting the content ideas (and pushing yourself to be a bit different) is a GREAT place to start.

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Next week I'm going to share some about my upcoming book Love Your Law Firm - the why, the how, (HOPEFULLY THE WHEN...fingers crossed). So for anyone interested in ever writing a book, or who wants to read my story in more detail, that's going to be the newsletter for you.

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Until then, I hope you have an amazing week! And may you not have to learn Karate to solve all your problems and bribe the referees to make sure your dojo wins so you can take over the world...or something like that. I still don't really understand the purpose of Cobra Kai (5 seasons in...)

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Until Next Friday

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Finding Purpose Amidst the Pressures of Law (09/30/2022)

<< Test First Name >>,

"Why do you need to be the one to write this book?"

That's the gist of a question Tyson Mutrux asked me when I asked him about writing the forward.

And to be clear (for anyone who doesn't know him), he meant it in a genuinely curious and supportive way. Not to be an asshat.

Thankfully, I have an easy answer.

I've wanted to write a book for a very long time and am finally getting it over the finish line. (true, but not deep enough).

Because in my 3 years as a prosecutor, and then my next 3-4 as a criminal defense attorney, I had more colleagues die by suicide, stroke, heart attack, or just straight abandon their firms and leave the practice of law than those who retired.

I'm not going to lie and put myself close to that category. Nor am I vain enough to know I can change everyone headed down that path.

BUT...I know that I can make a difference...for at least a handful of people, and that's more than enough.

Whether it's because some of the stuff I did is so obviously stupid that you know, "if he can come back from that, so can I!"

Or whether it's because you listen and learn from my mistakes and don't dig that sort of a hole for yourself...

Or whether it's something totally different that I said that helps you be a happy lawyer, then awesome!

As much as I love the emails, we get from clients about them having their biggest month ever or (because my clients have the same weird sense of humor as I do) their worst tax bill ever...

The ones that REALLY get me. That TRULY touch my heart are the ones that say something like

"Took my first family vacation in five years," or

"Got to take a weekend off for the first time all year," or

"Got to see my kid's first baseball in person."

THOSE are the ones that make my day.

There are only two genuinely adversarial professions, sports, and law. During a surgery, another doctor doesn't run in and try and screw it up.

So if we can be better to each other, AND better to ourselves, and put what we truly need first...then we are better positioned for those we care about (and our clients).

And seriously, you can do it. I truly believe everyone is capable of being happy, having a firm they can be proud of, and an even better life.

You just need to DO it.

And that's what I hope my social media, this newsletter, and this book will do for anyone who reads them.

Don't worry. Next week, we'll be breaking down ads and getting more specific on how you can pay for eyeballs.

Wishing all my Florida friends safety and speedy hurricane recovery.

So stay safe, stay happy and stay in touch!

Until Next Friday

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