Ben Glass Pledges "No Fee for Kids"

No attorney fee will be charged if the case can be settled before a lawsuit is filed. That's at the heart of a new promotion by Fairfax VA personal injury attorney Ben Glass. “For car accident cases that settle without having to file a lawsuit, there is no attorney fee charged for any child who is 12 or under at the time of the accident,” Mr. Glass says. Case expenses will be passed on to the client.

Mr. Glass, well known for his legal marketing strategies, has a website for the service at http://www.nofeeforkids.com/ and a press release on the program.

Why give away your law firm's services?

1. Like a retailer's "loss leader," this offer is certainly intended to draw a lot of other paying clients.
2. It is another form of pro bono, which is doing good to feel good.
3. The program is drawing positive national headlines, which is good for the firm.
4. Free services for kids (and Mr. Glass has 9 himself) can be used to soften the blow when attention is brought to higher fees on other cases.
5. The geography is limited, so there are boundaries on how many clients will be accepted.

Another consideration is that if a child under 12 is injured, there was also an adult present in many of those accidents. Perhaps the adult is also injured, and therefore a full fare prospect for the law firm.

Law Firm Losing Leads on a Wall Street Journal Ad

Last week a well known national law firm (which shall go unnamed) placed a very attractive 1/4 page ad in the Wall Street Journal. The ad caught my attention, and I read the whole thing. But when I got to the bottom, my response was "NOW what?".

If I were a prospect looking to purchase this type of legal service rather than a legal marketer, I would probably want to know who I should contact. Guess what? There was no phone number to call. There was no person to contact. The ad directed the reader to the firm's web page to sign up for newsletters!?

Measuring Success in Law Firm Marketing

I'm not sure how much an ad in the WSJ costs, but the price tag probably has a few $000 at the end. Every good law firm marketer, especially in today's economy, should be calculating the ROI on every campaign. This means you have to measure results, like the number of inquiries, number of calls, and new accounts opened. Without any metrics, this law firm is simply leaving money on the table.

Five Ways to Turn an Ad into New Business

Here are a few quick ideas on how this ad could have served as a lead generation pipeline straight to new business:

1. Identify one attorney as a point of contact in the ad, along with their phone number. Make sure the phone number is covered 24/7 for 15-30 days after the ad runs. An answering service with live operators would be ideal for coverage after hours.  
2. Direct readers to a special website landing page dedicated to that unique ad, to separate ad responders from normal web traffic.
3. Offer a special report in the ad, available by postal mail or download, with an order form online.
4. Invite interested ad readers to one or more webinars on the practice area covered in the ad.
5. Offer a free audit. This law firm operates in a regulatory environment, so a free audit could prompt serious prospects with a good likelihood of turning into business.

This firm missed a great opportunity to collect high value leads. Branding alone is no longer a sufficient reason to spend precious marketing and business development dollars.