Nolo's Lawyer Blog

Formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA®), AAJ held its 2010 annual meeting July 10 - July 14 in one of the world's premiere cities, Vancouver BC.

Lawyers from all over the US, Canada and beyond converged to attend more than a hundred section and litigation group meetings and events that took place at the Vancouver convention center.

Sessions included a broad range of subjects like pharmacy and products liability litigation, several different types of accident and transportation law; bicycles, motorcycles, cars, railroads, trucking, aviation and maritime, employment, housing, criminal, civil rights and more. There was even a group meeting to discuss electrical blankets and heating pad accidents along with the Gulf Coast oil spill and pending litigation (good news to hear its been capped and is not leaking!)

Since Vancouver is such a fantastic destination for so many people from around the world, it seems that most of the attorneys spent most of their time outside of their sessions,outside of the convention hall.

Despite the lower-than-expected traffic to the exhibit hall, we connected with several good attorneys from key markets where we need help like New York, Seattle and Southern California.

Nolo representatives Catherine Berryessa and Greg Roden headed from Berkeley to Orlando, Florida for the 2010 National Association of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) annual meeting - "Planning for Change." There were more than two hundred member attorneys who focus on elder and special needs law attending general sessions, CLE's, networking mixers and more throughout the week. Nolo was very well received and we gave out more than 150 elder law related books to attorneys interested in becoming Nolo members.


Most of these attorneys were focused on estate planning, conservatorships, special needs trusts and general "end of life" planning. Many NAELA members we spoke with shared how the field is growing past just wills, trust and estate issues to encompass inter-disciplinary areas of law including family law, tax planning, social security, and medicare / medicaid issues.


Attorneys who know Nolo were pleasantly surprised to see us in attendance, and were very interested in learning more about how they can partner with us. We gave out a lot of books that were a hit with attorneys, including Long-Term Care, Special Needs Trust, and the 15th Edition Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions.

We look forward to attending the fall NAELA conference in San Diego in November and thank all of the attorneys here in Florida for the warm welcome to our first-ever NAELA annual meeting!

This year proved to be the largest NACBA show ever with more than 3,000 bankruptcy attorneys in attendance for CLE's, seminars, networking and more in downtown San Francisco.

Many of our Lawyer Directory team came out to distribute Nolo's popular bankruptcy books to qualified attorneys across the country.

Only a couple of months old, our newest title, Bankruptcy for Small Business Owners, was a big hit. Co-author Steve Elias was on-hand Saturday and Sunday to answer questions and sign copies of his books.

We also debuted another  title - The Judge Who Hated Red Nail Polish - humorous stories from the courtroom and beyond which also went over well with the attorneys in attendance.

Tom Foley, Nolo's Lawyer Directory NACBA specialist says, "We always enjoy meeting NACBA members from all over the country.  It was great to have them visit us on our home turf."

As a thank you to our Lawyer Directory members, we treated a group of NACBA attendees to a sunset Bay cruise aboard the Adventure Cat II out of Fisherman's Wharf. Check out Tom Foley's pics here.

Strategic Online Partnerships

In our efforts to provide more exposure and online visibility to Nolo member attorneys, Nolo has partnered with a few key legal websites to form the Nolo Legal Network.

Meet Justia

Former CEO and co-founder of FindLaw, internet legal guru Tim Stanley now heads up Justia, providing premium web sites, blogs and online marketing solutions to law firms. Justia also works with organizations like Nolo that provide free legal information to the online community.  All Nolo member attorneys receive a free enhanced placement listing on Justia's lawyer directory as well as a 'verified by Nolo' badge. Through Justia and its strong web affiliations, Nolo is able to connect its member attorneys with some of the best legal sites on the web.

Cornell University's Legal Information Institute (LII)

The leading provider of free public legal information, Cornell created the Legal Information Institute, the first legal website on the Internet back in 1992. Known for listing all opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court since 1992, together with over 600 earlier decisions selected for their historical importance, Cornell also lists attorneys--including Nolo member attorneys--as a service to members of the public with questions about the law.

OYEZ - US Supreme Court Multimedia Archive

"Oyez aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices" (from the Oyez website).

These are just a few examples of the growing list of leading legal information providers that Nolo proudly calls its partners. Find out more about becoming a member of the Nolo Lawyer Directory today!

Please introduce yourself: where are you from, where did you grow up or go to school, are you married, any kids, pets?
I grew up in Chicago and attended Francis W. Parker School for 14 years. Went to school in California but then back to Chicago, where I worked at a progressive rock radio station. I then moved to CA in 1986 and am now married; our teenaged daughter is a dedicated softball pitcher.

Tell us a little about your sales background? Any previous experience that lends itself to talking with attorneys?
After 35 years of selling media, including radio, print and internet, I have an excellent grip on marketing. I've worked with major retailers, professionals, event advertisers and food brands. Marketing is universal - how to best reach your target. That's why I'm happy to be working with Nolo's Lawyer Directory.  It's so amazingly focused. I have forsaken all other media for internet because it is the marketing of the present and the future.

What are the most important things an attorney can do to get the word out to generate more clients?
Besides a Nolo profile, networking with other attorneys is important. Also, do a good job so that your clients will send you referrals. Make sure someone is answering your phone. Put good content on your website!

What do you like the most about working here at Nolo?
I love the environment and the casual atmosphere. I strongly believe in Nolo's mission - informing people about their legal problems - and it's easy to sell a product that you believe in, in which you have confidence.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know or wouldn't know?
Besides being a softball Mom, I love the end of the day when I get to walk my dog Rocco, a jumbo dachshund, in the beautiful Oakland hills.

What do you like to do when you're not working? Personal interests, hobbies, secret obsessions?
I play golf with my husband; I like going to movies and reading the New Yorker cover to cover, and love long novels. I'm a subscriber to the Berkeley Rep and am always amazed by their creative stage work. I've traveled a lot and seen many beautiful places, but my favorite is the tiny hamlet of Inverness in West Marin.

NACBA 2010 - San Francisco

This year's annual NACBA -- The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys -- meeting will be held in San Francisco starting on April 28, 2010. Nolo will be out in force for the show and will also be taking a small group of Nolo-NACBA member attorneys out to sea on a sunset bay cruise aboard "Adventure Cat 2",  a luxurious 65-foot catamaran.
NACBA bankruptcy attorneys attending the San Francisco meeting are invited to join Nolo, Captain Hans and his crew aboard the beautiful Adventure Cat for this hour-and-a-half long sunset cruise.  Our cruise will take us around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge (check out this cool video)!

We will be departing from Fisherman's wharf at 6:30 p.m. sharp on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

There is no cost for qualified attorneys to participate, but space is limited so sign-up today by calling 1-877-NOLO-LAW or email Tom Foley directly at tfoley@nolo.com.

Nolo Member Attorney Interview with Blackie Burak

Nolo catches up with busy Walnut Creek, CA DUI attorney Blackie Burak on why he became an attorney, best practices for lawyers just starting out, as well as tips on what makes a good DUI lawyer.

Blackie Burake Interview_edit.mp3

While we enjoyed speaking with all of the NACBA attorneys that stopped by Nolo's booth, here are just a few of the things that some of our member attorneys had to say.

"We don't track our advertising too closely but I'd say we've received at least 20-30 clients from Nolo over this past year. Our Nolo advertising paid for itself within the first few months" Holley & Peter Bricks, Atlanta - Georgia








"It was an honor to meet your colleagues. I did not expect to meet one of the author/editors of your Chapter 7 book, which I use on a regular basis.
 
I have a great deal of respect for Nolo, not just for the quality products, but for the ultimate goal that I have seen Nolo carry through the years of educating the public about the otherwise intimidating legal process. I try to serve this goal as well with my clients on an individual basis.  I consider it an honor to have my firm associated with Nolo." Kurt W. Wolfgang - La Plata, Maryland

"I've had so many phone calls and I haven't even completed my Nolo profile!" Selwyn Whitehead - Oakland, California

(Since then, Selwyn has completed a fantastic profile!)

Tom and I arrived in Tucson, AZ via Las Vegas to clear & sunny blue skies with a slight breeze out of the southwest and an outside air temperature a lovely 92º. After dropping the top down on the Sebring and rolling through a few off-the-beat-and-path construction zones on the southeast side we finally headed west and up into the rolling hills of the Tuscon desert and arrived at the JW Marriott Star Pass resort for the start of the 2009 National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) winter workshops.



More than 500 attorneys attended these Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars and workshops on topics ranging from better practice management to the finer points of filing a Chapter 13. Approximately 150 attorneys, many of them Nolo members, stopped by our booth for their free books and to let us know how their directory profiles were helping their business. The response from our Nolo attorneys was overwhelmingly positive and over 90% of our attorneys said they were more than happy with Nolo partnerships!



After the conference ended, we headed for the hills, Mt. Lemon to be exact and drove up to 8,000'. If you've never been to this part of the country, this desert, these Saguaro cacti, it's a must see, in our humble opinions.