Michael J. Evans: Law + Technology + Marketing
How lawyers can use the Internet, social media, online video, and technology to attract clients, be more effective, make more money, and have more fun.
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BP claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg issued new rules for BP oil spill claims today. The rules will govern payments from the $20 billion escrow fund. The fund will begin accepting applications on August 23, 2010. Within hours of the release of the new rules, the attorneys general of both Florida and Alabama had written Feinberg to condemn the new BP claims procedures.
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Social media has become “the next big thing” for those of us involved in Internet legal marketing. Because most attorneys are late adapters, there aren’t a lot of law firms getting clients from social media. When law firms do use social networks, it’s deemed worthy of a Wall Street Journal article. But I believe I can show you how attorneys can successfully use social media in a mass tort legal marketing campaign.
I’ve used the Internet for legal marketing in mass tort cases for over 10 years, and I’ve used online video as part of my legal marketing for 2 years. But I didn’t add Twitter and Facebook to my toolbox until the last year. It’s one thing to read books about social media marketing; it’s another to actually do it. Most of the really valuable experience I’ve gotten with social media has come in the last 7 weeks as I’ve blogged, Tweeted and used Facebook to interact with people about the Gulf oil spill.
To read this entire article, go to our Social Media Marketing for Mass Tort Attorneys page.
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We’ve posted an oil spill suggestion for the President at BPOilNews.com. We believe it’s time for a New Deal for the Gulf Coast. We believe the U.S. and BP have divergent interests when it comes to cleaning up the oil spill. BP’s interest is in holding down the costs. The U.S. has an interest in protecting the ecosystem and protecting the health and financial well-being of gulf coast residents and businesses. And the fines and damages from BP should pay most or all of the costs.
I first made this oil spill suggestion on May 28, 2010. Take a look at the suggestion and share your opinion by leaving a comment.
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We’ve got a new post at BPOilNews.com on oil spill pictures and the media blackout. Unfortunately there is a very public record going back several weeks of BP’s efforts to prevent the media from photographing the wildlife affected by the oil spill. An even more unfortunate aspect of the blackout is that it has been enforced by the U.S. Coast guard, federal wildlife officials, and local sheriffs’ deputies, as well as BP contractors and employees. There are several examples of flagrant violations of First Amendment rights, and the sole beneficiary of the blockade is British Petroleum. We’ve called on President Obama to tell government officials not to allow citizens (including the press) to be blocked from public property. On a more practical level, we’ve suggested that Gulf Coast residents do what Iranians did when faced with a media blackout of anti-government demonstrations: use Twitter and other social media to document the effects of the oil spill.
Here’s an example of the oil spill pictures that British Petroleum does not want you to see. After watching the video, there’s no question in my mind that BP has good reason to try to keep this off television and the Internet. The real question is whether we will allow them to succeed.
Go to BPOilNews.com to see oil spill pictures that BP doesn’t want you to see.
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I’m writing this for people who may be interested in the use of social media to “cover” a disaster such as the Gulf oil spill. For those of you who tend to “bounce” from one website to another, here are links to the BP Oil News blog, BP Oil News Twitter feed, BP Oil News Facebook fan page, and BP Oil News Group discussed in this article. Also, a warning: the next paragraph of this post contains a little personal history which some may find boring. For pure social media talk, skip to the third paragraph. [click to continue…]
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BP has gone to great lengths over the past few weeks to keep all video of the oil spill away from Americans. BP posted a live video feed of the gushing oil well only after being pressed by Congressman Ed Markey. BP has had security crews preventing the media from accessing areas affected by the oil spill. A videographer who shoots video for my company was refused access to locations in Venice, Louisiana by BP security personnel, even though the Coast Guard had previously given permission. Finally, however, there are oil spill video images being made public. And they tell a heartbreaking story of the effect of the oil spill on the wildlife of the Gulf Coast. These are the oil spill video images BP doesn’t want you to see.
Update June 5, 2010: We’ve added two more videos at BPOilNews.com. These videos contain oil spill pictures from Associated Press and CBS. Warning: these videos aren’t safe for small children.
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Over at BPOilNews.com, we’ve published over 200 suggestions submitted by the public for plugging BP’s Gulf oil leak, or for reducing damage from the oil spill. Now I want to make a suggestion of my own. No, I don’t have an idea for plugging the hole. But I do think I have a common-sense suggestion for cleaning up the spill in a way that also minimizes economic losses to people and businesses on the Gulf coast. (Go to BPOilNews.com to read the rest of my suggestion for the Gulf oil spill cleanup.)
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The oil spill suggestion box is still open at BP Oil News. We’ve received over one hundred suggestions, and more are still coming in. If you have ideas, please submit them at our Gulf oil spill suggestion box.
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I’ve recently been blogging (with some help) about the Gulf oil spill at BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig. When I started the blog, I was struck by the fact that there were no pay-per-click lawyer ads when I used Google News to search for articles. But that changed in a hurry. Within a couple of days the lawyer ads began emerging in an ever escalating war to sign up claimants. When mass tort ad campaigns such as this start, I’m usually either involved in it professionally or I follow the campaigns because I find them interesting and, sometimes, educational. As of the time that I’m writing this post, there are seven law firm ads displayed on Google News when you run a “BP oil spill” or “Gulf oil spill” search. Seven law firms and one almost unnoticeable ad by BP.
Perhaps it’s the technology geek in me, or my interest in Internt marketing, but I enjoyed comparing the ads. The lawyer ads all utilized the top line of the ad well, with large blue letters proclaiming something such as “Gulf Oil Spill Lawsuit” or “BP Oil Spill Lawsuit.” BP’s ad, by comparison, simply said “Spill” on the top line. It’s as if they are ashamed to be associated with it, and don’t want to admit which particular “spill” it is they are talking about. But if BP is too embarrassed to shout out its message in a way that competes with the lawyer ads, why even buy an ad on Google? And if BP, a company which had profits of $6.1 billion in the first quarter of 2010, wants to run an ad on Google, why doesn’t it bid high enough to rank higher than sixth out of eight ads?
Somehow the fact that BP is inept in handling its PR makes me even less confident of its ability and intention to clean up the mess it’s making in the Gulf. I’ve written more at BPOilNews.com about BP’s poor PR, including its waffling and refusal to commit to pay for damages caused by the Gulf oil spill. You can also follow my posts about the Gulf oil spill at Facebook and on Twitter @bpoilnews.
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I’ve posted a new article at BPOilNews.com about BP’s history of lawsuits, fines and criminal convictions for oil spills and other safety and environmental violations. I was surprised to discover just how bad BP’s record actually is. Here are the first two paragraphs:
By now we’re all familiar with the latest national environmental crisis. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, a BP offshore oil drilling rig, caused the deaths of 11 workers, injured 7 more, and left an oil spill the size of Rhode Island drifting inexorably toward the Gulf Coast. But this isn’t the first time that BP has been responsible for an environmental crisis, or the first time that they’ve attempted to change the narrative when accused of environmental malfeasance. [click to continue…]
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What can we do together? Since 1999 I've been using the Internet, websites, blogs, online video, Twitter and other social media to help thousands of injured people find great lawyers. We've organized national networks of lawyers in over forty states to take on Pfizer, Bayer, Yamaha and other multinational corporations. We've put consumers on a level playing field, and had fun doing it. If you're a great lawyer looking for more clients, contact me and let's see what we can do together.
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