Legal Marketing & PR

Writing Effective Lawyer Bios

By Larry Bodine

From the Wisconsin Law Journal: An online bio is not a resume. It's good to personalize a lawyer bio, but not to overload it with everything one has ever done. As with any advertising, the goal is to have people get in touch, so fill your bio with information that will prompt a phone call. 

Joshua M. Koch is a real Boy Scout. The civil litigator at Arndt, Buswell & Thorn in Sparta highlights his Eagle Scout award in his online firm biography. Koch also advertises his love of hunting and fishing, personal tidbits which often prove useful in connecting with clients, especially in northern Wisconsin.

'Sharing similar stories kind of breaks the ice and makes things more palatable for people who can come in pretty nervous,' said the 2009 law school graduate.

For attorneys like Koch, who lack a laundry list of professional accomplishments on their firm bio to impress clients, personal information can be a suitable substitute.

But as resumes — personal and professional — grow, so too can the temptation to overload online bios with accolades and accomplishments.

In his experience crafting online attorney biographies, legal marketing consultant Larry Bodine said brevity is best. 'A bad bio will cost you business,' he said. 'If yours is 17 pages long instead of 17 words, clients and general counsel are going to say forget it.'

For the rest of the story, please see the LawMarketing Portal at http://bit.ly/fQXBjf 

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on February 01, 2011 (boomark / email).