Legalese, Translated
How to write an effective monthly bankruptcy law column for a major U.S. legal trade and reach an audience of potential business
The Background:
A bankruptcy attorney was given the opportunity to write a monthly column on current case law for a major national legal trade. The content was by nature technical and complex, but the publication – read by both in-house counsel and C-level executives – required a business style. Per the editor, “No legalese allowed.”
The Strategic Legal Reputation Management Opportunity:
The column would provide a platform for the attorney to enhance his public reputation, but only if written with the publication’s audience in mind. He needed to demonstrate his knowledge of a complex, technically precise area of law in a way that had immediate value for the in-house counsel and executives reading the column.
A More Effective Solution to a Legal Marketing Problem:
Work out a schedule with the attorney where he would provide a draft of his monthly column to Jaffe PR a few days in advance of the deadline. Use the experience stemming from years working exclusively with law firms – and reading and deciphering countless complaints, opinions and articles – to edit the article so its technical content remains, but is conveyed in a business style.
Exceptional Public Reputation Management Results:
The attorney’s column appears each month in the legal trade, and not only demonstrates his technical knowledge of new bankruptcy case law that is of immediate importance to in-house counsel and executives, but also is written so that the takeaway message is immediately apparent.