Law Times

Law Times • November 11, 2013 S Page 9 COMMENT Advice for starting a criminal law practice tarting a criminal law practice is hard work for a young lawyer, and maintaining a thriving practice is a challenge even for established practitioners. Where does new work come from? The starting point for needing legal services is usually an investigation or an arrest. A person who's under investigation is likely to come to you as a referral from counsel or an old client. But if the client is under arrest, the method of selecting counsel varies from town to town. In Ottawa, for example, there's a list prepared by the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa of lawyers available for after-hours calls. It goes out to the police and jails but as a rather long list of about 180 names, the chance of someone choosing you isn't great. Upon arrest, the police offer a 1-800 number to speak with duty counsel, which means the person might not call a local lawyer at all. In Toronto, I've heard, police give the Yellow Pages to people under arrest. I have seen eyecatching ads in Canada and the United States used to attract work. This is, however, a potentially expensive method of building a practice. So what about the Internet? Clients who are out of custody are likely to surf the Internet looking for counsel, yet many established lawyers have absolutely no web site at all. And they may be successful and busy lawyers. But while the lack of a web site may not be holding them back, many clients today expect one because they want to do their homework before plonking down a retainer. I believe a web site is essential, if for no other reason than to have a place where you can showcase your credentials and give clients a level of comfort before choosing you. Many of us are hearing from companies that offer to create or enhance our web sites in order to create greater visibility on Google and other searches. The companies will be very persuasive and once again. perhaps even offer to create your site So where does most work for free or for a nominal amount, A Criminal come from? Well, for the estabbut there's a monthly hosting fee. Mind lished lawyers, a great deal of it I bit twice. I don't want to name comes from old clients. And I do them, but the first company's web appreciate, as I help old clients, designer had such difficulty drafthow tough it must be for new ing in English that we basically lawyers starting out. had to write everything for the One key source of work relates web site ourselves. We may also to the files that drop into your have lost the benefit of the wordlap because you're around. For crunching web designers do to encourage hits on the site. Rosalind Conway example, mental-health files are assigned on an urgent basis to I'm now working with a seclawyers who happen to be in the ond well-known company that's promising at least 24 leads in 90 days. The courthouse when the work crops up. And practising with other lawyers in asadversite directs clients to call a number forwarded to my cellphone and the service sociation is a good source of referrals for cohas a crisp, clear smartphone version. Af- accused and appeals. Lawyers who choose to ter a week of this, I have had one bad lead: save money by practising out of their homes a phone call from someone who was trying miss out on this type of referral. In an earlier column, I wrote about Justo reach his own lawyer. It wasn't what I had in mind. During this same week, two oth- ticeNet. Some work has come into our office er calls came through on my cell. But sure as a result of JusticeNet. It suggests lawyers enough, they were old clients under arrest reduce their fees to $100-150 an hour. New York, NY , New York, NY I've also used the Law Society of Upper Canada's lawyer referral service but not in some years. A number of lawyers I spoke to have found the service useful. Both JusticeNet and the lawyer referral service have annual fees. When I became a certified specialist, I thought it would lead to more work. While there's an online listing of certified specialists and the law society has taken steps to drive traffic to its site, I can't say that, to my knowledge, it has yielded any referrals for me. Again, there's an annual fee. A multifaceted approach must be the best one for building a practice. Clearly, satisfied customers may be repeat clients and they may refer their friends or relatives. But the jury is out for me as to whether a regular web site or an adversite is a better marketing tool. LT uRosalind Conway is a certified specialist in criminal litigation. She can be reached at rosalind.conway@gmail.com. DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE Individual Discount – Receive 15% off any individual program. Use Promo Code 15LAWFIRM at checkout with any of the events. Group Discounts – We have great group discounts available for you and your colleagues. The more events you purchase, the more you save: New York, NY New York, NY Call 1-800-308-1700 for more information or to register. ThomsonReuters_LT_Nov11_13.indd 1 13-11-05 6:17 PM REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! ENCHANCE YOUR LISTING TODAY! Get noticed by the lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, finance professionals and other blue chip cilents and prospects who find the contacts they need for Canadian legal expertise at canadianlawlist.com with an annual Gold or Silver Enhanced listing package. With more than 218,000 page views and 51,000 unique visitors monthly canadianlawlist.com captures your market. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin T: 416.649.9327 | E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT Untitled-3 1 www.canadianlawlist.com www.lawtimesnews.com 13-07-12 10:17 AM

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