South Florida Estate Planning Law : Florida Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : David Shulman Law Firm : South FL Wills & Trusts

Now that I've been nominated by LexisNexis to be one of the top 25 Estate Planning Blogs, I'd like to introduce myself to new readers, and possibly re-introduce myself to old ones. I am an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a practice focused on estate planning, asset protection, probate, guardianship, and tax planning. I grew up in a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, known as Plantation, in Broward County.

After graduating South Plantation High School in 1991, I attended Brandeis University, in Waltham, MA for my undergraduate degree, and then I went to George Washington University, in Washington, DC, for law school. Going into law school, I never imagined that I would end up a tax lawyer some day. In fact, it was furthest from my mind. But during the summer between my first and second year of law school, I landed an internship with the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, in a Civil Section. That means that they didn't prosecute criminals who evaded taxes, but instead sued to collect taxes owed. While I didn't necessarily like the litigation side of it, the technical tax side, with its talmudic like detail, fascinated me.

Starting with my second year of law school, I began to take as many tax classes as I could. My basic Federal Income Tax class was taught by Judge James Halpern of the US Tax Court. Having a sitting Judge teach the class is one of those experiences that you can only get in DC, and the real world knowledge that he brought to the class made for a great experience.

After law school I was hired by the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel, in the Passthroughs and Special Industries division. There, I specialized in the income taxation of partnerships, subchapter S corporations, and trusts. At the IRS I wrote Private Letter Rulings, Revenue Procedures, Notices, and Regulations. I also worked on the IRS's war against abusive tax shelters, including being the primary docket attorney on Notice 2000-44, the "Son of BOSS" Notice. Although I was in the division that was focused on the income tax of those entities, I worked closely with the division that specialized in the estate and gift tax, and that area always appealed to me.

I stayed at the IRS for seven years. After a while, I got tired of the snow and being cold, and I missed my family and the South Florida community. In 2005, I moved back to South Florida, where I received my Masters in Law (LLM) in Estate Planning at the University of Miami Law School. To me, Estate Planning allowed me the opportunity to be a tax attorney, but also to work with "every day" people. After I finished the LLM program, I then was an associate with a large South Florida law firm for almost three years, at which point I decided to leave and start my own practice.

Which brings us to the present.

I love being a solo practitioner, because it allows me to run my practice the way I want to, and can devote the individual attention to my clients that they deserve.

Thanks for reading, and there is plenty more to come.

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Our local newspaper, the Sun Sentinel, published an article on the "Jewish American Bar Association." If you've read my past posts (first here, then here, and then here), there is not much new in the story. However, for those who haven't, I think it does a good job of introducing the issues.

First, I want to reiterate that when I first saw the bench, my initial visceral reaction, was that of a Jew.  This was before I did any of the research into the "JABA," or the law surrounding it.  I made the reasonable assumption that the "Jewish American Bar Association" actually was, well, a Bar Association.  I couldn't understand why the "Jewish American Bar Association" would be telling people that they should be using Jewish lawyers only. Yes, it was telling.  That's the point of the exclamation point.  If it was asking for people who "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer" there would be a question mark.  I was taken aback that they'd be playing on ethnic stereotypes and potentially fostering hostility between Jewish lawyers and non-Jewish lawyers,  I found whoever did it was "shockingly stupid."

But once I did some research, I became far more offended as an attorney.  Despite all of the "lawyer jokes" out there, I still believe that I am a member of a noble profession -- one that has to maintain a level of integrity and a duty to the public at large. The "Jewish American Bar Association" wasn't a real Bar Association, but just another for-profit referral service run by a non-lawyer, playing both upon racial stereotypes, and the public perception of what a "Bar Association" is.

At this point, I'm not interested in getting into more back and forth on this issue, although I may write more in a few days after I gather my thoughts.

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A week ago, I saw something that really pissed me off.

As I wrote in my September 11, 2010 post, it was an advertisement on a bench that said "PREER A JEWISH LAWYER! Jewish Lawyer Referral Service. JEWISH AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION." If you want to see the ad, check out my original post or my follow-up. The ad was right outside of the Broward County Courthouse, and right outside of my home.  I had to see it every day, multiple times a day, and every time I saw it, it felt like a punch in the gut.

How could someone so blatantly and openly trot out ethnic stereotypes?

And how come I never heard of the "Jewish American Bar Association."

I was angry, and I started digging.

I don't think the public realizes the amount of information that is out there and is available.  Twenty years ago this information may have been available, but it would have required official letters and requests to who knows how many agencies in order to get it.  Today, you just have to know where to look online.

Google easily found me their site, which has changed a number of times since my first post.  But the site didn't really tell me anything.  It was poorly designed, self serving, and full of plagiarized and extraneous information having to do with nothing (such as a "Mission Statement" that was the Asian American Bar Association's with the word Jewish substituted for Asian, plus a list of offensive Jewish jokes).

The first place I looked was the Florida Secretary of State's Website, Sunbiz.org. There, you can look up any business entity, be it corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, or limited liability company (LLC) licensed to do business in Florida.

And there is was --the Sunbiz.org Page for the "Jewish American Bar Association, Inc"

The "Inc." is a nice, and telling, touch. The Jewish American Bar Association filed as a "foreign" (meaning another state, not another country) for Profit Corporation on August 14, 2009.  It lists its mailing address in Boca Raton, its Registered Agent, and Officers and Directors (which is where I got the name Lisa Spitzer).  It even has a copy of the handwritten Application by a Foreign Corporation to Transact Business in Florida. From there, I checked out their information on the Delaware Secretary of State's website, and did a little snooping as to their addresses, and related companies.

From there, I just starting writing.  I saw something that I knew was wrong and it pissed me off.  It wasn't just wrong because of the "Jewish" part, although that's what first jolted me.  It was wrong because it was a for profit organization claiming to be a "Bar Association" in violation of the law.  It was misleading and deceptive.

And yes, I found it offensive.

I want clients to prefer David Shulman.  Not necessarily a "Jewish Lawyer."

Anyway, I saw today that the ad was gone, replaced with an advertisement for the generic AAA Attorney Referral Service, Inc.

I don't know whether or not there were other "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer" bench ads, or if the company is going to advertise elsewhere. I contacted the Florida Bar, which seemed responsive to my concerns.

At this point, I feel I did my part.  Now I'm going to let the Florida Bar do theirs.

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I'm hesitant to write yet a third post on the "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" bench ad, (you can read my first post here, and my second post here), primarily because I'm afraid of coming off as an obsessed nut. However, Congress still hasn't taken any action on the estate tax, and I just can't bring myself to write yet another treacly "if you don't have a Will, then a cute little puppy will cry" post. There are plenty of estate planning attorney bloggers out there who do that.

Besides, I find this topic interesting.

It's my blog and I'll kvetch if I want to.

Brian Cuban is a Dallas, TX attorney who blogs at The Cuban Revolution and is the brother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.  According to his blog, Brian writes and speaks about social media and hate speech on the internet. After reading my earlier posts on the subject, he sent an email to the "Jewish American Bar Association" inquiring about the bench ad, and Lisa Spitzer -- who according to the Florida Secretary of State is the sole officer and director of the for profit corporation -- responded.

Brian gave me permission to post the exchange on my blog. With the exception of the redacting of (1) email addresses of all parties (2) the names of people who were CCed but did not participate in the conversation, Brian's email and Lisa Spitzer's response are posted unedited. After the email exchange, I will post my own comments.

If any of the parties involved, or any of their representatives, want to respond or comment further, they are free to contact me and I will post their response unedited and in full.

Brian Cuban's Email to the "Jewish American Bar Association"

From: Brian Cuban
Subject: Your Bench Ad
To: Redacted
Date: Monday, September 13, 2010, 9:54 PM

Your Bench Ad

Sir/Madam:

I am writing a story with regards to your bench add soliciting clients looking for “Jewish Lawyers” , Whether you are aware or not, it has received negative attention on Twitter and blogs as being Anti-Semitic and pandering to Jewish stereotypes.  It is also misleading as there is no such thing as The Jewish American Bar Association as any type of Bar Sanctioned entity.  Would you like to comment before I write my story?

http://www.sofloridaestateplanning.com/2010/09/articles/random/shockingly-stupid-antisemitic-attorney-ad-right-across-the-street-from-the-courthouse/

Sincerely

Brian Cuban

Lisa Spitzer's Response to Brian Cuban

From: LISA SPITZER 
Subject: Re: Fw: Your Bench Ad
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 3:40 PM

It is legitimate. The lawyer referral service is in compliance with 4-7.8. The Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor  do they regulate them. It is an organization.  There  dozens of voluntary bar associations and ethnic organizations in the country. A local synagogue in Broward runs a Bar Association. We are not anti-semitic.

I am a social worker and graduate of NYU  School of Social Work.  Mr Shulman has most of his facts wrong.  The ABA does have members and they charge dues for membership. A Bar association does not need to be run by a lawyer. Lawyer referral services do not split fees.  We are quite legitimate and offer many services and benefits. People want Jewish Lawyers, female lawyers, gay lesbian lawyers and there are Bar Association for members in each of these categories. There are many Jewish organizations who promote Jewish lawyers nationwide. Find law has a specific search for JEWISH LAWYER and findajewishlawyer.com exists  as well.   We are not going anyplace. We plan on growing as a nationwide organization.  This is much to do about nothing. It is high Holy days week now, a time if kindness and self reflection.  Have a good day Lisa Spitzer

My thoughts on this exchange

There are a number of very interesting things in her email that I'll save for a later post (always keep the audience wanting more), and I've already written a little bit about why I object to the "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" ad as a Jew.

In this post I really want to focus on why I find it so objectionable as a Lawyer. My objection to the "Jewish American Bar Association" is and continues to be that it's name is deliberately misleading.

What is a "Bar Association"?

There are two types of "Bar Associations" -- mandatory and voluntary.  A mandatory Bar Association is the State Bar, i.e. the Florida Bar, the Georgia Bar, the California Bar, etc.  These are called "Mandatory" Bar Associations, because if an attorney wants to practice in a certain state, it is mandatory that they be licensed to do so by that state's Bar.

Then there are "voluntary" Bar Associations, which Ms. Spitzer claims the "Jewish American Bar Association" is. She further adds, "The Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor  do they regulate them. It is an organization.  There  dozens of voluntary bar associations and ethnic organizations in the country . . . People want Jewish lawyers, female lawyers, gay lesbian lawyers and there are Bar Association for members in each of these categories."

Unfortunately, her statement that "the Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor do they regulate them" is untrue.  In fact, the Florida Bar has a website listing a few hundred voluntary bar associations and there is even a standing committee on Voluntary Bar Associations, which I didn't know about when I wrote my previous posts, but I will be contacting them shortly. To present yourself to the public as a "Bar Association" you are giving the impression that you a not for profit organization dedicated to the public good, instead of a for profit business dedicated to making the owner money.

Here are just a small example of genuine voluntary bar associations with links to their webpages, and to the Florida Secretary of State's website showing that they are non profit corporations:

1. Asian Pacific American Bar Association of South Florida -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation
2. Caribbean Bar Association - A Florida Non Profit Corporation
3. Cuban American Bar Association -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation
4. Central Florida Gay & Lesbian Law Association -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation

The difference between each of those voluntary bar associations and the "Jewish American Bar Association" is that each and every one of the legitimate voluntary bar associations is a non-profit entity.  That means that no one owns the organization and there is no private inurement to any individual.  They serve their members and the public. There already is a non-profit organization in Broward County for Jewish lawyers, the B'nai B'rith Justice Unit.

B'nai Brith was founded in 1843.  The "Jewish American Bar Association" was incorporated in 2009.

Legitimate voluntary bar associations serve their members and the public.  It's a shame that they could be tarnished by someone improperly using their good name.

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This past week Jews observed the holiday of Rosh Hashanah which is the New Year on the Jewish calendar.  Happy 5771. Right now we are in the middle of the Aseret Yemei Tshuva or the 10 Days of Awe, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is supposed to be a time of introspection and repentance. It's a good time too look back and the past year, or even the past few years if necessary, and to think about where you've been and where you are going.

In February 2009 I left the large law firm that I was working for, and started my own solo practice. When I opened my doors, metaphorically at least, I had no clients. But I even before I began my practice, I decided, and knew that I was going to do things "differently." Being an internet addict, my plan was that I was going to build my law firm entirely based on online marketing. I would blog. I would tweet. I would use LinkedIn. I would participate in forums and ListServs.

But most important was belief that if I built it, they would come.

I actually, and naively, thought that this was a good idea.  Even more naively, I thought that it was my idea and that no one ever had really done it before.

It turns out, that none of that was true.

First, I was certainly not the first person to come up with the idea that a law practice can be successful by only marketing online.

Second, while an online presence is important -- very important -- abandoning the real world is real mistake.

We need to do the same thing both online and offline.  That is we need to build relationships with other people based upon trust.

There's nothing new about networking offline, so I really don't have much to add to that discussion. I would like to talk today and tomorrow about some thoughts I have re: lawyers and the internet. It doesn't matter how fancy my website is or how many times I post on Twitter, or even how many handshake and business card exchange events that I go to. They way for me to generate business is to show people that I am worthy of their trust.  I had to develop real relationships with real people.

"Social Media" is just a fancy way of getting to know people and allowing people to get to know you online.  That's it.

So how do I use the internet?

First and foremost, I use it to learn.

I try to read as many other blogs written by attorneys as I possibly can. I have over 1000 posts in my RSS reader every day. Part of why I do this is to learn about the law, especially developments in the field of estate planning, probate, and tax. But I'm also looking to see what other attorneys (and some non-attorneys) have to say about others areas of the law, or about technology, or marketing, or politics, or anything.  I obviously don't read 1,000 posts a day every day.  Some days I read none of them. Mostly, I'll just quickly skim headlines to see if anything catches my eye, and then flag it for reading later.

However, I'm becoming more and more disappointed and disillusioned with the legal blogosphere. Yes, I know that I don't post as much as I should either, but when I do post, I try to post something of substance. Of meaning.  Of value. One thing that drives me nuts when reading other lawyer blogs, is when the attorney-author is so obviously straightforward about their advertising. It's the constant "call to action" that they put at the end of every post. If you read my blog carefully, you'll notice that I NEVER say, "and if you need a will, please call me at 954-990-0896." Even worse are the people who talk about themselves in the third person as in "please call David."

I don't think it's effective.  Worse, I think it's schlocky.

I blog (when I blog, I'm trying to do it more often) because I like to write.  I like to write about the things that interest me, and I hope that you, Dear Reader, find them interesting too.  Do I hope that people will notice me and say "hey, that guy seems pretty smart and is someone I can trust" and hire me or refer me their clients?  Of course I do, and to say otherwise would be dishonest.

But I also hope that when you come away from one of my posts, you learned something that you didn't know beforehand. Then maybe, you might trust me enough to hire me or to refer me clients.

Happy New Year, and if you want to make the baby kittens smile, please call David to do your Will at. . . just kidding.

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I'd like to follow up yesterday's post, regarding the bench ad that says, "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" I'm afraid that I may have changed the intended focus of my point when I used the words "anti-Semitic" in the post's title. If you notice, the title of the article is "Shockingly Stupid Anti-Semitic Attorney Ad Right Across the Street from the Courthouse." The word "shockingly" modifies "stupid" and not "anti-Semitic."

Anti-Semitic?

First, I'd like to deal with the issue as to whether or not it is "anti-Semitic." Several people have written me privately and said something to the extent of, "It's not anti-Semitic because they are saying that Jewish lawyers are good.  It would have to be saying bad things about Jews for it to be anti-Semitic."

Really?

What if the ad said, "Prefer a Mexican Gardener! Call the Organization of Mexican Gardeners for a Referral"? (And adding insult to injury, there is no such thing, but just one person who isn't a gardener charing other gardeners, Mexican or not, to join and get referrals)

Or, what if a sports columnist wrote that he prefers black athletes? Shades of Jimmy the Greek?

It's clearly racist because it plays on stereotypes that being of a certain ethnicity makes you better at something than people of other ethnicities.  In retrospect, I probably should have used the word racist and not anti-Semitic, but then I would have gotten the emails arguing with me as to whether or not Jews are a race.

Either way, it's clearly playing upon the stereotype that a "Jewish Lawyer" is somehow smarter or better than non-Jewish lawyers.

Offensive? Racist? Anti-Semtic? Anti-Gentile because they are saying non-Jewish lawyers aren't as good?

Whatever. Pick the word that you like best.  The point remains the same.

They're not Marketing to Jewish People

Other people wrote to me that the ad is legitimate because people of certain ethnic groups will often prefer to deal with professionals of the same group.  For example, Jews would prefer a Jewish lawyer, blacks would prefer a black doctor, Martians would prefer a Martian Shmizlap, etc. I think that this may be true for older generations, but is probably not true today, for younger people.  Even so, it doesn't matter, because the "Jewish American Bar Association," which remember, is a for-profit company owned by one person only who isn't even a lawyer, isn't marketing directly to Jewish people.  If this were an ad in the classifieds of the local Temple Bulletin, and if the "Jewish American Bar Association" were an actual real non-profit organization and not a sham, I wouldn't be as bothered.

But by putting the bench directly across the street from the Courthouse, they are marketing towards the general population.  These are the people who have jury duty, or who are going through divorce, or foreclosure, or who have a family member who is on trial, or who are involved in a personal injury case, etc.  There are certainly Jewish people among that crowd.  But if I had to guess, I'd say the percentage of Jews there is about 10%, which is approximately the percentage of Jews in Broward County, Florida.  In other words, no fewer or greater of a percentage than the general population here. If they put an ad in the local Temple newsletter, then 99% of their audience would be Jews (with a 1% margin of error). Here, 90% of their audience are non-Jews.

So the argument that the ad is ok because "Jews want to go to a Jewish lawyer" doesn't work either.

Shockingly Stupid

But my main point is still that this ad, and that this sham of an organization is shockingly stupid. Take a look at their incompetently formatted and horribly amateur website. As one friend wrote to me, "It looks like it was designed by a seven year old." It's a mess of:

1. Stolen Material (for example, its "Mission Statement" is the same as the Asian-Pacific American Bar Association's (which appears to be a real group by the way), but they replaced "Asian Pacific" with "Jewish";
2. "Jewish Jokes" -- Complete with disclaimer, "WARNING:  Please do not read the jokes in this section if you are priggish or otherwise thin-skinned! Some of the jokes you may consider to be in bad taste, though frankly your level of comfort reading these jokes will correspond to your own level of self-acceptance within the larger Jewish "mishpochah" or havurah.";
3. Outbound links to their other referral sites;
4. Desperate attempts at self-promotion;
5. Just general. . . I have no other word for it than stupidness.

You have to check it our for yourself, as I suspect that it won't be up for long.

Finally, I wonder who is eligible for membership?

How does one prove to them that they are Jewish?

I wonder if I'd have to show them evidence of my Bris.

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I live in a condominium across the street from the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I enjoy living downtown, near my office, Las Olas Blvd, and of course, being across from the court is very convenient. The reason I am saying this, is that when I was driving home today, I saw the following bench directly across the street from the Courthouse.

Are you kidding me?

I have no idea what to say about this.  I don't know what is more astounding --the chutzpah of putting this bench directly across the street from the main Courthouse, or the fact that anyone actually thinks that this is a good idea.

First of all, there's no such thing as the "Jewish American Bar Association."

Well, there is, but it was founded last year, on June 3, 2009, in Delaware.  Go to the Delaware Secretary of State's website and do a search for "Jewish American Bar Association" or for File #4694550. They also registered as a foreign corporation doing business in Florida as the Jewish American Bar Association, Inc. Their President is one "Lisa Spitzer" and according to the Florida Bar Website, there is no one under that name licensed to practice law in Florida.

I did not call the number.  Maybe I should have before posting, but I think the sign speaks for itself.

Furthermore, a quick Google found their website. It has no real information of who they are and what they do, just a load of crap. Among other nonsense they state, "The Jewish American Bar Association is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA)." I didn't realize that fake organizations could be a "member" of the ABA.  I thought it was limited to human beings. Maybe I'm wrong.

So what the hell is this?  I'm not sure, but it looks like a corporation founded by one Lisa Spitzer to exploit the stereotypical belief that a "Jewish" lawyer is somehow better. Trust me, I know a lot of great and crappy lawyers who are both Jewish and non-Jewish. They (meaning the "Jewish American Bar Association, Inc.") make money by charging "Jewish" lawyers a membership fee to be listed by the site, plus each lawyer has to pay them "a processing charge for each referral," which considering the fact that they are not members of the Florida Bar, violates Bar rules.

Let me put it this way. Any lawyer who actually signs up for this site, whether they are Jewish or not, is probably too stupid for you to trust with your important legal matters.

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I'd like to put something out there on the table.

I'm a tech nerd and an Apple fan.

I've been a fan of Apple computers since my dad bought an Apple ][+ when I was about 9 years old. Since then, I've owned many Macintosh computers and other Apple products, although I have occasionally strayed to the Dark Side and used Microsoft Windows. I currently run my law practice on Macs, with a Mac mini in my office, and an iMac at home, and a Macbook laptop for when I am traveling, and thus neither at the office or at home. I have an iPhone, an AppleTV, and have owned multiple iPods. While I do run Microsoft Windows in virtualization on my Mac for certain proprietary programs, I avoid it as much as possible.

I admit that I am an unabashed Apple Fanboy and am fully ensconced in Apple's reality distortion field.

To me, my Macs and my iPhone are not just "toys" but are an integral part of my practice of law. I use Apple's Mobile Me to keep my calendar and contacts instantly and wirelessly synced between all of my computers and my iPhone. If I make a change to a calendar or contact on one computer or on my iPhone, it instantly updates that contact or calendar item on all of my computers. While I could use Mobile Me for email, I use Google Apps for your Domain . With Google Apps, I still have my email domain of @davidshulmanlaw.com, but am able to use the Gmail interface in categorizing and storing client and other business emails.

Although I do keep files of certain original paper estate planning documents, for everything else, I run a paperless office. Every single document coming in or going out gets scanned with my Fujitsu Scansnap S1500, labeled, categorized, and put in the proper (computer) folder. Furthermore, I use a service called Dropbox. This is another syncing service, but I use it to sync all of my files and documents between all of my computers. It doesn't matter where I am or what computer I am using including my iPhone, but I can pull up any client document, at any time, anywhere. This has been very useful in answering client questions about their documents when I am away from the office. I do not have to wait until I get back to answer their questions; nor do I have someone "pull the file" to see what's in there. All of my files are available to me all of the time.

I do have various levels of encryption and password protection, and multiple redundant backups both online and off to protect the data.

This weekend I went out and bought an iPad. I stood in line at Best Buy, waiting for it to open so I could be one of the first ones to get one. After playing with it for a while, I realize that it's really nothing more than a giant iPhone (or to be more accurate, a giant iPod touch, because it doesn't make phone calls). And that's a good thing.

While of course I can play games on it and watch movies and read books, which I have already done, and will continue to do, I see, with the right applications, the iPad becoming an integral part of my practice. It's not a full computer or a laptop, and it will never replace them. All of my significant work and document creation will still be on my full desktops. But, I hope it is something that I can take to meetings instead of a notepad, and to have any notes taken on it synced to the proper client file. I think I'll be able to pull up documents, wills, trusts, contracts, deeds, and make changes when I am not able to do so at my computer. In meetings and court hearings in which a document is being discussed, I'll be able to pull it up and annotate it, without having to schlep the whole file to court.

But will it change the world and the practice of law?

Recently, Miami criminal defense attorney Brian Tannebaum wrote a post titled, "The Technology Curmudgeon Gives his Technology Secrets", in which he gently pokes fun at those of us who excitedly rushed out to buy the iPad as soon as it was released. He challenged us to show him how the iPad will significantly change how he practices law. He states that "there are several folks out there that want to convince you that technology is what makes you a better lawyer. It doesn't. It never will. It may make your life easier, but it will never make you a better lawyer. Sorry."

You know what?

I agree with him 100%.

I don't use and love technology to make me a better lawyer. I use it to make my life easier, and to simplify my daily non-lawyerly tasks. The more time I have everything around me "just working" and the less time and money I have to spend searching for a file or storing thousands and thousands of pages of documents (estate planning and administration can be a very document intensive practice), then the more time I have to dedicate to doing "real work." I use the extra time to serve my clients, market and expand my practice, and to become better educated on the latest developments in the law.

So is the iPad for everyone? Is it the future of the legal practice? Will it fundamentally change the way that everyone practices law?

Of course not.

But will it make my life easier? Yes, which is the whole point of technology, no?

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I'm going to take a little detour from writing about estate planning to write about being an estate planning attorney, and different ways that I find clients and generate business. This post is a modified response that I wrote to the Solosez Listserv. Solosez is an email discussion list hosted by the American Bar Association for attorneys who are either solo practitioners or are members of small firms. Not just estate planners, and not just Florida attorneys, but attorneys all over the country and the world, practicing in all fields. It's a great resource for the solo practitioner, and a warm and supportive community.

Earlier today a colleague posted the following message:

"Does advertising in bulletins, Yellow Book and Mailing etc. work? I am
advertising in three different church bulletins for 6 months now and I
have not received a single client. I have also mailed 100s of
postcards but nothing from that either. I am giving up on advertising.
Is their a best way to advertise estate planning practice?

I am so confused and lost.

Help!"

While I am not going to print his name, for the purpose of this story it is important to know that he has a very Indian (from India) sounding name. I responded to him and I ended up liking what I wrote, so I thought I'd copy it here. The only change I'm making is to redact his name, and some slight spelling or grammatical fixes.

"I'm answering your questions in the order you presented them, but the most important thing will be number 3 below. So you might want to skip to that.

1) The yellow book works for PI attorneys, not for estate planning. I'm not looking for the type of client who looks for an estate planning attorney in the dead tree yellow pages. They aren't going to be willing to pay me what I want to be paid. Plus, anyone who looks for an estate planning attorney in the dead tree yellow pages instead of either going online, or getting a referral from a friend or colleague is going to be extremely unsophisticated. Again, not the type of client I'm looking for.

Plus, the dead tree yellow pages themselves are on the endangered species list. I don't know anyone who uses them for anything. (Yes, I know there are people here who do). Place your money elsewhere.

2) You mailed postcards to who? Random strangers? Are you allowed to do that under [State] law? You need to build your personal address book and database. Make notes about every single person and send them personal communications every now and then. All of these people should be people you have some sort of contact with.

3) Network, network, network. Did I mention that you need to Network? I just looked at my calendar and I have EIGHT different networking events, or personal one on one lunches or meetings this week. Join networking groups, referral groups, chambers of commerce, social, charitable, cultural, etc., groups. Go to everything. Talk to everyone. Never be without your business cards. Follow up with people. Send people random emails asking how they are doing. Stop looking for clients and start looking for referral sources. You want people to be comfortable referring you business, and they only will be once they get to know you.

4) If you're going to advertise, might I suggest targeted advertising? I may be going out on a limb here, but with a name like [Indian Name] I am going to assume that you are not a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant from Boise. Fair or unfair, there is still racism or at least culturalism in our society and until people know you, you aren't going to get any bites by putting an advertisement in the back of a church bulletin. How big is the local Hindi community? Why don't you, for starters at least, market solely to the Hindi and other Indian community. Go to all the events, place advertisements in their cultural and religious bulletins. People like working with people like them. I'm not asking you to pigeonhole yourself, but it's a start.

5) You got to be online more. Blog. Tweet. Interact on this and other listserv -- I've gotten some nice business from Solosez.

6) Did I mention that you have to Network?"

I have to admit that sometimes following my own advice can be difficult. There are only so many hours in the day and I have to do actual work for my clients too. But I think that the above is a good roadmap to establishing a successful estate planning practice.

Hmmm.... Maybe I should give up being an estate planning attorney, and instead teach other attorneys to do the above.

Nah.

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I am both fascinated and touched by this New York Times Story about Yitta Schwartz, who when she died last month at the age of 93, possibly had 2,000 living descendants. According to the article, Mrs. Schwartz, a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, had 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren, and too many great and great great grandchildren to count. I don't want to plagiarize the article, but I highly recommend that you read it yourself, to see this remarkable story of a Holocaust survivor and her family.

As far as the estate planning angle? Just imagine if she in her will made a class gift to her grandchildren, or to her great grandchildren. For example, if her will said, "I give $100 to each of my grandchildren." Or, even if she gave property to her children or grandchildren on a per stiprital basis, in which younger generations stand in the shoes of their deceased parents. It would be quite a task for whoever is administering the estate to categorize and find all of those relatives. Then again, from the article it appears as if almost all of them are living in the same area.

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As you, loyal reader, may know, in February of 2009 I left the law firm that I was working at to start my own solo practice. Although my solo practice is new, I graduated George Washington University Law School in 1998 and worked for a number of years at the IRS in Washington, DC and for a firm in Fort Lauderdale.

Like anyone else who starts a law firm or any other business from scratch, marketing is an integral part of business development. Practicing law is easy. Finding people who are willing to pay me to do it is the tough part. But my practice is growing. I am getting new business through referrals from other clients and from other professionals in the area with whom I have established relationships.

Also I have been active online. I have this blog; I post on a number of different listservs; and I try to maintain relationships on Facebook and LinkedIn (as opposed to just randomly adding everyone).

Have I made a few missteps? Of course. I'm human. The point is, I think I have a fairly decent idea of what works and what doesn't work. And what doesn't work is this: fax spam otherwise known as "junk faxes" or unsolicited faxes. In short, it's sending a fax to someone you don't know and don't have an existing business or other relationship with, in which you offer to sell something.

Today, I received fax spam from another attorney. Note. I have never met this person, never heard of this person, have no working relationship with this person. This was spam pure and simple.

This faxer informed me that he is writing because he is "pleased to inform you that I am available to provide coverage for your Foreclosure Motion Calendar hearings in Miami-Dade counties for 99 per hearing. . "

Let's ignore the fact that unsolicited faxes are generally illegal. This is 2009. I don't even own a fax machine. My faxes are converted into email and sent to my inbox. To send a fax I scan it and send it via email too. And this wasn't a fax just to me, but it was obvious that he was mass faxing or "fax blasting" as the case may be.

If you want to build a relationship with someone, pick up the phone, send them a personalized email or a letter.

As attorneys, we are all trying to sell our services, which means that we are trying to sell ourselves. Our potential clients need to be able to trust us before they hire us. Potential referral sources need to be comfortable referring us business.

So the question is, why would I ever send clients to someone who thinks it's proper to blast out fax spam?

And of course, if he would have taken a second to do the slightest bit of research he would have known that I don't have Foreclosure Motion Calendar hearings. But if anyone asks, I now know someone not to send them to.

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 I've been thinking about my blog for the past couple of weeks, and I think that I've come to a crossroads.  My intention in starting this blog was for the most part to write about estate planning news and updates for both the practitioner and for the consumer.  And I will still do that.

But I think we've gotten to a point where there really isn't that much news developing.  Sure, there is the impending expiration of the estate tax in 2010 and its coming back in 2011.  And when there's real developments I'll be writing about them in detail.  But for now, there is just talk.  So there's not much to write about on the Congressional front.

Nor have there been very many interesting cases lately.  There have been a couple, but nothing really worth waxing philosophical about.

So I figure that I can go in one of two ways on my blog.  

In the first way, I'll write post after post about whether or not you should have a Will (hint: you should) and whether or not I think online or Do It Yourself wills are a good thing (hint: I don't).  I'll send emails to every legal blogger (or is that blawgger) that I can find, along to every listserv, telling people that I'll link to them if they link to me, because that's the way things are done, and if we link to each other we can trick "the Google" into ranking us higher.  It won't matter that I don't read the other blogs, or when I did read them I thought they we subpar.  I'll follow every single person I can find on twitter in the hopes that they follow me back.  I'll friend the world on Facebook and then spam my friends incessantly for them to join my firm's fan page.  I'll put aside my integrity and personally vouch for blogs that have nothing to do with my geographic or substantive area and be "fans" of people I don't even know.  Then I'll write some treacly posts about puppies and flowers and babies and how much they'll thank you for doing your estate planning.  

Maybe I'll even sign all of my posts, "Love, David."

Blech.

I can't do that.  

I actually started writing another post about why you need a will and I titled it "So it has come to this -- My Why You Need a Will post."  Look.  You, yes you need to have your estate planning done.  It can provide for and protect your family after you are gone, save lots of taxes, help charities, and stop global warming.  And subject to the Florida Bar's rules on advertising, I think I can do a pretty darn good job at doing it for you.  But I'm not going to convince anyone of that with yet another "why intestacy is bad" post.

Why do I blog?  Is it to market my practice? Sure.  But I blog because I like to write and I like to write about things that interest me.  One thing that interests me is estate planning, and I will certainly write about that here.  In fact, I hope that it will be the primary focus of my blog. However, I'll be expanding the focus too.  I'll be writing about. . . well, whatever I feel like writing about  --life as a lawyer, technology, South Florida, and of course estate planning, probate, tax, and the like.  I'll do my best to keep it semi-relevant and occasionally entertaining, but no promises.

I will promise however, to write.  I will not let the blog go weeks without a post.

Unless I run out of ideas, of course.

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 Ok, this has nothing at all to do with estate planning.  But after yesterday's rant, I thought I'd post something a little different.  The Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship arrived in Fort Lauderdale Today.  Here are a few picture of it that I took from my balcony.  The first is with optical zoom and the next is with digital zoom.

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