September 2010 Archives

As noted in Part I of this two part series on the FindLaw Consumer Needs survey, FindLaw asked consumers about the legal issues they most often face in their everyday lives and how they deal with them. The respondents to our survey identified for us some of the most common legal issues they faced and what steps they took to address them.

When faced with a legal problem or question, most respondents to the survey, 59%, said they took just one action and that action was most often to contact a legal organization or a legal professional. Usually, that meant contacting a lawyer or a law firm.

When you are in the business of providing a service, it is important to know who needs your service and how to get it to them. With those questions in mind, FindLaw conducted a survey of people who had a legal issue occur in their lives to ask them: what was it and what did you do about it? The results of the survey taught us a great deal about who legal consumers are, what they need, and why so many of them come to FindLaw.com.

The survey was conducted online and involved a final response group of over 500 people. The first key question the survey asked was what are the kinds of legal issues you have encountered in the past two years? Or, as we like to say, what happened when life got legal?

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, Writ legal commentary, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's next:

Consumer Legal Content:

• Inheritance and Divorce: What will a court do with an inheritance left to just one spouse when the time comes to divide assets in a divorce? Learn About the Law looks at the ramifications of inherence as separate property and what happens when it is commingled with other marital assets.
  
• Child Custody Relocation Laws: When one half of a divorced couple decides to relocate, it can be challenging to the custody agreement the parents may have in place. Find out more about the legal requirements for any relocation that could result in a change in a custody agreement.

Search engines such as Google have pulled ahead of print yellow pages as the leading source for local business information, including finding an attorney. Do you know how well your website is competing in the legal marketplace? If you don't, FindLaw is offering a free, newly enhanced website audit that is in line with the latest findings in Internet visibility, just for you.

This website audit will assess many of the elements that your website needs in order to effectively serve as a client development tool. It will help you determine how your solo or small firm is competing in the legal marketplace and identify areas that need improvement. The enhanced audit is tailored specifically for the elements needed by solo or small law firm websites in order to be successful.

We continue our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, Writ legal commentary, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's next:

Consumer Legal Content:

• College Expenses and Child Support: FindLaw's Learn About the Law answers the most common and some of the most difficult questions regarding how divorced parents divide the responsibility for paying a child's college tuition. LATL answers questions regarding not only who may be legally required to pay for further education, but how much, how long, public vs. private and even who pays for grad school.
  

FindLaw Answers is more than a forum for legal discussion: it's a window into the minds of consumers with legal questions. Each week, while users are helping each other find legal information to address their legal issues, the FindLaw team gets an opportunity to observe what topics people are asking about. It's a look each week at what topics are foremost in the minds of our consumer audience.

A recent analysis of questions asked on FindLaw Answers over the past eleven months revealed some interesting trends. Of particular interest at first glance is the overall distribution of questions:

If you're like us, you just can't get enough news. For over ten years now, FindLaw.com has offered its free newsletter service. This e-newsletter service has grown steadily and today our 116 different newsletter titles reach over 100,000 subscribers. On average, FindLaw distributes 3 million email newsletters each month, sending titles out daily, weekly and/or monthly to subscribers like law firm partners, company executives, government attorneys, legal professionals, academics, and the public.

FindLaw newsletters are informative, convenient, timely and smart. But don't take our word for it; in a recent survey, 94% of respondents expressed satisfaction with FindLaw's newsletter service and 97% said they would recommend FindLaw's newsletters. Our readers choose from four types of newsletters including: Legal News Topics Newsletters, with FindLaw and news wire content on specific legal topics; Case Summaries Newsletters, with FindLaw case summaries; Blog Newsletters, with FindLaw blog content and Special Offer Newsletters, with business and technology offers from FindLaw advertising partners.

Last week, we began our Friday round-up of what is newest, best and brightest at FindLaw.com. Below, you will find this week's offerings from various areas of FindLaw's unique content, including: core legal content, Writ legal commentary, blogs, news and case law. Take a look at what's next:

Consumer Legal Content:

• Vandalism: Learn About the Law's discussion covers the law of vandalism its definitions, defenses and consequences. There is more to this "quality of life crime" than just spray paint. Vandalism may include what some would call works of art and can affect everything from shop windows to websites.

FindLaw is always looking for new ways to educate potential customers and touch base with existing customers. With this in mind, FindLaw attended the CAALA Annual Convention in Las Vegas. CAALA, which stands for Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, holds an annual convention that is one of the largest conventions of plaintiff trial attorneys in the nation.

This year's convention took place from Sept. 2-5, 2010 at The Palazzo / Venetian Hotel. The convention featured continuing education credit seminars, networking events, keynote speakers, committee meetings and opportunities for members to unite advocating for those who have been injured or harmed. The convention boasted more than 100 legal service exhibitors ready to help firms with their practice.

As a new feature, each week the Official FindLaw Blog will present a round-up of the newest, the best and the brightest FindLaw.com has to offer. FindLaw works hard to keep on top of breaking legal news, current trends and new ideas that will interest its visitors, whether they are consumers, or legal professionals. Each week, we will highlight offerings from many areas of FindLaw.com including core legal content, legal commentary, the Answers community, blogs, news and case law.

This week's round-up will focus on a back-to-school and education law content. Race to the Top, budget cuts affecting teachers and just getting the kids back to school has brought these issues to the minds of many of our visitors. Take a look at what's next: