Jim Sokolove 2.0: PR & Web Signal New “Sokolove Law” Brand

By Dave Wieneke | in Best of / fresh takes, Highlights, Legal practice, Web 2.0: The Social Web | 5 Mar 2009 | No Comments

Sokolove Law: Both Entrance and Exit
In January the Law Office of James Sokolove turned the media spotlight on itself. It issued a press release that Mr. Sokolove was making media appearances on a local rock station and PBS. Then there was the long-format feature in Boston Magazine, with the tag line “They’ve also created an under-the-radar empire that’s about to reinvent the business of ambulance chasing yet again.” The firm started sharing specifics about its business, and its founder’s plans.

Most Media is Good, and All of That Is Intentional

• Boston Magazine revealed the firm fields 300,000 calls via outsourced call center(s). The article also mentions Sokolove’s age, 64, that it’s been decades since he’s tried a case, and that he would expect to experience a liquidity event (read: buy out) in the next three years. This is one of the very few future-looking statements in the otherwise biographical article.
• Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly quotes CEO Michael J. Skoler discussing staffing, fee-splits, and how the down economy has helped the business.  Longtime Sokolove affiliate Andrew C. Meyer Jr. discusses the structure of their fee-split with the firm.
• Mass Lawyers Weekly mentions the firm’s $20 million ad spending in 2007, and quotes speculation that the firm may soon be for sale.
• Overlawyered covers both a new Sokolove initiative with Stanford Law School, and his $1,500 pay-per-lead offer.

New Web Site and Video Focus on B2B Business Generation Brand
Though the Boston Magazine article doesn’t discuss specific plans to “reinvent the business of ambulance chasing yet again,” you can see the firm’s future yourself in a video on its new website, Sokolove Law. You’ll see an expert marketing and services organization projecting a value proposition which goes beyond its famous founder.

As a digital marketer who focuses on demand generation marketing, it’s exciting to see this transformation. Every law firm has an intake process. From its video, it would appear that Sokolove Law wants to provide qualified, converted business to its affiliates through predictable and measurable processes.

Sokolove Law appears to be a brand directed to law firms, which promises a reliable supply of productive new cases. This new identity as a business service to the legal industry seems more investable than a law firm, and so more able to generate that equity event Mr. Sokolove spoke of.

I think what we’re seeing is the transformation from a business that looked like a law firm to one that looks like a great business to affiliates and investors. Keep watching to see how this new brand blooms through the spring, and what equity events the future might hold.