Levinson Shares Persuasion Strategies with Fellow Attorneys

February 5, 2015 by Ken Levinson Leave a Comment

Ken Levinson Presents to Corporate Attorneys — Ken Levinson Speaks to Corporate Lawyers at Golan & Christie in Chicago

I was honored to trek my way through a snowstorm so I could spend the lunch hour with Barbara Yong and her colleagues at the law firm of Golan & Christie. I always enjoy sharing my experiences as a trial lawyer, especially teaching fellow attorneys – though the pressure is on when the subject is “Persuasion and Communication for Lawyers.”

We covered topics such as how to make powerful word choices, engage in strategic decision-making, and using psychology and storytelling to advocate for our clients.

I can tell from our discussion during my presentation that this group is made up of fine attorneys. Plus, I even learned a thing or two about corporate law. Overall, it was a wonderful and educational time!

Teaching Lawyers to Help Children with Playground Injuries

November 20, 2014 by Ken Levinson Leave a Comment

Ken Levinson - Playground Injuries and Children — Ken Levinson speaks to the New Jersey Association for Justice about children and playground injuries

As a child injury lawyer, I often am called to help parents whose children have been injured on playgrounds. Last week I was fortunate to be invited to speak to the New Jersey Association for Justice so I could teach other trial lawyers about handling playground injury cases. Thank you to my friends at the NJAJ for having me.

Playgrounds aren’t just swing sets and teeter-totters set atop sand and gravel, or at least they shouldn’t be. Did you know that practically each part of a playground (even where each play piece is located) is based on standards and guidelines set by an international organization and promoted by the U.S. Government?

Child injury cases can be very different from adult injury cases. The injuries, treatment, and impact are not the same. For example, a child’s injury might take many years to heal, or require specialized medical care that an adult wouldn’t need. What might seem a minor problem for an injured child at first glance could actually be a major problem later in life. In addition, communicating with injured children is sometimes more complicated than when speaking with an adult, who because of his or her age can provide more detailed information about what happened and the injuries.

My presentation provided strategic information to other attorneys fighting to secure justice for injured children and their families. I shared tips on how to protect the scene of an injury, who to contact when investigating a playground injury, and where to look for rules and regulations governing playgrounds.

Those rules and regulations are very detailed and specific as to each element of a playground – from surfacing material, to height, length, and angle measurements of various pieces of play equipment, to distances between pieces of equipment. And, all of this still depends on what age group the playground caters to.

Ultimately, it is imperative that a judge or jury understand the importance of these rules and regulations, and their basis in keeping our children safe. That’s why I travel to groups of lawyers and provide tactical tips on how to best serve child injury victims in court.

Ken Levinson Helps With Law Firm Marketing

November 5, 2014 by Ken Levinson Leave a Comment

At a Chicago Bar Association meeting yesterday, I helped other lawyers during a roundtable discussion on law firm marketing techniques.

Members shared experiences, ideas, and questions about building business relationships and engaging with clients and potential clients. The other lawyers involved in the discussion ran the gamut from new practitioners to senior partners, and were from a variety of practice areas serving all types of clients.

It was exciting to share my perspective with other attorneys looking for marketing help, and of course, I’m glad I picked up a tip or two!

Brett Manchel Helps Firm Better Serve Clients with Technology

September 19, 2014 by Ken Levinson Leave a Comment

Brett Manchel - Firm Presenatation — Associate Attorney Brett Manchel

Our associate attorney and, frequently, our technology officer, Brett Manchel, gave an excellent presentation on how we could more efficiently use one of the firm’s most important pieces of technology: our case management software. The goal of the presentation was to help us better serve our clients.

A law firm needs to use technology to deliver the best results for clients, and when I started this firm it was a top priority to make sure we were built on the best modern technology. I wanted to be able to always have my clients’ contact information, and no matter where I was, I wanted to know the most recent actions taken on any client file. Now, I can do that. Because we use a cloud-based case management platform, any attorney at the firm can update case files and see where we’re at in the process. So whenever a client calls to check in, we can give specific details and deadlines with just a few clicks.

Brett’s presentation highlighted some important tips and tricks — for example, how we can automatically add relevant emails and attachments in to case files, ensuring that no communications get ignored or lost. Now, when I’m talking with a client or co-counsel about a case because I don’t have to shuffle through multiple email threads, everything’s right in front of me.

I’m also thrilled to soon be able to offer clients a way to see and share documents with us via the Internet. Instead of emailing things back and forth, our case management platform will give each client their own “client portal” where they will be able to access case-related documents and upload anything they want us to see, like photos.

Since Brett is so skilled at helping us use our technology to the fullest potential, I invited him to give another technology presentation to a group of attorneys at the Chicago Bar Association next month.