06 December

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New Rules and Regulations for Paralegals are Now in Effect

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As of November 1st, new rules regulating paralegals went into effect in Utah. According to the new rules, licensed paralegal practitioners (referred to as LPPs) will be allowed to practice law without a lawyer’s supervision in cases involving the following: Temporary separation, divorce, parentage, cohabitant abuse, civil stalking, custody and support, and name change Forcible entry and detainer Debt collection matters in which the dollar amount in issue does not exceed the statutory limit for small claims cases For these cases, LPPs can assist clients in the following ways: Choose, fill out, file and complete service of legal forms Review and explain...

29 November

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Increased Pedestrian Deaths – NTSB Calls for Safety Measures

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, by way of its Pedestrian Safety Special Investigation Report, since 2009 the deaths of pedestrians in traffic accidents in the United States has increased 46%. Take a moment and let this statistic sink in. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt may have described this problem best when he stated, “pedestrian safety is a universal issue – we are all pedestrians." The factors for this statistic are unclear, as the information does not provide a cause for the spike in deaths. However, some researchers believe an improving economy could be a factor because it allows for...

13 November

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Study Says Sleep Deprived Individuals Are More Likely To Crash

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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently conducted a study to determine the relationship between sleep deprivation and motor vehicle crashes. The findings are alarming. 7% of all crashes in America involve driver drowsiness. 16% of all fatal crashes in America involve driver drowsiness. Drivers who got less than 4 hours of sleep are 15x more likely to cause a collision. Falling asleep at the wheel isn’t the only problem either. When sleep-deprived drivers are on the road, there is an increased risk of misjudging the road and traffic, or even failing to notice something on their route. As a firm who...

23 October

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ABA Updates Rules on Lawyer Advertising & Refferals

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Over the years, attorney marketing has made its way into the digital world, encompassing social media, review websites and more. These “newer” platforms have made it a confusing era when it comes to deciding what is ethical or not for attorney marketing and referral business. In August, the American Bar Association (ABA) held its Annual Meeting in Chicago. During the meeting, proposals were submitted in regards to attorney advertising and business solicitation. Following the meeting, the ABA House of Delegates voted to adopt proposed changes to its model rules of professional responsibility, which state bar associations use as guidance. Regarding attorney marketing,...

08 October

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High Temps Are High Risk for Recalled Takata Airbags

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The Takata airbag recall has been making waves across the country for months as millions of vehicles, built from 2003-2013, have been affected in one of the largest vehicle recalls in history. Now, the company is making headlines again by stating the hot and humid weather has auto experts worried these recalled Takata airbags will explode. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are 1.7 million vehicles on the road in Texas with recalled Takata airbags. This puts millions of people at risk every single day. In an effort to get these recalled airbags off the street, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep,...

20 September

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“Alexa, find a personal injury attorney near me.”

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Voice search is no longer just for hearing the weather forecast or playing music. Voice search is continuing to grow; Pew Research Center reports 46% of Americans use digital voice assistants. Furthermore, comScore predicts by 2020 that 50% of searches will be done by voice. Initially, you may not think potential clients will use voice search to find an attorney, but the legal industry is already buzzing on how this trend will affect legal marketing. To evolve with the shifting trends, law firms will need to adjust their marketing strategies to include tactics for digital voice devices. Typing vs Talking When people type...

12 September

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Benefits of Recurring Internal Communication

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Many times, when a firm operates with multiple locations, teams find it difficult to stay in touch and informed on what is happening within the other offices. Sometimes it’s even hard to stay connected with what’s happening in a single busy office with lots of staff and attorneys working on their own caseloads. We’ve found it very helpful to create a monthly newsletter called “Communique,” which we circulate internally once a month to share information and celebrate together more frequently. Here are some topics we cover, but we encourage you to think about your firm and what would work best...

30 August

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Picture This!

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At Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock, we pride ourselves on keeping our law firm on the cutting-edge of litigation. For us, that doesn’t just mean staying up to date on the latest technologies available to use in and out of the courtroom or the latest rulings in our industry, it also means maintaining fresh and up to date marketing materials, especially your firm’s photos. When clients and peers view our website and marketing materials, we want them to see the true faces behind our firm, get a look into our offices and know exactly what to expect. It’s always striking to...

26 July

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The Heated Debate on Geo-Fencing

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All Things Considered on NPR recently discussed geofencing on the show, bringing up this heated digital marketing topic all over again. More specifically, the use of the technology with legal marketing and angering many by using the phrase “digital ambulance chasers.“ According to the Oxford Dictionary, Geofencing is “the use of GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area.” It’s a technology popularly used by law enforcement to track individuals with ankle monitors under house arrest. But in recent years marketing companies have been...

11 July

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The Ethics of the Referral Fee for Personal Injury Cases in Texas

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This article has been created using content from Sonia Rodriguez’s speech to the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association pertaining to referral fees in Texas. In the past year, 93.2% of the cases within Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock law firm are from referral attorneys. With so many of our cases involving a referral fee, understanding and abiding by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.04 is paramount. In 2004 the State Bar of Texas moved to study the issue of “referral fees,” and the State Bar’s Referral Fee Task Force conducted an in-depth study from bar members. The Task Force Concluded...