By Eddy Montez – Los Angeles in particular has a huge number of personal injury attorneys. Naturally, every SEO company has strived hard to sell their “services” to these new and old injury lawyers alike. But many of these companies sell services based upon techniques that worked in 2007, but that don’t work now. As a result, many legal counsel in the “City of Angels” actually are harming their sites and brand.

Enter C.O.L.T.

COLT, short for Circle of Legal Trust (click here), was started by a Los Angeles negligence lawyer in response to all the garbage search practices, and is now an international brain trust of lawyers helping lawyers in local, social and organic search techniques and principles. In achieving the most beneficial rankings on search engines, to acquire the highest amount of clients, some dishonest Search Engine Optimization (SEO) individuals have formulated more and more complex methods, in order to beat the competition.

There are Two Kinds of Techniques Used in Performing SEO:

• White Hat: The use of these techniques fall within the ethical use of SEO. This is a method of using relevant keywords; clear metadata and Alt attribute text. These techniques comply with the intent of search engine quality guidelines.
• Black Hat: This is the use of techniques to trick search engines in a devious way to promote content that has no relevance to the user. This is deceptive and is usually breaking or stretching the search engine guidelines. This can lead to spam penalties, which can be painful in the loss or traffic or in a worst case scenario devastating to the site involved in these techniques.

Implementing aggressive anti-spam with search engines changes everything. If you want rankings, then you will need use techniques that are within the rules. This will mean not using any type of deception or tricks, but instead using honest relevancy. All of the other methods that have been used are fading away, since they are useless.
The search engines commonly have a code of conduct, while there are some small things that will vary from one search engine to another, but the main principles are the same.

Keywords Must be Relevant, and Associated With the Body Content of the Page

The placement of keywords needs to be natural in order to be accepted by the search engines,along with the color and other items on the documents. So stuffing keywords (a technique that used to rank your legal site well), now gets the site a Panda penalty (Click here.) In other words, repeating money keywords like “injury”, “attorney”, “lawyer”, over and over will actually hurt your site.

Keyword Density

Keyword density and frequency should not be overused on the page; instead the use should be natural for the topic. (click to learn more about keyword density.)

Spammy Methods

The utilization of redirect technology like doorway pages, etc., should improve and help the user experience. If redirect technology is used, it is generally considered a trick by the search and frequently results in removal from an index. Using redirect technology, it should display a page, where the content contains the suitable keywords, not bait and switch tactics.

How Do I get Re-Indexed?

After being caught by the search engine for spamming and being taken out of the index, getting the site re-indexed can be done. It will mean going through your page to remove any spam issues that caused the site to be taken out of the index, in the first place. Then the page must be resubmitted for placement in the index. This will not happen immediately, resubmission will mean waiting with everyone else for the search engine to re-index the page. If you have a law practice In LA in particular, you understand why you need to take hold of your legal website marketing.

Citations:

http://www.dummies.com/DummiesArticle/Get-Better-Search-Engine-Rankings-by-Using-Ethical-Search-Marketing.id-233155.html

http://www.jm-seo.org/wordpress/2012/08/24/how-to-get-a-website-reindexed-top-nyc-dj-for-weddings-bar-mitzvahs-more/

http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-ppc-seo-discussion-forum/336695-any-tips-getting-reindexed.html

Jim Loxley of the UK

My Compensation’s Jim Loxley discusses the technology which drives claims for road accident cases in the UK

Concerns Voiced Over Road Traffic Accident Portal Upgrade

The widespread embrace of all things Internet meant a great deal of changes to the legal world. Everything from the necessity of a company website right up to the more recent web 2.0 and social media buzz have all been critical parts of the on-line legal marketing process which attorneys must now adopt. As lawyers are often prolific writers with strong opinions and lots and say on their chosen field, it wasn’t long before legal blogging also started playing a critical role in online presence for lawyers. What about the technological processes behind the Internet scenes that tick the legal world over?

One such a technology which is extremely important to the United Kingdom is the road traffic accident (RTA) portal. The RTA portal was first set up by the UK government as a way for legal practitioners and motor insurance companies to communicate more easily and send case-vital claims documentation to one another via a more streamlined system. For many years, this collection of servers and software has helped lawyers work for people claiming compensation for car collisions which happen in the UK roads. For companies such as My Compensation, it’s crucial for the everyday business of helping people with claims for negligence-caused traffic collisions. The technology was implemented in 2010 and was built by a tech company which had a strong company for finance companies. The software side involves an ?application to application? stand-alone program for XML file transfers and a slightly more limited browser-based version of the software. The hardware specifics of the servers are not available but are expected to be extensive.

Pending Changes to the RTA Portal

The pending legal adjustments to claims for car accidents and personal injury known as the ?Jackson reforms? are soon to be implemented into UK law. The government plans to make changes to the RTA portal to have it include other types of legal cases such as employment law claims. In addition to this, the limits for injury and other tort cases is looking to be increased from ?10,000 up to potential ?25,000 as a cap on the value. This means an increase in workload for the systems which are in place on the portal. Historically speaking, the government has not been always been the most organised party in terms of its implementations of such changes. The UK legal system being a potentially fragile thing, it’s only natural that personal injury lawyers want to get it right first time round.

Experts Voice Concerns

One of the government’s advisors, Paul Fenn who is a professor at Nottingham University Business School, spoke out against the government plans earlier this year saying that a serious review of the road traffic accident portal would be needed before any such systems were put in place. The Ministry of Justice commissioned Fenn?s report and welcomed the results stating that it was important groundwork for it to consider.

Many injury professionals are concerned that the government is going to get the legal changes wrong but, more recently, there were a number of concerns to have been heard that it would also get the changes to the RTA portal wrong, potentially causing a disaster for the future of many tort cases. Lawyers and motor insurers would no longer be able to effectively carry on their jobs and the damages to the income of personal injury firms could be tremendous.

Both technology specialists who maintain the RTA portal and lawyers who use it have stated surrounding the fact that the portal is already operating close to its maximum capacity. There’s only so much bandwidth and storage provided on the servers in order to handle so many cases and claim documentation each year. With the number of people in the UK claiming compensation for traffic accidents also on the increase, the only way for the RTA portal?s workload is up.

The Future of the Technology in the UK

The RTA Portal Co is involved in a great deal of discussion with the government to ensure that the changes are implemented properly so as not to damage the compensation claims industry both for negligence-caused car collisions and cases for other injuries. The My Compensation team certainly has their fingers crossed that it’s going to be a smooth transition so they can continue to help people with this type of case.

Sources:

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/expert-report-warns-government-hold-rta-portal-extension

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/claims-portal-won-t-cope-expansion-say-solicitors

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_rta

This is a little off topic, but WTF? As if there isn’t already enough problems kids of today can get into, some of them are exploring the new trend of putting tampons in place that have been saturated with vodka. The boys are not left out either, as the tampons can also be inserted into the rectum and the effects or personal injury will be the same. While this is a horrible thing that no parent wants to believe, parents certainly need to become informed.

Some information found on the web suggests this is not actually true and is nothing more than a rumor. As parents are already aware, the common way several vaginal medicines are administered is with the use of tampons. In this very same manner, alcohol is able to enter into the bloodstream much easier and faster than the gastrointestinal tract that is protected by acid, via the unprotected vaginal and anal membranes.

Regardless where this new trend was started, it is likely several kids will see if it works when they get wind of it. When you have kids, it is important to stay on your toes about anything regarding alcohol and drugs. Just by googling ‘vodka soaked tampons’ you will find a ton of activity on the forums.
When rumors first start, you can bet there is also some truth involved.

Even if you don’t believe this to be true, wouldn’t it be much safer to remain open to the possibility of it happening? No one believed kids were having oral sex either, and look where that led. Many kids don’t think that when they become intoxicated from a tampon soaked in alcohol that their parents or anyone else will know. They believe it keeps their breath from smelling like alcohol, but this is not true. The reason their breath will still have an odor of alcohol when vodka soaked tampons are used is because the lungs partially eliminate alcohol that has entered the blood. This means any air that is expired will smell like alcohol. This is exactly how blood alcohol content is measured with breathalyzers. The manner in which alcohol is taken in has nothing to do with it.

Kids also believe there is no worry of stomach upset with this method of taking alcohol in. While it may not cause nausea, there are other problems it can cause. On a short-term basis a burning sensation is likely to be felt in the rectal or vaginal mucosa, the second it comes in contact with the ethanol in alcohol. On a long-term basis issues with drying can occur, which can later result in bleeding.

This is actually not the first time this method of inserting alcohol into the body has come about. In the 1990s the practice was reported by Oxford University scientific journals. In 2002, there were ‘Alcohol, Education, and Young People’ seminars organized by the University of Bristol, which included a session regarding the practice of young females using tampons that had been soaked in alcohol. This seems to be a trend that is popular in Columbia, South America, and Europe.

In a given year, an insurance adjuster may receive hundreds or even thousands of demand letters from lawyers with detailed sob stories of injury and suffering. Still, when writing a demand letter, it is important to remember that adjusters are first and foremost, people. They are affected by the same things as every other human being. So make your narrative as interesting as possible, but strive for brevity. Describe, but do not belabor, the crucial factors that may affect the value of the case, particularly if they are not apparent from a reading of the medical or other records that are attached.

It is extremely important that you do not go overboard in an attempt to personalize your client’s plight. For example, consider a plaintiff who sustained soft-tissue injuries in a collision with a tractor-trailer. It is probably a waste of time to devote paragraphs to describing the anguish your client’s back sprain caused when they attempted to do the laundry, garden, or walk the dog. On the other hand, using the same example, you will probably want to tell the adjuster how your client felt after the collision ripped the roof off of the vehicle, and she looked down to find the next seat passenger’s decapitated head in her lap. Even though both of these examples involve a client who suffered the same soft-tissue injury, it is clear that the client in the second example has much more compelling non-economic damages. Another real-life is example is a case we handled where a passenger was not injured very seriously, but had to watch his best friend die in the seat next to him due to injuries sustained in the crash. These are all things that need to make it into your demand letter.

Keeping in mind that the scope of your narrative should match the seriousness of the case, be sure to tell the story of the case in a light most favorable to your client. If you can, describe the defendant as a company with an evil motive or a person who was grossly negligent. Take care to only do this in the rare case where it is true and can be supported by specific reference to the facts. If you try to cast a defendant in this light in a case where it is unwarranted, you will have instantly damaged your credibility with the adjuster, perhaps permanently.

Where it is supported by the facts of the case, include a vivid description of your client’s injuries, physical pain, anguish, and dashed hopes. Describe not only what has been lost, but what your client has been forced to accept in its place. Describe the hardworking laborer, proud of his ability to support his family and send his children to college, giving them opportunities that he never had. Now, due to the defendant’s defective product, he has suffered a serious back injury. Include a laser copy of your client’s CT scan showing his herniated disc. Describe his frustration at not being able to work because of the pain he experiences. Describe the gnawing fear that the disc will move further and sever his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic.

Describe his feelings of hopelessness and depression because his family has been required to accept charity for the first time and his children have dropped out of school. His daughter had to give up her dream of becoming a registered nurse and take employment as a cleaning woman. Be sensitive and compassionate. Above all, tell the story of what has happened to this family because of the fault of the defendant. At the end of your settlement brochure, include projections of lost wages and lost earning capacity, together with totals of medical expenses. Now make your demand for settlement, keeping it reasonable, but leaving room for negotiation.

At the outset, immediately after your initial intake interview with the client, you sent a retention letter to the defendant. In all likelihood, you were contacted by a representative (claims adjuster) of the defendant’s insurance company soon after. This was probably by telephone with a follow-up letter. It is important, mandatory and imperative that you develop an amicable and trusting relationship with the claims adjuster. If the adjuster does not like you and trust you, it will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate an adequate settlement. Your goal is to always leave room to make the adjuster look good by settling with you at your number.

Do not – and this is a challenge for a lot of lawyers – brag or make outlandish claims. Do not make unreasonable demands. In fact, do not make any demand until the case is fully investigated and prepared. But always keep in mind that adjusters are people too. You can expect the, to notice if you don’t give a very serious case the attention to detail that it deserves, or if you have a tendency to overreach on less serious cases.

Ron Miller, the writer of this post, is personal injury lawyer in Baltimore, Maryland who handles only accident, product liability and medical malpractice claims. His firm handles only serious personal injury claims.