@Aswsolicitors

January 25th, 2011


Fiona Reid

Litigation and Family Lawyer

Director, Ashcroft Whiteside

Today we’re tweeting w/ @Aswsolicitors, litigation / family lawyer and director of a firm in Blackpool, UK

  1. @Aswsolicitors, thank you for joining us on Twitter. Tell us, who is @Aswsolicitors?
    a 35yr old business owner, wife and mum of a two year old
  2. Tell us about your law practice.
    we act for private clients. We combine traditional values with a modern way of thinking and vision for the future
  3. Tell us a little about the type of clients you represent. Who are they? What do they do?
    typically they are medium to high income working/retired individuals and businesses.
  4. And what would you say is the single most important legal issue affecting those clients?
    most certainly the value of their assets and safeguarding the value of their assets
  5. What do you tell every new client before you start working for them?
    Litigation is costly but we can do as much or as little as you want us to and we can work together to help you budget fees
  6. Tell us about one of the more significant client representations you’ve had.
    a client who bought a house suffered serious abuse from neighbour. seller of house made misreps on property info form  …
    saying no problems. important for client to recover monies to enable client to sell at reduced price and move away
  7. Why do your clients hire you?
    I’m down to earth, upfront, honest and play devils advocate. clients can see on http://www.ascroftwhiteside.co.uk/ that  …
    we are friendly and can even get to know us before instructing us
  8. Indeed they can. What’s the most active area of your practice at the current time? Is that typical?
    our wills and probate dept is always our most active area due to our longstanding reputation and long estd Will dept
  9. How have the economic challenges of the past few years impacted your clients? Are you seeing signs of recovery?
    Prior to 2008 residential and commercial conveyancing was booming and as you can guess, we took a big impact on those  …
    areas. we are now seeing a growth in both areas but slow growth and probably more sustainable
  10. How are you transforming a 130+ year-old firm into “a forward thinking, creative, modern biz”? Why is that important?
    making new solid foundations, modern leadership, future online services + social media. Change is important because of  …
    imminent threats to legal profession. Hanging on to old ways is not an option
  11. Speaking of change, let’s talk about Tesco law. What does it mean to your clients? To the legal profession?
    clients: more choice of provider. Legal Profession: Its a big wake up call. To some it’s doom and gloom. me? an opportunity
  12. Nicely put re Tesco Law. How do you describe what you do to people you meet at a cocktail party?
    I say I’m a Solicitor. I then get told that I don’t look or act like one!
  13. 🙂 When did you become active on Twitter? What were your objectives then? Have they changed?
    about 6 mths ago. Initially it was a trial and to learn how to use it. Now it facilitates my networking and part of routine
  14. More broadly speaking, how important is social media and social networking to your firm’s marketing efforts?
    very It helps me keep in touch and make new contacts. also helps show that we are normal-not unapproachable and intimidating
  15. Have your Web 2.0 activities led to any additional referrals or client engagements?
    yes. Mainly through Facebook. Had more contacts through Twitter rather than clients
  16. What is the most significant issue currently facing the legal profession?
    the sad fact that soon we won’t be a “profession” – just one of a number of legal services providers
  17. What will the legal landscape look like in 10 years?
    reduced number of high st firms. those still around will be focussing on niche areas and online service
  18. What would you do if you weren’t a lawyer?
    I can honestly say that business is my passion not being a lawyer so i would work on any business
  19. How do you want to be remembered?
    as someone who inspired people to be who they want to be
  20. What do you do when you’re not working?
    spending time with my family, doing classes at the gym and reading
  21. What advice can you pass along to lawyers currently under- or unemployed due to the economic crisis?
    try not to be too general in the area of law you want to practise. Think:what’s going on in the country. how can you meet  ..
    those needs? finally, be positive!
  22. And our last question for you: What advice do you have for people going to law school today?
    there are a lot of doom mongers out there. Avoid them. If your heart is in law, stick at it. Be different, not a stereotype

That’s great advice. Thanks so much for the interview today; I really enjoyed learning more about you & your practice

Thanks Lance. Have a good evening 😉


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    TWEN·TY-TWO TWEETS

    \twən-tē tü twētz\ (noun)

    1. live Twitter interviews with practicing lawyers who tweet
    2. a forum where lawyers tell their stories, one tweet at a time
    3. the hottest legal marketing mash-up on Twitter

     

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