I just returned from attending my first Mass Torts Made Perfect conference in Las Vegas and I can safely say that MTMP is one of the best legal shows I have attended to date. It is not the largest and doesn’t have the most vendors, and Las Vegas is not my favorite venue (however the Wynn hotel is outstanding). Why I liked it so much was the caliber of attorneys attending and the sheer volume of excellent and actionable information regarding Mass Torts. I have been to a lot of legal conferences and some I will go back to and some I will not—MTMP is definitely on my “go back next time” list.
Since I am not an attorney, my interest is biased toward legal marketing and the first day did not disappoint. The focus was primarily on various ways to generate new mass tort cases through lead generation methods. A wide range of television advertising options were presented featuring presentations from Morris Bart of Morris Bart LLC, Thomas Neptune of Relion Group and Steve Nober of Consumer Attorney Marketing Group (CAMG) among others. Excellent presentations from Jamie Adams of Scorpion Design and Luke Kist, Founder and CEO of RollSEO.com focused on online lead generation with an emphasis on new design options that work well with mobile devices and the newest SEO topics to rank well in search engines for 2016.
One of the most interesting presentations came from Alex Shunnarah who outlined his use of “old fashioned” billboards and its powerful impact on growing his firm throughout Alabama and more recently expanding to Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. When starting his firm in 2001, Alexander went against the grain to develop a marketing strategy that utilizes eye-catching billboards which have dramatically grown his company’s reach and revenue in the Personal Injury space. Shunnarah said the cumulative effect of his billboards is undeniable but it takes a lot of patience to reap the rewards. Sharp design and minimal words are key to his strategy.
Other speakers on the first day included Jarret Prussin of SBA Loan Group and Ari Kornhaber of Esquire Bank to discuss financing, banking and EFT for law firms.
MTMP Key Takeaways:
Television monthly spending in the legal space has increased by over 50% the past 12 months with Personal Injury topics leading the way.
The Top Q1 2016 Mass Tort Practice Areas by TV Spend:
- IVC Filter
- Talc (up from #9 in 2015)
- Risperdal (up from #4)
- Xarelto / Pradaxa (down from #2)
- Taxotere (New)
- Invokana (down from #5)
- Hips (up from #8)
- Onglyza
- Trans Vaginal Mesh
- Bair Hugger (down from #3)
Not making the Top 10 list were FLQs, Abilify, Essure, Meso, Morcellator, Low T, Zofran, Benicar, Viagra, Zimmer Knee & Syngenta—all of which are still being actively marketed to and pursued.
For law firm online marketing in 2016, the focus is on mobile-friendliness, trust and citation (website encryption), link building, factual content (ya think?), instant answers and correct page structure. All of this is designed to gain favor with Google’s ever evolving algorithms and improve conversion.
Interesting break-out sessions included Edward Lake discussing lead generation tactics for Talc cases, a panel discussion with updates on the IVC Filter litigation which shows that IVC Filter may actually cause the problems it is designed to cure in addition to many updates on the Taxotere, Talc, Morcellator, Qui Tam and other hot topics.
Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Luncheon
One of the highlights of the MTMP program was the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Hosted by Mike Papantonio, senior partner of Levin Papantonio. The program featured special guest retired US Senator Alan K. Simpson. 2016 inductees included Michael S. Burg, Esq., Mark J. Geragos, Esq., Debra E. Pole, Esq., John F. Romano, Esq., and C. Steven Yerrid, Esq. All of the inductees made eloquent acceptance speeches with a lot of old timer wisdom for the young up and comers in the audience. What could have been a very schmaltzy extravaganza turned out to be a series of touching and heartfelt speeches with the attention focused on the many people not in the spotlight that they clearly based their successes on.
Overall, Mass Torts Made Perfect Las Vegas 2016 was well worth the price of admission and I look forward to returning next year.