STATISTICS ON THE MEMBER PROFILE OF THE MPUMALANGA ATTORNEYS COUNCIL

The member profile of the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council as at 30 June 2011 is as follows:

A profile of the firms in the province, based on the number of partners within the firm, has been compiled and is summarised in the graph below.

Single practitioners make up 58% of the membership base of the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council. Based on the abovementioned statistics, it is easy to understand why there is a need for the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council to focus on projects aimed at assisting single practitioners to ensure the success of their firms.

COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING

Communication and Marketing (2012)

SUGGESTIONS ON THE CONTINUATION OF EXISTING PROJECTS

1.  Attorneys Week

1. Members of the public have become used to the fact that there is an annual project under which free advice is offered and many enquiries are received from members of the public wanting to know when such a week will be held.

Providing free consultations to members of the public serves to boost the image of the attorneys’ profession and counters the public perception that legal services are out of reach for most members of the public due to the cost implications.

During 2011 the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council presented a Property Law Attorneys Week. Possible focus areas for the 2012 Attorneys Week include:

• Personal injury, RAF and Medical Negligence Matters

• Debt-related and financial matters

• Small business owners

• General Attorneys Week

1.  Generic posters advertising attorneys’ services

Generic posters advising members of the public to visit the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council website or to contact the Law Society of the Northern Provinces to obtain the contact details of an attorney in their area were designed during 2011.

Members were informed of the project and invited to order posters through the distribution of a letter which was e-mailed to all members. A very small percentage of members responded and requested posters.

Members of the public are often not aware of the vast range of services which attorneys could render to them. The generic marketing posters are a highly effective and low cost tool to draw the attention of members of the public to the types of matters attorneys could assist them with.

Consideration could be given to again advertise the project to members in the Mpumalanga Province. It is suggested that the possibility of publishing the information relating to the project at the top of the NewsFlash for a number of consecutive weeks.

Copies of the generic marketing posters are annexed to this report.

1.  Legal supplements

The legal supplements are not only supported by members of the profession in Mpumalanga who make use of the opportunity to advertise their services, but the information on legal matters of interest to members of the public often leads to valuable consultations and legal work for attorneys.

In the past legal supplements were published with great success and the media has always been supportive of the publication of the annual supplements.

It is suggested that the Council considers once again publishing supplements in the local media.

1.  Brochures

The Mpumalanga Attorneys Council revised a number of existing marketing brochures during 2009. The brochures cover the following topics:

• Buying and Selling a House
• Contracts
• Credit Agreements
• Deceased Estates
• Emoluments Attachment Orders
• Letting Property
• Small Claims Court
• Working with Your Attorney
• You and Your Attorney

Generic brochures provide an invaluable marketing tool to attorneys’ firms by advertising the services which could be rendered to members of the public.

SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW PROJECTS

1.  Marketing tools for single practitioners

The Communication Unit has compiled a document consisting of 28 short articles on a variety of subjects relating to the marketing of attorneys firms. A copy of the document is annexed to this report.

It is suggested that the Council should consider sending each of these short articles to members through a NewsFlash on a weekly basis. Members can then compile a database of the articles that are of interest to them.

By sending such weekly articles to members, the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council will ensure that it remains visible to its members and will render a service to members by educating them on various ways in which they can market their firms and the services they render.

After all of the articles have been distributed to members, further input can be requested from the members and members could then indicate whether they would value receiving all of the articles in the form of a printed and bound booklet.

All of the articles can further be added to the website of the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council and could thus be made available to members as an easy access reference library of marketing advice.

Excerpts could further be made from the series of articles aimed at single practitioners which was authored by Mr Piet Langenhoven. The articles were initially published as a supplement to Society News in 2007. The items were recently updated and published as a booklet insert in Society News. A copy of the information contained in the updated version is annexed to this report.

1.  Website of the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council

Statistics relating to the number of visits to the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council website during 2011 were compiled by the automated “hit counter” which is embedded in the website. A condensed version of the statistics is provided below.

Based on the fact that the website is often visited by more than 200 unique visitors on a monthly basis, despite the fact that the website has not been advertised to either members of the profession or the public in general, the value of using the website as a marketing tool should not be underestimated.

A well-designed, informative website is a cost-effective marketing tool, which can reach a wide audience without the costs which are usually associated with marketing.

The internet has grown from being a space limited to be used as playground for computer fundi’s to an invaluable information source for every person who has access to the internet. Many of the more educated members of the public have resorted to using the internet and e-mail as their sole means of conducting their daily affairs, including running their finances, obtaining information on subjects of importance and sourcing possible service providers.

During 2011 the Mpumalanga Attorneys Council considered adding specific information to the website, including articles on general topics which were to be prepared by members of the Council. Members of the profession practising in Mpumalanga were also requested to submit articles for publication on the website. Unfortunately no articles have been received to date.

It is suggested that the Council considers the possibilities held by adding more content to the website, not only in being an instrument to ensure continued communication with its members, but also to fulfil its aim of promoting its members and the services they can render to members of the public.

YEAR PROGRAMME (2012)

Seminars

The Mpumalanga Attorneys Council presented seven seminars during 2011. The seminars were attended by a total of 625 delegates.

A total of 50 members attended more than one seminar during 2011. The statistics relating to the attendance of seminars by delegates who attended more than one seminar is as follows:

The Mpumalanga Attorneys Council has recently launched a project to support single practitioners and with this project in mind, the Council could consider the possibility of presenting seminars specifically aimed at single practitioners on the following topics:

• PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS FOR TODAY’S LAW PRACTICE

• SINGLE PRACTITIONERS: MANAGING TRUST FUNDS AND FINANCIAL CONTROLS / MAXIMISING THE PROFIT OF YOUR PRACTICE

• BUDGETING AND FEE DEBITING

(The abovementioned topics were suggested by Mr Leo Swart, Auditor, Members Affairs, LSNP, based on the department’s experience of problems encountered when visiting firms. Such seminars could be presented by the Members Affairs Department and no speakers’ fees will be payable.) 

• DEVELOPING A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PRACTICE – FOR SINGLE PRACTITIONERS

• PRACTICE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

• Services and Forward Planning
• Financial Management
• Managing People
• Office Administration
• Case Management

HESTER BEZUIDENHOUT

 HEAD: COMMUNICATION UNIT