Sunny views, sandy beaches—and trial lawyers?! Not your typical combination, but this was the scene every day of the 2021 National Trial Lawyers Summit, held earlier this month in beautiful Miami, Florida.
Because this was our first live conference in well over a year owing to the pandemic, we weren’t sure what to expect with the National Trial Lawyers conference this year. What would the attendance levels be? Would anyone want to meet and be social?
By the time the summit got started, our fears were put to bed. We saw many familiar faces, and it was great to reconnect with clients, vendors, attorneys, and friends we hadn’t seen in far too long. The energy level was high, and people were just excited to be together in person again!
Our dynamic Director of Sales Brian Mossman and intrepid Director of Business Development Rob Coleman represented us at the event: they were busy meeting new people, answering people’s burning questions on digital marketing, and strengthening the relationships we have with clients and vendor partners.
The National Trial Lawyers Summit is a great opportunity for lawyers to network and learn through educational panels and sessions. Dr. Sanjay Gupta gave a virtual keynote talk and fielded questions from attendees, and there were sessions ranging from truck accident cases to mass torts to marketing.
Not only did we have a booth at the conference, but we also were part of the programming. Hennessey Digital founder and CEO Jason Hennessey spoke on multiple panels, sharing information and tips on digital marketing and SEO in the legal industry. This conference is geared towards the business side of owning and operating a law firm, so Jason’s insights were well-received by attendees who are all at different stages of running their respective firms.
But because this was the first live event back for many of us, it was the networking and socializing that took center stage. We attended dinners and shared stories over lunches, and many attorneys could be found poolside, out on yachts, or getting down on the dance floor at the opening night party.
The Hennessey Digital booth became a social hub on the conference floor with our shiny new booth setup (a big thanks to our Marketing and Creative teams for making that happen!) People held meetings on our now-trademark white couches in our area and Brian poured drinks for booth visitors: Hennessy and Cokes might just be our signature events giveaway item now. 🥃
We also got to catch up with many people we love working with, including:
Keith Newstrom of Intake Conversion Experts
Ken Hardison and Darlene Hohn of PILMMA
Seth Price of BluShark Digital
Don Worley
Alan Frankel
Alex Valencia of We Do Web Content
Paul Faust, aka “Cool Guy Paul”
It was a star-studded event, too: Brian, Jason, and Rob even got to meet racing superstar Danica Patrick, who was the celebrity guest at a dinner they attended. A big thanks to our friends Ed Lake and The Persist Group for the invite!
All said, this year’s National Trial Lawyers Summit felt like a celebration. The excitement for being back at a live event was palpable, and we are ready for a full year of live and virtual conferences!
Here are our top three takeaways from the event:
1) The challenges are still here. The reality is that, COVID or not, the challenges facing law firms are the same as they were at the start of the pandemic. Signed cases and leads are down, especially for personal injury attorneys, and because courts are still closed in some places, cases aren’t getting settled quickly.
2) This is a great event for education and networking. We learned and knowledge-shared through panels, sessions, and conversations, and we’re proud to be involved in the legal community.
3) You have to make adjustments to succeed. Knowing our current reality, how do we overcome the obstacles presented by COVID life, and how do companies not let this slow business down in 2021? Adjusting your marketing budget according to how people are living and working now is a must, and if it wasn’t already clear, it is now: organic SEO is the best long-term investment you can make in your organic SEO is the best long-term investment you can make in your law firm.
The 2021 National Trial Lawyers Summit experience definitely whet our appetite for live events, and our next appearance will be at the Lanier Trial Academy in Houston from June 2-4.
Were you at NTL this year? Have an insight or a story from the conference to share with us? Send [email protected] a message and let us know!