Friday, January 7, 2011

What Every Lawyer Really Needs To Know About The Verizon iPhone



My last post here was Christmas Eve, and the topic was the iPad. Since then I've taken some time off and upon return to work, found myself doing things foreign to the new age of social media lawyers, representing clients.

Now a bombshell has been dropped that has motivated me to start blogging in the new year - the announcement that the iPhone will be available with Verizon as the carrier. Upon this announcement, lawyers, the people from whom social media gurus try to make a living, reacted fast and furious. From, "I'm sorry, why does this matter to me," to "OH MY GOD, I (and then the call was dropped), lawyers everywhere reacted in a way that said "what was up with that slap on The Bachelor?"

Now in full disclosure, I attempted to get the folks at Big Legal Brain to blog about this. But in a profanity laced response, they advised that this was neither "big," nor "legal." Idiots, I know.

Before you start to see the dozens of daily posts on the meaning of Verizon entering the iPhone market, specifically as it applies to lawyers, I have for you here, the paradigm shifting game changing changes lawyers will now see with the iPhone on Verizon:

[1] No more blue circle that looks like a sliced something. Now, it's all about the red check mark.

[2] Customer service will be epic in its game changing best practices, as you will no longer hear "thank you for using at&t."

[3] Nothing on the phone will say "at&t." Instead, it will say "Verizon."

[4] No longer will lawyers ask their assistants "did the at&t bill come?" Instead, it will be "we get the bill from Verizon?"

[5] When lawyers with the new Verizon iPhone are asked "you have at&t?," they will now say "no, I have Verizon."

[6] Lawyers frustrated with dropped calls and bad reception will no longer tweet or put in their facebook status "I $&*% hate at&t."

[7] Lawyers will no longer go to the at&t store for issues with their service, instead, they will go to the Verizon store. This will affect Google analytics for months as more and more searches for "verizon store," will be typed.

[8] I don't have an 8th thing.

[9] Several websites will be created to help lawyers cope with issues like "I miss at&t," and asking whether "anyone else having reception issues in Starbucks?"

[10] There's no "10" because I hate those "10 things" lists.

Good luck lawyers. Try to cope with the change, especially if you intend to be early adopters.

Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. He is the author of I Got A Bar Complaint.Share/Save/Bookmark

1 comment:

Big Legal Brain said...

Thanks for you leadership on this important issue. With your permission (and credit to you as well), we've created a checklist that lawyers can use to manage the transition to Verizon. It's available here. Also, sorry about the profanity-laced response. Everything's cool and all now that you've dropped our name.