Infomercial Executive Trying to Raise the Bar

Acquire new clients at the lowest cost. It’s the goal of most law firms, and many of them take a do-it-yourself approach to advertising that message. But Consumer Attorney Marketing Group in Woodland Hills brings science and expertise in mass marketing to the problem. Chief Executive Steve Nober is the former president of Mercury Media in Santa Monica, one of the largest infomercial companies in the country. At Mercury, he learned how to track the response rate for every TV ad and use that data to tweak the timing and placement of future ads – a lesson he now applies to marketing lawyers. “You have to track everything,” he said. “You then know what to cancel and what to buy more of. But in the legal community, that’s unheard of.” As the company name implies, Nober focuses on attorneys trying to reach a mass audience, as opposed to corporate counsel or specialists. Most of his clients focus on personal injury, auto accidents, drunk driving, class-action lawsuits or immigration. Locally, his largest clients include Gerardi Keese and Khorrami Boucher Sumner Sanguinetti LLP, both in downtown Los Angeles. The company, which has 45 employees, was founded in 2012. But last month it scored its biggest deal when Affinion Group, a large publicly traded company in Stamford, Conn. that sells credit-report monitoring and identity theft protection services, hired it to handle its TV advertising. (Nober also handles such broader, legal related services.) “Anyway you define ‘big deal,’ they meet it,” Nober said. “It’s a substantial budget.” Michael Bush, director of communications for Affinion, said the marketing group’s record of successful campaigns from the past sealed the deal. “As we accelerate our direct-to-consumer marketing initiatives, we looked to identify companies that offer a significant history of driving results,” Bush said in a statement. “Consumer Attorney Marketing Group offers a substantial portfolio of successful campaigns and experience that can be leveraged to help us grow.” Shawn Khorrami, partner at Khorrami Boucher, said he has tried other agencies, as well as partnering with other lawyers in marketing deals, but he’s pleased he switched to Nober’s company. “We monitor how much it costs get a potential client and how much for a retained client and for a law firm those are important numbers,” he said. “With Steve, we were able to lower that amount spent to get a retainer. They are in contact with us to see which ads produced the best number of leads and ultimately the best quality leads.” For smaller law firms, Nober said he can work with budgets as low as $5,000 a week. That will allow him to buy enough ads on local broadcast and cable TV to see what works and what doesn’t, and then perfect the campaign. “You don’t need to compete with the monster spending law firms with budgets in the hundreds of thousands,” he said. “If you track results, you can use stealth and find places that really work for you.” Michigan Mover West Corzine LLP has hired Michael Mauro, a new move-in from Michigan, as an associate attorney. Mauro will handle entertainment contracts at the Camarillo firm, which now has three attorneys. In fact, Mauro said the entertainment industry and nice weather are the reasons he came to Southern California. Previously, Mauro ran his own law firm in Michigan where he handled small business matters, plaintiff personal injury cases and entertainment contracts for production companies. He later served as general counsel for a large precious metals company, where he negotiated contracts Mauro will bring his knowledge of the entertainment industry to bear on contracts for West Corzine’s growing list of Hollywood clients. However, he will also tackle insurance coverage and defense cases, construction defect litigation and commercial lawsuits. “At West Corzine, I will have the opportunity to parlay my prior experience to help the firm’s clients on a wider range of legal issues, while still maintaining the type of close relationships I’m used to developing with smaller businesses,” he said in a statement. Legal Harmony The Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic held its final concert of the season on Nov. 16, and is now looking for new musicians and vocalists to join for next year. Gary Greene, the founding conductor of the orchestra, who runs a solo law practice in L.A.’s Fairfax district, said he is looking for all instruments, with special emphasis on French horn, oboe, bassoon and the strings. “We play Mozart to Duke Ellington,” Greene said. “Not only do we get attorneys from the Valley, we go all the way up to Ventura.” Orchestra members must be attorneys, judges, legal staffers or law students. While the 2013 season is finished, the group will start next year with a glam performance. “In January, the orchestra will perform for the 100th anniversary of the City of Beverly Hills,” Greene said. Staff Writer Joel Russell can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or [email protected].