In today's legal industry, many professionals are getting bored with the cookie-cutter outline of a career as a lawyer. As a result, many smart and driven professionals are accelerating their law careers by using their degrees in different capacities. Nader Anise, a lawyer marketing expert who claims he's ''not that great of a lawyer,'' has taken his interest in and understanding of law and mixed them with his passion and talent for marketing.
Lawyer and marketing expert Nader Anise trains solo practitioners and small firm lawyers on how to market themselves.
Though he had a strong background in sales, marketing, and real estate, Anise decided, with a gentle push from his father, to pursue law like his two older brothers had. He attended the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in Fort Lauderdale and passed the bar in 1995.
"During law school, even before law school, I would never work for anyone. I knew going in that I would always have to find my own way," he said.
Immediately after passing the bar exam, Anise jumped right into the world of law by opening his own practice, Anise & Anise, with his wife.
"I was green. More green than Kermit," he said of his early years in law.
Anise had a trying time as he developed his practice. "I can tell you some great stories about barely surviving and basically living on mac and cheese," he said. Though he regrets not clerking or working in the industry while he was a student, Anise was still able to prevail as a struggling first-year attorney.
Nader Anise has taught more than 20,000 lawyers how to effectively market their practices. Pictured above, he leads a discussion in one of his seminars.
After about four and a half years of building up his firm, Anise realized that he was not satisfied by his work anymore. "I just didn't enjoy fighting with people all the time," he said. After this moment of clarity, he set out to make a change in his career.
Reverting back to his experience in business and marketing, Anise decided to combine his two interests, law and business, to find his true "passion."
"Do what you enjoy," he said. "There has to be some sort of fulfillment if you want it to last for the long haul."
In his quest to revamp his career, Anise used his keen marketing eye to notice a huge need in the legal industry. Solo practitioners and small firm attorneys, by default, are usually their own marketing teams—and many of them do not realize that.
Anise restarted his career as a marketing consultant for attorneys all over the world. He primarily teaches "lawyerpreneurs," as he calls them, or sole practitioners and attorneys who are with small firms, how to market their businesses so clients will come flocking.
Nader Anise also teaches marketing and law classes at Nova Southeastern University, aiming to implement marketing classes into the law school curriculum.
"A big part of your practice is the business part, because guess what? If you're not good at the business part, you may never get a chance to be good at the legal part because you'll be out of business," he said.
Anise also counsels attorneys on finding niche practice areas as well as sub-niches.
"Unless you have some identifiable area of law that you do, and do it well, and, in fact, find a way to be the king of the mountain in that area of law, it's going to be very difficult for you to have a dominating presence. Why? Because no one knows what you do," he said.
In addition to consulting more than 20,000 attorneys worldwide, Anise teaches at his alma mater, Nova Southeastern University. As a professor of both marketing and law, Anise has begun to see the important impact that marketing classes could have on law students. Most law schools have not implemented such classes and are not looking to add any, either, according to Anise.
"They are resisting big time. There are some schools that are starting to integrate some classes like law firm management, but nothing that teaches law students how to be marketable," he said.
Q.
What do you do for fun?
A.
I love spending time with my two boys—playing basketball, swimming, playing video games are at the top of my list. Of course, enjoying time with my beautiful wife is right up there as well. I'm an avid horologist. I love watches. My favorites: Patek Philippe, Rolex, and A. Lange & Sohne. I also love sports cars. The one I'm currently zipping around in the most is my Porsche Carrera. I'd be lost without my radar detector.
Q.
What CD is in your CD player right now?
A.
Billy Joel's Greatest Hits.
Q.
What is the last magazine you read?
A.
National Enquirer. I'll tell you why. Some of the highest-paid writers write for the National Enquirer because of the headlines. I do read it for the headlines and the advertisements. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Q.
What is your favorite TV show?
A.
The Sopranos.
Q.
Who is your role model?
A.
It's my father. I think about him every day. There are times where I'll think, "What would he do?"
''Unless you have some identifiable area of law that you do, and do it well, and, in fact, find a way to be the king of the mountain in that area of law, it's going to be very difficult for you to have a dominating presence,'' said Nader Anise.
Anise has been affected by a number of different people throughout his career who have helped him shape his professional ethic and style. "My father is definitely my first mentor. Brilliant business man. Work ethic second to none," he said. After his father helped him set his professional foundation, Anise gained some valuable insight from Professor Steve Friedland, whom he met while he attended law school. "He was always someone I could talk to who would always listen," he said. On the business and marketing end, Anise has pulled from experts like Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, and Gary Halbert.
"If you want to excel in any type of field, you have to have a mentor," said Anise. "You have to have someone who will take you to the mine, who will take you by the hand and say, 'Here is where the gold is.'"
After his journey through law and marketing, Anise advises all lawyers and law students to really be "goal specific." Understanding why you are in law and what you hope to accomplish is crucial for any attorney.
"You have to be clear about what you want to achieve and stick to it," he said.
More importantly, though he knows it sounds cliché, Anise advises to never give up.
"You do what it takes. You work as hard as it takes. You labor. If it means sacrificing or losing some friends along the way, never give up on what you're trying to accomplish," he said.
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