Dear Readers:
Well, today is the day. After nearly a year of work, we are pleased (and relieved) to announce that after eight years, a radically revised and improved version of Visalaw.com has been launched.
We had a number of challenges to deal with on this project. First, how to organize nearly five thousand articles and files in a way that allows readers to quickly and easily navigate to what interests them. We think we’ve accomplished this using a format that treats the site more as a newspaper than a law firm web site. Readers can now see the latest news in immigration just by looking at the front page of our site rather than having to drill down to interior pages. Readers should also be able to get to every major section of our site from the front page.
Graphically, we think the site is attractive and polished. There were a number of opinions that were registered by people in the firm as the artwork was moving along. We think that we’ve struck hit the right balance.
The technology behind the site is state of the art. The new Visalaw.com is entirely database driven using more than 60 different templates designed to ensure a consistent look and feel throughout the site. We can also now make changes across the site quickly and all pages on the site are saved in a database. That means that searching the site will be much easier. For now, readers will be able to search across the entire site by typing in a search term. We also will soon have the ability to search by keywords though the site. We are now in the process of assigning keywords to each article on the site and when this is completed, readers will be able to see a list of keywords and pull articles up that way. This means that people now sure what search term to enter will have help.
The biggest challenge was one no law firm probably has ever had to face. The site that used to exist at Visalaw.com was manually created by me. I’m not a computer programmer and I basically created the page using simple HTML coding. The pages were not always consistent (or pretty for that matter) and there was no easy way to move them into the new site. That meant that every one of the 5,000 or so articles and files on the site had to manually cut, pasted and reformatted into the new database. Several employees of Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine have been working diligently since last May to get this migration completed.
One thing that is completely new on the site is the link to our client extranet. Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine uses a state of the art case management system and has custom-developed a web interface that allows clients to access critical information on their cases using a secure password login system.
Another new section of the site is a press center that explains to members of the media how to reach lawyers in the firm for help on stories and how to get background information on the firm.
I have a number of people to thank for their help on this project and I apologize in advance if there is anyone I left out.
Mick Wright – Mick is our marketing guru and webmaster who has overseen this project and dealt with a great many complications (such as when several weeks of work mysteriously disappeared from the database)
Alex Gordiyenko – Alex is one of the most talented web designers I know and his crew at Lightmix is outstanding. This project was extremely difficult and they reacted quickly and professionally as various obstacles presented themselves. If any of you are in need of a great web company, check them out at www.lightmix.com. Just don’t make him so busy that he can’t get to my projects. :-).
Esther Schacter, Simon Bieber, Daniel Susser, Adam Rafael and Ian Jennings – Our clerks all contributed hundreds of hours each to this project and I am truly grateful.
Cynthia Ryan, Kristi Crawford, Brenda Boudreaux, Karen Weinstock and Phil Cargile – these are lawyers from several of our offices who serve on the firm’s marketing committee. Their input on this project has been critical.
Amy Ballentine – Much of the content you will find on the site is the result of Amy’s hard work.
Lynn Susser – Special thanks go to my law partner Lynn Susser who has patiently waited for this project’s completion and trusted me with steering the project to its current stage.
We’re looking forward to your feedback. Constructive suggestions are always appreciated and we hope that you will find the changes worth the wait.
Finally, as always, we remind readers that we’re lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://visalaw.wpengine.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.
Kind regards,
Greg Siskind
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. The information provided in this article has not been updated since its original posting and you should not rely on it until you consult counsel to determine if the content is still valid. We keep older articles online because it helps in the understanding of the development of immigration law.