Dead Peasants’ Insurance

One of the most enjoyable aspects about working with clients outside the Canadian market is getting exposed to new areas of the law. This was the case when I started working with McClanahan Myers Espey LLP and was introduced to Mike Myers. Mike has a unique expertise, uncovering corporate life insurance policies where the company (and not the family) are the beneficiaries. The practice is more commonly referred to as dead peasants’ insurance or Janitors Insurance, and Mike works on behalf of the families. He is also one of a select few to have a successful track record in the area.

Mike’s on a bit of a ‘media whirlwind’ right now. First he gets a mention is Michael Moore’s new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story; and now he’s been interviewed on ABC News.

Story embedded here:

Now, here’s some of the backstory:

Prior to the release of the movie, Mike was asked if he had website they could direct people to – something that could be included in movie credits. This was a project we’d discussed in month’s prior, having a dedicated site for the topic, but had never acted on it. Then the fun begins. Mike calls me, we register a domain that afternoon, and then we all go to work. Mike starts drafting Q&A sets for our FAQ website (linked above), and we start on the design & build. Five days later, the site goes live.

Was the rush worth it? Absolutely. We had a few weeks to get the site ranking for what was (at that time) a non-competitive search phrase. And now a month later, in the middle of the media spike, the site is working as a hub for showcasing both the issue and Mike’s practise. We hope it will inspire potential clients, but perhaps just as important, is that the site takes an informative approach. It leads with helpful content (not sales), and it provides an opportunity find out more – about the issue, and about Mike.

For me, that’s a great example of legal marketing online.