Tuesday, December 22, 2009


The marketing success of a small law firm


The Cueto Law Group is a small, Miami, Florida-based law firm. Established in June 2009, it comprises of Santiago A. Cueto and his associate in Lima, Peru. They largely deal with litigation for international clients with U.S. problems.

To distinguish his firm from competitors, Cueto came up with an innovative and cost-effective marketing strategy. the Cueto Law Group allows its clients to pay up to 20 percent of their legal fees with carbon credits. (Click here for the press release)

Carbon credit trade or cap-and-trade carbon emissions control is a result of The Kyoto Protocol. Various countries, as well as several regions and several states in the USA, including Oregon and Washington, have regulatory standards in place for controlling and capping the production and emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon. The Federal government will soon adopt some form of national cap-and-trade legislation, which will consolidate the existing regional carbon markets. The global carbon credit market was valued at $126 billion in 2008. The World Bank estimates that the market could grow up to $150 billion by the end of 2009.

Under the law firm’s program called “CO Too,” its clients can pay with carbon credits which the company can then trade in the international carbon markets.

"Our CO Too program is a way to help the environment, while at the same time providing an alternative way for clients to pay for professional services. We are proud to be leading the legal industry in this initiative,” said Santiago A. Cueto from the law firm. He went on to say that he is optimistic that other industries will follow their lead. The law firm said carbon credits have gained significance as a legitimate currency with which to transact business.

"The current economic climate is a golden opportunity for the professional services industry to develop new ways to tackle global emissions,” and Cueto furthermore stated that credits represent a “paradigm shift” in the way business is transacted.

Cueto obviously knows a thing or two about marketing – his website is a textbook example of the latest trend in corporate website design, including news feeds, blog, etc. His timing is also impeccable – he launched his “CO Too” program during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009.

Although no clients took Cueto up on his offer yet, the media covered the story, including prominent WSJ blogger Ashby Jones .

It shows how a clever marketing idea announced in a press release distributed via PR Newswire can put a small law firm firmly on the map.

(Image courtesy of NSLIU)