This week’s Business of Law Guest Blogger at the National Law Review is Marcie L. Borgal Shunk of BTI Consulting Group. 
I recently had the pleasure of hearing Marcie speak at Dechert’s offices in Philadelphia at a Delaware Valley Law Firm Marketing Group event – and she ‘put a lot of meat on the bones’ concerning what differentiates law firms in the eyes of inside counsel and what forces drive business to one law firm or one lawyer over another. The following is a very brief post by Marcie on what will be the premium rate legal work in 2011 and why legal consumers are willing to pay top dollar for some legal services and not others:
Gateway Practices are a law firm’s exclusive invitation into an elite club. They not only provide intimate insights into a client’s most sensitive, high-value needs, but also offer priority access to new business opportunities in other areas (such as high-rate, high-growth opportunities). Gateway Practices are, in essence, the equivalent of a hidden shortcut to the king’s treasures.
BTI Premium Practices Forecast 2011, based on input from more than 250 corporate counsel, predicts there are 4 Gateway Practices for 2011. These are:
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Investigations
- Bankruptcy
- IP Litigation
Opportunities in Gateway Practices, however, are not abundantly available. In terms of market size, they are smaller than most other practice areas. Fewer companies have existing matters—for example, just 24.2% of companies have an active bet-the-company litigation at any given time—and the growth prospects for Gateway Practices, most of which are negative, mean competition is intense.
The only way to win new business in a shrinking practice area is to (1) take work from a competitor, or (2) be first in line for new opportunities.
Three best practices to position your firm to capture—and keep—this high-powered, top-rate work are:
- Be the driving force behind new thinking in how to use legal strategy for business advantage
- Take a bullet for your client. Commitment to help is the single most powerful differentiator when hiring for Gateway Practices.
- Host regular online or live events which anticipate major risk factors in Gateway Practices
©2011 The BTI Consulting Group Wellesley, MA
