Category: Law Office Management

Making a Difference at Your Firm: A Checklist from Two Law Firm Chief Marketing Officers

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It is a fact that none of us majored in legal marketing in college.  While some of us did receive a formal education in general marketing or business, it only takes a few months before you realize that working with lawyers is a whole different ballgame.  How lucky we are as LMA members, then, that veterans are eager and willing to share their wealth of knowledge with not just legal marketing rookies, but also other veterans, and everyone else in-between.

Anne Schuster chief marketing officer at Thompson Coburn LLP, and Lou Ann Wilcox, chief marketing officer at Armstrong Teasdale LLP, recently collaborated to create a checklist on how other legal marketers can make a difference at their firms, which they kindly shared with their colleagues in St. Louis.

 1)  Understand the Big Picture

Clearly, marketing is not carried out in a vacuum.  Our speakers encouraged everyone to know what the firm’s management is trying to accomplish (both short term and long term) along with their overall vision for their firm  and how marketing fits in.  In fact, understanding what the firm’s goals are will often guide you in developing your marketing plan.

 2)  Focus on What Matters

Anne and Lou Anne explained that there are two types of activities that legal marketers carry out:

  • Business development activities that affect the bottom line
  • Reputation enhancement activities that do just that – enhance the brand

This was further illustrated by the “Marketing Continuum” chart which divided activities into “Sales” (big seminars, networking events, face-to-face business meetings, etc.) and “Reputation Enhancement” (tables at events, PR, articles, golf hole sponsorships, etc.).  Lou Ann expressed that we should be pushing our lawyers towards the sales activities while teaching younger lawyers how to become more involved in reputation enhancement activities.

 3)  Know How Your Law Firm Works

In addition to knowing the basics of how your firm works, our speakers also recommended knowing how influence happens in your firm.  One specific way to determine who is an “influencer” at your firm is to look for the person your managing partner bounces ideas off of.

Furthermore, you should know your firm’s financials, or at least understand the six levers of law firm profitability:

  • Leverage
  • Demand
  • Rates
  • Productivity
  • Realization
  • Expense

Once you understand how the firm works, go forth and teach your lawyers!

4) Manage to the Numbers

Anne showed how analyzing your client base can reveal new opportunities in untapped practice areas.  Specifically, she illustrated the green-space chart that she attributed to Altman Weil.  In it, practice areas are plotted on the x-axis with top clients on the y-axis; dollar amounts are filled in the cell where the points meet.  Empty cells on the chart represent opportunities for client teams to market additional services to those existing clients

5) Create Opportunities to Listen to Your Clients

Lou Ann recommended a formal client feedback program consisting of annual client meetings, frequent visits and post-matter surveys.  If a problem comes up during the client feedback process, it should be fixed immediately and then the client needs to be notified that the problem has been fixed.  What’s more, Lou Ann discussed how during an annual client meeting outlining expectations, her firm also asks the client marketing-related questions such as, “How do you like to be entertained?” (what type of events?  What time of the day?) and “What are your expectations regarding how the firm donates to your favorite charity?”  Asking these types of questions not only opens up the lines of communication with the client, but also eliminates wasted effort on behalf of the marketing department and the client team.  In the end, we should be asking itself, “Are we doing everything we can for the client?”

Lou Ann also revealed that her marketing department frequently asks the firm’s lawyers how they are doing, as well.  This simple act shows that the department values the firm’s client feedback process while also putting the lawyer in the client’s shoes.

6)  Educate and Communicate

Anne and Lou Ann both illustrated a few ways that their firms have facilitated educating their lawyers on the practices and clients of other lawyers within their firm.  Methods included a deck of cards with facts on different attorneys, a splashy video highlighting opportunities for cross-selling and an innovative passport program that encourages lawyers to simply get to know each other.

The second component, communication, is necessary in order to keep the firm’s lawyers aware of the successes of their colleagues.  Lou Ann shared a newsletter her firm’s managing partner sends out that simply lists recent successes and awards.  This simple act builds trust among the practice groups and reduces the perceived risk of cross-selling another practice.

7)  Push Lawyers Out the Door

As marketers, we should be encouraging our lawyers to talk to their clients along with visiting them at their place of business.  This tends to take lawyers out of their comfort zone, so the panelists discussed ways we can make it easier for them, such as preparing talking points.

8)  Push Back on Bad Ideas

Anne and Lou Ann provided some great tactics on how to deal with lawyers presenting bad marketing ideas.  Overall, they both advised re-directing ideas that you know won’t work.  Instead of saying “No,” offer two or three alternative ideas to the individual.

9)  Know Your Strengths

Lou Ann recommended the book, “Strengths Finder 2.0” which helps individuals discover their strengths.  When you discover what you naturally excel at, operate within that strength at let others operate within theirs; this is what makes a truly effective team.

10)  Market Yourself

Anne began by stating that this item is the one we most frequently forget.  In order for marketing to stay relevant within the law firm, we need to tell our story ,since no one else will.  Additionally, we should be documenting our activities and results.  Lou Ann explained that her marketing department records their activities through a shared document which lists tasks and objectives stated for the year.  In it, marketing staff members enter when tasks are completed; the document then serves as a report on what the marketing department completed in that year.

This unambiguous checklist created and shared by Anne and Lou Ann provided a fantastic set of guidelines on how marketing professionals can make sure they are making a difference at his/her firm.  Moreover, the real-world examples and case studies our speakers presented further illustrated how these items can be carried out at any firm, simply and successfully.

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Using Technological Innovation to Enhance Law Department Management

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In today’s law firm environment, legal marketing professionals hold the dual role of preserving value as well as creating value. One of the best ways of accomplishing both goals is to take full advantage of technological innovation while minding the inevitable limitations that exist in law firms, such as budget constraints and reluctance to accept technological advancement. From website development to social networking, the right technological tools can steer law firms to align their system capabilities with their clientele needs. By taking advantage of such tools as analytics and systems of engagement that raise the level of awareness, legal marketers can justify technology budgets and get shareholders and partners on board with the tech express.

Steps Legal Marketers Must Take Before Investing in Technology

Analytics: Measuring Data Integrity Holistically to Determine Performance Impact

Legal marketers must ensure that vendors provide detailed, structured analytics for marketing optimization purposes. Analytics deliver the data while metrics and dimensions can be queried together to measure performance. Analytics as a system allow legal marketers to analyze data and determine whether the technology garners a return on investment. In addition, the description of performance guides legal marketers in the decision-making process to predict outcomes and drive efficiency. It remains up to legal marketers to ensure that analytics are providing valuable knowledge and being used to improve business performance as well to justify investment into technology.

Analytics only fulfill their purpose when providing holistic and accurate data. They must present a clear understanding of a complex structure, likened to looking at the world through a keyhole. No one metric will account for all of the data in totality so the goal is to view the data holistically to get the full story. Moreover, data integrity remains essential to the equation as far as the quantification, quality and presentation of analytics.

Analytics are comprised of a two-prong system: how comprehensive the data serves as only the start—the challenging part is for the legal marketer to use context to asses and model the data. Because the function of marketing metrics is ultimately to gauge performance impact, every metric should remained nuanced enough from which to derive a take-away point. For instance, a metric may show that one legal project took two months to close while another similar project took two years to close. Because no two matters are the same, the metric and dimension should be nuanced enough to present variables accounting for the disparity. In its barest terms, the legal marketer wants to determine that she spent x time and resources for a y amount of value.

Business Intelligence and Systems of Engagement

Legal marketers must also select technologies that commoditize knowledge work, which serves as among the most strategic activities taking place within the law firm. IT systems in the past, known as systems of record, have focused heavily on technological features and processes rather than users. These systems are used in everyday business operations to compile, automate and store data and, while important, are not conducive to collaborative work amongst attorneys or interaction with clients.

In contrast, emerging IT systems called systems of engagement, which are the future of technology-led business innovation, raise capability to a higher order and allow for immediate and streamlined communication. As such, systems of record host processes while systems of engagement touch people and drive more interaction among colleagues on top of just maintaining data. This is not to say that systems of records are rendered obsolete—in fact, by using both systems of record and engagement to monitor transaction and interact with the data respectively, the full value of technology is tapped. Hence, legal marketers can take all of the data coming from the interactions mixed with the meaning derived from translating the data into insights to product true innovation.

 

The information in the this article was gathered from the Inside Counsel’s 2013 SuperConference from presentations by:  David Cambria, Senior Director, Enterprise Information Management, CDW; Mike McGuire, Corporate In-House Counsel, Axiom; and Pamela Woldow, Partner & General Counsel, Edge International.

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When Persuading, Body Language Beats Words Re: Persuasion and Negotiation in the Practice of Law

In any law firm, there is a lot of persuasion going on.  Persuasion and negotiation are, after all, essential skills in the practice of law. But they are also important in other tasks performed at law firms.  In the human resources area, you must persuade someone to hire you, pay you more money and advance you in your career.  In the operations area, you must persuade your colleagues to work with you.

And of course, a lot of law firm persuasion takes place in the realm of business development.  You must persuade clients in your marketplace that you are expert in your field of practice.  You must persuade influencers to refer to you to others and potential clients to meet with you.  You must persuade current clients to stay with you and give you more work.

Wouldn’t it be much easier to persuade others if you knew what they were thinking?  The ability to read body language provides this valuable information.

Wouldn’t it be much easier to persuade others if they liked you and trusted you?  The ability to modify your own body language makes it much more likely that this will happen.

The ability to read and respond to body language was discussed by Traci Brown at the June 11 program of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, held at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in LoDo Denver.  Brown is a Boulder-based persuasion expert who teaches lawyers how to use body language to pick and persuade members of a jury.  She is author of Mastering Magical Persuasion and Body Language Confidential.

Importance of body language

Lawyers tend to be word people.  As such, they put too much emphasis on what they are communicating.  They will spend hours researching and writing a presentation, and then simply read it. They place far too little emphasis on how they are communicating.  This can be a huge mistake.

“Research shows that people form first impressions about the likeability and trustworthiness of another person very quickly,” said Brown.  “This determination of ‘OK’ or ‘not OK’ happens instantaneously in the deep unconscious.  Once this impression is made, it is almost impossible to change.”

According to a widely cited study by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian, body language accounts for an overwhelming 55 percent of that impression.  By comparison, 38 percent of a first impression comes from the tone of your voice and a mere seven percent from your actual words.

Body language includes how we position our bodies (including how close we stand or sit to someone), how we use our hands (including shaking hands), how people perceive our facial expressions (especially our eyes), how we touch ourselves and others, and how our bodies connect with items like pens, eyeglasses, jewelry or even the change in our pockets.  It can include breathing rate and perspiration.

“If the person you are meeting is somber and guarded,” said Brown, “you will never persuade them by being cheerful and demonstrative.  That will only set off their alarms.

“If you want to get different results from your efforts to persuade others, you need to do things differently,” said Brown.  “To get better results in the area of business development, one of the most effective things you can do is to change your body language.  With an understanding of how body language works, you can talk just about anyone into anything.”

Reading and responding to body language

An effective persuader will pay close attention to the body language of the person he or she is trying to persuade, and then mimic that body language.  “People like and trust people whom they perceive to be similar to themselves,” said Brown.  “The more you can be like the person you are dealing with, the more you will be able to establish essential rapport.”

Good friends and romantic partners, for example, tend to do this naturally.

Is the person you are sitting across from soft-spoken? Does he speak slowly, smile and laugh a lot? Is his notepad on the desk or his lap, does he take copious notes, are his legs crossed, is he leaning forward or backward?  These are important things to notice and reflect in your own body language.

Two terms often heard in the field of neurolinguistics are mirroring and matching. “Mirroring occurs when you copy a person’s body language as if you were that person’s reflection in a mirror,” said Brown.  “If the person you are facing leans to the left, for example, you lean to the right.  In other words, you might both lean towards the door.

“Precisely mirroring another person at exactly the same time can be too intense,” said Brown.  “It can actually backfire by making the person too uncomfortable.  The only time mirroring works well is when you are sitting across from someone who is very stiff and symmetrical.”

Almost always, you want to match rather than mirror the person you are speaking with.  “When you match, you copy the person more loosely,” said Brown.  “If the person you are facing leans to the left, you lean to your left – the other way from a mirror image.  If the other person leans towards the door, you would lean away from the door.

“You don’t want to do this immediately after the other person moves,” said Brown, “but perhaps five or ten seconds later, or when it is your turn to speak.

“When having a conversation, it is a good idea to stand or sit at a 45-degree angle to the person on whom you want to make a positive impression,” said Brown.  “Standing or sitting right across from someone and staring them straight in the eye can be seen as confrontational and put that person on his or her guard, rather than creating rapport.”

How to interpret a handshake

Brown discussed a number of circumstances where it can be useful to understand and correctly respond to another person’s body language.

The handshake, for example, is the standard greeting in business situations. The ideal handshake is the “equal shake,” where the clasp is vertical and the grasp is firm.  It says that you are meeting on common ground and want a nice, even interaction.

When the other person shakes your hand and turns their palm down, they want to dominate the interaction.  The same holds true for a ‘bone crusher.’ When the person turns their palm up, they are welcoming and likely to do what you want.  A limp ‘dead fish’ handshake indicates a lack of backbone.   A person who shakes hand with just the fingertips is unlikely to want to do business with you.

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Women, Influence & Power in Law – October 2-4, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference:

 

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When:

The Only National Forum Facilitating Women-to-Women Exchange on Current Legal Issues

Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference is presented by Summit Business Media’s Legal Suite – InsideCounsel magazine, InsideCounsel.com (website), producers of the 13th annual IC SuperConference, the prestigious Transformative Leadership Awards, and creators of Project 5/165.

Presented by InsideCounsel Magazine, the pioneering monthly magazine exclusively serving general counsel and other top in-house legal professionals, the first annual Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference offers an opportunity for unprecedented exchange with women outside counsel. This unique event was created with the assistance of an unheralded advisory board comprised of highly placed women attorneys who are all direct reports to the general counsel and were drawn from across the country. These attorneys have the highest levels of expertise and experience in key practice areas.

The Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference is not a forum for lawyers to discuss so-called “women’s issues.” It is a conference for women in-house and outside counsel to discuss current legal topics, bringing their individual experience and perspectives on issues of:

  • Governance & Compliance
  • Litigation & Investigations
  • Intellectual Property
  • Government Relations & Public Policy
  • Global Litigation & Transactions
  • Labor & Employment
  • Executive Leadership Skills Development

Consumer Financial Services Basics 2013 – September 30 – October 01, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming  Consumer Financial Services Basics 2013.

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When

September 30 – October 01, 2013

Where

  • University of Maryland
  • Francis King Carey School of Law
  • 500 W Baltimore St
  • Baltimore, MD 21201-1701
  • United States of America

Facing the most comprehensive revision of federal consumer financial services (CFS) law in 75 years, even experienced consumer finance lawyers might feel it is time to get back in the classroom. This live meeting is designed to expose practitioners to key areas of consumer financial services law, whether you need a primer or a refresher.

It is time to take a step back and think through some of these complex issues with a faculty that combines decades of practical experience with law school analysis. The classroom approach is used to review the background, assess the current policy factors, step into the shoes of regulators, and develop an approach that can be used to interpret and evaluate the scores of laws and regulations that affect your clients.

Achieving Success in the Legal Profession: Women Helping Women

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The National Association of Women Lawyers (“NAWL”) is 115 years old this year.  It is not only the oldest women’s bar association, it is also the only national bar association for women, dedicated to advancing women lawyers and the interests and rights of women under the law.  NAWL truly is the voice of women in the law™.

As the voice of women in the law, in 2006, NAWL challenged corporations and law firms to double their number of women general counsel and equity partners from 15% to 30% by 2015.  Recent statistics indicate that the “NAWL Challenge” for corporate legal departments in Fortune 500 corporations is close to being met.  Women today comprise close to 30% of General Counsels, when only a few years ago they comprised only 15% of the General Counsels in the same companies.   This achievement is in sharp contrast to the fate of women lawyers in the 200 largest U.S. law firms (“AmLaw 200”), where women have stagnated at 17% or less of those law firms’ equity partners since NAWL’s annual survey of the advancement of women lawyers began.

To be sure, there are thousands of women lawyers in this country in many different practice settings who have advanced, are leaders, and love the practice of law.  I am one of them and have spent almost 35 years loving what I do as a professional each and every day.   Many of NAWL’s leaders and members have similar feelings. As an organization, NAWL brings those lawyers together whenever it can to share their experiences with younger lawyers and impart views as to how the practice of law can be a nurturing professional experience for women, and one in which they can achieve whatever success they desire.

This year’s NAWL Annual Meeting on July 24-25, 2013, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York, brings together the remarkable attorneys who are the NAWL Annual honorees; an exceptional series of CLE programs that will benefit younger lawyers in their career development, to more senior lawyers, in theirs; and networking opportunities that will help lawyers advance in their careers and defy the statistics.

The Annual Meeting is the culmination of a year in which NAWL presented its three major national programs—the 8th Annual General Counsel Institute, its Mid-Year Meeting and now the Annual Meeting—and several regional programs, all designed around the central theme of what women lawyers in different practice settings, at different stages of their careers, need to advance into the upper echelons of the legal profession.   At the Annual Meeting, NAWL will honor lawyers who have advanced women and women lawyers in a variety of ways:   Yale Law School Professor Judith Resnik, for her work in advancing women and women lawyers in the justice system; Sheila Kearney Davidson and the corporate law department that she heads (New York Life Insurance Company), for their work together in advancing women lawyers in the corporate setting; Veta Richardson, for her tireless work in promoting diversity in the legal profession; Catherine Douglass, founder of inMotion, for her inspirational work in helping women under the law; Daniel Goldstein, for the example he sets for all by his devotion to the advancement of women in the corporate setting; and four outstanding members of NAWL—April Boyer, Sandra Cassidy, Jennifer Champlin and Elizabeth Levy—for their hard work in helping NAWL provide its members, and women lawyers across the country, with the skills and strategies they need to chart their own course and reach the highest echelons of the profession.

The July 25th Annual Meeting will conclude with a networking reception with a philanthropic bent (a NAWL Night of Giving), which will benefit inMotion and its remarkable efforts on behalf of victims of domestic violence.   The Annual Meeting events will be preceded by an afternoon of NAWL committee and practice group meetings on July 24th.       The two-day event will bring together women lawyers from across the country and will inspire them in their efforts to achieve what they aspire to in their own careers and to help their colleagues, and those coming along behind them, in achieving their own aspirations.

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Third-Party Litigation Funding Comes of Age

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Law firm Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are on the front line of client development, and thus have an unobstructed view of how the legal market for complex litigation is developing. As budget pressures continue to weigh on corporate general counsel, the need for law firms to adjust their pricing to secure new clients is clearly being felt – some firms are now hiring specialty personnel to focus solely on the question of proper pricing. CMOs are thus actively speaking the lingua franca of today’s latest fee structures – from RFPs to AFAs and discounted fees.

Given this, it is surprising to discover that many otherwise business savvy CMOs know little about the emergence of commercial litigation finance. While some are keenly aware of the new industry’s progress – and eager to share their involvement in the funding of multiple cases – others are seemingly unfamiliar with the advent of specialist funding companies and the business development opportunities that they could present for them.

In fairness, due to the often confidential nature of commercial litigation finance, the commercial litigation finance industry has been somewhat constrained in publicizing itself. One example of this is at a recent conference I sat next to the sharp CMO of a top firm who asked me what litigation finance did and what company I worked for. I explained to him that we financed legal fees in multi-million dollar cases, and that we had recently funded a case involving his own firm!

At its most basic level, litigation finance is very straightforward. A third-party funds legal fees and expenses associated with a litigation or arbitration, in return for a portion of the ultimate proceeds (settlement or judgment), if any. Importantly, the funding is typically “non-recourse”, meaning that if there is no recovery for the plaintiff, the litigation financier receives no fee.

Claimants have historically found ways to fund their cases – with available capital, through a bank loan, or by agreeing to a contingency fee with their attorney. What has changed recently is the emergence of specialty finance companies that limit their work to the financing of litigation. These firms – which first appeared in Australia a decade ago, and are now active in the United Kingdom and the United States.  They typically invest in large-scale and complex commercial litigation, with investments (and thus legal fees) on the order of several million dollars.

Not all cases are appropriate for litigation financing, and certain criteria must be met as part of a careful due diligence process. Four considerations include:

  1. the merits of the claim – the case must stand a very strong chance of success on the law and facts;
  2. the ratio of costs/proceeds – the ratio of legal fees (and other costs) must be in proper proportion to the expected proceeds (to allow for reasonable costs associated with financing – typically a ratio of at least 1:4 is required);
  3. the duration of the proceedings – as the cost of financing will usually be related to the time the case takes to resolve (given the time value of money), notice must be paid to the expected length of the case; and
  4. the enforceability of judgment – it must be clear at the outset that, if the claim is successful, the plaintiff will be able to collect its judgment from the defendant.

Once an investment is made, litigation financiers are careful as to their involvement in a given case. Important rules of legal ethics are respected so that the funder does not interfere with case strategy, settlement decisions, or the attorney-client relationship. And, as mentioned above, the financing is typically kept confidential between the parties.

Given the challenge of drawing in new clients, law firm CMOs must leverage every available advantage. In several business development scenarios, the prospect of litigation finance can help:

  • Fee negotiations – in situations where a client would prefer to work with a given firm – but the client will not (or cannot) pay the firm’s standard hourly fees – financing can be used to pay such fees and allow the case to proceed;
  • Alternative to contingency fee – in situations where a firm is asked to act on a contingency fee basis, a litigation financier can step in to provide a similar result: the firm receives its standard hourly fees, paid for by the funder, which in turn only receives compensation in the event of a “win” (sometimes referred to as a “synthetic contingency”);
  • RFP (request for proposal) – in situations where an RFP has been issued by a potential client, a firm’s response may be better received if it makes proper mention of litigation finance as an innovative variation to AFA (alternative fee arrangements); and
  • Fee “fatigue” – in situations where an existing client involved in extended litigation has begun to express concern regarding mounting fees (perhaps on the eve of trial), litigation finance can offer immediate cash-flow relief and allow the firm to receive its full fees.

In short, litigation finance can offer law firm CMOs (and anyone involved in legal business development) a new tool with which to hammer out difficult pricing issues and fee structures for big-ticket litigation.

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Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Conference Recap: Pricing, Profitability and the Role of Legal Marketing

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How do you measure success? Ask a lawyer and she may say, “By the number of hours I bill.” Ask a marketer and he may answer, “By the number of clients my firm has.” Ask an economist and he will tell you, “By how profitable we are.”

As we’ve seen in recent years, a firm can have a long list of clients and/or bill a staggering number of hours, but it won’t necessarily stop them from going under. However, this much is true: a profitable firm is a successful firm. In the LMA Annual Conference session titled, “Pricing, Profitability, and the Role of Marketing,” panelists Toby Brown, director of strategic pricing and analytics at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Colleen Nihil, firm-wide director of project management at Dechert LLP, explained how a long list of clients and/or billing a large number of hours can actually lower profits.

Toby and Colleen went on to explain why legal marketers need to understand profitability and law firm economics, in general. As one of the four “P’s” of marketing (along with product, promotion and place), pricing is well-within our realm, yet is often overlooked. They further illustrated how we can use this internal law firm knowledge to our advantage in winning and keeping clients.

A major part of the discussion was geared towards how to create value-based billing for a client. Why do clients want it? What makes a client a good candidate for this arrangement? What type of research should be done? How should it be handled internally within the firm? Each question was addressed plainly:

Why do clients want a value-based billing arrangement?

Many prefer this to the classic hours-based arrangement simply because it provides an element of predictability. Clearly, all clients want cost-savings and efficiency. However, the panelists advised that the firm should first have a conversation with the client about setting up a new pricing arrangement. Understanding what the client wants and why they want it should guide the firm when setting up a new agreement.

What makes a client a good candidate for this arrangement?

Obviously, a client with very predictable legal needs is the best client for a value-based billing arrangement. However, many clients could be eligible if enough good, solid research is conducted, which leads to the next question:

What type of research should be done?

Research on the client’s past history with the firm is imperative in order to decide if it is eligible for value-based billing and what a reasonable and fair pricing structure will look like. Two approaches were discussed:

Bottom-Up

  1. Compare and contrast the client against other similar clients at the firm – size, revenue, industry, etc.
  2. Pull benchmarking data: What services does the firm provide to client? How much does each matter cost? Is there any outlying data?
  3. Don’t look at just historic data, but also look at how the firm can drive down costs. Think about using zero-based budgeting for this process.
  4. Build out the matter. Look at what strategy will be taken on the matter and figure out the firm’s value.
  5. Model the matter based on different types of rate structures (fixed-fee and other alternative fee arrangements)
  6. This approach will require the firm to categorize matters better in order to ensure reliable benchmarking.

Top-Down

  1. Start from an estimated figure for the matter.
  2. Create a scoping conversation, asking the questions: What will double the figure? What will make it shrink? What is the likelihood of…? Determine the cost of the matter, not the price.

How should value-based billing be handled internally within the firm?

Toby and Colleen stressed the importance of educating attorneys on profitability and its four drivers:

  1. Rates
  2. Realization (percentage of money collected versus standard billing rate)
  3. Productivity (number of billed hours per time-keeper, per year)
  4. Leverage (amount of non-partner work versus partner work performed)

Once attorneys learn how profitability works, they can begin to structure their matters in a way to increase profitability (rather than hours or simple revenue). However, some attorneys learn how to “game the system” which can lead to unhealthy profitability; this is something that should be monitored. Toby directed the audience to his paper, “The Four Horsemen of Law Firm Profitability,” which dives deeper into law firm economics.

Toby and Colleen summed up their presentation in three bullet points:

  • Focus on the work that you can have the biggest impact on
  • Understand your clients’ pain points
  • Make sure you have this information before responding to an RFP.

These points fed into their overarching message, “It’s not what you do, it’s what you choose not to do.” In the end, increasing profitability and implementing value-based billing arrangements come down to trust and communication between the firm and client. Once those two pillars are established, a new pricing agreement can easily be built with the two parties coming from places of understanding and a mutual interest in success.

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Are You Falling Down on Following Up?

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Of all the marketing initiatives that are critical for lawyers to commit to, the most basic and seemingly obvious is the “sin” of omission – – the failure to follow up.

We have worked with lawyers who have spent innumerable hours and thousands of dollars chasing after new clients and prospects but have largely been unsuccessful in retentions because of a gap in their business development process: following up.

Do any of these example ring familiar:

  • A very sociable corporate partner attended numerous networking events a month, engaged easily with others attending, handed out business cards, but rarely received calls or new clients as a result. Because of her frustration, she curtailed her networking activities and short-circuited this important business development action step.
  • A New York labor and employment boutique law firm hosted an annual educational program which featured leaders in the field and attracted high level CFOs and HR professionals to the event. They received high marks on all aspects of the events but few, if any, calls from prospects.  Members of the disappointed team deemed the effort a “failure” and asserted that seminars don’t “work” to get new clients.
  •  The managing partner of a Connecticut firm received a referral from a trusted client who was searching for new counsel in this attorney’s “sweet spot” of legal practice.  The partner attended a prospective client interview in which he thoroughly espoused all the ways his firm could save this prospect’s firm significant amounts of money, given the specific legal issues at stake.  Day after day, the managing partner didn’t receive a call or email to discuss retention and getting started.  Why did this prospect waste his time was the only thought the frustrated managing partner ruminated upon.

While each of these examples highlight effective marketing initiatives (targeted networking; educational seminars; in-person client interviews), they all share the same flawed result: lack of follow up and planning.

A Follow-Up Re-Do

As part of the business development process, lawyers must recognize and integrate into their “SOP” (standard operating procedures), action steps that extend beyond “showing up.”  By leaving out the planning and following up components, lawyers are short circuiting the process, leaving money on the table, and becoming more cynical that marketing actually “works”, however one defines that.

To examine the first example above, the more effective steps of action would have been:

  • Request an event registration list so that the lawyer could have identified several targeted folks “of interest” to seek out and engage.  It would be very effective to gather some background information (a quick Google search) about the target companies to make conversations more meaningful.
  • With a little research in hand, the lawyer arrives to the networking event with a plan of who she plans to engage, who she intends to connect, and how she will spend the next several hours.  This is work, not an opportunity to have a few free drinks and yuk it up with firm colleagues whom she sees every day.
  • Practicing effective networking techniques, this sociable lawyer knows that it is essential to be more “interested” than “interesting”, so she exercises active listening techniques by asking open-ended questions of her networking partners to learn more about their businesses and challenges.  From this, she receives a number of “high impact” business cards which she will use to follow up after the event.

The steps described above take very little investment of time, but will yield a very different experience which can lead directly to a new client retention or, at minimum, a new business connection for referrals.

Contrasting the legal profession with corporate America in developing new business, one only has to examine the models of each.  Corporate America devotes billions of dollars every year to “sales and marketing”, to the process of cultivating and nurturing new prospect relationships leading to a “sale”.  The typical sales process may involve innumerable “follow ups” before a sale is actually consummated.

The legal profession historically has played a reactive role wherein new clients (new sales) seek out the law firm to engage them.  It is unwise in these ultra competitive times and a poor business model to continue this practice.  If lawyers are the ones seeking new business or even additional work from existing clients, the obligation falls upon them to pursue it and continue to make contacts until they are  directed otherwise.  (Remember, studies show that it takes at least 7-10 “touches” to become top-of-mind with clients and prospects).

Difference Faces of Follow Up

Though follow up can take many different approaches, the overall non-negotiable component involves any action step which provokes the other party (existing client, prospect, etc.) to want to continue contact with you. You are focused on cultivating and nurturing a relationships which will ultimately be mutually beneficial and add value.

A few examples of effective follow up include:

  • Brief thank you emails following an event (networking, educational programs, or entertainment).
  • Handwritten notes of congratulations for personal or business accomplishments.
  • Links to a relevant news article in which your contact would benefit.
  • Personal visits to a client’s work site to deliver a work product.
  • Invitations to social events, professional organization programs, or business workshops.

The more lawyers engage in marketing initiatives, the most important task to remember is to plan appropriately before taking any action what the follow-up steps will be, who will take them, and in what time frame. Treat this component of the business development process as you would a client obligation and coordinate your calendar with all parties involved.  It is in this step that the revenue will be found, the meaningful business relationships will be established and robust practices will be built.

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How Today’s Top Law Firms Design Office Space for Efficiency

Jones Lang LaSalle, Logo

Technological advancements and the recovering economy are indeed changing the needs of today’s workforce as well as the need for improved efficiency in commercial office space. To date, much of the focus from experts has put a great emphasis on trends such as collaborative workstations and virtual office space. However, as Senior Vice President of a national real estate firm and leasing agent of the tallest office tower in Florida which is home to 415,000 square feet of law firm tenants (eight of those firms currently listed on the 2013 Am Law 200), I’ve noticed that top law firms are incorporating more modern, efficient designs geared towards costs savings and collaboration, taking a different approach than creative-focused companies.

With employees and clients in mind, law firms are navigating the delicate balance of blending efficient design and modernizing with elements that permit confidentiality for face-to-face client meetings. As a result, efficiency for law firms does not translate to the open work workstations that have become popular at other companies. Instead, it is exemplified in clustered conference rooms situated near the main lobby or entrance. By not having clients walk through the extended hallways of a law firm to get to a partner’s corner office, firms can opt for more modest, cost effective office space.

Rather than open workstations and offices that are more popular in the creative sectors, law firms are not ready to tear down the walls altogether, as there are sensitive and private conversations to be had which cannot take place in an open room on high-top tables. Instead, more firms are incorporating glass for large windows and perimeter walls into office design which not only promotes connectivity but also offsets the impact of the overall shrinking of individual office space.

The generational gap within the modern workplace has impacted design planning as well. From the increased use of technology, to paperless filing to online law libraries, the structure of offices has shifted virtually. In many companies, this has led to the reduced need for support staff such as administrative assistants, downgrading the ratio that was once 3 lawyers to 1 assistant to about 7 to 1.  Some of the larger firms are even centralizing support staff in a neutral, less metropolitan city to reduce the cost of having teams of such personnel at every location.

To offset the individualized working existence as a result of a more technologically advanced workplace, connectivity is essential. This is achieved through creating purposeful in-house amenities, such as in-house cafeterias, lounges complete with baristas and TV monitors, and Wi-Fi throughout to allow for movement.

While the office space needs of professional service firms are quite different from those of other businesses, law firms still aim to be on-trend for employees and clients as well as relevant in an ever-changing society. Some traditional elements specific to the highly professional nature of the law industry still remain the same, but changes including reducing staff in particular locations, making sure there is less non-usable square footage, and maximizing the use of space are major results of the economy that have led to the current design trends and emphasis toward more efficient law offices.

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