Category: Legal Business Development

Building a Business Development Mindset in Law Firm Associates, Junior and Income Partners

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Firms continually struggle to transition associates and junior partners from the “learning to be a great attorney mindset” to being great attorneys who also actively contribute to the firm’s bottom line.  In a fragile and shrinking legal market, business development at all levels and in all practice areas starts earlier and is being monitored more closely. Common stumbling blocks at the outset of building a business development mindset include where attorneys should start and how firms should help attorneys tailor their plans to both their different practices and diverse personalities. Once those business development plans are in place, firms are further challenged by how they can monitor and measure the effectiveness of their plans and how they must balance competing requests for funding for Business Development activities.

I had the opportunity to interview three law firm leaders in diverse practice groups about developing and monitoring attorneys’ business development plans.  Jason P. Grunfeld, the Head of Business Development and a partner in the firm’s Financial Services group at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C.;   Louis Britt, the Regional Managing Partner for FordHarrison‘s Memphis, Nashville and Dallas offices and a Partner in the firm’s Employment Litigation group; and Samir Gandhi, co-practice leader of Sidley Austin’s New York Corporate Group, took the time to answer some questions about effective business development strategies.  Thank you to for Messrs. Britt, Gandhi, and Grunfeld for sharing their experiences.

Jennifer:  What are some practical tips for helping even the most junior associates build a business development mindset?

Jason:  I tell associates to ask themselves some big questions:

  • What part of my work/profession excites me?
  • What is my network (professional, social, school), and how can I keep actively intouch with them?
  • What are my priorities and where do I want to be in 2, 5, or 10 years?

Then I encourage them to draft a plan for developing their: skills; expertise; visibility within the profession and to potential clients; and expand their network (both internally and externally). To keep up the momentum, I ask them to pick two items they can complete within the next month. One goal might be to reconnect with a potential or current client by sending them an email to touch base. Another could be to research an organization they would like to become more involved in. Still another could be to think about a potential article topic in their area of practice.

I also remind them to look for everyday opportunities to connect with new contacts and reestablish old ones.  This kind of networking is essential no matter what stage of your career you are in. It’s not just about connecting with potential clients, it also gets you in front of referral sources, mentors/advocates, and ultimately a great support system.

Louis:  At FordHarrison, we encourage associates from the very beginning to build a business development mindset.  This starts with building good habits and getting out to meet people.  We insist that associates take part in an organization, whether it’s a bar association, an industry association, philanthropic, or civic-oriented.  We want them to work toward becoming a leader in that organization, which can start with committee involvement and build from there.  We want them to write for publications, participate in speaking opportunities, and get used to occasionally having lunch outside the office.  They can start with former classmates, but also take the opportunity to buy a client lunch whenever they have the opportunity in working with them.

Building good habits is akin to regular exercise.  No one can run a marathon without putting in lots of shorter runs on a daily basis.  Lastly, it’s always good when partners can take associates along on a business development activity, whether it’s as simple as a lunch or as big as a pitch meeting.  People learn best from examples, and this is a great way to take a little of the mystery and nervousness out of business development for associates.

Samir:  Use simple, easy to accomplish tasks.  Most junior associates/partners who are new to practice development get intimidated by the concepts of “business plans” or marketing strategies.  Create goals that are effective yet not overwhelming, like doing one client alert per month or three practice development phone calls per week.  These are less intimidating and more likely to be done and each sets a goal that is practice development-focused.

Jennifer:  How can business development plans be tailored to meet different types of practices, different personality types?

Jason:  For most lawyers, the two primary obstacles to business development are fear and lack of time. The fear comes when lawyers are asked to step outside of their comfort zones and engage in new activities. Lack of time causes lawyers to push business development to the back burner, never giving it the chance to mature into a habit.

As far as personalities go, we also know that lawyers score high on skepticism (they question everything), autonomy (they don’t like being managed), and urgency (they want immediate results). None of this is great for developing business.  At Kleinberg Kaplan we try to overcome these obstacles by helping our lawyers develop marketing plans and tactics that fit their practices and unique personalities.

Tactics such as writing articles and participating in webinars to demonstrate thought leadership are helpful for lawyers whose personalities are more introverted.  Speaking to groups and attending networking functions are suggested for lawyers who are more comfortable with being extroverted. Some also find success with small group interaction at settings such as restaurants, cultural events, or sporting events. Other tactics can include making lawyers available for interviews to comment on key issues related to their area of practice. It’s all about the comfort zone for the individual lawyer… there is no “one size fits all.” Lawyers whose business development efforts are consistent with the needs of their practice, as well as their personality, values, and interpersonal characteristics are more likely to perform better.

Samir:  Difficult to answer as it really depends on the practice, but I tell people to really listen to what their clients or prospective clients want.  Lawyers tend to do things that are formulaic rather than bespoke.  Listen to what your clients’ needs are and your business plan can revolve around that need.

Jennifer:  Once business development activities have taken place, how do you monitor follow up and follow through?

Jason:  One aspect of our coaching program is the development of systems to organize, motivate and direct our lawyers’ business development activities in the shortest amount of time. We are helping our lawyers to build their own specific list of prospects that they would like to transform into clients – and a system that tracks exactly where they are in the process and the next steps that need to be taken.  This analytical approach provides organization, prompts action, tracks conversations, and helps us to analyze networks. The process begins with a chart that includes the name of the target organization; the potential contact within the organization; general description/information about the organization, history and notes about the contact; next steps to be taken; and deadlines to be met.

An important part of the process is identifying the various stages of the relationship:

  1. target identified,

  2. when the initial communication is made,

  3. what steps are taken to build the relationship,

  4. when the meeting is held to assess legal needs,

  5. what steps are taken to build trust (follow-up, sending articles, sharing information, etc),

  6. when the agreement is made to hire, and

  7. when the file is opened.

Samir:  At Sidley we try to gauge follow up through surveys and results inquiries (e.g., how did the RFP go?).   As a practice group head, I try to make sure I remind lawyers on my team to continually follow up and keep your promises to do so.

Jennifer:  How do you balance competing requests for funds / priorities for business development activities?

Louis: As attorneys are seeking approval for funds outside of routine client lunches or dinners, we ask them what business purpose is served and what follow-up is planned.  Another thing we do at our firm is give a greater priority when a lawyer looks to involve others in his or her office.  We want to avoid the use of funds for “pet projects,” so to avoid this, we will often insist that certain activities involve more attorneys within the office, and require a plan for follow-up.

Samir:  Carefully.  Based on a combination of need and effective use of funds.  We are a large firm and there are a lot of competing teams looking for funds.  We try to make sure teams use best practices to be efficient so that we aren’t unable to fund someone who is deserving because we were inefficient with funds.

Article By  Jennifer Schaller of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC
Copyright ©2016 National Law Forum, LLC

[1] I recently had the opportunity to hear Louis Britt III, Samir A. Gandhi, and Jason P. Grunfeld speak at Thomson Reuters 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum held last month in Orlando.  I’d also like to extend a big thank you to Cindy Larson, the Publisher of SuperLawyers Magazine who moderated the “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? Investing in Junior & Income Partners for Business Development” panel whose members included Messrs. Britt, Gandhi, and Grunfeld.  Click here: for a full recap of this panel discussion by Cindy.

2016 Legal Marketing Challenges Opportunities – Jim Matsoukas [PODCAST]

Legal marketing can be a challenge, but it also comes with numerous opportunities. Jim Matsoukas from Pierce Atwood, LLC talks about a variety of marketing tactics in this podcast. Learn about what works, what doesn’t work, and how to use these tactics for your firm.

John McDougall:     Hi, I’m John McDougall and welcome to the Legal Marketing Review Show on National Law Review. Today my guest is Jim Matsoukas, CMO and Director of Business Development at the Law Office of Pierce Atwood. Welcome, Jim.

Jim Matsoukas:     How are you doing, John?

Legal Marketing Challenges for 2016

John:     Really good. So what are some of your biggest legal marketing challenges for 2016?

Jim:     That’s a good question. I think one definite challenge is actually a challenge and an opportunity. [We need to] be smarter about how we go about marketing ourselves digitally and making our website more friendly and more efficient and convenient for people that come to take a look at it. I think that’s very important. That’s something that we have to keep working on. The technology keeps developing and the competition keeps increasing. People keep using digital methods to shop more often, so we need to keep on top of that. That’s definitely one. I think this might be related to that, but SEO optimization is always top of the mind. What we’re finding is that our traffic is increasing in terms of people finding us through organic search. We have to be more sophisticated and more strategic about the language we use on the site and the language that we use in our ads and in our alerts, articles, and publications and how that matches up with people looking for legal services. I think that’s important.

John:     Those are two good ones. On the first one, I don’t know if you’ve heard this stat and I’m trying to think of where I’ve heard it, but Chief Marketing Officers are now spending more than Chief Technology Officers. Marketing has become more technical.

Jim:     I couldn’t agree more with that. I sort of consider myself a CMO/CIO, because you have to be these days. Obviously I don’t deal with the intricacies of the technology as much as a CIO does, but I have to know a hell of a lot about it, because I have to understand how the technology works in order to take advantage of it in the best possible way. So, I keep up with that constantly. I think you have to continue to read and go to panels that are technically oriented and so on.

Legal Marketing Opportunities for 2016

John:     Yeah, it changes like the wind. What are some of your biggest legal marketing opportunities for 2016?

Jim:     Like I said before, the challenge and the opportunity are similar there. Like in digital and website and SEO optimization – those are all key opportunities, but they’re very challenging. It’s two sides of the same coin. Other things that I consider opportunities are to focus more on what we do best and what we do well. Continue to provide proportional support across the firm. What makes a firm different from a corporation is that corporations are more hierarchical and are more able to market and select things and sacrifice other things for strategic reasons. That makes sense for them as a business. We do the same thing, but when you’re a firm, you have to make sure that everybody within your firm, regardless of whether they’re a leading service or supporting service or a niche service, they all have a role to play. So when you’re the CMO of a firm, you have to make sure that you’re balanced and a little bit adventurous in the right way and everybody’s getting that level of investment that they should and they deserve. That’s a continuing challenge, but it’s an opportunity. If you do it well, if you don’t squander resources and you sell what the firm is best at and everybody understands the role they play in sales activity, which is really healthy. That’s something we focus on a lot. Another opportunity is we’re growing quite a bit in Boston, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and DC. We want to keep that momentum going. A real opportunity for is us that we’re finding [people] are finding us more and more attractive because they see us as a high quality firm that has a relatively low overhead, so we can get people that are lead practitioners who want to lower their rates a bit for their clients, but still socialize and be part of a firm that has a very high level of performance. So far, that’s been a real success for us and we want to try to keep that going, while at the same time making sure that there’s a cultural fit with the people we bring on. We’re a team oriented firm, so everybody shares information and credit. That’s important. I guess the last thing I was saying would be I constantly advise people and train people who focus on clients before leads and look backwards. A lot of times the natural reaction in marketing is to develop more leads and raise more awareness. That’s all very important and we do that continuously, but you have to balance that with knowing where your current contacts are and what your current clients need, and branch out from that. We always know where our bread and butter [comes from] and how developing our leads relates to what we’re currently doing well with and who we’re working for.

John:     So being more strategic about the whole process, where it’s easy to just hop on the latest tactic.

Jim:     Exactly. You have to balance a lot of different variables when you’re managing the place. So we want to bring the latest techniques in and we want to do it in a way that fits within our current structure and our current approach to the market.

SEO vs. Social Media vs. Paid Search

John:     What about tactically? What holds the most promise – SEO, social media, or paid search? I know mentioned SEO quite a bit, but what do you think in 2016, given what you just said and aligning to your positioning and growth plans, what tactically do you think matches well with that?

Jim:     As far as digital marketing tactics go, I think SEO is definitely number one for us. We have to be more and more intelligent about how to do that. We’re working hard on that. Then, we’re trying to integrate all of the different digital initiatives that we have, whether they be the way we invite people to events, the way we communicate with our contacts regarding new legal developments, publications and articles, and all participation. What we’re trying to do is bring all of that together so that everything we do has a rationale and supports our search engine optimization strategy. In everything we do, we’re trying to make sure that it fits into how people find us and then build on the way in which people are currently finding us. That also opens up other paths for them to come in. So, that’s what holds the most promise for us. I think SEO is definitely the focus. We don’t do as much paid search, because we don’t think that given what we do, it really helps us a whole lot. We did do a lot of social media, in terms of keeping the word out there and spreading information about the firm, and we’re continuously pushing that out. So I don’t mean to say we ignore social media, but SEO has a more direct connection to our sales process.

John:    I was just going to ask if you had to only budget for SEO, or social media, which would you do and why? But I think you can probably knock that one off pretty quick given what you just said.

Jim:     Definitely, it would be SEO. Before the advent of a lot of digital marketing, let’s go back to 20-25 years ago, if you think about people being out and about and constantly going to events and socializing, networking, and circulating, you have to do that when you’re selling knowledge and you’re selling professional services. To me, social media is the current version of that, where you have to be out there and constantly interact in putting information up and sharing with others. And then interacting with people within this social media realm. A lot of that is very similar to in-person networking, it’s just another layer that you have to do today. That’s more of like a routine investment that you have to constantly make. But if I had to budget and choose, I would definitely put more money towards SEO than social media.

John:     Right, and just to further elaborate on where you’re headed with that, it sounds like the thought leadership piece and doing SEO, not in just the old way where it’s just kind of cramming keywords in. You have to put the keywords there, but within reason and Google is looking for topics and in-depth content. But it has to now really be based on thought leadership, right?

Jim:     I couldn’t agree more. One of the key challenges we have though is when you’re dealing with law, inserting the keywords becomes a real challenge because the way in which the law is expressed is very technical. When you’re translating legal knowledge into every day conversation, which is usually what you do on the web and in advertisements, you have to be very careful what language you use. You can lead people down the wrong path very quickly if you say things the wrong way. So we have to be real careful about that. I think it’s a bigger challenge for not only a law firm, but for anybody that is selling a complex service. The way you phrase things sometimes is in conflict with the way they should be phrased to be successful in the search engines.

Legal Compliance Issues

John:     That’s a nice lead actually into the next question. Are compliance issues for content marketing getting in the way of your legal marketing, or are they manageable?

Jim:     You know, the answer to that is they always get in the way. In terms of compliance issues, they’re pretty strict in the legal marketplace, and if you’re dealing with individual consumers, they’re very strict. If we’re marketing things like that our trust & estates practice or if we’re marketing services to individuals or maybe residential real estate or something like that, we have to be very, very careful. You can’t deceive someone who is not sophisticated about the law and you can’t go after them in a way that persuades them of something they shouldn’t be doing. For our more important market, which is the commercial market and in-house counseling and corporate officers and things of that nature, regulation is still strict, but the regulations are really designed to protect the person who is unsophisticated. That market is more sophisticated, so we can be a little more liberal. We still adhere to what we need to adhere to. When you’re talking to someone who knows a product very well that you’re trying to sell, there’s less of a chance that you’re going to deceive or mislead them, or possibly persuade them to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. So we’re very careful. The bottom line is, they get in the way, but it’s manageable. It’s a skill that you develop over a number of years in this industry. You begin to understand how to phrase things so that the regulators are okay, the bar associations are okay, but you’re still getting your job done. It’s a constant tug o’ war.

John:     That is what you do as an attorney. It’s definitely tough for attorneys and banks and financial services and certain things, but at the same time, the good news is that you’re attorneys, so you have a leg up in that sense. But it’s still challenging.

Jim:     It’s something you always have to pay attention to, and you can’t be too free and loose about it.

PPC Marketing

John:     We talked a bit about paid search, but do you think it’s a good alternative to or in addition to content marketing, or were you basically saying you haven’t had great energy towards PPC?

Jim:     We haven’t had great luck with it. We’ve tried it a couple of times, and what we find is that our market is not as likely to pay attention to paid search or not as likely to use it to find legal services. A lot of times, when you look at the sponsored listings in search engines versus the organic listings, our market tends to go to the organic. When we tried paid search, it had some effect and some success, but we find that the market we’re going after is less likely to come to us through that path. The reason for that is a lot of the phrases that people are paying for are very, very expensive in the legal realm, or at least the more popular ones. So, what we might do in the future is we might look for specific niches, language-wise and practice-wise, that we can use in paid search that are not as popular but that we happen to be particularly strong in. Then we’ll do some tests and see what might work there. That’s been a challenge for us.

John:     Yeah, I think it’s a challenge with all of legal. We’ve managed quite a bit of legal [marketing.] Millions and millions of dollars of paid search, like mesothelioma, lawyers, auto accident attorneys. These clicks are the most expensive. It was interesting. Hubspot came out with the top most expensive paid search clicks in an infographic recently. Even mesothelioma got beat out by auto accident attorneys in specific cities.  So it’s fascinating, you know, $670 per click.

Jim:     I think those personal injury type practices are more likely to use that. I think for a good reason. They’re economic model is different. They spend a lot of money in bringing leads in, and then filtering them and hoping that they hit the right lead and make a lot of money on a contingent basis with a good case. Whereas our business model is very different. We’re not in the personal injury market, so what we do is a lot of corporate defense and working with people to strategize with them about how they can move their businesses forward and still be legally compliant and taking advantage of different things that the legal system might offer. When you do that, we don’t spend a lot of money up front and get it back on contingency, we’re much more of a retainer billed and hourly billed type of thing. This makes spending a lot of money on paid search a little more difficult.

John:     Back to our earlier thought on how thought leadership is important. Your potential customer, if they think you’re just buying ads, they’re not as likely to be impressed either. So that’s part of the reason organic is just so critical for your market. They want to hire services and legal providers that are at the top of the real results with authentic content. Not that paid search is bad, we love paid search for the right things and even non-personal injury work. We’ve certainly been doing that quite well. But the ultimate is having that organic presence.

Jim:     At least for our business. So there’s a perception of different tactics that you use in addition to the content. So if, like you said, if you used too much advertisement or too much paid search or too much push, sometimes a brand like ours gets tarnished a bit by overdoing it. So, we have to balance that very carefully. I guess the phrase would be “tasteful” marketing, because some of types of clients that we have are more likely to be impressed by our ability to pick our spots and have some restraint with what we do and not to be too over-the-top. That’s for our brand.

Legal Marketing & Blogging

John:     That makes a lot of sense. What about challenges and opportunities from blogging? What do you think the issues are there?

Jim:     You know John, I think blogging is great. I’ve pushed that as much as I can here. The biggest challenge we have with blogging is content generation. To make a blog work, you have to have a certain level of frequency with posting. It’s very difficult sometimes for attorneys that have high billable hours that are always working, and then they have other things that they’re doing with their non-billable time like other marketing opportunities and other professional opportunities. It becomes difficult for them to be a consistent blogger. Sometimes, they can get around that by having [other people] writing for them and having them review it. But what I’ve found is that only gets you so far because it’s the attorney’s knowledge that is driving the blog and it’s their ability to know what to say about what topic that really drives the interest of the blog. So there’s just so much you can help them with that. They really have to generate a lot of that on their own. So that’s the main challenge for it, but as far as a tool, it’s one of the best tools, especially for establishing your authority and your thought leadership and making sure that you have content out there all the time that is being clicked on or looked at. It opens up conversations. I think it’s a wonderful too.

John:     Yeah, you just have to keep working on creative ideas, like podcasting and video, and doing things with the attorneys that might get content out of their voice without always having them write. You know, balance I’m sure.

Jim:     It’s just making it as easy for them as possible and getting them to commit to some type of routine. Which is difficult, because their lives go up and down. You have peaks and troughs. When the peaks come, things tend to fall off the map and then the trough comes and they’re back. It’s hard to keep it going sometimes.

John:     I think the good news though is that you have quite a few attorneys, so even if they got on a once a quarter schedule, but it was enough attorneys so you at least have a blog post a week, then the challenge is partially back on the marketing team to then go promote the content. And the attorneys too should share the links to the content they create, so it’s not just post it and hope that Google does everything. It should really be a matter of sharing that content. That’s where it’s a little easier for your marketing staff to actually go share that content and these days, it’s important to have a lot of content, but a big mistake we see people making and we certainly made it for a while, was putting 90% of effort into the blogging and 10% into the promotion. It really needs to be somewhat split, if not more towards the promotion than the creation.

Jim:     That’s a good point. I agree with you, and we have to work harder at that.

LinkedIn & LinkedIn Pulse in 2016

John:     Some of that, the attorney doesn’t have to do. That sort of leads into LinkedIn, where you can certainly use LinkedIn to help attorneys share their content, whether it’s LinkedIn Pulse or doing a status update with a post that they created. Whether it’s once a month or even once a quarter for that attorney. LinkedIn can help. What do you see opportunities are for doing more with LinkedIn, or not, in 2016?

Jim:     We’ll definitely do more. In fact, LinkedIn has lowered the threshold to get the information out there than having the blog discipline. We’ve gotten to a point now where the attorneys are pretty savvy, at least the ones we’ve talked to and explained it to and that’s quite a few, and they post what they do on LinkedIn routinely. If they have a new alert that goes out, or a new article, or a panels discussion, or an engagement that they’re allowed to talk about, those things are posted on LinkedIn relatively routinely. We’re getting much more sophisticated in terms of searching for particular groups and affiliations and getting people to use their list of contacts in a very strategic way. The right people are getting the right information. I see us doing more investment in LinkedIn in 2016.

John:     That’s great, and I really appreciate your tips today Jim. How can people get in touch with you?

Jim:     They’re welcome to either go on the website at pierceatwood.com, they can see my bio on the website and all the attorney bios. They’re also welcome to call if they want to call, it’s (617) 488-8206 and I’ll be happy to talk to them. Then look at information that’s going out from the firm. Hopefully there’s enough out there that people might find out about us.

John:     Absolutely. Well, thanks again Jim for speaking to us today.

Jim:      Thanks for the opportunity, John.

John:     Check out legalmarketingreview.com as well as the National Law Review at natlawreview.com for more information and interviews on legal marketing. I’m John McDougall, thanks for listening.

Article By John McDougall of McDougall Interactive

© Copyright 2015 McDougall Interactive

Coaching Tips for Partners and CMOs

“I tried coaching that associate but it didn’t work.”

“Well,” I asked, “What did you say to him?”
“I told him to stop annoying the clients, but he keeps doing it.”

Unfortunately, both supervising lawyers and leading a law firm are far more complicated than simply telling people what to do. When facing an environment of change and uncertainty, or even when helping a single associate overcome some professional hurdle, coaching can be an invaluable strategy. With its increasing popularity, the word “coaching” is often used colloquially as a proxy for giving advice, providing direction, consulting, and other activities. Whereas, professional coaching organizations define it as helping people explore and discover answers for themselves. Have you ever repeated the same wisdom or advice to someone a dozen times but they just didn’t get it?  It is frustrating, isn’t it?  You have something valuable to contribute, but it just isn’t getting through.  Most people give up at this stage, thinking that they have done everything they can, and dismissing the person as “hopeless” or “impossible.” Obviously, one’s ability to manage such situations improves with training and experience; but even a basic understanding of coaching principles can make a huge difference in your effectiveness in circumstances where your usual approaches simply are not working.  Here are some tips to consider when coaching associates and partners.

The Relationship is the Foundation

Your ability to be effective with someone is directly proportional to the strength of your relationship.  If you don’t like them, don’t try to coach them. You can be the most brilliant and knowledgeable person in the world, but if you don’t like the person or if you suspect that he or she don’t like or respect you, game over. That lawyer won’t listen to anything you have to say. You might think, “I’m really good at hiding my opinions,” but people are far more perceptive than we imagine.  Unless you have an Academy Award for acting, don’t even try.  What you can do, however, and what does make a difference, is to make a concerted effort to improve your relationship. Go to lunch. Find shared interests, talk about family, look for common values and beliefs, etc. Once you have established a rapport, you are in a position to initiate much more meaningful discussions.

What if the person is too busy and doesn’t seem interested in taking time for lunch? Building a relationship in this situation is very similar to the challenge law firm lawyers face when approaching corporate counsel. No one has time for trivial conversation. People are busy and may not be inclined to talk about their weekends. Nonetheless, they will appreciate anything you can do to actually help them. In such circumstances, making a key introduction or sending them an article related to their practice areas, for example, are substantive ways to generate a more positive relationship with someone, even if there have been tensions or disagreements in the past.  In turn, this paves the way for more in-depth conversations and the opportunity to offer coaching or guidance.

See Their Greatness

In the world of coaching, we start with the premise that, as human beings, we all have wonderful qualities that are part of the fabric of who we are, such as integrity, generosity, caring, creativity, humor, commitment, joy, among many others. These essential characteristics are different from person to person.  On the other hand, human beings also have a less delightful side, the part that comes out when we are stressed or just trying to survive in the world.  In your role as a coach, your job is to focus on the positive and help people to act in alignment with that side of themselves.  For example, a lawyer may be angry, frustrated or recalcitrant; but those traits may be manifesting in reaction to a deep level of commitment. Lawyers who genuinely care about doing a great job for clients or creating a supportive and collegial work environment may become angry or upset when their goals and commitments are stymied. To coach such a person effectively, you should appreciate and acknowledge that he or she is, fundamentally, a caring, committed person (rather than focusing on the fact that, in the moment, he or she may be acting like a jerk).

Ask, Don’t Tell

As smart, capable human beings, we tend to look at other people’s problems and see simple solutions. Yet, think back for a minute to a time when you were stuck, really stuck. This could be when you were trying to decide whether to leave a job or a relationship, or perhaps when trying to achieve a seemingly impossible goal. Lots of people gave you advice, and it probably didn’t make much difference.  Still, maybe you got lucky, and there was someone in your life, a friend, a relative, a coach, who asked you questions and helped you to figure out what you needed to move forward.

This principle of asking rather than telling applies at all stages of coaching. Just because you see a problem doesn’t mean the person wants to talk about it. If you saw an obese person, you wouldn’t automatically assume that he or she were ready to dive in and discuss a weight loss program. It’s the same with coaching. Everyone has issues that they are working on, or that they know to be obstacles, but which they don’t necessarily wish to discuss. To coach effectively, you need to work with whatever the person wants to talk about or whatever seems most important to them. As the conversation develops, you can look for opportunities to bring up what you see as their opportunity for growth.  For example, an associate may mention that he is frustrated that he can never seem to leave work early enough to see his children before they go to bed. Maybe you think that he should be more organized or delegate more. Clearly, there is a relationship between these respective agendas. Once you start looking for it, there are usually ways to connect the concerns of the person you are coaching with whatever issue you would like them to address.

Motivation is Key

The lawyers you work with are smart and capable; or, if they are not, you will want to rethink your hiring and firing practices. Therefore, if your attorneys are not making progress with something critically important for their careers, like business development or improving an important skill, then there may be a lack of true motivation. This is tricky because even the lawyers themselves may not be clear about their own desires. I had a client recently who was of counsel and hired me because she wanted to become a partner. She wanted to make more money, have more independence, and gain more status.  We came up with a great business development plan. It was aligned with her skills, talents and interests; and it inspired her. Nevertheless, it soon became clear that she wasn’t making much progress. When we examined the situation more closely it became evident that she didn’t really want to become a partner.  Although, theoretically she liked the idea, when she really thought about the partners’ lives, from her perspective, they did not look appealing. The partners worked even longer hours, spent all their social time with clients, and had even “less of a life” than my client. Once her true feelings became clear, she realized she would prefer to work elsewhere and is now employed in the federal government. Another client with similar concerns about becoming a partner decided to stay at her firm, but with the understanding that she is creating a version of partnership that works for her, rather than emulating the life and work choices exemplified by her colleagues. Of course, it is unlikely that your lawyers will confess to you if they have mixed feeling about partnership or practicing law. However, it is useful for you to recognize, as someone trying to encourage, mentor or coach them, that one reason for resistance or lack of progress could be that they are ambivalent about their present career trajectory.

Accept Emotions

Lawyers often think that work should be separate from emotions, and that we should be objective and professional at all times. Yet, in reality, people get frustrated and scream at colleagues, burst into tears, wake up in the middle of the night worried about cases, careers, status, and work relationships.  To dismiss the emotional component is like ignoring the wind’s impact on a sailboat. Thus, in order to coach effectively, one must always consider the emotions under surface of any presenting issue.

I spoke at a legal marketing conference recently and asked participants to brainstorm about how to coach lawyers who are having trouble with follow-up. One group said they would delegate the organizational aspect to the lawyer’s assistant. When I asked what they would do if the lawyer still didn’t take the follow-up actions, one person responded, “This is why I think all firms should have an in-house psychologist.” While many, no-doubt, would echo her frustration, there are more practical alternatives. If a lawyer is behaving in a way that seems irrational, it generally is not because he or she is crazy or stupid. Rather, that lawyer is just like every other human being on the planet in that fear, anger or upset may occasionally divert him or her from making the best choices.

Consequently, when people are acting irrationally, it is very likely that fear or other emotions under the surface may be getting in the way.  While some individuals may need serious psychological interventions, for most lawyers, simply having a chance to talk about and acknowledge fear or upset makes a huge difference in their ability to move past it. If you are serious about coaching, it is important to accept individuals’ emotions just as they are. Telling someone that his or her feelings are irrational or illogical will be counterproductive. Emotions are not rational. But, on the plus side, they are also temporary. If given attention in a meaningful and appropriate way, people can move from fear to purposeful action much faster than you might think possible.

Trying to coach your associates and partners may seem daunting or frustrating, at times.  Yet, the effort is well worth it. When your best associate stops eyeing the door and reengages with the firm; two key partners resolve a conflict that has been creating tension in the firm for months; or that one attorney finally gets proactive about developing clients it will become clear just how useful and effective this approach can be.

Article By Anna H. Rappaport of Excelleration, LLC

© 2008-2016 Anna Rappaport. All Rights Reserved

Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando

Join Thomson Reuters’ Legal Executive Institute this month as Marketing Partner Forum heads to Orlando for a three day summit on transformative value in law firm profitability and business development. Set against the Tuscan luxury of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Marketing Partner Forum will welcome law firm marketing partners, rainmakers, practice group heads, business development leaders and esteemed corporate counsel for a dynamic and vibrant conference designed for the industry’s elite.

For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

  • Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
  • Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
  • Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
  • Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
  • Interact with clients and network for new business.
  • Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
  • Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

  • Law Firm Partners
  • Managing Partners
  • Marketing Partners
  • Practice Group Heads
  • Chief Marketing Officers
  • Senior Business Development Professionals

Ten Rainmaking Tips for Finders, Minders and Grinders

This past week, I was speaking at an IP firm here in Chicago. The Managing Partner and I met ahead of time and discussed the group dynamics. He said, “Steve there are three types of attorneys that you’ll be presenting to today; the finders, the minders and the grinders. The finders are out there looking for business. The minders are thinking about looking for new business. And the grinders are too busy and disinterested to even think about developing new business.”

While I had heard these terms and definitions before, it struck me funny because I have worked well with all three of these groups to successful outcomes. Whether you are indeed a finder, minder or a grinder, remember that all you need to be successful in developing new business is the right motivation and education. If you are interested in learning how to improve your business development skills and see value in doing so, there’s hope for you yet.

Regardless of what group you fit into, here are TEN solid tips to motivate and educate the finders, minders and grinders.

  1. You must become a great lawyer, before becoming a great rainmaker. Without understanding the law and how it applies to the real world, it is nearly impossible to speak intelligently about your services. I have worked with hundreds of attorneys and they all agree that selling legal services requires knowledge and experience of the law.

  2. Developing your skills as a networker right out of law school can dramatically help you in advancing your career 2-3 years ahead of your peers. Building new relationships and leveraging existing contacts can unearth all types of opportunities. Make sure you have a solid elevator speech or a few sentences that describe what you do and how you help people. Also, be ready and willing to find ways to help the people you are meeting with. Networking is all about reciprocation, so try to think strategically about whom you are helping and how that help might be reciprocated over time.

  3. While social media is all-the-buzz, the only one you need to really think about is LinkedIn. The reason I say this is because LinkedIn has become the Google for business professionals. Instead of going to google to find an attorney, people just use LinkedIn. So be sure to have a complete profile with a picture. Also, it’s incredibly easy to find good connections through LinkedIn if you know how to use it. If you are looking for introductions from your clients, connect with them on LinkedIn and search through their contacts to see who they know. It’s just that easy!

  4. One of the biggest mistakes attorneys make in trying to grow a practice is not having a plan for growth and success. This plan doesn’t have to be a fifty page MBA level plan, just a 2-3 page plan that outlines how you will focus your time on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The key is to write a one sentence objective, followed by strategies and tactics. A strategy could be; develop quality introductions from my existing clients. The tactics would then describe how, when and what you are going to do in order to accomplish those strategies.

  5. Talking about your goals with your peers is another way to push yourself into achieving them. If you commit to losing ten pounds and never tell anyone, it’s easy to back out of it. On the other hand, you’re more likely to stick to the goal if you tell everyone because of the possible embarrassment of not following through. It also can be helpful to partner up with someone for accountability. Find a partner at your firm or a lawyer at another firm and share your goals. Speak or meet monthly to discuss progress and encourage one another. This works for losing weight and also works for building books of business. A little friendly competition never hurts as well.

  6. Hiring a coach or finding a mentor can change your life! Why do all the top athletes have professional coaches? Aren’t they already at the top of their game? The reality is that we can all learn from people more experienced than ourselves. I have personally hired 4 coaches over the past ten years and it has been the best investment I have ever made. Do your research and find a coach or mentor that is highly regarded and recommended.  Meet with the coach and discuss your issues and goals.  If it feels right, pull the trigger and give it your all.  Waiting for things to change on their own rarely improves one’s book of business.

  7. Finding a niche’ is another way to grow your book of business. Every lawyer knows who the top specialists are in different categories. How about the best generalists? Not so much. Find an area of law that you excel in and enjoy and start working more aggressively in that area.  Read the paper and try to find the legal issues that are trending.  If you are in health care law, look into medical marijuana laws right away.  You might have an edge in getting an article published or speaking on the subject.

  8. Stop those awful “pitch meetings” that you keep having. No one wants to be sold to and no one likes a fast talking blowhard. My mantra has always been “Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice.” This means that we should focus on learning about the prospect’s needs and wants before saying too much. Ask open ended questions and really try to listen. You’ll be amazed at how well the meeting goes. Plus, think about how good your presentation will be once you understand more about your prospective client’s needs.

  9. Always target and go after low hanging fruit. You may have clients, strategic partners and friends around you that could be referring business your way. Before investing huge amounts of time attending new networking events, think about your best contacts. Spending an hour calling them to set up coffee or lunch meetings will be a much better return on your investment of time and energy.  Once you’re meeting with your best contacts, be sure to ask for quality introductions. Some of my clients are amazed at how easy this was to accomplish once they actually did it.

  10. In addition to being a good attorney, it has never been more important today to be a resource for your clients. The Godfather had a consigliore, so why not be a counselor for your clients. This means helping your clients achieve their goals beyond simply doing the “work.” To have client loyalty you must go way above and beyond their expectations. I recommend finding them business, being a source of new information and investing time to know them personally.

By thinking about and using these ten tips, you can dramatically improve your practice. Whether you find, mind or grind, everyone needs to do his part in assuring your firm is successful today and well into the future. Try to select one or two of my top ten points to help guide you in your journey. Sometimes even small steps forward can produce a dramatic result for someone who is interested in learning.

Article By Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.

Copyright @ 2015 Sales Results, Inc.

Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando

Join Thomson Reuters’ Legal Executive Institute next January as Marketing Partner Forum heads to Orlando for a three day summit on transformative value in law firm profitability and business development. Set against the Tuscan luxury of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Marketing Partner Forum will welcome law firm marketing partners, rainmakers, practice group heads, business development leaders and esteemed corporate counsel for a dynamic and vibrant conference designed for the industry’s elite.

For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

  • Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
  • Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
  • Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
  • Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
  • Interact with clients and network for new business.
  • Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
  • Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

  • Law Firm Partners
  • Managing Partners
  • Marketing Partners
  • Practice Group Heads
  • Chief Marketing Officers
  • Senior Business Development Professionals

Evolution of Legal PR in 2016: Three Expert Opinions

Legal public relations has undergone a transformation as significant as any other aspect of law firm marketing has experienced over the past six to eight years. The economic downturn had an effect on law firm budgets, so the industry challenged itself to come up with more creative, yet less expensive, strategies that would still allow a firm’s thought leadership to reach critical audiences. Recognizing the benefits of public relations, including its wide reach and cost-effectiveness, law firms began leveraging the power of publicity even more, helping to fuel an evolution that has been dramatic and is still accelerating.

So as 2015 wraps up, what can we expect next year? I turned to three in-house legal PR professionals to ask for their opinions, examples and advice about what’s next for legal media relations. Meet Johanna Burkett, Public Relations Manager at Baker Donelson; Michelle McCormick, Director, Communication, at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP; and Michele Apostolos, Director, Marketing and Communications, JAMS.

Legal PR Is Evolving

Johanna Burkett Baker Donelson

When asked about the most important trend or shift in legal PR that has changed their PR strategy in 2015 or will do so in 2016, Ms. McCormick said, “The channels we use to tell our story are changing. A straightforward media campaign is no longer enough. We have to think about blogs, video, social media and how to get content into the hands of our clients and targets. We are all facing information overload. You need a tight, timely message to cut through the noise.”

Ms. Apostolos saw value in a strategy this past year that is reaping benefits, with plans to continue. “We increased our native advertising during 2015 and will likely double that activity next year,” she said. “Our PR and content manager, Tori Walsh, is responsible for the procurement of articles and managing the editorial calendars for these opportunities. Native is a key hybrid PR-advertising tool, which can be tracked and allows flexibility for content adjustments along the way.”

“PR is shifting toward playing a greater role in business development,” said Ms. Burkett. “By working with key practice areas to understand their business development goals, PR professionals can design a strategy that aligns with and can support business development initiatives. Making PR an integral part of the business development efforts adds to the value that PR brings.”

Marketing Will Continue to Integrate

All three recognize the importance of the convergence of media relations, content marketing and digital PR. Over the past year alone, more and more marketers are finding ways to align all marketing tactics via an integrated approach commonly referred to as “integrated marketing.”

“All these elements are essential to a comprehensive and integrated approach to PR,” said Ms. Burkett. “Oftentimes, when people think of PR, they likely think solely of the media relations aspect of PR. But PR is public relations, not just media relations, so an effective PR strategy should also encompass those channels outside traditional media that have the potential to shape public perception. And content marketing and digital PR typically allow for greater control of the message and offer a more direct channel to the audience. PR packs a bigger punch with a combination of earned, owned and shared media.”

Michelle McCormick Bracewell Giuliani

“This convergence is a positive trend because it allows us to be strategic and to coordinate our targeted messages across many mediums,” said Ms. Apostolos. “One unexpected result is that it has actually facilitated a closer working relationship among our communications team because people from different functions are collaborating more.”

Ms. McCormick said, “We don’t really have the luxury of focusing in one area anymore. We need to work across a variety of distribution channels. Media relations is still important, but it is not enough to get your message out. You need to be thinking broader. How can you use social media? How can you use video? We have been working hard over the last two years to incorporate more video into our efforts. It can be a bit of a challenge; you need to build champions.”

“We have been doing a lot of work on attorney bio videos and office videos, trying to show the personalities of our attorneys and each office, and they are all different,” Ms. McCormick continued. “Recently, we got a great piece of client feedback on our Dubai office video. The attorneys there were really pleased that people were responding favorably and that the video was helping them showcase more than just the one touch some clients might have with their lead attorney.”

JAMS also recognizes how effective video can be to the PR effort, and this year used video for its promotion of Mediation Week, an American Bar Association effort. “We used ‘#mediationworks’ in conjunction with a video campaign in which our mediators spoke about cases they resolved and the benefits of mediation,” said Ms. Apostolos. “Through this video initiative, we gained new Twitter followers and our LinkedIn analytics spiked during the month of October when the videos were shared.”

The Importance of Professional Development

Given the fast-paced changes occurring in the public relations field, continuing education is more important than ever. The three PR pros I spoke with had resources in common that prove to be helpful in their personal professional development and in helping to keep them on top of their game.

“The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is a tremendous resource that offers numerous ways to stay informed,” said Ms. Burkett. “Their regular ‘Issues & Trends’ emails feature the latest articles from a variety of publications, highlighting topics related not only to PR and digital media, but also leadership and general business trends. PRSA’s on-demand webinars cover a range of topics, and local chapters offer the opportunity to network, discuss challenges and share best practices with other PR professionals. And, of course, the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) is another invaluable resource. To be able to connect directly with other PR professionals who work in the legal field is very beneficial in helping to stay on top of issues that are specific to the legal profession.”

Michele Apostolos JAMS

“Ragan.com has a lot of good tips and articles, and I’ve greatly benefitted from Ragan’s trainings in the past,” added Ms. Apostolos.

Ms. McCormick echoed similar resources. “I am a member of PRSA and LMA, and I am ever hopeful that we can get our local LFMP [Law Firm Media Professionals] chapter back up and running. I follow a lot of great peers I have met through these groups online and learn a tremendous amount from what they post and share on social media. I also enjoy Ragan’s PR Daily.”

The Next Generation of Legal PR Pros

Young legal PR professionals continue to be attracted to the field, and the three experts offered advice about PR skills for the next generation.

“Strong writing and effective storytelling are essential and timeless skills. While the formats may change over time, these foundational skills are absolutely necessary to differentiate yourself,” said Ms. Apostolos.

Ms. Burkett also advocates for the importance of strong communication skills. “From being able to write – whether it’s a press release or an email – to being able to talk to and maintain strong relationships with your clients and media contacts, being a good communicator is vital. And these days, it is a skill that is scarcer than people may think.”

Ms. Burkett continued, “Another important skill is storytelling – not just knowing how to tell a good story, but knowing when there is a good story to tell, and sometimes knowing when there isn’t a story to tell. Being able to recognize the difference greatly improves your value to your clients and to the media you work with.”

Ms. McCormick recommends developing your psychic tendencies. “Try to think of the questions your attorneys are going to ask before they do, and give them the answers. And then think about the questions they should ask you – and maybe don’t – and answer those, too. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You are the subject-area experts in communications, but you are not in your attorneys’ areas of practice. If you don’t know what they are talking about, ask. You look much more foolish pretending you know or assuming.”

Ms. Burkett imparted final words of wisdom about the state of legal PR. “It would be easy to just say that the only constant is change,” she said. “While change is inevitable and being able to adapt to change will always be important, there is another constant in PR: relationships. Building and maintaining relationships with media and creating relationships between your clients, the media and the public are the foundation of what we do. Strong relationships will always be an important part of PR, regardless of whatever changes the profession may experience.”

Article By Vivian Hood of Jaffe

© Copyright 2008-2015, Jaffe Associates

How to Be Better at Email Marketing

To succeed at email marketing, you need to catch prospects at the right time with the right message.  This is very difficult to do unless you automate the process. In fact, Emarketer research shows companies that connect with their customers via automated email marketing see conversion rates as high as 50%.

Here are some other email marketing automation stats, courtesy of myemma.com:

  • Companies that automate emails are 133% more likely to send messages that coincide with the purchase cycle of their customers.
  • Relevant emails drive 18x more revenue than broadcast emails.
  • Personalized emails generate up to 6x higher revenue than non-personalized emails.
  • The #1 reported benefit of email marketing automation is the creation of more and better leads.
  • Automated emails get 119% higher click rates than broadcast emails.

Using email marketing automation will increase your open and click-through rates, which will in turn increase your conversion rates.

And while automating the process is a critical key to email marketing success, you also need to know how to create great marketing emails that capture your prospect’s attention and encourage them to actually read it.

The folks at QuickSprout have created this infographic that details all the working parts of a great marketing email. Use it as a guide the next time you sit down to pound out your monthly e-newsletter:

email marketing

Article By Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute

© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved

Legal Executive Institute 23rd Annual Marketing Partner Forum – January 20-22 Orlando

Join Thomson Reuters’ Legal Executive Institute next January as Marketing Partner Forum heads to Orlando for a three day summit on transformative value in law firm profitability and business development. Set against the Tuscan luxury of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Marketing Partner Forum will welcome law firm marketing partners, rainmakers, practice group heads, business development leaders and esteemed corporate counsel for a dynamic and vibrant conference designed for the industry’s elite.

For more information and to register, call 1-800-308-1700.

Why You Should Attend

  • Hear from venerable thought leaders both within and outside of the legal industry.
  • Network with colleagues and enjoy the family-friendly adventure of Universal Orlando®.
  • Broaden your horizons through a number of interactive seminars that ask participants to collaborate.
  • Participate in a number of compelling sessions designed for law firm partnership.
  • Interact with clients and network for new business.
  • Focus on global business development and the impact of “glocalization” on legal services.
  • Depart the event with practical takeaways to share with peers and firm leadership.

Who Should Attend

  • Law Firm Partners
  • Managing Partners
  • Marketing Partners
  • Practice Group Heads
  • Chief Marketing Officers
  • Senior Business Development Professionals

5 Tips for Personal Injury Attorneys Opening a Mass Tort Practice

Attorneys nationwide are joining the trend to add mass tort claims to their personal injury practice. Based on conservative estimates, two to four million people per year are seriously or fatally injured in mass tort cases.

Most mass tort cases are product liability cases against pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Other types involve airplane crashes, train wrecks, hotel fires, asbestos, patent, antitrust price fixing, data security breaches, securities fraud and employment claims.

It is the only practice in which economies of scale exist. These cases are national and involve filing same primary claim over and over for multiple plaintiffs. The math is compelling: in the right situation it can cost $1,500 to acquire a client with a case that will settle for $300,000, according to John Ray, senior consultant for Mass Tort Nexus and a former pharmaceutical executive.

“It is a multi-billion dollar immature market, with economies of scale and only a single barrier to entry. You have already overcome the barrier, if you hold a bar card,” Ray said.

The best strategy is to find a mass torts case with strong liability, many plaintiffs, a financially viable defendant, high settlement values and a reasonable cost to acquire a client. Here are five tips:

  1. Timing.

There are several optimal moments to seek mass tort clients:

  • In the emerging phase, when many attorneys are advertising about a particular mass tort. Most patients do not connect their prescription with an adverse event. The highest consumer awareness exists when advertising is at its peak. Currently this includes IVC Filters, Bair Hugger blankets, Invokana, Xarelto, Pradaxa, Transvaginal Mesh, Morcellator, talcum powder, Zofran and Metal-on-metal hips, according to Steve Nober, CEO of the Consumer Attorney Marketing Group.

  • MDL phase. When the federal courts create a multi-district litigation docket (MDL) for the mass tort. There are 300 federal MDLs, which organize hundreds of cases and promote settlements with trials of bellwether cases. Courts will create a form complaint and plaintiff’s fact sheet, which can be found on Mass Tort Nexus. The MDL plaintiffs committee works on all the scheduling, motions and trials.

  • In the settlement phase, when the defendant announces to its stockholders that it has set aside a settlement fund. At this point, attorneys are signing clients to settle their cases.

  1. Marketing.

The goal of any form or marketing must be to educate clients about the side effects of the product they used. Lawyers should use clear, concise language that the general public will understand. Your marketing should be about the client — not about the firm. Don’t’ forget to state that clients do not pay legal fees unless you win the case.

Marketing tactics that work include:

  • Pay for Performance Advertising. The attorney pays for a call and is not buying leads. The charge depends on how long the phone call lasts.

  • Strong Organic Web Presence. More people are filling out forms on lawyer websites, and the firm should have trained intake personnel to contact the person within minutes.

  • Standard Television Advertising. Bear in mind that a consumer will watch an ad 12 times before acting, according to Ray. TV ads will create the lexicon that people use to search for lawyers online. Smart lawyers will incorporate the exact wording of TV ads into their website.

  • Buying Leads (Caveat Emptor). Ray advises to be suspicious about lead generation companies, because there are many disreputable companies that will sell a single lead to five or six different law firms.

  1. Partnering with a law firm.

Many of the leading mass tort law firms will accept referrals in a co-counsel agreement. In this arrangement, a lawyer agrees to accept a fraction of the recovery in exchange for the other firm prosecuting the case.

A better approach is to create a co-counsel consortium, akin to entering a partnership where two firms agree to represent a client. It can be argued that no referral occurred and the word “referral” never appears in the agreement. Both firms are equally responsible and the originating attorney can claim a larger percentage. The client is getting more lawyers on his team — a dream team — but is not paying any additional legal fee.

  1. Beware of common legal risks in drug or medical device cases.

  • The Mensing Factor. The Supreme Court decided Pliva, Inc. v. Mensing in 2011, holding that failure-to-warn claims brought against manufacturers of generic medications under state law are pre-empted by federal law.

  • PMA Preemption Potential. Makers of Class III Medical Devices that undertake the FDA’s stringent premarket approval process can be exempt from certain product liability claims. See Riegel v. Medtronic, decided by the US Supreme Court, 128 S.Ct. 999 (2008).

  • Statute of Repose Issues.

  1. Evaluating your firm.

Evaluating the resources of your firm is good place to start, before delving into other considerations necessary to develop your firm’s road map to mass tort success. See which Navy ship matches your firm.

Is your firm a super carrier?

A Super Carrier is a well-established firm with a large number of lawyers and support staff and extensive in-house logistical capabilities. It has the financial reserves needed to take on all necessary tasks of mass tort litigation, without the need for outside funding or outsourcing of services.

Is your firm a destroyer?

A Destroyer is a well-armed firm loaded with weapons (human resources and an abundance of cash.) These firms move fast to develop and deploy an attack plan, for any given mass tort case. A Destroyer may still need to seek outside funding or outsource certain services, if it wishes to take on a large number of clients in a mass tort case.

Is your firm a patrol ship?

Being a Patrol Ship has more to do with strategy than any other factor. Some firms take a conservative approach to mass torts. They stay on constant patrol and only make a move when a mass tort case arises and reaches a point that allows taking clients for the case, within the risk tolerance limits of the firm.

Are you one guy in a row boat?

  • If you are a sole practitioner, with little to no staff and want to enter the mass tort space, you can, but your approach has to be realistic and you must have a relevant starting point.

  • Many sole practitioners sit on the sidelines, believing that they are not ready for the leap into mass torts. Others jump in and reap the benefits of participation.

  • If your practice has a docket of general PI cases or other assets, in most situations, you can obtain the funding to make the leap. The proceeds from your limited entry into mass torts can be used to finance future expansion of both your PI practice and additional mass tort cases.

Article By Stephen Fairley of The Rainmaker Institute
© The Rainmaker Institute, All Rights Reserved