Tag: law firm

Leadership Development in Law Firms After the Great Recession

​NESSO STRATEGIES Unique Perspectives Powerful Solutions

Law firm partnerships are curious entities when it comes to reconciling the attorney-owner perspective with exceptional leadership, management and business practices.  At the heart of reaching a successful balance of these two sides, which are often in conflict, are knowledgeable and skilled leaders.

As the legal market has settled from the depths of the recession in 2008 and 2009, we have seen many challenges to the traditional ways in which law firms have been lead and managed, and many old beliefs and poor habits that still hold on.

What We Know

Legal demand has only rebounded slightly.  According to the most recent data from Thomas Reuters Peer Monitor, demand creeps along at less than a 3% annual growth rate, with many practice areas seeing decreases in demand for legal work.   Many clients have pushed back on rates and bills, as electronic billing systems allow clients to compare data across firms.   What used to be a sellers’ market, is now a buyers’ market, as clients have much more information at their disposal as they make decisions.

Today, they can compare the cost to value of firms and demand concessions or go elsewhere.  This has resulted in decreased realization rates relative to desired standard billing rates, as firms make pricing concessions just to retain or get work.  While realization rates may have stabilized, they are under constant pressure and will likely never return to levels previously seen.  The billable hour has not, and may not go away soon, but new approaches to pricing (including positions dedicated to this task) are now mainstream, and many firms are spending more time on analysis of internal data and metrics relative to legal tasks and the cost of doing legal work.

Competition is fierce, and many firms maintain a growth strategy – in revenue, new clients and work, headcount and offices.  Mergers are active, as firms are willing to create new unions, and/or add practice and industry groups.  And, individual attorneys are willing to look at opportunities for greener pastures if a suitor comes calling.  Loyalty, and visions of the good old days when attorneys and staff were “lifers,” has been called into question by many, as the quest for something better is sought, and GenXers and Millennials test the waters to find the right fit.   On the other side of the coin, is loyalty as a bad business practice, as many firms continue to avoid issues of unproductive, unskilled staff and/or attorneys.  While these issues have likely existed in firms for decades, the transparency of the issues and the challenge to maintain margins, has created conflict and competing interests.

Personnel costs are the number one expense for firms, followed by occupancy.  While attorney to secretary ratios are closely watched and compared by many, and non-producing attorneys may be (repeat, may be) better managed in some firms, these are not the Holy Grail to better profits.  Many staff and attorneys would support the notion they are doing more with less, but this may not equate to improved skills among the work force, or improved processes, or better efficiencies.  Most firms recognize technology has impacted the way people work, requiring fewer staff and less space.  Yet since the recession, many firms have failed to adapt as they operate in inefficient space, and use old technology and the same processes.  And, firms continue to struggle with self-perceptions of what the law firm of the future should look like when it comes to design, doing more with less space, and fewer, hybrid or different positions.

Where Do We Go?

The future course for law firms has been delineated over the course of the last five to seven years, if they are to remain competitive and maintain or grow margins.   These actions include:

  • Address unproductive partners and staff, not by changing titles, but by jettisoning when remediation through training and skills development fail.  This can be done in a compassionate way, and need not be as harsh as perhaps portrayed here.   But, failing to recognize and address where cost outweighs value, or taking the “we’ll ride it out until they leave of their own accord,” will not reduce the pressures and demands for exceptional client service, improve efficiency or better manage resources.  The drain these individuals can have on a firm go far beyond the cost of the salaries, benefits and overhead to carry them; it also includes the time to deal with them, and the adverse impact they have on the morale of key producers.  It is likely both a disservice to the individual, and to the firm.
  • Strategic planning has long been a part of the law firm arsenal.  Through careful assessment of a firm’s current position using tools like a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, and open and honest dialogue, the potential for the firm can be identified, and exceptional plans can be developed.  Yet, often great ideas and good direction fall by the wayside as firms get caught in the day-to-day legal work and the business direction of the firm becomes secondary.  As a result, firms fall victim to the inability to make timely (and difficult) decisions and act.  Strategic planning alone is not the be-all and end-all.  It requires carefully planned tactics, with timely execution, measures of accountability for those responsible for implementation, and careful evaluation of the results and course corrections as needed.  It requires the ability to develop a vision for the future, and the fortitude to do what it takes to get there.
  • Client service has become more important than ever, as retention of clients and acquisition of new clients is a part of the competitive legal market tied to growth.  If a firm is to grow, and perhaps even maintain its current position, it means taking clients from other firms.  Client service teams that provide a firm-wide perspective and approach to servicing the legal and business needs of the client, are increasingly important as a competitive advantage.  Quality, timeliness and results of the legal work may remain the primary focus, but developing deeper client relationships beyond the billing or responsible attorney are a must.  This extends to everyone who interacts with or services the client, from partners, associates and paralegals, to legal assistants, billing and technology staff, and even the receptionist.  It is more than just doing the legal work; it includes developing a deeper understanding of the client’s business, gathering strategic intelligence, and relationship development.  It becomes a 360° approach to client service, by everyone who services or interacts with the client.
  • Closely tied to client service is a greater focus on business development, both of existing and prospective clients.  This includes understanding where opportunities exist to extend current client relationships, through the use of strategic analysis of internal firm metrics for new business in practice or industry areas not serviced.  Business development extends to building brand reputation, and nurturing contacts and relationships over the long term, with the goal of being ready when a prospective client has a need.  This can be done through active and ongoing interaction and relationship building in a variety of venues.  Examples include: client visits; presenting CLE programs to clients and prospects; focused content management in publications, social media and websites; interaction at industry events; and, networking in professional, social and community circles.  While marketing activities such as advertising, websites and rankings are passive approaches to help build a firm’s credibility, it is the active relationship building through business development efforts that lands the work.
  • Practice and industry group management, beyond just a collective group of attorneys doing similar work and all needing to know the laws of their respective area, will be expected.  This includes needing to lead, address and integrate all of the areas noted above.  It will require active work over the entire career of an attorney, from hiring and developing the attorney for success, understanding shifting needs and potential impacts market and global shifts may have on individual and practice groups as time passes, to client succession as partners retire.  Successful practice management will require understanding the metrics in a practice or industry group:  productivity, demand, realizations, and opportunities for new work from existing and prospective clients.  It requires the ability to understand other perspectives, lead and manage egos and personalities, address conflict, persuade, influence, motivate and nurture.
  • Process improvement and project management must include a thorough assessment of staff and attorney legal processes, not just administrative work.  It is a systematic approach to help identify the right person, doing the right task, at the right time.  And, a clear understanding of the time it should take to perform the task, for a measurable outcome.  Through tools such as Legal Lean Sigma and the DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve and control), a systematic approach to improve processes that are inefficient, can be utilized to redesign processes, create new expectations for how work is done, and lead to greater efficiency.  This creates the ability to manage the legal and administrative processes, and do the work in a cost effective way with better service the client.  This also can lead to better pricing of legal work as the time needed for specific tasks is understood and managed, and better explanations to clients of the costs, and value, involved.
  • Several design and real estate groups continue to research attitudes and trends in law office design.  Gensler’s Law Office of the Future http://www.redesign-law.com/ provides insight into how law firms will work, and will need to work, in the future to address changes in technology, generational attitudes, and the cost pressures we see today.  This includes, smaller, more generic size office for all, partners included, and more open and collaborative work space and gathering areas.  Cushman and Wakefield recently reported in their legal sector benchmark survey, nearly a third of associates who participated were interested in hoteling.  All of this will be driven by improved technology-driven workflows and processes, and less demand for paper files (recognizing the paperless office is still a ways off).  The bottom line:  less space is needed, and remembering where occupancy costs fit in law firm expenses, it makes good business sense to plan for this.  It is not that the changes can’t be done, but rather the willingness to embrace change for the betterment of the firm.

The Common Denominator

What runs through all of these challenges and action approaches for success?  Leadership.   Yet how well are many, some, any attorneys prepared to be future leaders?  Where do they get their leadership development?  In law school?  Likely not.  On the job?  Maybe.  And from whom?  Others who may not be the best mentors when it comes to leadership?

Research has shown, that relative to other groups, attorneys are less resilient (don’t like rejection), are more introverted, are more analytical and more argumentative.  This should come as no surprise, as some of these traits are tied to what law schools teach and prepare attorneys to do.  But do these traits make for good leaders?  And are other key traits missing?   While there are many good leaders within the ranks of attorneys, the pressures and difficulties of leading and managing a partnership where collegiality and consensus often rule, are many.

The collective nature and definition of a partnership suggests decisions in the best interest of all, yet we often see individual personalities and egos influencing the decision-making process, even when the rational, objective data suggests alternative courses of action. While the days of the largest rainmaker ascending to the ranks of managing partner or wielding tremendous informal power may be less prevalent, it likely still exists in many firms, and often runs counter to the business decisions that will help firms address key business challenges noted above. The ability to make difficult decisions that may be unpopular, uncomfortable, or seemingly impossible (depending if decisions are by partnership vote, or at the discretion of the leaders), are key to a leader’s success.

Surveys have shown that organizational members rate the level of executive incompetence at 50% or more.  And, 60-75% of employees report their immediate supervisors as the most stressful or worst aspect of their job.  Should we expect this to be any less in law firms?  Leadership Development Factbook indicates that $15.5 Billion was spent on leadership development in 2013, a 14% increase over 2012.  While the amount law firms spend is not identified, it seems reasonably safe to say, based on experience and observation, nowhere near enough.

The Leadership Solution

Attorneys, and in particular those in leadership roles and emerging leaders, need to develop the knowledge and skills to be great leaders, and exceptional business people.  Given few receive this level of training, it is imperative law firm leaders, current and future, seek opportunities to develop in-depth talents as leaders, managers and business owners.

The ability to analyze and argue does not equate to good leadership or management (i.e. business skills).  Successful use of communication skills, persuasiveness, influence, motivation, relationship building, strategic and tactical planning, execution, accountability, and/or decision making are critical in today’s competitive legal market.  Equally important is the ability to build internal support to develop and execute strategic plans, implement change related to process, or push attorneys to see client service and business development outside the context of legal work.  And these are areas where there is no set formula for action or success, but the ability to read the others’ perspectives and the context of the situation, and determine which skills are needed when and in which combination, are the key to success.  While leadership through power (e.g. the stick approach), may produce results, it cannot be done in a sustained manner that considers or addresses all of the components and actions needed for long term firm success.   Savvy leaders understand leadership, and well-equipped to dip into their tool box of needed skills based on needs and context.

Specific leadership development programs are needed to address relationships (firms comprise people, who by human nature are social and thrive on strong relationships), communications and conflict (an inherent trait of people and law firms).  The nature of legal work requires solid client relationships, again dependent on the same characteristics, just as leading and managing a law firm requires solid internal relationships between all who are members of the firm – attorneys and staff.

Providing leaders in firms, attorney and administrative, with the knowledge and skills to succeed seems common sense.  But where and how is this done to incorporate leadership development to action-oriented approaches tied to the internal and external processes of law firms?  Becoming a successful lawyer takes years of education, training and hands-on experience. How could becoming a great leader be accomplished by reading a few books, sharing ideas on blogs, or sitting in on a webinar or two?

While these can help, leadership development requires in-depth learning, and an active hands on approach.

ARTICLE BY

Steve Wingert
Nesso Strategies

The 9 Top Habits of Successful Rainmakers, Part 1 of 3

The Rainmaker Institute

Successful rainmakers have certain habits and characteristics in common that drive them to greater levels of success. These habits and characteristics manifest themselves as key behaviors and specific actions, and understanding how to implement these actions on a consistent basis will distinguish you from your competitors and increase your revenues.

1.  Develop a Solid Personal Brand

rainmakerFor most attorneys, reputation is everything.  It used to be that attorneys gained their reputations primarily through word-of-mouth and personal interaction.  Today, building a reputation must contain an online element since this is where most people gather and interact.

A personal brand is the expression of your identity that answers the question of why clients should want to work with you. Having a niche is important in creating your personal brand. Plus, it is much easier to build your brand in a select niche than it is to stand out in a huge market like “attorneys”.   Even online, it’s important for you to niche your practice in an area that can provide living, breathing clients for your practice.

2.  Proactively Manage Digital Assets

What do prospects see when they type your name into a search engine? If it’s not much, that can often be as harmful as something negative. Here are some tips on managing your online reputation:

Update your website and social media profiles. Research shows that 76% of people searching for an attorney go online first, so your website and social media profiles are likely one of the first chances you will have to make a good first impression on a prospect. Be sure these are robust reflections of your expertise and the market you serve.

Create good, meaningful content. Wherever you are online – your law firm website, your blog, your social media networks – make sure you are creating and posting valuable and relevant content that your target prospects will find interesting and helpful.

Look and listen. Create a Google Alert for yourself and your firm so you can monitor what is being said. If you find something negative on a site that allows you to comment, do so professionally and unemotionally.

3.  Aggressively Build Contacts

Having a great contact list is key to being an effective rainmaker. While you may not realize it, you probably have more contacts than you think. Not only do you have all the contact information of the people you have done business with, you can look at your email contact addresses and also get the email addresses of those individuals you are connected with on LinkedIn. Right off the bat this will give you a bigger database then you thought.

You can also begin to speak, attend networking events or create Free Reports that motivate people to give you their contact information in order to get valuable information back.

In addition, any time you meet someone or someone calls your office, get their contact information so you can begin to communicate with them on a regular basis in a meaningful way.

To succeed at building contacts, you need to err on side of inclusivity in all your interactions. Be clear on your follow-up systems, maintain a process for adding new contacts and regularly review contact lists for updates.

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
The Rainmaker Institute

Traditional Law Firm Professional Development Models Obsolete?

Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, Law Firm, North Carolina

Most firm’s lawyer staffing model is not far removed from what might be called “traditional” or “old fashioned.” That means that they still hire most new lawyers immediately upon their graduation from law school, or judicial clerkships – and assume that when they join, they are not ready to practice law. We lawyers assume our new lawyers will learn by working with experienced lawyers (what the consultants call the “apprenticeship” model).

Depending on many variables, we assume that it takes four to seven years before most new lawyers become “stand-alone” professionals. We assume that in time our associates will become our partners and spend their careers as members of our firm. This model helps us to deliver a standard of client service that, we hope, sets us apart.

Are we obsolete? In a changing world, we hold to the conviction that our way remains the best: the best professional development model for lawyers who will become counsellors and advocates for clients facing the most difficult problems.

The greatest challenge to our model has come from high turnover among associates, which we attribute to demographics. Turnover among young lawyers at law firms generally is high, as apparently turnover is high for Millenials generally.

We believe that turnover at Brooks Pierce is lower than among our peers, but – at our size and in our practice niches – turnover (or, retention) is still a challenge, and it is expensive. We cannot ignore it.

Whaddaya gonna do?

We manage. Specifics (our not-so secrets) will come in posts to follow this one.

We believe that we have have continued to make the economics of the old model succeed, even in a time of high associate salaries – and on terms that are fair to our clients, yet work for us. That part is a story for another day.

ARTICLE BY

Edward C. Winslow III
Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP

A Cheap Website Could Cost Your Firm Millions of Dollars

Consultwebs, Legal marketing

Lawyers know the value of hiring an experienced, successful lawyer for representation. An inexpensive lawyer that has a small, inexperienced staff and lack of resources may cost less initially, but the long-term results could be disastrous.

Web marketing is the same.  While cheap websites are plentiful, the return on investment (ROI) will be minimal since the cheap website will not compete favorably with the large number of Internet competitors.

Is low-cost Web design really a bargain when the Internet is outpacing every advertising medium in growth?  Below are some examples and considerations.

The Cheap Website Looked Like a Pretty Good Choice

Consider a typical, small Personal Injury practice we talk to on a daily basis. Let’s call it “Sample Law Firm.” The marketing director at Sample Law Firm researched website developers and selected what he thought was a good deal. The contract terms probably appeared to offer quite a bargain: maybe the low-bid vendor waived a few “standard” fees and set up the website for low or no cost, based on an annual contract of $2,000 per month for maintenance and SEO services.

A year or two later, Sample Law Firm has seen a $6,000 monthly return from the new, inexpensive website. The budget-minded marketing director celebrates his success, feeling like he made a rather smart investment.

And it would be hard to argue, right?

ROI Matters When Considering Your Firm’s Website

Let’s consider how Sample Law Firm might look today if its decision-makers had considered investment ROI when deciding on a Web vendor.

A competing legal Web marketing company with a strong reputation in the industry counseled Sample Law Firm to devote a larger budget to develop a more robust, more compelling Web platform that included many additional methods of obtaining clients. The catch was, “doing it right” required a $5,000- to $12,000-per-month additional investment for search marketing and audience development initiatives via social media, strategic paid advertising, public relations, outreach, and community involvement.

After the first year, as Sample Law Firm invested $5,000 to $12,000 per month, their average monthly return was $60,000 to $200,000 above their investment.

the high cost of a cheap website

Choosing the cheap website, Sample Law Firm garnered about $4,000 per month profit on its $2,000 outlay. In contrast, had the firm’s leadership taken into account the ROI potential of a tightly targeted but higher monthly expenditure, the firm would have netted $127,500 each month on its $8,500 investment, depending upon the competitiveness of the market, aggressiveness of the campaign, and other factors.

The “inexpensive” website cost the firm $123,500 per month, or $1,530,000 over the course of a year.

inexpensive law firm website

Law firms achieve a strong investment return on their websites when they give Web visitors an immediate sense of trust in the firm. A well-designed website establishes trust by revealing that the firm is professional, credible and experienced, and has a human touch. Highly talented legal marketing vendors have the experience to make sure a site delivers this experience and converts visitors by immediately earning their website visitors’ trust.

What Does a Bigger Website Investment Buy Me?

Many Web vendors “sell” their service but do not back the sale up with support.  They provide template reports and periodic brief meetings, but do not provide the proactive marketing assistance that is needed to be successful; there is no long-term plan in mind.

Most people researching legal issues online—your potential clients—will visit more than three or four law firm websites before they select one to contact. A strong site engages its visitors through great design, high-quality videos and photography, and overall user experience. Ideally, the site’s users will be greeted by a knowledgeable, compassionate receptionist in the form of a chat operator.

Reputable Web vendors excel at search marketing, making sure that your firm is represented on the first page of search results, which is a time-consuming and ongoing investment. Investing enough and investing it wisely will earn visibility in organic, local, and even pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Let’s not forget the mobile experience. In some market areas, 30 to 50 percent of Web visitors use a mobile device.  Good Web development incorporates responsive design to convert clients on mobile devices, just as they do for desktop users. Prominent legal marketing companies will include mobile development, which is lacking in cheaper alternatives.

The Internet is rife with competing lawyers. A firm needs not only to invest enough to build a high-quality website, but to invest marketing funds wisely. As mentioned above, the best campaigns incorporate creative search marketing solutions with long term growth in mind by developing great assets for content marketing, scholarships, webinars, podcasts, and special campaigns that give the firm a quality “unique value proposition” (UVP). A low investment simply cannot fund the type of marketing efforts needed to rise above the competition.

An experienced law firm Web marketing company will tie together all the requirements for a successful legal website. Good keyword rankings, backlink profiles, local presence, citations, and strong technical SEO will increase search visibility. Compelling listings—good titles and meta descriptions—are fundamental.

A well-designed site connects with prospects when they land on the page, conveying trustworthiness, professionalism, ability, care, and concern. The successful website offers a good experience to the user, flowing smoothly between subjects and providing helpful information that instills trust in the knowledge, expertise, and abilities of the attorneys at the firm.

The Importance of Conversions

After all that, a page must move the client to contact the firm, and then the intake process must be handled smoothly, quickly, and efficiently so that the prospect feels cared for and well served from the beginning of the relationship.

Finally, a successful Web presence will foster loyalty and renewed business from clients and will include social interaction and positive online reviews—the word-of-mouth of the 21st century.

Every step in the process, from connecting with prospects to the ongoing relationship with clients whose cases have been resolved, requires technical expertise. The best legal Web marketers have a talent pool of expert staffers and vast resources to ensure that each step is handled professionally. Web development is a complex process that requires a team of specialists.

A single high-dollar case justifies a considerable investment in a high-quality online marketing strategy, which is relatively inexpensive compared to many traditional marketing vehicles. If your firm does not land that lucrative case, your competitor (who is doing everything right on the Web) will.

Successful law firms know the difference between a $4,000 and $200,000 ROI and they make marketing decisions accordingly. You do not want to leave millions of dollars on the table because of a “bargain” that looked too good to pass up.

ARTICLE BY

Tanner Jones
OF
Consultwebs.com, Inc.

Succession Planning: How to Hand Your Law Firm to the Next Generation

Jaffe

While conducting a year-end review of several client projects I worked on in 2014, I noticed a trend emerging. Though the types of projects and initiatives were disparate, there was a single, shared stumbling block that deterred the work from moving purposefully forward without a hitch. Whether working on new website builds, social media programs, content strategies or business development initiatives, generational and change-management issues impeded progress.

Jason P. Grunfeld, a corporate partner and head of business development and marketing at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C., spoke at the 22nd annual Marketing Partner Forum in late January. During the session titled: “The Law Firm Rainmaker Redefined,” Jason and his fellow panelists spent significant time discussing the passing of leadership roles to the next generation, as well as changes in management.

I spoke to Jason after his presentation, about the process his firm undertook to elect new leaders in various strategic roles including department chairs, managing partner, and the head of business development and marketing, and he confirmed my belief that certain practices lead to easier leadership transitions. Some of these practices include open communication amongst partners, eliminating committees to create more efficiency, having a plan and vision in place for transition and strong mentoring. All of these practices have developed over time, and are now a part of the culture at Kleinberg Kaplan.

Moving a firm from the first to the second generation of leadership is a difficult task. Generally, taking the time to develop an over-arching vision and strategy takes a backseat to day-to-day operational issues. As time goes on, marketing and business development programs, as well as other processes, can effectively grind to screeching halt.

The good news is that firms can navigate the leadership transition and change-management processes if they have focused intent. To ensure success, the topic needs to stay high on the agenda, and progress must be monitored and shared regularly. In other words, don’t let it fall off the list – even when the challenges to change are more than just logistical.

Change Is Challenging

There are two main issues involved in transitioning to the next generation and change  management in law firms:

1. How do you get founding and/or senior partners to relinquish control and power?

2. How do you get younger partners with leadership abilities to take on and focus on the role?

What’s imperative is open and honest communication – and plenty of it. Firms must address impending issues and prepare to face pushback when developing a change-management plan.

Timing is another factor. The time to plan is not when founding and senior partners are looking toward retirement. The best transitions happen when new leaders are well-mentored and work alongside their predecessors.

In some instances, leadership transition is a very emotional issue for some of the parties involved. For a founding partner who has built the firm from the ground up, the firm is part of her/his identity, so letting go is difficult. Conversely, a younger partner may experience anxiety about assuming greater responsibility. All of this must be considered and managed during the process.

Change Management for Law Firms

There are many activities your firm can implement that support open communication and facilitate the eventual changes in leadership.

Institute an exit-planning program. Develop a program that is fair and provides for the continuity of the firm. Be sure to include lead time to introduce clients to younger attorneys who have the skills to perpetuate the relationship. Consider all of the knowledge the firm will lose when an experienced attorney leaves, and make preparations accordingly.

Develop mentoring programs in all practice and leadership areas. Good mentoring cannot be underestimated. It’s one of the most significant factors in career success and the future health of an organization. Young associates are frequently assigned mentors when they first join a firm, but the “mentoring” is not monitored and thus falls by the wayside after a year or two. Make mentoring a priority at your firm so it doesn’t go out of style.

Consider leadership, business and business development skills when hiring. There are tests that can be administered during the interview process to help determine the aptitude an individual has for developing and strengthening potential skill sets. In addition, personality-type tests show natural propensities for leadership, as well as other characteristics.

Provide leadership training to appropriate personnel. When attorneys or other professionals demonstrate effectiveness in a specific area, consider providing assistance to help them excel. This will accelerate the learning curve so the firm can take advantage of their skills earlier.

Provide business development training and coaching to attorneys. As we know, a firm must continue to generate business from existing clients and bring in new clients to prosper and thrive. Most firms do not have a plethora of great rainmakers roaming the halls. Identify those attorneys with natural skills and those who have the potential for improvement, and provide the necessary training.

Make discussions about planning for the future a priority. As stated above, don’t let discussions about your firm’s future fall off the list while dealing with the day to day. If firms discuss potential future opportunities and obstacles regularly, addressing leadership changes will not be as intimidating.

Align compensation with the firm’s goals regarding future plans. I’ve heard about and worked on many different types of plans that incentivize behaviors that firms encourage. These include compensation programs for introducing younger attorneys to new clients, handing younger attorneys responsibility for existing clients and mentoring younger attorneys into leadership roles. These may sound avant-garde to some, but they have proven highly effective for many.

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Take advantage of the tactics that can keep change management top of mind and prevent your firm from grinding to a halt. If the topic of change is giving rise to negative reactions, start with open communication. Then continue and continue until the issues are not so difficult to discuss.

ARTICLE BY

Sue Remley
OF
Jaffe

From Federal Prosecutor to Law Firm Life: A Conversation with Grant Fondo on Business Development Strategies when transitioning from Public Service to Private Practice

The National Law Review - Legal Analysis Expertly Written Quickly Found

The National Law Review recently had to the opportunity to attend Thomson Reuter’s Legal Executive Institute’s 22nd Annual Marketing Partner Forum in Rancho Palos Verdes, California where Grant Fondo, Partner at Goodwin Procter, LLP participated on the panel event: Coaching for Success: Collaboration between Marketing & Professional Development to Deliver Training that Drives Revenue. This Panel focused on the intersection between business and professional development, exploring the potential impact partnership efforts can have on business growth.

On this panel, Grant spoke from his experience concerning his transition from Federal Prosecutor and former Assistant US Attorney of the Northern District of California to his work at Goodwin Procter.

Post-conference, Grant was kind enough to answer our questions concerning his career trajectory and gave us some insight from his unique experiences in the legal world.  Below are his answers to the questions posed by NLR.

1.  What were the considerations you took into account when choosing a law firm to join?

I was looking for a firm that was a market leader in the technology and white collar practice areas, a firm that I thought was on an upward trajectory, a firm that understood Silicon Valley, and that was collegial and believed in a collaborative work place.  I have been fortunate to work in collaborative places before, and that type of environment is the best fit for me.

2.  What role, if any, has your firm’s business development and marketing staff had in helping you grow a book of business?

I started from ground zero, so I needed help. I still need help, as this is a long-term process and I am still working toward my goals.  The staff has had an important role from day one, both in the context of internal and external marketing.  They helped me quickly integrate with many of my partners nationwide in my practice group, as well as outside of it, and helped me feel like part of the firm.  Externally, they worked with me to train me to be better at marketing, focus on the marketing efforts I enjoyed, and presented me with opportunities.  They also acted as a sounding board for different marketing events, provided guidance to improve my ideas, and helped me execute on those ideas.

3. What role, if any, has speaking engagements and / or thought leadership, played in helping you stay front of mind with existing or potential clients?

It has helped, but it is time consuming.  You have to be thoughtful about what events you speak at, in that not all speaking opportunities and topics are created equal.  When I returned to private practice, I wanted to focus on marketing I enjoyed, and pass on areas I disliked and was not good at.  Thought leadership is an area that lends itself to that type of philosophy.  My experience as a former federal prosecutor helps in certain areas of the law that intersect well with Silicon Valley clients. For example, there is a lot of concern here with privacy and government intrusion into and demands for company and customer data. This past year we teamed up with clients to file an amicus brief in the landmark smart-phone privacy and 4th Amendment case of Riley v. California.   I enjoy spending time on areas that also hit home for clients.  It also permits you to reach out to a client to let them know about the latest development, or after a meeting is over discuss a topic that is important to them but not necessarily the focus of today’s meeting.  Sometimes they call back a few days later with something new or interesting.

4. How did you form and maintain relationships with potential and current clients?

My partners have been good about introducing me to clients that need my expertise, and letting me further develop those relationships.  When you connect with a client, you want to foster that relationship in a way that is not intrusive or pandering.  I am fortunate in that Goodwin has a really interesting client base doing pretty amazing things, so there is always something to talk about or learn from your client.  Building relationships is also about focusing on what your client wants and trying to understand their perspective–if they want three quick bullet points on a topic so they are armed for their meeting with the CEO, you don’t give them a three page memo five minutes before that meeting.  I also like to develop the relationship on a more personal level.  I love to go fly fishing, and I have a client or two that share that passion.  Simply swapping photos and stories once in a while is a lot of fun, and hopefully has the added benefit of keeping me top of mind.

5. Did you take any affirmative action to meet attorneys from other practice groups within the firm?  Has this been an effective in generating referrals or helping you transition to private law practice?

I believe this is probably the most important thing a new partner can do.  During my first year I took advantage of every opportunity to fly back to Goodwin’s East Coast offices to meet my partners from all practice groups, and I still try to do it.  I also made similar efforts in California.  Getting to know my partners and associates has helped me in a number of contexts.  First, it made me feel more a part of the firm on a professional and social level.  I want to enjoy going to work — I certainly spend a lot of time there, and this helps.  Second, as my partners got to know me, it made me more top of mind if an issue came up. Goodwin genuinely strives to be collaborative, so by making the effort to get to know my other partners, it has paid dividends in getting phone calls about new matters or interesting cases.  Third, it allowed me to respond to client inquiries when I was not the right person.  Recently a client called me, and I was able to immediately direct him to my partner in another office with the needed expertise, because I had had gotten to know him during one of my trips back East.

6. Is there anything different you wish you had done earlier in your legal career to help you with practice today?

I wish I had become a federal prosecutor earlier.  It was an honor doing public service; I learned so much about being a lawyer, particularly a trial lawyer, and working as a team for a common goal.  I was fortunate in that I worked with a lot of really good prosecutors that were willing to share their time and knowledge.  I also wished I had focused my marketing efforts, rather than haphazardly engaged in marketing activities. I look back and realize I wasted a lot of time doing things that I did not enjoy and were ineffective.  I also wish I had made a better effort to keep in touch with people whom I genuinely enjoyed working with over the years.

7.  What are the advantages / disadvantages of working in a prosecutor role vs. in a private practice defense attorney role?

When I was a federal prosecutor, people immediately returned my calls.  There is no shortage of criminals, so I always knew I would have a new case next month.  Another benefit is you have the luxury of spending as much time as you want on a case, without worrying about bills.  In private practice, you are always thinking about your next case, and constantly balancing quality legal work with efficiency.  Also, when you represent a company or individual, government inquiries and prosecutions are immensely personal and unsettling, so there is more of a human element that factors into your representation.  I do think it helps to have been a prosecutor, because you can provide your client insight into how the process works, and the likely viewpoint of the prosecutor or regulator.  One disadvantage is the level of interest in what I do.  When I was a prosecutor, my friends and colleagues always asked what type of case I was working on, and what the criminals were up to—Ponzi schemes and drug cases are inherently interesting to most people.  Similarly, my kids thought I was pretty cool because I worked with federal agents with guns, met the President, and put bad guys away.  Now, my friends and kids rarely ask me what type of case I am working on.

ARTICLE BY

Eilene Spear
OF
The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC

Content Marketing for Law Firms with John McDougall

Listen as we speak this week with John McDougall, CEO of McDougall Interactive, on content marketing for law firms.

Nicole Minnis, National Law Review, Legal PublicationNicole Minnis:  Hi. This is Nicole Minnis again, with the National Law Review. I’m here today with John McDougall, president of McDougall Interactive and author of LegalMarketingReview.com.

We spoke last time about Authority Marketing and thought leadership for law firms, so be sure to check out a link to that podcast. But today, we’re going to be talking about content marketing for law firms. Welcome back, John.

John McDougall, McDougall Interactive, Marketing, Authority MarketingJohn McDougall:  How you doing?

Nicole:  I am doing great. How are you?

John:  Excellent.

Nicole:  We had a great time last time. Tell me, why are eBooks and the top of the funnel calls to action important?

John:  A lot of people with website marketing make the mistake of expecting customers to only call them on the phone or fill out a form. When you don’t have a top of the funnel call to action, like an eBook or a case study that’s downloadable, or a whitepaper, you miss a huge portion of the Internet that is casually surfing and could become a lead, but a more casual lead.

A ToFu offer, as we call it — not to be confused with soy products [laughs] — a ToFu offer, a top of the funnel offer, is, again, like an eBook, and it’s somewhere around 85 percent of the Web is looking at the top of the funnel. When you search the web, do you buy something from Amazon or hire a lawyer every time you search the web? You don’t.

You tend to, most of the time, you’re searching and looking for things. You’re in the early stage of the buyer’s journey. Eventually, you’re making bookmarks, and later you go back and hire someone or buy a product. It’s about 85 percent there.

Maybe another 10 percent, roughly, are at the middle of the funnel. In the middle of the funnel, you’re comparing one law firm to another, you’re in that comparison stage. At the bottom of the funnel, maybe only five percent of people using that free consultation form on the attorney’s site or calling the phone number, et cetera, going to the contact page.

That’s such a small percentage of Web visitors that you’re really missing, a huge amount, potentially as much as 95 percent of visitors, if you don’t offer some way for them to casually connect with you — signing up for your email newsletter or getting your eBook.

Nicole:  Where are these ToFu calls, top of the funnel calls, most effective? Are we looking at a law firm home page or a blog page? Where will it have the most impact?

John:  You want to put them consistently throughout your site, so definitely at the home page level, because that’s usually the most visited page. Not always, but often the most visited part of your site. You should have at least one top of the funnel, if not a top of the funnel, middle of the funnel and bottom of the funnel, like your phone number or consultation form, call to action, at the home page level.

Then, if you go into a practice area, like intellectual property law, you might want to have a little sidebar there with a call to action for an eBook or a whitepaper or something around that topic. Then, you go to the blog, and you’re reading the blog, either in the right sidebar you can put an irresistible offer to download maybe a collection of the blog posts into one PDF for printing.

Or, at the bottom of a blog post, that’s a very effective way, after someone reads something and they’ve been very engaged, to then put a nice little…maybe a banner or a nice graphic that sells them on the idea of filling out the form to get your eBook.

Nicole:  Would you include these top of the funnel calls to action on a law firm publications page? To follow up, you wouldn’t limit it to just having a special page for all of their thought leadership?

John:  Yeah. I think it’s good to have a resources section, definitely. After Google Hummingbird that looks even more deeply at Q&A content and natural language search for mobile — Google eats up that kind of content where you’re answering customers’ questions.

It’s great to have that on a blog. That’s one of the most typical places to put it. But sometimes you can have the resources, Q&A library also, and then you have the collection of eBook and podcasts and videos and links to lots of blog posts, and break up your thought leadership in an area like that.

I would say all of the above. There are different types of people that…some are going to like the blogs, some will like the resources area, some will like video, some will like podcasts, some will like the text posts. Break it up and put it throughout your content, and ideally make content top of the funnel calls to action to match the page they’re on.

If at some point you can get around to having 30 eBooks or an eBook for every practice area — it’s a pretty tall order, but, again, made easier through podcasting. One hour of podcasting can be turned into an eBook, and that’s pretty easy to do. You can get a nice cover design and go to each practice area and then have a top of the funnel call to action for each area. That’s the ideal.

Nicole:  That way, you can cover all your bases, so to speak, in terms of who’s looking at your website and what they’re looking for.

John:  Absolutely.

Nicole:  Tell me, how can attorneys use content for their business development?

John:  I’m not a business development expert for law firms, per se. But this has been a very hot topic recently, because we’re doing so much blogging for law firms and content marketing for law firms. I’ve been interviewing people for one of my sites, both Legal Marketing Review and AuthorityMarketing.com, and talking about these issues.

I interviewed a couple of different people specifically on business development, and time and time again they’re saying that they do like to have their attorneys make use of their own posts, if possible. It’s great if the attorneys have their own content to share when they’re pitching people and following up with potential customers.

But even if there’s a blog on the law firm’s site, and then an individual attorney, even if they didn’t write the post, they can share that content. You can share your newsletters and alerts and all different things.

But the more thought leadership content you have, the better off you are at reaching out to, say, a general council, and not annoying them with, “Hey, can we get together? I’d really like to work for you guys.” [laughs] Because that’s really salesy. That’s more old school marketing.

New school, inbound marketing is more, “Hey, Mr. or Mrs. General Council, I thought you’d really appreciate this blog post that we wrote, because I know you’re going through this particular issue with your company. I saw something on the news, and we have a post that really addresses just that issue. Just thought you might like to see this and that you might find it helpful.”

I’ve heard that a lot at the LMA conferences. I spoke recently at the LMA New England conference, and I’ve heard a lot of people talking about that in both my interviews and at conferences — that it’s a healthy way to extend that strategy we’re talking about, about SEO and content marketing and doing it for Google reasons. But there’s this great, of course, offline reason that lets you extend the value of that further.

Nicole:  This content marketing that’s being produced by attorneys, is it trackable in terms of improving these sales? I was going to say they’re selling themselves, but I don’t mean to make it sound so silly. But attorneys are marketing their services, so is the content marketing trackable?

John:  Absolutely not. No, I’m just kidding.

[laughter]

John:  Here’s when it’s not trackable — when you don’t track it. It sounds really simplistic, but you would be amazed, actually shocked, if I told you how many people come to us and they have no tracking mechanism to see if it’s working. First, some people don’t even have something like Google Analytics installed on their site, if you can believe it in this day and age.

Is it trackable? It’s trackable if, number one, you take the 10 minutes to take the snippet of code from Google Analytics and put it onto every page of your site and embed the code. That’s really easy to do, but it is still amazing to us that we see people not doing it.

Number two, and this is a really big point I’d like to make, is that, with the goal tracking on your website, for example, if someone fills out the form for a free consultation, it should be set up so that they hit the submit button and they go to a “Thank You” page.

Some programmers like to make it tricky so that it doesn’t even need to produce a “Thank You” page, and there are ways to track that. But we prefer to have a traditional “Thank You” page, so yourlawfirm.com/thankyou.html kind of thing.

Then, you need to set that up in Google Analytics to register as what is called a “goal conversion”. You can do that also with phone tracking, with the free consultation forms, you can do it with your eBook signups, you can do it with the email newsletter signups.

You can do it even if you want to set up a goal conversion to track in Google Analytics if someone just views your “about us” page or an attorney’s bio page. There are all different things you can set up. But, again, it really only works if you take the time to set those up.

It’s so beautiful, and it sounds so geeky of me, but it’s so beautiful to go into Google Analytics and see basically the numbers. You can actually see, OK, last year in November, say, we got 18 leads, but this year in November we got 37 leads or 87 leads, and they came from these channels, from SEO, from social media, from Google paid ads, from email marketing.

You can track all the different channels they came from, and then you can see which lead forms or eBooks were downloaded. You can get a really good picture of the amount of leads coming in. Then, it goes a step further if you start to do lead scoring and lead nurturing.

Very briefly, lead scoring is when you’ll let your agency know, now that you’re tracking these leads in great detail, you let your agency know that, “These leads are good and these leads are bad”, or even feed back into Google Analytics the data on what the value of those leads were.

You can plug in, “This lead generated a million dollars in a mesothelioma case for the firm, and a $400,000 profit”, or whatever it might be. You can even go that far, if you want, to tell the agency that, “These are good leads. These are bad leads. They’re worth this much.” You could feed that back into the system.

Then, you can make better determinations on what keywords and what channels are driving the best quality leads, not just the most leads. Then, lead nurturing, or marketing automation is when you’re getting so many leads that you can’t even follow up manually with everyone.

Say you’re getting a thousand eBook downloads a month, or even 300. You would want to have a trigger mechanism to automatically say, “Hey, thanks for downloading the eBooks.” Send another email a few days later, “Hey, you might like this case study.” Another few days later, you might say, “Would you like a free consultation?”

You can set up a work flow in something like HubSpot or Eloqua, Pardot, to use marketing automation to send these automated emails so that people feel like, “Wow, I downloaded this eBook, next thing you know they’re giving me other ideas.”

But the salespeople don’t have to, every single eBook that gets downloaded, manually do it. That’s where you can take the tracking and Google Analytics, and then extend it with nurturing those people that are coming to your site.

Nicole:  If we’re talking about a law firm or an attorney who’s starting from scratch, how much of this data do you think needs to be collected before they can really start to implement changes for their marketing strategy, or implement their marketing strategy at all?

John:  I think it’s almost immediate. Once you start to get a few days or a few weeks of data, you can start to make assessments. But it does get a lot better when you have year-over-year data. If you’re looking at, again, November of 2014 versus November of 2013, or all of 2013 versus 2014, in terms of what channels drove traffic, the amount of leads per channel — it really gives you data to show where you’re headed and how things are improving or not.

We do something called conversion rate optimization, where we look at the data in Analytics, and we say, “You know what? Barely anybody is going to our about us page,” or, conversely, “Everybody goes to the about us page.” Usually, they’re the second most visited page on a website.

If there are pages that are hit very consistently, you want to go and fix up those pages and make them even better. Conversely, if there’s a page on your site that nobody ever goes to, but you think it’s really valuable, you can then go make more links to that page or make calls to action that highlight that content. You can definitely, very quickly get data from Google Analytics to go and make very practical changes to your site.

Nicole:  These are all great ideas and strategies for attorneys and marketing professionals at law firms. Thank you so much, John, for sharing your thoughts on this topic today.

John:  Absolutely. I appreciate you having me.

Nicole:  No problem. We hope to have you back another time. Thanks so much for listening.

I’ve Never Seen ANYTHING Like This Law Firm’s Holiday Card. Never.

Fishman Marketing logo

I’ve ranted about and railed against boring or clichéd holiday cards for decades, yet nearly every day in December another one or two (or ten) bland and politically correct cards featuring snowy landscapes or skylines, ice skaters, or children’s holiday artwork arrive, unsigned, in my mailbox.  <Open. Glance. Toss.>

Today’s mail, however, was pretty interesting.  I received just two cards, juxtaposed below. The one on the right was a fairly typical example, from an old friend, a terrific T&E lawyer I’ve known since we were ten years old.  Great guy, but I don’t love his annual too-safe “Seasons Greetings” cards.

Two different holiday cards

The card on the left was from California’s Springer & Roberts, “Disability Lawyers You Can Trust ®.”

Disability Lawyers You Can Trust ®

(First, I’ve never liked the “…  you can trust” tag lines, because it implies that your competitors are liars or cheats.  Plus, I’m immediately wary of anyone who promises that I can trust them.  But that’s not the point here.)

The card shows two lawyers dressed up in ballerina costumes while holding (1) a Benefits Law book and (2) a legal pad. Four adorable jammie’d kids, obviously their children are asleep below, “while visions of ERISA lawyers danced in their heads.”

Close-up of Holiday Cards featuring two Attorneys dressed up as Ballerinas

Now THAT is pretty gutsy, and the card certainly caught my attention. I don’t know these lawyers, but I can infer that they’re family-oriented and don’t take themselves too seriously.

The card’s punny headline, “We never dance around insurance companies, and our ERISA litigation is always en pointe!” is pretty forced.

We never dance around insurance companies, and our ERISA litigation is always en pointe!

But overall, you must respect the effort.  These lawyers clearly know who they are and their clients apparently like this about them.  They’ve broken through the clutter and conveyed their message pretty effectively.  They took a big risk, but I think it worked well for them. (I wonder what their card looked like last year? Is this an annual thing? )

while visions of ERISA lawyers danced in their heads

Of course, if you wanted to learn more about them, their website contains 2,000-word biographies, possibly the longest I’ve ever seen (that’s 8 double-spaced pages!).  I obviously only skimmed them, but I still got the sense that they’re nice, smart, and dedicated lawyers.

I’m glad these lawyers sent me their card.  And that’s not something I say every day. 

All images are copyrighted.

ARTICLE BY

Ross Fishman
OF
Fishman Marketing, Inc.

How to Build a Lead Generation Machine Online with Content Marketing (Part 2 of 2)

If you struggle with creating quality content for your website or blog, I’ve pulled together 8 best practices for content marketing to guide you.  If you missed the first four in the series of eight, see yesterday’s blog post here.

These are the second 4 of 8 best practices in content marketing:

Best Practice 5: Use video to give visitors a sense of who you are. Video is one of the best ways to improve your website conversion rates. I highly recommend you record several videos for your website: an overview of each major practice area your firm offers, a few case studies of typical clients you want to attract, a video introduction for each attorney, and reasons why people should hire you versus a competitor. You can also add videos from seminars or presentations you make to add more content to your site.

Best Practice 6: Take a position on a topic and frequently update your blog. When you begin a blog, you need to make sure that it is a topic you feel passionate about. Make sure that you will still be energized to write about the topic in six months or a year. You also need to make sure that there is an audience for your blog.

In order to keep your website and blog at the forefront of Google’s mind, you will need to post regularly. The most successful lead generation blogs post every day. If you aren’t willing to post new content at least a few times per week then you should seriously consider hiring someone to do the writing for you. In a survey of over 7,000 small businesses, Hubspot.com found companies that blog 15 or more times per month generate five times as much traffic as companies that don’t blog!

Best Practice 7: Add social media to your website to make it easier for people to share your content online. Most major websites people visit have fully integrated social media-whether its Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter you want to make it easy for people to share your content with their friends and colleagues.

Best Practice 8: Keep your content consistent with your brand. If you’re an estate planning attorney, write about estate planning and rarely about anything else. Professional blogs need to remain professional. The tone, content and focus should demonstrate the type of attorney you are. If your office is more relaxed and friendly, then try to convey that in the tone of your blogs. If your firm is more traditional, that too should be apparent in the tone of your piece.

Your content also needs to stay relevant. If there is a major change in what area of law you practice in, then you should be discussing it right away on your blog. If there is a big ruling in your practice area that is causing a lot of questions or anxiety for clients and prospects and you are the last person to mention in on their website or blog, then chances are the readers will have moved on to someone who is more on top of things.

Conclusion. Content marketing is one of the best ways to build targeted traffic to your website and become recognized as a thought leader. However, it is a long-term strategy so set your expectations appropriately. Depending on the level of competition in your practice area, how well-established your website/blog is, which key terms you are targeting, and how frequently you update your blog it may take several months to start seeing some significant results.

Content Marketing

ARTICLE BY
Stephen Fairley

OF
The Rainmaker Institute

How to Build a Lead Generation Machine Online with Content Marketing (Part 1 of 2)

The Rainmaker Institute

If you are looking to drive more high quality traffic to your law firm’s website, one of the best ways to do so is via unique, high quality content on your blog.

lead generationIt is estimated that 95% of law firms already have a website, but too few attorneys are consistently generating quality leads from their online presence because they lack great content.

Google has made it increasingly difficult to rank high without putting a lot of quality content on your website.  If you want to continue ranking well on Google, which drives more qualified traffic to your website so you can generate more online leads, you must put more and more content on your website.

Here are the first 4 of 8 best practices in content marketing:

Best Practice 1: Create content prospects will connect with and will want to read. If your website is the first to pop up in a Google search, but a potential client reads your home page and finds it littered with meaningless legal jargon, then chances are they are going to move on to website number two. People hire attorneys they feel a connection with. If the viewer doesn’t connect with your website, then chances are they aren’t going to call you.

By creating content that viewers find informative and relevant, easy to digest and in multiple formats (like audio or video as well as written) you are encouraging them to spend more time on your site. By filling each page with informative and easy-to-understand language, an attorney is boosting their visibility on the web and converting browsers into believers.

Best Practice 2: Know the critical keywords prospects use to search. While Google is making sure the context fits the keywords, websites still need to focus on certain keywords. Start by making a list of at least 20-30 terms you believe an interested prospect might use to search for your kind of services. Then do your research.

I recommend two sites: Google Keyword Tool and WordTracker.com. You can find the first one simply by searching on Google for it. The terms definitely emphasize Google’s pay-per-click model, which is why I strongly recommend double checking your findings against the results from WordTracker.com. Use only one or two key terms per blog post and do not post duplicate content.

Best Practice 3: Make sure your blog is on the same domain/subdomain. I used to recommend having two different sites: your primary website and a separate blog site. Due to the recent changes in Google I now recommend keeping your blog on your website (use ABClaw.com/blog instead of blog.ABClaw.com). If you already have two separate sites don’t combine them unless they are less than six months old.

By integrating your blog and your website in one place, you can increase your rankings by adding more content via your blog. Topics for your blog can include recent cases you have handled, commenting on current events or stories in the media, answering frequently asked questions, and discuss aspects of the law.

Best Practice 4: Create geo-targeted pages. You need to write several pages for each city you want to target. For example, if you are a business litigation attorney in the East Valley of Phoenix, you want to have several pages of content focusing on each of the following cities: Phoenix, Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, etc.

Do not make the mistake of only targeting Phoenix because every single other attorney is doing that. Put as many pages of content up there for the secondary cities. Even though you will not receive nearly as many hits for those cities the competition to rank on the first page of Google will be significantly less.

Come back here tomorrow where I will share the last 4 of 8 best practices for content marketing.

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
OF
The Rainmaker Institute