Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

We know that law firms operate with a caste system: there are the lawyers, and then there is "everybody else," who are often tarred with the term "non-lawyers."

No other profession makes this derogatory distinction.  Accounting firms don't have "non-accountants" -- they call them "team members."  Same goes for consulting, architectural and engineering firms.

I was reading an article by my colleague Suzanne Lowe and ran across the term "non-marketing professional."  She was referring to lawyers.  I think this captures the essence of us lawyers (I'm one too) perfectly.  Lawyers are like scientists in the lab.  They're happy working on projects in their cloistered practices, but are completely lost if you take them out of the lab and tell them to drum up new projects.  They're "non-marketers."

The most common complaint I hear from marketing folks is "how do I get the attorneys to market?"  They don't spend their marketing allowances, they work at their desks instead of meeting prospects for lunch, and many loathe having to press the flesh and develop personal relationships to get new business.

That's because they're "non-marketing professionals."