Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

When asked what areas of their firms will get the most additional investment in 2007, the top three responses from law firm chief operating officers were:

• Business development/sales (49 percent)
• Technology (43 percent)
• Professional development (40 percent)

"It looks to me like the first and third one add up to more marketing training," said marketing consultant Jeffrey Forbes - The Client Doctor.

Those findings are from a small survey by Law Firm Inc. of the professional executive directors or as they're now known, the chief operating officers, of Amlaw 200 law firms. 85 of the 200 law firms COOs completed a 27-question survey. (Later this year they will survey chief marketing officers.) 

Other findings:

• 49 percent of the respondents indicated that evaluating a possible merger was among their top three priorities.
• 46 percent indicated evaluating practice group performance.
• 41 percent indicated making greater use of business intelligence.

I see 2007 as a great year for experts in strategy and sales.