Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog : Law firm marketing, legal editor, legal marketing, attorney marketing, business development, marketing consultant, legal consultant, business development

2008 will be law firms’ worst year since early 1990s, according to the gloomy Dan DiPietro, who oversees law firm client relations at Citigroup Inc.'s Citi Private Bank. A difficult economy has cut partner profits and associate attrition, while increasing expenses for major U.S. law firms, creating "a dramatically different economic environment from the previous seven years," DiPetro wrote in an article.

Law firms saw average profit per equity partner drop some 9 percent in the first half of 2008, "Dr. Doom" writes. Meanwhile, expenses rose by about 10 percent, pushed up, in large part, by increases in associate pay.

The second half of 2008 won't be any better than the first half, DiPietro predicts. And it could be worse—"the common wisdom is that this economic slump is more akin to the downturn of 1991."

Being a banker, he naturally suggests cost-cutting, including demoralizing steps like firing unproductive partners and reducing associate bonuses.  He is looking at the wrong part of a law firm balance sheet.

Law firms should focus on the top line -- new revenue, new income and new clients.  Rather than cut costs, law firms should create more rainmakers with the entrepreneurial mindset, business development discipline and sales skills to convert business.

The Apollo Business Development Program, named after the space program that put the first man on the moon, envisions a revenue increase into seven figures. The goal is to maximize the results of up to 10-25 partners who have demonstrated initial success in generating business.  My colleague Michael G. Cummings and I are running this money-making program now in several law firms.  Give me a call at 630.942.0977 if you’d like to find out more.

Marketing budgets this year will not be slashed because of the economic downturn, according to a new survey by the  Chief Marketing Officers Club.

In what is believed to be a first for the AmLaw 200, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP launched a Facebook page to serve as a central component in its law school recruiting efforts. The Facebook page lists 31 fans, 9 universities as favorite pages, photos of firm events, and firm news highlights.  There is a concise description of the firm, a 570-word writeup about the summer associate program, and RSS feeds to Curtis's latest articles and news items.

The Facebook entry is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/Curtis-Mallet-Prevost-Colt-Mosle-LLP-Careers/65459295160 

“We are pleased to be capitalizing on the popularity of the most widely used social networking site,” said Nancy Delaney, Partner and member of Curtis’ Personnel Committee. “As a firm, we recognized the power of this format of communication and the wide use being made of it by future lawyers.”

The Curtis Facebook recruiting page offers a wide range of information about the firm and its summer associate program. Visitors to the page can read what former summer associates say about their experiences at the firm. Potential recruits can easily find information about work assignments, firm news, firm awards and rankings, and special events, as well as a schedule of the firm’s on-campus interviews. Curtis will be re-launching its own website with a variety of new technologies this Fall.

According to the 2007 Summer Associates survey, published by American Lawyer magazine, the firm ranked 4.533 out of 5 (rank: 67 ). Curtis is an international law firm with $110,000,000 in annual revenue and 220 lawyers, according to published accounts. Founded 175 years ago, Curtis has represented a wide range of clients, including multinational corporations and financial institutions, governments and state companies, money managers and hedge funds.

For more information contact Bobbie Brock 212-696-6923 or bbrock@curtis.com

Benesch, an Ohio-based firm with 140 lawyers, has launched a new recruiting video, equal in quality to videos that megafirms on the East Cost put online. The professionally-produced video can be found on the firm’s website at www.beneschlaw.com where it starts automatically.

At five minutes, it 's a big longish, but the brisk editing makes it move along. There are quick cuts to people at desks, groups in a conference room and runners at a race for peace. 

Here are the best quotes:

• "I'm one of the few attorneys who can say I love my job. It's been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life," said associate Niki Schaefer.
• "You're not just associate number X," said associate John Gambacccini.

"The intention of this high-energy video is to attract potential recruits and show what life is like at Benesch. Viewers are given perspectives from a range of Benesch attorneys, including  Managing Partner Ira Kaplan and multiple partners and associates," a firm announcement says. 

I especially liked the upbeat soundtrack.  When I was a litigator, I wished I had a soundtrack to my practice.

"The diverse group of attorneys featured in the video, the testimonials they provide ...relay create a true sense of the firm’s nature," the announcement continues.  The firm has plenty of diversity to show off, displaying men, women, a lawyer with a yarmulke, an Asian woman, an African American man with moustache, the older top brass and the young lawyers.

Ryan Burns, Benesch’s Director of Legal Recruiting and Professional Development said, “We are continually looking to add great talent and provide a supportive work environment and we feel that this video delivers that message to our audience.”

Benesch is a six-time winner of the NorthCoast 99 Award – Best Places to Work.  In 2007,Benesch ranked #1 in Ohio and #11 in the nation by The American Lawyer Mid-Level Associate Survey which examines associate satisfaction.  The firm has offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia, Shanghai and Wilmington.

This just in from Law.com:

Duane Morris, an international law firm with Philadelphia roots, has cut about 18% of its marketing and business development staff, making staff reductions that echo moves at other firms in recent months.

The firm, which has about 650 attorneys, now has a marketing and business development team of 30 to 35 people, after eliminating seven managers and staff and hiring three more senior executives in the past few months, said Ed Schechter, the firm's chief marketing officer.

Most of the eliminated jobs were in Philadelphia, where the bulk of the department's staff is based, but some were in other offices, including Chicago.

The move by Duane Morris follows administrative staff cuts at New York-based Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson this month and the elimination of 13 support staffers at Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll and 50 legal secretaries at Reed Smith earlier this year.

Some firms, including New York's Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, have also pared lawyers. 

Duane Morris has a new marketing director, Susan Shallcross, joining the firm next month from Washington-based Arnold & Porter, where she worked for nearly 12 years as marketing and communications director. Duane Morris also has hired a senior business development manager to oversee all activities in that area and a marketing manager with 15 years' experience during the past few months, he said.

John Soroko, who became chairman this year, said in an interview that he thought the firm could do the same level of marketing and business development work with fewer people, particularly because of the addition of more senior people recently.

"It's a restructuring of the department," said Schechter, who added that Soroko isn't trying to change the department's existing role. The creation of a client-relations management system in recent years has allowed for the trimming the staff, he said. Schechter doesn't expect additional cuts, he said.

Spending on the marketing and business development functions will continue to amount to about 2.5% of the firm's annual revenue, Schechter said.

Working Mother magazine has named the top 50 best law firms for women (see below), based on their retention and promotion of female lawyers, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, among other factors.

Being named to the list is a huge marketing coup. For example, Bass Berry & Sims of Nashville and Memphis put the honor on their website, uploaded a PDF of the entire article, and sent an email to clients, bloggers and others. “Bass, Berry & Sims is honored to be named as one of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women,” says Managing Partner Keith Simmons. “This recognition from Working Mother magazine reaffirms that we have a great place to work and that our diligence in attracting, retaining and promoting female attorneys is working.”

Women comprise 36 percent of Bass Berry's attorney workforce and women hold several leadership roles within the firm, including Leigh Walton (Executive Committee), Anna Grizzle (Entry Level Hiring chair), Cindy Sellers (Business Development and Client Relations chair), Karen S. Neal (Diversity Committee chair), and Tara Swafford and Andrea McKellar (co-chairs of the firm’s Female Mentor Group).

Clients like working with law firms that are family friendly (as opposed to sweatshops where there is pressure to produce billable hours above all).  Being on the list will please corporate executives and general counsel, many of whom are women nowadays. It is also a boon to business development, because a lawyer can bring up the honor to start a conversation with a prospective client.

Firms with at least 50 lawyers were eligible to apply. The applicant pool was self-selected. Surveys were scored based on an algorithm that gave different weights to specific survey sections and questions.

Congratulations to all the winners:

1. Andrews Kurth
2. Arent Fox
3. Arnold & Porter
4. Baker & McKenzie
5. Bass, Berry & Sims
6. Bingham McCutchen
7. Bricker & Eckler
8. Chapman and Cutler
9. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
10. Covington & Burling
11. Cravath, Swaine & Moore
12. Davis Polk & Wardwell
13. Debevoise & Plimpton
14. Dorsey & Whitney
15. Farella Braun + Marcel
16. Fenwick & West
17. Foley Hoag
18. Folger Levin & Kahn
19. Fox Rothschild
20. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
21. Gibbons
22. Gray Plant Mooty
23. Heller Ehrman
24. Hogan & Hartson
25. Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
26. Hunton & Williams
27. Ice Miller
28. Jenner & Block
29. Katten Muchin Rosenman
30. Kutak Rock
31. Latham & Watkins
32. Lindquist & Vennum
33. Littler Mendelson
34. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
35. Miller & Chevalier
36. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
37. Morrison & Foerster
38. Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
39. Patton Boggs
40. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
41. Perkins Coie
42. Shearman & Sterling
43. Shook, Hardy & Bacon
44. Sidley Austin
45. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
46. Steptoe & Johnson
47. Sullivan & Cromwell
48. Vinson & Elkins
49. WilmerHale
50. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Belching up from the dregs comes the marketing campaign of whocanisue.com, featuring sexy nurses and an overflowing toilet of money.

Ordinarily I'm all in favor of freedom of marketing for lawyers.  But I'm barfing as I review their bottom-feeding, publicity whoring campaign. It really does bring disrepute upon the legal profession.  For $1,000, lawyers can be listed on the client-matching website.  It will certainly attract plenty of nuisance plaintiffs for them.

The clowns at this company rented a booth at the recent ABA annual meeting.  It featured three models in skin-tight nurse's outfits wearing red high heels.  This image suggested two things:

1. A helping person to nurse a sick practice to health.
2. Call girls.

The overflowing toilet of money suggested:

1. They have enough money to choke a toilet. They need a plumber and banker.
2. They believe that money is fecal matter.

I talked to web entrepreneur and blogger Stan Chess of New York, who cleverly bought the domain name WHOMcanisue.com. "They are amazing at getting publicity," Chess said, "but their business plan is a piece of [fecal matter]."

"It cheapens the practice of law," he said. "I can't imagine too many lawyers will want to put their marketing money into this.

Even the name whocanisue is barratry, which is the unethical stirring up of complaints and lawsuits.  "Over the past ten years, I have seen a lot of companies with excellent plans that have come and gone," Chess said.  "I'll be amazed if this thing succeeds."

You never know. Borat was a hit movie featuring the main character making fecal matter in the middle of Times Square.

Visit the new August issue of Originate! - the business development newsletter, to read a very specific list of marketing pointers in-house lawyers Carolyn H. Clift, Esq. and Verlyn Suderman, Esq.  According to the duo, there are 7 specific things that law firms should know about so they can get corporate legal work.

Here's the beginning of the article. To see the whole article visit www.pbdi.org/Originate/ -- it's the lead article.

What do general counsels want from outside lawyers?

Imagine you are a general counsel or other person responsible for purchasing decisions for legal services. Then reflect on how your performance is evaluated in terms of the work product of your team. You’ll realize that your criteria for selection and retention of help from outside counsel will include: 

• Strong technical competence
• Cost-consciousness
• Results-orientation
• Responsiveness
• Flexibility
• Integrity
• Diversity
• Business acumen

And that implies these seven criteria for selecting our outside counsel.

1. Just OK can be good enough

Verlyn: The lawyers I engage must have a level of experience and competence in the area of law involved. I will not hire a lawyer or firm to handle something outside of their area of specialization, no matter how highly I think of that lawyer or firm. But the level of experience and competence I look for is highly dependent on the particular situation. Because it’s generally true that the very best lawyers cost the most, I don’t often seek out the very best lawyers. The work we don’t handle in-house is primarily employment and commercial litigation, with some real estate, transactional, or IP work thrown in, and most of our litigation is what I would characterize as routine, low-stakes, and/or low-merit. In these limited-exposure cases, I don’t need the sophistication, depth and research capabilities of a top-tier firm – I just need someone with some demonstrated practical experience and a strong business orientation. 

To me, a lawyer with a business orientation will help me create a strategy that produces the desired result at the lowest possible cost. This requires, for instance, a willingness to prepare and file a motion that may not be perfect, but is good enough to accomplish our tactical objectives. This kind of thing is anathema to some large firms I’ve worked with, apparently because they feel anything that has their name on it has to be the best possible quality. Fortunately, many smaller firms understand this, and one benefit of the lawyer glut for people like me is that you can find very capable lawyers with business orientations at smaller firms for half the cost of big-firm representation.

Carolyn: Given the reasons why we engage outside counsel, and based on the skill and technical background, training and knowledge of our staff, we generally look for outside counsel highly recognized in his/her field of subject matter expertise. Strong technical expertise and extraordinary professional competence is a basic requirement for outside counsel. We typically look to counsel who can add value to our complement of in-house talent. We want outside counsel who work well with our internal business partners and express interest in developing solutions to meet the business goals and objectives.  

GC Checklist:

Appropriate level of experience and competence Business results orientation Team player who works well inside Value for money

2. Firm reputation not so important

Carolyn:  As a practical matter, we generally hire attorneys....

For the rest of the free article, visit www.pbdi.org/Originate 

One of the most successful law firm marketing gambits this year was the 99-cent gas giveaway by Kentucky personal injury attorney Kevin Renfro and the Becker Law Office.  

He achieved all his marketing goals:

• He "separated himself from the herd" of other lawyers.
• He gained national publicity online, in print and on TV.
• He made people feel good about him and put his firm in a good light as a community supporter.

"There are lots of advertising lawyers in Louisville," he told me in an interview, "and no one else was doing these kinds of PR things."

Here was the deal: the first 250 people who lined up at the Chevron on Broadway and Baxter in Louisville, KY, back in July could get up to $15 in gas for 99 cents per gallon and the Becker law firm would pay the difference.  There was no catch -- no obligation to become a client of the firm. He timed it perfectly: it was a beautiful summer day, it was the date a new state gas tax went into effect, gas was at an all-time high ($4.30) and the Fourth of July weekend was starting.

"This is a real feel-good story," Renfro said.  "People waited for hours to save $50 and said it was a godsend to some of them.  Everybody was so happy.  The First person in line that now that he had gas, he could drive out to find a job."  News helicopters hovered over the gas station for most of the day as the line of cars stretched for a mile.

Renfro was on the scene in a red-white-and-blue tie, shaking drivers' hands and giving out T shirts, water bottles and his new flier with his picture, discussing fireworks safety.  Meanwhile he gave interviews to all the local TV station and was on talk radio all day.  The story was picked up by national magazines and newspapers.

"The only thing I feared was the headline saying, "Kevin Renfro gives me gas" he joked.

Hosting seminars and giving speeches are good marketing tactics, according to Sales Attorney Johnny Manriquez. But they won't generate new business if lawyers fail to follow up or wait for the phone to ring.

Johnny Manriquez, Esq., is the Sales Attorney for Scholefield Associates, P.C. in San Diego, CA.  He heads the firm’s business development department and functions and is directly responsible for client development and support; networking with construction industry executives; and developing client management programs.

Hosting informative seminars, booking speaking engagements, and participating in trade group meetings are great marketing avenues that can substantially build firm awareness and ultimately lead to increased business.  In fact, the results of these activities should be directly measured to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a firm’s marketing plan. 

However, many lawyers fail to take the logical next steps:

1. Further qualifying the attendees and asking for future business. This omission  may short circuit a firm’s sales opportunities without the partners even knowing what they did wrong. 
2. Ignoring or taking a passive approach to earning new business. This complicate matters further and perpetuates the “we will wait for them to call us” mentality that permeates the legal industry and cripples marketing efforts and initiatives vital to a firm’s success. 

Writing on the LawMarketing Portal, he said he reported a shocking discovery

To illustrate this point, let me share a recent experience. You can imagine the sheer excitement when I landed my ultimate dream job.  Yes, I was hired to work as a sales attorney and acquire new business for our growing construction law firm.  The first order of business was to bring me up to speed on emerging issues in construction and contract law by giving me a broad overview via an MCLE approved seminar provider.  Great idea?  Well, I did get a great thumbnail sketch of the construction industry and was pointed to the major contractual hot points, but what I learned from that seminar was far more revealing, almost shocking and it had nothing to do with construction.

What stood out the most was that the attorneys who were presenting the seminar failed completely at asking the attendees (a great source of qualified leads) for new business, follow-up meetings or trying to learn more about why each prospect attended their seminar.  They certainly didn’t build any  interest in their firm’s services by only focusing on their seminar topic and not addressing the potential needs of each attendee!

...for the rest of the story, see his article Avoid the Cost of Failing to Follow Up after Seminars on the LawMarketing Portal.

If you are a litigator, the best way to get new clients is to market yourself as a risk reducer and problem avoider.  Most litigators make the mistake of marketing themselves as fire-breathing trial lawyers.  But the better approach is to say that you will keep clients out of court, save them from even having to answer a lawsuit, and prevent them from having to appear at a deposition.

This is counter-intuitive for litigators, who thrive in the courtroom and strive to amass a record of successful verdicts.  Litigators know that their reputation among other lawyers rides on their ability to try a case and win it. It makes them fearsome and respected attorneys within the bar.

Clients, however, don't want to go to court.  They don't want to hear that you'll take the case all the way to the Supreme Court and rack up a series of reported decisions. This costs a fortune and clients as a rule don't want to spend their money on litigation. Instead they'll pressure their lawyers to settle a case and resolve the dispute.

This point was underscored by an article "The Cost of Not Settling a Lawsuit" in the August 8, 2008 New York Times: more than 80% of all lawsuits settle.  Further, in only 15% of cases that went to trial did the plaintiff get an award that exceeded a settlement offer, or did the defendant pay less than the plaintiff's final demand.

The statistics are based on a study by DecisionSet, a consulting firm that advises clients on litigation decisions. "The lesson for plaintiffs is, in the vast majority of cases, they are perceiving the defendant’s offer to be half a loaf when in fact it is an entire loaf or more,” said Randall L. Kiser, a co-author of the study and principal analyst at DecisionSet.

The business development lesson is clear: if you want more corporate clients, impress them with your ability to settle a case.

There's some buzz about a new client-lawyer matching service called "WhoCanISue.com." Some have called it a terrible idea that brings disrepute upon the profession, on the other hand, others say it borders on barratry, which is the unethical stirring up of quarrels and lawsuits.

My viewpoint of WhoCanISue.com is summed up by a hilarious video on YouTube that satirizes bad lawyer advertising, brought to you by the fictional law firm of Swindel & Scheister.  "We will sue everybody," says the ad, if you've ever been misunderstood, stung by a bee or annoyed by pop-up advertisements.

As somber music plays, the actors wear dress shirts, ties -- and shorts. Their buzz haircuts are right out of middle school, and one guy could sure use a shave.  But the mock-u-tisement says you can call them at 1-800-We-Will-Sue. 

My friend Josh Frucher in New York just put up this excellent list of pointers for email marketers, about how to make sure your emails get delivered: Email Deliverability Best Practices

They include:

#1: Register a custom domain

#2: Get a Private IP address

#3: Reverse DNS: Use an email service provider who will customize your email headers so that the domain name in the "From" field and headers of your emails match the domain name associated with your unique IP address.

#4: Authentication: Use an email service provider that can implement authentication such as SPF, Sender ID, and Domain Keys for your domain.

The ABA's Law Practice magazine and Edge International announced three winners of the tenth annual Edge Award.  The awards commend outstanding articles in the magazine most likely to have a practical influence in shaping the actions lawyers take to manage their practices. 

Best Feature Article
Rethinking Retirement: Understanding the War for Legal Talent in the Changing Marketplace
Stephen P. Gallagher
December 2007
URL: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/articles/v33/is8/pg30.shtml

Silver Feature Article
Building the Bridge to Inclusion: The Work of Law Firm Leaders
Martha Fay Africa
June 2008
URL: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/articles/v34/is4/pg31.shtml

Bronze Feature Article
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Law Firm Partners
Ronda Muir
July/August 2007
URL: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/articles/v33/is5/an22.shtml

If there was every any doubt that lawyers should cancel their Yellow Pages, I offer this photographic evidence. I just got the latest edition of “The Real Yellow Pages” from AT&T. Notice the presentation: dumped like a piece of garbage on my front lawn, wrapped in a cheap plastic bag.  They certainly made no effort to make me feel special – I saw what I thought was litter through a window and went outside to toss it into the trash.

Then I discovered it was the Yellow pages, crammed with attorney ads. The “Lawyers” section of the yellow pages went from pages 497 to 538, and except for the frequent use of gavels and scales of justice, they could have been ads for tire companies. The lawyers probably spent a lot of money to be sure they were included in something that resembled yard waste.

This just in from Tim Stanley's Law, Technology & Legal Marketing Blog: Google's AdWords Keyword Tool now gives the approximate monthly search volume for different keywords.

You can read more about this new feature on the Google AdWords Blog.

And here are a few words and their approximate monthly search volume

4,090,000 Lawyer
7,480,000 Attorney
1,000,000 Law Firm

7,480,000 Legal
20,400,000 Law

Of course, as can be seen in the image above, Google gives additional suggested terms as well.

From Law.com:

For more news, commentary and analysis on the international legal market, visit LegalWeek.com

When Beth O. Seabright, Director of Marketing at Tucker Arensberg, PC in Pittsburgh, PA, joined her first law firm, she was surprised inspired by the young, bright, outgoing associates who were eager to build their own book of business, even right out of law school.

The problem was that they didn't know where to begin.  She realized that if these individuals were actually going to become rainmakers, they needed some education and business development guidance. With this in mind, she developed a program targeted to help associates understand business development concepts and begin to develop effective business development habits early in their legal career: The 99 Days Business Development Challenge.

Here are the results:

• Nearly every associate completed a contact list and a business development plan
   
• Numerous meetings with clients/prospects/referral sources took place
   
• Several networking events were attended
   
• 5 articles were published
   
• 9 presentations were made
   
• 22 new matters were opened
   
• 19 new clients were brought into the firm.

To see how she did it, read Associates Develop New Business in '99 Days' Program on the LawMarketing Portal at www.lawmarketing.com.

For a follow-up post, please go here.