Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

There are 250 attendees at the 16th Annual Marketing Partner Forum in sunny, balmy Dana Point, CA.  Though the group is smaller than in the past, these are people from the law firms that will stand tall after the recession ends. They see the importance of spending money on marketing in an economic downturn, and have sent their partners and talented marketers to a conference to learn how to stay ahead of the pack. They are here in the hope that things will get better. The absent firms are no doubt busy cutting marketing budgets and staff and laying off lawyers. They are at home in the fear that they won’t survive.

It’s also a senior crowd, which I like. The networking breaks are filled with people with lots of experience and perspective, as opposed to the conferences that draw 21-year olds fresh out of college. The dominant topic of conversation is the recession, the highly-publicized law firm layoffs, the firms whose CMO left, and all the bad economic indicators. But as the attendees talk on cell phones among the palm trees and chat over drinks overlooking the rolling ocean, they can see that there is prosperity to be had. There’s a resoluteness that I hear, where people talk about how they’re going to market their way through this lousy economy.

The legal industry is valued at over $200 billion and employs more than 1 million professionals. The average lawyer has a net worth exceeding $1.4 million and an annual household income topping $293,000, according to incisive media. This is a profession that’s here to stay.