More law firms take on cross-selling

law firm marketing, business developmentFrom the Wisconsin Law Journal:

When it comes to attracting new clients, a standout partner can be an asset to a firm.

But while one lawyer may be able to boost his or her own bottom line, a number of firms are adopting a team approach to help expand business, especially in a down economy.

The concept of cross-selling, or having attorneys from different practice areas connect each other with clients, is an emerging trend for mid-size firms.

Milwaukee-based Davis & Kuelthau SC has gradually incorporated the concept as a way to coordinate business between its five Wisconsin locations.

Marketing director Michelle M. Friedman said that it takes “toddler steps” to implement a successful cross-selling plan.

Business development training sessions for attorneys and modifications in firm compensation models to reward collaboration are two avenues that Friedman has seen work.

For example, said Friedman, instead of an attorney being compensated solely on the business he or she individually brings in, subjective factors such as partner collaboration and non-billable efforts to generate business can be used to “incentivize” cross-selling.

What’s key to success, she said, is letting attorneys “who are really good business developers lead the way to help collaborate among practice groups. [Then] there is a trickle-down effect to other attorneys.”

Reluctant veterans?

But getting a veteran attorney with a strong book of business to subscribe to the idea of cross-selling can be easier said than done, noted marketing consultant Larry Bodine.

While the recession may provide additional incentive to work together to build business for a firm, some lawyers are reluctant to risk losing clients and billable hours.

“The key thing law firms have to remember is a client is not a partner’s personal book of business,” Bodine said. “Clients are an asset for the firm to exploit, so there is no excuse for a partner to hoard clients. It’s just hurting the firm.”

How do you identify clients who might be good candidates for cross-selling? Bodine said the traditional point of entry is through the corporate practice, because attorneys who do transactional work or corporate filings are often in the best position to know what else is going on at a company.

“Then you ask those corporate lawyers, ‘what else does this client need?’ Red hot areas like bankruptcy or government regulation might lend themselves to additional opportunities.”

Bodine said that in his experience, the more partners that work with a client the better the chance the client will have a long-term relationship with the firm.

law firm marketing, business developmentMichael Best & Friedrich LLP has had success cross-selling through their corporate practice, said marketing manager Jennifer R. Rupkey. Opportunities for intellectual property and real estate work have emerged as a result of relationships with corporate clients.

“We look at it from the client’s perspective in terms of what types of services might they be looking for, as opposed to the mindset of, let’s go sell this client,” she said.

In house counsel avoid hiring firms if it’s clear the lawyers don’t like each other or haven’t worked together. You don’t want attorneys from the firm introducing themselves to their own co-workers when they enter the room for the pitch. 

It may seem like basic advice, but larger firms shouldn’t forget the attorneys in their other offices, said Friedman. She’s heard of instances where work was referred to other firms because the lawyer didn’t know someone internal was available.

 “If you don’t know enough about the partners at another office, set up a presentation to say, ‘here’s what we do, how can we help,’” Friedman said. 
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Happy Thanksgiving

Clients want "Concierge Services"

cONCIERGE SERVICESWhen I attended the Association of Corporate Counsel meeting last month, the corporate clients were calling for law firms to offer "concierge services."

When I conduct retreats and training sessions at law firms, I generally get blank stares when I suggest that the lawyers offer "concierge services."  However, one of my coaching clients in San Jose, CA, knew exactly what I was talking about.

The idea is for an expert lawyer to make himself/herself available for unlimited quick phone calls and emails to answer quick questions from clients over the phone.  In the case of the San Jose lawyer, she practices in employment law and charges a flat fee so that the HR staff, management and in-house lawyers can contact her all they want. The arrangement also includes up to two hours of research and settlement negotiations -- but not litigation.

The clients love it, because the frequently need input on a decision they're about to make, but just want to run it by the firm lawyer first.  They are less interested in getting a long opinion letter or extensive policy written.  They just want a quick answer.

The lawyer loves it too.  She gets paid a quarterly retainer -- revenue she can count on -- and the calls act as a feeder for her litigation practice for which she charges by the hour. She has set up concierge services for fast-food chains, which have lots of employee issues.

She exemplifies the new, post-recession lawyer.  The way that commerce is conducted between lawyers and clients has changed because of the recession. And the change is permanent. If you'd like to be in practice for the next five to ten years, I highly recommend you offer concierge services too.

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5 Ways to Monitor Websites

monitoringThese are sites and software tools that can automatically track changes on chosen web pages and send alerts when a website has been updated with new information. This is especially helpful for monitoring blog sites and other irregularly updated sources.

  1. InfoMinder
    "A hosted [fee based] subscription service that allows you to track changes to web pages, blogs, RSS feeds and wikis."
  2. Google Alerts
    "Email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic."
  3. SurfSaver
    It "lets you save, organize, and search the information you gather on the Internet. SurfSaver is an ideal tool for researchers, packrats, and anyone else collecting information on-line."
  4. Watch That Page
    A service that enables you to automatically collect new information from your favorite pages on the Internet. You select which pages to monitor, and WatchThatPage will find which pages have changed, and collect all the new content for you. The new information is presented to you in an email and/or a personal web page. You can specify when the changes will be collected, so they are fresh when you want to read them. The service is free.
  5. Website Watcher
    It "detects website updates for you and highlights all changes in the text."
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New Video: 4 Law Firm Marketing Technology Tips

Here are four technology tips to generate a ton of leads for lawyers in small firms. There are a lot of ways you can spend money on marketing with technology, but these are all free:

There is one directory lawyers need to be in -- you can forget about all the others -- but you must be found in this one: Google. Here's how: 

  1. Google Local – because clients ask, “I want a lawyer who knows my issue in my town.”
  2. Yelp.com – It’s not just restaurant reviews, Yelp reviews all kinds of businesses, including lawyers. Ask happy clients to go to Yelp and describe how they feel. This way you can get client reviews giving the power of testimonials. 
  3. LinkedIn -- My favorite way to use LinkedIn is to get recommendations. Get testimonials you would love to have.
  4. Join the LawMarketing Listserv at www.LawMarketing.biz  – it's an email discussion group, featuring an online TV that shows what's being discussed. We talk about establishing a niche, branding yourself and getting new business.
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The Lawyers' Definitive Guide to Video Marketing

Gerry Oginski, lawyer videoGerry Oginski, Esq., has written a tip-packed article on markeing yourself online with video.  A New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial lawyer in practice for more than 21 years, he has produced and created more than 200 to market his law practice where he explains to consumers how lawsuits work in New York.

You've made the choice to jump right into video to market your legal services. The move is a good one. It will help you distinguish yourself from everyone else. Here now, never before released, is Gerry's definitive guide to video marketing for lawyers.

Nine Benefits to Using Video:

  1. Viewers get to see you.
  2. Viewers get to hear you.
  3. Viewers get to know you.
  4. Viewers begin to trust you before they ever walk in your door.
  5. You become the wise man at the top of the mountain.
  6. You are viewed as the legal expert.
  7. You are giving away information in order to gain an audience.
  8. Viewers see that you are a real human being.
  9. The image of a grumpy unapproachable stuffy lawyer dissipates when a viewer sees you on video.

“What should I talk about in my video? Create an educational message.  What do I mean?

Do not use online video the same way lawyers have used TV commercials since 1973. A 30-60 second commercial on YouTube does nothing to help you get new clients in your door. Take advantage of the web’s unlimited capacity for video.

 

 For the rest of the article visit the LawMarketing Portal at http://bit.ly/8IbGE 

RainMaker Software, Inc.'s Law Firm Economic Assistance Package Awards +$430,000

RainMaker Software announced that it has has awarded more than $430,000 in funds to 33 different firms in its $1 million Economic Assistance Program for law firms. The program was originally announced to law firms back in March and continues to increase applicants as the December 31st deadline approaches.

The RainMaker $1,000,000 Economic Assistance Package is based on a "pay it forward" concept. RainMaker Software, founded in 1969, is a leading provider of integrated financial and practice management software for mid-to-large sized law firms. An integral part of the qualifying process is that law firms identify how they will "pay forward" the benefits of the assistance to their local community. Examples might include identifying new pro-bono work initiatives for laid-off workers, assisting families dealing with potential mortgage foreclosures or participating in charitable organizations. The amount of the Economic Assistance Package for each firm is based on its size and the commitment it makes to "pay forward" these benefits.

 

It is RainMaker’s belief that many law firms do not have the tools necessary to manage the financial side of their business, reduce internal costs, improve productivity, predict cash flow or meet demanding client requirements. When law firms are busy, they have no incentive to make these changes. "RainMaker is committed to helping law firms become financially healthy, no matter what the state of the economy, by offering this unparalleled $1,000,000 package. The company opened the funding to all law firms and hopes to continue helping firms invest in the proper technology to not only make the firm more profitable, but also provide for a higher level of security in these troubling times," said company spokesperson Matthew Altemus.

 

Law firms can apply for the funds via the RainMaker website http://www.rainmakerlegal.com by filling out a form, or by contacting a RainMaker representative.

 

Trouble At Twitter: U.S. Visitors Down 8 Percent In October

From TechCrunch.com:

 

Ever since last summer, Twitter’s growth in the U.S. has been stalling. But in October, the number of people who visited Twitter.com from the U.S. actually declined for the first time by 8 percent month-over-month. Estimates released today by comScore put Twitter’s domestic unique visitors at 19.2 million, down from 20.9 million in September.

On an annual basis, Twitter is still going gangbusters with 1,271 percent growth from 1.4 million visitors in October, 2008. And on a global basis, it still seems to be chugging away with 58.4 million visitors in September. But a hypergrowth company like Twitter cannot afford to slow down in its home market.

CEO Evan Williams recently acknowledged the slowdown in the U.S., and hopes that a slew of new features will help revive growth to the site. Many of these features are already rolling out, including the new Retweet button, Lists, and Geolocation features.

Twitter is obviously committed to making its service better on its own Website (these numbers do not measure usage on mobile or desktop clients, which is easily half of all Twitter usage). But while it fiddles, rival Facebook keeps moving further and further ahead.

Will the new features be enough to bring back growth in the U.S.? If they don’t, Twitter’s troubles will really begin

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Bring Your Client to the Final Hearing

A great marketing tip I picked up from a partner at a West Virginia law firm is to bring your client to the final hearing of his case.

If the judge or jury rules in your favor, you look like a hero to the client.

If they rule against you, the client will be angry at the judge or jury -- not you.

Contrast this with having to telephone a client and say, "I lost the case.  The judge and jury ruled against us."  Now the client is angry at you.

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How to Make Networking Events Work for You

Networking professionalsNetworking works best if it is done with "marketing aforethought." Here’s your game plan for an effective networking event.

Where to Go

The best meetings for networking are the ones your clients and referral sources go to. Every person in business belongs to a trade association. Simply ask your clients what meetings they go to and suggest you join them. At the meeting, have your client introduce you to others (who are prospective clients). If anyone asks what you’re doing there, tell them you want to learn the industry better, to meet people and to ask questions.

Bar association meetings can be a great source for referrals – if you’re a litigator and you attend bar meetings to meet transactional lawyers, or you can meet out-of-state lawyers who may call you when they have a matter in your city.

Making a Plan of Action

Most people erroneously think networking is shaking as many hands as possible and spreading out as many business cards as possible at an event. This is incorrect. You should go to an event with the aim of having one or two meaningful conversations – that’s it.

A premeditated networker going to an event checks the membership or attendee list ahead of time, and highlights 3-5 people to meet. That way he’s not walking into a huge room full of people he doesn’t know. At the event, the networker asks the president to introduce him to a few of these targets.

Additional Tips

  • Come early to meetings and stand by the table where nametags are handed out. Let everyone at the meeting see you are there. Say hello to everyone you know.
  • Have the staff working the desk identify the people you are looking for.
  • Pick out whom you're going to sit with and put your purse/jacket across the chairs at the table.
  • Introduce yourself to the speakers and get their business cards; briefly chat them up about the topic they're speaking on. Do this at the front of the room so everybody can see you attended the meeting.
  • If possible, bring a second person from your law firm to the meeting and have them do the same thing; be certain that you split up from the second person and sit at separate tables and talk to different people.
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Seyfarth, Baker & Reed Smith Send Lawyers to Business School

Deborah RhodeArticle from: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)

It reads like a typical MBA student class schedule: performance management, the global organization and creating value.

Only the students are not future CEOs or CFOs. They are lawyers wanting to learn to think like business executives.

While today's biggest law firms may resemble multinational corporations with offices worldwide, most lawyers are ill equipped to manage such complex entities. They usually learn management on the fly, and also tend to be poor at working as a team, which increasingly is necessary in today's business world.

"Legal education hasn't adequately adapted to the changing needs of the profession," said Deborah Rhode, a law professor at Stanford University and the director of its Center on Ethics. "One of the most critical failures is the whole area of managerial skills."

A few law firms have stepped into the gap and designed mini MBA classes for their lawyers, often in partnership with business schools.

Chicago law firm Seyfarth Shaw, for example, began a management program for partners last year at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Its lawyers live on campus for three days and learn marketing and strategy at one of the nation's most prestigious business schools.

"This sensitized the partners to some of the critical business issues going forward, such as mergers, bringing on laterals [lawyers from other firms] and opening new offices," said Michael Levinson, a trial lawyer and partner at Seyfarth Shaw.

Such training is expensive. A five-day program at Kellogg costs $7,500 per person, including food and lodging.

Another Chicago firm, Baker & McKenzie, designed something similar with Kellogg for its partners a few years ago, and began to understand their clients better.

"It really helped our partners appreciate how clients are organized, how they manage and how we can serve them better," said Christine Lagarde, chairman of Baker & McKenzie, which has more than 3,000 lawyers worldwide.

Still, executive education for lawyers is rare.

"I don't know that a lot of other firms are doing this," said J. Stephen Poor, Seyfarth Shaw's managing partner. "I discuss this at managing-partner meetings and get a lot of blank looks around the table."

Beyond ongoing legal training, law firms do not have the tradition of other professional services of business development.

As accounting firms expanded internationally, the larger ones established collegelike campuses where recruits were transformed into well-scrubbed accountants and consultants and returned later for management classes. Some, like Ernst & Young, have turned to business schools for education. It has offered a program through Kellogg since 1987.

In contrast, most lawyers have never taken a management course even though corporate clients want knowledgeable business advisers who can provide counsel on everything from marketing to mergers and acquisitions.

And they want advice that is cost-effective or they will take their business elsewhere.

"Although we see ourselves as being excellent lawyers, we don't necessarily think like businessmen," said John Smith, a partner at Pittsburgh firm Reed Smith.
"We don't understand exactly their analysis of a business situation," he said.

Starting in October, Reed Smith hopes to change that by offering courses in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Offerings will include instruction in managing and developing business relationships as well as leadership training for the firm's future managers.

Continue Reading...

A new design for LinkedIn

Some of you may have noticed a new site navigation experience on LinkedIn.  According to Kevin Bury, Principal User Experience Designer at LinkedIn in San Francisco, LinkedIn is in the process of testing a new design.  During this testing phase, some users will see the new design, while others will not.

What’s New

  1. A global navigation bar at the top of the page that provides convenient access to all LinkedIn services.
  2. Simplified local navigation within each of the LinkedIn areas (Profile, Contacts, Groups, etc.).
  3. More room available for page content. Less scrolling.
  4. A cleaner, less-cluttered look.

New LinkedIn navigation

An easier way to navigate and find information on LinkedIn

LinkedIn began the redesign effort several months ago by analyzing how people use LinkedIn.  They looked at what features people use the most and pored over several years of data from usability research on the site. Armed with this information they began doing design explorations of how to better organize LinkedIn features, and make them more convenient to find and use.

Mr. Bury said, "We factored into this effort additional features we knew were coming. We narrowed down the designs to a few candidates we felt were strong contenders. We then prototyped these designs and had users perform tasks with the prototypes in the usability lab. We went through numerous iterations until we arrived at a design we felt worked the best.  One of the key features of the new design is that it allows much more space for page content – information about you and your professional network."

image2

You can leave a comment on their blog or @linkedin us on twitter as well.

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The November issue of Originate! is now online

Originate, http://www.pbdi.org/originate/

The November issue of Originate! is now online. Here’s the list of articles – and the lead article is always free.

 

Learn More About Subscribing to ORIGINATE!

What does it take to get new clients and generate more work? Put the best ideas and advice to work for you with ORIGINATE! – the online business development newsletter for lawyers. Click "Learn More"!


Featured Articles

Lead Article - To Do or Not to Do: How Well Do 15 Common Marketing Initiatives Deliver Results?

There are many marketing initiatives a lawyer or law firm can consider. Steve Barrett takes a sharp-eyed look at how well 15 of the most common marketing programs stack up when you look at their ROI, what they truly deliver in business relative to their costs. Especially in these tough times, you want to keep your investments productive by doing those things that lie below his dotted line.

 

How to Win an RFP Competition

More and more in-house counsel are evaluating law firms through a request for proposal (RFP). And more law firms are competing for that business. Gail Huneryager, Director of Business Development at Crowe & Dunlevy, explains what you should do with an RFP, what’s important and your keys to winning new business through a successful response.

 

Using Roundtables and Special Interest Groups to Generate Business

At a time when your clients’ budgets for attending industry meetings are severely limited, sponsoring a small group roundtable can prove particularly valuable for your business development. By spurring a discussion on trends or critical problems that a peer group is facing, you stand to gain. Michael Cummings explains how it can work.

 

 

Backyard Twitter: Go Local, not Global, to Build Relationships

The scope of Twitter can be overwhelming, especially to those who have a local practice and are unsure why they should bother with this borderless social network. Thom Singer explains why Twitter is best approached as not some "global networking" thing but rather a local tool, and he offers five tips to growing your personal and professional brand in your own backyard.

 

Membership Has Its Privileges: How You Can Get Business from an Association

You keep hearing about the value of getting involved with a local trade or business association. After figuring out which one, the big question is how best to do this so that it brings you legal work. Darryl Cross advocates going where the action is, the membership committee, and explains why.

 

Five Ways to Raise the Profile of Your Practice Group...NOT!

Like most legal marketing, emphasizes Andy Havens, there’s no good short cut to raising the profile of a practice group. It takes clear goals, a commitment from your attorneys, an organized plan, and a way to measure success. And it takes avoiding big no-nos, like the five whoppers in this article, to keep your effort on a sound footing.

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$50 Discount Ends Tomorrow for Early Registrations to ACC Value Challenge Webinar

Womble Carlyle Prospers by Adopting Association of Corporate Counsel Value Challenge

DATE: November 12, 2009
• 10 AM Pacific time
• 11 Am Mountain time
• Noon Central time
• 1 PM Eastern time 
 

Robert FieldsBill TurnerRegister Now and get the $50 early-bird discount. Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, a firm respected as a pace-setter in the legal profession, has adopted the Value Challenge made by the American Corporate Counsel Association -- and prospered as a result.

 

Listen to Womble's Partner Robert E. Fields, III, and Bill Turner, Director of Practice Management, describe the steps their firm took. Benefits of the Value Challenge to lawyers in private practice include having a marketing point of distinction, fewer delays in payments, higher realization rates, an increased volume of work, and a greater likelihood of handling future related matters. Click here to sign up for this event.

 

More than 250 law firms and corporations have attended organized meetings nationwide to discuss implementing the Value Challenge. Benefits:

  • A marketing point of distinction.
  • Fewer delays in payments and falling realization rates.
  • Increased volume of work.
  • Greater likelihood of handling future related matters.
  • Change orders when work exceeds the original scope.
  • Reduced overhead devoted to the billing process.
  • Fewer clients flyspecking bills and demanding after-the-fact discounts.
  • Better alignment between the cost and the value of the legal service.

Womble Carlyle Prospers by Adopting Association of Corporate Counsel Value Challengeand get the $50 early bird discount. Registration fee: $250
Contact Laura Kresich: (773) 966-9273 or email Lkresich@LawMarketing.com
Registration fee goes up to $300 after November 6. Sign up online at http://bit.ly/3oDy14

 

Story of the Year: Alternative Fees Are Now Prevalent

Dan Currell, General Counsel RoundtableFar and away the biggest development of the last 12 months is the prevalence of alternative fees.  Dan Currell, Senior Member of the General Counsel Roundtable, told me that law firms that offer alternate fees are "eating the other law firms' lunch."  Roughly half of all clients are using alternative fees, according to the new Fulbright & Jaworski survey of in-house lawyers (see the chart) -- and see the article  http://bit.ly/44wrJD

I went to the Association of Corporate Counsel meeting in October, and GCs are talking about buying "litigation by the bucket" and seeking "concierge services" from law firms. For an article on the topic, see http://bit.ly/238jPV

The National Law Journal recently published a list of the "Hot Mid-Sized Law Firms" and Alternative Fees Put Tucker Ellis & West on Hot List 

Alternative Fees, law firm billingThe most popular alternative fee arrangements are, in order:
 

  1. Contingency fees
  2. Fixed or flat fees
  3. Discounted hourly billing
  4. Blended hourly rates
  5. Hybrid Fees
  6. Retainer Agreement
  7. Capped fees
  8. Capped hourly rates
  9. Task-based fees
  10. Annual fixed fee

(This is according to the Incisive legal Intelligence 2009 Bill Rates and Practices Survey.)

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Get Your Copy of Google Wave

Google Wave, Google’s new real-time communication platform is now available to the public. It is a new in-browser communication and collaboration tool that is already being hailed by some as the next evolution of email. To make sense of it all, Mashable.com has compiled key information, definitions, and links related to the launch of Google Wave. This in-depth guide provides an overview of Google Wave, discusses the terminology associated with it and details information on Google Wave applications.

Google Wave Image

Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. It combines aspects of email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking, and project management to build one elegant, in-browser communication client. You can bring a group of friends or business partners together to discuss how your day has been or share files.

Google Wave has a lot of innovative features, but here are just a few:

- Real-time: In most instances, you can see what someone else is typing, character-by-character.

- Embeddability: Waves can be embedded on any blog or website.

- Applications and Extensions: Just like a Facebook application or an iGoogle gadget, developers can build their own apps within waves. They can be anything from bots to complex real-time games.

- Wiki functionality: Anything written within a Google Wave can be edited by anyone else, because all conversations within the platform are shared. Thus, you can correct information, append information, or add your own commentary within a developing conversation.

- Open source: The Google Wave code will be open source, to foster innovation and adoption amongst developers.

- Playback: You can playback any part of the wave to see what was said.

- Natural language: Google Wave can autocorrect your spelling, even going as far as knowing the difference between similar words, like “been” and “bean.” It can also auto-translate on-the-fly.

- Drag-and-drop file sharing: No attachments; just drag your file and drop it inside Google Wave and everyone will have access.

For more information see the article The Top 6 Game-Changing Features of Google Wave.  

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Think Halloween is scary? Try getting a bunch of lawyers to move by December 15

I just LOVE this:

Forward this message to a friend
Bass, Berry & Sims' Nashville office is moving December 15 to 150 Third Ave. South, Suite 2800 •  Nashville, TN 37201

Think Halloween is scary? Try getting a bunch of lawyers to move by December 15.
 
Our Nashville office is moving to the new Pinnacle at Symphony Place: 

150 Third Avenue South, Suite 2800 • Nashville, TN 37201

315 deaderick st - suite 2700 - nashville, tn 3732803001 - 615.742.6200
 

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Proskauer Takes Top Honor in Marketing Ranking

For the third year in the row, the law firm Proskauer Rose was named as the first with the best marketing program, winning first place in the MLF 50 ranking of law firms.  The competition, sponsored by ALM's Marketing the Firm newsletter, evaluates the marketing, business development and communications programs of law firms. 

The article describing the top five winners is online at http://bit.ly/1PzNc6 (subscription required).

Joseph CalveNUMBER ONE:  PROSKAUER ROSE - Chief Marketing Officer, Joe Calve

"Proskauer’s marketing and communications team, working closely with its IT Group, among others within the firm, and with various well-known outside agencies, has tackled a massive multi-tier effort designed to provide vital support to its biz-dev efforts: a top-to-bottom re-branding that includes the redevelopment of the firm’s primary external communications channel (Proskauer.com), its primary internal communications channel (Proskauer Connect, its Intranet site), and an overhaul of all written and visual communications — from bios to brochures to blogs. All elements of this project, literally hundreds and hundreds of them, are scheduled to launch simultaneously this month. The firm’s goal is nothing short of establishing a completely new way of communicating externally with the market and internally among its lawyers and staff," wrote Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi is Editor-in-Chief of the MLF newsletter.

Julie Gilbert

 

NUMBER TWO: LOCKE LORD BISSELL & LIDDELL LLP - Chief Communications & Marketing Officer, Julie Gilbert

The firm’s Communications & Marketing (C&M) team overhauled Locke Lord’s Top 200 client list to include detail that would benefit cross-selling efforts. They captured fees billed, fees received, the list of all working partners, the type of work performed, SIC industry codes, General Counsel contact information, and their own recommendations for cross-selling opportunities. This is continuously updated and circulated to the partnership, and reviewed at the practice and section levels to determine relationship intelligence and additional business opportunities.

The C&M team developed issue-specific client pieces to address changes in government as well as the economy. When the health care reform debate started to take center stage on Capitol Hill, the Health Care attorneys and C&M team developed a "Weekly Health Care Reform Update" newsletter for attorneys and clients. And when economic conditions sparked an increased number of federal bankruptcy filings, the C&M team developed a weekly "Distressed Asset Report" (DAR) listing companies that have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and might be interested in selling off their assets. Attorneys are encouraged to forward this report to clients who might be interested in purchasing distressed assets, or who could be put in touch with the firm’s team of Bankruptcy and Restructuring attorneys. Within the DAR’s first month of publication, the firm’s Bankruptcy Group was retained on several new matters after attorneys sent this to their clients.

 

Jeanne HammerstromNUMBER THREE: BENESCH, FRIEDLANDER, COPLAN & ARONOFF LLP -- Chief Marketing Officer Jeanne M. Hammerstrom

Most of what Benesch has done is both innovative and rooted in BD. Benesch offers a series of video-casts called B-Casts. These videos spotlight the firm’s attorneys as they are interviewed regarding current hot topics in clients’ industries, and are set up like an interview with a partner as the host. The videos are available on the firm’s Web site (www.beneschlaw.com/bcasts), and are sent out to targeted lists of clients via e-mail.

The firm has recently been utilizing new Webinar software that allows its attorneys to hold online presentations and seminars. Benesch advertises its Webinars via e-mail blasts, announcements on its Web site, and ads in local newspapers and business journals. So far, attendance has exceeded the firm’s expectations with over 100 attendees at the first few Webinars. The video files from the Webinars are archived on the firm’s Web site following the presentation, so that clients can have continued access to the information.

NUMBER FOUR: K&L GATES -  Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Berardi

NUMBER FIVE: GOODWIN PROCTER - Chief Marketing Officer Anne Malloy Tucker