EDITORial >>
Finders and minders IN THE FIRST PERSON
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great lawyer, or a great marketer? These terms are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they do raise the question of the extent to which one’s success in commercial legal practice is dependent on marketing efforts, rather than excellence in legal advice.
As in many other professions, there is the question of the self-justifying proposition: the lawyer who is acknowledged as an expert in his or her field simply because that is what they have always been held out to be. Whether or not that reputation is deserved tends to be a separate question: there is an old joke that one needs to retire or die in order to be deleted from certain industry directories of leading lawyers, some of which are compiled by junior researchers from the northern hemisphere.
“The transaction was run at a time when there was (and continues to be) a lot of interest in insurance assets in Malaysia, and consolidation of the insurance industry is being promoted and encouraged by the Malaysian regulators” Andre Gan, Baker & McKenzie (p4)
Unlike many facets of consumer business, consumers of legal services are sophisticated users of those services. Pure marketing hype alone will only get you so far and lawyers who give ill-conceived advice will ultimately be held to account for their actions. However, at the other end of the scale one must pose the question as to what extent one lawyer has a higher reputation than another simply as a result of their marketing and practice-building activities.
“Travel plays an important role in business growth in a down economy, by helping businesses connect with their customers”
Marketing is an accepted part of being a modern lawyer. But the price of this heightened commercial awareness must be an acknowledgment of the downside. This may no longer be a profession where one is judged upon one’s performance alone.
“Today, Mauritius is the location from which most direct investments are made into India, principally due to the MauritiusIndia Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement which dates back to 1983 ”
Suzanne Cook, USTA (p36)
Anthony Whaley, Conyers Dill & Pearman (p63)
One must pose the question as to what extent one lawyer has a higher reputation than another simply as a result of their marketing and practice-building activities www.legalbusinessonline.com
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