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Strategies

07.09 V11.N06 The Journal of Legal Marketing

Do You Trust Your Clients?

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re So Vain, Lawyer Developing Your Leadership Skills PR that Impacts the Bottom Line

1926 Waukegan Road, Suite 1 Glenview, IL 60025-1700

Legal Marketing Association

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Strategies

07.09 V 11.N 06 The Journal of Legal Marketing

CONTENTS A RT I C L E S Amy I. Stickel Trust – Another Casualty of the Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 As the economy continues to stagger, businesses and law firms alike are struggling and laying off huge numbers of workers. But being in the same boat doesn’t mean lawyers and clients are looking out for one another.

Dave Poston Are Your Public Relations Efforts Contributing to the Bottom Line? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Looking for more ways to tie PR to business development? Here are four tips to do just that.

Martha Carnahan & Jodie Charlop Marketer as Leader: Step Up to Leadership!

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Buried in day-to-day work, it’s hard for most legal marketers to break out and develop true leadership skills. With the right commitment and focus, it can happen.

Silvia Coulter Sales Training for Legal Marketers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 “Sales” was once a word that wasn’t whispered in the hallowed halls of law firms. Now, it’s often a critical part of the legal marketer’s role.

Jonathan Groner & Liz Lindley Why Content Matters on Your Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 In a Twitter-obsessed, viral-media environment, it’s easier to focus on the firm’s Web site visuals. But getting the words right still matters.

William Doll The Vanity Distortion in Law Firm Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Some attorneys are so vain they probably think this article is about them. And they’re right.

Louis C. Abramovitz Information Wants to Be Free (Well, Sort of…) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Even in these budget-conscious times, it’s easy to gravitate to expensive, pay-per-use Web sites for research and marketing needs. But there are still many excellent, free resources that disprove the notion that you get what you pay for.

F E AT U R E S President’s Podium, Jennifer Manton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 About This Issue, Dave Poston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Dicta: Marketers on the Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 You’re Invited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ask the Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Event Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Message from the Editors, Jeff Scalzi & Jennifer Smuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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P RESIDENT ’ S P ODIUM

Strategies

Members Move Mountains in British Columbia

The Journal of Legal Marketing

Editorial Board

by Jennifer Manton, LMA President

Co-Executive Editors Jeff Scalzi

As legal marketing professionals, sometimes we make small steps forward – at other times, giant leaps. But when it comes to our LMA colleagues in Vancouver, B.C, moving mountains is the description that I think fits best, while epitomizing the leadership that LMA can take not only in our profession, but in the legal industry as a whole. The LMA Vancouver Chapter, like many of the attorneys and law firms that its members represent, maintained that some of the marketing rules established by the Law Society of British Columbia (the equivalent of state bar associations in the United States) were outdated. Some rules, they said, were particularly harsh – specifically, the one requiring that all marketing be “true and verifiable.”When technically applied, that meant no subjective client testimonials and no rankings quotes. The Law Society realized its rules were antiquated, so it was turning a blind eye to the myriad of little marketing indiscretions that were occurring. Meanwhile, it was awkward for any lawyer or law firm to challenge the rules directly to institute change, because they might draw attention to their own thwarting of those rules. I know first-hand as a law firm CMO how difficult these circumstances were for our colleagues in Vancouver. After all, as law firm marketing professionals, they still had to walk a fine line between doing their job and staying within the law. However, after many conversations,Vancouver Chapter members determined that they were actually well-positioned to serve as an advocate for the profession. After all, LMA was a “neutral third party” that could initiate the request without subjecting any individuals or law firms to unwanted scrutiny. Armed with LMA International’s position statement template, the chapter created and submitted a powerful argument for change. The statement they prepared pointed out the evolution of technology and its impact on legal advertising. It explained how the proliferation of directories using endorsements actually helped the public make informed decisions. It mentioned that virtually all industries use endorsements for marketing purposes. It summed up the situation by saying that the “train has not only left the station, it is leaving by the hour” and tactfully pointed out that the Law Society’s current rules were actually limiting access to consumer information rather than protecting consumers. “We risk appearing dated and even irrelevant if we insist on adhering to a policy that is no longer followed by our own or any other profession in this day and age,” they wrote. Our LMA colleagues weren’t expecting much of a response. After all, the Law Society had never before accepted input from non-members, much less non-lawyers. However, change was in the air. Not only did they get a response, they received an invitation to meet and discuss their recommendations with the Law Society’s Ethics Committee! The meeting went well...so well, in fact, they were invited back

Foley Hoag LLP Boston, Mass.

Jennifer Smuts Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP Wilmington, Del.

Editorial Board Members Carol Alfred InsideCounsel Washington, D.C.

Stephen Burke Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C. Boston, Mass.

Marguerite G. Downey Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP Washington, D.C.

Diane Hamlin Hamlin Strategy Group Belmont, Calif.

Brian Hickey CJP Communications New York, N.Y.

Silvia Hodges Emerson College Boston, Mass.

Melissa Hoff MBH Strategies Kirkland, Wash.

L. Russell Lawson III Sands Anderson Marks & Miller Richmond,Va.

Deborah McMurray Content Pilot Dallas, Texas

Leesa Petrie Fenwick & West LLP Mountain View, Calif.

Dave Poston Poston Communications Atlanta, Ga.

Mark Usellis Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Seattle, Wash.

Managing Editor Amy I. Stickel Chicago, Ill.

Art Director/Graphic Designer Anthony Iacuzzi Wilmette, Ill.

Continued on page 11

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LMA Board of Directors President

Jennifer Manton Loeb & Loeb LLP New York, N.Y.

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A BOUT T HIS I SSUE

The Qualities That Matter

Immediate Past President Lisa M. Simon Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP Denver, Colo. President-Elect

Nathan Darling

by Dave Poston, Issue Editor

Van Ness Feldman Washington, D.C. Secretary

Leesa Petrie Fenwick & West LLP Mountain View, Calif.

Treasurer

Jeff Reade Cole Valley Software Coeur D’Alene, Idaho

Treasurer-Elect

Alycia Sutor Akina Corporation Oak Park, Ill.

Members-at-Large

Mark Beese Leadership for Lawyers Evergreen, Colo.

Audra Callanan Robinson & Cole LLP Boston, Mass.

Adam Severson Minneapolis, Minn.

Jasmine Trillos-Decarie Goodwin Procter LLP Boston, Mass.

Judith Weingarz The Interlex Group

Chicago, Ill. Chapter President’s

Jennifer Johnson Committee Liaison Wisnik Career Enterprises, Inc. New York, N.Y.

Executive Director

Betsi Roach LMA, Glenview, Ill.

The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) is a not-for-profit professional association serving the needs and maintaining the standards of those involved in marketing for the legal profession. Advertisements are not an endorsement by the Legal Marketing Association. Strategies (ISSN 1099-0127) is published monthly with combined issues in May/June and November/ December for $45 by the Legal Marketing Association, 1926 Waukegan Road, Suite 1, Glenview, IL 60025-1770, www.legalmarketing.org. Periodical postage paid at Glenview, Ill., and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Strategies, c/o LMA, 1926 Waukegan Road, Suite 1, Glenview, IL 60025-1770. Strategies is distributed to LMA members as a professional development tool for those involved in law firm marketing. In addition, it is distributed to others who support and write about this industry. The annual subscription fee is included in LMA members’ dues. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of LMA. Strategies is copyright protected and is not to be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Legal Marketing Association. Article reprints are available by calling RossWeber at LMA at 888.562.9494 (USA & Canada only) or 847.657.6700, ext. 3019. An additional fee will be charged for this service. © 2009 Legal Marketing Association 1926 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 1 GLENVIEW, IL 60025-1770 888. 562.9494, 847.657.6717 WWW.LEGALMARKETING.ORG

In these difficult times, many people are going back to basics and focusing on what really matters. With this issue of Strategies, we try to focus on getting back to the things that are important: trust, leadership, value, investing in yourself, honing in on substance and not just style, and never shying away from a challenge. In our cover article and the Message from the Editors, Co-executive editors Jeff Scalzi and Jennifer Smuts and Managing Editor Amy Stickel look at trust. Do we have the trust of clients? Do we trust our clients? And do we trust too much, or not enough? Martha Carnahan and Jodie Charlop explore the challenges of leadership, and how legal marketers can break out of their day-to-day routines and develop those skills that law firms particularly need in these times. Silvia Coulter’s article looks at the role of sales and offers tips for legal marketers on investing in that skill set. Bill Doll looks back at a century of lawyerly vanity, and finds that it’s not all bad – but too much of it can derail truly effective marketing plans. Our LMA President Jennifer Manton describes how our colleagues in Vancouver saw a challenge that may have scared others off. Instead, these legal marketers willingly challenged old rules that inhibited our profession, and came out victorious. In this issue, we also offer tips on improving the content, and not just the appearance, of the firm’s Web site, along with some extremely useful free or low cost Web site resources. As we head into the summer, many of us are looking for a silver lining to the economy and the difficulties that are affecting our departments, our firms and our colleagues. Hopefully, the articles in this issue will help inspire you to get back to basics and remember what really matters. ■ Dave Poston, Esq., is president of Poston Communications LLC. He can be reached at 404/607-7306 or poston@postoncommunications.com.

A DV E RT I S E R I N D E X Association of Legal Administrators www.alanet.org/move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Hubbard One (312) 873-6881 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover incisivemedia: Corporate Counsel (212) 545-5987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . back cover InsideCounsel (312) 654-3500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 LexisNexis (800) 659-8505 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside front cover Schmidt Marketing (651) 222-6102 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Find out how your company can benefit from advertising in Strategies. Contact Betsi Roach, betsi@tcag.com, 888/562-9494 (Toll-free, USA & Canada only) or 847/657-6717.

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Trust – Another Casualty of the Economy

by Amy I. Stickel

Trust (noun): A: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something B: one in which confidence is placed. — Merriam-Webster Trust may be a highly valued virtue, but it is a slippery one to gauge. That is particularly true when it comes to the trust levels between law firms and their corporate clients. Of course, relationships between in-house counsel and their law firms have not always been a shining beacon of clear communication and striving towards mutual goals. As one example, in July 2006,“InsideCounsel” magazine reported that 42 percent of in-house counsel surveyed for the 17th Annual Survey of General Counsel agreed that law firms pad their bills. On the law firm side, only 16 percent of firms agreed that they pad their bills. Nonetheless, many observers think that the trust between law firms and organizations is floundering even more than it has in the past, as the economy has cratered. In an environment where businesses and law fir ms are wracked by plummeting revenue and wrenching layoffs, there should be common ground between lawyers and clients. But that does not seem to be the case, according to Charles H. Green, founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates. “I don’t see much empathy on behalf of clients,” he says. “There’s always been a town and gown relationship between law firms and in-house counsel, and that attitude is bleeding through.” This type of feeling could be part of a broader trend, as trust with the business environment in general seems to

man, this is a lower level of trust than those in the wakes of Enron, the dot-com bust and 9/11. In June, “The New York Times” published an article about the difficulties of several well-known corporate law firms in Manhattan (see sidebar: “When the Great Gray Lady Meets White-Shoe Law Firms.”) Green says he was startled by the vitriol in some of the online comments that readers posted after the story was published. “What struck me was the level and magnitude of vituperation,” he says. “The rate structure is under attack, and clients are seeing that. They are like sharks to blood in the water.” Right now, much of the conversation is being driven by fees, agrees marketing coach Robert Moment. “All the law firms are faced with is lowering fees,” he says. While it’s hard to gain a sense on whether trust levels have truly changed, the relationships between law firms and clients–and within law firms–certainly requires more attention, says Alycia Sutor, a partner with Akina Corp.“The need to focus on trust internally and externally is greater than ever,” she says. Fortunately, law firm marketers are positioned to fill that void. “The good news is that now, law firms have the opportunity to increase trust, reliability and the ability to stand out,” says Sutor. “This is a great moment of opportunity for everybody to use in this moment of stress.”

Improving Relationships The very characteristics that make people good lawyers can actually hamper their ability to develop levels of trust with clients, Green says.“You can make gross generalizations of lawyers, but there is an over-belief

“Before minds set back in concrete, now is the time to rejigger. All the chips are up in the air.” be fraying. According to the 10th Edelman Trust Barometer, which was released earlier this year, nearly two-thirds of those with college educations and high incomes reported that they trust corporations less than they did a year ago. When U.S. respondents were asked about trust in business in general, only 38 percent said they trust business to do what is right, which represents a 20 percent decrease from 2008. According to Edel-

among lawyers that the world is a rational place,” he says. “That creates a lack of emotional connection.” Now, law firms need to “get real” in his words. They need to meet with clients to acknowledge the current lack of trust, apologize for any past behavior and figure out a way to improve the situation. Marketers can involve themselves in the process by working one-on-one with their lawyers to improve

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Green agrees human nature may prevail when the crisis is over. But it presents an enormous opportunity for the law firms that are savvy enough to take advantage of it. “Before minds set back in concrete, now is the time to rejigger,” he says. “All the chips are up in the air.” ■

When the Great Gray Lady Meets White-Shoe Law Firms

their interactions with clients and boost their businessdevelopment skills. “They need to encourage their clients to go visit their clients,” he says. Lawyers don’t do that because of personal fear. Green describes that fear as a bottomless pit, and he advises law firm marketers to carefully consider how to coach their attorneys in ways that can improve their relationships with clients. Law firm marketers can’t supply the specific words – instead, they need to offer suggestions, coaching and advise along general themes, and then help lawyers to practice for these client meetings. Fear can also drive lawyers to agree to restructure fees, says Moment. Instead, marketing departments should work with lawyers to help them better communicate the value they bring. “Sell your experience and your outcome, and that will add value,” he says. And while Moment isn’t a proponent of automatically lowering fees, he suggests lawyers should consider offering initial consultations and other advice without billing for it. Communication is key, agrees Sutor.“You need to overcommunicate, especially when there is a lack of communication,” she says. “In those instances, people make things up, and the things they make up are not good. “Marketers at all levels can help send out the appropriate messages in all types of conversations,” she says.

What the Future Holds At the 23rd Annual LMA Conference, keynote speaker James Carville talked about how the world has changed in the current economy, and how it will continue to change. Carville compared those changes to the way boxer Mike Tyson fought . S upposedly, Tyson could hit opponents so hard, he could actually change the way they tasted. “Tomorrow is not going to look like yesterday…We’re never going back,” Carville told attendees. Rees Morrison, president of Rees Morrison Associates and a legal department consultant, isn’t so sure that this is the long-lasting, transformative inflection period so many keep talking about. “In 2011, if we are enjoying the Obama boom, this will all be forgotten,” he says. “Some innovative firms may change, but most will revert to the past. It’s human nature.” Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, July 2009,V11.N0 6 | 5

On June 7, “The New York Times” published an article that quickly began flying around the Internet and became the buzz at law firm water coolers: “A Study in Why Major Law Firms Are Shrinking.” The article focused on White & Case, among others, and the firm’s financial difficulties during the economic crisis. These include layoffs and shrinking profits per partner. But while the article had many talking, Charles H. Green, founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, was also interested in the comments on the “Times” Web site – and surprised by the fury in some of those comments.“I was taken aback by the breadth of it,” says Green. Some of those comments included: “Normally I’d be sympathetic, but in this case, not. Just a reduction in the number of thieves in suits.” “Well, this is one crowd who gets not a shred of sympathy from me.With all the dough these arrogant clowns made over the years they should be set for life. If they’re not, then they were stupid.” “The only fools here are the clients.These firms are notorious for padding their hours and driving up fees wherever possible. Clients would be wise to go to lower priced attorneys from less ‘prestigious’ [law] schools because, in the end, all these guys are the same.” But while many of the comment writers gleefully took the opportunity to criticize lawyers, some came to their vigorous defense. And some even took notice of the hardships suffered by the staff at major corporate firms. Wrote one commenter, “The entire focus of this article [sic] the impact on lawyers’ lives with no attention whatsoever on the even great [sic] impact on non-lawyers at the affected law firms. The only reference to this group of second class citizens is in one revealing sentence: ‘The firm… has been among the most aggressive in cutting staff: nearly 600 people, 279 of them lawyers…‘ This shameful disparity in compassion is what got this country into the current mess.” ■ — Amy I. Stickel

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Are Your Public Relations Efforts Contributing to the Bottom Line? by Dave Poston

More and more, public relations professionals, whether they serve in an in-house position or as an outside agency, are asked one question: “Can you please tie our public relations efforts to specific business development goals?” And while the ongoing public relations campaign clearly warms up cold leads, many are shocked when they hear the simple response: “Of course!” With a slight shift of perspective, here are a few of the methods that creative thought leaders are using in marketing departments today.

Do your attorneys want to represent Oracle? Write a legal article for their magazine. Are you interested in other tech companies? Speak at their user’s conference or contribute to a user’s newsletter. Is your firm more interested in working with franchisers? Contribute a column to their franchisee newsletter. (In fact, in many instances you’ll find your article must go through legal counsel for final approval. Not a bad way to reach those targets!) Is your firm focused on manufacturers? Go after the communications sent to distributors.

1. It’s a lawyer’s responsibility to understand media relations.

Begin by learning as much as you can about your target through research. One of the cheapest and most efficient ways to do this is by setting up Google alerts on each [see “Information Wants to Be Free (Well, Sort of…),” p. 18]. From that knowledge, determine what issues the target is facing that you might solve for them. PR can also target certain subject matter for which a current client is facing or may face in the near future. Therefore, these same issues will serve as topics for which you are pitched to the media as experts. A media placement on that subject matter expertise can open dialogue or even close new practice area matters.

The number-one rule of business development is to do good work. In this day and age, the best advocacy clearly includes an understanding of, and confidence in dealing with, the media. A recent survey of European in-house counsel by Lovells law firm identified potential damage to reputation as the top consideration when deciding whether to contest or settle a dispute. Are your attorneys equipped to help their clients measure this?

3. Using public relations with your target list.

In this day and age, the best advocacy clearly includes an understanding of, and confidence in dealing with, the media. Damage to a company’s reputation can affect share price and the ability to trade. It can lead to significant civil and criminal penalties for a company and its executives. Think about the impact of every decision a bank regulatory attorney must make today! At the same time, corporate counsel in many leading companies are now responsible for overseeing marketing, communications and public relations efforts. UPS is a well-known example of this. The message for your attorneys? If you leave the law firm world for an inhouse job, understanding the media could become even more relevant.

2. The media landscape is changing. We all hear about “social media” and online publications. But what are the other media outlets that present options for tying public relations and business development together?

Pitch local, regional or national publications – simply because they are of importance to the target. This includes industry newsletters and publications. Ask your clients which publications they read when you conduct client interviews! In order to improve ROI, consider the following steps: Once a media placement is secured, send reprints to your target with a letter,“I believe the topic of this article may be an issue of concern to you and your colleagues. With this as the start of a broader conversation, I will follow up with you on it. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” But go a step further and deliberately conduct certain public relations tactics to have a reason to connect with a target. From the networking perspective, consider giving without getting. Secure a writing opportunity Continued on page 19

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Marketer as Leader: Step Up to Leadership! by Martha Carnahan (left) & Jodie Charlop

What is the ongoing, everyday, ultimate challenge of the legal marketer? Being seen as a key part of the law firm’s strategic decision-making team! But to achieve this place of value, we believe legal marketers must break out of the production trap so attorneys can view them as leaders at the firm. The topic is regularly discussed, but with only varied and random thoughts about how legal marketers can go from marketer to leader through professional development. These disjointed thoughts can be wonderfully creative, but their scattered nature can render them powerless to impact sustainable change. From time to time, organizations have considered a certification program. CMOs participate more often in sales calls, as well as market analysis regimes. Business development staff fights to get moved off administrative floors. Now is the time to think of moving from marketer to leader as a psychologically, human development based process that can be applied in an organized manner. And isn’t getting organized to take action what a leader would do?

What Is a Leader? As starting points for self-analysis and learning, it is important for marketers to seek greater understanding of leadership models and there are many diverse and time tested theories to explore. As leadership assessments can’t be administered through a magazine, consider a few perspectives from notable writers and researchers on the subject. [1] John Gardner in his book, “On Leadership,” identifies a common list of traits that are found in all leaders. Physical vitality and stamina Intelligent Action-oriented judgment Eager to accept responsibility Task competent Understands followers and their needs Skilled in dealing with people Need for achievement Capacity to motivate people Courage and resolution Trustworthiness

Decisiveness Self-confidence Assertiveness Adaptability/flexibility [2] The behavioral leadership models developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton plotted leadership styles based on a leader’s concern for tasks versus people. Concern for task: Leaders are achievement- and production-centric. Leaders look for high levels of productivity and ways to organize people and activities in order to meet those objectives. Concern for people: Leaders look upon their followers as people – their needs, interests, problems, development and so on. They are not simply units of production or means to an end. [3] Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard contend in the Situational Leadership method that leaders must use different styles to adapt to the situation. Depending on employees’ competencies and commitment, leaders vary their style to one of four typical approaches: telling, selling, participating or delegating. [4] Finally, consider Bernard Bass, James Burns, Peter Wright and many others…who categorize leaders as transactional or transformational. Transformation for marketers is a thrilling word that describes what leaders can be and ironically marketers have the greatest natural ability to be transformational. After all, isn’t transformation a key element of what marketing is about? Transformational: These leaders raise our level of awareness, our level of consciousness about the significance and value of designated outcomes and ways of reaching them. They get us to transcend our own selfinterest for the sake of the team, organization or larger system.They alter our need level and expand our range of wants and needs. Transactional: These leaders recognize what it is that we want to get from work and try to ensure that we get it, as long as our performance merits it. This style exchanges rewards and promises for our effort. The style is responsive to our immediate self interests if they can be met by getting the work done.

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focusing largely on production – responding to the requests of others, reacting to last-minute “opportunities,” keeping up with the endless to-do list – all in an effort to prove your value to the firm as an “overhead” position. Professional service marketers working in this way are merely skimming the surface of their talents and expertise, thus, limiting their potential contribution to the firm’s growth and success. Legal marketers must take ownership to examine their true effectiveness in their firms. Are you operating at a reactive, surface level? Or are you challenging yourself, and firm leaders, to push marketing into a leadership role? Are you a “go-fer,” or a “go-to”? Here is one framework to advance leadership development along an authentic but critical evolutionary path. Consider the model: Productivity Zone (White): The center portion of the model consists of eight wedges representing key productivity functions of a marketing leader: Planning Setting Direction Being Organized Building Relationships Problem Solving Influencing and Motivating Managing My Time Promoting Change Of course, effective leaders are highly productive, but to get “stuck” in the production zone limits the marketers’ growth and contributions to the bigger picture of where marketing drives full value. The more marketers focus on driving production hoping to prove their value, the more they ultimately decrease their value – and therefore, never really achieve the recognition and influence they so desire. Quite the paradox! Self-Awareness Zone (Yellow): The next ring represents the areas of self-awareness marketers must develop as they step toward their leadership strengths: Self-Confidence Self-Control Self-Motivation Social Impact

The move from production to greater self-awareness is a marketer’s first critical development breakthrough. In this zone, marketers begin to objectively examine their personal motivations, gain greater courage and learn the vital skills to influence others in the firm. It is a space and place where marketers begin to gain greater confidence in their role. Leadership Zone (Red): The next ring in the model represents levels of leadership marketers can embrace as they develop: Self Leadership Relational Leadership Organizational Leadership Leadership is more than just a label. It is navigating the complex dance between leading yourself, creating and managing relationships and influencing professionals at every level of the firm – and they must learn to do so masterfully with no positional authority. Power Zone (Black): The outer r ing represents the “eco-system” that you swim in as a human being in a marketer’s role. In the midst of your busyness, you may ask yourself: “Why am I working this hard?” “Where is the meaning in my work?” “What’s the point?” Sur rounding your day-to-day work with this kind of inter nal exploration will help you clar ify your pur pose, enhance your power, embolden your leadership stance and ultimately contribute to your personal fulfillment as a marketer and your contribution to your firm’s success. The power zone helps marketers achieve an incredible level of confidence because you know how you walk in the world. In addition, as you gain influence in your firm and with firm leadership, you can become a leadership catalyst and global strategist, helping guide your firm to reflect on its own business and community footprint. As firms continue to grow and evolve, especially as legal services become more commoditized globally, asking and answering hard questions regarding your firm’s value footprint is a critical next-level competitive strategy. With all this knowledge and experience about leaderContinued on page 17

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Sales Training for Legal Marketers

by Silvia Coulter

At one point in time, the word “sales” was not uttered inside law firms. Much has changed in the last two decades, and now sales and sales strategy is at the forefront of every firm’s strategic initiative. Once, it was nice for marketers to know about sales – now, sales are need to know. To be truly effective as a legal marketer, it is critical to understand the sales process and how a specific marketing role integrates with that process. Further, the more that marketing activities and strategies are tied to revenue, the better the job security for those positions. Invest in yourself with education and learning! Here are some resources which anyone in legal marketing today may find useful (and arguably, necessary) to help reach the full potential of your role in the firm and how it ties to helping the firm retain and grow clients and build new business.

Process Management, Process Improvement and Pricing Models Understanding process management will be critical in helping you, your team and the marketing department support the future growth of the firm. Change is coming and it’s driven in part by the clients. Get on board and learn everything you can to help meet the challenges and the opportunities for improving fir m processes. Here are some useful Web sites and programming information:

To be truly effective as a legal marketer, it is critical to understand the sales process and how a specific marketing role integrates with that process.

of everyday business in the legal industry. West Paces Consulting (www.westpacesconsulting.com) Leonardo Inghilleri, the former Ritz Carlton leader who helped the Ritz win not one but two Baldrige Awards, is now at his new firm with former Ritz founder Horst Schulte. Long known for his prowess with process improvement and service excellence, Inghilleri has helped bridge the concepts from the Ritz to the law firm and is a great speaker for any marketing department off-site meeting or a firm retreat. The LSSO Yellow Belt Program (www.legalsales.org) Whether it’s a group session or one run at your firm, don’t miss out on the ability to learn about process management and process improvement in a forum that has been designed specifically for law firms. The Legal Sales and Service Organization, an LMA Partner in Education and Programming, bases all its concepts on traditional Six Sigma programs. Snow & Associates (snowassociates.com) Dennis Snow (a former long-time Disney executive) has a useful Web site, as well as CDs and books, about service excellence. Snow is a well-known speaker on the topic and can add value to any firm’s bottom line by helping develop strategies to focus on providing clients with the best service experience possible.

Recommended Reading

Sales Training Some good programs are offered by well-known legal consultants. Tried and true is WJF Institute’s open session in Austin, Texas, where marketers can attend with one or two partners from their firm and immerse in the need to know aspects of key client management including sales presentations. More information is available at www.wjfinstitute.com. Hildebrandt offers Rainmaking Advantage, which teaches at three different levels: associates and support staff; partners; and experienced rainmakers. Its Client Connect K.I.T. includes pipeline reporting tools and other useful tools to help you support the lawyers’ sales activities. More information can be found at www.hildebrandt.com. Traditional training programs such as Miller Heiman are not adapted to the legal market, but legal marketers will learn a lot in a classroom setting that includes individuals from companies like the companies who hire your law firm. The tools they provide are helpful to push you outside of the box and think about how you would adapt them for the legal environment. Do you want to learn everything you need to know about key client planning? Then hurry and join SAMA. Many corporate sales teams rely on SAMA’s programming and resources to help them stay ahead of the competition, and SAMA University can be an excellent

President’s Podium Continued from page 2

a few months later to present suggested changes not only to the rule in question, but to the entire chapter of the Law Society Handbook dealing with marketing. The outcome of this effort is without precedent. A major overhaul of the guidelines was recently released and, indeed, represents the most significant set of changes to come out of the Law Society in years, if not decades. Our LMA Vancouver Chapter President Susan Van Dyke (principal,Van Dyke Marketing & Communications) and Chapter Member and Past President Heather Gray-Grant (business development director, cor porate/commercial and labor & employment

Hope is Not a Strategy, by Rick Page Page will help you to understand the critical steps to winning complex sales–and certainly, selling legal services is complex. You will need to bridge the concepts, but it’s worth the bridging and thinking time and will help you learn the necessary strategies. The Ultimate Sales Managers’ Guide, by John Klymshyn This book will help you to become a better coach and also learn the ins and outs of sales management. The concepts are easily bridged to any environment. Influence, by Robert B. Cialdini This is one of the best books I’ve recently read and possibly one of the best you could recommend to partners. An excellent book on the psychology of selling, it is not a bad resource to help you with selling your ideas internally either! The art of woo, by Shell and Moussa Speaking of strategic persuasion to sell your ideas, this will be a bookshelf necessity. The authors, directors at the Wharton School’s Strategic Persuasion Workshop, identify a systematic science for closing business. If you buy no other books, these last two are musts. Other resources include the traditional Dale Carnegie, Sandler Institute and related books and CDs. Sales is a skill you will use forever in your career, and it’s certainly a skill that will help you get to the next level in legal marketing and business development. Committing the time to learning about sales will pay off for you, your team and your law firm. ■ Silvia Coulter chairs the client development and growth practice at Hildebrandt. She can be reached at slcoulter@hildebrandt.com or 617/697-4869.

groups, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP) led this effort. They have said they are “very pleased with the sweeping reform.” These are changes that will make their work product more effective and more compelling. I am inspired by the courage and determination that Susan, Heather and all their colleagues displayed as they rallied around this cause. They are the epitome of LMA professionals and have demonstrated the enormous power that a well-respected organization such as LMA yields. This has also demonstrated a new level of value proposition that LMA can have for our members and the law firms we represent. I hope all of us can take a page from their playbook the next time we see a mountain we feel should be moved. ■

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—Jennifer Manton, 212/407-4112 (New York), 310/282-2045 (Los Angeles), jmanton@loeb.com

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Why Content Matters on Your Web Site by Jonathan Groner & Liz Lindley

“Our Firm’s success stems from key strengths: client focus, legal skill, depth of people, experience and resources, team orientation, a one-firm organization.” “We provide clients with seamless global support through a structure of strategically placed offices in the U.S. and Europe.” “Our Firm seeks long-term, partnering relationships with clients, to the end of providing the best total solution to the client’s legal needs.” “Clients commend our ability to lawyer ahead of the curve when they tackle tough obstacles and pursue challenging opportunities.” Sentences like these are not hard to find in a cursory search of the Web sites of major American law firms (names are omitted to protect the guilty.) But what do they really say, and how do these words help market the firms that wrote them? What would a potential client learn about the law firm that he or she didn’t know already? Haven’t these firms missed an opportunity to create a great first impression? Most major law firms have, quite rightly, begun to pay a great deal of attention to the organization of their Web sites, the technology that the sites use and the

do a good job of that. Lawyers know how to write briefs that persuade judges; law firms should know how to write marketing copy that persuades clients. Here are a few of the common pitfalls. [1] Web sites contain language that is full of clichés and buzzwords that clients are tired of hearing. How many law firms are “client-oriented” or rely on “teamwork” or provide “global solutions” or employ partners who “think strategically” or “tailor our efforts and communications to suit clients’ specific preferences and needs” or “have significant experience in…?” Weary general counsel read that sort of thing on a Web page and simply move on, or worse, click on someone else’s site. [2] Web sites use language that no one would ever speak. We all learn to speak before we learn to write, and good writing should have some of the sound of spoken language. But look at some of the law firm Web site writing: We might occasionally use the (tired) expression “ahead of the curve” in conversation, and we might occasionally use the (clunky) verb “to lawyer” in speech as well. But who has ever heard anyone say that someone “lawyers ahead of the curve?” Similarly, a firm

As any good writer knows, it is always more effective to show than to tell. quality of their graphics. Since in most cases the site is the first thing that a potential client or referral source will look at in the process of selecting a firm, that time and attention are well spent. In general, however, major firms have not given equal thought to what their sites actually say. And even in a marketing world that often seems to be driven by video, social networking and other hallmarks of Web 2.0, content still matters. A firm that can show on its Web site, that it can use the English language to produce marketing copy that is clear, succinct and persuasive has already taken an important step to differentiate itself from its peers. Law firm Web sites need not, and probably should not, contain prose that is as compelling as a great mystery novel or as dramatic as a riveting piece of theater. But a Web site, among other things, is a piece of writing that is intended to persuade, and a site should at least

might support its community, but would anyone say, as one major firm did, that “supporting communities helps make a difference?” [3] Web site writers miss the opportunity to distinguish their firms from others by citing the telling detail. Every firm has at least a bit of fascinating history that, in the eyes of a creative writer, can differentiate it from all those other firms. But most firms didn’t write anything like what Crowell & Moring wrote on its Web site: “Like many lawyers, we pride ourselves on our integrity, client relationships and ability to win cases. But that’s not why 53 of us left a major law firm in 1979 to start Crowell & Moring. We did it because we believed we could create a different kind of law firm. A place where lawyers could think differently. Act differently. Be themselves.” That’s good writing. Continued on page 14

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Why Content Matters on Your Web Site Continued from page 12

Good writing like this is not easy and does not come naturally to everyone. It takes hard work. Sometimes it takes a writer who is not a lawyer to frame the content and objectively dissect what is compelling versus what will make a reader’s eyes glaze over. Lawyers tend to underestimate their experience, perhaps because it is just so close to home. For example, a trial lawyer may feel that everyone already knows the details of his case, as it’s been monopolizing his time for many months. It’s hard for that lawyer to step

after the trial, did the case establish any new principles of law? Wouldn’t a reader be more interested in these details and more able to connect his or her own matter to the lawyer’s stated experience? Law firm Web site writers struggle with how to articulate the expertise of a lawyer and must rely to some extent on the lawyer to provide the raw material that will enable the writer to write effectively, and with elegance as well. The process can eat up much more time than anyone would originally expect. But the effort pays off. A law firm whose Web site exhibits the hallmarks of good English prose shows its readers that the lawyers in the firm care about detail, that they are different from their peers at other firms and that they wish to communicate forcefully and precisely with others.

But as any good writer knows, it is always more effective to show than to tell. aside and see the case as new information for a reader. Further, a biography that lists case citations as representations of work, without providing the context of any case, assumes that the reader will actually research the cite and glean that lawyer’s role in the case.The attention span of a Web site visitor is remarkably short, and a reader should never be expected to look elsewhere to figure out why a lawyer can get the job done. Another example is the lawyer who lists 25 representative matters without giving thought to prioritizing and selecting the most meaningful matters, or what the words will mean to a prospect, referral source, lateral hire or incoming associate. Readers want to know how a lawyer’s experience will benefit them specifically. Doesn’t it make much more sense to describe the case, the result and its unique characteristics than to simply state “Obtained $2 million malpractice verdict?” Who did the firm represent (in vague terms if a client will not permit disclosure), what was the legal issue within the realm of malpractice, did the verdict come swiftly

What better messages could a firm wish to convey to its readers? And what a terrific way to convey them. After all, these themes – attention to detail, differentiation and communication with clients – are precisely what a potential client wants to be sure of before choosing counsel. But as any good writer knows, it is always more effective to show than to tell. Good writing not only creates a good impression; it can also help the bottom line.Yes, a law firm’s Web site should be appealing to the reader but never forget that content still matters. ■

Message from the Editors

oped with either a single attorney or team of attorneys. Between regular communication, respect and understanding, a valued relationship was born.You can point to various factors that keep the relationship going but ultimately, there is trust that glues it together. I agree with Jeff that this economy presents an opportunity for firms to think introspectively, but now is the time to really identify and focus on your client’s issues. Whether it’s a solution to a problem, an answer to a question or a connection to a colleague, your help today will be the reason they stay connected for the long term.With so many reasons to be skeptical or cynical, isn’t it refreshing to meet someone who simply wants to help because it’s the right thing to do? ■

Continued from page 24

Client loyalty and trust are paramount to the success of the business. Investing time to retain and grow client relationships is easy to understand but unfortunately much harder to execute. Words like Change, Fear and Denial seem to carry more weight than the word Trust when times feel uncertain. The best example of trust I can think of is a law firm’s institutional client. This client has remained with the firm for decades because of a partnership they devel-

Jonathan Groner is an independent writing and media relations consultant in Washington, D.C., and can be reached at 202/246-5516 or jonathangroner@gmail.com. Liz Lindley is the senior VP of PR and marketing consulting at Jaffe Associates, and the director of the firm’s WritersForLawyers group. She can be reached at 201/767-2690 or lindleyl@jaffeassociates.com.

— Jennifer Smuts, 302/888-6214, jsmuts@cblh.com

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The Vanity Distortion in Law Firm Marketing by William Doll

In 1909, the editors of “Editor & Publisher,” the newspaper industry trade paper, concluded a long diatribe against nagging publicity agents this way: “And the lawyers! No class of men on earth know the value of publicity better than the New York lawyers, who, to let them tell it, are the best in the business.” Imagine that – self-promoting lawyers, nearly 70 years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bates v. State Bar of Arizona permitted lawyer advertising! This may not come as a surprise to law firm marketers, and it is probably not confined to members of the Empire State’s bar. So the bane of self-promotion–seeking publicity, marketing and advertising to satisfy an attorney’s vanity, rather than implementing the dictates of a productive firm marketing strategy – has been with us for quite some time. Why is this “vanity” part of the law firm marketing mix? It will inherently fail to do little more than make the attorney feel good. By their nature, marketing and business development take time and planning. Bouncing from one possibility to another, seeking to showcase an attorney’s visage, name or inclusion on a “best” list (one of publishing’s own smartest money-making strategies ever) are one-offs that contradict the cardinal rules of marketing: analysis, planning, money and steady commitment. Remember, the tortoise won, not the hare.Though the hare may have more press clips.

client’s goals is the point of doing law and some of its visceral kick for practitioners. On the other hand, vanity promotion distorts law firm marketing, distracts it from its true objectives of getting new busi-

— Lindsay Griffiths, International Lawyers Network

ness or branding the fir m, fr ustrates marketing professionals and wastes money. Consider, for example, law firm advertising. With the exception of some large and sophisticated firms, advertising seems less about getting business than making the firm’s attorneys (and their families) momentarily happy.

Vanity promotion distorts law firm marketing, distracts it from its true objectives of getting new business or branding the firm, frustrates marketing professionals and wastes money. Bates, of course, at its core wasn’t about lawyers promoting themselves at all and it wasn’t about law firms advertising. It was about educating potential clients: “assuring informed and reliable decision making” by providing consumers “relevant information,” Justice Blackmun wrote in the ruling.

What Ads Do On the one hand, maybe law firm marketers shouldn’t complain about creative interpretations of Bates to get one’s name in print and face on screen. Finding ingenious ways to work within the rules to reach a

An effective ad campaign takes an ad budget beyond many firms’ comfort level, along with clear objectives, creative thought, good design, the right media placement and with enough frequency to be remembered. And, in the end, alone it won’t get you clients. That’s not the work that professional service ads do. Ads, including public radio spots, start the conversation before prospects meet you. Ads, op-eds, seminars and other marketing and public relations techniques can nudge the firm towards a recognizable identity in the marketplace. But the work of successfully dispelling market-

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Remember, the tortoise won, not the hare. Though the hare may have more press clips. place anonymity takes time, care and money. Fir ms often seem unaware how difficult moving beyond anonymity is. They throw money at one-shot ads to announce – with scores of others attorneys from scores of other firms – inclusion on some list or special section (which exist to lure such ads) on estate planning or bankruptcy. Why? Vanity. A partner feels good. The practice group feels good – maybe even the marketing people feel good. But marketing feels good for the wrong reason: They know if their firm is not among all the other firms taking an ad, they may get flack. Alas, the ad will have a hard time standing out on a page of similarly dignified and unmemorable squares and rectangles. Your partners will notice it, pleased that their ad is so much better than the competition – while the competition is smugly concluding the same about their own ad compared to yours. This is not where your money, time and effort should be. The same distortion infects media relations. As the 100-year-old “Editor & Publisher” editorial suggests, seeking to get one’s name in the paper is nothing new for lawyers. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Walter Winchell-style celebrity column existed precisely to showcase names – it’s safe to assume that lawyers were among them. Today, every beat reporter has become a potential Winchell, a target to hammer on seeking to be quoted on a legal matter or (if the gods are smiling) to be the subject of an article.

good but it’s quickly yesterday’s – or in today’s hypernews cycles – this morning’s forgotten news.You’re building nothing. None of this is to say that vanity is inherently bad. One-shot, scattershot, hit-and-miss vanity-powered exercises just do not build a practice. Rather, it is highlevel human resources. Attorneys feel good seeing their name. Other attorneys in the firm (if they are not competitors) feel good about the firm’s recognition. That rainmaking partner of inconstant loyalty may stay put a little longer. And a happy partner is a good thing. Clients, too, may feel validated in seeing their firm in the media as experts. In short, stoking vanity is to some degree a necessary and economically useful function at a firm. So the question isn’t, “Can you get rid of the vanity distractions at your firm?” Of course not. Lawyers are lawyers; people are people. And the vanity quest does offer some institutional benefits. The goal is to manage these insistent urges so that your energy, creativity and budget can be focused on sustained, eye-on-the-prize campaigns to develop new business and markets. To some degree, these pleas for attention may diminish in larger firms or in those with more structured, insulated marketing arms. In fact, the well-developed campaign itself may be your shield, if not a perfect one. “It’s not in the plan” may end the discussion or slow things down, even if, like those New York lawyers of a century ago, your attorneys are “the best in the business.” ■

If the reporter is doing the calling, great. Mission accomplished. The slow work of building a reputation useful to the media is paying off. Other than that, though, it’s a one-off; it’s vanity, not business development. It feels

William Doll is an attorney and sociologist who heads Bill Doll & Co., a professional service research and communications firm working with law firms since 1986. Doll can be reached at 216/721-2542 or doll@billdollco.com.

Marketer as Leader: Step Up to Leadership!

Martha Carnahan is a credentialed member of the International Coach Federation and certified professional co-active coach and can be reached at martha@yourbrilliantlife.com. Jodie Charlop is founder and chief coaching officer for Potential Matters and can be reached at jcharlop@potentialmatters.com.

Continued from page 9

ship as background, what is the process that legal marketers can follow to create their own leadership profile? Self-study, coaching or for mal leadership coursework can help you successfully navigate each step of the critical journey to leadership. But in the end, in the professional services arena, marketers are ultimately in charge of seizing every opportunity to develop their own leadership profile.Who is ultimately holding you accountable to being the greatest leader you can be? ■ Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, July 2009,V11.N0 6 | 17

This topic was presented at the 23rd Annual LMA Conference in April 2009.To keep the dialogue going, the authors have established www.marketerasleader.com and a LinkedIn Group for those who want to break out of production into their next level leadership roles. For participants, it is an invitation-only but open community for marketers and will be focused on professional development discussions for marketers (no solicitations permitted).

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Information Wants to Be Free (Well, Sort of…) by Louis C. Abramovitz

Let’s face it. We’re all in a hurry. There’s so much to do, too little time. So the last thing you need is to spend hours fruitlessly searching the Web. Because time is money in the law firm environment, there is a tendency to automatically look to fee-based resources for a solution to one’s infor mation needs. Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis and other vendors have first-rate products, and firms tend to have flat-rate agreements in place that help control costs. At the same time, given the current state of the economy and its ripple effect on the legal services industry, it’s important to be aware of at least some of the many excellent free or low-cost Web resources that are available. Think of these resources as part of your professional toolkit, one that both complements the fee-based services and helps you stay organized. With this in mind, here are several very cool Web sites that can be a tremendous help in managing your business development and legal marketing activities.

Search Engines LexisWeb: http://www.lexisweb.com This legal content search engine (currently in Beta) features both free results from the open Web and paid results available on LexisNexis.What makes it so special is that the free content consists entirely of sites that have been selected and verified for accuracy by LexisNexis editors. Hakia: http://www.hakia.com Hakia is a “semantic search” engine. This means it tries to understand what you’re looking for and return fewer but more relevant results from Web sites vetted by librarians. This is particularly useful given the anonymous nature of the Internet, where anybody can claim they’re an expert. It brings to mind the classic “New Yorker” cartoon depicting two dogs, one seated at a computer telling the other: “On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.” Jux2: http://jux2.com Results differ across major search engines. Jux2 runs a simultaneous search across the major eng ines

(Google, Yahoo!, MSN) and returns the top results from each, including where these rank in a particular engine’s results.

Blawgsearch: http://blawgsearch.justia.com This free site searches for results across thousands of legal blogs on the Web. It also features a categorical listing of blogs on a wide range of legal topics – everything from intellectual property to animal and dog law. Once you find a blog you’re interested in, you can preview posts and subscribe to RSS feeds.

People and Business Finders Searchsystems: http://www.searchsystems.net This is the Internet’s largest public records directory. In this amazing portal, many of the sites linked to are free; others can be accessed with a credit card. For instance, there are free databases to locate registered corporations by state, find a out whether someone is a licensed acupuncturist or search the business white pages in Paris (in English!). Pipl: http://pipl.com This site provides one-stop shopping for information you can use to assemble a quick and dirty profile on almost anyone. Search results on individuals are presented by category, such as blog posts, social forums (including LinkedIn and Facebook), quotations in the media, publications written and political donations. Some of the information is free and some pay as you go, such as background checks.

In the News Google Alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts It’s difficult to say enough about this tool. It’s a tremendous labor-saving device, free and, most important, a font of relevant news, trade press and blog posts. Set up a tracker on one of your key partners with a few keywords, and results will be emailed to you as they happen, or once a day or week. Help A Reporter Out: http://www.helpareporter.com Suppose you’re proactively trying to get sound bites

…there is a tendency to automatically look to fee-based resources…

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from your attorneys picked up by the media. This free service will send you up to three daily emails with journalists’ queries.When you see a query you’d like to respond to, you simply answer it.

Getting and Staying Organized GatherGrid: http://www.gathergrid.com One of the biggest time-wasters law firm staff face as busy professionals is the inevitable flood of emails when trying to schedule a conference call or meeting. With just a couple of clicks, this easy-to-use tool lets you create a scheduling grid with potential meeting times and send it out as a poll. PBworks: http://pbworks.com Upload documents and comment in a collaborative online space with your colleagues on single or multiple projects. It’s easy to set up (translation: no need to ask your IT department for help). There is a free basic edition, but the professional edition is only $8 per month for up to 50 users. There is also mobile access for iPhone and BlackBerry users. Jott: http://www.jott.com This can be a great time saver. Jott turns your voicemail messages into text and then sends you emails or text messages, so you don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time sorting through emails. You can use it to screen when you’re in meetings, set call back reminders or reply to them. The cost is $9.95 per month for up to 40 transcribed voicemails. Dropbox: http://www.getdropbox.com Dropbox is a free service that lets you sync your files online and across computers. It works across different

Are Your Public Relations Efforts Contributing to the Bottom Line? Continued from page 6

and invite the target to co-author an article with you. Secure an interview and invite the target to participate in the interview with you. Perhaps you have a relationship with a journalist who might appreciate an introduction to your target and his or her expertise. How about inviting the target to speak at one of your firm seminars at which you also have journalists speaking or attending? This is especially effective if the target is a warm lead.

4. Use your newsletter. A final idea would be the untapped cache of your firm’s own reputation as a publisher of important business content. Many of the best firm newsletters position a law firm as an expert in one area – banking, hedge funds, real estate, etc. Firm newsletters are often restricted, howev-

platforms, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re running Mac,Windows or Linux.The free version is up to 2GB of files, or $9.99 a month gets you 50GB of storage.

Dingitsup: http://www.dingitsup.com It is so annoying to discover that a Web site you need to access is offline. So you end up checking back every few minutes or having to ask your assistant to monitor it for you. This free service will text you and let you know when a site is down or when it comes back up. BlogPulse: http://www.blogpulse.com Part of the Nielsen Co., this site allows you to identify hot trends in the blogosphere.You can track buzz over time for certain key words or phrases (for instance, TARP or net neutrality) or track conversation threads starting from the original post. Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/index.php Looking for a version of a Web page that’s long gone? Old Web pages don’t necessarily die, thanks to this nonprofit project, founded by Internet pioneer and Web entrepreneur Brewster Kahle. It provides permanent access to content that was “born digital” and would otherwise be lost. One final tip: When all else fails, ask your firm’s librarian for suggestions. It’s in a librarian’s nature to want to help-though the occasional “bribe” in the form of a fresh Krispy Kreme or bagel and cream cheese is not out of the question. ■ Louis C. Abramovitz is a librarian at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP. Abramovitz can be reached at 202/383-3420 or labramovitz@wbklaw.com.

er, simply by being limited to legal content. Law firm clients often spend time seeking expertise on their problems from many different service providers. So, why not open up a slot for your targets to reach your clients by providing varied content? Don’t you have access to C-level executives like very few organizations have? Wouldn’t your targets like the chance to reach into the depths of your CRM system free of charge? (This also has the great benefit of taking some of the “writing” load off of your attorneys!) All this takes is the creativity to identify solutions that your clients might need to learn about, finding targets who can speak to those topics and setting up your own editorial calendar. It’s an incredible way to get to know your circulation data and intimately get to know clients.The process will even reveal areas of concern to them and lead to conversations that could drive new revenue for your firm. ■ Dave Poston, Esq., is president of Poston Communications LLC. He can be reached at 404/607-7306 or poston@postoncommunications.com.

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Dicta Di cta Creating the Law Firm of the Future, for Fun and Profit One of the biggest guessing games in the legal industry right now is identifying how the law firm of the future will look. And recently, it literally became a game – FutureFirm 1.0. Over the course of two days, 44 players converged at Indiana University and embarked on role playing exercises to save the fictional – and struggling – AmLaw 200 firm Marbury & Madison LLP. The game, created by IU’s Maurer School of Law Associate Professor William Henderson and Anthony Kearns of Australia’s Legal Practitioners Liability Committee, pitted teams of law firm partners, clients, law students, and consultants against each other to create a strategy that would allow Marbury & Madison to live another decade. According to an article by Aric Press, who covered the event for the “The American Lawyer,” “What emerged from the exercise was a surprising convergence of strategies that gave an outline to what a new

model might look like.” Press identified several areas of convergence the teams developed: ■ New associates would be paid less and trained more, while being freed from some or all billable hour requirements and assisted with law school loan payments. ■ Clients would be offered a variety of alternative fee arrangements, frequently based on the mining of actual billing data. The firm would also share at least some of the fee risk as a sign of trust and shared enterprise, whenever possible. ■ In order to make the plan work, partners would take a hit in pay, at least initially.They would also not buckle under the pressure of dissatisfied rainmaking partners at their firm who were threatening to leave. Press’s article about the event can be accessed at www.law.com.

More Opportunities for Women Lawyers Now? As law firms continue to be battered by the economy, just about every expense is on the table. So, it may be natural to assume that programs such as hiring, training and retaining women lawyers would be facing the ax. But that shouldn’t necessarily be the case, according to Patricia K. Gillette, a labor and employment partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and founder of The Opt In Project. Writing for the “AmLaw Daily” in an article called “Cracks in the Ceiling,” Gillette urges fir ms to take this opportunity to step away from the very salary and bonus structures and billable hours that have destroyed flexibility in the law firm model. “Now is the time to take advantage of the immobility of partners and associates and the weakening bargaining position of law students, to

make changes that may not be popular with everyone, but are long overdue,” she wrote. “And these changes, in the long run, will benefit women and will answer the cries of all Gen Y lawyers for a kinder and gentler law firm life.” She outlines what the “cracks in the model” mean to every lawyer, but especially women: ■ The demise of the billable hour; ■ Competency-based progression; and ■ Rethinking the first two years. “If timing is everything, then the time for this change is now,” she concludes. Gillette’s article and information about The Opt In Project can be found at www.law.com.

You’re Invited!

The Editorial Board of Strategies invites LMA members to contribute ideas, articles and original cartoons and artwork for future issues. If you would like to pitch a contribution for an upcoming issue, email Amy Stickel at Strategies@LegalMarketing.org. Issues close at least two months prior to the publication date.

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Marketers on the Move Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP has named Bruce Allen senior business development manager. Most recently, Allen was marketing director with Rutan & Tucker, LLP. Previously with Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand LLP as client development coordinator, Elizabeth Bolt has joined Faegre & Benson LLP as practice area marketing specialist (litigation). Christopher Frawley has joined Jones Day, New York, as business development & communications coordinator. Previously, Frawley was director of business development at John E. Osborn, PC. Monica Phillips Jalil has joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP,Washington, D.C., as manager of marketing opera-

Bruce Allen

Elizabeth Bolt

tions & communications. Previously, she was with Troutman Sanders LLP as senior manager of marketing & client services. Previously marketing manager for the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, Kim Kaufman Lipsy has joined Murtha Cullina LLP as marketing specialist. Lipsy has previously held marketing positions with Tarlow Breed Hart & Rodgers and Sherin and Lodgen. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, has named Stefanie Marrone senior manager, communications. Marrone was previously marketing communications manager at McKee Nelson LLP. â&#x2013; New job? Let your colleagues know by emailing job change information to Strategies@LegalMarketing.org.

Monica Phillips Jalil

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Kim Kaufman Lipsy

Stefanie Marrone

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Ask As k th thee Auth tho orit ritie iess THE QUESTION I know our firm should be considering alternative pricing and value pricing, but our lawyers are hesitant to consider alternatives. How should I get people to start considering this – and should we even bother?

Terri Pepper Gavulic There’s a strong case for alternative pricing. If you’re not able to give clients pricing flexibility, you will lose clients. Many people mistakenly believe this discussion is about billing and that ultimately, there is a winner and a loser. This is about pricing – giving clients the value they seek at a fair cost. Clients are asking for: predictability (e.g., fixed fees); budgets (implying that law firms get a handle around their actual costs and manage matters to budgets); and flexibility (recognize that not all matters are equally valued by clients and don’t war rant a unifor m approach in project management or pricing). With the current economic downturn, many clients are asking for steep discounts, and people assume this is always how the discussion around alternative pricing will evolve. Actually these are two separate issues. Clients need a price break right now in tough times. The discussion about pricing is ongoing and will last for many years. It has to do with the value equation – how can law firms continue to increase profitability if the mechanism of automatic annual rate increases is not available? What can they do to enhance value from the client’s perspective? The Association of Corporate Counsel is showing leadership with its Value Challenge, and all legal marketers would be well advised to log onto www.acc.com for a look. As of July 4, 2009,Terri Pepper Gavulic is president and cofounder of Competitive Advantage Training, offering practical training at an affordable price. She has over 20 years of experience in the legal industry as a management consultant, author, trainer and professional marketer.

Nathaniel Slavin Your lawyers need to talk with their clients to define value and understand their financial pressures before rolling out a new fee initiative.Value pricing and alternative fees are two very different beasts. Value should Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, July 2009,V11.N0 6 | 22

be a given, not something open for debate. Everything that a lawyer produces should have value that is agreed to by the client. If the client and the law firm attorneys have different definitions of “value,” then the client will always be disappointed and the attorney will always be frustrated. Some firms, such as Valorem, even have a value adjustment line on the bills they send to clients where they can add (or subtract) dollars based on the value received Also, too often firms provide value and fail to communicate that value to the client. If the attorneys are working hard, writing off hours and otherwise investing in the client, make sure that’s communicated to the client. Many firms get stuck in the notion that “alternative fees” is code for “discount;” quite simply, it is not. Figure out what will work with your clients to meet their needs on fees. Clients hate when firms reinvent the wheel. If you have a few models in place that work well for the firm and other clients, approach the client, share the models that are working and ask if any of those models would work for them. Nat Slavin is a partner at the Wicker Park Group, a boutique firm specializing in implementing client feedback. He was the 2007 LMA president and can be reached at nat@wickerparkgroup.com.

Kristin Sudholz You should definitely bother. I have seen situations where outside lawyers are not retained because they are unwilling to offer an alter native billing arrangement. As to how to sell the concept internally, here are some approaches: 1. Work with a practice group that has more routine and regular work where the lawyers feel confident of the skill and effort needed, and develop a fixed price. 2. Do a historical analysis of past matters that might be similar to the matter for which you want to propose an alternative fee. 3. Pick a matter and develop and test a fee structure for it and monitor it for profitability.Test on other matters, then share your approach with the lawyers. 4. Develop a desktop handbook for the lawyers on alternative fees that lays out the argument for them (put in statistics from surveys of in-house counsel to bolster your case), best practices, types of fee structures with examples, worksheets, approval process and ideally, a list of people in the firm who can assist them with developing a fee structure. Of course, get appropriate approvals from firm management before circulating. What is most important is to create a comfort level for

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the lawyers by increasing their sense of certainty that an alternative fee arrangement will work for the firm and the client. Kristin Sudholz is the director of practice development at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and is driving the firm’s efforts with the ACC Value Challenge. ■

Do you want to Ask the Authorities, or serve as an authority? You may submit your questions in confidence to Ross Weber at LMA, or a short bio to his attention at rossw@tcag.com. Panelist names and questions will be forwarded to Stewart Hirsch of Strategic Relationships, a member of LMA’s Resources Committee.

07.14.09 – Chicago Chapter Conducting Client and Prospect Research

Event Eve nt Calenda darr 07.01.09 – LMA Webinar Series Mastering the Strategic Planning Process Presented by Mary K Young, partner at Zeughauser Group and Keri Cupples, director of business development at Howrey LLP. Law firms increasingly understand that strategic plans are essential to achieving growth and profitability goals. Senior marketers often have the skills to play a leadership role in the process but encounter hurdles in the process. This Webinar is designed to help you hone your leadership skills and overcome obstacles including: ■ Convincing the firm to try again when planning has failed in the past; ■ Reviving and adapting an existing plan that has been shelved or become obsolete; ■ Jumpstarting a planning process that has become bogged down; ■ Ensuring that you are in a leadership role and refining your leadership skills; ■ Integrating office, practice and firm plans; and ■ Ensuring impact and accountability in plan implementation. Time: 11:00 am Pacific Time, 2:00 pm Eastern Time Fees: $99 Full Member, $149 Limited Member, $199 Non-member

07.08.09 – Minneapolis Chapter LMA Legal Marketing Industry Benchmark Join us for a review of the LMA benchmark results. The most detailed and comprehensive survey ever undertaken by LMA, this provides law firm marketing and business development professionals with valuable data on the responsibilities and compensation within our field. Betsi Roach, esteemed executive director of LMA and member of the LMA survey task force, will provide an overview of the survey. Time: 12:00 pm

07.14.09 – The Virginias Chapter Make Rain by Being You Develop business by leveraging each lawyer’s unique qualities with speaker Craig A. Brown, Esq., David Freeman Consulting Group.

LMA Chicago’s Brown Bag Lunches are designed to be educational while providing a casual, peer-to-peer networking environment focusing on topics and issues of importance to the individual legal marketer. Time: 12:00 pm

07.16.09 – LMA Webinar Series Legal Transformation Study:Your 2020 Vision of the Future Presented by Tom Clay, principal at Altman Weil.There are significant practice disruptors that will cause fundamental change in law firm business models – that is not at issue.The great challenge for law firms will be the pace and scope of that change. Those who meet change with innovation will leave behind those who refuse to see a future significantly different from today.The Legal Transformation Study 2020 identifies key trends and uncertainties in the legal marketplace and presents four provocative future scenarios for how legal services may be delivered in 20/20. Can’t make it July 16? Register now and a program link will be sent to you for later viewing.

07.16.09 – Southeastern Chapter Marketing Me Gaining influence – within our firms, with colleagues and clients, and in our professional community – is a significant aspect of career growth and satisfaction for law firm marketing professionals. In this interactive program, participants will develop strategies they can implement immediately to gain that influence and improve career fit, on-the-job effectiveness and overall satisfaction with work, even in a down economy. Time: 12:00 pm

07.23.09 – Southeastern Chapter Been There, Done That: Tips for Working With the News Media Former news reporter and producer Terri Thornton has practical advice for getting positive coverage and encouraging good longterm relationships with the news media. News coverage can greatly enhance the return on legal marketing investment by raising awareness and attracting clients. But a few common mistakes can send a story in the wrong direction. ■

07.24.09 – Los Angeles Chapter

07.14.09 – Capital Chapter, Baltimore City Group Business Development in an Economic Downturn Business development is a higher priority than ever for legal marketers. The downturn has meant marketing staff freezes and even reductions at the same time lawyers are scrambling to find new sources of business to make up for the severe constraints many clients are under. The economic downturn is creating many challenges for law firm marketers but it is also presenting opportunities. Time: 12:00 pm

The Los Angeles Chapter has put together its own stimulus package with the 2009 LMA-LA Continuing Marketing Education (CME) conference.The CME will offer you a unique opportunity to stimulate all areas of your career, your professional development and your interaction with your clients/attorneys.This year’s package includes incredible educational programs and networking opportunities with in-house professionals, consultants, exhibitors, vendors and other legal marketing professionals. Time: 8:00 am

For more information about these and other events, visit www.LegalMarketing.org.

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E DITORS

DoYou Trust Too Much? Or Not Enough? by Jeff Scalzi & Jennifer Smuts

He Said The June 2009 issue of The Harvard Business Review features a cover story entitled “Rethinking Trust” by sociologist Roderick M. Kramer. In the article, Kramer argues that most of us trust others too easily. With the Madoff scandal, the credit crisis and even the demise of once-infallible white shoe law firms, media pundits bespeak the importance of rebuilding the public trust in our institutions as a necessary prerequisite to economic recovery. Kramer suggests, however, that we should proceed with some skepticism and learn to temper our trust. I agree. Trust is critical to business success, but doesn’t the economy provide an opportunity for us to rethink the definition of success (and therefore, build trust carefully)? How does this apply to law firms and how can legal marketers lead this discussion at our firms and with our clients? Fortunately, the majority of us have not fallen victim to the dissolution of our firm-employer, either driven by perceived impropriety or by economics. Yet the Dreiers and Heller Ehrmans of the world were our peers, our brethren, and the circumstances befalling those firms are ones that affect all of us. Trust is at the very core of the provision of legal services, and Kramer offers lessons in his article that we would be wise to heed. Even if our firms or lawyers are not grabbing headlines of the scandalous kind, Kramer’s rules for rebuilding trust actually shadow many of the basic tenets of marketing and business development. Rule 1: Know yourself. Kramer segments people into two buckets: those who are overly trusting and those who are too mistrustful when entering into a relationship. He encourages people to identify into which bucket he/she falls in order to change behavior. The economy presents a huge opportunity for firms to think introspectively–at least for a moment–so as to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the firm and refocus efforts and client service accordingly. Make sure that the perceptions that the lawyers have of themselves and of the firm match what clients perceive; otherwise, that disconnect will quickly become a disadvantage. Rule 5: Recognize the other person’s dilemma. In times of economic duress, our own concerns and dilemmas are exacerbated and tend to overshadow those of our constituents. Where Rule 1 teaches us about client service,

Rule 5 shows us that our lawyers and firms need to demonstrate more than ever that they understand clients’ needs and challenges–that we are truly “living in the world of our clients.” Finally, Rule 7, and one for legal marketers especially: Remain vigilant and always question. Whether by force or by necessity due to fewer resources, the practice of legal marketing and business development today requires constant monitoring of the landscape around us–both internally and in the marketplace. If asked today, a decision made six months ago (or even six days ago) might yield a different outcome, a different choice. Kramer is the first to point out that the science of trust is not an exact science; nor is legal marketing and business development. A healthy dose of skepticism, and temper, might in fact serve us well as we continue to chart a course through the myriad of challenges the industry faces today. — Jeff Scalzi, 617/832-7004, JScalzi@foleyhoag.com

She Said Trust is an interesting topic. In a very informal office poll I noticed that people generally have a hard time defining the word trust. But they certainly know it when they experience it. Is it a feeling, a thought, a behavior? The “Rethinking Trust” article in the June issue of HBR opened my eyes to this topic. Just as Roderick Kramer suggests, “we’re born to be engaged and to engage others, which is what trust is largely about. However it’s these connections that make us vulnerable to exploitation.” Admittedly I am one of “those people” he refers to in his article that generally judges trustworthiness based on surface cues that are likely skewed by seeing what I want to see versus what’s actually in front of me. (What can I say, I’m optimistic!) However I will say I’ve been burned enough to admit that I do not have a good ability to “size up” people accurately, so I rely on third parties to verify, and then I rely on their biased view to help me formulate an opinion. This seems like a lot of effort and it typically is. But it’s an exercise we ask our attorneys to go through with clients day in and out. Now more than ever before, legal marketers are being called on to assist with client development efforts. Continued on page 14

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CONTACTS V. ASSETS

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More Top In-House Counsel Prefer

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