It’s the time of year when we often are advising laterals and their firms on how to maximize the value of the move. Most advice you’ll read targets a lateral’s clients with active files that transfer and which are likely to have future potential matters the assignment of which is not guaranteed. Also, clients without active matters […]
What you do after you refer a matter to another lawyer or professional is as important as having made the referral in the first place. The reason: you want to make sure the person you referred was well-served and fairly billed. If they weren’t, it will reflect poorly on you and do your practice harm. […]
In the three decades we have been marketing law firms, so much has changed. But the fundamental and most common institutional weakness of even the most talented groups of lawyers has not – their mailing list (now otherwise known as their marketing database). No matter what you call it, however, most all but the largest […]
By Amber Vincent “In today’s complex society of comparably skilled, interdependent people, it is more true than ever that success is less a function of what you know than who you know and who knows you.” Dr. Ronald S. Burt Department of Sociology, University of Chicago After their license, the most valuable, and often […]
Analysis of a new report on $19.6 billion of approved legal department invoices reveals to maximize firm profits partners should focus on developing and retaining senior associates and providing clients with services in multiple practice areas. For two reasons: the average year-over-year hourly rate increase in 2015 for associates was 7.3 percent, more than double […]
The business case for sponsorships and charitable donations in an employer’s local community is well documented: it increases brand awareness and name recognition, may lead to improved employee retention, can earn an organization the benefit of the doubt in a crisis, increases the existing prospect and client/customer base and, if done properly, may serve to […]
Originally, coaches were hired to help fix the acerbic behavior of rainmakers who caused heavily-recruited and talented younger lawyers to quit and who senselessly churned through competent professional staff. Think, screamers and pencil-throwers. Today, coaching is less about intervention and more about facilitating effective individual business development. The problem: no research has followed coached lawyers […]
The endless debate about whether superlative ratings affect lawyers in private practice when making a referral to or hiring another lawyer in private practice prompted us to develop a survey, the results of which reveal ratings do make a difference. And, that’s true for young and old lawyers in firms both large and small. We polled […]
Local and regional corporate, transactional and defense firms are hiring full-time in-house marketers while reducing their firm’s out-of-pocket marketing expenses – moves that align with drops in marketing budgets reported recently at much larger competing law firms. Our just-completed 2016 National Marketing Effectiveness Survey of more than 100 local and regional law firms (median size […]
Tis’ the season for law firms to begin the debate of holiday cards and gifts. Who gets what? How much will this cost? Can you put a price on business referrals? On and on… The main problem: the mailing list. This is often the most difficult (and dreadful) task for both the staff and attorneys […]
