Law Firm Marketing and Business Development

Outside capital is the headline. The services agreement is where the firm’s risk, and its leverage, will be decided.

Here is the uncomfortable truth about AI in law firms: adoption was the easy part. But adoption was never the goal. Return is. And on return, the evidence is starting to come in — and it should get every managing partner’s attention.

Lawyers know that business development is important. So why is getting them to do it so difficult? The reason is simple: They don't want to do it. Over the years, we have identified several principles that can remove much of that resistance and make business development more comfortable.

This is the second in a two-part series on AI-driven crises. Part 1 examined communications during an incident while the facts are still developing. Part 2 addresses crisis plans, governance and tabletop exercises before an agent acts on behalf of the business.

It is extraordinarily difficult to get people to do something they don't like. Simply telling lawyers they should do more business development rarely changes that. A better approach is to understand why they don't want to do it — and change the conditions that make business development distasteful in the first place. Over the years, we have identified several principles that can remove much of that resistance and make business development more comfortable.

To clients, speed and value are not the same thing. So before racing another firm to the publish button, ask what your lawyers can add that isn’t already readily available. Often the most valuable thought leadership comes after the initial wave of summaries, when lawyers have had time to see how a development is actually affecting clients and industries.

How do you communicate when you know the harm before you know its cause? For law firms, it comes up both when advising a client and when explaining an incident of their own.

The future of law firm marketing is an integrated team of AI, experts and managed services.