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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Innovative Law Firms
Vivian Hood
Law firms today are increasingly looking at innovation to help distinguish their practice offerings, strategy, and leadership, and need inspiring marketing to develop meaningful campaigns that resonate with their audiences.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Media & Communications: Grab the Wheel and Drive Yourself!: How Law Firm Marketers Can Grow Professionally … and Some Sage Advice
John J. Buchanan
So, you’ve been in your role in the marketing department at your firm for a few years. Things are going well — but you want to expand your skill set, try something new, or take on a fresh challenge. The lawyers you work with routinely attend CLE classes so why shouldn’t you focus on your own professional development?
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Marketing The Law Firm
Digital Dive: 9 Best Practices for Blogging that Gets You New Business
Larry Bodine
Becoming a renowned expert in your field will bring you the best files from the most profitable clients — and the shortest path to becoming a thought leader is to write a blog.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Increasing Client Requirements: Securing Law Firms for the 21st Century
Debra Gray
Gone are the days of “basic security.” What used to be optional is now standard: two factor authentication, complex passwords, clean desk policies, data encryption at rest and in transit, mobile device management and up-to-the-minute patching. Clients expect these items to already be in place and are further expanding their expectations.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
The ‘Silly Season’
J. Mark Santiago
That term refers to the months of October through December. It's a way of pointing out to partners that the necessary activities of practice management that so many of them had avoided for the first nine or 10 months of the year now had to be addressed. Clients that had not been billed now had to be invoiced. Outstanding invoices, many issued in the cold days of early March and April, now had to be collected and current work would not only have to be billed but collected as well.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
What Is Your Dashboard Report Telling You? Chances Are, Not Much.
Jim Jarrell
Firms are struggling to capture compelling business intelligence about themselves. Until recently, most operated with a cadre of legacy operating systems, financial platforms and reporting technologies from different manufacturers that have no mechanism for connecting with each other. The disparate nature of these technologies has exacerbated the struggle to leverage data and display results in a reporting mechanism that helps direct the firm’s decision-making.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Producing Breakthroughs in Client Development
Arnold Keiser
It is easy to understand why many lawyers feel that only certain special individuals are blessed with the qualities necessary to be rainmakers. But almost anyone willing to develop the qualities necessary can become a rainmaker.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Law Firm Leadership Isn’t a Role, It’s a Mindset
Michael A. Gerstenzang and Hy Pomerance
When a law firm does not subscribe to a traditional corporate structure
At most companies, the leadership structure is typically clear and hierarchical. But what does leadership look like at a law firm when a traditional corporate structure doesn’t apply?
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Marketing The Law Firm
10 Common Misconceptions Lawyers Have About Media Relations
Randy Labuzinski
Traditional media continue to evolve and constrict in a marketplace consumed by non-traditional influencers, including bloggers, social media stars, bots. Accordingly, the art of media relations is more important than ever to make sure PR professionals are doing all we can to influence the dwindling number of legitimate journalists while managing and enhancing the public reputations of our law firm clients.
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Marketing The Law Firm
When Being a Star Rainmaker is Not Enough: Why EQ Leads to Even Better Business Results
Marla Grant and Yuliya LaRoe
Why EQ Leads to Even Better Business Results
It is not uncommon for law firms to face negative business outcomes caused by the behavior of a star rainmaker who is unaware of the impact that they have on others. And that’s what emotional intelligence (EQ) is about and why it’s so important to lead to better business results. What can law firms do to help their star partners increase their emotional intelligence to avoid potentially disastrous business outcomes for themselves and their firms?
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Marketing The Law Firm
The 5-Step Path to Meeting Your Firm's Marketing Goals
Jennifer S. Bankston
Law firms of all sizes struggle to define a marketing and business development pathway that strikes the right balance to deliver measurable value at a manageable cost. A well-defined, quantifiable approach (proactive, not reactive) is necessary to execute a law firm’s strategy.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Maximize the Impact of Firm Sponsorships with Social Media
Spencer X Smith
Pro bono work on an individual level is often not publicized, but the work you do in the community as a firm should be. Here’s how to ensure both you and the charities, nonprofits, etc. you’re supporting gain the maximum amount of exposure and awareness for their causes.
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Marketing The Law Firm
15 Free Things to Do for Clients That Will Make Them Love You More
Stacy West Clark
There is a huge bonus to doing free things for clients at their place of business: You can bring as many lawyers from your firm with you as you like.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Leadership for the Strong
Silvia Coulter
There are a few things about being an effective leader that books and professors don’t seem to directly address. Here are some tips to help partners who lead operational teams, offices, practices, departments, or the firm itself, to implement for leadership impact.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
When Being a Star Rainmaker Is Not Enough
Marla Grant and Yuliya LaRoe
Why EQ Leads to Even Better Business Results
It is not uncommon for law firms to face negative business outcomes caused by the behavior of a star rainmaker who is unaware of the impact that they have on others. And that’s what emotional intelligence (EQ) is about and why it’s so important to lead to better business results. What can law firms do to help their star partners increase their emotional intelligence to avoid potentially disastrous business outcomes for themselves and their firms?
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Marketing The Law Firm
Don’t Be Content with No Content Strategy: A Law Firm Content Strategy Primer
John J. Buchanan
While it’s great to create a ton of content, without any kind of plan or guide, your content (and messaging) is all over the map. In order for your content to have real impact and to effectively support your firm’s business development goals and objectives, you need to have a “content strategy.”
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Marketing The Law Firm
Voice of the Client: 9 Ways You Could Be Hindering New Business Efforts
Mike Mellor
Nine ways you may be hindering your efforts to win new legal business, and a few ideas on how subtle improvements can maximize both success and overall win rates for firms and attorneys.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
9 Ways You Could Be Hindering New Business Efforts
Mike Mellor
Nine ways you may be hindering your efforts to win new legal business, and a few ideas on how subtle improvements can maximize both success and overall win rates for firms and attorneys.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Sales Speak: Relationship Building: Systemizing Prospect Engagement
Jennifer Bettencourt
Building rapport with prospective or existing clients and referral sources requires intentional ongoing communication and patience. When relationships fail to progress, it is most often due to a lack of follow-up.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Continual Assessment: Preparation for the Next Recession
Phillip Bantz
Assess your legal departments regularly to find and fix inefficient spending and work habits while also implementing new tech solutions now — before it’s too late.
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Marketing The Law Firm
From Blah to Ah-Ha! How to Write Law Firm Case Studies That Win New Business
Michelle Calcote King
Instead of the “Did X for X” format, law firms must embrace a more strategic — and effective — approach by writing case studies in a “mini story” format that focuses on typical client pain points and illustrates the firm’s unique value propositions.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Key Ways to Avoid Negative Publicity
David McCann
Marketing professionals have a responsibility to do their best to protect the brands of their employers. And part of that responsibility means avoiding, limiting or addressing, to the extent possible, any negative or damaging publicity. While there are nuances within each industry that determine what can and can’t be done in this effort, there are some universal strategies I think work well.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Competitive Intelligence: What Is Your Dashboard Report Telling You? Chances Are, Not Much.
Jim Jarrell
Until recently, most law firms operated with a cadre of legacy operating systems, financial platforms and reporting technologies from different manufacturers that have no mechanism for connecting with each other, let alone automatically extracting and updating data points between systems. The disparate nature of these technologies has exacerbated the struggle to leverage data and display results in a reporting mechanism that helps direct the firm’s decision-making.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Leadership In Law: Leadership for the Strong
Silvia Coulter
Law firms have many leaders. Yet in many cases, no formal leadership training takes place, leaving others in their groups or offices performing at less than optimal levels and on their own to get the job done often feeling pressured and stressed. Here are some tips to help partners who lead operational teams, offices, practices, departments, or the firm itself, to implement for leadership impact that books and professors don’t seem to directly address.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Tech: Five Quick and Easy Ways to Hack Your Business Development
Ari Kaplan
The most popular justification for avoiding business-development activities is a lack of time. There are, however, a number of strategies that will allow you to execute and produce results in minutes — or even seconds.
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Marketing The Law Firm
The Time to Improve Administrative Performance Is Now
J. Mark Santiago
This article focuses on what a firm can do now that will improve future firm economics regardless of what the future may hold. It identifies three areas that offer the great opportunity for improving a law firms’ economics and better positioning them for whatever the future may bring.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
5 Quick and Easy Ways to Hack Your Business Development
Ari Kaplan
The most popular justification for avoiding business-development activities is a lack of time. There are, however, a number of strategies that will allow you to execute and produce results in minutes — or even seconds.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Basic Tax Issues for Social Media Influencers
Robert M. Jason
This article provides a general introduction to social media influencers and discusses common tax issues arising on the income side of the equation. What is taxable income? What happens if the influencer’s compensation is paid in equity?
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Marketing The Law Firm
The Importance of Social Skills: Technology and Data Are Not Enough to Grow Your Firm’s Business
Jamie B. Field
Data is taking over our lives. And preceding that is all of the applications and technology that exists that helps us measure that information. But technology and data are not going to be the only growth drivers of a firm in the future. What’s going to become most important in the face of the technological changes that are occurring in law firms is a lawyer's "soft-skills."
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Marketing The Law Firm
Are Online Reviews Threatening Your Online Reputation?
Melanie Trudeau
An attorney’s reputation may be one of the most important factors that clients consider before hiring counsel. In today’s world of online reviews, managing your reputation can be challenging. How should you manage online reviews to ensure your reputation and trustworthiness are intact?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Litigation Expense Deductibility: New Appellate Court Decision
Daniel Mayo
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision that explains some of the requirements for deducting litigation expenses. The facts of the case are bizarre, but the controlling legal principles are not.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Voice of the Client: Hearing the Client Through the Noise
Jennifer Simpson Carr and Amy Knapp
At the end of the day, a lot of noise is created in the effort to hear the voice of the client. We propose that while these efficiencies and innovations in law are valuable, the clients keep asking for something different: a lawyer who deeply understands their business and their specific issue — at the time they need it.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Competitive Intelligence: How Client Intelligent Is Your Firm?
Stacy Rowe
Ready, Set, Benchmark!
Underlying great client service is a strong understanding of the client’s business and goals. There are many barriers to success when it comes to helping lawyers develop a strategic client mindset. So, how do you break down these barriers to create a Client Intelligent Law Firm?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Best Ways To Expand Key Client Relationships from the Lawyer and Firm Perspectives
Julie Savarino
Part Two of a Two-Part Article
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Law Firm Revenue Rose as Demand Dropped in the First Quarter of 2019
David Altuna and Gretta Rusanow
The legal industry saw greater revenue growth during the first quarter of 2019 than it did to start the strong year of 2018. However, the drivers of that growth were much different, as the demand growth that characterized 2018 gave way to a demand decline during the first quarter of 2019, and much of the revenue growth came in the form of cash collections from 2018 inventory.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Professional Development: Why an Online “To-Do” List and Notes Are So Important
Brett Spodak
If You Want To Do More, Go Paper-Less
he secret to increased productivity and a powerful agenda process is to finally ditch the paper and move to a more flexible system for both your daily to-do list and notes. This article makes the case for why moving to a digital platform for a to-do list and notes will increase your productivity.
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Marketing The Law Firm
5 Ways to Optimize the Attorney-Marketing Relationship
Mike Mellor
With an increase in partner laterals, the advent of increasingly sophisticated procurement teams, greater transparency into pricing models, and more law firm mergers every year, the dynamics have certainly shifted. Attorneys can no longer simply wait for their phones to ring and to expect million-dollar books of business by executing and providing superb client service. That ship has sailed, and client expectations have been raised across the board.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
“Don’t Do Stupid”
J. Mark Santiago
6 Common Law Firm Accounting Practices That Need to Be Re-evaluated
There are a number of tried and true practices in law firms that need more thinking. Not because law firm managers are stupid; it’s just that some practices need to be periodically re-evaluated and adjusted to reflect the changing times.
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Marketing The Law Firm
In a VUCA Environment, Empower Your CMO to Collaborate and Lead
Tammy Mangan
VUCA is an acronym we don’t often hear in the legal industry. It stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, and was coined by the U.S. Army to describe the post-Cold War world. Buyers of legal services are more sophisticated than ever and are redefining the meaning of value, some are involving procurement professionals in the buying process.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Best Ways to Expand Key Client Relationships
Julie Savarino
Part Two of a Two-Part Article
This two-part article defines the specific and best actions lawyers and law firms can take to expand client relationships. This second part covers what law firms as institutions can do to help the firm’s departments, practice groups, teams and lawyers expand client relationships.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Best Ways to Expand Key Client Relationships from the Lawyers’ and Firms’ Perspectives
Julie Savarino
Part One of a Two-Part Article
For a variety of reasons, many law firms and lawyers struggle to effectively cross-sell or cross-service. This article defines the specific and best actions lawyers and law firms can take to expand client relationships.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Tech: 7 Habits of Effective Online Marketers
Larry Bodine
The advantage of online marketing is that it is one-to-many, as opposed to in-person marketing which is one-to-one. By adopting the seven habits of effective online marketers, CMOs can generate more business for their law firms.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Lawyers: Being Paid Shouldn’t Be Like Pulling Teeth!
Peter A. Johnson
What Lawyers Can Learn From Dentists
Nobody enjoys visiting the dentist, but everybody knows you still must pay him or her on the day of service. Attorneys, however, have historically let the client lead the payment dance. Lawyers do the work and hope/expect to be paid without waiting too long or discounting the invoice too steeply. What can we do differently?
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Marketing The Law Firm
Best Ways to Expand Key Client Relationships from the Lawyers’ and Firms’ Perspectives
Julie Savarino
Part One of a Two-Part Article
This article defines the specific and best actions lawyers and law firms can take to expand client relationships. This first part includes specific actions individual lawyers can take to expand client relationships.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Five Ways to Maximize Marketing Efforts
Richard Bracken
With every request for external exposure, there is also an assumption that one effort of marketing will result in millions in new revenue. Yet, we all know that the responsibility to implement all marketing initiatives is on the lawyers.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Tech: Why Should Marketers Care About the Blockchain?
Deborah Dobson
Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, personally and professionally. One of the emerging technologies that has caught my eye is blockchain.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Competitive Intelligence: Creating a Culture of Intelligence
Patricia Ellard
We hear that clients hate to be cross-sold. However, this does not mean that clients are not interested to be introduced to new colleagues who can provide insight. Rather, cross selling must be thoughtful and tailored to clients’ needs
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Marketing The Law Firm
Sales Speak: Maximize Your Chambers (and other) Rankings
Linda A. Hazelton
While ranking directories are rarely the only tools used to find a firm or lawyer, in-house counsel and CEOs often turn to them as informative research sources. For these reasons alone, preparing materials and references for submission, even though time-consuming, may make sense under the right circumstances.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Farewell, For Now: I’m Cheering You On!
Kimberly Rice
In nearly 30 years as a legal marketing professional, I have seen firsthand so many changes and developments in law firms’ perception and treatment of business development and marketing as a business practice. Here are a few takeaways that I trust will be uplifting as you continue to pave your professional journey in legal marketing.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Lawyers: Being Paid Shouldn’t Be Like Pulling Teeth!
Peter A. Johnson
What Lawyers Can Learn From Dentists
Attorneys have historically let the client lead the payment dance. Lawyers do the work and hope/expect to be paid without waiting too long or discounting the invoice too steeply. Yet, here we are at the beginning of another year with many law firms still waiting anxiously for overdue checks to arrive. Shame on us for letting this happen. What can we do differently?
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