It takes a lot of effort and funds for a law firm to recruit and train its attorneys. If they stay for a sufficient period of time, improve their professional skills and start to bring in new business, the firm is likely to see a nice return on its investment.
These days, however, lawyers at some point typically leave the place that gave them their start; unlike days gone by when lawyers typically would stay at a firm for their whole professional careers. Today, they may go to a competitor firm, to a smaller firm, in-house or to a business that may or may not be a client of the firm. Yet, this does not necessarily mean that a law firm should just write off the time and money it spent on developing its former lawyers. Rather, as increasing numbers of law firms are coming to understand, a firm's former attorneys can play an important role in the firm's marketing and client development activities. To tap that resource, many law firms are creating alumni programs or are formalizing or expanding the basic elements of alumni programs that they already have in place.
- May 31, 2006Steven A. Meyerowitz
Whether you service public, privately held or non-profit clients, the most direct path to marketing results is to affiliate with aggregations of prospects in their industry associations. The caveat is, however, that you must attend regularly and take a leadership role ' join a committee, participate on a task force or event ' so that you become known as a trusted partner. Referrals will happen.
May 31, 2006Christine S. FilipMLF 50, MLF 50/II and MLF Canadian 20 submission update and criteria.
May 31, 2006Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' TursiThe connection between energy and matter is a fascinating subject to explore. While it generally sounds like the stuff of science fiction, I have uncovered the secret to how it applies to our own special universe of law firms.
My inquiry began by going to the source. While conducting painstaking research into previously unknown aspects of Albert Einstein's past, I was astonished to learn that he had been commissioned by a consortium of law firms to come up with a system for generating revenue. Their reasoning for hiring Einstein? Since the physical laws of nature and business do not apply to law firms, they needed an explanation that would work for them.May 31, 2006David FreemanImagine fielding all those unsolicited calls and referring them to a professional whose full-time job involves learning your audience requirements and branding strategy, finding research or personally conducting ongoing market and competitor analysis, providing you with data-rich 'Point-of-View' (POV) assessments on how the possible media buys fit into your firm's priorities ' maintaining arm's-length but informed relationships with the myriad publications you might consider, but recommending only those publications that meet a sophisticated test of audience reach vs. cost. This professional then negotiates advantageous terms and specifics, such as date and page placement, and executes the details of the media plan, day-in and day-out. And who keeps the payments and discounts straight and sends you frequent updates for budget-tracking purposes.
That professional is a media planner/buyer. No stranger to corporate America, outside media planning and buying services are relatively new to law firm marketing, but their presence is increasing among the larger, more media-savvy firms. Just as the legal profession lagged in accepting and building marketing departments, it has been slow to appreciate the value of these media professionals. That's changing, however, as national and global law firms are recruiting more non-legal professionals to high-level positions; and that new blood is carrying over some well-known best practices found in other industries with longer track records in branding and advertising than law firm marketing.May 31, 2006Elizabeth G. Chambers and Claire PapanastasiouHighlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
May 31, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |Recent news reports have brought international attention to the dramatic risks associated with a worldwide outbreak of the avian H5N1 virus flu. Although the legal issues that may arise as a result of a pandemic are not all necessarily product liability issues, attorneys with a focus on product liability law are well advised to consider how such a pandemic might affect their clients and potential clients. It is also prudent for product liability attorneys to…
May 31, 2006Robert Mitchell and Josh BeckerTo increase the effectiveness of our network of attorneys, efficiency and collective strength, and eliminate duplicative legal costs we needed to leverage the resources and intellectual capital of this national team of attorneys. Our solution was ultimately a two-pronged approach: First to provide counsel with technology to enable collaboration and sharing of resources in real time; and second, to gather the data to analyze the effectiveness and efficiencies of counsel and identify, encourage, and enforce best practice collaboration.
May 31, 2006Chris GentileIn 1789 and afterwards, when colonies became states, most state legislatures passed 'reception statutes.' These often forgotten parts of state law history 'received' the common law of England as of that date and, more importantly, empowered the courts to develop the common law in light of 'reason and experience.' See Victor E. Schwartz & Leah Lorber, Judicial Nullification of Civil Justice Reform Violates the Fundamental Federal Constitutional Principle of Separation of Powers: How to Restore the Right Balance, 32 Rutgers L.J. (2001). Over the past 240 years, legislatures have retrieved the right to make law, including property law, commercial law, divorce law, and almost every other civil field. There is one vestige, however, where courts still make law ' the law of torts.
May 31, 2006Victor E. SchwartzSay Knowledge Management in non-KM circles ' especially in law firms ' and you're likely to get a blank stare. This is often because the mission of knowledge management has not been communicated to stakeholders, or the term has been used so broadly that it no longer means anything. One way to overcome the 'what is KM?' challenge (and to gain great credibility for someone in my position) is to be able to respond to a well-defined need with an equally well-focused solution.
May 31, 2006Angie Turner