I have had more than a dozen conversations with AmLaw 100 and 200 firm leaders starting in Q4 2011 and continuing through January 2012. They identified cross-selling and revenue growth as their top priorities for 2012. As resolved as they are about that, they also admitted that they aren’t entirely […]
How would you transform the legal industry?
Ayelette Robinson, Director of Knowledge Technology at Littler Mendelson, did a guest post on the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog a couple days ago asking, “How would you transform the legal industry?” It got me thinking and I thought I’d carry her idea to my blog and pose it to […]
3 Geeks review our cross-selling mobile app, Velocity
In an ILTA hosted webinar yesterday about experience databases, Kathrine Cain (Winston & Strawn), Lisa Simon (Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck) and I spoke about our own experiences implementing experience databases. As I mentioned in my introduction and observations, this is one of the hottest topics proliferating law firms today – […]
Experience databases: If you build it, will they come?
For many AmLaw 100 and 200 law firms, experience management is one of the most important stated initiatives for 2012. Knowing what your partners do and knowing how to easily sort, parse and leverage this data is a top priority for managing partners, law firm chairs and executive committees. If […]
Advice to CMOs: Don’t relinquish control when searching for your critical team members.
(Guest post by Steve Nelson and Cassie Battle) One critical determinant in the success of CMOs in law firms is the ability to build a high-functioning team. Anyone who has read “Good to Great” knows that the key to success in any enterprise is to get the right people on […]
A Toast to Differentiation: What law firms can learn from Blue Hill at Stone Barns
(Guest post by Lise Anne Schwartz) Regular visitors to this blog know that Deborah is a connoisseur of fine food, wine and restaurants. So when she visited New York last week, the pressure was on to find a unique dining experience for us to share. I took her to Blue […]
“2012 CFO Outlook” – A survey by Merrill Lynch and Bank of America – What does this mean for law firms?
Now that the holidays are behind us, let’s get down to some serious business – and some prognosticating about what law firms’ business and financial lives might be like this year. The bottom line is that the CFO respondents (600 of them from corporate America) are concerned and have low confidence […]
Attorney at Work’s “Lawyer Marketing Collection 2011”
If you haven’t subscribed to Attorney at Work yet, take 5 minutes during this post-Christmas-gift-exchanging-sale-exploiting week and do it. To get a taste for the benefit you’ll receive, download this free “Lawyer Marketing Collection 2011” — the most popular/best read Attorney at Work posts during the last year. I am happy to […]
3 No cost ways to drive traffic to your website
It’s almost New Year’s Eve. I am a believer in making New Year’s resolutions – I make them every year. When Merrilyn Astin Tarlton and Joan Feldman asked me to write a year-end blog post for their popular blog Attorney at Work, I sought to write one that would inspire readers […]
The secret to becoming a rainmaker – Part 3 (Or, the “Triangle of Success”)
In Part 1 of “The secret to becoming a rainmaker,” I shared the one thing that I think makes the greatest difference in lawyers who are effective business developers. Here is an excerpt of that post: This post isn’t about telling you how to sell. It’s about me finally articulating […]
How do you balance the yin-and-yang of leaders and managers in your firm?
I bet that everyone reading this is a fan of buying the latest bestsellers on leadership. And I bet that most of you actually read parts, if not all of these tomes. I am drawn to each new title and I am nearly always inspired by what I read about […]
How does the “last mile” relate to lawyers’ website biographies?
The “last mile” is a supply chain management term (and a single released by hard rock/glam band, Cinderella, in 1989, and also a play and movie from the 1930s) that refers to a product’s last mile before it gets to market and on store shelves. Apparently, it’s the hardest and most […]
Women stunt their careers – unintentionally. (Comments on a post from HBR Blog Network)
Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath and Mary Davis Holt start their HBR Blog post like this: “Having combed through more than a thousand 360-degree performance assessments conducted in recent years, we’ve found, by a wide margin, that the primary criticism men have about their female colleagues is that the women they […]
One of the next big things in law firm websites: Video done right.
Everyone who knows Adam Stock, the Director of Marketing and Business Development at California law firm Allen Matkins, understands that he is an early adopter of most things technology. He’s a capable developer, program and website designer and, in his spare time, he is Chair of the upcoming 2011 Legal Marketing […]
Only 5 months left to meet your 2011 marketing goals
I received an email this morning from the CMO Council on its “Marketing Outlook for 2011.” While the research study made more sense to report in Q1, it’s worthwhile to use as a check-up as we edge into August 2011. The Study reports that marketing budgets are on the rise, with […]
Social media for introverts – Guest post by Paul S. Grabowski
I have worked with Paul Grabowski, Esq. at two well known Texas law firms, Andrews Kurth and Porter Hedges, where he led the marketing departments. He just wrote this post for Thom Singer’s blog (Thom Singer is also an Andrews Kurth marketing team alum), which should resonate with many of the lawyers who […]
Commentary on Law360 Post, “How to Make it Rain by Marketing Individual Lawyers”
A legal marketing friend, John Eix, head of Regional Business Development – Texas for Hunton & Williams, sent me a June 24, 2011 Law360 article that I finally had a moment to read. It covers the age-old question of, “Do clients hire law firms or lawyers?” I have always insisted that they hire both, […]
Calling in-house legal marketers and business development professionals – A Survey
There is one day left to be a part of Content Pilot’s survey called, “Survey on Law Firm Proposals, RFPs and Managing Experience.” This is the second such survey, the first being conducted on a smaller scale in early 2010. Prompted again by recent conversations with C-level marketing/BD leaders and marketing directors […]
The secret to becoming a rainmaker – Part 2
On February 15th, I wrote a post called, "The secret to becoming a rainmaker." It was one of the highest read posts since I started my Law Firm 4.0 blog. I plan to add to this from time to time and will, very simply, call them Part 2, Part 3, and […]
Law Practice Management Class – SMU Law School. What’s on their minds?
I taught a course this week – Marketing on the Internet – at Mark Shank’s Law Practice Management Class at Southern Methodist University Law School. The LPM course was new last year – it attracted 14 students. This year, it has 49, and I expect next year it will exponentially grow again. […]