Wednesday, June 27, 2007

GCs speak to South Florida Legal Marketers

The General Counsel from Bank Atlantic, Lady of America Fitness and United Automobile Insurance Group spoke to the South Florida City Group of the Legal Marketing Association last week. The panel provided marketers with insight on how to attract and retain corporate accounts.

Published articles and case studies, displayed on web sites or distributed through direct mail, are recommended ways to get the attention of a busy GC. Corporate clients are also impressed when an attorney offers them proactive advice and guidance focused on challenging issues they might be facing.

These panelists place value on organized law firm web sites that offer high quality information on attorney bio and practice group pages. Specifically, the GCs like to see detailed lawyer bios that include a specific case list with an indication of wins, cases argued and the results of appellate cases. Clients lists are also important, because they provide an indicator of the law firm's competitive position.

The quality and depth of law firm relationships and connections with industry leaders, legislators and governmental agencies are valued by the General Counsel who spoke.

While it is always surprising to hear of common etiquette breaches, the GCs cautioned law firm marketers that attorneys need to return phone calls, Associates should not be rude to client staff members, and clients don't like to pay for lots of associate "research" time after they hire an attorney for their expertise.

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