What Does it Mean? PR Tips for Lawyers

Attorneys who can answer the question, "what does it all mean?" have a better chance of getting media coverage in turbulent market cycles, according to our recent post.

Wall Street and Main Street hate uncertainty, so the enterprising attorney or law firm who can demonstrate a leadership approach in these tough times stands a better chance of gaining increased visibility and possibly market share.

Here is a case in point. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Law Firms Gear Up -- and Wait -- For Anticipated Bankruptcies." The gist of the article is that the number of high value bankruptcies to date is less than expected, leaving some firms that rely on this countercyclical practice with available capacity.

Our key point is to bring your attention to the closing paragraph. The reporter asks: "What does it all mean for the lawyers?"

In this case, the answer to the WSJ reporter's question is found in the quote of a law professor:

"It depends on the firm's business plan," said Jack Williams, who teaches bankruptcy law at Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta. Mr. Williams predicts that firms that can juggle a lot of short-term engagements are going to do well. "But those who stick with a more traditional approach," like relying on one or two cases that drag on for years, might struggle. "That business plan just isn't going to square with what's going on."

The Rainmaking Lady offers two observations:

1. You, too, have a chance of getting quoted in the media when you can offer a credible analysis of what given market conditions mean to your clients and constituents
2. Stay focused on your sales pipeline for new case development. While it's great to hit the ball out of the park with a huge case, it might take a lot of smaller matters to keep paying the bills.

Here's your homework: see how you can put this to work in your law firm marketing program.

How to Write a Law Firm Marketing Plan

Marketing without a plan is one of the biggest mistakes a law firm can make. We explore this topic as the first blog post in our recently announced series entitled"The Top 10 Legal Marketing Mistakes."

Consider the following questions:

1. Shall we invest $1,000 to sponsor a table at our client's annual industry event?
2. The local Chamber of Commerce is offering a special rate of $2,500 for a full page ad in their annual membership directory; is this right for us?
3. If we can only do one marketing campaign, what should that be?

Law firm managing partners and marketers are faced with these issues on a regular basis.

The best way to conduct an effective law firm marketing campaign is to start with a detailed plan. You will want to specifically identify your business development goals (# of new accounts, $ in new business by practice area), focus on your target markets, carefully identify the competitive environment, create your "unique selling proposition," and identify the campaigns you plan to implement to generate the new revenue you seek.

We recommend using an integrated marketing campaign featuring many complementary communications channels. For example, you will want to include: speaking engagements, article placement, referral networks, educational seminars, Internet marketing, direct mail, print and online advertising, public relations, updated collateral materials, and potential sponsorships.

By the way, here are the answers to the law firm marketing questions posed above:

1. Yes, this may be a great investment. You will show your support for your client and their industry. Plus you will get some good visibility and networking opportunities. Ask your clients to introduce you to their industry contacts.
2. With all due respect to the Chamber, a one-time print ad placement in anything will generally not be productive. Viewers need to see your ad a minimum of 5-6 times before they start paying attention.
3. The best single law firm marketing campaign you can undertake is marketing to your current and past clients.

Click here to see a sample of an attorney marketing plan:
http://www.legalexpertconnections.com/attorneymarketingplan.pdf

Law Firms Go Green: Environmental Marketing

Nixon Peabody is one law firm to go "Legally Green" (see www.nixonpeabody.com). They have incorporated expertise from several practice areas into an Environmental "Thought Leadership" service group for clients. Equally important, the law firm has also adopted sustainable building practices where possible and is committed to following environmentally friendly law firm operations.

Wendel Rosen is another law firm that promotes its "green" status. In order to get certified by the Bay Area Green Business Program, the firm presented an educational series on sustainable practices to all firm employees. They developed a Sustainability Team comprised of attorneys and staff. The team analyzed all of the firm's environmental impacts and made recommendations for areas of improvement. Some were undertaken immediately, and others are being phased in over time. See: http://www.wendel.com/greencertification.cfm

As part of its environmental sustainability efforts, the Minneapolis law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. is switching to wind-generated electricity to provide 100% power for its law firm’s headquarters. See: http://www.rkmc.com/Minneapolis-Office-of-Robins-Kaplan-Miller-Ciresi-Goes-Green.htm

These law firms are discovering that doing good is good for their legal business. This is a great way for the early adopters to gain favorable press coverage while providing a community service and demonstrating their commitment to being good corporate citizens.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Law Firm Marketing

Last week I had the privilege of addressing the Associaton of Legal Administrators (ALA) West Palm Beach Chapter on the topic, "Courting Your Clients: The Administrator's Perspective." One of the questions that came up was about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software services that are suitable for law firm use. Here is list of some of the leading CRM providers.

Act! by Sage, Premium 2008
http://www.act.com/

Contact Ease
http://www.colevalley.com/

Goldmine
http://www.goldmine.com/

InterAction® Lexis-Nexis
www.interaction.com

Microsoft Dynamics
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/product

SalesForce
www.salesforce.com

Tracking your leads is a critical element in successful law firm marketing. You will want to record how you found your prospect, the date they became a prospect for your legal services, and future dates for follow up action.

Turning a prospect into a client for your law firm is essential to your practice expansion. Don't leave this important process to chance!

NEW: In response to a question posed by a reader, the choice of a software package depends on the number of users, offices, and your budget. Goldmine and Act! are widely used within small to medium businesses. They can be purchased at Office Depot or Staples starting at a price of about $200.

Other applications are typically priced by the "seat" or number of users, and typically involve installation of software and possibly hardware. Interaction is used by very large law firms. SalesForce.com is different in that it is Internet-based, so there is no software or hardware required. You should speak with each vendor directly to determine which service is right for you. Contact us if you need help in the evaluation process.

Best Practices in Law Firm Positioning: Stand Apart from the Competition

As we research business development opportunities for attorney and expert clients, our work takes us to dozens of law firm web sites on a regular basis. We will start to share with you some of the best practices in law firm marketing that we discover.

Today we are impressed by the registered tag line of Andrews Kurth: "Straight Talk is Good Business.®" Visit their site at www.andrewskurth.com/ to see how they carry out this theme visually and also weave it into their law firm marketing operations. For example, attorney presentations are listed on the web site as "Straight Talk Appearances."

The firm speaks directly to current and prospective law firm clients when they promise not to "hide behind the legalese." The implication is that they are a business partner with a roll-up the sleeves approach to evaluating options, measuring risk, and making informed decisions.

Navigation on the site is also excellent. I particularly like the search feature on the left side of the page.

Too many law firms today focus on what they do, rather than approach marketing from the client's perspective. Andrews Kurth offers a good example of straight marketing.

Associate Programs Feel the Pinch of Law Firm Budget Cuts

"Law Firms Curtail Associate Programs as Economy Slows," is the topic of a 4/14/08 article on page B1 of The Wall Street Journal.

As the economy slows, some firms are trimming expenses in the associate area. Examples include the law firm of Thelen Reid, which recently dismissed 26 associates from its staff of 550 lawyers. The firm also shortened its summer associate program from 8 to 11 weeks. Pillsbury Winthrop, an 800 attorney law firm based in New York, is also giving summer associates two weeks less time (from 12 to 10 weeks). Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath actually rescinded offer letters to two summer associates and two first-year associates in the Charlotte, NC office.

A bottom line focus is absolutely essential, and cutting expenses is one way to manage personnel costs. A top line emphasis is also essential. More law firms should consider providing their associates with business development training as a means of opening additional avenues for new revenue.

Young lawyers a few years out of law school tend to have a strong electronic network of friends and acquaintances, even if they do spend a lot of hours behind a desk. This Facebook generation can tap into college chums and law school buddies who may be working at global Fortune 500 companies or fast-growing upstarts that need legal service.

Frequently associates simply don't know the basic steps of identifying an ideal client, determining legal needs, talking about possible solutions, or closing a sale. Investing in a few hours of business development training for associates is likely to generate a strong return on investment in the near term.

Now is a good time to get "all hands on deck" in looking for revenue opportunities.

Law Firm Restructuring: Anderson Kill sets an Example

I just came across an interesting announcement from earlier this year that merits a mention in terms of law firm marketing and strategic planning.

The New York-based law firm of Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C. was faced with the amicable departure of 69 shareholders to Reed Smith after terminating merger discussions. Taking a proactive stance, Anderson Kill issued a press release announcing that it was refocusing its practice on the firm's core competencies in about six key legal practice areas. Read the release here: http://www.andersonkill.com/news_article.asp?newsid=1113

There are times when downsizing or refocusing is the right step in a firm's business development cycle. Such a dramatic action allows you to restate your mission and re-energize the team. In today's turbulent market conditions, perhaps your own firm will benefit from a refocusing or streamlining action.

The tighter your focus, the more effectively you can allocate resources. You will also be able to develop and communicate your USP (unique selling proposition) to the marketplace more forcefully.

The Bear Essentials: Balancing the Eggs in Your Basket

The Wall Street Journal today includes a story entitled "Law Firms Likely to Miss High-Fee Work for Bear." Several large law firms may find themselves at risk of losing business on the Bear Stearns account as the firm becomes part of JP Morgan Chase, according to the report. Cadwalader Wickersham, Skadden Arps, Latham & Watkins, and Weil Gotschal are among the firms mentioned as historically providing legal services for Bear Stearns.

One week ago today Bear Stearns stock was trading at $65 per share, to be followed by a proposed fire sale of $2.00 per share less than 4 days later. One Bear Stearns trader who read about the deal in the paper said he was sure the offer price was a typo.

What if the unimaginable happens to a client of your law firm? Do you have 1 or 2 large accounts that represent a significant share of your business? The old adage "don't put all your eggs in one basket" holds true for law firms as well. If you determine that the misfortune of a small number of accounts can cause great potential harm to your practice, now is a good time to work toward rebalancing your portfolio of clients and/or practice areas .

Strategic Networking: 5 Steps to Snag Hard-to-Reach Prospects

Strategic networking is the process of focusing your time and attention on reaching the big fish.

You can go out every night of the week and meet dozens of people at Chamber meetings, professional association dinners, or fund raising events. If you are a member of the plaintiff's bar, this is probably not a bad approach (although it is time consuming). However, you have little control over who you meet.

But what if your time is limited and you need to see a better return on your networking activities?

Let's say as an example that you are a partner in a defense law firm offering some type of healthcare legal service to hospitals, clinics, HMOs, or other health care related firms. In order to maximize your referral networking time, you want to connect with the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk Officer, in-house General Counsel, or Chief Executive Officer. Unfortunately, these people can be hard to reach.

Here is a way to reach the person with purchasing authority through your networking efforts.

1. First, identify the top 5 to 10 local firms in the health care industry that you want to reach. (D&B's Zapdata - www.zapdata.com - is a great way to compile your list)

2. Write down the names of the 3-5 executives within each firm who would be good contacts for you.

3. Do some research to find out where these prospects and/or their employers get involved in the community, like the local Chamber or Economic Development Organization.

4. Start to attend meetings of the organizations where your prospects are involved.

5. Once you meet someone within a target firm, ask for referrals and introductions that will eventually get you in front of your intended prospect.

This is likely to take some time, and you may need to volunteer for a committee or project, but it will be time well spent. The bottom line, if done properly, is your success in opening a new account with one of your top prospects.

Remember the secret to business development: never stop marketing!

Helping Law Firm Associates Build a Referral Network

Law firms that rely only on their referral network may not be tapping into other productive marketing channels, as reported in my previous post.

Visits with several law firms this week remind me that there is another underutilized resource in regard to the power referral network. What I'm referring to is the fact that many law firm associates, still early in their legal career, are not trained on how to build their own referral network. Happy to rely on work brought in by other partners, these associates may not be developing the skills they need to bring their own business in the door.

Whether you develop an in-house mentoring program, or bring in outside trainers, teaching your associates how to build their own referral networks can be one of the best investments that a law firm can make.

Showing your associates how to think strategically about the business they want to develop, then showing them how to go out and network their way into these accounts, can start paying off in weeks or months.

Our next post will focus on how to map out your networking activities to get an introduction to the decision maker at a hot prospect. Stay tuned!

Social Networks and Law Firm Marketing: How to Network Online

Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace have been hot topics of discussion lately on the listserv for the Legal Marketing Association. I personally use LinkIn and find it to be a good way to build and manage an online network. While preparing to moderate a panel on Internet Marketing for the San Francisco chapter of the LMA last September, LinkedIn helped me to find some qualified speakers quickly.

Here is a link to an interesting article on the subject entitled "Linked in or Left Out: ‘Supercharge’ Your Interactions Through Social Networking," written by Janet Ellen Raasch and published by the Canadian Bar Association.
http://www.cba.org/cba/PracticeLink/TAYP/socnetworks2.aspx

You are invited to add your comments on the topic to this blog post.

Client Teams for Law Firm Marketing

Client service teams represent an increasingly popular approach to serving the needs of large, complex law firm accounts. Focused on a law firm's largest corporate customers, client teams draw together attorneys and support professionals across offices and practice groups to monitor case work, service levels and billings on a regular basis.

Since a law firm's largest current accounts represent the best source for new business, the deeper communication level and account understanding generated by client teams creates new business opportunities as well. Team members gain insight on new product offerings being planned by the client, or get an early lead on helping a client prepare for legislative or industry challenges.

You'll find an informative artice on client teams online in a recent issue of the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management Magazine:
http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/pmqa02061.shtml

Legal Marketing & Business Development for 2007

It's January 1st ... do you have your legal or litigation support marketing plan in place?

Plan to address basic marketing activities in your 2007 plan, including:

• Key legal or litigation services you offer
• Your primary audience
• The message(s) you want to communicate
• Pipeline management
• Referral network
• Speaking engagements
• Publishing opportunities
• Website and Internet marketing
• Seminars and sponsorships

You can only manage what you can measure, so now is the time to prepare your plan and commit it to a monthly calendar of marketing activities.

Need some help to get started? Just give us a call at 1-866-417-7025 to discuss your marketing needs.

Martindale Offers New Law Firm Marketing Opportunities Online

Martindale, the LexisNexis subsidiary, is borrowing a page from Google by offering sponsored placements for law firms on search results pages.

General "lawyer locater" searches on www.martindale.com will now feature one national law firm announcement and one statewide law firm banner ad above the actual search results, according to a November 21, 2006 company press release.

Additionally, targeted national and statewide sponsorships are available in five specific legal categories:
- Aviation and Aerospace Law
- Admiralty and Marine Law
- Immigration Law
- International Law
- Military Law

Statewide sponsorships start at $2,000/year while national sponsorships start at $15,000/year.

Our Observations: This move underscores several timely marketing principles.

First, it is no longer sufficient to simply be listed in various legal directories. In the case of Martindale, the law firm participation rate is so high that it may be hard to stand out. The new sponsorship program will attract aggressive law firms that are willing to pay a premium for favorable placement.

Second, online marketing is becoming increasingly important in connecting attorneys with new legal prospects and law firm clients.

Third, your law firm's website plays a critical role in converting visitors to prospects. A basic online brochure is inadequate to instill confidence, particularly when your legal competitors have a more polished online presence.

Contact the author to discuss your online legal marketing strategies.

Florida Attorney Advertising Rule Amendments Approved by Florida Supreme Court

The Florida Supreme Court on November 2, 2006 adopted amendments to the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar based on recommendations of the Florida Bar Advertising Task Force 2004. These advertising amendments become effective on January 1, 2007.

The Florida Bar adopted the majority of the Advertising Task Force recommendations, with the exception of proposals dealing with: 1) attorney website regulation; and 2) the review of television and radio advertisements.

Generally, the amendments relate to the following Advertising Rules:
Rule 4-7.1, General
Rule 4-7.2, Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services
Rule 4-7.3, Advertisements in the Public Print Media
Rule 4-7.4, Direct Contact with Prospective Clients
Rule 4-7.5, Advertisements in the Electronic Media other than Computer-Accessed Communications
Rule 4-7.6, Computer-Accessed Communications
Rule 4-7.7, Evaluation of Advertisements
Rule 4-7.8, Exemptions
Rule 4-7.9, Information about a Lawyer's Services Provided Upon Request
Rule 4-7.10, Firm Names and Letterhead

Subsequent posts will explore details of the changes in Florida's attorney advertising guidelines in more detail.