Teaching lawyers how to market the firm

The wider legal community has now accepted what some have known for twenty years: law firm marketing is here to stay, and is set to expand in influence and impact. The successful firms are those that have secured the support of their partnerships in driving forward marketing activity. Jolene Overbeck, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications of global law firm Latham & Watkins, provides tips on how to make your marketing efforts an integrated success.

Tapping the potential

The role of the marketing department has become steadily more important in modern law firms. So much so that many firms ignore the necessity of marketing effort and engagement by the lawyers themselves. No matter how high the level of planning and implementation support provided by the marketing group, or how much money is available to execute communications and business development initiatives, a law firm’s marketing program will never be fully effective without the extensive involvement of lawyers.

The simple reason that lawyer commitment is crucial to marketing success is that lawyers are essentially the sales force of the law firm. Not only are they key conduits for the delivery of strategic marketing messages, but they also manage the client relationship to engender client satisfaction, thereby ensuring a continuing stream of work for the firm. Lawyers must use their knowledge of client requirements to help shape the content of marketing events and materials such as seminars, intellectual capital reports and online information if these marketing programs are to be credible to clients.

Many US-heritage law firms have recognized the need for a high level of lawyer involvement in the marketing program. As a result, they have focused on creating compensation systems and other incentive programs to motivate their lawyers. On this side of the Atlantic, the extent to which partners engage in the marketing process at the bulk of firms is smaller. In a survey conducted in the UK last year by PricewaterhouseCoopers, respondent firms revealed that nearly half of their equity partners spent less than 5 per cent of their time on marketing activity, while a third of the remainder only managed between 5 and 10 per cent.

Although this may be a cultural difference between top-flight US and UK firms, there are measures which can be introduced to reverse lawyer passivity.

There are three basic tenets that should be adhered to when attempting to institute an effective lawyer–based marketing effort.

Note one: Marketing should not rest solely at the partner level. All lawyers must be motivated to participate in marketing. Training early in a young lawyer’s career is essential, since one of the main barriers to motivation and involvement is a lack of understanding of marketing principals and knowledge of techniques. Early education also reinforces the message that the firm is committed to a vigorous marketing effort and that becoming a partner at the firm rests in part on business development potential.

The Training and Career Enhancement (TACE) Committee supervises Latham’s firm-wide associate training programme. This Committee has 20 lawyer-members, of which half are partners. The Committee’s core curriculum is devoted to substantive legal training to ensure uniformly high quality skills firm-wide. The marketing training, provided as a part of the advanced TACE curriculum, gives the lawyers a ‘step up’ in better business development practice. The first focus is on developing sound client service skills and then on specific marketing communications and business development techniques.

The attitude of the partnership is crucial. At Latham & Watkins, the marketing function is the charge of the Marketing Strategy Committee, ensuring mandate at a high management level. Committee members in each office champion the marketing strategies and initiatives at a country and office level. They are also responsible for providing feedback on regional trends and practice-specific client requirements, information that is critical for shaping the marketing strategy. Unless there is positive and serious commitment from the firm’s leadership and top partners to make marketing a priority, any programme, no matter how well conceived, will be given short shrift due to the pressure of day-to-day case work.

Note two: Central management of the marketing programme must not impede local office, practice group or individual attorney marketing efforts. Too often marketing is a completely centralised function within the law firm. Local offices and practice groups have little if any resources to support their initiatives. As a result, global policy set by the central group fails to account for regional and practice specific differences and requirements. Worthwhile grassroots efforts are also thwarted and lawyers hindered in their own business development endeavours.

A balance must be struck between crafting consistent global policy when and where consistency is necessary, and empowering smaller operating units within the firm with adequate budget and staff support for marketing. Creating this balance is another of the Latham & Watkins Marketing Strategy Committee’s responsibilities. Representation of all markets and major departments on the Committee ensures voice is given to local and practice area needs. In addition, the global marketing budget approved by the Committee includes allocations for global and local activity. Finally, Lathams’ marketing staff structure combines global functional specialists with office and practice group staff.

Note three: The marketing team must ensure that lawyers are aware of the firm’s strategic priorities as well as how the team can support their broader efforts of winning business. The successful promotion internally of the marketing team’s resources needs to filter down through to the front lines. Any number of communication techniques and vehicles can be employed, including written descriptions of “best practices” case studies, circulation of press clippings highlighting lawyers, league tables or marketing programmes, and regular participation of marketing staff at practice development meetings. Working with younger lawyers on creating individual business plans is an excellent way to begin the communication flow.

An example of effective lawyer involvement in marketing activity

Senior Director seminar series on the dual listing of European companies on US stock exchanges, and other methods of harnessing US capital to raise acquisition finance. Hosted by Latham & Watkins, with support from NASDAQ, PWC and JP Morgan. London, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt - May 2002

The seminar series was devised by Latham & Watkins partners, in conjunction with local marketing teams, as a platform to showcase the expertise and knowledge of Latham lawyers in advising companies in Europe who wish to tap into the US capital markets. Global marketing was called upon to provide operational support.

Without the involvement of partners the seminar series simply could not have taken place, and a great marketing opportunity would have been lost. The benefits of the seminar were several:

External

Clients and prospective clients of the firm who attended at the invitation of their relationship partners were exposed to the expertise of Latham partners in a cutting edge corporate financing and M&A field, positioning Latham lawyers as leaders in their fields as well as innovators.
The seminar format, which included lunch, gave partners an opportunity to cement relationships with clients in a setting out of the ordinary run of their everyday business contact. The informative nature of the event provided a substantive background and talking point for partners to develop new relationships with prospective clients.
The attendance of media at the invitation of the marketing team meant the wider publication of the seminar, bringing Latham’s expertise and dominant position in the advisory market to a much wider, carefully targeted .
Interviews between invited media representatives and partners provided an opportunity to build important relationships with carefully selected journalists, whose future interest in Latham’s activity could be cultivated.

Internal

The smooth running, high attendance and serious media interest in the events reinforced the faith of the partners that their efforts were worthwhile, ensuring future support and cooperation. The successful seminar also conveyed that the marketing function is being carried out effectively by business and media savvy professionals. This engenders ongoing support, commitment and support from the partnership.

Jolene Overbeck is head of marketing and corporate communications at Latham & Watkins. She can be contacted at Jolene.overbeck@lw.com