Attorney Marketing: 2 Things in 5 Minutes.

There is absolutely a need for articles like this (10 items for your law firm marketing to-do list), this (10 ways to optimize your LinkedIn profile) and this (marketing your law practice with a blog). However, how often does an attorney successfully complete even half of the proposed 10 steps without being interrupted?

It's too complicated. These articles belong with the marketer to build a portfolio of ideas and support the firm's overall strategic planning. Get your attorneys to devote 5 minutes a day to marketing their practice and you'll have over 20 hours a year from each lawyer. For the first 5 minutes tell them to:

1. Google yourself

2. Google your client before you call

Need proof? Here is an article from Corporate Counsel Magazine quoting 3 in-house counsel on precisely this issue.



ABA Journal Panel- Alternative Billing: Who’s Actually Doing It?

If you haven't spent much time researching alternative billing...this is s great overview. Includes the perspective of both in-house counsel and private practice attorneys with case study discussion.

If you have spent a lot of time in the alternative billing space it's still worth a listen.

In-house Counsel from Cisco, General Electic
Law Firm represented by Foley & Lardner, Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, Horvitz & Levy, Shook Hardy & Bacon

Questioning the Questioner

At a certain point during Q&A of every in-house panel I've attended an audience member will stand up and ask some form of, ".....BUT how do I get your business?"

In-house attorneys always respond in a measured tone but I'm left wondering if the audience has been listening to the preceeding 90 minutes of discussion that included a myriad of ideas like: give me something I need to do my business better, communicate effectively, network.

Instead of just wondering, I am exploring the idea of throwing the questions back at the questioner. The Socratic Method: Leveraging Questions to Increase Performance offers a nice explanation of putting these types of questions to work in the leadership of your law firm (Bonus! There's also a case study).

A sample: "Although leadership is about moving people, the simple truth is that nobody moves anywhere unless they move themselves. The Socratic Method is a way to help people see when they need to move, and where they need to move to."

24-7 Brochure

Today's The Recorder roundtable "How to Win My Business" featured in-house counsel
Seth Jaffe- SVP and General Counsel Williams-Sonoma Inc., Brett Fletcher- VP & General Counsel Gilead Sciences, Inc and Joseph Catalano- SVP & Chief Litigation Counsel Union Bank.

One of the actionable items that resonates with me 4 hours post-event is communication. Of course communication between outside lawyer and in-house counsel (responsiveness, openness about how a matter is going and billing, etc.) but also the way that a law firm communicates with its clients. Seth Jaffe (who likes lists by the way) included the importance of a firm's website as a way to get noticed on a firm's short-list. It's crucial for law firms to maintain an accurate picture of their firm's capabilities online. I grabbed a couple recent articles on the topic to make sure your "website brain" keeps at it:
Master of your Domain Name- Is it time to bring web maintenance in-house?
Law Firm Websites that Work- various perspectives from ABA Journal
You can get my quick takeaways of the roundtable discussion on Twitter @pryplewski

Women to Women Advice from ACC Panel

"General counsel and in-house lawyers need to stand up and be heard and always work to become the go-to person in a company rather than the one business folks run from, a group of female general counsel told a room full of women in-house lawyers last week."

For complete details. The panel included:

SunGard Data Systems, General Counsel, Victoria Silbey
Cigna Corp, General Counsel, Carol Ann Petren
Endo Pharmaceuticals, General Counsel, Caroline B. Manogue

Moderated By:
Diversified Search Ray & Berndtson CEO Judith M. von Seldeneck

Why My Company Hires Diverse Law Firms

The thirst for new business was palpable as private practice attorneys gathered 27 May 2009 to learn the perspectives of three in-house panelists on issues of diversity and business development in law firms. The Recorder's Annual Diversity Roundtable hosted panelists Sheldon Quan of Clorox, Tracy Preston of Levi Strauss, James Carroll of Matsunichi and was moderated by Richard Amador of Sanchez & Amador.
In summary, the panelists are looking for improved communications and relationships between with their outside firms. James Carroll suggested that private practice attorneys stay in touch with their clients even when nothing is happening. When asked about their feelings on flexible work schedules (new parents, work/life balance) all 3 panelists were strongly in favor. The only caution: let us know who is going to be out when so that we aren't waiting for a response and can call the person's back-up.
Networking is essential for business development. The panel many times suggested that partners should bring a minority associate along to events to make introductions. This also alerts clients to your firm's diversity commitment and gives the associate an opportunity to form relationships. Make sure that the young lawyers that accompany you on appointments and to events are are able to field questions about the firm.

Suggested Resources:

• Corporate Connections a "speed-dating" event hosted at the California Minority Counsel Program's Annual Business Conference
• Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Database- standardized diversity metrics
• ACC Value Challenge- A national dialog about the need to reconnect value to costs, especially within the law firm community, with a common language and framework that ACC will have helped define.