Four General Counsel (GC) gave their unvarnished opinions of law firm marketing at a legal conference I attended at the Chicago Club in June. The ‘Rapid Fire’ Panel, with moderator Michael Chu of McDermott Will & Emery, was a fast-paced discussion with direct one-word, one-sentence, and one-minute answers to questions about client concerns with legal service and law firm marketing.

27 questions were put forward in the one-hour session. Here’s the first dozen. You can download complete notes from the link at the end of the article.

THE PANELLISTS

Vicki Baue, Vice President & General Counsel, CCO & VP Human Resources, Cosi Inc. Size of in-house legal team = 2 lawyers

Paul Liebenson, GM & Regional General Counsel, North America, ArcelorMittal. Size of team = 10 lawyers in US, 200 around the world.

Fred Stein, SVP & General Counsel, Redbox. Size of team = 4 in his department. 11 in organisation.

Lydia Wahike, Vice President & General Counsel, Chicago Cubs. Size of team = stretched to the limit with 2 lawyers and a paralegal.

WHAT THEY SAID …

1.   Do you use linkedin?

All of the panelists use LinkedIn. Liebenson described it as an ‘essential tool’ for business

2.   What about legal rankings?

‘Super Lawyer’ rankings meant nothing and Law360 was not used. “It’s expensive click bait.”

3.   What do you think about lawyer profiles on firm websites?

·         “Very difficult to find specific experience”

·         “Needs to be the right amount of information and well organised”

·         “Why don’t they connect their practices back to their people?”

4.   Should professionals include their hobbies in their profiles?

Yes. It’s nice to know for relationship building.  “It humanizes lawyers – not just an INTJ (Myers Briggs profile) type professionals”

5.   Relevance of newsletters, blogs & brochures

·         All panelists read or scanned newsletters from law firms

·         Blogs met with a mixed reaction

·         Brochures “offered little value as they were too general”

6.   Has content marketing led you to giving that firm work?

Yes. 3 out of 4 panelists have hired lawyers because of an article that profiled their skill in a specialised area of law

7.   Client feedback programs

·         Receptive to client feedback meetings, so long as the firms demonstrated they listened to the feedback.  They all preferred giving feedback in person (rather than over the phone or in writing)

·         One preferred giving feedback over the phone rather than a meeting if the feedback was being gathered by a third party.

8.   Cross-introductions

They all welcomed introductions to other lawyers if they were directly relevant to their business. And they especially welcomed introductions to non-lawyers or clients of the firm relevant to their business.

9.   Do you think lawyers understand your industry?

·         “If they invested another 20-minutes on this before our meetings it would make a huge impact”

·         “Our major suppliers know our industry but most of the time our lawyers don’t.”

10.        Has anything caused you to fire your lawyer?

·         Main reasons: ignoring instructions or being unresponsive

·         Redbox outlined its expectations of lawyers in a document called 'Rules to Live By'. “We don’t want any surprises because it makes us look bad.”

·         Wahike attended a CLE session where a lawyer made fun of the Chicago Cubs (her company). “It just showed a lack of loyalty. If you work with us, show loyalty to our product – buy our tickets or use our products in your office.”

·         “When their expertise is not what we were led to believe.”

11.        What’s usually missing in proposal submissions?

·         A “laser-sharp” focus on business and industry

·         Opening paragraphs that ‘pop’ and show how well you understand the situation

·         Explanation of the assumptions used to determine fee proposals

·         Contingencies to situations described in the request for proposal

·         Explanation of how the client could save money

·         If/How the firm is aligned with the client’s business value proposition

·         Explanation about costs proposed and defense, or justification, of those costs

·         Relevant industry experience.

Questions 12 to 27 include…

• If you are looking for a new provider where do you go?

• How do I get a first meeting with you?

• Should we pitch diversity?

• What keeps you up at night?

Related Articles

“I Get My Info From Twitter” (and 27 Other Ideas From In-House Counsel) (2015)

‘What The ‘Best’ Lawyers Do: 44 Ideas General Counsel Have for Legal Service Providers (2014)

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Sue-Ella is the Principal of Prodonovich Advisory, a business dedicated to helping professional services firms sharpen their business development practices.

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