Friday, February 22nd, 2008
I was in Toronto this week to attend the launch of the Legal Marketing Association’s (LMA) Toronto Chapter. Eighty attendees filled the conference room at the St. Andrews Club yesterday to celebrate the launch and hear from guest speaker Marcie Borgal Shunk from BTI Consulting Group, a Boston-based business and research company.
Congratulations to LMA Toronto
First I would like to send congratulations to LMA Toronto President Nanette Matys and Board members Elizabeth Gill, Karyn McLean, Diana Lawrence, Lynda Monteith, Dianne Rychlewski, Stuart Wood and Elizabeth Cockle, for successfully undergoing the considerable work of forming a Chapter and for organizing the impressive launch event. The LMA Toronto Chapter promises to be a valuable addition to the Toronto, and indeed Canadian, legal landscape.
Top Legal Trends in 2008
Now on to the BTI Consulting Group report on the top legal trends to watch for it 2008. Of the ten trends reported the four I will report on today are:
- Outside counsel spending is slowing. After a five year period of growth the trend is now turning and “projected market growth for 2008″ is estimated at 6.1%.
- Legal work is moving in-house, AGAIN.
- Convergence is back - more dollars for fewer firms. If you aren’t one of a client’s top two law firms then your share of the wallet is getting smaller. Side note - over 50% of companies switched their primary firms in 2008. That means if you have the position of primary firm guard it closely! And if you are a secondary firm, dislodging a primary firm can result in a considerable increase in wallet share so start planning your approach now.
- The top goal for corporate counsel for the second year in a row is cost management and value for the dollar. Don’t equate lower fees with value.
What do Corporate Counsel Mean by “value for the dollar”?
Value for the dollar is the perception of the value of the work received from the lawyer, law firm. BTI reports that this is the top unmet need expressed by Corporate Counsel. If you are seeking to take over a primary law firm spot, then build your strategy around this. Value for the dollar does not mean lower legal fees. Indeed, the firms rated highest for value are also high fee firms.
BTI reported on several measures of value:
- Understanding the client’s business: This means providing solid business solutions to the client grounded in a deep understanding of the client’s business, industry, and the specific needs related to each transaction or file. The law firm invests non-billable time in learning as much as possible about the client’s business.
- Responsiveness: Responding in a timely fashion. Responsiveness is not just about responding to phone calls and emails promptly. It more generally addresses the lawyer and law firm’s ability to meet a wide-variety of client requests. For instance, on five separate occasions BTI heard from corporate counsel that when requesting quarterly instead of monthly bills from their law firms they were told by their lawyers that their accounting departments were unable to accommodate this request.
- Commitment to help: The lawyer is truly interested in helping to solve the problem not just bill the hours.
Old News
Value for money is not a new concept. The ideas listed above make up the content of a library shelf full of books. Law firms have invested countless dollars in retreats, seminars, and conferences on the topic. The question is: why is it so difficult to get this right? The answer is time. What David Maister has referred to as investment time. It takes time, non-billable time, to get this right. And time is the one thing no lawyer has today. The billable hour demands keep going up. The “investment time” any lawyer has is scarce. If you want to achieve value for money then give your lawyers the time to deliver it.
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
My article this week in The Lawyers Weekly has generated some attention and controversy. Nicole Black in her new blog New Lawyers Back on Track has raised some thought-provoking concerns.
Thanks Nicole for picking up the article. Much appreciated! To clarify on a couple of issues you’ve raised, please know that I am an executive coach. As such my clients set their own goals and agendas. If a woman lawyer has a goal of becoming a partner in a law firm then I would certainly encourage her to consider business development as one of the vehicles to support her advancement.
While it is vital to keep a long term perspective on possibilities for transforming our law firm workplaces, it is equally important to many women that they continue to strengthen their position within the current system. Developing and expanding one’s own loyal client base is vital to achieving power, authority, and financial equality. As long as one depends on others to provide the work, one is by definition dependant. This applies to both genders.
Business development means investing in relationships. The purpose of strategy in this context is to ensure that a lawyer’s investments in time are right on target and offer maximum benefit.
In my experience I have seen large numbers of lawyers both young and old turned off by the stereotypical image of the rainmaker. In fact, there is a different and effective approach which is very much in alignment with these women lawyers own values and integrity. I want to encourage both women and men who don’t identity with the extroverted model of rainmaker to develop their own equally successful approach based on developing strong legal credentials and developing an ever-expanding base of trusting relationships with clients, referral sources and others. No grandstanding, polished speeches, or tickets to the NBA (or in the Canadian context NHL) required.
When it comes to innovation and new approaches to rainmaking you truly stand out as the author of not one but three blogs! That is precisely what I meant when I wrote “assess your strengths and develop your own personal approach grounded in your values, your professional goals” and I would add your interests.
Thanks Nicole for encouraging the discussion on this very important topic!
Posted in Business Development, Women lawyers | Permalink | 3 Comments »Friday, February 8th, 2008
Why are business development skills more important then ever for women lawyers?
Because in my opinion as female professionals we have reached an impasse.
In the words of Alice Eagly and Linda Carli in the September 2007 issue of Harvard Buisness Review (HBR) the glass ceiling is a misnomer. There is not artificial barrier beyond which we cannot ascend but rather a labyrinth of challenges and obstacles that must be overcome throughout our careers.
The statistics tell the story:
“According to the National Association for Law Placement, a trade group that provides career counselling to lawyers and law students, only about 17 percent of the partners at major law firms nationwide [US] were women in 2005, a figure that has risen only slightly since 1995, when about 13 percent of partners were women.” New York Times, March 19, 2006
“Gender inequality continues to exist in management functions, and the increase in the number of female university graduates will not itself be sufficient to close the gap.” Women Matter, McKinsey & Company, 2007
“The latest findings from Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR), released today to coincide with International Women’s Day, reveal that 38% of businesses do not have any women in senior management roles, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2004. The survey, which covers the opinions of 7,200 privately held businesses in 32 countries, represents 81% of global GDP.” Press Release, Grant Thornton, 2007.
“Consider the most highly paid executives of Fortune 500 companies – those with titles such as chairman, president, president, chief executive officer, and chief operating officer. Of this group, only 6% are women. Most notably, only 2% of the CEOs are women, and only 15% of the seats on the boards of directors are held by women.” From HBR Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership
The rising number of women graduating from law school and entering the legal profession is not enough to shift the balance. The same applies to women entering the business world with MBA’s and other professional degrees. More women entering the labyrinth doesn’t result in a corresponding rise in the number of women making it through.
Business development in this context becomes a means for advancing. It’s about taking leadership of one’s practice. It’s about determining what you want and how to get there.
Keep in mind that your female clients are experiencing the same challenges. How can you assist them? What can you do to help them get ahead?
Now it is up to each and every one of us to take this in our own hands.
“The lessening of activism on behalf of all women puts the pressure on each woman to find her own way.” From HBR Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership
In January I presented on this topic for the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Vancouver Chapter and then again in February to the TAGLaw legal network. Watch for my upcoming article in The Lawyers Weekly.
I also recommend reading Larry Bodine’s list of ten recommendations “that law firms should adopt to reduce turnover among women lawyers, geneate more business and thus boost firm revenue” with one caveat:
Women lawyers are busier than ever. Business development activities must be implemented as a vital and strategic component of the lawyer’s own career plan. Not as yet another hoop jumping exercise.
Posted in Leadership, Business Development, Women lawyers | Permalink | 3 Comments »
