A View from the 'Upper Deck': Top-Down Marketing

The 'Upper Deck'

It is critical for the modern law firm to be driven by leaders with marketing and communication savoir-faire. The leaders in the “Upper Deck” must know their organization from bottom to top. A bottom-up approach is critical in order to know what the organization thinks of itself. Before you can develop a strategic marketing strategy, it is necessary to conduct a cultural survey and then define the firm's core values. The next step is to determine which practice areas or industries your firm will highlight. Three years ago our firm made the decision to emphasize education and health care law. This critical decision was made with a great deal of thought and deliberation. When I founded the law firm 15 years ago, it was primarily an estate and elder law firm.

If you look at future trends, you know that our population is aging. With tax cuts and limited state and federal government budgets, there are fewer dollars available to support both the education of the youth and the health care needs of an aging population. It is only a matter of time before there will be a clash over the use of funds to support these areas throughout the country. This trend will increase the amount of legal work in both practice areas. At the same time, large firms are seeking a different client base on a regional, national and international platform. These two future trends have enabled our firm to seize the day and move into these lucrative and underserved markets, as we attempt to control our destiny and add additional brands to our repertoire.

Over the last 3 years we have acquired attorneys who are leaders in these practice areas so that we could provide needed services and depth of resource where the competition does not exist. After all the pieces to the puzzle were in place, it was imperative for our firm of 53 attorneys — known for its estate and elder law practice – to begin to penetrate these new markets.

The Media

In the estate and elder law field, my background in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University was used to develop the specialty talk radio genre in the Baltimore-Washington area over the last 20 years. Two of my partners were taught the art of talk radio and they have subsequently hosted successful talk radio shows of their own for over 10 years. In fact, members of our firm actually owned two radio stations and I have owned two magazines. Combining this with targeted seminars and frequent public speaking before key groups, it has enabled our firm to develop into one of the strongest wealth preservation and elder law practices in our part of the country.

By becoming part of the media, including a stint on local television and owning part of a public relations firm, I was able to thoroughly understand the needs of people in the media. They are always looking for fresh ideas and information in order to help them to formulate newsworthy pieces for broadcast and publication. There is no better way to get the public's eye than to be part of a local or national news story. If they can count on a law firm for help, they will return over and over again, using members of the firm as both sources and experts. It is important to train everyone in the firm about how to deal with the media – from the receptionist taking the call to the secretaries who should summon the attorney to the phone immediately. We treat a call from the media like an emergency call from our top client. It is more important to be involved in an article or news story than the quote itself. Remember, “the medium is the message.”

Communication

When hiring associates or laterals, the one trait that is most important to our firm is the ability to communicate — both in writing and verbally. We consciously seek out those with superb communication skills. An outgoing personality and an eclectic person with varied interests are also important considerations in the hiring process. These are the folks who will be interacting regularly with clients and contacts throughout the community. It is analogous to putting together a football team — your frontline must be the strongest. They are the enablers for the rest of the offense to break through and do what they do best.

It is crucial to understand that every attorney must market his or her knowledge in their own way. Seeking clients in the fields of health care and education law is quite different than using the radio to reach individuals for estate planning and elder law. One constant, however, is the ability to communicate well and to simplify complex issues, ideas and strategies.

When approaching an area that the firm wants to emphasize, it is important to identify the potential client and design a strategy that will instill the desire within that client to select your firm. Since the health care and education law markets require interaction with both corporate counsel and the leaders of the organization, it is imperative to make these groups aware of your strong practice areas, and how you can specifically offer solutions to their problems. This has been accomplished by the use of well-designed industry-specific newsletters, seminars presented on hot topics and participation in key groups and organizations represented by these leaders. Community involvement is another critical element of the plan to infiltrate these industries. It is important to involve everyone in the firm in groups and organizations in which each lawyer is both passionate and excited about being involved.

Conclusion

The centralized use of a law firm foundation to support member involvement in the community is crucial. Our foundation is specifically designed to fund both health care and educational objectives in our locale. As larger law firms choose a larger regional and national platform, their involvement in the local community has respectively diminished and this gives the small and mid-sized law firm a unique opportunity to fill this void.

The importance of communicating a law firm's vision must start at the top. The leaders of the firm must drive the message internally throughout the entire organization. Only after everyone agrees on a unified message can it be communicated to contacts, referral sources and existing and potential clients alike.

Lawyers are in the business of providing information to their clients. The issue, which perplexes most lawyers, is how to effectively and efficiently convey the right information to the right people at the right time so that they will hire the firm to answer their questions and solve their problems.

All too often attorneys try to impress the consuming public with their intellect. In reality, lawyers are charged with the responsibility of not just analyzing complex legal issues and offering solutions, but building relationships through proactive communication and by adding value beyond the “here and now” issues. Once lawyers recognize that they are in the communication business, only then can they set out to identify their ideal client.

Before beginning this journey, it is imperative for marketers to know their firm and its personnel. What areas of practice should you emphasize and highlight to the consuming public? What brands should be moved front and center? You can no longer successfully rely on selling general legal services to today's savvy and discerning clients. All attorneys believe that they have something special to offer. The issue, however, is how to effectively communicate those strengths.

The 'Upper Deck'

It is critical for the modern law firm to be driven by leaders with marketing and communication savoir-faire. The leaders in the “Upper Deck” must know their organization from bottom to top. A bottom-up approach is critical in order to know what the organization thinks of itself. Before you can develop a strategic marketing strategy, it is necessary to conduct a cultural survey and then define the firm's core values. The next step is to determine which practice areas or industries your firm will highlight. Three years ago our firm made the decision to emphasize education and health care law. This critical decision was made with a great deal of thought and deliberation. When I founded the law firm 15 years ago, it was primarily an estate and elder law firm.

If you look at future trends, you know that our population is aging. With tax cuts and limited state and federal government budgets, there are fewer dollars available to support both the education of the youth and the health care needs of an aging population. It is only a matter of time before there will be a clash over the use of funds to support these areas throughout the country. This trend will increase the amount of legal work in both practice areas. At the same time, large firms are seeking a different client base on a regional, national and international platform. These two future trends have enabled our firm to seize the day and move into these lucrative and underserved markets, as we attempt to control our destiny and add additional brands to our repertoire.

Over the last 3 years we have acquired attorneys who are leaders in these practice areas so that we could provide needed services and depth of resource where the competition does not exist. After all the pieces to the puzzle were in place, it was imperative for our firm of 53 attorneys — known for its estate and elder law practice – to begin to penetrate these new markets.

The Media

In the estate and elder law field, my background in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University was used to develop the specialty talk radio genre in the Baltimore-Washington area over the last 20 years. Two of my partners were taught the art of talk radio and they have subsequently hosted successful talk radio shows of their own for over 10 years. In fact, members of our firm actually owned two radio stations and I have owned two magazines. Combining this with targeted seminars and frequent public speaking before key groups, it has enabled our firm to develop into one of the strongest wealth preservation and elder law practices in our part of the country.

By becoming part of the media, including a stint on local television and owning part of a public relations firm, I was able to thoroughly understand the needs of people in the media. They are always looking for fresh ideas and information in order to help them to formulate newsworthy pieces for broadcast and publication. There is no better way to get the public's eye than to be part of a local or national news story. If they can count on a law firm for help, they will return over and over again, using members of the firm as both sources and experts. It is important to train everyone in the firm about how to deal with the media – from the receptionist taking the call to the secretaries who should summon the attorney to the phone immediately. We treat a call from the media like an emergency call from our top client. It is more important to be involved in an article or news story than the quote itself. Remember, “the medium is the message.”

Communication

When hiring associates or laterals, the one trait that is most important to our firm is the ability to communicate — both in writing and verbally. We consciously seek out those with superb communication skills. An outgoing personality and an eclectic person with varied interests are also important considerations in the hiring process. These are the folks who will be interacting regularly with clients and contacts throughout the community. It is analogous to putting together a football team — your frontline must be the strongest. They are the enablers for the rest of the offense to break through and do what they do best.

It is crucial to understand that every attorney must market his or her knowledge in their own way. Seeking clients in the fields of health care and education law is quite different than using the radio to reach individuals for estate planning and elder law. One constant, however, is the ability to communicate well and to simplify complex issues, ideas and strategies.

When approaching an area that the firm wants to emphasize, it is important to identify the potential client and design a strategy that will instill the desire within that client to select your firm. Since the health care and education law markets require interaction with both corporate counsel and the leaders of the organization, it is imperative to make these groups aware of your strong practice areas, and how you can specifically offer solutions to their problems. This has been accomplished by the use of well-designed industry-specific newsletters, seminars presented on hot topics and participation in key groups and organizations represented by these leaders. Community involvement is another critical element of the plan to infiltrate these industries. It is important to involve everyone in the firm in groups and organizations in which each lawyer is both passionate and excited about being involved.

Conclusion

The centralized use of a law firm foundation to support member involvement in the community is crucial. Our foundation is specifically designed to fund both health care and educational objectives in our locale. As larger law firms choose a larger regional and national platform, their involvement in the local community has respectively diminished and this gives the small and mid-sized law firm a unique opportunity to fill this void.

The importance of communicating a law firm's vision must start at the top. The leaders of the firm must drive the message internally throughout the entire organization. Only after everyone agrees on a unified message can it be communicated to contacts, referral sources and existing and potential clients alike.