Op Ed

A year has gone by since I penned an Op Ed primarily written to challenge the status quo of law firm marketing. I am happy to report ' it worked! Last year in compiling the Fourth Annual MLF 50, I had the extreme pleasure of looking at over 100 firms' marketing, business development and communications programs. Of course, 50 of these firms were distinctive enough to garner placement on the MLF 50. I was impressed enough to acknowledge that I was “a believer.”

So here's the story. You ' being the Chief Marketing Officers ' have done your job and done it well. You have heightened the awareness of the importance of marketing and have leveraged your capabilities to the point that without question, lawyers in your firms understand the value of what your programs can accomplish ' more visibility leading to more revenue. Some firms were slow to embrace your capabilities. Others got it right away. Still others, which might be on the fence about your capabilities, are coming around, especially in these economically challenged times. More about that later.

A Word to Partners

What I want to say to the partners is that it's time for you to seat your CMOs at the management table ' if they are not there already. It's time for partners to understand that these individuals are not just employees. They are seasoned professionals who have time and time again demonstrated that they want you to succeed and prosper. Their mission is to grow your firm and make it more profitable and in many cases, they have done this under difficult circumstances. Their budgets have been scrutinized more than Capitol Hill has scrutinized the TARP funding to banks and the stimulus package. They have dealt with situations ranging from selling their strategy to a COO whose only job is to save the firm money to dealing with the “problem partners” (You know who you are!). Without the benefit of these professionals, you would be just another law firm with just another group of great lawyers.

At this very moment in time with law firm profits sinking and shrinking, it is of the utmost importance that law firms maintain and, yes, grow their marketing departments. I want to mention just one strategy in these economically challenging times. The money that firms save from these purges we all hear about could be utilized to further marketing efforts by hiring laterals with books of business and allowing CMOs to create strategies that lead to the full integration of these laterals into the firm ' thus producing even more revenue than the lateral brought with him or her.

Over the course of my career, I managed to get a seat at the table. After all these years of being a consultant, I still have my “kudos file” from each firm I worked with. It is a constant reminder of how good a job I really did, I've dealt with all the “stuff” that all marketing professionals deal with. Back in those days when marketing was still trying to get recognized as an integral part of a firm's success story, I fought the hard fight. I picked my battles and won because I demanded that the partnership recognize I was on their team and in doing that, they owed me the respect and yes, the seat at the table.

So to summarize, I am calling on all partners to add another chair to that law firm governing body and welcome your CMOs. They have arrived and they deserve to be recognized, supported and listened to!

Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi is Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter.

A year has gone by since I penned an Op Ed primarily written to challenge the status quo of law firm marketing. I am happy to report ' it worked! Last year in compiling the Fourth Annual MLF 50, I had the extreme pleasure of looking at over 100 firms' marketing, business development and communications programs. Of course, 50 of these firms were distinctive enough to garner placement on the MLF 50. I was impressed enough to acknowledge that I was “a believer.”

So here's the story. You ' being the Chief Marketing Officers ' have done your job and done it well. You have heightened the awareness of the importance of marketing and have leveraged your capabilities to the point that without question, lawyers in your firms understand the value of what your programs can accomplish ' more visibility leading to more revenue. Some firms were slow to embrace your capabilities. Others got it right away. Still others, which might be on the fence about your capabilities, are coming around, especially in these economically challenged times. More about that later.

A Word to Partners

What I want to say to the partners is that it's time for you to seat your CMOs at the management table ' if they are not there already. It's time for partners to understand that these individuals are not just employees. They are seasoned professionals who have time and time again demonstrated that they want you to succeed and prosper. Their mission is to grow your firm and make it more profitable and in many cases, they have done this under difficult circumstances. Their budgets have been scrutinized more than Capitol Hill has scrutinized the TARP funding to banks and the stimulus package. They have dealt with situations ranging from selling their strategy to a COO whose only job is to save the firm money to dealing with the “problem partners” (You know who you are!). Without the benefit of these professionals, you would be just another law firm with just another group of great lawyers.

At this very moment in time with law firm profits sinking and shrinking, it is of the utmost importance that law firms maintain and, yes, grow their marketing departments. I want to mention just one strategy in these economically challenging times. The money that firms save from these purges we all hear about could be utilized to further marketing efforts by hiring laterals with books of business and allowing CMOs to create strategies that lead to the full integration of these laterals into the firm ' thus producing even more revenue than the lateral brought with him or her.

Over the course of my career, I managed to get a seat at the table. After all these years of being a consultant, I still have my “kudos file” from each firm I worked with. It is a constant reminder of how good a job I really did, I've dealt with all the “stuff” that all marketing professionals deal with. Back in those days when marketing was still trying to get recognized as an integral part of a firm's success story, I fought the hard fight. I picked my battles and won because I demanded that the partnership recognize I was on their team and in doing that, they owed me the respect and yes, the seat at the table.

So to summarize, I am calling on all partners to add another chair to that law firm governing body and welcome your CMOs. They have arrived and they deserve to be recognized, supported and listened to!

Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi is Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter.