Career Journal: Possession Is Not Nine-Tenths of the Law

Editor's Note: This will be Michael DeCosta's last contribution to the Career Journal column. Mike has done an outstanding job of enlightening all of us on topics ranging from “Reinventing The Interview” to “Recasting the Image of the Profession.” His insights provided all of us with a wealth of knowledge and we are certainly better for it. Thank you, Mike. ' Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi, Editor-in-Chief

Any first-year law student can tell you that in Real Estate law, the state maintains the ultimate right of reversion, that is to say, they can take back that which they have granted you; namely the property you think you own.

The same is true for Partners in law firms for any business function. For decades, they have granted increased permission for others to run the business functions of their respective firms. Yet partners have always maintained the right to revert possession of any of those functions, including marketing, as they see fit. After all, they own the firm. Over the last two years, they have increasingly exercised that right when it comes to the marketing and business development function. By doing so, they have left a wake of confusion, frustration, and reservations among some marketing executives trying to determine where their relative value and rightful place lies in the organization.

Firing Chief Marketing Officers, slashing marketing budgets, or in some acute circumstances, choosing not to fill senior marketing executive vacancies at all, are but a few examples of how law firms are pulling in the reins. Some of this reaction is justified as many firms were bloated with too many marketing people. Admittedly, some CMOs were guilty of empire building. As such, they were not immune from the downsizing, especially as a cost center.

Bolstering the Cause

Even if law firms have made no changes to their existing structure, partners have done little lately to bolster the cause of their marketing organizations. This has all happened after a period of unprecedented growth in the marketing function and record salaries being paid over the last decade. While there are many firms that remain as committed to and happy with their marketing team as they have ever been, there is a discernable step back taking place in the industry. What a see-saw ride it has been for the profession since 2008. Undoubtedly, much of this retrenchment is a visceral reaction to the economic slowdown. As organizations migrate through a financial crucible, there are plenty of knee-jerk reactions. Yet, there is clearly a recalibration of the function in the industry.

The business development function, which at its essence includes client relationship management, needs to be co-owned by partners. Marketing executives have, in fact, stressed this for years. But as marketing executives saw their value going up in the market, some started to lose sight of this fact. Some executives I have interviewed described the marketing function in law firms as analogous to fuel for an engine. While I understood their point, that is a bit of a mischaracterization. Marketing is more akin to a fuel enhancer that allows the engine (in this case, lawyers) to hit the market with all cylinders firing; a task many were unable to do without the tools and coaching provided by the marketing team.

Lawyers and Marketing

For years, senior marketing executives have pushed for lawyers to get more engaged in marketing, Their effectiveness in doing this has proven so pervasive in the industry that it has finally reached the law school curriculum. For example, Fordham University School of Law in New York will begin offering a seven-week course next spring on legal marketing. Slowly, young attorneys are coming into the profession better equipped with the business development skills they'll need throughout their careers.

For the moment, it feels as though marketing/business development executives in big law firms are in a sort of professional purgatory. On one hand, they have led the profession out of the dark and have embedded the concept of marketing into law firm culture and into the DNA of attorneys ' where once it did not exist. On the other, they have increased costs to firms considerably as the profession has matured. Victims of their own success?

Legal remarketing executives have made real progress for sure, as now attorneys use those newly acquired skills routinely. Gone are the days where veteran partners scoffed at the idea of marketing. They've seen the success of their peers who engage in business development.

As a parent watches his child ride a bicycle sans training wheels for the first time, they are both simultaneously elated and crestfallen that their “students” have graduated to the next level and their need to rely on you has decreased. Attorneys are undoubtedly enjoying their newfound skills. Marketing executives must now show their worth in new ways.

The Key to Success

The key is to be resourceful and re-establish the relationship with attorneys on a whole other level. Lawyers, a competitive lot my nature, will not be satisfied with possessing the requisite marketing skills needed to compete in today's legal market. They will want more. They will want to be the best. Far from professional limbo, this ebb and flow represents a tremendous, albeit, delicate balance in the relationship between teacher (marketing executives) and student (lawyers).

Lawyers will need more as their clients demand more. The economics of legal services is changing. Relationships will be harder to maintain as price becomes a stronger consideration in the procurement of legal services. This is only the beginning. Legal marketing has sped through its adolescent stage into a whole new undiscovered realm. Its form is still taking shape, but clearly it will grow bigger ' despite the recent downsizing. Far from losing ownership, marketing executives are now joined at the hip with partners. They are in this battle together.

Michael DeCosta, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a Senior Client Partner with Korn/Ferry International, resident in its Stamford, CT, office. Michael is a member of the firm's professional services and legal specialty practices. He focuses on search assignments for management and IT consulting, accounting and law firms. He can be reached at 203-406-8770 or [email protected].

Editor's Note: This will be Michael DeCosta's last contribution to the Career Journal column. Mike has done an outstanding job of enlightening all of us on topics ranging from “Reinventing The Interview” to “Recasting the Image of the Profession.” His insights provided all of us with a wealth of knowledge and we are certainly better for it. Thank you, Mike. ' Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi, Editor-in-Chief

Any first-year law student can tell you that in Real Estate law, the state maintains the ultimate right of reversion, that is to say, they can take back that which they have granted you; namely the property you think you own.

The same is true for Partners in law firms for any business function. For decades, they have granted increased permission for others to run the business functions of their respective firms. Yet partners have always maintained the right to revert possession of any of those functions, including marketing, as they see fit. After all, they own the firm. Over the last two years, they have increasingly exercised that right when it comes to the marketing and business development function. By doing so, they have left a wake of confusion, frustration, and reservations among some marketing executives trying to determine where their relative value and rightful place lies in the organization.

Firing Chief Marketing Officers, slashing marketing budgets, or in some acute circumstances, choosing not to fill senior marketing executive vacancies at all, are but a few examples of how law firms are pulling in the reins. Some of this reaction is justified as many firms were bloated with too many marketing people. Admittedly, some CMOs were guilty of empire building. As such, they were not immune from the downsizing, especially as a cost center.

Bolstering the Cause

Even if law firms have made no changes to their existing structure, partners have done little lately to bolster the cause of their marketing organizations. This has all happened after a period of unprecedented growth in the marketing function and record salaries being paid over the last decade. While there are many firms that remain as committed to and happy with their marketing team as they have ever been, there is a discernable step back taking place in the industry. What a see-saw ride it has been for the profession since 2008. Undoubtedly, much of this retrenchment is a visceral reaction to the economic slowdown. As organizations migrate through a financial crucible, there are plenty of knee-jerk reactions. Yet, there is clearly a recalibration of the function in the industry.

The business development function, which at its essence includes client relationship management, needs to be co-owned by partners. Marketing executives have, in fact, stressed this for years. But as marketing executives saw their value going up in the market, some started to lose sight of this fact. Some executives I have interviewed described the marketing function in law firms as analogous to fuel for an engine. While I understood their point, that is a bit of a mischaracterization. Marketing is more akin to a fuel enhancer that allows the engine (in this case, lawyers) to hit the market with all cylinders firing; a task many were unable to do without the tools and coaching provided by the marketing team.

Lawyers and Marketing

For years, senior marketing executives have pushed for lawyers to get more engaged in marketing, Their effectiveness in doing this has proven so pervasive in the industry that it has finally reached the law school curriculum. For example, Fordham University School of Law in New York will begin offering a seven-week course next spring on legal marketing. Slowly, young attorneys are coming into the profession better equipped with the business development skills they'll need throughout their careers.

For the moment, it feels as though marketing/business development executives in big law firms are in a sort of professional purgatory. On one hand, they have led the profession out of the dark and have embedded the concept of marketing into law firm culture and into the DNA of attorneys ' where once it did not exist. On the other, they have increased costs to firms considerably as the profession has matured. Victims of their own success?

Legal remarketing executives have made real progress for sure, as now attorneys use those newly acquired skills routinely. Gone are the days where veteran partners scoffed at the idea of marketing. They've seen the success of their peers who engage in business development.

As a parent watches his child ride a bicycle sans training wheels for the first time, they are both simultaneously elated and crestfallen that their “students” have graduated to the next level and their need to rely on you has decreased. Attorneys are undoubtedly enjoying their newfound skills. Marketing executives must now show their worth in new ways.

The Key to Success

The key is to be resourceful and re-establish the relationship with attorneys on a whole other level. Lawyers, a competitive lot my nature, will not be satisfied with possessing the requisite marketing skills needed to compete in today's legal market. They will want more. They will want to be the best. Far from professional limbo, this ebb and flow represents a tremendous, albeit, delicate balance in the relationship between teacher (marketing executives) and student (lawyers).

Lawyers will need more as their clients demand more. The economics of legal services is changing. Relationships will be harder to maintain as price becomes a stronger consideration in the procurement of legal services. This is only the beginning. Legal marketing has sped through its adolescent stage into a whole new undiscovered realm. Its form is still taking shape, but clearly it will grow bigger ' despite the recent downsizing. Far from losing ownership, marketing executives are now joined at the hip with partners. They are in this battle together.

Michael DeCosta, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a Senior Client Partner with Korn/Ferry International, resident in its Stamford, CT, office. Michael is a member of the firm's professional services and legal specialty practices. He focuses on search assignments for management and IT consulting, accounting and law firms. He can be reached at 203-406-8770 or [email protected].