Special Issue: The Sixth Annual MLF 50 ' The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Business Development

By Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi
October 29, 2010

Never in the history of The MLF 50 has there been a year like this. The first thing you will note about this year's list is that there is a tie for the number-one firm. Both K&L Gates and Faegre & Benson are at the top of the list ' and with good reason. Both firms provided essays that were so extraordinary that I had to place them at the top of the “leader board.” In fact, any one of the top six firms (1 through 5) could be interchangeable because they provided essays that were detailed and in depth. As I continued to read and re-read each essay, it became apparent that I had to find a differentiator in order to rank these firms. Happily, I did. In announcing the criteria for this year's MLF 50, I had asked that law firms emphasize the intersection of marketing and business development, with the most emphasis placed on the strategies firms are using to keep their clients and expand their businesses. With that backdrop, the top six firms were able to create submissions that met the criteria.

As with past practice, many firms submitted detailed essays, and some even sent collateral materials. Some of the firms that are listed provided no information. On those firms, research was conducted. It should be noted that while I would have liked to feature examples of some of the collateral materials, space does not permit me to do so.

Congratulations to all the firms on The MLF 50. From where I am sitting, marketing and business development are the cornerstones of every firm's strategic plan. And now here are abbreviated essays from The Sixth Annual MLF 50 “Top Six.”

NUMBER ONE (TIE):
K&L Gates

K&L Gates LLP has experienced considerable and continuous growth in recent years. 2009 proved no different for the global law firm, as it surpassed $1 billion in revenue, placing it at No. 12 on The American Lawyer's Am Law 100 ranking, and No. 19 in terms of global revenue in The Lawyer's Transatlantic Elite. Furthermore, K&L Gates was one of only a handful of firms that showed an increase in both revenue and profits in 2008 and 2009, based on Am Law figures.

Demonstrating a commitment to growth even during still-uncertain economic times, K&L Gates opened several offices in 2010 ' Tokyo, Moscow, and Warsaw ' providing footprints in three new countries. The firm also added more than 35 lateral partners in 20 markets in the first half of 2010, ranking it among the top firms by Law360 in terms of new lateral hires.

As K&L Gates continues to expand in size and scope, the goal of its marketing department remains constant ' to effectively respond to the needs of the firm and its clients to assure superior client service, continued revenue growth, and ongoing industry success. From strategic planning and broad brand positioning to tactical execution and follow-up, the marketing team, led by Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Berardi, has helped K&L Gates become a leader on the international scene.

The K&L Gates marketing and business development department supports the firm and its brand through a well-defined strategy that includes diverse initiatives such as advertising, collateral design/production, Web site development, marketing technology, and public relations, as well as focused client development activities, strategic research and analysis, client teams, targeting efforts, proposal production, and event management.

The marketing team of more than 60 people spread across 19 offices also takes a rigorous analytical approach to its tracking and reporting functions, with a keen eye toward measuring how data can be used to guide the firm in future growth, both in terms of specific practices and the international platform.

For instance, the team tracks and refines the firm's client development efforts, entering all opportunities for new business ' requests for proposals and information, client inquiries, identified prospects ' into a central repository, along with details on practices, offices and lawyers involved, type of work, value, referral sources, and next steps for follow-up. The team's focus in this area is evidenced by an impressive yearly growth in pursuit activity, with total pursuits increasing nearly 100% between 2006 and 2009. Presently, the total number of pursuit wins is up from 2009, and this year's pursuit volume is on pace to break the annual record.

K&L Gates' business development managers are supported by BD specialists and coordinators, all of whom work closely with the firm's practice and office leadership and lawyers to initiate and build relationships with clients. The BD team facilitates cross-office and cross-practice coordination to help set the stage for effective business growth and relationship-building with clients, prospects, and referral sources.

As of July 1, the BD team has been involved in nearly 30% more pursuits vs. the same period in 2009, with 39% of those pursuits involving lawyers from multiple offices.

The K&L Gates team strives to be proactive in assessing client needs and identifying the most effective ways to satisfy them. The launch of K&L Gates' Global Government Solutions report ' designed as a guide to the challenges and opportunities created by the economic crisis ' is but one example of the department reacting to market conditions and addressing client needs. More than 65 professionals from 16 different offices contributed to the mid-year report, which was shared with thousands of firm clients and colleagues in both electronic and print form, as well as media outlets and professional service organizations. Articles noting the report appeared in legal, political, and business trades. In addition, the report was accessed more than 1,500 times via the firm's Web site in the weeks following its release.

Along the same lines, the team worked with K&L Gates' Financial Services Reform group to create a series of alerts covering all aspects of this summer's financial reform legislation. The alerts were made available on the firm's Web site, and shared with targeted media outlets. In addition, marketing worked with a related practice, the Global Financial Markets group, to promote its blog, which tracks and analyzes financial regulatory initiatives at home and abroad.

Though K&L Gates operates on a global platform, the marketing team also strives to identify opportunities at local and regional levels. K&L Gates has held successful annual oil and gas seminars in both Pennsylvania and Texas, with the firm's most recent event attracting more than 300 registered attendees from more than 150 companies representing 15 states.

The marketing team, in cooperation with the firm's professional development department, also works to help lawyers hone their business development skills by offering a Client Development and Relationship Management (CDRM) curriculum. Workshops are often conducted by Jeff Berardi in his role as CMO, and include business intelligence programs and moderated panels regarding career progression and networking skills training.

K&L Gates continued its national advertising campaign into 2010 with a series of ads promoting firm values of creativity, innovation, responsiveness, client service, forethought, wisdom, versatility and multiculturalism ' all characteristics that define K&L Gates' approach to the practice of law.

The marketing team also worked to boost recognition of the K&L Gates brand in individual markets with the launch of region-specific advertising campaigns in several different markets. The message of “Right around the corner and all around the world” promoted both the firm's local expertise and global platform, with ad copy focusing on local capabilities, connections, and longevity in the region, while also noting the firm's global capabilities.

All told, the K&L Gates' marketing team completed more than 700 graphics jobs in the first half of 2010, and more than 1,300 throughout all of 2009.

Currently, the firm is in the process of redesigning its Web site ' which welcomed more than 1.8 million visitors, an average of approximately 300,000 visitors per month, during the first half of 2010 ' to provide visitors easier access to the firm's content. The redesigned platform will include, among other features, integrated foreign language content, expanded RSS feeds, handheld-friendly features, and an online multimedia center with links to videos, podcasts, and Webinars. I am happy to say that I was given a preview of what's to come in the redesign of the Web site. It's a winner!

Beyond the firm's Web site, a number of K&L Gates' practice groups maintain blogs ' such as the K&L Gates e-Discovery Law Blog, Climate Change Blog, and Construction Law Blog ' to update clients on breaking news and decisions in their fields.

The firm also has begun using social media tools, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, to establish and maintain professional connections. The marketing team created a Facebook page for K&L Gates' “Change Your World” campaign ' an online recruiting campaign that offers a trivia challenge tied to a charitable donation on behalf of the firm.

Additionally, the marketing team worked with the firm's insurance coverage practice on K&L Gates' entrance to Legal OnRamp, a collaborative online tool that enables lawyers to connect and share information virtually. The team continues to work with lawyers to contribute relevant alert and event content to the ramp.

The marketing team supports numerous client-relation activities, but its commitment to client service is perhaps best evidenced through the management of K&L Gates' Client Team Initiative. This program focuses on understanding the needs of clients; enabling greater communication between lawyers, practices, and offices; and defining new opportunities via regular meetings, relationship mapping, and client development planning.

The number of K&L Gates' client service teams has continued to grow and now totals 35 active teams, an increase of 75% since 2008. This structured client service approach is critical when one considers that 448 of K&L Gates' 500 largest clients used lawyers in two or more offices in 2009.

The marketing team routinely collaborates with other departments to produce a variety of noteworthy communications. The team works with the firm's pro bono committee to produce a bi-annual report ' “For the Public Good” ' that highlights K&L Gates' long-standing commitment to pro bono work. The group also works with the firm's diversity committee to promote K&L Gates' diversity initiatives to clients and the community, including the creation of an annual video for the Corporate Counsel Women of Color Career Strategies Conference, where the firm is a lead sponsor.

The recent economic climate has not changed the fundamental elements of K&L Gates' marketing philosophy as the firm's global team works closely each day to consistently meet the needs of the firm and its clients. Jeff Berardi is a true leader in every sense of the word.

NUMBER ONE (TIE):

Faegre & Benson

In January 2010, under the direction of Adam Severson, Director of Business Development and Marketing, the BDM team at Faegre & Benson LLP implemented a strategic plan
for the department. The plan was created based on a needs assessment, and structured parallel to the firm's overall strategic plan so that BDM
initiatives and directives were mapped to broader firm objectives. Herewith an overview of the plan:

BDM Strategic Plan Highlights

Align the team with the strategic plan to support the firm's priorities in growing revenue, improving client service and raising the firm's profile.

Strategic Objectives

Build foundation and culture of business development.
Provide suite of services that supports practices and offices.
Increase awareness and enhance firm's reputation.
Align with market, maintain and grow revenue with industry and client teams.
Develop systems and tools to integrate work product, increase efficiency, and pitch effectively.

BDM Strategic Plan

Framework

New Initiatives

BDM Resources

Business Development and Marketing Plan Template ' Can be used by lawyers on their own or as a discussion guide for BDM team members engaging individual lawyers in personal business development planning.
Client Plan Template.
Elevator Pitch ' A guide to communicating who you are, what you do and why you can do it better and more cost-effectively.
Practice Group BDM Planning Template ' In development for 2011.

BDM Reports and Target Lists

Client Contribution Report ' Used to identify cross-selling opportunities with existing clients. Report shows list of top clients and percentage of work being done by each practice group.
Practice-specific and firm-wide target lists created with key practices and managed by BDM team.
Target-list tracking tool in development to provide high-level dashboard of BDM activities for specific target lists and “one-stop shopping” for partners working on targets. Includes research and contact reports, conflicts checks, recent activities, and practice/industry crossover.
Business Development.

BDM Budget and Reporting

Strategic Planning and Budgeting ' Each office, practice and industry group creates an annual BDM budget that aligns with their goals and objectives for the upcoming year.
BDM team members work directly at the practice group and area leadership level to discuss strategic priorities and identify tactics to support these goals.

In March 2010, BDM launched an initiative to provide consistent budget reporting to all groups in the firm. The monthly report package provided to practice group and practice area heads includes: 1) High-level overview and analysis of year-to-date spend verses budget; 2) Analysis of year-to-date spend by category; 3) BDM recommendations related to budget and spending; and 4) A Sample Practice Area Budget Report.

Also included in monthly reporting: 1) Detailed report of expenses by type; 2) Detailed report of expenses by time keeper; and 3) Quarterly BDM Reports provided to Management Committee, including Budget report package and BDM Update (report ties back to BDM strategic plan
categories).

In the area of business development staffing, each practice and industry group works with a practice liaison. BDM Managers in office locations oversee liaisons to ensure consistency across practices and regions and to leverage best practices across the firm. The BDM Communications team provides leadership and consistency with regard to all external firm communications, including proposals, RFPs, advertising, written pieces and Internet marketing. BDM Communications operates within the suite of services and interfaces across practices and offices.

In the area of technology, The Faegre.com homepage was re-launched in January 2010. Key additions included: 1) The Media Highlights and Latest News section, along with two featured article positions added to the home page; and 2) Addition of a media center to capture media mentions, press releases and widgets; and a national litigation map (pending).

It should be noted that in September 2010, Faegre.com was awarded the 2010 Web Marketing Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development. In addition, Faegre.com has integrated new social media initiatives including Facebook and Twitter. The firm's blogs include: 1) Beyond Healthcare Reform Blog; and 2) Food, Agriculture and Biofuels Blog.

The firm's Web-backed proposal database contained published and unpublished content, matter and deal information including: 1) Over 700 matters currently housed in the database; 2) Matters added to the database on an ongoing basis; and 3) Integration with Faegre.com.

In 2010, the BDM team created a new approach to advertising and visual communications to support the firm's strategic goal of an increased national presence. A new ad campaign was developed leveraging two existing brand elements, the Faegre & Benson Color Band and the tagline “More Together.”

Events are an important focus at Faegre & Benson. In 2010, the firm will have hosted approximately 60 events, including the signature events listed below. Metrics indicate that 48 of the firm's top 100 clients have had attendees at one or more firm events.

The signature events include: 1) Food Agriculture & Bio Fuels National Conference; 2) Faegre & Benson M&A Conference; 3) Faegre & Benson International Business Briefing; 4) Faegre & Benson Directors Forum; 5) Faegre Franchise Summit; 6) Faegre & Benson Annual Proxy Seminar; and 7) Faegre & Benson Complex Litigation Seminar.

New Initiatives and Resources

These include the ability to allow lawyers to automatically add contacts to invitation lists by comparing current lists with their Outlook contacts, and selecting appropriate individuals. In October 2010, the firm held its second annual Complex Litigation Seminar in Minneapolis. This event featured video movie trailers and recorded client interviews that were integrated into the event content and the invitation. Event attendees received a DVD featuring video content from the event.

Over the course of 2010, the BDM team at Faegre & Benson has worked to raise awareness of the firm at a national level. New initiatives have included: 1) Partnering with key industry publications on events and Webcasts; 2) Using interactive survey technology to release Faegre & Benson's International Business Trends report in September 2010; and 3) Designing and implementing an interactive litigation map that will highlight the firm's litigation experience across the U.S. on Faegre.com (in development).

Faegre & Benson embodies what a business development/marketing program should encompass. Adam and his team are to be congratulated.

NUMBER TWO:

McGuireWoods

McGuireWoods LLP has experienced significant growth in the past decade, merging with firms in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, London, UK, Jacksonville, FL, and Pittsburgh, PA. Despite the dramatic growth of the firm, the size of its marketing department stayed relatively static during this time. Thus, the firm saw the potential to implement a strategic marketing plan under a new chief marketing officer's leadership. With the hiring of Jim Durham to serve as Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer in April 2009, the firm's marketing department has enjoyed a dramatic overhaul. Under Jim's guidance, the marketing department is an integral part of the firm's business strategy. The results of the efforts outlined below collectively aim to expand current client work and build new opportunities with potential clients.

Shortly after joining the firm, Jim worked with its Executive Committee to create a service and cross-selling program targeted at its Anchor Clients (there are about 70). He relied on his consulting experience and offered “key-client team” training to all partners, providing guidance on delivering extraordinary service and value to clients. The resulting client-focused program, which was principally implemented through the marketing department's Business Development Managers (BDMs), accomplished the important, specific goal of increasing the number of practice areas in which the firm represents its clients. This result flows from improved research, internal team meetings, meetings with clients, and strategic proposals.

To address the onslaught of RFPs that major firms are getting, Jim created a four-person unit within the department, called the National Competitive Business team. This team developed a centralized system of recording all requests for pitch assistance, firmwide, from which it sorts the truly competitive business opportunities ' the NCB team then attacks those proposals with a vengeance. Two additional contributors to the success of this group are the deployment of a proposal generator tool, and the enhancement of the firm's in-house research efforts. Gone are the days of giving the attorney a one-page standard report from publically available information and a pat on the back for good luck when meeting with a client. McGuireWoods now provides state-of-the-art analysis and insight, including the identification of specific strategic opportunities. Now, attorneys meeting with new or potential clients in connection with high-stake RFPs are armed with a fully researched report on the client, and are able to better sell the firm's services to meet the needs of the client. Win rates are up, the quality of submissions has dramatically improved, and the lawyers now readily accept advice from the marketing professionals.

To support two important parts of the firm's strategic plan, resources were redeployed to support growth, and a greater focus on going to market through industries, rather than practices. The BDMs assigned Industry Teams to facilitate everything from marketing budgets to helping track existing and new client outreach efforts. Three BDMs are individually assigned to strategic growth areas for the firm: Energy, Life Sciences, and McGuireWoods Consulting (MWC), a subsidiary of the firm. Jim created a stronger connection between the business development efforts of the firm and MWC. The resources and skills of MWC allow the firm to do a better job of cross-selling to its clients, not only offering legal solutions, but comprehensive solutions that address public policy, government and affairs and grassroots options. At a time when most firms cut their marketing budgets during the downturn, McGuireWoods actually increased its marketing spend.

Building on his previous experience as a legal consultant, Jim conducts client relationship coaching and business development (“sales”) training programs for both partners and associates throughout the firm, working in conjunction with the firm's professional development team. He designed a coaching program for about two dozen younger partners, using an outside team of consultants (all former lawyers). The lawyers bonded during a kick-off dinner and an initial group training session, which was followed by regular phone coaching sessions. Another group is starting soon.

With “valued-based billing” and alternative fee arrangements dominating discussions with clients, the marketing department took the bold step of developing a Value Handbook, and recently launched a joint initiative with the firm's finance department to provide higher-level coaching and advice to lawyers who are working on value-billing plans.

Even though the firm does not spend money on display advertising, McGuireWoods has a strong appreciation for visual communications. The firm uses such communication to increase business and service across the firm. With 900 lawyers in 17 offices around the world, it is imperative that the firm constantly updates its colleagues on the activities and initiatives occurring within its various industry teams and departments for cross-selling purposes. Aside from business development purposes, it is crucial that the marketing department help develop a sense of community within the firm. There are three key aspects to this plan: 1) McGuireWoods Matters, the firm's internal magazine; 2) The Portal, its Intranet site; and 3) the firm's Web site, McGuireWoods.com (discussed below).

CRM systems should be a cornerstone of business development, but to roll out a CRM program is extremely challenging, especially in a firm that has had no system before. However, by using a large cross-practice client team involving hundreds of lawyers and their administrative assistants, McGuireWoods got the initial program right. The turnkey program, managed by the manager of research and strategic projects, moved from targeted data clean-up and educational meetings (to develop buy-in), to deployment, to maximizing the usage by insisting on the recording of all business development activities for the client. Having overseen CRM roll-outs in other firms, Jim said that he has “never seen it done better.”

In an effort to continue expanding its relationships with current and potential clients, the firm is implementing a series of comprehensive changes in technology, including traditional and social media programs. In the past year alone, the firm has launched four legal blogs, including Subject to Inquiry (white-collar-focused site) and Class Action Countermeasures, a site that has already received more than 13,000 visitors. The firm and individual attorneys also develop and cultivate relationships via Twitter and LinkedIn.

The marketing team regularly supports the firm's diversity committee events. McGuireWoods recently teamed up with firm client AOL in creating a first-of-its-kind relationship between a corporate in-house legal department and a law firm. As part of the program, AOL attorneys and McGuireWoods lawyers provide a monthly outreach clinic to help citizens with immigration, child custody, divorce, housing, public benefits and other issues. In June of this year, the team helped organize the first ever Pro-Bono Summit, held at the Supreme Court of Virginia. The firm also has a full-time director of diversity programs, who was previously a member of marketing.

The efforts outlined above have already achieved success. Firm revenues increased last year; the firm has brought in new clients tied to the marketing team's efforts, including becoming a preferred provider for several national companies that undertook convergence initiatives. The firm's name-recognition in the industry has also increased through advanced branding and media relations. As important as the revenues and new matters may be, it is the overall repositioning of the marketing and business development team with the lawyers that makes Durham most proud. Well done, Jim.

NUMBER THREE:

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell

In a short time, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP has evolved from a merged firm with 12 separate offices into a united, nationwide law firm with a singular focus ' to become better, stronger and more highly regarded each year. The firm's marketing team has been critical in this successful integration of some 650 attorneys and almost 550 employees, and its strong commitment to unified Marketing and Business Development initiatives is among the biggest recruitment tools in attracting lateral candidates. Led by Chief Marketing Officer Julie Gilbert, the firm's marketing team is proactive, well-organized and strategic in its planning and delivery.

This year, Locke Lord Marketing built upon its earlier successes and reached out to create a business development mindset firmwide. Because revenues mean success and the practice areas form the heart of its business, the firm set out to make them even stronger. The Practice Development Committee (PDC) was restructured. This year, Marketing and the PDC set six specific and ambitious goals ' all designed to make a universal mantra at Locke Lord. The attorneys constantly receive updates about these initiatives from the PDC Chair and the CMO. The Chair of Locke Lord, Jerry K. Clements, shows strong support for these great marketing and business development ideas by sending firmwide e-mails, touting them at partner meetings, and also during another initiative recommended by Marketing, bimonthly “Coffee with the Chair” Mondays, an informal gathering videoconferenced to all of the firm's offices as a way to update attorneys on the latest firm successes and business development accomplishments.

This past year, the firm's Director of Business Development, Katie Ambrosio, created, and the team promoted, a universal marketing plan template to help practice areas initiate strategic, coordinated marketing efforts, a move that has promoted cross-selling and resulted in new business with target prospects. The template requires practice leaders with the input of attorneys in their groups to outline their areas' vision and strategy, identify prospective new clients and companies, and think of new ways to brand and market their areas. Each practice leader has a Marketing team member at his or her disposal to complete the plan, outline ideas and help the group benchmark its progress. Leaders are then asked to present the group plan to the PDC for feedback, and several have presented at partners meetings to build the momentum. Each of the firm's practice groups must submit a marketing plan by the end of 2010.

Marketing built upon last year's success in securing new business through expertly researched RFPs. For example, this year, the firm's Business Development Strategist, Andrew Monfried, secured a potential two-year project as outside counsel for a major company's domestic and international patent work. The firm is in the first year of the contract, with a mutual option for a second year. The firm's strategist routinely examines the public registries for requests for proposals at the state and federal levels and begins to analyze the business case for responding to the RFP, including a thorough cross-check of conflicts and other issues, and clearing the projects with key attorneys before making the recommendation to proceed. The team also compiles all the materials needed, including comprehensive competitive intelligence reports prepared by the business development researcher. These types of detailed research save attorneys from devoting excessive amounts of non-billable time to responding to proposals. Most importantly, the firm has seen significant results from this effort. Attorneys have seen these accomplishments first-hand, and now realize the importance of taking these opportunities seriously, a shift in thinking that is directly attributable to the Marketing team's strengths.

Two examples of Locke Lord's marketing and business development results follow.

The Pakistan Initiative

The Marketing team was instrumental in the development and successful marketing of the Pakistan Project Development Practice, a new initiative to promote the firm's connections to government and businesses in Pakistan. The targeted marketing plan for this new practice area featured new Web site materials, a four-page print brochure and a Client Alert series on issues important for companies doing business in Pakistan. Successes from this initiative continue, and include being hired just weeks after the marketing initiative was launched by a Dubai-based company that is acquiring and developing cellular phone towers in Pakistan.

White Collar Practice Rollout

From major oil companies and airlines to health care providers and banks, every industry today needs guidance on the ever-changing regulatory and reform landscape. Locke Lord hired several prominent White Collar practice partners this year, among them two former U.S. Attorneys. The Marketing team maximized these lateral hires via a strategic, coordinated use of Web site materials, media opportunities, a sleek brochure and several general counsel round-table dinners in cities across the country designed to bring together small groups of high-level corporate executives with its White Collar partners. The marketing effort resulted in securing new business, positive publicity for the new hires, increased cross-selling and invaluable networking between White Collar partners and potential new clients.

In a year when belt-tightening was the rule at law firms and other businesses around the country, Marketing increased services through strategic changes in the department. Teamwork and communication make the Marketing Department a dynamic resource that combines brainstorming and ideas with solid and proactive plans and, most importantly, the skills and backing to implement them. Led by CMO Gilbert, the 19 Marketing staffers have gone from being mostly behind-the-scenes to high profile at Locke Lord, and the majority of the attorneys have worked with one or more in person or via telephone or videoconference, always with business development goals in mind. Locke Lord is rolling out a comprehensive new CRM database, a significant financial investment in a down economy, but one that promises substantial ROI.

Marketing holds the key to how Locke Lord presents itself to the world. The overhaul of the firm's important Proposal Generator pitch template is a prime example of how the firm reacts to client needs. Through Marketing's client survey and interview process, the team learned what works and what could be improved in the materials they use to secure new client business. Clients gave valuable feedback, for example: using fewer blocks of long copy and more bullets; using more graphics, photos and colors; and shorter paragraphs to better understand and process the information in a pitch. Based on these comments, the firm's new graphics coordinator revamped its template, giving Locke Lord's proposal generator a more distinct and customized look to complement the tailored content it consistently provides.

The Locke Lord marketing team uses technology as an integral part of the firm's business development. Team members are fluent in technology tools like Webinars, videoconferences, Web site tracking and online marketing pieces. They explore opportunities to incorporate social media tools into the firm landscape, most recently featuring the chair of the firm's Public Law practice area to address a PDC meeting on the latest benefits of LinkedIn. Following are just two examples of how the firm's Marketing team used technology to boost Locke Lord's business development this year.

Google Analytics

Marketing implemented this service in late 2009 to track and evaluate Web site traffic monthly. Practice areas with heavy traffic are evaluated for content and word use so that Marketing can update, rewrite or reorganize information to take advantage of high readership. The team continues to expand these reports to include events and publications reports.

Locke Lord iPhone App

Marketing staff researched, developed and is now working to soon implement one of the first law firm iPhone Apps in the country, an electronic application for quick, easy and innovative access to firm attorneys and information.

Community Outreach

An important part of Locke Lord's mission is to reach out to local communities to establish meaningful partnerships and be proactive in pro bono work. Marketing is an important part of this mission, both through memberships on key firm committees and through its efforts to publicize and tell its outreach stories. Here is one example: Marketing embraces Locke Lord's role in promoting diversity, both firmwide and in the community. Its Diversity Committee and Women's Initiative, both of which include Marketing staffers, work to ensure that inclusion and acceptance of all people is promoted within and outside of the firm. Marketing stresses diversity's importance through the Web site and its printed materials.

I think Julie Gilbert really understands what marketing and business development can do for a firm. It's obvious the firm understands Julie's mission.

NUMBER FOUR:

Duane Morris

Duane Morris has long been known for its robust marketing and business development program. When former Weil Gotshal CMO Mark Messing took the reins last year, he knew the foundation existed to build something even greater. Leveraging the culture, people, support and data already in place, Mark set his sights on working with the team to further strengthen the firm's business development infrastructure, utilize new techniques for outreach to current and prospective clients and, most importantly, sharpen its competitive edge for expanding business.

With the firm's marketing and business development functions already mature, and practice group-oriented budgeting and planning processes in place and commitment from leadership long-established, Mark focused his energies on pushing the team's creativity and abilities to new levels. He made it his mission to free the staff and lawyers from boundaries and create an environment of innovation, specifically with an increased use of technology and implementation of new team-led initiatives. Many of the early successes of his tenure are the result of adapting existing organizations and programs within the firm to business development vehicles through agenda-driven, team-based structures.

An early example came on his tour of the firm's offices around the U.S., where Mark quickly recognized an unharnessed source of energy, enthusiasm and ideas ' the firm's partners and associates.

Mark immediately instilled structure by putting together small, localized business development committees comprised of both partners and associates from various practice disciplines. These committees were given one mission: to come up with ideas for developing business in their geographic markets. Fully autonomous and free to pursue approaches they deem worthwhile, each of these localized attorney committees has its own personality, but they all share one common trait ' a changed mindset regarding the lawyers' involvement in the firm's business development planning and execution. To keep up the momentum, the firm established a new position of Office Marketing and Business Development Manager, who is responsible for setting agendas, logistics and project management. The approach has proven so popular that the firm has now launched these committees in a dozen cities across the U.S., with offices generating and executing client/prospect targeting and outreach efforts at a level of intensity and sophistication not previously seen.

Duane Morris teams two Marketing and Business Development Managers for every practice group. These managers, many of them lawyers and all experienced in professional services sales, serve as business development coaches and project managers for the practice groups to which they are assigned. They also call upon a team of Business Development Analysts, who feed and administer the Opportunity Identification Program, as well as focus on closing deals by supporting proposals and client pitches. In recent years, the Duane Morris team has increasingly migrated resources from traditional marketing to more business development-focused activities. This year, Duane Morris' business development analytical processes have given the firm rich data on thousands of companies and even deeper insight on hundreds of clients and their industries. The resulting outreach and pursuit vehicles have led to hundreds of new client/prospect touches and dozens of new relationships. The most immediate impact, and outstanding ROI, comes from the proprietary technology tools and strategies that the business development staff has installed to provide early detection of litigation, a program that has directly led to several million dollars' worth of engagements for the firm.

While Duane Morris maintains robust business development, marketing communications, CRM and PR programs, the firm's investment ratios are not out of keeping with industry norms for its Am Law 100 peer group on a per-lawyer basis. This year marks a watershed moment for Duane Morris' marketing strategies, as the firm rapidly transitioned its efforts to fully electronic means of reaching prospective clients, including videos, podcasts, blogs and social media. Now the firm is beginning to cross-over some of these techniques in its business development efforts, including video pitches to prospective clients.

While research technology has been a strength of Duane Morris, its business development staff spent a great deal of effort in 2009 conducting a massive analysis of the firm's client base, accumulating information from the vast data available from InterAction CRM and ContactNet relationship monitoring, as well as the firm's in-house accounting and records systems and various business intelligence, litigation and deal-tracking sources. This positioned Duane Morris in 2010 to launch its formalized Business Development Opportunity Identification Program (BDOI Program). Measuring factors such as relationship strength, needs assessment, industry trends, and potential for growth and long-term value, the firm's BDOI Program is able to not only identify clients likely to be the most receptive to overtures for more legal work, but also does so in a customized way for specific practice areas, offices and individual lawyers. For the localized attorney business development committees, the program is used to uncover loyal, profitable firm clients with operations in that city who currently have little or no legal work done by the lawyers in that office. It gives the local business development effort clear targets with existing relationships elsewhere in the firm and provides detailed information on their current spend and likely future legal needs. For practice or individual use, the program can identify which current clients are the most ripe for cross-selling or expanding the scope of current representation based on such factors as the likelihood for consistency of the flow of legal work for clients, industries and markets. Most fruitful has been Duane Morris establishing proprietary technology tools and strategies for real-time visibility into about-to-emerge litigation. This early detection capability, and resulting quick contact to potentially impacted clients, has directly led to several million dollars' worth of engagements for the firm.

The top priorities of Duane Morris' client service program are retention and loyalty. Based on the extensive client analysis the firm conducted, the group was able to identify more than a dozen high-value clients, and assemble teams of lawyers and staff aimed at providing those clients with a strategic relationship management regimen. The first order of business was to initiate Client Satisfaction Interviews, which the firm started doing on a formal basis in 2004. The interviews, conducted by the firm's marketing and business development professionals independent from the lawyers, are geared toward gathering feedback regarding the firm's service and overall performance. While these interviews are designed to understand client issues, clients in some visits have insisted on the interviewers returning to the lawyers with new business in hand. In other instances, the interviewer uncovers service glitches, most often minor and dealing with easily addressable issues such as billing format.

This information is shared with the client teams to help formulate a client relationship management plan designed to make adjustments to erase perceived service weaknesses and position the team to be prepared for the client's needs in the coming months and years. To keep the process moving forward, the teams establish quarterly and annual goals with the clients, including regularly scheduled follow-up to ensure that client expectations are being met and exceeded. Because of Duane Morris' dedication to a consistent approach and reporting of these efforts, the firm has been able to aggregate the findings as normative data, which permits an enterprise-level look at firm performance vs. the industry. Additionally, the firm now makes available to lawyers and teams a Client Service Manual, which provides state-of-the-art concepts in professional services relationship management technique.

Duane Morris, recognized as a leader in law firm diversity initiatives for many years, extended its diversity program beyond the realm of recruiting and retention and into business development. At the firm's annual diversity retreat in the spring of 2010, Mark and his marketing and business development team challenged the lawyers present to marshal their relationships and skills and the firm's know-how to build business relationships ' understanding that this is the best way to sustain and expand diversity among law firms and corporate in-house counsel. To launch the initiative, dubbed Project Delta, Duane Morris business developers organized pursuit teams comprised of four lawyers each. The teams, which are a combination of both partners and associates, were armed with research and given client targets that had general counsel known for being proponents of diversity in the legal industry. In just a few months, these 15 pursuit teams, encompassing 60 lawyers, have initiated multiple conversations with in-house counsel, generated meaningful working relationships for the firm, and, in some cases, secured initial assignments.

In only his first year as CMO, Mark Messing has captured the essence of how marketing and business development are integral to a firm's success.

NUMBER FIVE:

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Under the direction of Lynne DeRentis, Firmwide Director of Business Development, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP's marketing/business development strategy focuses on innovation, which helps frame tactics for growth, creation of new products and services for clients, and how the firm shares information with both external and internal audiences.

Pillsbury Firm Chair Jim Rishwain is a champion of marketing/business development, regularly executing best practices for client service, public relations, communications and pure business development. The firm enjoys a true marketing and business development culture, with terrific support across metrics: partner rewards; training; and support for the firm's initiatives.

Pillsbury's Strategic Growth Plan emphasizes its multidisciplinary approach to anticipating emerging legal and business trends to reduce client risk and take advantage of new opportunities. The firm's Virtual Worlds, Video Games & Social Media team is an excellent example of how multidisciplinary teams are powerful engines for growth. Pillsbury formed its Virtual Worlds, Video Games & Social Media team in 2008. The team is supported by business development, communications and PR staff. As part of its planning process, the team determined that not only would organizations in this industry sector need significant intellectual property advice, they would also likely face financial, tax, privacy and property issues emerging from virtual economies, currencies and exchanges. To drive success, the firm developed targeted team messaging/branding with corresponding communication materials, including: a Virtual Worlds FAQ brochure and industry-specific fact sheets; attended and spoke at high-profile industry conferences around the country and in Europe; launched a Virtual Worlds legal blog, which ranks in the top 25% of most-visited Web sites; secured leadership roles at industry and legal organizations; wrote alerts and bylined articles; secured press interviews in virtual world-related outlets; and sponsored the first legal writing competition on virtual world issues. Contest winners were announced at a virtual world press conference, a first for law firms.

As this emerging area expands, the team continues to win more and more new work. In just two years, Pillsbury has added dozens of clients to its roster. The team is meeting with companies from multiple industries including entertainment, real estate, banking, education and travel/leisure/hospitality.

In the wake of the economic meltdown, Pillsbury's marketing team embarked on an ambitious internal communications program designed to educate attorneys on BD and client-service best practices, strengthen internal awareness of its clients' needs in a changing economy, and raise awareness of the firm's capabilities and tactics to encourage cross-selling.

Examples include:

Issued a “call to action,” encouraging partners to meet face-to-face with clients for the primary purpose of understanding how their objectives may be changing in light of economic conditions. More than 1,000 meetings were held. Marketers captured key takeaways from these meetings and ensured appropriate follow-up.
Introduced Chair's Corner, Jim Rishwain's weekly internal blog.
Created an online Business Development Exchange, which provides the firm's attorneys with client introduction kits to raise awareness about unique firm service offerings relevant to a wide cross-section of its client base.
Introduced speed networking during the 2010 partner conference to help attorneys from different offices and practices learn more about their respective capabilities and identify potential new business opportunities.
Established a real-time online chatroom where associates can engage with the Firm Chair every quarter to discuss firm initiatives and how they can become involved.
Established a virtual town hall to keep partners aware of client service and BD initiatives. The forum includes video presentations, slide presentations and voting buttons for partners to share their opinions on the presented ideas.

When Jim Rishwain became Firm Chair, he assessed client feedback and teamed with Marketing as to best practices for enhancing client service, with an emphasis on teaming with clients. Among his first acts was to host a series of Diversity Roundtables with firm clients. Ongoing efforts in this arena earned him a 2009 CEO leadership award from Diversity Best Practices, an organization in which Jim is often the only head of a law firm among dozens of CEO participants.

Not only does Pillsbury frequently partner with clients on community initiatives, it sometimes helps clients partner with one another. For example, recognizing that two Los Angeles-based clients, Major League Soccer team Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Unified School District, both share a deep commitment to the community, and understanding that athletes often serve as role models for young kids, the firm created a Career Panel Program to encourage kids to stay in school.

Pillsbury has long been known for helping clients on the cutting edge of the technology revolution. The firm leverages technology innovations both to support its clients' goals and to market itself ' a natural outgrowth of its early investment in the industry.

For example, while many law firms employ client extranets to facilitate document retrieval and sharing, Pillsbury took it one step further ' creating a customized portfolio management system to help clients protect and manage their trademarks. The firm has built custom portfolio management systems for several clients, and includes an electronic demo of the product in all of its IP pitches.

In early 2010, Pillsbury launched PEARL (Pillsbury's E-discovery Alliance of Resource Leaders), the first end-to-end, turnkey e-discovery solution that the firm says can reduce costs as much as 50%. This strategic alliance of leading e-discovery vendors, consultants, technicians, translators, processors and first-tier review firms helps clients address the common problems encountered across the spectrum of e-discovery activities, from identification and collection through processing, review, translation, production and certification. This year, PEARL was spotlighted by Legal Onramp in its “New Normal” presentation hosted by Cisco. PEARL was held out as an example of law firm innovation and cost containment.

In October 2009, Pillsbury produced “The New Faces of Energy,” a three-minute video news release (VNR) highlighting its clients' cutting-edge energy solutions and Pillsbury's deep experience advising that sector. Results included: 1) Providing clients added value; 2) One Pillsbury client featured in the VNR included its segment as part of its investor relations package; 3) Another went public on NASDAQ the same week the VNR was distributed and used it to further promote that milestone; 4) Enabling the firm to capitalize on the viral power of YouTube and other social portals by distributing the VNR via PR Newswire; 5) Ten-second teaser campaign on Reuters' billboard in Times Square that directed visitors to www.pillsburylaw.com; 6) Post-VNR site visits to Pillsbury's Energy page increased 52%; and 7) The amount of time people spent on Pillsbury's site increased 300%.

In 2010, the firm rolled out three industry-specific blogs: CommsLawCenter.com (Communications Practice); VirtualWorldLaw.com (Virtual Worlds & Video Games Practice); and InvestmentFunds.com (Investment Funds & Formation Practice). Within weeks of each blog's launch, the firm saw a huge uptick in press coverage for those practice areas. News sites such as Politico, Communications Daily and Washington Post regularly cite these blogs in their stories.

More than a dozen years ago, Pillsbury pioneered the concept of client teams. Its focus increased this past year, with the implementation of a client-service program that includes 10 service standards to ensure a uniformly positive experience for its clients. A Client Service Committee provides advisory oversight to its program, and the firm is in the process of creating a client service training curriculum. Candid client feedback is essential, which is why the firm employs a third-party provider to survey clients on a biannual basis about their experience working with Pillsbury. Marketing manages a rigorous follow-up process to ensure that the firm acts on the feedback received.

Lynne DeRentis is to be commended on her approach to business development. It is right on.

Conclusion

What an impressive roster of firms. Business development and marketing have come a long way. Onward and upward to all.

See the MLF 50 list here (in PDF format).

Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi is the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter. The MLF 50, conceived and created by Tursi, has become one of the benchmarks of law firm marketing.

Managing Editor's Note:

Some of the law firms mentioned in this issue have provided Marketing the Law Firm with marketing materials for consideration for inclusion in the MLF 50. There is no connection to any contributions from the firms and the choice of winners. Choices are solely that of the author, who does not receive any compensation from the firms mentioned.