The Eighth Annual MLF 50: The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Business Development

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, is a huge firm. It has 639 attorneys and advisers across 18 offices in seven states and Washington, DC. The firm's Marketing and Business Development (MBD) Department includes 23 team members and three college interns, and a budget that represents a 15% increase over last year. At the beginning of the firm's fiscal year, it hired a new Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer (CMBDO), Adam Severson, under whose able leadership the department has blossomed into this year's number-one winner.

The task of marketing a firm so large is a daunting one, and how easy Baker, Donelson makes it look! It is impossible to describe every aspect of the firm's unique and innovative programs in this small space. How did they do it? For starters, the MBD Department isolated its goals. As they describe it, 'We developed, presented and approved a two-year departmental strategic plan that aligns with the firm's strategic plan. We reorganized [our] team to more effectively meet the firm's needs. This led to a more leveraged and dispersed team with people residing in five of the firm's 18 offices (before this, team members were in three offices) and included the addition of a Business Analyst to the Department.'

Among many other things, the MBD Department developed a dedicated lateral integration and coaching program. The Department worked with firm management and the HR, Knowledge Management, and Recruiting Departments to formalize the firm's lateral recruiting process and seamless integration of those laterals once they are hired. According to the Department, 'This process allows us to better integrate lateral attorneys with a new attorney hire checklist and a business development coaching plan so they are up to speed and adapt to the firm quickly. The MBD team members conduct six one-hour (or longer as necessary) sessions.'

Sounds fairly everyday, right? Wrong! The training programs are state-of-the-art. The firm has several training programs to help its lawyers succeed in business development, including:

BakerRain: A career development program that combines personal coaching, regular group meetings and retreats to help attorneys grow their practices, and their leadership skills and opportunities. Twelve attorneys were selected through an application process to participate in the year-long effort in which they learn to focus their client development efforts, enhance existing client relationships, increase credentialing activities and devote more time on quality client development activities.

'The Pitch': This learning-by-doing business development workshop boasted a faculty composed entirely of firm shareholders and staff. The firm taught business development skills to its mid-level and senior associates, and if that were not enough, the MBD Department promoted two additional firm-wide strategic objectives: First and One Firm. This 'Clients First' focus taught associates how to talk to prospective clients about their business needs and how the firm's services may be a fit. Associates come from multiple offices to work in small teams.
According to the MBD, 'The Pitch' was based on a fictitious scenario involving a prospective client's desire to engage new counsel to handle business and litigation matters. Each skill was taught through a presentation followed by a practice session and feedback. These presentation segments included elevator speeches; how to work a room followed by a cocktail party with fake prospects; the importance of learning about the firm and its prospective client's business and needs; RFPs and client research, followed by breakouts in which the associates researched the prospective client and assembled pitch materials for their client meeting; badly- and well-handled client meetings (via panel discussion and pre-recorded video), followed by small-group preparation and practice; and 30-minute pitch meetings between each team of two associates and the prospective client's fake general counsel.

Practice Group Retreats: These included business development training performed by Adam Severson. Business development liaisons worked with practice group leaders to develop additional business development-focused programming.
The firm has certainly not neglected its online presence. On the contrary! According to Severson, 'Online marketing continues to be a strategic focus of our overall marketing mix. We focused on integrating and repurposing content across offline and online channels, establishing an online presence and driving traffic to our website. Website traffic has increased 79% over the last year.'

Initiatives that contributed to increased website visitors include video-based client alerts targeted to emerging companies, called The Entrepreneur Minute. 'These alerts resulted in this group's webpage moving from the 23rd to the first most-visited practice page on our website,' according to Severson. His department also launched a mobile site to accommodate the increasing level of mobile visitors; and added webinars to its event marketing efforts to effectively reach more clients in a wider geographic area. The webinars are delivered live, CLE accredited, and available on the firm's website for on-demand viewing shortly after the live presentation. The website also added two more practice group blogs ' Construction and Export Compliance ' to 'continue building our site as a resource, demonstrate experience and improve SEO results.”

There is so much more to say about Baker, Donnelson's truly amazing marketing and business development efforts. We have barely scraped the surface! We congratulate this firm, which jumped all the way to the top in one year of concentrated effort and dedication, to Number One.

NUMBER TWO: K&L GATES

This firm is consistently in the Top Five, and for very good reason. Few law firms can rival the growth of K&L Gates. During the past two years alone, the firm opened five offices, in Brussels, Doha, S'o Paulo, Charleston and Milan. Now, with its recent discussions of a possible combination with Australian national law firm Middletons, K&L may expand to a fifth continent, opening four more offices throughout Australia to create a firm of more than 2,000 lawyers in 45 offices. How does one market such a diverse firm? Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Berardi says, 'The marketing team has followed a strategy that focuses on supporting client development efforts and generating measurable results. Despite the challenge of doing more with less in today's value-conscious legal market, our team has seen: 1) A growth in firm-wide client teams ' from five in 2006 to 50 active teams so far in 2012, representing a nearly 20% increase over last year alone; 2) Significant growth in new business pursuits ' on track to reach nearly 1,100 pitches/proposals; and 3) A steady increase in media mentions each year ' with an increase of more than 40% over the past five years and nearly 15% in the past year alone.'

It would be impossible to list all that the marketing team does in these few pages. But here is just a taste.

Advertising and Visual Communications: 'The marketing department is consistently focused on building the K&L Gates brand,' says Berardi. 'This year, the firm introduced a brand initiative to further position K&L Gates as a firm working at the critical crossroads of the 21st century at the intersection of globalization, regulation and innovation. The brand campaign is a central theme extended to our website and to an expanded advertising program.'

Client Service Programs: K&L Gates' marketing initiatives are guided by the firm's strategic global vision and commitment to client service. The firm serves clients in each of the world's nine largest economies, and its lawyers work across borders in a 24-hour marketplace to address their clients' legal challenges. According to Berardi, 'Marketing supports K&L Gates' 50 dedicated client teams of partners working throughout our worldwide offices and practices and focused on enhancing client relationships, while anticipating business trends and their clients' future legal needs.'

Communications Program: The marketing department is central to projecting the firm's culture, both internally and externally, and serves as the 'glue' for K&L Gates' widespread and diverse platform. No easy task! Berardi circulates a monthly internal 'People. Places. Practices.” feature that explores a team within the firm and its potential for cross-selling opportunities; and several office-focused internal monthly e-newsletters were added this year. External office-based communications, such as a recent video highlighting K&L Gates' Newark, NJ, office, additionally support efforts to increase awareness of the firm's global platform. The marketing team also supports the firm's expansion of its global regulatory practice with new collateral materials in Russian, Japanese and German, as well as legal alerts and e-mail invitations in local languages. The recently launched 'Dispute Resolution in Poland' blog is maintained by lawyers in the Warsaw office, and features both English and Polish sites.

The firm has also launched several efforts in social media, focusing on an increased presence on Linked In, a new Twitter feed, @klgates, and Google+. 'In 2012, our LinkedIn followers increased by 50% to more than 3,500,' says Berardi. 'In the four months following our Twitter launch, we've grown with more than 420 followers.'
We could go on and on about the marketing department's efforts in every aspect of the firm, but suffice to say that, as always, Berardi runs a winning team!

NUMBER THREE: TIE!
ADAMS AND REESE; McGUIREWOODS

From time to time throughout the eight years of creating the MLF 50 list of marketing excellence, our judges have found it impossible to separate certain firms. This year, we have a tie for Number Three, two venerable firms that have always appeared on the list. We start alphabetically with Adams and Reese.

The Adams and Reese Marketing Department is run by Chief Marketing Officer Ann Wallace. Her department coordinates the marketing efforts for the firm's 14 offices. Last year, the firm ranked No. 39 on the MLF Top 50 List. What made the tremendous difference this year? Let's review.

AdvanceLaw. This year, Wallace worked with the firm's managing partner Chuck Adams to make Adams and Reese a member of AdvanceLaw, which helps member-company general counsel identify and retain quality law firms that have been vetted for their ability to provide strong value. Selected firms demonstrate profession-friendly practices, such as a commitment to diversity and alternative fee arrangements, among many other criteria. From the United States to Argentina to Brazil to Canada, Europe, India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, Adams and Reese is one of 19 international firms involved in the program. Since being involved in AdvanceLaw, the firm has received client engagements from major U.S. companies such as eBay Inc, Google, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Lorillard, McDonald's, MasterCard, Oracle and Progressive.

Business Development. In terms of business development from a marketing standpoint, Adams and Reese business development managers, four of whom are located in four of the regional offices, meet with the firm's top practice teams at least once a month to discuss potential clients and areas of growth within the practices. Prior to these meetings, and any time attorneys need information on potential clients for proposals, the team prepares customized corporate profiles with recent news, immediate and latest client needs, financials, 10Ks, billing information, historical relationships and other pertinent information, as well as legal work conducted for the companies by other firms. Over the last year, the marketing team has prepared approximately 144 research packets and litigant profiles in preparation for client calls and meetings, potential client meetings, events and the Advance Law initiative, among others, in order to support firm, team and individual attorney marketing strategies. This is helpful to prepare for meetings, the creation of firm profiles, responding to RFPs, leverage current client relationships, help build new ones and keep abreast of news, legal developments and trends.

Team Handbook. In addition, the marketing department has created a 'living team handbook' as a reference tool. It provides information such as corporate profiles, financials, key executives, strategy, facilities, locations and types of business facilities, news, in-house counsel, litigant profiles, annual reports and presentations, firm billings and opportunities for the future, the relationship history with the firm, and much more. Business development managers monitor news, suits and developments for each team, and forward to the attorneys via e-mail as appropriate to keep the materials updated.

Proactive Research. The marketing department offers proactive research to notify the firm's attorneys if their clients are being sued, to identify potential cross-selling opportunities and to anounce market trends in general. Courthouse News Service (CNS) reports are the result of checking hundreds of companies weekly. 'Not only does this afford us an opportunity to assist with gaining a new client,' says Wallace, 'but it also may give attorneys a valuable reason to call a prospect or client. The alerts have been a value-added service for clients, and have also resulted in new file openings. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.' In addition to CNS, her department utilizes Lexis Alerts to proactively monitor new suits for teams, top clients, and other important prospective clients. BDMs forward this information to the appropriate attorney or team as appropriate.

There is so much more to say about the drive and commitment of this marketing and business development structure, but suffice to say that Adams and Reese has a winning team!

McGuireWoods

This spectacular firm is no stranger to the MLF 50. Its marketing department is unfailingly innovative, and this year was no exception. McGuireWoods LLP has more than 900 lawyers in 19 offices around the world, including the UK and Belgium, collaborating with colleagues and managing resources in the Nordic countries, Russia and Eurasia, Eastern Europe, China, Africa, the Middle East, India, Spain, Portugal and South America. It has cooperative arrangements with Paris law firm KGA, and in Israel with Shenhav Konforti Shavit & Co (SKS). Its international practice is further enhanced by its participation in the global legal networks, Lex Mundi and LNI Oasis. So how does one marketing department do its job in such a diverse setting?

The firm is currently in the final year of a three-year strategic plan, and many of its goals rely heavily on the marketing department. Under the able leadership of Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer Jim Durham, the marketing department has a philosophy: 'For every goal there will be a resource, and for every resource, there will be a goal.' The following are only a few examples of the department's 'resource/goal' strategy.

Dedicated Industry Team BD Managers. 'To ensure that we feature our strong industry knowledge, the firm has nearly doubled its number of industry teams,' explains Durham. 'We support these interdisciplinary industry teams with a spectrum of services that range from in-depth research and critical market data to internal metrics and business planning. We have appointed industry team managers to lead this effort and help support our attorneys' efforts to better serve our clients across the firms' disciplines. Our managers prepare monthly success reports, help prepare industry team meeting agendas, work with finance to track revenues and help the teams prepare when they are scheduled to present at one of the monthly partner information meetings.' Active participation by partners and associates on industry teams is a factor in the lawyer's evaluation.

BD Manager of Events. The firm has dedicated a full-time business development manager to work with the events team to assess, track and monitor return on investment for firm-hosted events. 'We start with an analysis of the proposed event goals and whether they are achievable. Can we provide value to the attendees? Will it enhance our brand or market positions? When we proceed with an event, our lawyers walk in armed with market research on participants' backgrounds, current business challenges and potential legal needs,' says Durham. 'We follow events with a debriefing, during which the lawyers share what they learned about clients and prospects at the event, identify points of follow-up, and work with the marketing team to assess all aspects of the event and seek feedback from attendees.'

Online Marketing Initiatives. One of the broadest initiatives undertaken by the marketing department this year was a complete redesign of the firm's website, mcguirewoods.com. Guided by analytics indicating that more than 50% of Web traffic is driven to professional resumes, the firm undertook an aggressive overhaul of more than 1,000 online biographies. The project also involved a restructuring of all content to ensure busy users are presented with concise descriptions of relevant experience, service areas and firm background. The visual strategy for the new website was guided by three objectives: to make the site more client-focused; to increase interactivity, thereby encouraging visitors to explore longer; and to reveal something about McGuireWoods' culture ' its personality and its values.

Key features of the new website include: 1) a brighter, more contemporary color palette; 2) more intuitive navigation; 3) new search-engine-optimized content; and 4) interactive features such as a homepage carousel, experience map and video.
The firm has also expanded its presence on Twitter, with more than 700 followers, and has increased the number of firm-sponsored blogs to seven. In just the first six months of this year, the firm's blogs have had more than 48,478 page views. 'In addition to helping establish ourselves as thought leaders, our blog posts have led to client work,' says Durham. 'We continually look for ways to expand our blog ' and social media presence ' where appropriate and there is a market.'

Advertising and Visual Communications. Because video is much more readily available on the Internet and mobile devices, the firm has made a significant investment in video production. 'We produce our own videos in-house (thus reducing costs) that highlight practice groups, new hires, firm initiatives and firm-sponsored events. These videos have been sent to clients and posted to the firm's YouTube channel, on our internal network and on our external website,' says a team spokesman. 'Rather than showing a static picture of our attorneys, the viewer is able to see them, hear them and get to know them in a meaningful way. We are excited about our efforts in this arena and look to expand in 2013,' says Durham.

All of the above has not even scratched the surface in describing how much this able marketing department contributes to the firm. We congratulate them on another year of excellence!

NUMBER FOUR: BENESCH

Under the leadership of CMO Jeanne Hammerstrom, the Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP marketing team has made an outstanding effort in meetings its clients' needs and promoting the firm. One only has to look at the firm's Shale Initiative to understand why this team is a winner.

Shale Initiative. Benesch has two of its offices in Ohio, which is, with neighboring states, currently in the midst of a shale drilling boom due to what is known as 'Utica Shale.' There are business opportunities to support this industry, including complex legal, business and regulatory issues. 'As Benesch realized the economic potential of the shale oil boom, we developed a strategic plan to capitalize on it,' explains a marketing department spokesperson.

'Building on the strength of the firm's Energy Group, we formed a cross-functional team of corporate, public and private finance, transportation and logistics, regulatory, environmental, real estate, public law and construction attorneys. At the same time, we engaged a business consulting firm to test the opportunity to see if it was worth allocating time and firm resources, and to build the strongest business case going forward. The consulting firm delivered a report from which we built our strategy and business plan.

'Once we determined there was a business case,' continues the spokesperson, 'Benesch tapped the expertise of a market intelligence agency to manage the flood of information about the industry. Our intent was to use the information to cultivate stronger end-client relationships. Using keywords, the agency filters news about the industry and provides briefings in a private newsroom from which we send updates and industry reports to our clients and contacts.'

The marketing department also created a twitter handle (@ohioshaleupdate) to tweet daily updates about shale, and is in the process of creating a blog (www.ohioshaleupdate.com) to host an ongoing discussion about the latest news. 'Clients are thrilled with the timeliness of Benesch's information as well as the firm's ability to customize the news they need,' says the department.

To raise its public profile, Benesch hired a PR firm specializing in the shale industry to assist in showcasing Benesch as a thought leader via speaking opportunities, sponsorships, studies and published pieces. For example, Benesch and the PR firm are currently conducting a survey of national transportation associations to determine how to uncover how the shale boom is affecting the transportation/logistics industry. Using the results, the Shale Team will publish a report to be shared with the association's membership, as well as with Benesch clients/prospects in the industry.

With information consistently flowing from the firm's consultants and various news sources, the Marketing Team needed to create a means for sharing information. So it created an internal site by which all parties and the firm participants have access. This alleviated the flood of e-mails and averted redundancies, thereby making the operation more cost-effective. The marketing department uses the site to post all activities the firm is engaged in such as sponsorships, events, presentations, industry reports and competitor activities and events. Internally, they track opportunities, pipelines and ROI.

Expanded Role for CMO. In another unique move, Benesch created a collaboration between Recruiting and Marketing. Chief Marketing Officer Jeanne Hammerstrom thus became Chief Marketing and Recruiting Officer (CMRO). In this capacity, she is at the center of the firm's growth and expansion strategy by working with the Managing Partner and Executive Committee on lateral acquisitions of individuals, small practice and industry groups, and law firm mergers. Earlier this year, she spoke about her role at the National Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) Conference, where she addressed the need for collaboration between marketing, recruiting and professional development.

Firm Playbook. Hammerstrom collaborated with firm leaders on the creation of the Benesch Playbook for potential combination partners and select high-level lateral recruits. The Playbook lets merger and lateral candidates know exactly who Benesch is by including information on the firm's practice group overview, financials, client service, culture, professional development, marketing/bd strategy, IT services, recruiting strategy, etc. This information gives the candidate a strong sense of the firm's culture, strength and growth plans.

There is so much more to say about this superb marketing department, including the Benesch Business Development Institute; sales training; individual development plans; a dedicated coaching program; and more. The marketing department has much to be proud of.

NUMBER FIVE: GOODWIN PROCTER

CMO Anne Malloy Tucker focused her entry this year on Goodwin Procter LLP's all-important Marketing/Business Development Strategy.

'Goodwin's current strategic approach is similar to its historic one: 1) Focus on a smaller group of practices and industry groups in order to demonstrate most persuasively the value add according to the desired attributes e.g., 'you can't be all things to all people'; 2) Leverage the strength of those practices throughout the firm by encouraging and supporting cross-selling, integration and emerging practices; and 3) Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate!' she says.

Each year, the firm undertakes a business planning process with the goals of strengthening, expanding and institutionalizing relationships with the firm's key clients. As part of this effort, the process includes a business development focus on making the plans more succinct and actionable within and across practice areas.
'The core of this approach to strategic business planning,' says Tucker, 'are the beliefs that our greatest opportunities can be found within our existing client base and that new business opportunities can be better leveraged by tapping into the firm's vast network of resources and contacts.'

Examples of this type of approach this year included a joint effort by the Technology Companies practice and the Securities Litigation & White Collar Defense group on a series of in-house presentations to the firm's tech clients on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; a public company initiative involving multiple practices (Capital Markets, Technology Companies, Life Sciences, Labor & Employment, Tax and ERISA), which focused on building relationships in a more systemic fashion with the firm's clients post-IPO; and an institutional client focus, which involved the integration of business law and litigation teams around key clients of the firm. The latter also involved a series of client feedback and relationship-building visits by the chairman of the firm.

A very successful cross-collaborative effort also occurred this year between the Technology Companies and the Intellectual Property Transactions & Strategies practices. As part of their business plan, they had identified the mobile, gaming, digital and social media and e-commerce industries as significant growth opportunities.

'Guerrilla' Tradeshow Marketing. 'SXSW Interactive has become the primary tradeshow conference for entrepreneurs, strategic partners and investors in these areas,' says Malloy. 'With a focused, but guerrilla, marketing effort around the event, we established over 90 qualified contacts with prospective clients and strengthened our relationships with existing clients. With a full array of pre- and post-event activities in key cities where we have offices; co-sponsorships; and use of social media, we were able to convert leads into business. However, connecting clients to each other and serving as the conduit to successful introductions will in many ways pay even more rewards in the longer term.'

Online Marketing Initiatives. Over the past year, Goodwin has taken numerous steps to leverage available technology to integrate video, blogs and social networking programs in support of key strategic business development initiatives. These include: 1) Video. 'We have created a program to use video interviews with recognized leaders in the field of startups to complement and extend engagement with the entrepreneurial community that provides a key seedbed for Goodwin's Technology Companies practice, which is now one of the largest technology practices in the United States,' says Malloy. 'By incorporating video content into Goodwin's award-winning Founder's Workbench site and related Founder's ToolBox blog, recognized in last year's MLF 50, we have increased traffic, boosted SEO and generated increased interaction with our target audiences and social media awareness for the site.' 2) Blogs. Goodwin has consistently taken a targeted, strategic approach to the use of blogs to gain visibility and awareness in emerging practice areas, such as early-stage startups and sustainable development. 'Utilizing new blogging tools and platforms, such as Compendium, that provide enhanced SEO capabilities, we have developed and will shortly launch MuniBK, a new blog focused on the emerging, high-profile area of municipal bankruptcy,' says Malloy. 'The MuniBK Blog provides content, analysis and commentary on the intersecting issues of public finance, restructurings and Chapter 9 ' aggregating information and developments from around the country, and sharing Goodwin's analysis of legal and business developments as they occur. As the media devotes increasing attention to covering the growing volume of municipal defaults, we expect the blog will generate significant coverage for key Goodwin partners driving business development efforts in this sector.'

Social Media/Networking. As each of the initiatives outlined above is rolled out, the marketing department raises visibility and support for these business development efforts with an integrated social media framework of related activities. Components include: 1) Ongoing related postings on key firm websites to drive traffic; 2) Establishment of related, branded Twitter handles and feeds of ongoing related tweets incorporating key hashtags; 3) Related tweeting by key partners on their personal accounts; 4) Use of firm and partner LinkedIn updates and LinkedIn group member activities; 5) Support through Goodwin's Facebook postings and updates, where relevant; and 6) Future YouTube posting of selected video content.

That is just the tip of the iceberg for this tech-savvy marketing department. With a keen eye on every aspect of the firm's practice areas, the marketing department is a key link in the firm's ongoing success.

Conclusion

Congratulations to all our Top Five winners this year, and kudos to every single firm on the Top 50. Once again, they have shown that marketing and business development are key to their success in these very tough times.

Get the MLF 50 list in PDF format here.

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 LJN's editors, who do not receive any compensation from the firms mentioned.

Kimberly Alford Rice, Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter, is the principal of KLA Marketing Associates,Cherry Hill, NJ. She can be reached at [email protected]. Wendy Stavinoha and Steven Salkin, Esq., are the Editorial Director and Web Editor, respectively, of Law Journal Newsletters, a division of ALM that publishes this newsletter. Website: http://www.ljnonline.com/.

This year's submissions to the MLF 50 were so uniformly excellent, innovative and enthusiastic that it was almost impossible to choose the winners, let alone the Top Five. Every month, our pages extoll the best of marketing and business development ' from current trends to innovative ideas for the future. To see these ideas, and many, many more, in action is a tribute to law firm marketers all across the country.

Like last year, the focus in successful law firm marketing departments is technology. But now it has become much more refined. Innovative marketers are using their firms' online presence not only to reach out to clients, but to educate and teach their own attorneys. At the touch of a fingertip, clients, the press, attorneys and even the public at large can see what these firms are doing at any given minute ' allowing them to assume a 'real' presence that has never been there before. This is being accomplished through apps, streamlined and user-friendly firm websites, videos, and strong, sure information management.
No longer does a potential client click on a firm's website to be met with a long, dull listing of lawyers. Now, there is every type of information possible, easy to find, easy to read, and above all, intensely useful.

It is astounding to see the great strides that our winning law firms have made in what is still a very tough economy. It takes guts, imagination, and strength to put one's firm at the top of the heap in clients' minds, and all of our winners have done so. It is with great excitement, then, that we introduce you to the 2012 MLF 50.

NUMBER ONE: BAKER, DONELSON

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, is a huge firm. It has 639 attorneys and advisers across 18 offices in seven states and Washington, DC. The firm's Marketing and Business Development (MBD) Department includes 23 team members and three college interns, and a budget that represents a 15% increase over last year. At the beginning of the firm's fiscal year, it hired a new Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer (CMBDO), Adam Severson, under whose able leadership the department has blossomed into this year's number-one winner.

The task of marketing a firm so large is a daunting one, and how easy Baker, Donelson makes it look! It is impossible to describe every aspect of the firm's unique and innovative programs in this small space. How did they do it? For starters, the MBD Department isolated its goals. As they describe it, 'We developed, presented and approved a two-year departmental strategic plan that aligns with the firm's strategic plan. We reorganized [our] team to more effectively meet the firm's needs. This led to a more leveraged and dispersed team with people residing in five of the firm's 18 offices (before this, team members were in three offices) and included the addition of a Business Analyst to the Department.'

Among many other things, the MBD Department developed a dedicated lateral integration and coaching program. The Department worked with firm management and the HR, Knowledge Management, and Recruiting Departments to formalize the firm's lateral recruiting process and seamless integration of those laterals once they are hired. According to the Department, 'This process allows us to better integrate lateral attorneys with a new attorney hire checklist and a business development coaching plan so they are up to speed and adapt to the firm quickly. The MBD team members conduct six one-hour (or longer as necessary) sessions.'

Sounds fairly everyday, right? Wrong! The training programs are state-of-the-art. The firm has several training programs to help its lawyers succeed in business development, including:

BakerRain: A career development program that combines personal coaching, regular group meetings and retreats to help attorneys grow their practices, and their leadership skills and opportunities. Twelve attorneys were selected through an application process to participate in the year-long effort in which they learn to focus their client development efforts, enhance existing client relationships, increase credentialing activities and devote more time on quality client development activities.

'The Pitch': This learning-by-doing business development workshop boasted a faculty composed entirely of firm shareholders and staff. The firm taught business development skills to its mid-level and senior associates, and if that were not enough, the MBD Department promoted two additional firm-wide strategic objectives: First and One Firm. This 'Clients First' focus taught associates how to talk to prospective clients about their business needs and how the firm's services may be a fit. Associates come from multiple offices to work in small teams.
According to the MBD, 'The Pitch' was based on a fictitious scenario involving a prospective client's desire to engage new counsel to handle business and litigation matters. Each skill was taught through a presentation followed by a practice session and feedback. These presentation segments included elevator speeches; how to work a room followed by a cocktail party with fake prospects; the importance of learning about the firm and its prospective client's business and needs; RFPs and client research, followed by breakouts in which the associates researched the prospective client and assembled pitch materials for their client meeting; badly- and well-handled client meetings (via panel discussion and pre-recorded video), followed by small-group preparation and practice; and 30-minute pitch meetings between each team of two associates and the prospective client's fake general counsel.

Practice Group Retreats: These included business development training performed by Adam Severson. Business development liaisons worked with practice group leaders to develop additional business development-focused programming.
The firm has certainly not neglected its online presence. On the contrary! According to Severson, 'Online marketing continues to be a strategic focus of our overall marketing mix. We focused on integrating and repurposing content across offline and online channels, establishing an online presence and driving traffic to our website. Website traffic has increased 79% over the last year.'

Initiatives that contributed to increased website visitors include video-based client alerts targeted to emerging companies, called The Entrepreneur Minute. 'These alerts resulted in this group's webpage moving from the 23rd to the first most-visited practice page on our website,' according to Severson. His department also launched a mobile site to accommodate the increasing level of mobile visitors; and added webinars to its event marketing efforts to effectively reach more clients in a wider geographic area. The webinars are delivered live, CLE accredited, and available on the firm's website for on-demand viewing shortly after the live presentation. The website also added two more practice group blogs ' Construction and Export Compliance ' to 'continue building our site as a resource, demonstrate experience and improve SEO results.”

There is so much more to say about Baker, Donnelson's truly amazing marketing and business development efforts. We have barely scraped the surface! We congratulate this firm, which jumped all the way to the top in one year of concentrated effort and dedication, to Number One.

NUMBER TWO: K&L GATES

This firm is consistently in the Top Five, and for very good reason. Few law firms can rival the growth of K&L Gates. During the past two years alone, the firm opened five offices, in Brussels, Doha, S'o Paulo, Charleston and Milan. Now, with its recent discussions of a possible combination with Australian national law firm Middletons, K&L may expand to a fifth continent, opening four more offices throughout Australia to create a firm of more than 2,000 lawyers in 45 offices. How does one market such a diverse firm? Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Berardi says, 'The marketing team has followed a strategy that focuses on supporting client development efforts and generating measurable results. Despite the challenge of doing more with less in today's value-conscious legal market, our team has seen: 1) A growth in firm-wide client teams ' from five in 2006 to 50 active teams so far in 2012, representing a nearly 20% increase over last year alone; 2) Significant growth in new business pursuits ' on track to reach nearly 1,100 pitches/proposals; and 3) A steady increase in media mentions each year ' with an increase of more than 40% over the past five years and nearly 15% in the past year alone.'

It would be impossible to list all that the marketing team does in these few pages. But here is just a taste.

Advertising and Visual Communications: 'The marketing department is consistently focused on building the K&L Gates brand,' says Berardi. 'This year, the firm introduced a brand initiative to further position K&L Gates as a firm working at the critical crossroads of the 21st century at the intersection of globalization, regulation and innovation. The brand campaign is a central theme extended to our website and to an expanded advertising program.'

Client Service Programs: K&L Gates' marketing initiatives are guided by the firm's strategic global vision and commitment to client service. The firm serves clients in each of the world's nine largest economies, and its lawyers work across borders in a 24-hour marketplace to address their clients' legal challenges. According to Berardi, 'Marketing supports K&L Gates' 50 dedicated client teams of partners working throughout our worldwide offices and practices and focused on enhancing client relationships, while anticipating business trends and their clients' future legal needs.'

Communications Program: The marketing department is central to projecting the firm's culture, both internally and externally, and serves as the 'glue' for K&L Gates' widespread and diverse platform. No easy task! Berardi circulates a monthly internal 'People. Places. Practices.” feature that explores a team within the firm and its potential for cross-selling opportunities; and several office-focused internal monthly e-newsletters were added this year. External office-based communications, such as a recent video highlighting K&L Gates' Newark, NJ, office, additionally support efforts to increase awareness of the firm's global platform. The marketing team also supports the firm's expansion of its global regulatory practice with new collateral materials in Russian, Japanese and German, as well as legal alerts and e-mail invitations in local languages. The recently launched 'Dispute Resolution in Poland' blog is maintained by lawyers in the Warsaw office, and features both English and Polish sites.

The firm has also launched several efforts in social media, focusing on an increased presence on Linked In, a new Twitter feed, @klgates, and Google+. 'In 2012, our LinkedIn followers increased by 50% to more than 3,500,' says Berardi. 'In the four months following our Twitter launch, we've grown with more than 420 followers.'
We could go on and on about the marketing department's efforts in every aspect of the firm, but suffice to say that, as always, Berardi runs a winning team!

NUMBER THREE: TIE!
ADAMS AND REESE; McGUIREWOODS

From time to time throughout the eight years of creating the MLF 50 list of marketing excellence, our judges have found it impossible to separate certain firms. This year, we have a tie for Number Three, two venerable firms that have always appeared on the list. We start alphabetically with Adams and Reese.

The Adams and Reese Marketing Department is run by Chief Marketing Officer Ann Wallace. Her department coordinates the marketing efforts for the firm's 14 offices. Last year, the firm ranked No. 39 on the MLF Top 50 List. What made the tremendous difference this year? Let's review.

AdvanceLaw. This year, Wallace worked with the firm's managing partner Chuck Adams to make Adams and Reese a member of AdvanceLaw, which helps member-company general counsel identify and retain quality law firms that have been vetted for their ability to provide strong value. Selected firms demonstrate profession-friendly practices, such as a commitment to diversity and alternative fee arrangements, among many other criteria. From the United States to Argentina to Brazil to Canada, Europe, India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, Adams and Reese is one of 19 international firms involved in the program. Since being involved in AdvanceLaw, the firm has received client engagements from major U.S. companies such as eBay Inc, Google, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Lorillard, McDonald's, MasterCard, Oracle and Progressive.

Business Development. In terms of business development from a marketing standpoint, Adams and Reese business development managers, four of whom are located in four of the regional offices, meet with the firm's top practice teams at least once a month to discuss potential clients and areas of growth within the practices. Prior to these meetings, and any time attorneys need information on potential clients for proposals, the team prepares customized corporate profiles with recent news, immediate and latest client needs, financials, 10Ks, billing information, historical relationships and other pertinent information, as well as legal work conducted for the companies by other firms. Over the last year, the marketing team has prepared approximately 144 research packets and litigant profiles in preparation for client calls and meetings, potential client meetings, events and the Advance Law initiative, among others, in order to support firm, team and individual attorney marketing strategies. This is helpful to prepare for meetings, the creation of firm profiles, responding to RFPs, leverage current client relationships, help build new ones and keep abreast of news, legal developments and trends.

Team Handbook. In addition, the marketing department has created a 'living team handbook' as a reference tool. It provides information such as corporate profiles, financials, key executives, strategy, facilities, locations and types of business facilities, news, in-house counsel, litigant profiles, annual reports and presentations, firm billings and opportunities for the future, the relationship history with the firm, and much more. Business development managers monitor news, suits and developments for each team, and forward to the attorneys via e-mail as appropriate to keep the materials updated.

Proactive Research. The marketing department offers proactive research to notify the firm's attorneys if their clients are being sued, to identify potential cross-selling opportunities and to anounce market trends in general. Courthouse News Service (CNS) reports are the result of checking hundreds of companies weekly. 'Not only does this afford us an opportunity to assist with gaining a new client,' says Wallace, 'but it also may give attorneys a valuable reason to call a prospect or client. The alerts have been a value-added service for clients, and have also resulted in new file openings. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.' In addition to CNS, her department utilizes Lexis Alerts to proactively monitor new suits for teams, top clients, and other important prospective clients. BDMs forward this information to the appropriate attorney or team as appropriate.

There is so much more to say about the drive and commitment of this marketing and business development structure, but suffice to say that Adams and Reese has a winning team!

McGuireWoods

This spectacular firm is no stranger to the MLF 50. Its marketing department is unfailingly innovative, and this year was no exception. McGuireWoods LLP has more than 900 lawyers in 19 offices around the world, including the UK and Belgium, collaborating with colleagues and managing resources in the Nordic countries, Russia and Eurasia, Eastern Europe, China, Africa, the Middle East, India, Spain, Portugal and South America. It has cooperative arrangements with Paris law firm KGA, and in Israel with Shenhav Konforti Shavit & Co (SKS). Its international practice is further enhanced by its participation in the global legal networks, Lex Mundi and LNI Oasis. So how does one marketing department do its job in such a diverse setting?

The firm is currently in the final year of a three-year strategic plan, and many of its goals rely heavily on the marketing department. Under the able leadership of Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer Jim Durham, the marketing department has a philosophy: 'For every goal there will be a resource, and for every resource, there will be a goal.' The following are only a few examples of the department's 'resource/goal' strategy.

Dedicated Industry Team BD Managers. 'To ensure that we feature our strong industry knowledge, the firm has nearly doubled its number of industry teams,' explains Durham. 'We support these interdisciplinary industry teams with a spectrum of services that range from in-depth research and critical market data to internal metrics and business planning. We have appointed industry team managers to lead this effort and help support our attorneys' efforts to better serve our clients across the firms' disciplines. Our managers prepare monthly success reports, help prepare industry team meeting agendas, work with finance to track revenues and help the teams prepare when they are scheduled to present at one of the monthly partner information meetings.' Active participation by partners and associates on industry teams is a factor in the lawyer's evaluation.

BD Manager of Events. The firm has dedicated a full-time business development manager to work with the events team to assess, track and monitor return on investment for firm-hosted events. 'We start with an analysis of the proposed event goals and whether they are achievable. Can we provide value to the attendees? Will it enhance our brand or market positions? When we proceed with an event, our lawyers walk in armed with market research on participants' backgrounds, current business challenges and potential legal needs,' says Durham. 'We follow events with a debriefing, during which the lawyers share what they learned about clients and prospects at the event, identify points of follow-up, and work with the marketing team to assess all aspects of the event and seek feedback from attendees.'

Online Marketing Initiatives. One of the broadest initiatives undertaken by the marketing department this year was a complete redesign of the firm's website, mcguirewoods.com. Guided by analytics indicating that more than 50% of Web traffic is driven to professional resumes, the firm undertook an aggressive overhaul of more than 1,000 online biographies. The project also involved a restructuring of all content to ensure busy users are presented with concise descriptions of relevant experience, service areas and firm background. The visual strategy for the new website was guided by three objectives: to make the site more client-focused; to increase interactivity, thereby encouraging visitors to explore longer; and to reveal something about McGuireWoods' culture ' its personality and its values.

Key features of the new website include: 1) a brighter, more contemporary color palette; 2) more intuitive navigation; 3) new search-engine-optimized content; and 4) interactive features such as a homepage carousel, experience map and video.
The firm has also expanded its presence on Twitter, with more than 700 followers, and has increased the number of firm-sponsored blogs to seven. In just the first six months of this year, the firm's blogs have had more than 48,478 page views. 'In addition to helping establish ourselves as thought leaders, our blog posts have led to client work,' says Durham. 'We continually look for ways to expand our blog ' and social media presence ' where appropriate and there is a market.'

Advertising and Visual Communications. Because video is much more readily available on the Internet and mobile devices, the firm has made a significant investment in video production. 'We produce our own videos in-house (thus reducing costs) that highlight practice groups, new hires, firm initiatives and firm-sponsored events. These videos have been sent to clients and posted to the firm's YouTube channel, on our internal network and on our external website,' says a team spokesman. 'Rather than showing a static picture of our attorneys, the viewer is able to see them, hear them and get to know them in a meaningful way. We are excited about our efforts in this arena and look to expand in 2013,' says Durham.

All of the above has not even scratched the surface in describing how much this able marketing department contributes to the firm. We congratulate them on another year of excellence!

NUMBER FOUR: BENESCH

Under the leadership of CMO Jeanne Hammerstrom, the Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP marketing team has made an outstanding effort in meetings its clients' needs and promoting the firm. One only has to look at the firm's Shale Initiative to understand why this team is a winner.

Shale Initiative. Benesch has two of its offices in Ohio, which is, with neighboring states, currently in the midst of a shale drilling boom due to what is known as 'Utica Shale.' There are business opportunities to support this industry, including complex legal, business and regulatory issues. 'As Benesch realized the economic potential of the shale oil boom, we developed a strategic plan to capitalize on it,' explains a marketing department spokesperson.

'Building on the strength of the firm's Energy Group, we formed a cross-functional team of corporate, public and private finance, transportation and logistics, regulatory, environmental, real estate, public law and construction attorneys. At the same time, we engaged a business consulting firm to test the opportunity to see if it was worth allocating time and firm resources, and to build the strongest business case going forward. The consulting firm delivered a report from which we built our strategy and business plan.

'Once we determined there was a business case,' continues the spokesperson, 'Benesch tapped the expertise of a market intelligence agency to manage the flood of information about the industry. Our intent was to use the information to cultivate stronger end-client relationships. Using keywords, the agency filters news about the industry and provides briefings in a private newsroom from which we send updates and industry reports to our clients and contacts.'

The marketing department also created a twitter handle (@ohioshaleupdate) to tweet daily updates about shale, and is in the process of creating a blog (www.ohioshaleupdate.com) to host an ongoing discussion about the latest news. 'Clients are thrilled with the timeliness of Benesch's information as well as the firm's ability to customize the news they need,' says the department.

To raise its public profile, Benesch hired a PR firm specializing in the shale industry to assist in showcasing Benesch as a thought leader via speaking opportunities, sponsorships, studies and published pieces. For example, Benesch and the PR firm are currently conducting a survey of national transportation associations to determine how to uncover how the shale boom is affecting the transportation/logistics industry. Using the results, the Shale Team will publish a report to be shared with the association's membership, as well as with Benesch clients/prospects in the industry.

With information consistently flowing from the firm's consultants and various news sources, the Marketing Team needed to create a means for sharing information. So it created an internal site by which all parties and the firm participants have access. This alleviated the flood of e-mails and averted redundancies, thereby making the operation more cost-effective. The marketing department uses the site to post all activities the firm is engaged in such as sponsorships, events, presentations, industry reports and competitor activities and events. Internally, they track opportunities, pipelines and ROI.

Expanded Role for CMO. In another unique move, Benesch created a collaboration between Recruiting and Marketing. Chief Marketing Officer Jeanne Hammerstrom thus became Chief Marketing and Recruiting Officer (CMRO). In this capacity, she is at the center of the firm's growth and expansion strategy by working with the Managing Partner and Executive Committee on lateral acquisitions of individuals, small practice and industry groups, and law firm mergers. Earlier this year, she spoke about her role at the National Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) Conference, where she addressed the need for collaboration between marketing, recruiting and professional development.

Firm Playbook. Hammerstrom collaborated with firm leaders on the creation of the Benesch Playbook for potential combination partners and select high-level lateral recruits. The Playbook lets merger and lateral candidates know exactly who Benesch is by including information on the firm's practice group overview, financials, client service, culture, professional development, marketing/bd strategy, IT services, recruiting strategy, etc. This information gives the candidate a strong sense of the firm's culture, strength and growth plans.

There is so much more to say about this superb marketing department, including the Benesch Business Development Institute; sales training; individual development plans; a dedicated coaching program; and more. The marketing department has much to be proud of.

NUMBER FIVE: GOODWIN PROCTER

CMO Anne Malloy Tucker focused her entry this year on Goodwin Procter LLP's all-important Marketing/Business Development Strategy.

'Goodwin's current strategic approach is similar to its historic one: 1) Focus on a smaller group of practices and industry groups in order to demonstrate most persuasively the value add according to the desired attributes e.g., 'you can't be all things to all people'; 2) Leverage the strength of those practices throughout the firm by encouraging and supporting cross-selling, integration and emerging practices; and 3) Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate!' she says.

Each year, the firm undertakes a business planning process with the goals of strengthening, expanding and institutionalizing relationships with the firm's key clients. As part of this effort, the process includes a business development focus on making the plans more succinct and actionable within and across practice areas.
'The core of this approach to strategic business planning,' says Tucker, 'are the beliefs that our greatest opportunities can be found within our existing client base and that new business opportunities can be better leveraged by tapping into the firm's vast network of resources and contacts.'

Examples of this type of approach this year included a joint effort by the Technology Companies practice and the Securities Litigation & White Collar Defense group on a series of in-house presentations to the firm's tech clients on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; a public company initiative involving multiple practices (Capital Markets, Technology Companies, Life Sciences, Labor & Employment, Tax and ERISA), which focused on building relationships in a more systemic fashion with the firm's clients post-IPO; and an institutional client focus, which involved the integration of business law and litigation teams around key clients of the firm. The latter also involved a series of client feedback and relationship-building visits by the chairman of the firm.

A very successful cross-collaborative effort also occurred this year between the Technology Companies and the Intellectual Property Transactions & Strategies practices. As part of their business plan, they had identified the mobile, gaming, digital and social media and e-commerce industries as significant growth opportunities.

'Guerrilla' Tradeshow Marketing. 'SXSW Interactive has become the primary tradeshow conference for entrepreneurs, strategic partners and investors in these areas,' says Malloy. 'With a focused, but guerrilla, marketing effort around the event, we established over 90 qualified contacts with prospective clients and strengthened our relationships with existing clients. With a full array of pre- and post-event activities in key cities where we have offices; co-sponsorships; and use of social media, we were able to convert leads into business. However, connecting clients to each other and serving as the conduit to successful introductions will in many ways pay even more rewards in the longer term.'

Online Marketing Initiatives. Over the past year, Goodwin has taken numerous steps to leverage available technology to integrate video, blogs and social networking programs in support of key strategic business development initiatives. These include: 1) Video. 'We have created a program to use video interviews with recognized leaders in the field of startups to complement and extend engagement with the entrepreneurial community that provides a key seedbed for Goodwin's Technology Companies practice, which is now one of the largest technology practices in the United States,' says Malloy. 'By incorporating video content into Goodwin's award-winning Founder's Workbench site and related Founder's ToolBox blog, recognized in last year's MLF 50, we have increased traffic, boosted SEO and generated increased interaction with our target audiences and social media awareness for the site.' 2) Blogs. Goodwin has consistently taken a targeted, strategic approach to the use of blogs to gain visibility and awareness in emerging practice areas, such as early-stage startups and sustainable development. 'Utilizing new blogging tools and platforms, such as Compendium, that provide enhanced SEO capabilities, we have developed and will shortly launch MuniBK, a new blog focused on the emerging, high-profile area of municipal bankruptcy,' says Malloy. 'The MuniBK Blog provides content, analysis and commentary on the intersecting issues of public finance, restructurings and Chapter 9 ' aggregating information and developments from around the country, and sharing Goodwin's analysis of legal and business developments as they occur. As the media devotes increasing attention to covering the growing volume of municipal defaults, we expect the blog will generate significant coverage for key Goodwin partners driving business development efforts in this sector.'

Social Media/Networking. As each of the initiatives outlined above is rolled out, the marketing department raises visibility and support for these business development efforts with an integrated social media framework of related activities. Components include: 1) Ongoing related postings on key firm websites to drive traffic; 2) Establishment of related, branded Twitter handles and feeds of ongoing related tweets incorporating key hashtags; 3) Related tweeting by key partners on their personal accounts; 4) Use of firm and partner LinkedIn updates and LinkedIn group member activities; 5) Support through Goodwin's Facebook postings and updates, where relevant; and 6) Future YouTube posting of selected video content.

That is just the tip of the iceberg for this tech-savvy marketing department. With a keen eye on every aspect of the firm's practice areas, the marketing department is a key link in the firm's ongoing success.

Conclusion

Congratulations to all our Top Five winners this year, and kudos to every single firm on the Top 50. Once again, they have shown that marketing and business development are key to their success in these very tough times.

Get the MLF 50 list in PDF format here.

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 LJN's editors, who do not receive any compensation from the firms mentioned.

Kimberly Alford Rice, Editor-in-Chief of this newsletter, is the principal of KLA Marketing Associates,Cherry Hill, NJ. She can be reached at [email protected]. Wendy Stavinoha and Steven Salkin, Esq., are the Editorial Director and Web Editor, respectively, of Law Journal Newsletters, a division of ALM that publishes this newsletter. Website: http://www.ljnonline.com/.