Cross-border Integration in the Wake of a Merger

Along with these expectations, the merged entity will likely go through organizational changes and integration issues. If the merger is significant, the scope of everything is tenfold. Typically, there is not much time for the marketing or business development professionals to get to know each other, so they have to work efficiently to achieve a defined set of goals. Communication and collaboration are essential ingredients. But how is that accomplished across geographic divides and considering deep cultural differences? How can the marketing team adapt to ensure that every member focuses on the mutual goal of facilitating new work?

This article addresses these questions in the context of the experiences and lessons learned from a recent combination between two large law firms.

Overview

On Jan. 1, 2013, our firm, K&L Gates, merged with Australian national law firm Middletons, adding four new offices, 300 lawyers and a fifth continent to its already extensive global platform. The formal combination followed a nearly year-long series of discussions between the two firms, and ultimately culminated with a firm that now encompasses more than 2,000 lawyers spread across four dozen offices worldwide, including the largest integrated presence in the Asia Pacific region of any U.S.-based law firm.

The marketing function for the two firms, led by the authors, was involved at an early point in the discussions to provide strategic direction on marketing communications activities and business development support. On Day One of the merger, the K&L Gates marketing department added 20 new members based in Australia, creating a combined team of approximately 90 professionals throughout the firm.

The Importance of Early Integration

The effective integration of marketing team members during the early days of a merger is critical. Marketers often serve as change agents, and in a merger, lawyers typically turn to the marketing department for guidance on shared clients, legal services previously provided to target companies, and any other business intelligence they might need to enhance their practice, thereby attracting more clients and more work. Marketers must be ready to provide the answers or, at the least, be able to steer the lawyers in the right direction.

For the combination between K&L Gates and Middletons, it was a requirement for the respective marketing departments to communicate for many months prior to the Jan. 1 effective date, largely to ensure that appropriate branding activities were fully in place for Day One of the merger.

These tasks included updating the website, producing countless branded materials, managing PR and media relations, and planning for a major advertising campaign in the Australian market, among myriad other key elements. Regular communication across marketing teams needed to occur in a rapid manner so that by the time of the merger, key marketing personnel in each firm had established solid working relationships.

Given the time-zone differences of more than 12 hours, calls between the two firms were scheduled early in the morning or late in the evening. In addition to weekly calls between the authors, there were numerous group calls for specific function areas within the marketing communications and business development areas. During the project calls, there was a high level of accountability on both sides, with team members knowing exactly who was responsible for which assigned tasks, and project updates were compiled into a weekly status report. Jeff Berardi also participated on a separate weekly call with other Chief Officers from both firms, to ensure that marketing department plans were well aligned across broader administrative areas.

Day One Deliverables

The K&L Gates/Middletons merger had some unique logistical challenges, as although the two firms had been in merger discussions for most of 2012, there were just three short weeks from the formal partner vote in early December to the effective date on Jan. 1. Because of the lead time required for many brand activities, Day One deliverables were therefore prioritized to those external activities that would most directly affect clients. These included preparing and distributing effective communications to clients to inform them about the upcoming merger, updating website content with the addition of the Australian offices, recreating 300+ lawyer bios into a new format and uploading those to the website, and updating signage and stationery in time for Day One, among many other tasks.

Because there was such a high level of interaction between the two marketing departments prior to the merger, team members generally felt much more comfortable with each other upon joining the combined firm than if they hadn't worked together so closely over the previous months. It helped that marketing personnel across both firms had a shared goal that they worked together to achieve ' this felt like a true team accomplishment and substantially hastened the integration process.

Brand-Building in a New Market

Positive outcomes to brand-building efforts in Australia were observed in the lead-up to the merger, and are ongoing. The media coverage that the firms received as a result of three separate media releases sent out around the merger was unprecedented for both firms, with more than 200 distinct articles regarding the combination, an overwhelming number of them positive.

The firm also embarked on an advertising campaign in the most widely read business newspaper down under ' The Australian Financial Review ' for a period of five months and early reactions to the campaign suggest that it has been beneficial in telling the market'about the new firm's arrival. Cross-selling efforts continue, and new relationships among partners and clients are formed daily.

Strategies for Enhancing Communication

Post-merger, the task of integrating all marketing members must stay front and center. In the K&L Gates/Middletons combination, a marketing team video conference took place in mid-January, just two weeks after the effective date. This allowed members to see each other across time zones, and put names to faces following the distribution of a printed marketing team contact sheet earlier in the year. Frequent communications to team members by the authors were imperative, and replacing words such as “local,” “national,” and “regional” with “global” to describe the team was just one example of how two marketing teams were unified quickly.

Times of marketing and business development team calls were changed to accommodate the Australian team members. There is no perfect time to talk for teams working across Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe, so a rotating schedule was introduced. Meeting minutes are documented and, in some case, the entire meeting is recorded so those who are unable to make the call can listen to the recording and view any slides following the call.

Another area of integration and communication was related to firm-wide practice group support. Within the K&L Gates marketing structure, there are often multiple managers and others who are responsible for supporting firm-wide practice groups in their business development activities. As a result, team members needed to work together to ensure that there wasn't duplication of work or initiatives being conducted in silos, exchanging relevant marketing collateral and best practices with each other prior to the combination. This collaboration continued well after the firms formally combined, and remains ongoing to this day.

Business Process Integration

A significant element of the integration process is the systematic review of legacy firm business procedures, and we spent many hours discussing the differences and similarities between the operational processes of the two firms, conversations that took place far in advance of the combination. The net result was a clear understanding of which procedures needed to change for legacy Middletons lawyers and marketing staff, and which could remain in place ' either on a temporary or permanent basis.

In certain situations, we developed hybrid systems that combined elements of both perspectives, in consultation with members of the marketing team or other administrative departments. By taking a strategic approach to discussing these issues, the two firms minimized the impact of making widespread and possibly unnecessary changes to the firm's operations, and were able to do so in an integrated and collaborative way.

Effectively Managing Expectations

It's a tall order for a marketer to manage the expectations that partners have of the cross-selling efforts resulting from the merger. Some partners may expect that work will flow immediately following a merger, even though in reality it can take months and even years to strengthen and expand relationships with current clients to new markets or practice areas.

That said, the marketing team should identify and prioritize a certain number of clients or contacts that should be considered key opportunities for growth. At K&L Gates, directors of business development worked together with the CMO and members of the Management Committee to analyze mutual clients and determine which companies could most benefit from the expanded capabilities presented by the merger.

Branding is usually a hot-button item, especially for firms that had a well-known brand in the marketplace prior to the merger. In those cases, it is important to describe the plan for building the brand, and demonstrate results of the strategy as the weeks and months unfold. Setting reasonable expectations about how quickly an unknown brand will take root in a new market is an essential part of the process.

Conclusion

Integration of the marketing team following a significant law firm merger is an ongoing process. There are a plethora of challenges and issues that inevitably arise following a combination, and having the right structures in place to overcome these issues is paramount.

Leaders of combined firms must step up their communication to team members to provide appropriate solutions to problems and to ensure team members can express concerns in a productive manner. This could be no more than scheduling an extra weekly meeting to talk about processes and frustrations, but it is important to make sure that the gathering does not simply become a venting session. Leaders must keep discussions focused on solutions or new approaches, serving as sounding boards for any concerns that individual team members may have throughout the integration process.

It's not an easy task to create the most productive structure in teams to enhance communication but it can be done. The effort takes time and patience, but since legal marketers often serve as change agents within the organization, we shouldn't forget the power we have to drive positive evolution in our firms.

Jeff Berardi is Chief Marketing Officer and Debra Woodman is Director of Business Development for the Asia Pacific region of K&L Gates. Jeff can be reached at [email protected]'and Debra can be reached at [email protected].

”

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When law firms merge, marketing department members are often faced with an enormous task list for the months leading up to and beyond the combination. High expectations from incoming lawyers on the level and type of services that will be provided by the firm's marketing function can further compound demands placed upon legal marketers. If a brand is relatively unknown in the new market, for example, plans must be developed and implemented in order to ensure a clear brand-building strategy, and results are generally expected quickly.

Defining the Challenge

Introductions to clients are a natural outcome of a merger, and cross-selling efforts should commence in the weeks following, if not before. Marketing team members from different firms are required to work together as a team in a collaborative and productive manner, in some cases with vast time-zone and cultural differences. And, in a perfect world, new work for all lawyers should start flying in the door a few weeks post-merger.

Along with these expectations, the merged entity will likely go through organizational changes and integration issues. If the merger is significant, the scope of everything is tenfold. Typically, there is not much time for the marketing or business development professionals to get to know each other, so they have to work efficiently to achieve a defined set of goals. Communication and collaboration are essential ingredients. But how is that accomplished across geographic divides and considering deep cultural differences? How can the marketing team adapt to ensure that every member focuses on the mutual goal of facilitating new work?

This article addresses these questions in the context of the experiences and lessons learned from a recent combination between two large law firms.

Overview

On Jan. 1, 2013, our firm, K&L Gates, merged with Australian national law firm Middletons, adding four new offices, 300 lawyers and a fifth continent to its already extensive global platform. The formal combination followed a nearly year-long series of discussions between the two firms, and ultimately culminated with a firm that now encompasses more than 2,000 lawyers spread across four dozen offices worldwide, including the largest integrated presence in the Asia Pacific region of any U.S.-based law firm.

The marketing function for the two firms, led by the authors, was involved at an early point in the discussions to provide strategic direction on marketing communications activities and business development support. On Day One of the merger, the K&L Gates marketing department added 20 new members based in Australia, creating a combined team of approximately 90 professionals throughout the firm.

The Importance of Early Integration

The effective integration of marketing team members during the early days of a merger is critical. Marketers often serve as change agents, and in a merger, lawyers typically turn to the marketing department for guidance on shared clients, legal services previously provided to target companies, and any other business intelligence they might need to enhance their practice, thereby attracting more clients and more work. Marketers must be ready to provide the answers or, at the least, be able to steer the lawyers in the right direction.

For the combination between K&L Gates and Middletons, it was a requirement for the respective marketing departments to communicate for many months prior to the Jan. 1 effective date, largely to ensure that appropriate branding activities were fully in place for Day One of the merger.

These tasks included updating the website, producing countless branded materials, managing PR and media relations, and planning for a major advertising campaign in the Australian market, among myriad other key elements. Regular communication across marketing teams needed to occur in a rapid manner so that by the time of the merger, key marketing personnel in each firm had established solid working relationships.

Given the time-zone differences of more than 12 hours, calls between the two firms were scheduled early in the morning or late in the evening. In addition to weekly calls between the authors, there were numerous group calls for specific function areas within the marketing communications and business development areas. During the project calls, there was a high level of accountability on both sides, with team members knowing exactly who was responsible for which assigned tasks, and project updates were compiled into a weekly status report. Jeff Berardi also participated on a separate weekly call with other Chief Officers from both firms, to ensure that marketing department plans were well aligned across broader administrative areas.

Day One Deliverables

The K&L Gates/Middletons merger had some unique logistical challenges, as although the two firms had been in merger discussions for most of 2012, there were just three short weeks from the formal partner vote in early December to the effective date on Jan. 1. Because of the lead time required for many brand activities, Day One deliverables were therefore prioritized to those external activities that would most directly affect clients. These included preparing and distributing effective communications to clients to inform them about the upcoming merger, updating website content with the addition of the Australian offices, recreating 300+ lawyer bios into a new format and uploading those to the website, and updating signage and stationery in time for Day One, among many other tasks.

Because there was such a high level of interaction between the two marketing departments prior to the merger, team members generally felt much more comfortable with each other upon joining the combined firm than if they hadn't worked together so closely over the previous months. It helped that marketing personnel across both firms had a shared goal that they worked together to achieve ' this felt like a true team accomplishment and substantially hastened the integration process.

Brand-Building in a New Market

Positive outcomes to brand-building efforts in Australia were observed in the lead-up to the merger, and are ongoing. The media coverage that the firms received as a result of three separate media releases sent out around the merger was unprecedented for both firms, with more than 200 distinct articles regarding the combination, an overwhelming number of them positive.

The firm also embarked on an advertising campaign in the most widely read business newspaper down under ' The Australian Financial Review ' for a period of five months and early reactions to the campaign suggest that it has been beneficial in telling the market'about the new firm's arrival. Cross-selling efforts continue, and new relationships among partners and clients are formed daily.

Strategies for Enhancing Communication

Post-merger, the task of integrating all marketing members must stay front and center. In the K&L Gates/Middletons combination, a marketing team video conference took place in mid-January, just two weeks after the effective date. This allowed members to see each other across time zones, and put names to faces following the distribution of a printed marketing team contact sheet earlier in the year. Frequent communications to team members by the authors were imperative, and replacing words such as “local,” “national,” and “regional” with “global” to describe the team was just one example of how two marketing teams were unified quickly.

Times of marketing and business development team calls were changed to accommodate the Australian team members. There is no perfect time to talk for teams working across Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe, so a rotating schedule was introduced. Meeting minutes are documented and, in some case, the entire meeting is recorded so those who are unable to make the call can listen to the recording and view any slides following the call.

Another area of integration and communication was related to firm-wide practice group support. Within the K&L Gates marketing structure, there are often multiple managers and others who are responsible for supporting firm-wide practice groups in their business development activities. As a result, team members needed to work together to ensure that there wasn't duplication of work or initiatives being conducted in silos, exchanging relevant marketing collateral and best practices with each other prior to the combination. This collaboration continued well after the firms formally combined, and remains ongoing to this day.

Business Process Integration

A significant element of the integration process is the systematic review of legacy firm business procedures, and we spent many hours discussing the differences and similarities between the operational processes of the two firms, conversations that took place far in advance of the combination. The net result was a clear understanding of which procedures needed to change for legacy Middletons lawyers and marketing staff, and which could remain in place ' either on a temporary or permanent basis.

In certain situations, we developed hybrid systems that combined elements of both perspectives, in consultation with members of the marketing team or other administrative departments. By taking a strategic approach to discussing these issues, the two firms minimized the impact of making widespread and possibly unnecessary changes to the firm's operations, and were able to do so in an integrated and collaborative way.

Effectively Managing Expectations

It's a tall order for a marketer to manage the expectations that partners have of the cross-selling efforts resulting from the merger. Some partners may expect that work will flow immediately following a merger, even though in reality it can take months and even years to strengthen and expand relationships with current clients to new markets or practice areas.

That said, the marketing team should identify and prioritize a certain number of clients or contacts that should be considered key opportunities for growth. At K&L Gates, directors of business development worked together with the CMO and members of the Management Committee to analyze mutual clients and determine which companies could most benefit from the expanded capabilities presented by the merger.

Branding is usually a hot-button item, especially for firms that had a well-known brand in the marketplace prior to the merger. In those cases, it is important to describe the plan for building the brand, and demonstrate results of the strategy as the weeks and months unfold. Setting reasonable expectations about how quickly an unknown brand will take root in a new market is an essential part of the process.

Conclusion

Integration of the marketing team following a significant law firm merger is an ongoing process. There are a plethora of challenges and issues that inevitably arise following a combination, and having the right structures in place to overcome these issues is paramount.

Leaders of combined firms must step up their communication to team members to provide appropriate solutions to problems and to ensure team members can express concerns in a productive manner. This could be no more than scheduling an extra weekly meeting to talk about processes and frustrations, but it is important to make sure that the gathering does not simply become a venting session. Leaders must keep discussions focused on solutions or new approaches, serving as sounding boards for any concerns that individual team members may have throughout the integration process.

It's not an easy task to create the most productive structure in teams to enhance communication but it can be done. The effort takes time and patience, but since legal marketers often serve as change agents within the organization, we shouldn't forget the power we have to drive positive evolution in our firms.

Jeff Berardi is Chief Marketing Officer and Debra Woodman is Director of Business Development for the Asia Pacific region of K&L Gates. Jeff can be reached at [email protected]'and Debra can be reached at [email protected].

”