Are law firm marketing executives missing the mark in how they engage with in-house counsel about their firms? That’s one potential takeaway from a new survey released Thursday by public relations firm Greentarget and co-sponsored by legal consulting firm Zeughauser Group. The report highlights the ways in-house counsel can diverge from their companies’ C-suites when it comes to how they consume and value marketing. But for law firms, the bigger lesson may be how their own CMOs could be targeting clients more effectively. Peter Zeughauser suggests that an apparent mismatch in how clients and CMOs view social media may have more to do with marketers’ media savvy than with a fundamental difference in how executives consume information

Results of our survey conducted in partnership with Greentarget that focuses on the information consumption attitudes, behaviors and tendencies of in-house counsel. The report includes practical guidance to help law firms compete for greater share of voice among corporate legal departments.

Three old-line Texas corporate law firms – Gardere, Andrews Kurth, and Strasburger & Price - each merged with a larger national law firm in April 2018. Fifteen months later, leaders at all three say their marriages have gone better than they expected.

Marketing can and should be a critical partner in the strategic planning process from inception to implementation. The goal of every law firm should be leadership status in the markets in which it has chosen to compete. Most law firms recognize that they need strategic plans to help them achieve their leadership aspirations. Mary K Young discusses strategic planning as a process through which the firm identifies its most important markets, agrees to a vision for achieving leadership in those markets, and develops and implements a plan for achieving the vision. i.e. how a firm decides where it wants to go and how it will get there.

It’s natural that law firms overhaul their image to win and keep clients. But experts say recruiting and retaining talent should be key considerations too.  Mary K Young points out the importance of defining the target audience when developing a branding approach and that other industries that rely heavily on talent have made more of an investment in crafting their image and brand around employees and hiring considerations.

Legal recruiters say there's still huge demand for blockchain expertise, as well as lawyers who understand data privacy. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are fast-growing specializations within the financial industry, and law firms are busily snatching up lawyers with expertise in the emerging fields.  Mary K Young notes that privacy law has also grown tremendously, and that most global and national firms have added significant capabilities in privacy and data security in the last five years.

Kent Zimmermann is one of the leading strategy advisors to law firms in the United States. Last year, he advised on each of the three largest law firm mergers to close worldwide. He is currently advising multiple firms on active merger discussions, and he is also advising three Am Law 25 firms on firmwide strategy.  Here Kent offers some perspective on legal trends and the challenges and changes facing law firm chairs and managing partners.

Mary K Young discusses the importance of strategic planning as a driver of success in any organization and how strategic plans enhance the success of the marketing and business development team, and outlines the planning process and marketing's role in that process.

Mary K Young offers some insights into how law firms could handle changes at the firm -  specifically, attorney departures - and how to communicate these changes internally as well as to firm clients, and how law firm culture can impact the hiring and recruitment process.

Many law firms are competing to attract and retain client relationships that are increasingly larger pieces of a shrinking overall pie of client spending on outside law firms. In addition, traditional client relationships face four growing competitive forces that are taking market share away from Am Law 200 law firms and creating impediments to transitioning client relationships.  Kent Zimmermann outlines five drivers of successful client succession planning based on best practices of high-performing firms to combat these concerns.