Zeughauser Group's 2021 Pocket Guide to the American Lawyer Rankings of the Am Law 200 by Profits Per Equity Partner and by Value Per Lawyer; The A-List; The Global 100; The Global 200; The China 50; The Asia 50; and The Corporate Scorecard.

If you would like a hard copy of the 2021 ZGuide, please send an email to zgadmin@consultzg.com with "2021 ZGuide Request" in the subject line and provide your mailing address.

After the once-in-a-century inflection point of a global pandemic, the legal industry – and all of corporate America – faces another major transition as COVID-19 fades and the “new normal” sets in.  With offices reopening across the country, what lessons will the legal industry retain from the pandemic and what trends from the last 15 months will remain? Just as significantly, what will be the lasting legacy of a national racial reckoning that largely coincided with the worst global health crisis in generations?

These questions were the focus of a distinguished panel of current and former general counsel held on June 8, 2021. The remote gathering was moderated by John Corey, president & founding partner of Greentarget, and Mary K. Young.  And Alex Dimitrief participated as one of the panelists.  This article highlights some of the conversation.

There are a lot of ways for attorneys to reach prospective and current clients, and the pandemic has only increased the importance of an all-hands-on-deck approach, as lawyers try to replace the face-to-face interactions that used to occur at lunches, networking events and conferences. A new survey of general counsel, conducted jointly by strategic communications firm Greentarget, legal consulting firm Zeughauser Group and B2B branding agency Right Hat LLC suggests that when the messaging is relevant, timely, novel and useful, a simple phone call will do the trick.  While law firms have gotten creative in their outreach and content production, the simplicity of a personal, relevant message goes a long way.  Norm Rubenstein observes that the fundamentals of marketing and business development have not changed. It really comes down to whether your content and service delivery are aligned with what the client wants. 

As clients look to drive down pricing, exert influence over team composition and evaluate potential new legal counsel, law firms have to ask themselves if the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to many RFPs. The reality is that RFPs are now a constant presence in the marketing and business development process. But just because something is prevalent doesn’t mean it’s always in the best interests of the firm.

Mary K. Young notes that the prevalence of RFPs in recent years has increased, and not always with good effect. Department resources are finite. Firms should be very selective even if they are not using marketing resources. Knowing which RFPs are worth engaging on and which ones should be met with a hard pass isn’t always easy. 

And while RFPs are a necessary evil for law firms, Kent Zimmerman notes that many firms also have room for improvement to set priorities on which ones they invest the firm’s resources in answering based on which are more likely to lead to work that uses the firm for its strengths and commands its rate.