Several U.S. law firms have rebranded to abbreviated names this year, with Quarles & Brady becoming one of the latest to debut a shortened name and updated logo.  Mary K Young observes that the shift to shorter law firm names is far from new and has been happening for about three decades.  The shift towards shortening firm names probably started with the trend towards law firms getting bigger and following more traditional marketing principles.

Mary K Young writes about the process of law firm mergers, the growing urge for firms to combine, the sensitivity around post-merger firm names, and retaining brand equity.

Mary K Young, along with John Corey and Betsy Coag, will discuss a recent survey of consumption behaviors, attitudes, and preferences of in-house counsel and executive decision makers.  This research pairs client consumption behaviors with practical guidance for law firms and professional service providers on how to break through to these difficult-to-reach audiences.  The session will provide an opportunity to learn about the content formats, platforms, and channels that clients frequent and value most, to understand the top reasons content “misses” for clients, and to decode what clients are really looking for in terms of DEI-focused content.

12:00 p.m. CT,  November 15, 2022

For additional details and registration information, visit 2022 Survey

Mary K Young will moderate a discussion regarding law firm industry team alignment transformations.  The panel will consider the process of realigning practice groups to focus less on “services” and more on industries – including related marketing reorientation

The panel will explore:

• What drives the move to an industry alignment?
• Challenges to getting buy-in from senior partners and practice group leaders.
• Metrics for success. How do you judge that an industry focus is actually working?
• The industry marketing mindset and how it supercharges the concept of cross-marketing.
• Considerations for reorienting and redeveloping marketing materials and focus to speak to target industries.

The session, sponsored by the LMA Mid-Atlantic Region, will be held on Zoom on May 12, 2022, at 12:00 pm EDT.

For more information and to register, visit Industry Team Transformation Insights.

Law firm managing partners should take note: the Big Four are still a big threat. While the Big Four accounting firms seem perpetually mired in allegations of botched, biased or influenced audits, such accusations will do little to stop these firms from offering legal services and taking an increasingly larger slice of the pie from law firms. Law firm managing partners should take note. Mary K Young notes that because the Big Four and other accounting firms have strong, long-term relationships with many of the same clients that law firms are hoping to serve, the Big Four has opportunities to provide legal services simply by virtue of the fact they already have the relationships. She explains that law firms, in a bid to expand their service offerings, aim to deepen their relationships with the client by adding value. But the areas in which law firms are trying to add value often rub up against areas in which accounting and consulting firms excel.

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.

Marketing a law firm has been a challenging proposition during the pandemic, with offices closed and clients working in their homes. Some law firms have added entertaining relationship events to their marketing strategies, like wine tastings or book clubs over Zoom.  Arent Fox enlisted the help of two popular celebrities for interviews before a Zoom audience that included clients and potential clients.  Mary K Young observes that  many of these efforts were very successful. She notes that “if you’re going to do something that’s outside the practice of law, it’s best to totally focus on that and do it right, without trying to insert any legal substantive or marketing component.  Some people might object that it doesn’t have anything to do with the business of law, but that’s the point of events like this - law is a relationship business. These events bring people together.”

Digital client communications soared during the pandemic. Building on a recent survey by Greentarget, Right Hat and Zeughauser Group, moderators John Corey and Mary K Young will ask a panel of three former and current in-house leaders, including Zeughauser Group partner Alex Dimitrief, to discuss the pros and cons of different approaches. They will tell us what breaks through the clutter and what they ignore, what they look for in law firm content and how they prefer it to be presented.

June 8 at 11:00 AM Eastern time

Register for the panel discussion at LMA In-House Counsel Program