Corporate clients increasingly are demanding diverse attorney teams and legal advice on their own diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts. Mary K. Young observes that chief marketers are increasingly tasked with ensuring companies get a diverse team of attorneys, that their diverse lawyers are being promoted in the media and retained in-house, that law firms’ internal DE&I efforts are being promoted to attract new clients, and that companies are getting the proper legal advice surrounding their own DE&I efforts.

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.

Greentarget and Zeughauser Group’s latest State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey — our first in three years — revealed that clients of professional services firms see diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as a key business priority.

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.

In a Q&A session, Kent Zimmermann discusses

• how different models of law firm partner compensation work and how each affects an attorney's approach to business development;
• potential issues or concerns with firms trending toward incentivizing business development via partner compensation; and
• how law firm marketing teams can leverage their knowledge about partner compensation models to help drive BD efforts.

With clear priorities for the firm, which lead to clear priorities for marketing and BD, it’s possible to build a high-performing team that knows what is expected and knows how to prioritize their time and money.