LMA Strategies - March/April 2013 - (Page 2)
Strategies
The Journal of Legal Marketing
President’s Podium
A New Frontier
Editorial Board
By Aleisha Gravit, LMA President
Co-Executive Editors
Dave Poston
Poston Communications
Joe Calve
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Editorial Board Members
Amy Adams
Seth Apple
Paul Bonner
Elyse Desmarais
Marguerite G. Downey
Cristina Emerson
Brian Hickey
Dr. Silvia Hodges
James Jarrell
Stefanie Marrone
Julie P. Meyers
Mary Beth Monzingo
Valerie Nelan
Robyn Radomski
Dorothy Rausa
Sarah Reeves
Marcy Whited Salo
Clara Schwabe
Stacy Smith
Kevin Sullivan
Editorial Manager
Theresa Wojtalewicz
Managing Editor
I
n February, LMA launched the new Client Value shared interest group (SIG),
which is focused on pricing, project management and process improvement.
The group is led by Toby Brown, director of pricing and strategic analytics at
Akin Gump. One of the primary benefits of this new SIG is the ability to bring
all constituents into the same conversation — including business development and
marketing professionals, those in corporate law departments, corporate procurement
professionals, law firm pricing experts and vendors who are building tools to help
firms more accurately analyze and track their data. Here, I spoke with Brown about
the new SIG and related industry trends.
AG: The legal marketing and business development profession is evolving rapidly.
This evolution is driven primarily by the client demands being put on law firms
around efficiency and the need to rethink how we deliver services and add value.
Can you talk a little about the intersection of legal marketing and pricing, project
management and process improvement?
TB: I believe the market is turning a corner. Pricing for many firms has been a
defensive action. It is quickly becoming an offensive tool — a differentiator for
firms. This means firms are taking the game to clients more often, making pricing
a tool to better align service strategies with client goals. This is also bringing project
management and process improvement into the picture. These two efforts will be
the manifestation of the new alignment created via pricing options. And all of these
efforts are becoming focused on building the business, which is front and center for
marketing.
AG: For those who have not been part of these conversations, how can legal marketers best prepare themselves to participate and add value?
TB: Marketers already appreciate the need to understand client motivations. Adding
clients’ fee motivations to the puzzle is the next step. But marketers will first need
to understand their firms’ fee and pricing motivations. All revenue is no longer
good. Marketers will need to develop deeper financial skills that will allow them to
know how a given pricing deal will impact the firm before it is pitched to a client.
Marketers would do well to take an active role in moving their firms toward new
profitability approaches.
AG: Our Client Value SIG comprises several new members who hold positions
outside of marketing and business development. What is the general makeup of the
SIG membership, and what are some of your immediate plans?
Continued on page 10
Art Director
Bill Wargo
Graphic Designers
Steve Biernacki and Patrick Williams
advertiser index
Frances Moffett
Gittings www.gittings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Greenfield Belser www.greenfieldbelser.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Hellerman Baretz www.hellermanbaretz.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
LMA Conference www.LMAconference.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC
Thomson Reuters www.thomsonreuters.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC
Find out how your company can benefit from advertising in Strategies.
Contact Stewart Lawry at 312/673-5440.
2 | Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, March/April 2013, V15.N02
http://www.gittings.com
http://www.greenfieldbelser.com
http://www.hellermanbaretz.com
http://www.LMAconference.com
http://www.thomsonreuters.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LMA Strategies - March/April 2013
LMA Strategies - March/April 2013
Contents
President’s Podium
About This Issue
Competing on Intelligence
Online Competition Is Brutal: Enhance Your Results with SEO
The War for Lateral Attorney Talent Within Law Firms
First-place Media Pitching
Starting on a Shoestring: How to Build a Robust Social Media Program
Law Firm Websites for the iPad Generation
Friendly Competition Sets One AmLaw200 Firm Apart
Movies, Marketing and Professional Development
Ask the Authorities
Dicta: Marketers on the Move
From the Desk of the Executive Director
LMA Strategies - March/April 2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/lma/strategies_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/smithbucklin/lma_strategies_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/smithbucklin/lma_strategies_20130506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/smithbucklin/lma_strategies_20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/smithbucklin/lma_strategies_20110506
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com