Practice Management

Eight Ways Staff Can Participate in Business Development

Posted on November 12, 2009
While the burden of business development falls primarily on attorneys, staff members such as secretaries, administrative assistants, paralegals, technologists, librarians and directors can and should make significant contributions to the firm?s business development efforts...

Visioncasting in Turbulent Times

Posted on November 01, 2009
These are tough times for law firm leaders. Many firms have had one or more rounds of layoffs. Attorneys are pressured to bill more hours and bring in more work. Staff are being asked to do more work with fewer...

Legal Marketing Conference Announces Speakers for Denver 2010

Posted on November 01, 2009
I am pleased that the 2010 Legal Marketing Conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from March 10-12, 2010. This year the program will be a bit different from previous conferences. American Conference Institute (ACI) has been hired to develop...

What's in the Marketing Budget for 2010?

Posted on November 01, 2009
Greenfield Belser asked CMOs at Amlaw 200 firms what they are planning for next year. Here's a summary. Read the full article here. The top two marketing/business development projects are investing in social media (92%) and investing in client loyalty...

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The Integration Imperative

Posted on November 01, 2009
Suzanne Lowe has recently published her new book, The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos - Once and For All - in Professional Service Firms. In it, she featured a dozen case studies of how law firms, accounting...

Four Strategies to Thrive in a Downturn

Posted on November 01, 2009
The Boston Consulting Group has four videos on "Winning in a Downturn, Accelerating in the Upturn" on the Wharton @Knowledge site. The focus on (1) Generating Cash, (2) Finding Strategic Opportunities, (3) Managing in Turbulent Times and (4) Seeking New...

Preparing Associates to Sell

Posted on November 01, 2009
The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog has an insightful post on "Do Law Firm Associates Fear Rainmaking?" It articulates the paradox of associates (and perhaps most lawyers) reluctance to engage in sales and the obvious necessity of building one's individual...

Good Lawyers, Good Leaders?

Posted on November 01, 2009
I want to thank Janet Ellen Raasch for her article on lawyer leadership, based on my keynote address for the Legal Marketing Association's Rocky Mountain Chapter in September. Janet is a legal ghostwriter that reports on all of the chapter's...

Leadership Lessons from Senator Bennet

Posted on October 31, 2009
The Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation held its annual Leadership Forum for alumni of their various programs, including Leadership Denver. United States Senator Michael Bennetspoke on the topic of leadership, calling on his experience in both the private and public...

Eight Ways Admin Staff can Participate in Business Development

Posted on October 28, 2009
While the burden of business development falls primarily on attorneys, staff members such as secretaries, administrative assistants, paralegals, technologists, librarians and directors can and should make significant contributions to the firm?s business development efforts...

How Essential is a CMO?

Posted on May 20, 2009
In today's AMLaw Daily, reporter Zach Lowe posits the question,"How Essential is a CMO?" While his article doesn't attempt to answer the question, here are my two bits: In many companies, the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is responsible for all...

Alternative Fees = Alternative Delivery

Posted on April 17, 2009
The Denver Business Journal quoted me in an article on ACC's Value Challenge and alternative fees,Law field seeks alternatives to billable-hours system. I'm glad that the reporter got the idea that alternative fees mean changing how firms deliver service: ?The...

A Client's Poem

Posted on April 13, 2009
April is National Poetry Month, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite client service poems by Felice Wagner, former consultant, now CMO of Sutherland. A Client's Poem If only you'd ask, I'd be happy to say I wish...

HR.Com: Growing Law Firm Leaders

Posted on April 12, 2009
Here's an interesting article based on a recent survey of law firms' approach to leadership development. Some high (low) lights: There is no consistent process among law firms on how emerging leaders are identified. Executive Committees, Practice Group Leaders and...

Alltop Leadership

Posted on April 12, 2009
I want to thank Guy Kawasaki and Neenz Faleafine for including Leadership for Lawyers on their "Alltop Leadership" page. Alltop is a aggregation of top news and blog sites, fed by RSS feeds. Guy, Neenz and have created pages focusing...

COLPM Futures Conference

Posted on April 12, 2009
For the first time (that I know of) the College of Law Practice Management is opening part of their annual meet to non-members. The "Futures Conference" will be held September 25 & 26, 2009 in Denver. The Futures Program will...

InnovAction 2009 Deadline is June 1, 2009

Posted on April 12, 2009
The College of Law Practice Management has opened is call for entries for the 2009 InnovAction Awards. InnovAction recognizes law firms world wide for implementing truly new ideas in the practice of law. Here's COLPM's description: "The InnovAction Awards is...

Leadership in Law Firms - LMA September Program

Posted on April 08, 2009
I will also be speaking at the Legal Marketing Association meeting in Denver on September 8th at 11:30 am. The topic is leadership in law firms. Here's the blurb: Being the Leader You Would Want to Follow Why is it...

Speaking at LegalTech West 2009

Posted on April 08, 2009
I will be speaking at LegalTech West Coast on June 25th with Vanessa DiMauro on the topic of leveraging Web 2.0 tools like blogging, linkedin, facebook and twitter for business development purposes. If you are planning on attending, drop me...

Advice on Weathering the Storm

Posted on January 25, 2009
Every day I read about law firm layoffs and the effect of the recession on our profession. Rarer are insightful articles about what to do about it. Here are a few that I found helpful: Surviving the Slide: What Firms...

LawDragon Names Top 100 Legal Consultants

Posted on January 25, 2009
Late last year LawDragon.com named "100 Legal Consultants You Need to Know". You will find names like Brad Hildebrandt, David Maister, Jay Jaffe and Ann Lee Gibson - all experts in our profession. I'm pleased (and very surprised) that the...

New Year, New Gig

Posted on January 25, 2009
Since starting this blog in 2005, I've worn several hats, including my day job as Director of Marketing/CMO of Holland & Hart, a 450 attorney law firm based in Denver, Colorado. Earlier this month I left Holland & Hart to...

A Thanksgiving Story

Posted on November 27, 2008
When I was a boy, I went to the Mid-Winter festival on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, near Buffalo NY. Dan, one of the Boy Scout leaders in town, managed to get an invitation from the religious leader. Dan's adopted son...

An Outstanding Example of Sharing Vision

Posted on August 28, 2008

Denver Welcomes the DNC

Posted on August 24, 2008
The Democratic Party arrives in Denver today, along with 15,000 members of the media and countless corporate executives and lobbyists hoping to connect with the political elite during this historic week. It seems to me that the key word for...

A Russian Truck Driver and the Olympics

Posted on August 24, 2008
I once met a consultant who helps cities bid for the Olympic games. As part of the bid preparation, he conducted surveys of the general public to determine their attitudes and opinions about the Olympic Games and the prospect of...

How do you get to be a better leader?

Posted on August 24, 2008
"Practice." That's what Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge book and leadership development process said last weekend at the annual conference for LC facilitators and clients. Invoking Olympic tales and sports analogies, Kouzes said that leaders need to identify...

Naked Conversation Interview

Posted on April 06, 2008
Richard Levick interviews Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations, a book about blogging and social media. Why is social media important? "When we wrote the book, blogging was social media. But now, if you?re a business, or an institution, or...

ABA LPM Magazine Focuses on Tech and Competitive Intelligence

Posted on April 06, 2008
The recent issue of Law Practice Management Magazine (available online) has some great articles, including 45 Tips for Competitive Intelligence by Ann Lee Gibson, Keeping Up with Marketing -Speak, by Sally Schmidt and a Roundtable on Competitive Intelligence Tools, by...

Green to Speak at LMA Event

Posted on April 06, 2008
Charles Green, co-author (with David Maister) will speak at LMA's Senior Roundtable in Washington DC in June. This is from the LMA website: "We are excited about this year?s program. Charles Green, co-author of The Trusted Advisor and Trust-Based Selling,...

Jim Collins to Speak in Denver, May 14th

Posted on April 06, 2008
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, will make a rare speaking appearance in Denver on May 14th. The Community First Foundation is sponsoring his talk. I hear Collins speak last Fall, where he discussed new research on great companies....

"We're Not Going to Take It" - Association of Corporate Counsel

Posted on April 06, 2008
You could almost hear Twisted Sister "singing" "We're not going to take it...anymore" at the Legal Marketing Association's national conference last month when Susan Hackett, General Counsel of the the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Laura Stein, Chairperson of...

Webinar on Succession Planning

Posted on April 05, 2008
Phyllis Weiss Haserot will be conducting a webinar on succession planning on April 9th at 12:30 PM EDT. Click here for more information. Phyllis is a wonderful speaker and insightful adviser. If you have not been to her website, it...

Web 2.0 meets Legal KM at JD Supra

Posted on April 05, 2008
Larry Bodine informed me that JD Supra is now online and firms from the AmLaw 200 to GP Solos are posting content. What is JD Supra? According to Bodine's website: "In order to get listed, the attorney must contribute a...

Patrick McKenna Launches Leadership Advisory Board

Posted on April 05, 2008
So, you are a managing partner facing a vexing issue and the usual advisers and articles leave you as confused as before. What's a MP to do? Edge Group Consultant Patrick McKenna teamed up with Managing Partner Magazine to help....

Diversity Call to Action Summit

Posted on April 05, 2008
This sounds cool. Several years ago, General Counsel from several hundred companies drafted and signed the Diversity Call to Action - a statement of principals and tasks to improve diversity in law firms and legal departments. Not a lot has...

Ballard hires Client Interviewer

Posted on April 05, 2008
Did you see this article in The Legal Intelligencer (also on law.com) about how Ballard Spahr hired a "non-lawyer" to interview clients with the sub-title, "Could this new form of communicating with clients lead to the end of law firm...

Speaking Gigs: Regional Marketing and CI

Posted on April 05, 2008
I'll be speaking at the following events: Regional Marketing and Business Development Strategies Webinar sponsored by Hildebrandt May 28, 2008 Noon EST Click here for more information Competitive Intelligence in the Modern Law Firm Sponsored by Managing Partner Magazine June...

Ukila nanasi, tunda lingine basi

Posted on April 05, 2008
Ukila nanasi, tunda lingine basi. In Swahili, it means, "Once you taste a pineapple, you''ll never go for any other fruit" Wouldn't it be nice for your clients to say this about your firm? What would it take for your...

Lessons from Terminal Five

Posted on April 05, 2008
London's Heathrow Airport opened Terminal 5 this week, reminding me of the troubled opening of Denver's International Airport more than ten years ago. Terminal 5 was slated to solve much of Heathrow's problems, including long security lines. The terminal was...

"We're Not Going to Take It" - Association of Corporate Counsel

Posted on April 05, 2008
You could almost hear Twisted Sister "singing" "We're not going to take it...anymore" at the Legal Marketing Association's national conference last month when Susan Hackett, General Counsel of the the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Laura Stein, Chairperson of...

Naked Conversation Interview

Posted on April 05, 2008
Richard Levick interviews Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations, a book about blogging and social media. Why is social media important? "When we wrote the book, blogging was social media. But now, if you???re a business, or an institution, or...

ABA LPM Magazine Focuses on Tech and Competitive Intelligence

Posted on April 05, 2008
The recent issue of Law Practice Management Magazine (available online) has some great articles, including 45 Tips for Competitive Intelligence by Ann Lee Gibson, Keeping Up with Marketing -Speak, by Sally Schmidt and a Roundtable on Competitive Intelligence Tools, by...

Green to Speak at LMA Event

Posted on April 05, 2008
Charles Green, co-author (with David Maister) will speak at LMA's Senior Roundtable in Washington DC in June. This is from the LMA website: "We are excited about this year???s program. Charles Green, co-author of The Trusted Advisor and Trust-Based Selling,...

Jim Collins to Speak in Denver, May 14th

Posted on April 05, 2008
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, will make a rare speaking appearance in Denver on May 14th. The Community First Foundation is sponsoring his talk. I hear Collins speak last Fall, where he discussed new research on great companies....

BTI Research Reveals Shift to BD and Client Service Priorities

Posted on February 24, 2008
BTI Research published their annual benchmark survey of law firm marketing activities last month.  You'll have to buy the survey to get all of the details, but here are some trends illustrated by the data:   The AmLaw Second Hundred (firms 101 to 200) is catching up with the AmLaw 100 in marketing spending per attorney...

Raindancing Expert Audio Series

Posted on February 23, 2008
This week I met Cole Silver, the brains behind the Raindancing Expert Audio Series.  Cole has interviewed dozens of brilliant authors, consultants and experts in law practice management and marketing.  The 30 minute conversations are available on a subscription basis, for download or streaming audio from his website, findcareersuccess...

ABA Top 100 Discriminates Against Non-Lawyers?

Posted on February 23, 2008
The December 2007 cover story on the ABA Journal featured the "Blawg 100" - the top blawgs written by attorneys, ranging from our favorite law practice management blogs to "gossip, rumor and innuendo".  Some legal 'blawgers', however, noticed that many insightful blawgs were omitted from the list not because of their content, but because they were not authored by attorneys...

InnovAction Awards Nominations Open

Posted on February 23, 2008
Nominations for the 2008 InnovAction Awards are now open until June 2, 2008.  The InnovAction Awards is a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms, and other deliverers of legal services who are currently engaged in some extraordinarily innovative efforts...

More Law Firms Launch Leadership Programs

Posted on November 17, 2007
Reporter Gina Passarella of The Legal Intelligencer reports on the law firm of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young's new Leadership Development Program in her article, Leadership Programs Born From Lack of Born Leaders .   What do you think?  What is the best way to provide leadership training for lawyers?

Cordell Parvin Launches BD Blog

Posted on November 17, 2007
Cordell Parvin, a former construction lawyer for the Texas firm Jenkins & Gilchrist, has started a second career as a business development trainer and coach.  His blog, www.lawconsultingblog.com, tells stories of his clients' success and gives a number of business development tips...

Leadership Development for Lawyers

Posted on November 17, 2007
Several legal marketers have been discussing leadership development on its list serve.  Here is my response to one member's question about starting a leadership development program in their firm: Thank you for launching a discussion topic that is close to my heart...

Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast

Posted on November 03, 2007
A few weeks ago I discussed lawyer ranking websites, along with Lawdragon.com founder Katrina Dewey and legal ethicist Ben Cowgill.  The conversation was moderated by host Robert Ambrogi, co-author of Legal Blogwatch.   You can listen to the show at Lawyer2Lawyer, or download the MP3 here...

New Book on Business Development for Lawyers

Posted on August 25, 2007
Veteran law firm marketer and consultant Sally Schmidt has come out with a new book on business development for lawyers.  Years ago Sally wrote the definitive book on lawyer marketing.  I'll review the book on this blog in the future.  In the meantime: Read the Google Book Preview...

Client Service Perception Gap

Posted on August 25, 2007
When I ask a law firm leader what makes their firm distinctive from others, most say, "We're really good at client service.  We are known by the high level of personal service we provide."  Clients, however, disagree.  According to a new BTI survey, only 25% of clients give top grades to their outside counsel for client service...

Attorney Retention a Priority for Mid Sized Firms

Posted on August 25, 2007
According to this National Law Journal article, mid-sized firms are hiring professional development directors to provide training and support to attorneys.  Excerpt: "We don't want to just pay them a lot of money," he said. Although most of the megafirms in recent years have invested in hiring associate-development teams to help coordinate programs and address work-life issues, development director positions are new for many midsize regional firms...

Integrating Business Development Staff into a Marketing Team

Posted on August 25, 2007
Marketing staffs are growing in major law firms.  Only a few years ago the ratio of lawyers to marketing staff ranged from 35:1 to 50:1.  Today it is closer to 24:1.  Firms are not hiring more PR or advertising folks.  They are investing in business development professionals who help lawyers be more effective in attracting clients, building networks, establishing relationships, and professional sales...

Leadership Development in Law Firms Widely Divergent

Posted on August 25, 2007
Law Firm Inc Magazine published an article on the state  of leadership development training in law firms last month.  In "Reluctant Leaders", (free registration required), reporter Arthur Jones interviews several law firm managers and trainers on the nature of and acceptance of leadership development among law firms...

Brand You

Posted on August 25, 2007
It has been 10 years since Tom Peters wrote an article in Fast Company called, "Brand You", but the principles of personal branding (read:  reputation) remain the same.  Lawyers especially rely on their reputation as a niche specialist for referrals and new business...

Schwartz and West Allen Launch "Brains on Purpose"

Posted on August 25, 2007
Stephanie West Allen, JD (ideablawg.com) and Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, author of The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force have teamed up to create a seminar and blog on the topics of neuroscience and conflict resolution for lawyers...

Teamwork Seminar in Boulder

Posted on August 25, 2007
Christopher Avery, author of "Teamwork is an Individual Skill", will lead a three-day workshop on leading a team in Boulder, CO on September 5-7, 2007.  Go to www.knowledgeteamleadership.com for more information.

Blawgworld 2007 Released

Posted on July 30, 2007
The second version of Blawgworld was released today.   Blawgworld 07 is an innovative e-book that contains essays from 77 of the leading blawgs (legal blogs) on the web today, as well as a legal technology problem/solution guide.  More than a directory of blawgs, the e-book gives sample posts along with information about the blawger and the blawg...

Marketing Moxie: Law Firms that 'get' marketing

Posted on June 14, 2007
In this month's issue of Law Firm Inc, reporter Karen Dean writes about three law firms that "get" marketing in its cover story.  Dean profiles marketing and business development initiatives at Holland & Hart, Foley Hoag, and Thompson Hine...

LMA Leadership Matters Conference, Nov 1-2, 2007

Posted on May 25, 2007
The Legal Marketing Association is holding its first conference for senior marketers focused on leadership in law firms.   On one hand, I am very excited to have an opportunity to speak with fellow marketers on the topic of leadership in law firms, on the other hand, our panel will be following a presentation by poet David Whyte, who will be talking about Courageous Conversations...

Branding Through Client Partnerships Workshop

Posted on May 25, 2007
The Public Relations Society of America's annual western conference will feature several presentations on best practices in public relations and marketing on October 17, 2007 in Denver.  I will present a workshop on "Branding through Client Partnerships" and will discuss the Holland & Hart/Frontier Airlines partnership, as well as Holland & Hart's "Clients on a Rock" advertising program...

Getting a Seat at the Table Panel Discussion

Posted on May 25, 2007
The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association's October 2007 program will be on "Getting a Seat at the Table".   If you are in Denver on October 9th, I hope that you will be able to join us.  I will moderate a panel of managing partners and marketing directors to discuss the politics and realities of involving marketing professionals in the management and leadership of law firms...

What's the Big Idea? Conference

Posted on May 25, 2007
The PM Forum in London is holding a conference on 13 and 14 September on thought leadership.  I will be speaking on the connection between great ideas and great marketing on Thursday.  On Friday I'll be leading a workshop on the practical matter of communicating ideas...

Marketing Best Practices Webinar June 19, 2007

Posted on May 25, 2007
I will be speaking at an IOMA webinar on marketing best practices on June 19th.  Kevin McMurdo, CMO of Perkins Coie and Norm Rubenstein, Principal of the Zeughauser Group will join me.  We will have a 90 minute discussion on trends and best practices in law firm marketing...

Using Appreciative Intelligence to Work Smarter

Posted on May 25, 2007
I co-authored an article on Appreciative Intelligence (AI) and its role in entrepreneurial law firm ventures, along with Tojo Thatchenkerry and Carol Metzker.   Tojo and Carol recently authored a book on AI (see Appreciative Intelligence post)  It can be found in this issue of The Complete Lawyer...

Restoration

Posted on May 25, 2007
Sorry for the blog sabbatical.  We suffered a hard drive crash, and it has taken a while to get our system back up.  Thanks to the help from a few friends, we're 90% restored.   More soon.

Catch Fire Cafe

Posted on April 13, 2007
Peter McLaughlin has launched a creative new website - www.catchfirecafe.com - which features a nifty promotional video.  Click on "Catchfire Coach" for a few video tips on business development, humor and leadership.   Peter also has some good articles management and leadership on his personal website...

Chris Marston Interview

Posted on April 13, 2007
Earlier this month I had a chance to interview Chris Marston, founder and CEO (not managing partner) of Exemplar Law Partners for an article that will appear in the ezine, The Complete Lawyer.  Marton is a thirty-something entrepreneur who started a law firm with a unique approach, characterized by flat-fee only billing, hiring only entrepreneurial lawyers, creating cross-functional teams from the beginning of a matter, and an obsession for client service...

Leadership on the Colorado, Pt 2

Posted on February 27, 2007
We are considering offering a leadership workshop for attorneys, accountants and other professionals on a three-day raft trip down the Colorado River this summer.  We have not yet set a date.  Information on last year's trip can be found here...

Legal News Blogs

Posted on February 25, 2007
Newspapers are starting to launch legal blogs to track everything from law firm news to popular cases: Wall Street Journal Law Blog - covers a wide range of topics from law practice management, associate salaries, and the war on talent.  The Washington Post's Bench Conference - covering popular legal stories, from Anna Nicole Smith to Scooter Libby at Gitmo...