Now in it's 17th year, the RainDance Conference has earned a reputation as a must attend event for senior level law firm sales and business development professionals.  With their big firm and smaller firm perspectives, this year's co-chairs are planning dynamic sessions with practical takeaways for everyone.

David Bowerman is a Director of Client Development at K&L Gates were he helped lead the creation of the firm’s Client Development function.  Based in the firm’s Seattle office, he has more than 20 years of experience in the professional services sector leading teams, building revenue-generating tools and bringing new ideas to market across a range of business development, communications, and sales roles.  David was a member of the hit Fishbowl sales session at RainDance last year.

Jenna Schiappacasse is the Director of Client Development at Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, a 45-attorney firm with 5 offices across Maryland, Delaware, DC and New York. Over the past several years, Jenna has transformed her position from a marketing and communications focus to a market-facing client development role, directly responsible for generating revenue, in addition to coaching the firm’s attorneys on their client service and business development efforts. Jenna was a finalist in the 2019 LSSO Sales & Service Awards. 

Message from our Co-Chairs to you:

The buzz around legal sales is at an all time high. At RainDance, you'll be surrounded by client-facing, client service and business development professionals. We are going to have you on your feet collaborating and participating in workshops and sessions that are going to teach you new sales strategies, make you rethink your approach to client service and expand your network of colleagues. 

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Now in its 17th year, the RainDance Conference has earned a reputation as a must attend event for senior level law firm sales and business development professionals. Partnering with the Legal Sales & Service Organization (LSSO) allows companies to demonstrate their expertise and thought leadership before a national audience and receive a high level of visibility with LSSO's members throughout the year.

Contact Kirsten Lovett, LSSO Executive Director, to learn more.

Why Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO)?

Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO) is the go-to organization for education, ideas and networking focused solely on legal sales and client service.  We provide law firm sales, business development, and service professionals with the resources and strategies they and their teams need to achieve the highest levels of success. 

What is LSSO’s RainDance Conference?

LSSO's annual RainDance Conference, now in its 17^th year, is the key resource for sales and service professionals.  The two-day conference is filled with high-level interactive sessions, roundtables and lively discussions with industry thought leaders.   

RainDance continues to offer less of the theory and more of the practical, effective sales and service strategies for attendees to bring back to their firm and implement immediately.  With an intimate setting, sponsor partners can expect open and honest dialogue among the attendees about the challenges they face in meeting the demands of the increasingly competitive and evolving industry.

Who Attends LSSO’s RainDance?

RainDance is for firm leaders who have significant responsibilities for client retention, client growth, new business development, client service, and process improvement strategies to shape the future of their firms.  Attendees come from law firms of all sizes. Last year 56% were from AmLaw 100 & 200 firms and 44% from mid-size firms.

RainDance is recognized and known for attracting the highest caliber of attendees who are regarded as the thought leaders and decision-makers in their firms and consultants who work with them to help shape the industry. 

Why Be Involved in LSSO’s RainDance Conference?

We recognize that your #1 goal is to network and make valuable business connections which will result in new business.  We work with our partners to establish a year-long relationship.

Partnering with LSSO and our RainDance Conference is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your target market to demonstrate how your product or service will help to drive revenue in law firms. LSSO’s RainDance Conference is unlike other industry conferences.  Our sponsor partners are shoulder to shoulder with conference attendees, who are the decision-makers at their firms.

Contact Kirsten Lovett, LSSO Executive Director, to learn more.

The BD and Marketing Specialist will be a liaison primarily to Securities and Shareholder Litigation, Accountants and Professional Liability and reports to the Business Development and Marketing Manager. Read More!

The Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO) is pleased to announce that Stephanie Hinrichs and Neel Lilani have joined the group’s Board of Advisors (BOA).

Hinrichs, Director of Client Service at Womble Bond Dickinson, and Lilani, Managing Director at Orrick served as co-chairs of the 2019 RainDance Conference and led the hit Fishbowl session on “Demystifying Sales & Service Roles in Law Firms Today.”

“As client-facing sales professionals in law firms, Stephanie and Neel understand the resources and tools our members need to produce results for their firms and advance their careers,” said Kirsten Lovett, LSSO’s Executive Director. “Stephanie and Neel are forward-thinking leaders in our industry and we welcome their ideas and insight.”

Upon joining the BOA, Hinrichs commented, “I am honored to be joining such a talented group of leaders and look forward to contributing to the advancement of legal sales roles in the profession.” Lilani added, “It’s a privilege to join this esteemed group of legal sales leaders. I am excited to work with them in moving the industry forward.”

In her role with Womble Bond Dickinson, Hinrichs works closely with both attorneys and clients to initiate and expand relationships while ensuring that the firm is providing the highest quality client service. Hinrichs also leads the firm's Manufacturing and Transport & Logistics Industry Sectors from the sales side.

As Managing Director of Orrick's global corporate development efforts for technology companies, Lilani drives new client opportunities through coordinated strategies across the sector. Lilani frequently consults with technology companies on financing and business strategy and manages Orrick’s venture capital relationships.

Hinrichs and Lilani join a board of advisor veteran sales and service professionals, including David  Burkhardt, Client Service Director at Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP; Christie Caceres, Director of Business Development and Marketing at Sidley Austin LLP; Silvia Coulter, Principal at LawVision Group; Beth Cuzzone, Chief Client Growth Officer at Goulston & Storrs, PC; Alvidas Jasin, Director of Client Development at Ropes & Gray LLP; Catherine MacDonagh, CEO & Founder, The Legal Lean Sigma Institute;  Gabriel Miller, General Counsel / Bond Sanchez-Gordon and Founder / NTA Legal Ventures; Steven Petrie, Chief Operating Officer, Americas at White & Case LLP; Adam Stock, A Stock Consulting; and Catherine Zinn, Chief Client Officer at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. See Board of Advisors.

About The Legal Sales and Service Organization

LSSO is the preeminent organization serving the educational and professional needs of legal and business executives responsible for driving revenue in law firms. It is committed to suppling the legal marketplace with innovative, groundbreaking events and resources such as the annual RainDance Conference, the Coaching Advantage Certification Program, and the Salary & Trends Survey Report. Learn more at legalsales.org.

The Rapid Fire Client Panel is always one of the most popular sessions at the annual RainDance Conference. Thanks to a series of blog posts by John Cunningham, we are able to share the insights learned from our 2019 RainDance panel. Excerpts from John’s series and links to the full blog posts are below.  

Special thanks to Louise Henkel, Director of Business Development and Marketing at Hill Ward Henderson, for her notes on the input provided by the following panelists:

• Christine Castellano, former Sr. VP, GC and Chief Compliance Officer for Ingredion, Inc.

• Dennis Garcia, Assistant GC at Microsoft

• Steven Heinrichs, Executive VP, GC and Chief Legal Compliance Officer at Mueller Water Products

• Edward Paulis III, VP and Sr. Assistant GC at Zurich North America

And here are some of the highlights from their answers to excellent questions posed by moderator Julianne Hartzell, a partner at Marshall Gerstein:

1. Corporate legal clients clearly flagged their service preferences while providing key insights on how and why they purchase or discontinue services 

• All panelists have engaged in a process improvement planning session with a law firm in the past few years (process improvement is a growing focus for firms).

• All have instructed one or more law firms that they will not pay for first-year associate training hours on their projects.

• All are open to the idea of meeting with law firm sales professionals who are not practicing lawyers.

• All have been proactively approached by a law firm about alternative fee arrangements within the last year.

• Three out of four just stop working with a lawyer whose work product or attitude does not measure up to their standards rather than spending energy on some form of progressive counseling.

• All are receptive to conversations with their legal providers about the service and how it can be enhanced or improved.

• All have audited law firm invoices to check for compliance with hiring letter instructions, and all have fired one or more counsel for failure to follow those instructions.

• Three of four panelists said the biggest thing missing from law firm RFPs are meaningful project budgets.

• All of them consult with their peers, including other GCs, when looking for counsel in a niche area that is new to them.

• Three out of four rank “industry knowledge and understanding” as the biggest factor in their hiring decisions versus lower hourly rates or peer review rankings, such as Chambers.

• All are interested in knowing how firms are using technology to improve product quality, cost or delivery speed.

• Three out of four would give “plus points” to a law firm bidding for business that has undergone meaningful process improvement training.

2.  Legal Clients Read and Value Law Firm Content (if it’s good)

Corporate legal clients answered several questions about content marketing by law firms.  Here is what panelists revealed to audience members about content marketing:

• All of them periodically read law firm newsletters or client alerts.

• All of them read lawyer publications on Twitter and/or LinkedIn.

• Three of four read one or more law firm blogs.

• Three of four periodically listen to industry-focused podcasts.

• All of them periodically read industry-focused content.

• Three out of four do NOT prefer video content – lawyers still like to read.

• All of them have hired a lawyer as a result of compelling and useful content.

• None of them believe that articles published in the media are more credible than self-published content put out by law firms.

Panelists also called out some of the content publications they like, including:

• Jason Barnwell’s business of law podcast

• The ACC Docket

• Updates by Skadden and Wachtell Lipton

3. Legal Clients on Service Experiences They Loved or Hated

Corporate legal clients were very candid about service experiences that positively “wowed” them and others that got lawyers fired or dropped from outside counsel lists. Here are some examples of service experiences that impressed in-house corporate counsel and earned big points for the lawyers who provided them:

• One firm provided a detailed budget proposal with “if-then” scenarios that anticipated various contingencies, and then followed through with quality work consistent with budget.

• Another firm – at the conclusion of a matter – shared “lessons learned” packaged in a format that was readily digestible and offered practical insights and suggestions.

• Another firm offered up a creative alternative fee arrangement that contained a “success fee” for the upside and pain-sharing for the downside.

• In general, quality work and regular, clear and simple communication earned big points with in-house counsel.

Panelists also called out some of the service experiences that can get lawyers fired or dropped from outside counsel lists, such as:

• Failing to follow instructions

• Failing to get proper authority to make an important decision

• Failure to be diplomatic or acting antagonistically toward the client

• Just being overly adversarial with anyone

• Failing to communicate or communicating poorly

• Consistently waiting until the last minute to meet deadlines

• Ethical failures

• Excessive billing

• Failing to go through the legal department with communication or decision-making

4. What’s Missing from Law Firm RFP’s ?

Corporate legal clients told law firm audience members what is missing from their RFP responses 

• Firm RFPs must have meaningful budget information based on real-world experience – this is THE big thing that all panelists identified as a problem

• Firms should address how they protect confidential and privileged information from cyber-risk and traditional risks

• Firms cannot do a “bait and switch” on diversity claims, showing one face for the RFP and another in their actual staffing

5. What’s Missing from Lawyer Profiles on Websites?

Corporate legal clients told law firm audience members what they would like to see in lawyer profiles on law firm websites. 

• All panelists agreed they would like to see some quantification of lawyer experience, such as number of cases tried or tried to verdict, number of transactions closed, dollar amounts of transactions, and percentage of times that transactions have completed ahead of schedule or under budget.

• All panelists agreed they would like to see more industry-specific experience in lawyer profiles.

• Three of four panelists agreed that it would be nice to know about the hobbies, personal interests and passions of lawyers to see their human side while one panelist saw such information as irrelevant but not offensive or silly.
  
  

6. “Hot Button” Issues for In-House Legal Counsel at Big Companies

Corporate legal clients told law firm audience members about their “hot button” legal service issues.

• Technology should be a lawyer’s “best friend” and law firm should be exploiting it more, especially with respect to hyper-cloud solutions tools.

• Some outside lawyers still fail to communicate proactively when a matter is going South so that damage can be minimized.

• Some outside lawyers are still failing to communicate well on all matters, and that usually results in no more business coming their way.

• Outside lawyers who find in-house lawyers calling them regularly for updates should take that as a warning sign that communication is lagging.

• When outside counsel does communicate, it is important to do so in “executive summary” fashion, getting to the point quickly and effectively.

Clearly, the hottest of hot buttons seems to center around communication, suggesting that outside lawyers might benefit from some formal training on how to communicate effectively with in-house contacts in a way that is sensitive to their perspectives and needs (which are different from private practice).

John O. Cunningham is a freelance writer, editor and marketing/communications consultant.
Read more here.

Listen to Andy Peterson's interview with Stephanie Hinrichs, Director of Client Service at Womble Bond Dickinson, and Neel Lilani, Managing Director at Orrick. Hear how they got started in sales positions, how they see the law firm sales role evolving, and the skills needed to succeed. 

Thank you to Andy Peterson and Design Build Legal for producing this podcast! Listen to more Legal Ops Rising podcasts.

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The Marketing & Business Development Department at Burns & Levinson LLP has 2 opportunities available in Boston, MA -- a Marketing Communications Manager and a Business Development Specialist.  Read more!

With the Fall conference season upon us, here are some best practices for live-tweeting from Eilene Spear, Operations Manager, National Law Review.

Read more of Eilene's tips here.

About the Author

Eilene Spear is the Operations Manager for the National Law Review and oversees the National Law Review’s extensive social media presence, implementing the publication’s SEO best practices and managing the NLR’s publishing process.

As a prolific thought leader, Eilene writes frequently on legal topics including, interviews with legal industry leaders and chronicling the newest trends in the legal industry and in thought leadership marketing.  Additionally, she regularly attends and speaks at legal marketing events across the country.

Thompson Coburn LLP currently has an exempt position available in our Washington, DC office for a full-time Marketing Manager to consult with the partners in that office to develop and execute marketing, communication and business development initiatives.

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Ballard Spahr LLP seeks a dynamic and successful marketing and business development professional to join the Ballard Spahr team as the Proposal Specialist supporting the firm’s efforts to respond to proposals within the guidelines of firm strategy, business development, and client relationship management goals. This position can be located in either our Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix or Salt Lake City offices.
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