The Client Development Manager is a leader who possesses a client-focused mentality, is highly service oriented, and has the ability to guide, direct and advise lawyers in a sophisticated marketing and business development environment.   READ MORE

As part of a small, hands-on collaborative team, this position is responsible for project management and delivery of events and programs that highlight and reinforce the Ballard brand.  This position offers a hybrid work schedule and can be located in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, New York, New Jersey or Delaware.  

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Boston, MA, November 10, 2021 - The Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO) and Hellerman Communications today announce the winners of the 2021 Sales & Service Awards, which recognizes sales, business development, and marketing professionals who spearheaded initiatives contributing to law firm revenue growth in 2020. This year’s winners include:

Sales Team of the Year: Kean Miller LLP

The team at Kean Miller creates a business development culture by using a multidisciplinary approach of business operations, a unique approach in our industry.  The Marketing and Business Development Team at Kean Miller LLP consists of Brian Klaslo (Director of Business Development), Nathan Smith (Texas Marketing and BD Manager), Shannon Barilleau (Marketing Manager), Kodi Wilson (Marketing Manager), and Zoe Venezia (Marketing Coordinator). 

Steve Boutwell, Chief Operating Officer, is one of a handful of CMOs to cross over into operational leadership roles in a large law firm. Steve took on the COO role at 170-attorney Kean Miller four years ago after serving as CM&BDO for almost 15 years. Because of his background and experience in the legal industry, and in his firm, Kean Miller relies on Steve for a wide variety of forward-thinking initiatives, including the firm’s newly adopted strategic plan. He “rides shotgun” with his Managing Partner, providing tactical support for the Management Committee, Compensation Committee, Practice Group Leaders, and the firm’s Management Team, which includes a CFO, CIO, CHRO, GC, and Chief Facilities and Information Governance Officer. 

Honorable Mention: Litchfield Cavo LLP

An Honorable Mention is being awarded to Litchfield Cavo LLP. Under the direction of Donna Baker, Business Development, Marketing & Communications, marketing protocols were set in place, table nominations were completed, editorial style guides were developed, new hire biographies and photography were streamlined to match the new branding, language and tone were aligned and business grew. By partnering with one other attorney in a the newest of Litchfield Cavo's 22 offices, Donna pitched a new specialty practice area that began to take off--and then Covid-19 stopped us in our tracks, but only temporarily. From this one new practice line, multiple cross selling opportunities arise and will take shape once the pandemic eases and face-to-face interaction resumes. Our law firm's Marketing team is highly skilled and very responsive, making the process of business development easier for us as partners, and their work product, including RFP responses, is elegant in appearance and creative in content.

Rising Star: Michael Helmicki, Client Development Executive, DLA Piper

In addition to driving significant revenue and new multi-million-dollar client relationships to the Firm, Michael Helmicki (“Mick”) led the Firm’s strategy and execution for supporting clients and prospects with matters related to Federal Stimulus programs that were a central consideration for many businesses during COVID. Following a surge in requests for information and guidance on these programs, Mick quickly organized a cross-functional team of DLA attorneys to dissect an ever-changing landscape of rules and guidance to inform clients and prospects on federal stimulus programs. In several instances, these programs were a critical lifeline in supporting ongoing operations. In addition to driving effective communications, including client alerts, Mick organized and participated in a series of webinars to educate clients and prospects on key rules and regulations, including a webinar that registered 2,333 attendees, a Firm record. In addition to successfully driving 200%+ YoY growth in fee billed revenue in key accounts, Mick became the first billable Client Development Executive and actively worked with DLA attorneys on matters relating to Federal Stimulus Programs; drafted multiple client presentations and alerts, built an internal knowledge repository and supported partners/clients across multiple offices in the Firm. Mick stepped up and played a critical role in getting many clients through the COVID-19 pandemic. People remember how you treat them in a time of need and Mick played a critical role in solidifying the long-term relationships with many of the firms’ clients.

Sales Executive of the Year: Brook Radford, Director of Marketing, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

While all others in the legal industry shifted to doing low-quality video with Zoom during the pandemic, Brook Radford, Director of Marketing at Katten, decided to take a different approach. Using a smartphone app (Remote Video Capture), Brook was able to shoot 4k quality video of her partners, remotely, while retaining the professional video production services of producer and director so the partners looked and sounded as good as they do on camera as they do in person. The first starter project was for a virtual trade show that had the firm’s Dallas managing partner giving an overview of their expanding capabilities of the Dallas office and firmwide presence in an industry sector. From that point forward, Brook and Katten’s partners leveraged remote video capture to produce high-quality video that properly reflected the stature of her law firm and the partners. With the pandemic keeping everyone working at home and International Women’s Day approaching, Brooke leveraged Remote Video Capture to the Women’s Leadership Forum to create a promotional video that featured a half-dozen women at her firm. The end result enabled Katten to produce a high-quality video montage that is reflective of Katten‘s leadership position in supporting women and their Firm’s professional brand. The video was highly successful and got review reviews from both internal and external stake holders. Here is a link to the video - https://vimeo.com/520360500

Two Honorable Mentions are being awarded to Ashley Tenney, Practice Director, Dentons and Mark Levin, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Marshall Gerstein & Borun.

Honorable Mention (Large Firm): Ashley Tenney, Practice Director, Dentons

As a Practice Director at Dentons, Ashley collaborates closely with firm leadership and business services peers to ensure success in practice operations and strategic initiatives, including staffing, budgeting, recruiting, lateral and client onboarding and integration, training and legal project management. Ashley partners with legal operations teams and utilize technology to promote efficiency in the day-to-day operations as well as leverage process improvement initiatives to the benefit of the Firm. She is responsible for the Corporate, Real Estate, Restructuring and Venture Technology practice groups. She is also the director of our COVID-19 Pandemic Client Special Situations Team, working with three co-chairs and more than two dozen partners to help guide clients through the evolving legal and business challenges. A motivated and innovative self-starter, she proactively works with lawyers and legal services professionals to develop and maintain relationships

 

Honorable Mention (Small Firm): Mark Levin, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer,  Marshall Gerstein & Borun

Mark has established himself as a marketing leader in the legal industry in both the legal and corporate arenas.  In the past three years at Marshall Gerstein — half of which has been during the pandemic — Mark has grown by 125% the number of requests for proposals from innovators seeking intellectual property advice. He also introduced enhanced client service technologies and helped the firm nurture existing client relationships. Under Mark’s guidance, the firm has extended its internal social justice commitments to a broader audience. Mark also serves as an LSSO Editorial Board Member.

The following professionals served on the judge’s panel to select these award winners:

David Bowerman, Deloitte
Ron Gendron, Workday
John Hellerman, Hellerman Communications
Samantha McKenna, #samsales Consulting

About Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO):

LSSO delivers the education and resources that lawyers and those who work with them need to improve their sales and client service skills with exclusive research, and tools and information for members only. LSSO supplies the legal marketplace with innovative, groundbreaking events and resources, including the annual LSSO RainDance Global Sales Summit and LSSO's Coaching Certification Programs. Follow LSSO on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Hellerman Communications:

Hellerman Communications is an award-winning corporate communications agency that specializes in positioning professionals to win business and navigate crises. With expertise in strategic marketing & content development, crisis & litigation communications, and social influencer & stakeholder relations, we help the world’s most elite professionals, and their firms build and protect their most lucrative relationships. Connect with Hellerman Communications by email or on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

 

Fenwick is seeking a Communications Assistant that will be responsible for supporting numerous strategic projects and initiatives furthering our external and internal communication goals.  This position can be based in any of our U.S. offices.  READ MORE

This position may be located in Paul Hastings' Los Angeless, Century City, Palo Alto or San Francisco office.  The Senior BDev Coordinator supports the business development and marketing initiatives, pitch and proposal efforts, and the development of client relationships and new business opportunities in the Entertainment & Media and Tech industries.  READ MORE

As a Coordinator in the Practice Development area of the Business Development Department, you will be responsible for a variety of marketing and development activities, including proposal preparation, client presentations, marketing collateral maintenance, matters database maintenance, CRM maintenance, research, and communications.

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You should be comfortable working in a team environment, with a keen eye for organization and detail. The ideal candidate will need to be able to think critically, analyze data effectively and convey complex information clearly.

This position reports directly to the Restructuring and Real Estate Business Development Associate Director with oversight from the Business Development Director in Chicago.

Kirkland & Ellis is seeking a dynamic, enthusiastic Business Development Specialist to support its new Salt Lake City office and to be a key driver of its growth and success.

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Reporting to the West Coast Director of Business Development and working collaboratively with other regional and Firmwide business development professionals, the Business Development Specialist will provide comprehensive support across the entirety of the business development and marketing lifecycle, playing a key role in the execution of development strategies for all cross-practice areas with a particular focus on corporate, specifically private equity and M&A and commercial litigation.

This is a highly visible attorney and occasional client-facing role, requiring an experienced legal business development generalist with an adaptable, entrepreneurial style and a proven business acumen.

Someone asked me the other day: “What do you think is the hot new thing in law firms these days?” and I responded, “Strategic account teams—aka key client teams.” He looked puzzled and said, “isn’t that old, not new?”

While I was taken aback, I thought about it and decided, yes, key client planning and the various initiatives surrounding that topic have been around for years now, and in fact 80% of the key client teams as we know them are ineffective. Sure, focusing on the client, going out and speaking with them has likely produced some small or incremental results. But until a firm’s strategic accounts become truly an integrated part of the firm’s strategy, they are nothing more than simply another initiative into which only a few partners have bought.

The Big Four, Oracle, IBM, Xerox, Salesforce, and numerous other highly profitable organizations with focused strategic account leadership, would never imagine NOT having strategic accounts driving their revenue growth goals. In fact, in an industry where demand remains flat, it’s the only strategic initiative that is going to get a firm’s revenue into numbers that matter. Why does this work in every other industry and not so well in law firms then? A few reasons.

First. the key relationship lawyer often lacks the competitive selling skills necessary to take the entire account to another revenue level. Only when he/she collaborates with the client, across the client, and across the firm, will opportunities for adding value and thus, growing share of wallet emerge. A lot of effort and energy goes into account planning and while brilliant lawyers they may be, strategic sales people they likely are not. What’s the solution? Hire strategic account sales people. We will see more of this from the firms who take the lead in this area. Team them up with partners and clients and the results will be amazing. Building relationships at the highest levels within the client organization is critical for strategic account success. This includes board members, and C-level executives. Which leads us to the second reason.

Second. Expanding relationships gets tricky. Who gets the credit? Frankly it doesn’t matter if the revenues go up, so do all the compensation numbers. Yet, with comp being a primary recognition system at the majority of firms, people fight over origination to get the “credit” and thus the recognition. Hiring professional sales people will change the game a bit because they will be measured on their success which means they will have to take some credit for revenue in the door. What’s the solution: well, one is to create a contest of sorts. Frankly that’s why firms’ biggest clients with sales teams have sales contests. So people compete to drive revenue. Everyone can win if they reach their goals. And the second solution is figure out how to share credit. In fact, all clients should be firm clients and there should be no origination. Get people to focus on the right things and to collaborate and revenue will continue to go up.

Third. Account management. It is not easy to manage peers/other lawyers at the firm. Related to First and Second above, keeping momentum going, and the lawyers on the team interested in regular meetings can be challenging. To maintain a forward-looking momentum, focus on the client’s goals and what are the related anticipated legal needs. Invite the client to at least two to three team meetings per year so it keeps information first-hand and fresh, and keeps the team and frankly, the leader, motivated. Having the client at team meetings is a very important aspect of helping the team to be successful.

Last, over-communicate results. Letting other members of the firm know how successful the account/key client teams are performing is important. For one reason, funding the teams’ visits to clients and other team activities, will be critical going forward, and leadership will want to make sure there is support for these expenditures.

Silvia Coulter is a Principal Consultant with LawVision and a founding board member of the Legal Sales and Service Organization. To learn more about Strategic Account Management, you may order a copy of SAM-Legal: Turning Key Clients Into Strategic Accounts. Silvia may be reached at scoulter@lawvision.com.

By Silvia Coulter

Many business professionals follow the opportunity to become a leader. As we know, there are many more not-so-good leaders than there are good leaders. What makes the difference? Think about the leaders in your life. Which characteristics defined a good leader and which characteristics defined a bad leader? Looking back on all or part of one’s career and the leaders experienced along the way will hopefully help you to become a stronger leader. Here are some extra tips:

Stay true to your words. If honesty and integrity (for example) are important to maintaining the culture at your firm, then the leaders must exhibit and model these characteristics. This means doing the right thing all the time and standing by what is best for the team and not a favored individual. When people see one is true to one’s ideals, they will have high respect and trust for you. Model the behaviors you want to see in others.

Tell the truth. First, if you mess up, fess up—plain and simple. If you made a mistake, admit it and don’t blame someone else. As a leader, the responsibility stops with you. If your team member makes a mistake, use it as a learning opportunity. Someone will know you were not truthful, or covered up, or blamed someone else if you did so, and it’s rarely forgotten. Second, if something negative occurs, try to be up front about how it will impact the team (e.g., layoffs, budget cuts, negative feedback) and deal with it straight on. Always take the high road. It garners loyalty and respect.

Build constructive behaviors. Help people see their potential. Be happy for them and not envious. As important, facilitate these behaviors across the team and firm. When people feel supported, people will support their leaders. And, they are motivated to do their very best. When they feel otherwise (micro-managed, not given credit for their work, corrected for no reason) they will wither and leave. Constructive behaviors include feedback—positive and negative (but negative with suggestions for growth); recognition among others; support (have their back so-to-speak), and trust (help people grow by giving them assignments that cause them to stretch).

Trust others. Trust people on your team. Have their back. It’s essential and in particular builds a higher probability of retaining important talent. There are always two sides to a story and we all work in environments which can be quick to find fault more often than to find opportunities to provide kudos. Embrace people and show them trust. They will produce good work and be inspired by your leadership.

Make the tough decisions. Making tough decisions is not easy. Not making them will hurt any leader’s effectiveness since others will always be watching. While praise and recognition for a job well done are important, waiting too long to deal with an issue on the team will take away a lot of credibility. Do what’s right for the team. In the long run it will always be the best for you and the team. This includes acting quickly when someone is trying to hurt members of the team or you. Bad behavior cannot be allowed.

Develop your skills. The firm is not going to necessarily pay for its business professionals to improve their leadership skills. They may, but if not, don’t hold back. Invest in yourself and in your future. To be a good, strong leader, find assessments, take leadership development programs (from industry) and read books written to help you to focus on becoming better. And then develop a leadership growth plan to stay on track. When you practice new skills, you become a stronger leader and take the next step in your career.

Help others develop their skills. As part of the team’s review, identify one or two areas each member may want to develop to grow and become stronger at their skills and career. Helping team members be their best is going to help leaders build credibility among the team, and will help build their trust and loyalty.

Communicate the plan. Good leaders are people who build bridges and are strong liaisons between top management and their own team. Bridging team responsibilities and goals and the overall plan for the department, to overall firm goals and strategies is key. Otherwise, people may not see how important their role is to the big picture. Remember the NASA floor sweeper when asked by President Kennedy what his job was? The man proudly answered “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” Leaders help to connect the dots and this is especially important in a professional services environment.

Celebrate successes! Everyone loves recognition. In fact, recognition often scores higher than salary on many employees’ top ten lists. Recognition of jobs well done helps build the constructive styles of team behavior. Good work makes strong leaders look stronger. Recognizing team members within the team and to firm leadership is the sign of a good leader.

Silvia Coulter is a founding principal with LawVision Group and LSSO. Law firms rely on her assistance with existing client retention and growth strategies, new business development, culture and leadership assessments and business development consulting. She may be reached at 978-526-8316 or scoulter@lawvision.com

By Susan Raridon Lambreth

At the recent Global LPM Summit, we asked our speakers for a word or phrase that best captures LPM. We may be a little biased (okay, a lot), but one of the ones we really liked was the response from David Rueff, Chief Solutions Officer for Baker Donelson (and my co-author of four books on LPM). He said, “In my opinion, the best word is strategic.”

We concur. LPM offers many benefits, but there are reasons why we consider LPM a strategy. But that begs the question: What is strategy?

Rueff continues: “It’s not just about how to achieve the client’s desired outcome, but how to achieve the business objectives, along with that desired outcome through planning, execution, and closure.”

You might start your LPM initiative by looking first at legal process improvement (LPI). A disciplined approach to LPI provides the tools and techniques that allow a matter team to leverage time and effort. LPM, however, while it results in efficiencies, can be so much more. LPM is a strategy that delivers value to both the clients and the firm, changing how legal tasks are planned and managed.

Let Your Principles Guide You

In 2007, Michael D. Watkins, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland wrote an article for Harvard Business Review. In it, he writes:

“A business strategy is a set of guiding principles that, when communicated and adopted in the organization, generates a desired pattern of decision making. A strategy is therefore about how people throughout the organization should make decisions and allocate resources in order to accomplish key objectives.”

LPM provides those guiding principles that, once applied, begin to change the culture and the very fabric of the firm. These principles include a commitment to:

• Consistent, collaborative, and repeatable approaches to managing matters
• Reliable and transparent practices for negotiating project scope and budget
• Enhanced alignment of the work product to the client’s needs and priorities
• Ongoing client communications that provide value and visibility, help to manage risk, and engender loyalty
• Stewardship over highest and best use of resources
• Integration of LPM techniques into business development efforts
• Greater job satisfaction and clearer path to successful performance for both lawyers, legal professionals, and allied professionals

The guiding principles capture the firm’s values and beliefs, providing the framework for strategic decision making. Now you can ask the critical questions along every step of the process. Is this repeatable? (Not the outcome, but the process.) Are we transparent enough? Have we considered the client’s needs beyond the outcome in the matter? Can our lateral hires understand how we do things around here? Are we using our resources wisely? LPM provides the context so that no one is simply going through the process. Each person has a value-added role.

We Already Manage Our Projects

Many of your most experienced partners and lawyers will claim that they already manage their projects. Indeed, they may have an Excel spreadsheet, a task list, and a drawing on the whiteboard. But actual LPM has a client-focus, structure, and visibility that many informal methods of scoping and managing projects lack.

Without the strategic overlay to your LPM initiative, you may find lawyers and legal professionals simply waiting for things to revert back to the way they used to be, you know, that time in the past when nobody thought much about cost inefficiencies, and everyone did it “my way.” But going backwards is simply not an option in the current competitive environment. Clients are demanding greater control and accountability. They will tell you what constitutes value, but quite frequently not until they call to complain about the bill and expect you to reduce it.

Law firms must be proactive. They can do this by implementing sound LPM strategies from the start. Once you begin to apply strategy to your LPM efforts, you’ll reap the long-term benefits. How does this differ from the tactical management of projects? Pushing each matter forward with the goal of crossing the finish line is the short-term approach. Considering the long-term implications is strategic. And in time, a strategic approach will reduce the level of tactical effort required. That’s your efficiency gain.

Striking the Balance Between Strategic and Tactical

There is definitely a component of tactical management required for LPM. It includes managing the scope and the schedule to time and budget constraints. It requires both training and aptitude to manage the nitty-gritty details. That’s the tactical piece, arguably the easiest part. The challenge comes in the strategies that help the firm grow and become more profitable and create greater value for clients. Through sound strategies, the firm will gain a distinct competitive advantage in the legal marketplace.

You’ll have the right balance of tactical and strategic when you ensure that:

• Activities are aligned with your firm’s long-term objectives
• Lawyers and legal professionals feel challenged and energized by the work they perform
• Clients get what they need beyond successful completion (and they tell you as much)
• You’re able to rinse and repeat

With the execution of strategic LPM, your initiative begins to feel like an accomplishment rather than a mere checklist of activities. Make no mistake: when you do LPM right, your product delivery will be efficient. But when you do LPM strategically, it will add to the bottom line, secure client loyalty, and invigorate your most talented people.

 Susan Raridon Lambreth

Co-Founding Principal, LawVision

Susan Raridon Lambreth is a founding Principal at LawVision Group and is internationally recognized as one of the top project management and practice group consultants for the legal industry. She has worked with approximately half of the AmLaw 200 on practice group issues or training their practice group leaders and many of the leading firms in North America, UK and Australia on legal project management initiatives. She has authored eight books on law firm management, including three on practice group management, four on LPM and one on legal operations. She has trained over 5,000 law firm leaders in practice leadership skills and over 6,000 legal professionals in LPM skills. She also has co-chaired for the past 11 years the largest annual conference in the world on legal project management for the Practising Law Institute in New York, which regularly attracts 400 to 550 attendees. She recently co-chaired the first annual Global LPM Summit (GlobalLPMSummit).

Prior to co-founding LawVision, she was a partner with Hildebrandt International or its successor firm for 20 years. She received her JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and an M.B.A. from Villanova University.