LSSO Executive Profile Q&A
Patrick Fuller
They dove into into the evolving role of business development professionals, the metrics that matter, and what firms can do to stay competitive in a data-driven, tech-enabled landscape. Patrick also offers a sneak peek at what attendees can expect from this year’s RainDance conference in Chicago June 4 & 5, and why he believes the conversations happening there are more critical than ever.
You've long championed the idea that business development professionals deserve a seat at the table. What's the biggest mindset shift law firm leadership needs to make to fully realize that vision? And, what mindset shifts do professionals need to make to put themselves in that chair?
High-growth firm leaders recognize that business development is a core element of strategy and the foundation of the client experience. Business development sets the stage and tone before any fraction of an hour is ever billed. From prospect to target, every touchpoint and interaction – meetings, lunches, pitches, proposals, conversations – shapes perception and expectations. BD connects brand equity and service delivery, and defines how clients perceive the firm’s value. Most people buy using emotion, but justify or rationalize the decision using logic. BD helps establish both the emotional and logical cornerstones of the relationship and plays a critical role in the retention, growth, and expansion of the client relationship.
Business Development is also critical to minimizing profit erosion and leakage. Long, reactive, highly competitive business development cycles and processes often silently sabotage higher profit margins. I say “silently” because few firms actually track their costs of goods sold (COGS) as part of a profitability model. Firm leaders need to understand that not adequately investing in business development and the client experience, and bringing the market and client perspective to the internal strategy and decision-making table, is impacting overall profitability. Strong topline revenue will often conceal inefficiencies, but profit powers sustainable growth. Too many firm leaders have learned that while spending your way to profit is hard, it’s even harder to cut your way to growth.
I believe that the best business development leaders are phenomenal strategists, and business development professionals should see themselves as architects of strategy. First, they operate at the intersection of client needs, wants, firm capabilities, competitor strengths, and market opportunity. Because they see the whole market, they often see opportunities, gaps, and blind spots before firm leadership does. If they are client-facing – and the best should be client-facing – they frequently spot risk markers and expansion opportunities with clients before the timekeepers. And engaging with clients and identifying risk indicators early is critical. It’s hard to facilitate growth if you first have to backfill lost revenue. Business development professionals need to remember they have a unique perspective that many in the firm do not have, and they need to ensure their assessment and insight are present at the table.
What trends are you seeing in how firms measure profitability or performance, and how can BD leaders use that data to drive strategic decisions?
Too many law firms still do not track their cost of goods sold (COGS) or client acquisition costs (CAC). Elongated BD cycles are a hidden drag on profitability for many firms and tend to impact those with the smallest margin for error. While we can quantify the direct costs of goods sold with proper tracking, it’s much harder to assess the costs of opportunities missed because limited BD resources were focused on low-probability prospects.
Another initiative firms should undertake is adjusting prior-year performance in key financial metrics, such as collected rate averages, revenue, profit per lawyer, and average compensation. Adjusting for inflation is critical and enables us to identify pockets of stagnation as well as true growth.
Another reason I love adjusting for inflation is that it allows users to frame data and the story in different ways, which is especially beneficial for business development and talent management. Framing influences how clients perceive worth, how lawyers interpret change, and how lawyers accept, process, and buy into changes in strategy. The way options are presented significantly impacts decision-making and allows us to present logical facts through an emotional frame.
BD leaders understand that most lawyers are masters of anchoring and loss aversion, as emotions often outweigh logic in more of their decisions than they would like to admit. Anchoring occurs when the first piece of information, such as an old billing rate a client mentioned years ago or a compensation figure from a rival provided by a headhunter, becomes cemented as the truth, and every decision thereafter is measured against it, even when it no longer makes sense.
Then loss aversion sets in, where the fear of losing something—anything—feels larger and more daunting than the opportunity to gain something better. Combine these two factors, and you have the perfect recipe for stalled strategy and inaction, even when we know it holds us back.
This is where data often becomes the best ally for BD leaders, as it can help overcome the emotional anchoring and unconscious biases that serve as barriers to change and growth.
You've helped legal departments and law firms define KPIs that matter. What are 2-3 metrics that BD and sales teams can drive/own for maximum influence at a law firm?
I’ve already mentioned COGS and CAC, which are at the top of the list. Net Promoter Score is critical. NPS measures how likely clients are to recommend the firm to a peer or colleague, and NPS is a near-direct reflection of the client experience.
A metric I would like to see utilized more is what I refer to as Client Embeddedness Value. This composite metric includes the share of practices engaged, relationship depth and breadth (including with the board), Net Promoter Scores, representation longevity and expansion trends, matter valuation, and types of matters (run the company, bet-the-bonus, bet-the-company, etc.). This represents a small sample of the data points that can be included in this composite metric.
Combined, CEV provides a predictive snapshot of client switching costs, revenue growth potential, and portability risk. For BD leaders, it assists in prioritizing opportunities and risks while offering a unique method to combat the endowment effect, overconfidence bias, and reciprocity traps that often cloud decision-making.
I've developed several new metrics focusing on growth efficiency, yield realization, and alignment of profit and compensation. I usually present these during meetings with law firm management committees to offer a distinct perspective on performance relative to peers.
Furthermore, every law firm should understand the metrics clients use to assess outside counsel and keep track of these metrics. They primarily relate to billing hygiene and can be easily monitored by the firm.
With your experience across both law firm and legal tech landscapes, what innovations in data analytics or financial intelligence are most underutilized by firms today that could better inform the sales process?
Given the amount of data generated by the legal profession, there are numerous opportunities to utilize this data. Since human capital remains the economic foundation of the business of law, and laterals often need to rebuild a book of business that did not completely move with them to their new firm, we are now at a critical mass of lateral performance data that can produce probabilistic or predictive outcomes regarding the likelihood of lateral success.
Staying with the predictive and probabilistic theme, early case assessment can be a differentiator for clients, including for matter scoping and budgeting purposes. In minutes, we can analyze things like outcome probabilities, opposing counsel patterns, and jurisdictional nuances with generative and agentic AI.
When firms apply that predictive mindset to business development? It’s powerful and can be a competitive game changer. Instead of chasing everything, you’re focusing on the right things -the opportunities that are most likely to close, expand, and generate real profit. In the past, client intelligence research was heavily focused on historical matter and representation data. Moving forward, agentic and generative AI will enable a more probabilistic & strategic approach to revenue retention and generation.
When it’s all said and done, I want to know why clients buy, and AI has the potential to provide firms with a competitive edge, until all of this becomes table stakes.
You’re a Co-Emcee of the 2025 RainDance conference in Chicago. What are you most looking forward to about this year’s program?
It all starts with co-emceeing the program alongside the fabulous Jill Zwetchkenbaum—aka the legal industry’s answer to a human sparkler. She’s a total rockstar: smart, wildly creative, organized, disciplined, and one of the most energizing people in our space. I wish I had half her EQ, knowledge, and skills when I was her age. She’s the person you root for, support, and take notes from.
And then there’s the LSSO community, a gathering of brilliant, determined, passionate professionals who get the hustle, the heart, the drive, and the resilience it takes to thrive in legal sales and BD. We sell to individuals who are paid a lot of money to argue professionally and remain in the top half percent of domestic earners, even in a down year. We have to overcome cynicism, ego, and complacency to succeed, and our success makes our clients even more money.
It’s more than a tribe; it’s a slightly dysfunctional (in the best way) extended family where we support, cheer, and challenge each other. This community has very little margin for error in an industry that largely still believes that business development professionals, especially in law firms, should be supportive rather than client-facing revenue drivers. The egos are checked at the door because we all realize that a rising tide lifts all boats, and one misstep can set us all back. The clarity of that realization forms the foundation of our community. We all get better and thrive together, raising the bar and the tide for all.
It’s what late nights in cafes are to comedians after a night at the clubs—a space to swap stories, laugh, commiserate, and sharpen the craft with people who get it.
Again, this year's lineup is stacked with accomplished professionals who bring their unique perspectives to the masses. As a student of behavioral economics, I’m especially excited about the session that will explore how decision-making psychology intersects with legal sales strategy.
What’s something you’re currently exploring or excited to push forward (as it relates to sales and services) this year?
I’m always exploring new ways to analyze firm and market performance, especially how the right metrics can illuminate blind spots and guide more innovative and differentiated strategy. I’m particularly focused on evolving how we measure relationship value, lateral success and impact, client embeddedness, profit and compensation effectiveness, and growth efficiency. My focus isn’t just on understanding the past. It’s on anticipating what’s next for law firms, legal departments, the legal industry, and the broader global market.
I’m also diving deeper into leveraging AI to build probabilistic and predictive models, from lateral success likelihood to business development win rates and client retention risk. There’s enormous potential to move from reactive to truly strategic and anticipatory, and I want to help firms get there faster.
About Patrick:
Patrick is a native and loyal Cheesehead, having been born in Milwaukee before relocating to Oklahoma City at the start of high school, which now seems like four score and seven years ago. He believes the only proper Old Fashioned is a Brandy Old Fashioned and that all Bloody Marys should be made with a healthy dose of horseradish and spice and come with fried chicken, bratwurst, fried cheese curds, mozzarella strings, and German pickles. As a loyal Wisconsin Badger fan, he knows all the words to "Build Me Up, Buttercup" and works out to "Jump Around." Patrick, his wife, and three kids are among 200,000 owners of the Green Bay Packers. He's been on the Packers' season ticket waiting list for over 30 years and is still roughly 30 years away from the chance to buy tickets. When he's not crying over the inevitable disappointing end of the season for every Wisconsin sports team, he attends concerts nationwide. He spends as much time as possible with his wife, Heather, their three grown-ish children, A.J., Ashleigh, and Jack, and as many large rescue dogs as his wife will allow.