March 2010

One of the most well-attended panels of the conference was “Leveraging Social Networking – Real World Applications of Web 2.0 That Have Led to New Business.”  On the panel were John M. Byrne, Director of Communications at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and John J. Buchanan, Chief Marketing Officer at ILN member firm Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin.  The panel was moderated by Darryl Cross, Vice President of Client Profitability at LexisNexis. 

Though the irony of attending a panel on social media at a conference without any wifi for the attendees was not lost on those there, we made do Tweeting from mobile devices and using internet cards on laptops.  The panel started by saying that social media is a way to collaborate, and firms should do it to serve their clients and get closer to them.  Cross gave some statistics that lend credence to the idea that social media is a “trend” that is not going away: there are currently 400 million people on Facebook, 60 million on LinkedIn, and 50 millions Tweets per day.  91% of the users of social media connect through their mobile devices.  Though many lawyers are reticent to join social networks for privacy concerns, Cross pointed out that there is Sermo, an online community of 130,000 physicians who share and deal with highly sensitive medical information thorugh social media.  The message was that if doctors can do this, surely lawyers can figure out how to engage with social media. Cross also mentioned Martindale-Hubbell Connected, which is an online network for legal professionals (If you’d like to connect with me there, you can do so here).  Continue Reading LMA 2010 – Leveraging Social Networking – Real World Applications of Web 2.0 That Have Led to New Business

For the first session of the day, I was in Track One – the Business of Law: Recovery: Refocusing the Inside Counsel/Outside Counsel Partnership to Maximize Profitability.  Presenting was Harris E. Berenson, Esq., the Assistant Vice President/Chief Counsel for Liberty Mutual and Senior Counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.  His presentation focused on the idea that inside and outside counsel have a partnership, and he started by saying that a partnership, at its core, is nothing more than a relationship.  However, although this is a simple concept, the challenge comes when trying to execute it.  Relationships, both personal and professional, must be built on trust, support, consideration, respect, caring and the mutuality of responsibility.  Inside counsel are looking for a long-term partnership – similar to what people are looking for in a relationship as they get older.  They don’t want someone who just wants to be “on the list;” they want a true business partner who knows their business and understands industry issues.  Because of this, they’ll often go with their gut instinct and recommendations from trusted friends and colleagues.  Berenson said when looking for outside counsel, he checks with his counterparts, industry peers, and internal teams – when later asked, he emphasized that he does not look at directories and rankings lists for outside counsel and said “they don’t matter.”   

Once the decision is made to work together though, how do both sides get the most out of the relationship?  Berenson said there needs to be a “mutuality of expectations.”  As an example, he said that if the client needs the firm to be available 24/7, the firm needs to be able to articulate how they will do that, not just that they can.  He said there must be “mutual hand-holding,” similar to being in a romantic relationship, but he clarified that by “hand-holding,” he didn’t mean constantly taking people to lunch or asking for their business, but showing the client that you’re a valuable business partner.  He also said that lawyers should show their clients that they can do what they said they could do, to suit up and show up, and to keep their promises.  Berenson said that each side comes with their own baggage, and it’s up to each side to figure out what that is, and how they can learn from each other.  Continue Reading LMA 2010 – Recovery: Refocusing the Inside Counsel/Outside Counsel Partnership to Maximize Profitability

During the first morning session of the conference, the attendees were treated to a presentation by Andrew Zolli, founder of Z+ Partners, curator of PopTech, and exploration fellow at National Geographic.  His Z+ Partners bio says: 

“Andrew Zolli is an expert in global foresight and innovation, studying the complex trends at the intersection of technology, sustainability and global society that are shaping our future. His firm, Z + Partners, helps senior leaders at some of the world’s preeminent companies, institutions and governments see, understand and respond to complex change. Andrew is alsothe Curator of Pop!Tech, the renowned thought leadership forum and social innovation network. Andrew serves as a Fellow of the National Geographic Society, where he is leading development of a global initiative to envision new scenarios for a sustainable world in 2030 and beyond. He was also recently named the first Business and Society Fellow of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.”

In a presentation that was “engaging, clever [and] funny,” according to Lance Godard, Zolli focused on future trends affecting us both personally and professionally.  Using demographics as evidence, he showed the audience that by 2025, there will be more elderly people and children at the same time than ever before in history.  Additionally, the “Boomers” will be in the workforce even longer, which will cause “intergenerational chafing” between them and Generation X.  Those who were born after 1970 are likely to take care of their mothers longer than their mothers took care of them.  We are also seeing a shift in education, with statistics showing that the most educated man in the United States is 56, while the most educated woman is 28.  These ambitious women are having a hard time finding ambitious men, and there are more single women buying homes.  Continue Reading LMA 2010 – Keynote Event – Insights Into the Future