I’m currently about 30,000 feet above the earth, flying back home after a whirlwind time at the LMA’s Annual Conference. I feel like my attendance at the conference was akin to drinking water from a firehose – there was a lot of information to take in, and a lot of great ideas and conversation. Now, it’s time to process all of that, and sort out what I can use and share.

In my mind, the most important session of the conference is always the General Counsel (GC) panel – I can best help my clients by telling them what their clients say to marketing folks when they’re not around. This year, the panel was its own breakout session (though I think it should really be required attendance for EVERYONE), and once again, it was an incredibly valuable session. 

The panel featured Ron K. Barger, the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Archon Group, Jeffrey W. Carr, the Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary for FMC Technologies, and Janet L. Dhillon, the EVP, General Counsel and Secretary for J.C. Penney Company. It was moderated by Tom Duggan and Cathleen Flahardy of InsideCounsel.  All of the GC’s represented are active members in the General Counsel Forum

While I’ll get into the details of what was discussed during the panel in subsequent posts, I thought I’d start with some of the more salient points, captured in quotes from the panelists (I’ve added emphasis where I thought it was particularly important): 

  • "We are not lawyers. We are businesspeople first." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "I want to be your most important and least significant client" — Jeff Carr
     
  • "It’s the things I can’t see ahead of me that ‘keep me up at night.’" — Ron Barger
     
  • On using "non-lawyers" to manage cases: "I could care less if I talk to a lawyer or talk to a janitor. Just give me someone who can do the job." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "If your firm’s culture doesn’t match my culture, you’re dead." — Ron Barger
     
  • "The legal industry is perverse. It’s the only industry where buyers act like sellers and sellers act like buyers" — Jeff Carr
     
  • "What really bothers me is firms that won’t take responsibility for something that goes wrong." –Jeff Carr
     
  • "Don’t argue with me about whose fault the mistake was. Just tell me it’s not going to happen again." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "The traditional law firm model is dying. Get over it, and understand what the new world is going to be." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "There will be new business models that come into place. We’ll build them if you won’t. We don’t need YOU to survive. We need the [legal] industry to survive." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "I will not talk to you about AFAs. We’ve banned the word ‘alternative.’ There’s nothing ‘alternative’ about alternative fees." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "Law firms MUST know their cost structure. It’s too high, based on pass-through, and on inefficiency. I won’t tolerate that." — Jeff Carr
     
  • "Firms should be able to figure out with every matter on average how much it’s going to cost you. I know what it costs to litigate certain types of matters. If there are firms who know these costs, I haven’t found them." — Janet Dhillon
     
  • "Unless you know your costs, you can’t be a good partner for my company." — Janet Dhillon
     
  • "Lawyers don’t like to be told they’re ‘average.’ So we don’t use that word anymore. We say ‘you’re meeting requirements.’" — Jeff Carr
     
  • "If you send me a brochure, I throw it out. Get rid of them." — Ron Barger
     
  • "Be pleasant with all my staff. Don’t save your best behavior for me." — Janet Dhillon
     
  • "Quality is the price of admission. Not a differentiator." — Jeff Carr
  • "I pay zero attention to your website, unless there’s a tool I can use." — Jeff Carr
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Photo of Lindsay Griffiths Lindsay Griffiths

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the…

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the goals of a global professional services network. She manages all major aspects of the Network, including recruitment, member retention, and providing exceptional client service to an international membership base.

In her role as Executive Director, Griffiths manages a mix of international programs, engages a diverse global community, and develops an international membership base. She leads the development and successful implementation of major organizational initiatives, manages interpersonal relationships, and possesses executive presence with audiences of internal and external stakeholders. Griffiths excels at project management, organization, and planning, writes and speaks with influence and authority, and works independently while demonstrating flexibility in thinking, especially in challenging situations. She also adapts to diverse and dynamic environments with constant assessment and recalibration.

JD Supra Readers Choice Top Author 2019

In 2021, the ILN was honored as Global Law Firm Network of the Year by The Lawyer European Awards, and in 2016, 2017, and 2022, they were shortlisted as Global Law Firm Network of the Year. Since 2011, the Network has been listed as a Chambers & Partners Leading Law Firm Network, recently increasing this ranking to be included in the top two percent of law firm networks globally, as well as adding two regional rankings. She was awarded “Thought Leader of the Year” by the Legal Marketing Association’s New York chapter in 2014 for her substantive contributions to the industry and was included in Clio’s list of “34 People in Legal You Should Follow on Twitter.” She was also chosen for the American Bar Association Journal’s inaugural Web 100‘s Best Law Blogs, where judge Ivy Grey said “This blog is outstanding, thoughtful, and useful.” Ms. Griffiths was chosen as a Top Author by JD Supra in their 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards, for the level of engagement and visibility she attained with readers on the topic of marketing & business development. She has been the author of Zen & the Art of Legal Networking since February 2009.