Photo of Lindsay Griffiths

Lindsay Griffiths

Subscribe to Lindsay Griffiths's Posts

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.

Follow:Read more about Lindsay GriffithsLindsay's Linkedin ProfileLindsay's Twitter Profile

For our latest installment, we spoke with a general counsel who works closely with outside counsel.  We wanted to know, 

What is your preference for how a lawyer tries to learn more about you and your business?"

She told us that

In working with outside counsel, I encourage them to learn as much as possible about our business so they have context to give advice. The best lawyers ask thoughtful questions that invite us to give context and details, "Tell me how you would typically . . ."; "how would this scenario arise again, or how has it come up in the past." If the advice we get is not given in context, it will not be very practical."

Continue Reading General Counsel Corner: Getting to Know Your Business

The advice to "think like a client" in order to improve your client service is not a new one – but today, I want to offer you a little bit of a twist on that advice, which will help you to up your game. 

The idea of thinking like your client can be a daunting one – while we all endeavor to understand our clients’ challenges, concerns, and pain points no matter what field we’re in, unless we’ve spent time there ourselves, we’re only privy to second-hand knowledge (for the most part). 

But whether we’ve been on the client side in our own industries or not, we’ve all been and are clients – as lawyers, you are purchasers of various services, from consultants to building services to office products and more. In our personal lives, we are consumers of goods and services, including everything from groceries and electronics to personal care, travel, and more. 

I’ve asked you before to think of yourselves as the client in these cases, and to identify what it is you want from those interactions – things such as understanding of what you’re really asking, common courtesy, on-time delivery, exceeding expectations, etc. Continue Reading Client Service: Think Like a Client!

We’ve been full of networking tips here at Zen lately with the ILN’s European Regional Meeting happening last week. It’s only fitting that I sum that up with some post-conference networking suggestions on this week’s Two for Tuesdays!

Tip One: Connect & Share

Any time you leave a conference, whether it’s an ILN conference or not, it’s hard to keep the momentum going as you face a mountain of work and personal responsibilities. It seems to get more and more difficult to step away from the office these days – I know I’m always trying to prepare to leave and spending time catching up when I return, even when I’m checking in and working the entire time I’m away!

But forgetting to do a few simple things after a conference can really take away from all of the headway you’ve made in networking. So add in these few things to your to-do list today (force yourself to do one each day, rather than trying to do them all at once!) and it will make a big difference in your efforts. Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Post-Conference Networking

It’s Monday, so that means that the 2014 ILN European Regional Meeting is officially in the books. I want to offer a special thanks to our hosts at Okland & Co DA, and especially their managing partner, Tom Carsten Troberg.

As I was flying home yesterday, I had the opportunity to ruminate on the conference, and the takeaways I gained from the various presentations and social functions, and I wanted to share those with you today!

  • There is really no substitute for face-to-face relationship building: As you know, I love social media, and think of it as a great bridge for keeping connections going in between face-to-face interactions.

    But there’s no substitute for seeing your connections from around the world in person, talking about personal and professional things, laughing together, and experiencing a new city together. Not only do you get to know each other better (and get a richer understanding of the challenges and cultural differences facing your colleagues in other cities), but you leave with a warm feeling that reminds you to think of them first when making referrals or getting ready to pitch a client. So never think that your online or phone efforts will ever compare to time spent in each other’s company.

    Shared experiences will always win the day – particularly when those experiences involve Aquavit tastings and a mutual fear of lutefisk.

Continue Reading Takeaways from the 2014 ILN European Regional Meeting

For today’s General Counsel Corner, I had the pleasure of having a phone interview with Clay Matthews, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for NewMarket Corporation. The question I had for Mr. Matthews was: 

What is your process for selecting outside counsel?" 

His answer was quite interesting, because while some of it was in line with things we’ve heard before, quite a bit of it goes against the grain. He told me: 

When you come in-house, you inherit outside counsel from your predecessors. A lot is legacy.  In addition to that, most of the time, you’ve already had a private practice career, and have friends from outside firms. You know who the competent ones are, and stow away that information."

Not everyone that you like as a person is a suitable attorney, so it becomes a dance. You learn to deflect those you can’t use." 

What criteria is important then? Extreme competence – I need to be comfortable with their legal skills. They don’t need to be someone I could have a beer with.  It’s not easy to find someone like that, because those who are really, really good are also really busy.  And they don’t do a lot of their own rainmaking." 

Continue Reading General Counsel Corner: Selecting Outside Counsel

This Two for Tuesdays finds me in Budapest! I am visiting with one of our member firms to meet their partners and have some one-on-one time to discuss the ILN and how they can make the most of their membership.  

Lucky for you, I set up my blog posts for this week prior to flying out of town.  For today’s Two for Tuesdays, I’m focused on content marketing – we know what it is and why we should be doing it (if you don’t, please see me after class).  But what are some ideas for what we can do for content marketing? 

Since this month has been focused on the idea of "refreshing" our marketing, today, I’m bringing you two tips for refreshing new ways to do content marketing! 

Thanks to Drew Hubbard on iMedia Connection, we have this brilliant list of suggestions to draw from. I’m going to take two of his ideas and look at how we in the legal industry can use them. Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Content Marketing Ideas

It’s September, so you know what that means…it’s prime time to re-ignite your networking efforts! For many ILN members, they’ll have the chance to do that this week, as our European Regional Meeting kicks off in Oslo on Thursday. 

While we’ve covered a lot of networking tips in the past, I’m always on the hunt for new ideas and advice to switch things up.  I recently came across this post that offers seven tips for networking success, Let’s look at a few of them, and how they apply to lawyers and law firms. 

There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say, and there’s more than one place to do your networking.  As the post suggests: 

Attend events at professional organizations that relate to your expertise or industry, but don’t be content with that."

Continue Reading Let’s Get Networking!

Our latest referral success story starts in Chicago, with the ILN’s 2014 Annual Meeting. As part of our business sessions, our host firm, Arnstein & Lehr, had invited long-time client, Steve Felkowitz, the CEO of Atico International USA, Inc. to participate as the moderator for Bill Daley.

We welcomed Mr. Felkowitz to join us for the opening night’s reception and dinner, which gave him the opportunity to meet a number of ILN members, including Beirne Maynard & Parsons‘ Martin Beirne from Texas. Arnstein & Lehr’s Jeff Shapiro and Whitney Cruz are the national counsel for all product liability litigation in the US involving any of the Atico entities, and Mr. Shapiro was enthusiastic about connecting Mr. Felkowitz with his friends and colleagues in the ILN.

When Atico International USA needed a referral for a lawsuit venued in El Paso, both Mr. Felkowitz and his national counsel knew exactly who to call – Beirne Maynard & Parsons. The case is a product liability lawsuit involving a fan allegedly manufactured by New Atico Int’l Limited Taiwan Branch. The fan is alleged to have been defective, and to have caused a house fire, which resulted in the death of two minor children, and burn injuries to a minor child and an adult. The case is ongoing, and being handled by top ranked litigation firm, Beirne Maynard & Parsons. Continue Reading ILN Member Finds Referral Success with Client Introduction at ILN Annual Meeting

On this Two for Tuesdays, we’re gearing up for next week’s European Regional Meeting in Oslo! Our conferences always get me thinking about best practices for networking, so that my attorneys can make the most out of their conference attendance (and you can too!). 

It’s easy to think of networking as something that happens only AT a conference or event, but if you’ve been reading along here at Zen, you know that it’s something that really occurs before, during and after. Since we’ve still got over a week until the conference kicks off, let’s focus today on two tips for networking before a conference. 

Tip One: Review & Reach Out

While not all organizers do this, many of them will make an attendee list available prior to the conference or event taking place. If you really want to make the most out of your conference networking, study this list as soon as you get it.  

You’re looking for companies, firms, geographic locations, specialties and more that may have some strategic crossover for you.  For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use the ILN conferences as our example here for networking opportunities. Let’s say that your firm has done a few referrals with a firm in London, and that firm will have a representative at the conference. Put a star next to their name in your attendee list. Continue Reading Two for Tuesdays: Start Your Networking BEFORE a Conference