Re-caps of Sessions

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On the second day of the LMA conference, I kept the client-related momentum going by heading straight into "Client Expectations in Today’s Marketplace" after the GC Panel. Presenting in the session were Laura Meherg and Nat Slavin of Wicker Park Group, and thanks to LMA, I can tell you: 

Wicker Park Group consultants interview hundreds of clients each year on behalf of law firms located around the world. The interviewees include business owners, company executives and in-house counsel representing a wide range of industries. Taken together, the interviews offer unique insights into the essential expectations that build strong client relationships regardless of location, industry or client history."

The session itself promised that: 

This program will highlight the most common themes in client expectations, including the complaints and praise – both big and small – that clients identify as greatly impacting the well-being of their outside counsel relationships. In addition, Wicker Park Group partners will explain what clients think about client feedback, why it’s critical to consistently seek their input, the global trends in client feedback and best practices from successful client feedback and client service programs in law firms."

Continue Reading Client Expectations in Today’s Marketplace – A Recap

I’m still recovering from the whirlwind that was #LMA15 – it’s always a festival of education, networking, mentorship, relationship-building, thought leadership, and having amazing, thought-provoking conversations about our industry and where its headed. And I love every minute of it. But one of my favorite parts, as you know, is the general counsel panel.  This year’s panel was focused on “How we buy what you sell – and how that’s changing.” I had the pleasure of speaking with two of the three panelists in advance of the session, Joe Otterstetter of 3M and Virginia Sanzone of CareFusion, and their comments during the session were very much in line with our conversations. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s look at how LMA described the session:

You already know plenty about ‘The New Normal’ and how law firms are adjusting, but corporate legal departments are not standing still either. This year’s GC panel will share Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) data and the perspective of senior in-house counsel on trends in law firm selection processes, outside counsel management, and unbundling and in-sourcing work. You will have a chance to take a look ‘under the hood’ at how legal services purchasing decisions are made and external resources are managed, including discussion of how ‘switching costs’ from an incumbent law firm are considered, the role of Procurement, how success is measured (including how the managers of outside counsel are evaluated), and more through open Q&A.”

 
Continue Reading How We Buy What You Sell – and How That’s Changing – A Recap

Today, I’m bringing you the final installment of my recaps from the Viewabill webinar (recording and audio available here). We’ve learned some really interesting things about what both inside and outside counsel are thinking these days in this climate of change, and the conversations around all of these issues should continue – the one lesson we should all take away from these is that communication among all of those involved in legal services is paramount. 

Thanks to Viewabill for inviting me to listen in, and giving me the opportunity to get a preview from a couple of their panelists! I look forward to the next session.

The final session of the morning was "Legal Tech and You:" 

Lawyers are looking for new ways to compete and position themselves as being at the forefront of an oversaturated market, and clients are demanding more efficiency, transparency, and affordability from their legal service providers. What do you look for when considering implementing legal technology and where do you see the next phase of innovation headed?"

Continue Reading Legal Technology – What’s Next?

Building on Viewabill’s last webinar session (audio and presentation recording here), they moved into a discussion of transparency, and its impact on the inside/outside counsel relationship. Per their session agenda,

What role has sharing matters via Viewabill played in fostering collaboration throughout the legal process, and what overall impact has it had on your professional relationship with each other?"

The participants in this section include: 

Panelists:
Daniel Baker, Sr. Operations Lead, LinkedIn Legal
Mike Haven, Senior Corporate Counsel, Legal Operations and Litigation, NetApp
Vincent Cordo Jr., Global Director of Client Value, Reed Smith, LLP
Rick Howell, Director of Financial Systems, Perkins Coie, LLP
Justin Liu, Associate General Counsel, MGM Resorts International
Karen Anzuini, Chief Information Officer, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP

Moderator:
Robbie Friedman, CEO + co-founder, ViewabillContinue Reading Fostering Collaboration Between Clients and Lawyers: The Transparency Piece

Following the first part of the Viewabill webinar (recording with audio available here), we headed into the next presentation, "Measuring Up." Viewabill says: 

It may come across as unseemly to acknowledge, but at its core, the practice of law is a business. What are some key performance metrics that firms use to determine whether they consider an engagement to have been "successful" and what is currently being done with those metrics in areas such as employee performance, operational efficiency, and predictive models?"

Clients apply their own set of metrics for determining quality, value, and success. What are some of the metrics they use when selecting outside counsel?"

Metrics and data are where it’s at these days, so it’s important to hear what both sides of the legal coin are doing. The speakers for this panel were: 

Panelists:
Vincent Cordo Jr., Global Director of Client Value, Reed Smith, LLP
D. Casey Flaherty, Corporate Counsel, Kia Motors
Rick Howell, Director of Financial Systems, Perkins Coie, LLP
Michael Hourwitz, Chief Financial Officer, Venable, LLP

Moderator:
Kenneth A. Grady, CEO, SeyfarthLean Consulting, LLCContinue Reading The Buzz About Metrics

After hearing about some of the trends inside legal departments during the first part of Viewabill‘s webinar last week, the moderator opened it up to all of the panelists for their thoughts. Since panelists included both those inside legal departments, and those in law firms, it was a fascinating look at the push and pull of their relationships. 

To remind you of who the players are: 

Panelists (corporate counsel):
Daniel Baker, Sr. Operations Lead, LinkedIn Legal
Connie Brenton, Chief of Staff/Director of Legal Operations, NetApp
Panelists (law firms):
Vincent Cordo Jr., Global Director of Client Value, Reed Smith, LLP
Peter Lane Secor, Director of Strategic Pricing and Project Management, Pepper Hamilton LLP
Michael Hourwitz, Chief Financial Officer, Venable, LLP

Moderator:
Robbie Friedman, CEO + co-founder, ViewabillContinue Reading Interplay Between Inside Legal Departments & Law Firms

On Monday, I listened in on Viewabill’s inside/outside counsel webinar – it was a long one (two and a half hours), so I’ll be breaking up my recaps by session to share with you.  I love listening to inside counsel speak about the dynamics of their relationships with their legal services providers, and there were some great thoughts shared by all sides in these sessions. 

First up is "Friends in Need." From Viewabill: 

Corporate legal departments are under increasing pressure to become ‘commercially aware’ and rise to the challenge of fulfilling the role of business partner, driving the company’s business objectives and risk profile. Inside counsel discuss their evolving role and what outside counsel can do to alleviate some of the pressure."

Law firms are also under pressure. Client value and legal sourcing teams are prominent in firms today; over 50% of the AmLaw 200 already employ a Pricing Director position to oversee project management. Stretched between serving as a resource for the firm’s clients while simultaneously battling internal resistance, law firms discuss how they handle the ‘new normal’ and ways clients can help bring about change."

Continue Reading Trends in Inside Legal Departments

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of welcoming David Ackert of The Ackert Advisory for a special webinar presentation on Development Strategies for Associates. 

David began by sharing the agenda for the session, which included looking at: 

  • Getting a head start: why business development at the associate level is so critical
  • Leverage points: playing to your strengths
  • Networking strategies
  • Mentorship
  • Establishing credibility in your niche: this is a key way associates can start to differentiate themselves as they’re going about business development

Getting a Head Start

Business development for associates is all about getting a head start. David mentioned that the techniques that he’d address are designed to be as efficient as possible, because lawyers don’t have a lot of time at any level to do the kind of business development exploration that they might have in a more idea setting. They have to get there quickly. Continue Reading Development Strategies for Associates – A Webinar Recap

Yesterday, the LMA Social Media SIG group was treated to a wonderful webinar, which focused on the 2014 State of Digital and Content Marketing Strategy survey done by Greentarget, Zeughauser Group, and ALM. The webinar featured John Corey (@jecorey), the president and founder of Greentarget, and Mary K. Young (@MaryKYoungZG), a partner at Zeughauser Group. 

But more than just discussing the survey itself, Mary and John talked about how law firms can get noticed in a sea of content.  We’re operating in an era of information overload, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon, so this is incredibly important. 

They laid the foundation for their later discussions by taking a look at the 2014 survey.  The survey focused on in-house counsel for the fourth year in a row, but also added in a law firm CMO/marketer element this year.  They had 189 in-house respondents, which include GCs, Deputy GCs, etc, and 79 law firm CMO/marketer responses, from the top 350 firms. 

For the GCs, they wanted to drill down to find out how they are using social media, and what content they find most valuable. For the CMOs, they asked more about how they are approaching content at their firms. Continue Reading Standing Out in a Sea of Content: A Webinar Recap

Only one thing could bring me in from my vacation, and that was the Legal Marketing Association’s Social Media Shared Interest Group’s webinar with Peter Shankman (@petershankman) and Jasmine Trillos-Decarie (@jasminedecarie), entitled "Bringing Law Firms ‘Back to The Future’ of Social Media."

I wasn’t alone in thinking that, if the tweetstream was any indication – valuable tidbits from the conversation were flying over on Twitter! We even had a legal marketer join the LMA just to be able to attend the webinar, and she said it was well worth it! 

LMA members can access the full recording over on the website, but for everyone else, I’ll share some of the valuable information that came out of the presentation.

Jasmine kicked it off from the law firm perspective – she’s got more than 20 years of experience in legal marketing with AmLaw 50, 100, and 200 firms, so she knows what she’s talking about! 

Continue Reading Bringing Law Firms “Back to The Future” of Social Media