Aligning law offices’ marketing departments along practice group lines can improve your level of service, quality, expertise, and efficiency. As this approach evolves, an increasing number of firms adopt some variation of it and see significant benefits. See how your firm can partner its marketing with practice groups successfully.

Virtually all large law firms, and a considerable number of small and mid-sized firms, have marketing departments and professionals charged with the promotions and communications, business development, and client relationship management programs. More often than not, marketing resources are deployed on a firm-wide or office-specific basis, or both, and support any or all practice groups in need of their expertise. In a firm’s different offices, that usually means working with whatever groups are most represented in that location and that are active. Firm wide, it typically translates into all marketing professionals supporting all the practice groups to one degree or another, utilizing whatever marketing resources are at their disposal to meet the groups’ disparate needs.

A Practice-Centric Approach

As practice groups evolve to be the predominant management model used by law firms, we have seen an increasing number of firms implement a practice-centric approach to its marketing and business development where professionals are assigned specific practice groups to support almost exclusively. How many groups depends on factors such as practice size, strategic importance and current and anticipated level of marketing activity.

We have worked with firms that have some very large practice groups, of 100 or more attorneys, with one to two full-time marketing staff devoted just to them. This is in addition to other, firm-wide marketing resources the groups use, and share, in their marketing efforts. With smaller practices, marketing professionals can be assigned two to three groups to support, in addition to having some office responsibilities where they physically reside. Some larger firms have begun to adopt a “shared services” approach across the firm and practice groups for functions such as graphics, fulfillment, database management, research, and other marketing support activities that are more efficient and practical to be performed centrally. Using a shared services approach also allows senior marketing professionals to focus on providing higher-level, more strategic support and counsel to the firm’s practice groups and their leaders.

The marketing support model we are beginning to see in the larger firms using a practice group structure is a matrix approach of practice group-specific support, combined with some office-specific support as well as resources shared firm-wide.

Benefits of Practice Group Alignment

There are many benefits of aligning limited and in-demand marketing resources with practice groups. First, it is more efficient. Over time, the marketing staff will standardize many of the tasks and processes, which they may now find themselves frequently re-inventing. Service delivery and quality become uniform and more predictable, not just within the practice groups themselves but across all practice areas, resulting in better use of time and money.

Second, marketers assigned to specific practice groups will be more knowledgeable and become “experts” on the practices they support, including their services, clients, markets, and attorneys. Developing this practice expertise makes the marketer a more valuable asset to the group and more effective in developing and executing successful programs.

A third benefit of aligning marketing along practice group lines is the development of best practices and economies of scale. As noted above, under this model, many of the wheels will need to be invented just once, then simply tailored to meet a specific group’s needs, driving efficiency and improved delivery of services among all practice groups. In addition, roles and responsibilities within the marketing department are more narrowly defined, creating specialists in certain marketing service areas. This will result in improved work allocation so that the best-qualified resources are matched with the particular needs of the firm, practice groups, offices, and individual attorneys.

What we have also experienced in working with firms that have developed or are developing a practice-centric approach is a noticeable change in how the marketing function and professionals are perceived in the firm. There is a higher value placed on their talents and expertise, as well as on their contributions to the success of the lawyers, practice groups, and the firm as a whole.

The Practice Manager and Marketing Dynamic

Practice group managers, or department business managers as they are referred to in some firms, are positions evolving in law firms that serve important roles in the management and operations of practice groups. The managers’ sole responsibilities lie with the practice group or groups they are assigned to and focus primarily on the business side of the practice: financial and administrative guidance, budgeting and financial management, staffing and work allocation, business planning, and client accounting. Collaboration between the practice management and marketing professionals is critical as they both support the practice groups and their paths cross in the roles they play, underscoring the importance of clearly defining and communicating the responsibilities of each. Together, these two professional positions are a powerful support team for practice groups. However, as a result of a lack of clarity in roles and job descriptions in some firms, there can be considerable tension between the individuals in these two roles regarding their division of duties, particularly in the areas of business development and client relationship management.

Marketing Support for Practice Groups

What are ways that marketing can partner with and support practice groups successfully?

1. Marketing Planning and Execution

• Participate in practice group business planning
• Understand the business and clients of the practice group
• Work with the practice leaders to develop marketing strategies that support their business goals and the firm’s objectives
• Identify and manage the internal and external marketing resources necessary to implement the strategies
• Help attorneys create personal business plans (of which a major part is marketing) consistent with practice group plans
• Coordinate attorney participation in practice group marketing initiatives
• Attend group meetings and report on marketing initiatives and successes
• Be creative and proactive

2. Client Relationship Management

• Know the practice group’s clients and manage client inventory
• Track client activity
• Work with practice leaders to form and facilitate client teams
• Develop client service initiatives
• Facilitate and lead cross-selling initiatives
• Create client feedback programs

3. Business Development

• Target account planning
• Provide sales training to the group’s members
• Facilitate and participate in-sales activities
• Assist in gathering or analyzing market and competitive intelligence and industry trends
• Marketing Resource Management
• Provide marketing staff support
• Liaise with outside advisors on group marketing projects
• Help prepare the group’s marketing budget
• Help develop systems of accountability
• Analyze return on investment for marketing initiatives.

Conclusion

The practice group and marketing support model continues to evolve in law firms. Those that have already implemented some form of it are experiencing a higher level of service, quality, expertise, and efficiency from their marketing departments. It is anticipated that a growing number of firms will adopt some variation of a practice group/office/shared services approach to marketing as the business case becomes more compelling and the benefits more apparent.