Terra Extraneus

The sword play among law firm marketing pundits and bloggers of late pretty well proves the point: law firm marketing did not grow as a profession and the concept of law firm marketing, much less governing principles, have never emerged. Larry Bodine’s blog on law firm marketing and the startling candor of Betiayn Tursi in her magazine summarized the state of things.

However, the reason few law firms “get it” when it comes to marketing, in addition to the fact that trying to organize a law firm owned by more than one lawyer is like herding cats, is because the concept of “marketing” is all but illegal among lawyers, much less not a subject of educational course work.

If law firms are ever to going to “get it,” it will only be because they finally figure out that it is the “brand” and the “brand recognition,” first and foremost, that lays the foundation for “marketing” as most lawyers understand it and accept it. Because “solicitation” is generally illegal for lawyers, the idea of “branding” and promoting the brand is often obscured. Even if you never solicit a client, make the law firm identifiable, brand it, and make the brand well known, and solicitation either becomes unnecessary or easy (and legal).

Most law firm employees that are titled as some sort of marketing professional can only be effective if they can help the firm create a brand and successfully promote it. Most law firms stumble on this through charity sponsorships. Not the ones in which the forty largest law firms in town are also named sponsors, but the ones which they sponsor exclusively, especially those charity events promoted by an existing client or officer of a client. It starts off with a few golf or T-shirts. The next year the charity event rolls around, it involves a few radio spots. The third year it includes a local but sophisticated newspaper and electronic media campaign in which the law firm becomes one of the spokesmen for the event or the charity. And after that, it takes on a life of its own.

While other marketing plans and efforts continue, such a corner stone leading to community recognition is the first step that makes everything else work. Also, it is the most fun and leads most law firms to meet the most new people in the shortest amount of time.

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