Ok, let’s be honest, when I get something from the Bar Association or the ABA and it isn’t in a sealed envelope, most of the time it goes directly into the trash. CLE-this, Newsletter-that. However, I started getting a new mailing, The Young Lawyer, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Divison Newsletter. Rather than merely chucking this right into the 2 foot trash can next to my desk, something caught my eye. One of the cover stories directly targets young associates and dives right into the essential role that legal marketing has taken within a law firm. This article categorized different marketing strategies by year to help new (or fairly new) attorneys gather a game plan early on for firm growth and revenue building. Here’s a snip-it:
First-Year Associates: “Volunteer for assignments and ask your firm’s ‘rainmakers’ for assignments”… “Scrub your Facebook page to eliminate anything that you don’t want a client or a managing partner to find”… “Send out holiday cards to those on your mailing list.”
Second-Year Associates: “Find a mentor” … “Ask your clients what meetings they go to, and join them” … “Read articles about marketing and business development.”
Third-Year, Fourth-Year, and Fifth-Year Associates: “Declare your major. Visualize the kind of person you’d most like to have as client. Than reflect on the legal work you most enjoy. Your goal is find these ideal clients and solve their problems with legal services”… “Develop a 30-second commercial. Develop a concise description of yourself in terms of (1) what you do (e.g. ‘I’m a deal maker’, or ‘I settle disputes’); (2) what kind of clients you work for; and (3) what kind of problems you solve.
That was just a taste, now go see the full-text of the Definitive Associate Marketing Checklist and reflect on what you can do as a law student looking for those summer internships or as a new attorney wanting to razzle and dazzle the partner at the firm. Here are a few other good reads I would recommend for the young lawyers out there:
- The lawyer’s guide to marketing your practice / James A. Durham, Deborah McMurray, editors. Available at KF316.5 .L38 2004.
- The lawyer’s guide to strategic planning : defining, setting, and achieving your firm’s goals / Thomas C. Grella, Michael L. Hudkins. Available at KF318 .G74 2004
- The lawyer’s guide to creating a business plan [electronic resource] : a step-by-step software package / Linda Pinson. Available at AV KF315 .Z9
- The lawyer’s guide to effective yellow pages advertising / Kerry Randall, Andru J. Johnson. Available at KF310.A3 R36 2005
- The lawyer’s guide to increasing revenue : unlocking the profit potential in your firm / Arthur G. Greene. Available at KF316.5 .G74 2005
-Liz McCurry-
