Thank you to author Linda Moss, Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, Dykema and 2025 LMA Midwest Conference Planning Committee Member.
Session: Lead Boldly: Unlocking Growth, Strategy & Influence
Speakers: Melissa Marshall, Chief Marketing Officer, Levenfeld Pearlstein (“LP”) and Deb Knupp, Managing Director, GrowthPlay
Presented: LMA Midwest Region Program, October 9, 2025
Redefining Growth in Modern Legal Marketing
What does it really mean to “lead boldly”? For Marshall and Knupp, it means replacing traditional notions of marketing as a reactive resource with a disciplined, measurable growth engine. Their joint framework—G3: Guard, Grow & Get—offers a simple but transformative model for building sustainable revenue and strong client relationships.
The Power of G3: Guard | Grow | Get
Knupp described how most law firms chase new clients (“Get”) while neglecting the easier, more profitable work of Guarding and Growing existing relationships. The G3 framework reframes revenue generation into three strategies:
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Guard — Re-originate existing business. Retain and deepen client relationships through proactive service, personalized content, and consistent check-ins. Client experience is a revenue strategy.
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Grow — Expand within current clients. Foster collaboration across practices, build cross-selling confidence, and help lawyers know their clients’ businesses as well as their own.
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Get — Pursue new opportunities intentionally. Focus on winnable targets, clarify A-B-C priorities, and ensure every pitch and sponsorship aligns with firm strategy.
Marshall noted that the framework “simplifies business development for attorneys.” By classifying each contact as Guard, Grow, or Get, LP gains visibility into its pipeline and replaces random acts of marketing.
Sales as an Act of Service: Knupp’s mantra—“Selling is an act of service”—anchors the framework. Too often, she said, lawyers approach sales as self-promotion rather than problem-solving. By reframing selling as helping clients achieve their goals, attorneys shift from transactional interactions to trusted-advisor relationships.
That mindset matters. According to industry data shared during the session, only 25 percent of clients would recommend their primary law firm—a sharp decline from nearly 70 percent five years ago. Eighty-one percent say their outside counsel aren’t visibly investing in the relationship.
Guard: Retention is the New Growth - For LP, guarding starts with “continuing to date your clients.” Quarterly check-ins, thoughtful milestone gifts, and proactive feedback loops ensure no client feels neglected. Marshall reminded attendees that “client feedback happens every day—every email, every conversation.” Listening for signals allows marketing and BD teams to pivot quickly and demonstrate value before issues arise. Equipping attorneys with business intelligence about their clients also provides plentiful opportunities for thoughtful discussion-starting questions.
A critical point in client longevity comes when there is uncertainty about relationship partner succession plans. Open discussion with clients needs to happen early and often.
Grow: Collaboration Over Competition - Cross-selling success begins with relationships between lawyers. Knupp observed, “Lawyers who like each other sell more together.” LP addresses this by hosting internal “core 4” meet-ups, practice-group roundtables, and shared client success stories to spotlight wins across teams. When lawyers see peers celebrated for collaborative efforts, cross-practice referrals become cultural, not forced.
Even with collaboration, it can be challenging for attorneys to have a conversation with clients about expanding work. The two shared strategies they share during coaching sessions:
Dream out loud – Let the client in on the goals for growing the relationship. This can unlock a productive conversation.
What would you do if you were LP? – Directly seek client input by asking if you were LP, what would you do? “If you were me, where would you go look for similar clients?” “If you were me, where would you be proactively investing in our relationship?”
Answering “what’s new?” – Don’t waste this opportunity with worn out responses! Instead, promote firm innovations, recent client successes, or firm goals. And don’t say how busy you are (and therefore unable to take on new work!).
Get: Winning New Work Intentionally - Rather than chasing every RFP, LP plays “where we can win.” The team segments prospects by priority, supports pitches with competitive intelligence and mock interviews, and ensures all proposals are truly client-specific. “Templates don’t win,” Marshall said. “Tailored messages do.” The payoff: higher win rates, stronger first impressions, and less wasted effort
Innovation and The LP Way - G3 isn’t just a revenue framework—it’s a mindset that fuels innovation. By giving attorneys permission to experiment (“fail fast”), LP encourages creativity within structure. The firm’s signature culture code, The LP Way, translates these principles into everyday habits: practice-group planning, personal goal-setting, training and coaching, and celebration of wins. Every initiative connects back to client experience and long-term growth
Key Takeaways
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Retention is the new growth. Guarding existing clients delivers higher ROI than chasing new ones.
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Sales = Service. Shift from self-promotion to client problem-solving.
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Framework drives focus. Categorize efforts as Guard, Grow, or Get to align resources.
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Culture matters. Embed growth mindsets through training, coaching, and celebration.
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Lead boldly. Innovation thrives when marketers and lawyers embrace calculated risk.
Authored by: Linda Moss, Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, Dykema and 2025 LMA Midwest Conference Planning Committee Member