Thank you to author Kate Kasella, Communications and PR Strategist at Robins Kaplan and Planning Committee member for the 2025 LMA Midwest Conference.
Session Title: Critical Thinking as Client Service: Why Giving Lawyers What They Ask for is Seldom Enough
Presenter: Matt Plavnick, Axis Marketing Strategies
It’s a familiar scene in legal marketing: a lawyer sends a last-minute request, the team scrambles to respond, and everyone walks away a little frustrated — either because the final product fell short or the process felt rushed and reactive.
In his session, “Critical Thinking as Client Service: Why Giving Lawyers What They Ask for is Seldom Enough,” Matt Plavnick offered a different vision: one where marketers don’t just take orders but lead strategically. He challenged attendees to elevate their roles by asking better questions, inserting their expertise earlier, and shifting the definition of “client service” from compliance to contribution.
Here are the key takeaways from this refreshingly honest and practical session.
The Problem with Order-Taking
At the heart of Matt’s talk was this message: giving lawyers exactly what they ask for isn’t always the best service.
Often, we fall into the order-taker cycle:
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Lawyer identifies a need
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Lawyer proposes a solution
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Lawyer contacts marketing — not to brainstorm, but to execute
This approach shuts down collaboration before it starts. And worse, it reinforces the idea that marketers are simply there to carry out tasks, not to guide strategy.
Order-taker traps include:
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Responding too quickly just to appear helpful
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Prioritizing speed over quality to satisfy promptly
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Avoiding pushback to reduce perceived conflict
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Feeling unsupported, and therefore unwilling to challenge ideas
Matt’s message was clear: legal marketers must resist the urge to check boxes and instead act as informed advisors.
Three Major Challenges
Matt addressed the internal and external pressures that keep many marketers stuck in reactive roles:
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Lawyer Skepticism
Many lawyers are hesitant to fully trust marketing or BD teams. They often view themselves as the experts and marketers as support staff there to simply execute ideas. Changing this perception takes consistency, confidence, and better conversations.
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Lack of Time
Proposals often come in at the eleventh hour, making it difficult to step back and strategize. One solution? Templates and tools that prompt collaboration, such as a short list of key questions and a quick follow-up call.
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Our Own Mindsets
Marketers sometimes hold themselves back due to perfectionism, lack of confidence, or fear of conflict. We may not feel empowered to challenge assumptions — and that holds the whole team back.
Reframing Client Service: The Disruptors
To break the order-taker cycle, Matt introduced three powerful mindset shifts, or “disruptors”:
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Who is the client?
The firm — not the individual attorney — is your client. That means your work should align with firm goals, not just individual preferences. If a lawyer’s request doesn’t support broader BD priorities, you have a responsibility to ask why.
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Think like a fiduciary
You’re managing the firm’s time and resources. Just as lawyers act in their client’s best interest, marketers should protect the firm’s investment. Management should expect you to ask hard questions, and they should back you up when you do.
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Ask the questions they haven’t
Critical thinking means being curious — not confrontational. Matt emphasized the importance of asking questions that help lawyers pause and reflect. Ask with sincerity and a shared goal in mind.
Some examples:
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Who is the audience? What do they care about?
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What does success look like here?
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If we do this, how will it help achieve your goals?
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Have you considered other approaches?
These questions not only lead to better outcomes, but they also build trust over time.
From Order-Taker to Strategic Partner
Matt’s session resonated with a reality many legal marketers face daily: pressure to act quickly, produce without question, and avoid friction with attorneys. But what he offered instead was a roadmap toward real professional empowerment.
By asking better questions and aligning our work with firm priorities, we can break the order-taker cycle and reposition ourselves as strategic contributors. The result? Marketing teams that feel empowered, attorneys who feel supported, and work that reflects the true value of what legal marketers bring to the table.
Authored by: Kate Kasella, Communications and PR Strategist at Robins Kaplan and Planning Committee member for the 2025 LMA Midwest Conference.