The Future Law Firm Leaders Shared Interest Group (SIG) serves in-house legal marketers with fewer than five years of in-house legal marketing experience by providing them with support, mentorship, peer networking opportunities, and relevant training.
On March 19, the Future Leaders SIG hosted its second brownbag program of 2015,“Demystifying Law Firm Finance.” Susan Schonfeld, practice group director at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, provided an inside look into the economic side of law firms. The key takeaways from the event were:
- The billable hour is everything in the business of law; think of it as the widget or product of a firm.
- Compensation models vary greatly by firm, but it is important to find out how your firm’s model works as this shapes the culture of the firm and will help you understand what motivates your attorneys.
- The best way legal marketers can directly contribute to the financial process is through RFPs, which have become a pricing game; they are the intersection of finance, business development, and marketing, and you can provide a true value add by helping to develop and include cost-efficient teams.
- Law firm financial lingo is a foreign language to most. Learning the terms (such as direct costs, indirect costs, leverage, pace, profitability, realization, write-downs/offs/ups, etc.) and understanding the billing process will make you more effective in your role.
- Marketing budgets are, for the most part, unrealistic, and there is a lack of pressure on management to address the issue; so don’t be surprised when attorneys ignore them.
If you are interested in joining the Future Leaders group or being added to our mailing list, please contact Kara Kane at kkane@steptoe.com.
By Lara Knowles, Marketing Specialist – Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP for the March/April 2015 issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter.