By John Hellerman and Gary Klein National Law Journal May 7, 2007

1. daily updates at nlj.com The weekly Newspaper for The legal professioN monday, may 7, 2007
in focus
law firm recruiting
Marketing plans for laterals
leave.” Tom Lauricella, “Money-Manager Raid been heavily wooed should expect, upon
Customized plans give Sparks Court Fight,” Wall St. J., March 28, joining a new firm, to receive marketing dollars
valued partners a reason 2007, at C1. devoted to significantly increasing his or her
Sound familiar? The same is true for law value during his or her first year there.
to come—and stay. firms. Clients tend to follow their lawyers. Working with new laterals to develop
How about this past holiday season, when strategic, sophisticated marketing campaigns
By John Hellerman The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly enhances their likelihood of success—and
and Gary Klein paid more than $16.5 billion in bonuses? sends a clear message to other potential
special to the national law journal
how does a firm attract top lateral partners “Talent is the most precious commodity on laterals that the firm is dedicated to helping its
with large portable practices and at the same Wall Street; it’s what they sell, so it’s also what professionals expand their practices.
time retain its own rainmakers? The solution they have to pay for,” explained New York Law firms spend millions of dollars in
is the same for both—demonstrate to potential magazine when referring to the comparatively branding campaigns in an attempt to attract
and existing partners that the firm is focused on paltry $11 billion in bonuses Goldman paid and institutionalize clients. Down the hall,
their success. Use marketing plans as recruiting out in 2005. Duff McDonald, “Please, Sir, the recruiting department, operating on the
tools to attract talent and apply the plans once I Want Some More,” New York magazine, assumption that lawyers and their books of
they join. Wall Street clearly gets this. Dec. 5, 2005. business are portable, has little or no marketing
Just recently, Deutsche Bank A.G. hired At law firms, like all professional services support devoted to recruiting partners.
away a group of 16 money managers from organizations, talent is everything. But consider
the difference in how much firms spend A sellers’ market
Amvescap PLC, who together oversaw 20%
of Amvescap’s $465 billion in assets. The Wall branding themselves versus what they spend Free agency has created a strong sellers’
Street Journal commented, “the biggest risk to branding the powerful business platforms that market for laterals. Consider that The American
Amvescap is that clients will pull out their are their individual partners. Lawyer, an affiliate of The National Law Journal,
money.” The reason? “[I]nstitutional investors Firms with genuine respect for their recently reported that between October 2005
are unwilling to keep their money at a firm partners—and clients—never lose sight of the and October 2006, 2,429 partners at the 200
when the managers they’ve been working with fact that clients hire the lawyers they trust, most profitable U.S. law firms changed firms—
as opposed to law firms with letterheads they an average of 12 partners per firm!
recognize. To this end, firms likely to succeed This situation exists because clients control
John Hellerman is a partner at Hellerman Baretz in today’s fluid market are those that view the state of play. As long as clients agree,
Communications (www.hellermanbaretz.com). themselves as “brand marketers” rather than lawyers are free to move as often as they like.
The firm designs and executes strategic the “brand.” To some extent, the legal market has always
communications campaigns for law firms, Think of the way The Coca-Cola Co. operated this way. Time and again, in-house
consulting firms, financial services companies and markets Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Dasani—or counsel say they hire lawyers, not law firms.
their executive management teams. Gary Klein is how Apple Inc. creates marketing campaigns To avoid this attrition and client instability,
the founder and president of Klein Landau & for iPod, iTunes and the Mac. Just as General firms must recognize where client loyalty lies.
Romm (www.klrsearch.com), a legal search firm Motors Corp. bestows a hefty budget to its For law firms, the key to obtaining and keeping
with offices in New York and Washington. premier brand, Cadillac, the lateral who has top clients is keeping their lawyers happy.

2. THe NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL MONDAY, MAY 7, 2007
When clients say they hire lawyers, not lateral has been convinced to join the firm, n A targeted short list of two or three high-
firms, we know that practically speaking, what the role of the marketing department to ensure level industry speaking engagements that will
clients really mean is they hire great lawyers success becomes even more urgent. allow the lateral to network with current and
who work for “safe” firms. But what makes a Many firms employ lateral integration prospective clients and explain the switch.
firm safe? Safe means a firm with an established plans—but these are rarely the types of n Two to three bylined publishing oppor-
reputation for success, a reputation secured marketing plans that will really launch a tunities in industry and trade publications,
through the results its individual lawyers lateral’s practice. They tend to be internally preferably linked to the speaking engagements,
achieve over time. focused plans comprising firm meet-and-greet that reinforce thepartner’s expertise.
By devoting marketing dollars to helping dinners, cross-practice introductions and n Submissions to appropriate awards and
laterals solidify and expand their reputations, office support services such as making sure “Best of” lists, which solidify the partner’s
firms will find that clients come and stay, too. BlackBerries and letterhead have arrived. reputation as a leading attorney and a perfect
In addition to these necessary integration fit for the new firm.
An appealing message tasks, it’s imperative to have a strategic A lateral also should be trained on the firm’s
Smart firms should demonstrate to highly marketing plan in place crafted specifically to key messages, so he or she can communicate
sought-after laterals that when they join the make the most of the firm’s incoming asset. them quickly and easily to clients and other
firms, an aggressive, sustained, customized Such plans should be more detailed and refined potential laterals. Investing time in coaching
marketing campaign will be immediately than the plans used to recruit the lateral in the an incoming attorney on the value message—
initiated on their behalf. This is an appealing first place. “Why is this firm different/better than the
commitment that’s hard to ignore. previous firm?”—is imperative. It will assist in
Savvy candidates understand the impor-
tance of marketing support, and include mar-
keting expectations in negotiations. They
Marketing dollars a smoother transition for clients, and create a
walking testimonial for potential laterals.
ask questions such as: “How many seminars
will you help me produce this year?” And
help laterals solidify An initial marketing campaign and media
blast for a new partner should last between
“How will you position my practice in the
media?” And “What will my personal branding
their reputations. six and eight months. The marketing strategy
then should shift to one of sustainability. With
a successful initial blitz under his or her belt,
budget be?” the partner will have a portfolio of media
Although the acquisition of lateral talent Building a marketing plan placements, an earned “seat at the table” in
represents a significant investment in time and Lateral marketing plans should be the firm, and should be treated as a regular
resources, oddly, many firms fail to engage in comprehensive. Firms should market new partner moving forward, with the expectation
much business strategizing at the outset of the partners for the reasons they originally were of a steady flow of marketing support.
recruitment process. Firms frequently do not approached. If a lateral was enticed to join a
provide recruiters with enough guidance on firm to increase the prominence of a specific Talent that stays
the types of candidates likely to add true value practice group, then those strengths and Marketing departments have evolved
to firms’ current service offerings. contributions to the group should be the focus immensely over the past decade and are ripe
In considering potential laterals, law firm of a campaign. to anchor the firm’s recruitment and retention
managers should carefully examine their long- Some elements in a six- to eight-month lat- efforts. Marketing should play a key role in
term marketing plans, and identify and select eral marketing/communications plan include: helping to recruit laterals, establish them upon
candidates based on these needs. The Procter n A deep-dive analysis of the incoming arrival and maintain their success.
& Gamble Co. would not have purchased partner’s contacts, indexed to potential In an era of free agency, talent is everything.
Gillette without a strategic marketing plan in “touch-points” (i.e., conferences, charities, The firms that do the best job of articulating
place to leverage it. Smart firms ask difficult professional organizations, etc.). why lateral superstars will fare best with
questions, such as: “Where is our practice n A firm-produced feature profile on the them—and then back up their plans with
going, and what talent do we need to make it group or individual in order to coordinate strategic, focused marketing support, will find
stronger?” “What will the debt market look like the marketing campaign around a basic, they are able to successfully institutionalize
in five years, and who do we need to capitalize easily communicated story. These “features” the talent they need to attract the clients
on that?” “What business could we get with are extended, character-driven bios that they want. nlj
partner ‘X’ that neither of us can currently get highlight past achievements as well as the
on our own?” fresh opportunities presented by the new
Marketers, working with recruiters, use firm’s platform. Reprinted with permission from the May 7, 2007 edition of
answers to these sorts of questions to define the n Prepared research and analysis of target The NaTioNal law JourNal. © 2007 alM Properties,
inc. all rights reserved. Further duplication without permission
firm’s needs and create convincing rationales prospects and existing clients that will benefit is prohibited. For information, contact 212-545-6226 or visit
for potential candidates to consider. When a from the new partner’s expertise. www.almreprints.com. #005-05-07-0004