C##p from Outside Counsel
Posted: March 28, 2011 Filed under: Lawyer Marketing, Outside Counsel Leave a comment »Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.
Leo Burnett
When I was outside counsel, I assisted a large client in managing their litigation while they were searching for a new in-house attorney. As part of the engagement, I went through the files of the previous litigation manager. One of the file labels has stuck with me to this day: “Crap from Outside Lawyers.” In it, were all of the carefully worded, beautifully formatted legal updates and marketing materials from various well-regarded outside counsel. My guess is that those firms had no idea their good work ended in such an ignominious place.
I think it is fair to say that all in-house attorneys have a similar folder; mine is an Outlook folder labeled “Deleted Items.” There has been much written about client updates, some good, some not. Let me give you one in-house attorney’s perspective on what amounts to direct-mail marketing from outside counsel.
If you are trying to update your clients on recent legal decisions, you better be fast. In fact, you better be first. It is fun to watch the updates on an important Supreme Court decision or a new statute appear in my inbox. It reminds me of the Amazing Race television show. There is typically one firm who beats all of the others (hint, its initials are WLRK) and then others dribble in over the next couple of weeks. Now, the ones that are sent later may be more thoughtful, more perceptive, but, unfortunately, few if any in-house counsel are going to bother to read those (you know, limited time, how many updates can you read, etc.).
Which brings me to my second (obvious) point: we all have limited time and are deluged with marketing materials. If you are looking for an effective way of piercing through the marketing fog, I suggest a broadcast email with an untailored, mini-law review article on a new case is probably not going to do it. I had a CEO once who would not read an email that took up more than one computer screen. It’s a good guideline. And, fill the screen with a pithy distillation and a brief explanation as to how the case may be relevant to this particular client and you actually may get someone to read it. Don’t have time? Some of your competitors do. And, with all of the money you are spending on marketing, my guess is that some can be devoted to communicating to your clients in a manner that they will appreciate.
Create Your Mentors
Posted: March 24, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Comments OffA lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.
- Unknown
Since ours is one the oldest professions, I have always believed that mentoring is a key to success. Whatever I have achieved was with the help of great mentors. At each of my legal jobs I had at least one and often several great mentors. For instance, when I was appointed General Counsel in 2002, I had the luxury of being under the wing of our CEO and Chairman, Dick Notebaert, as well as two of his key team members, Barry Allen, then the head of HR, and, Oren Shaffer, the company’s CFO. Between the three of them, they had over a 100 years of leadership experience and without their guidance I would not have succeeded.
My luck with mentors continued even after those three departed the company, as I had the privilege to learn under our next CEO, Ed Mueller, a creative and intuitive leader. He broadened my understanding of the role of a general counsel.
And, early on, I had several other mentors to whom I literally owe my career. Some were lawyers with whom I worked. Some, believe it or not, were clients, and some were colleagues.
I have picked the brains of my mentors on legal issues, management issues, organizational design issues, career development issues, you name it. And, no matter how busy they were, they always took the time to provide wise counsel. Why? Because I asked. Which is the key point to this post: the responsibility for mentorship is as much, if not more, on the mentee, as the mentor. Seek out mentors; it is your career, not theirs.
Speaking of mentors, the Program on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School is conducting a groundbreaking empirical survey analyzing mentoring practices in the legal profession. Please take their survey, it can help all of us to learn more about effective mentorship in the legal profession and develop a more nuanced perspective than the one I have articulated in this post.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Lawyer
Posted: March 23, 2011 Filed under: Lawyer Marketing, Outside Counsel | Tags: Lawyer Marketing, Outside Counsel 2 Comments »Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.
– Louis D Brandeis
Live by publicity, you’ll probably die by publicity.
– Russell Baker
Super Lawyer, Law Dragon, Chambers, the list of the “best lawyers” goes on and on. There is no doubt that these businesses are brilliantly conceived: rank members of arguably the most egotistical profession in the world and then charge those ranked for taking out ads in publications announcing the rankings. Talk about selling ice in hell. But, do in-house lawyers take these rankings into account when making hiring decisions? Once, years ago, long before the “best lawyer” publications became prevalent, we were looking for an attorney with a very unique specialty. I went on the internet and found a lawyer who was ranked one of the top attorneys in that specialty by a magazine written for directors of public companies. Sure enough she turned out to be superb and we continue to work with her today, almost a decade later. But that was the first and last time I ever paid attention to these rankings. There are just so many lists these days and they all contain at least a few selections that are such head-scratchers that I find it hard to take them seriously. Having said that, as a general counsel, I have to admit that I have wondered when one of our outside counsel does not appear on these lists. Is it a sign of a bigger problem? Perhaps they have so alienated their fellow members of the bar, that they only appear on peoples’ s##t lists.
What would be great is if general counsel would be willing to provide data on the amount of fees they paid to attorneys with different specialties over the last 5 years. That way we could really see where the GCs’ wallets voted. This, much more than a half-hearted response to one of the numerous surveys out there, could actually generate data that would help all of us make our buying decisions.
Great Post On Job Titles
Posted: March 17, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Ben Horowitz has a great post on job titles and start ups. The points he makes are as applicable to big companies as well, although they will probably fall on deaf ears. In my first job out of law school, when a colleague went to the administrative officer to complain about titles, the administrative officer quickly responded by saying: “You can call yourself whatever the [blank] you want, but you are not getting a raise.” That response has always stuck with me. While I agree with the premise of Ben’s partner, Marc Andreessen, that titles matter, in the end, truly extraordinary performers are those who focus on the work, not on their name plate.
You Are Never As Smart As You Think
Posted: March 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized 7 Comments »I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
– Woodrow Wilson
When I was appointed General Counsel at Qwest in 2002, I automatically became smarter and more articulate. Or, at least, that is the way people acted in my presence. Of course, since my abilities (such as they were) had not changed one iota, I soon realized that people were less willing to question me, point out when I was wrong, and, most importantly, ask for clarity when I was unclear in my direction. And this was true not only with the lawyers in our department but with many of the outside counsel with whom we worked. This is one of the key perils of leadership and it can be particularly perilous for general counsel. If your inside and outside legal teams are not expressing their disagreement, asking for clarity when your direction is hazy, simply put: you are sunk.
Somehow, as a leader, you need to create an environment where questions are welcomed. It must be one that is respectful, so that people feel they can raise issues without getting their head lopped off (which is a challenge due to the pressure and time constraints under which in-house attorneys typically operate). Disagreeing without being disagreeable is not easy. It helps greatly if you hire people who are willing to mix it up. At Qwest we like to say, we have thick skin and it is all scar tissue. An environment where there can be aggressive push back and the advocatus diaboli is welcome is ideal. But it takes a great team (inside and out), who has worked a long time together to cultivate that culture.
What are some of your strategies to promote an environment that encourages healthy dialogue?
