A number of mega-trends compelled this veritable sea change. There is increased demand from clients. There is intensified competition resulting from globalisation. There is ongoing and rapid consolidation of the market via law firm mergers. Competitive multidisciplinary practices have even emerged. The growth of online business-to-business legal services is also a significant factor, as is the distribution of new legal "products" (e.g., compliance documents on CD-ROM).

 

In this formidable arena, the business development sensibilities of lawyers, once the most marketing averse among professional services practitioners, are being radically affected in at least three ways.

 

First, law firm marketers have reversed an old paradigm. Lawyers, by the very nature of their work, look backward toward precedent and to the past. In order to prosper today, they have finally discovered a need, not just to innovate, but to be the first to do so and to be recognized for their success.

 

This is a cardinal marketing principle to which the name Bert Hinkler is relevant. Mr. Hinkler was the second person to fly solo across the Atlantic. As the also-ran, he is nearly absent from historical memory. Marketers in professional services are learning that their firms could well suffer the same fate if they persist in monkey-see, monkey-do action plans.

 

And on this transatlantic theme, UK giant Clifford Chance was the first large law firm to undertake a merger with a US firm. No matter which firms follow suit, Clifford Chance will be remembered in the marketplace. It is particularly significant because many leading Wall Street firms confided that, while the idea of a European merger had its charms, they would wait until after someone else went first. Such a conservative strategy can no longer keep pace with the global consolidation of a law firms' own clients. Howrey & Simon, the first law firm to engage in feature advertising, still reaps benefits from the marketplace, ten years after it took that bold step.

 

Second, law firms have finally learned to strategize marketing as an ongoing process. Ten years ago, firms tended to report market research projects or client satisfaction surveys as a fait accompli. The idea was, "we've done it, it was ok, we're finished."

 

In marketing, as in business development, there is no such thing as past tense. The point is obvious: the statement, "we've completed business development" is absurd.

 

Law firms are being taught to emphasise the present tense in all marketing documents and discussions. The competition is changing so quickly that firms are now thinking, "How are we going to constantly adapt and lead?" One cul de sac, however, is the tag line. Law firms all over the world now have snappy little slogans, their 'brands,' which they include with their advertising. But some firms have come to understand that brands are not advertisements. A brand is a promise. It is what their clients and prospects expect. As such, a brand is not ever completed -- cutting-edge law firms incorporate their brands in everything they do, everyday.

 

Third, law firms have finally found new ways to communicate. The Internet changes professional communication every three months. No doubt, firms have taken a step in the right direction with direct communication systems, tailored to maintain real-time flow of breaking legal events and analyses. In some instances, they are relying on outside information distributors. In other instances, they are customizing in-house legal extranets.

 

In 1990, a handful of US law firms including Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and King & Spalding in Atlanta, had online delivery of shared documents to one or two select clients. In 2000, as market forces increase demand, the universe of firms may be divided into those that, for example, have automated newsletters and those that don't. Those that have strategic partners to work the Net and those that don't; those that broadcast seminars in real time online, and those that would never dream of it.

 

Already, a few future-minded lawyers are observing our three fundamental rules as a hedge on future competition. They are striving to be the first to market an evolving brand via widely-read online frontiers.

 

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