Raw and Unedited: A General Counsel Tells How Companies Hire Law Firms

By Larry Bodine, Operator, LawMarketing Portal.

Reprinted with permission by The LawMarketing Portal.

Stripping away the B.S., Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lucinda P. Long told the unvarnished truth about how law firms get hired. After blistering the hides of lawyers and marketers, she also spelled out effective marketing approaches to reach general counsel.

"If you interact with an in-house lawyer and are obnoxious and hard to deal with, you will never be hired by that company, and the in-house lawyer will tell all his friends," said Long, who is the top lawyer at Valley National Bank in Wayne, N.J. "We all know each other and talk to each other about the creepy lawyers we've dealt with, and the good lawyers we've dealt with. In-house lawyers are big gossips."

Long spoke at the recent program "Revolutionizing Client Management and Retention for Law Firms" sponsored by Fulcrum Information Services Inc. in Philadelphia. Her topic was "Law Firm Marketing: What Works from a Client's Point of View?" She was blunt as she set out her Ten Commandments.

1. Don't waste my time. "Before you communicate with me, know about my company's business and the kind of legal work I need done," she said. "I expect lawyers to know what's going on in my business. Don't bother calling me if you don't know what I hire lawyers for."

2. Convince me about the areas of law you really know, and admit those areas you don't. "If you don't really know a particular area of the law, tell me," Long said. "But if you have a colleague who does know the law, refer me to that person. Even though your colleague may handle the case, you will get brownie points for having been honest and helpful."

3. Lose the big ego. Lawyers who are jerks will develop a bad reputation. "Understand that in-house lawyers ask each other what law firm they would recommend. That's how you get your reputation."

4. Tell me what actual experience you've had doing what I'm considering you for.   Be ready to explain what the outcomes were. "Also, you need to be honest if your firm can't afford to work for us, or if it's the kind of work you don't want to do," she said. "Tell me this up front."

5. Describe your existing clients in my business and the kind of work you do for them. "Give me specific information about practice groups, names and specialties, telephone numbers, and examples of legal work you've done for specific clients."

6. Don't assume that I'm an ignorant, second-rate lawyer because I'm in-house. She was expressing the widespread resentment that in-house counsel feel about richly-paid lawyers with corner offices in private practice. "I probably know as much or more than you do about the law that is relevant to my company." At seminars, "don't' speak to in-house counsel like they're a bunch of idiots."

7. In your marketing efforts, give information about legal developments relevant to my company's business. Long said that speaking at a seminar is an effective marketing technique for lawyers. "But if you're going to do it, do it right. There is nothing worse than coming unprepared with no materials." The seminar should give detailed, thorough information about the developments, with detailed charts, summaries and suggested action plans.

8. Don't send me presents. "And don't think that I can be persuaded to hire you by your buying me a nice lunch, although having lunch is probably a good way for us to get to know each other."

9. Don't send me uninformative firm brochures. "Don't send me materials that obviously cost a fortune and are full of puffery and arty blurred photographs," she said. "Law firm brochures should not look like perfume ads. I'm hiring lawyers, not advertising agencies." A good firm brochure should focus on whom your firm represents, not on who you are. However a brief description of your specific areas of practice along with a photo and phone number is useful.

10. Always Remember - you may be General McArthur, but I'm Harry Truman.

Client Focused Marketing: Know Your Target

Despite all the warnings, Long encouraged law firms to go after her business. "My bank is a $7 billion company and we spent $5 million to $6 million on outside lawyers," Long said. "So there's a lot of money to be made from small law departments."

She suggested trying a personal approach. One New York lawyer called her because he had read that her bank had expanded into New York by buying another bank, and called to introduce himself. "I was impressed that he read the newspaper and bothered to call me," she said. Another lawyer called her and offered to give free in-house seminars to bank employees. "He offered a concrete service," she said. "He is going to get my business because he's earned it, and demonstrated that he knows what he's talking about."

Sometimes a company's business executives hire law firms, not the in-house lawyers, according to Long. "Sometimes the best investment you can make is to join a country club where the CEO plays golf," she said.

Her key point was to know the client's business. "Know the current business trends, significant news events and hot topics in the client's industry," she said. "The primary goal of all in-house counsel is to meet business needs."

Offer a sample. "If a lawyer calls up and says let me do your bread-and-butter cases, I'll give them a sample case. If they do it well and they're cheaper than their competition, I'll give them more work," Long said. Law firms should be willing to give away some free advice or to answer a question without billing the company for it. "Regarding my bank's expansion into New York, my favorite lawyer told me what law books I needed to have, how much they cost and the phone number to order them. He sends me articles about changes in banking law. When I have a problem, guess who I'm going to call?"

Martindale-Hubbell. "When I want a lawyer out-of-state, the first place I look is in Martindale-Hubbell," Long said. "I go to their web site. Make sure your what you have in Martindale-Hubbell is not one sentence." Set out sufficient detail since in-house lawyers use it to locate out-of-state attorneys.

Networking. She advised lawyers to focus on where in-house lawyers go and what they read. "Don't go to the state bar association meetings, because the in-house counsel don't attend," she said. Instead, lawyers should attend the state corporate counsel association. "Making all those speeches at the bar association won't do you any good."

ACCA. Lawyers should get a copy of the American Corporate Counsel Association directory of in-house lawyers. "If I have a matter in Seattle, I look up who is an ACCA member there who works in a bank. I especially call women. I tell them about the legal problem I have and ask whom I should hire."

Seminars. Grade: Very Effective. Giving seminars at the law firm is fine so long as they are free, scheduled at convenient times (usually mornings) and address topics clients are concerned about (instead of what the firm is promoting). Speakers must be very well-prepared with handouts.

Publicity. Grade: Effective. Public relations matters. Getting your litigation victories, big deals and professional awards reported in legal journals is a good idea. "In the New Jersey Law Journal they have a list of Big Deals and Big Cases. She recently needed a lawyer in a particular specialty. "I went through the last three or four months of issues and looked for the lawyer whose name came up the most. That's whom I hired," she said. "I wanted to hire the person who actually won the big verdicts."

Speaking. Grade: Effective. Use speeches to convince business people and in-house counsel that you are an expert on a particular subject, and that you have good speaking and organizational skills. The best forums are state chapters of ACCA and industry groups.

Events and Entertaining. Grade: Effective to build generalized good will. Be original and creative, like dinners with celebrity speakers, local sports outings, harbor tours, tours of museums, theater outings, events for clients and their families. At sit-down affairs, have pre-arranged seating to mix lawyers with clients. "Many clients feel that cocktail parties of short duration are generally not worth the effort to attend."

Writing. "Recently I needed someone to explain how federal child support guidelines affect banks. I saw an article in the New Jersey Law Journal about it. I called up the author and hired him to do the work."

Newsletters. Grade: Highly Effective. Newsletters must be timely. "If you're going to make an impact, be the first one to report the news. If you're the fifth firm to report something, the newsletter goes into the garbage. But the first or second, I'll save."

The newsletter must do more than just state what the law is. "In-house counsel want to know 'What do I have to do about it? Does it represent a real risk?' Give me an action plan. I want to know what I have to do to respond, whom I have to train and what changes I need to make in my loan portfolio."

It's better to have fewer topics, treated in a thorough (yet brief) and sophisticated way, than superficial summaries. Include more information and less promotion.

Always provide a name and telephone number for the firm attorney whom the client can call to discuss an article.

Web sites. Don't bother spending money to put up a web site unless you include thorough coverage of a legal specialty. A "brochure" site can actually be harmful, because it says is that the firm is not interested in a particular practice. "Frankly, the word is out on which web sites are good," she said. "We're looking for legal information. We only want to 'steal' the information you have obtained and read articles."

Refer Business to the Company. See if you can improve your relationship with the company by sending business to them. "We never do business with lawyers who don't refer business to us. That's a criterion in whom we hire," she said.

Alumni networks. Be careful how you end relationships with attorneys in your firm, because they could potentially be an important source of future business. Departing lawyers often wind up as in-house counsel. Some law firms stay in touch with "alumni" and hold events and send newsletters for them.

Call on the Phone. If a company hasn't given your firm any business in a while, call up and ask why. "You'll find in-house counsel are pretty blunt and will tell you why. You'll also make them feel very guilty and you'll get the next case that comes along," she laughed.