“One thing.” Heard and Inspired: A Legal Marketing Recap from #LMA19 in Atlanta

...this year, I perceived a seismic shift in Atlanta.

If there is one thing you can count on following the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference, it is a sparkling flood of think pieces, inspired by a collective gathering of the best and brightest our industry has to offer.

Sometimes, I fear my own conference reminiscences bear the uncanny resemblance to “what I learned on my summer vacation” essays written in grade school days. So be it, as these annual sojourns are among the most energizing three days legal marketers spend each year. A “listen to me, please” summer camp for sharp, creative souls who may spend the other 362 days a year talking lawyers out of sponsoring church basement banquets and holiday baked good distributions.

But this year, I perceived a seismic shift in Atlanta. 

I felt like we’d been heard. Solidly. This year, post-conference, I no longer had the urge to complain about being dubbed a “non-attorney.” Nor did I want to tap dance urgently to justify the need for social media in legal.

Perhaps, it’s been this way all along, but this year it seemed like we finally arrived. This year, our capstone session / general counsel panel - rife as always with old saws of “give me value, not trinkets” and “don’t take me to a football game, make my job easier” - added something new: “I don’t just want to talk to your attorneys. I want to talk to YOU. You, legal marketers, with your data, and your insight. YOU ... you get my business. Now, can I go home to my kids, please?”

Others have captured the details of the panel, far better than I (here and here). I walked away with sense memory. And a feeling of professional pride, one which, yes, LMA has always engendered, but which arrived this time with no apology nor rationalization.

Yes, true culture change remains mired in what sometimes feels like “death by a thousand cuts” miasma. That’s corporate life. Yet, we left LMA this year with as recognizable a mandate as I’ve heard. As one GC intoned, gesturing to the assembled marketing pros, “I predict this room will double in size in five years.” 

That said, here is my obligatory “book report” on what I learned - and what inspired me - at #LMA19:

- We are in an industry in need of radical transformation.

The large consulting firms and other alternative legal service providers will avail themselves of any client frustrations over pricing, transparency, access, and responsiveness to shift clients away from traditional legal services to integrated consultancies. We must pitch as a team with predictable pricing models and measurable outcomes.

- GCs are not interested in being entertained. 

They want value add, user-friendly analysis and advice. They get plenty of client alerts. They want insight and anticipation and, chiefly, an understanding of their business priorities. The data is available and apparent. The law firm that will win their business doesn’t invest in tickets or gifts or parties but in actionable intelligence that helps them achieve their business objectives. Do not speak in “if/then” statements.

- The conversation is increasingly occurring online. 

Create a digital footprint that is accessible and speaks in the language of the purchaser, not the purchased. Attorney profiles should show expertise and humanity. Furthermore, those purchasing legal services are looking for diversity and representation. They want to see themselves in their legal providers.

- Law school grads are increasingly going in-house for work-life balance. 

Money is not their sole draw. With that in mind, these individuals will be making more of the hiring decisions. On average, it costs a company $174/hour for in-house legal counsel. They are also continuing to develop AI solutions. GC is tasked as much with controlling costs as ensuring positive outcomes for their organizations. Transparency of pricing and differentiation of value for increased outsourced cost is essential in order to land business.

So, there you are. My annual tithing to the gods of legal marketing in gratitude for three days that fill my intellectual and emotional coffers for the rest of the year. We legal marketers work hard, play hard, care hard. This year’s GC panel felt like a long-overdue external recognition of that. 

It’s nice to have someone else write your “book report” for once.