In the panel, which dealt with talent retention and attraction issues, panelists explained that firms鈥� marketing partners and their teams are seeing their roles become more critical for attracting and retaining talent through deliberate efforts involving messaging, branding, and storytelling. 鈥淢arketing partners need to be creative and offer ways to tell their firms鈥� stories by connecting the dots throughout their firms,鈥� one panelist said, adding that hiring, integration, and on-boarding of new employees are the key areas where this can take place.

As compensation levels have challenged some firms to keep up, the legal industry overall also is experiencing much less stickiness since the global pandemic, one panelist noted, and this is creating an environment in which many legal professionals are looking to move to other firms.

Marketing partners need to be creative and offer ways to tell their firms鈥� stories by connecting the dots throughout their firms.

Other panelists agreed, stressing that it鈥檚 important for firm recruiters and marketing professionals to understand the motivations of their prospective hires in seeking out a move in the first place. Indeed, one panelist noted, underlying the lateral hiring process is the critical question of why do talented people in the legal industry move? 鈥淭hese firm professionals need to understand this motivation on a personal level and create a narrative around the firm that helps bring top talent over,鈥� another panelist offered.

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Surveys over the years have shown that compensation isn鈥檛 traditionally the main reason for a move, often ranking behind such factors such as feeling underappreciated and a lack of progression. In fact, a firm鈥檚 focus on these other factors 鈥� along with other considerations such as professional well-being, mentorship, flexible working arrangements, and improved work culture 鈥� can create an overall environment that is far more conducive to fostering higher satisfaction among lawyers who then in turn will want to stay at the firm, resulting in the kind of stickiness that has faded from the legal industry since the pandemic.

Not to mention that fostering a work culture that promotes higher satisfaction among its professionals is a much less expensive proposition than paying increasingly higher salaries each year.

Telling your firm鈥檚 story

The panel also observed that it is this internal conflict of feeling underappreciated or not being valued 鈥� whether the feeling comes from brand or origination issues or from problems with management or personnel 鈥� that is critical for firms鈥� marketing professionals to understand. And this is important not only to improve recruitment of top legal talent to the firm, but to mitigate any outward migration of the firm鈥檚 own top talent. 鈥淲hatever the cause that results in lawyers not feeling valued, that feeling is often at the heart of their leaving,鈥� one panelist explained.

A key part of solving this question of why is being able to tell the firm鈥檚 story and leveraging that information to improve recruitment and retention, the panelist added.

Another panelist explained that she saw marketing budgets going up across the board because many new hires are insisting on a level of marketing support that they were missing in the places they left. 鈥淎nd that means that firms need to ask themselves, 鈥楧o we have a marketing team ready and deployed to support our partners?鈥欌�� she asked.

Other panelists agreed that while platforms and support are important, it is the ability to tell the firm鈥檚 story that will determine success much of the time. The panel stressed that those marketing and recruitment professionals who use their resources and cite real-world examples and real-life numbers 鈥� such as examples of past hires or laterals who then thrived at the firm 鈥� often see those factors make a greater impact.

For example, one panelist described how their own firm 鈥� using its own data around previous legal talent hires made over the past decade 鈥� determined which individuals succeeded and what particular attributes those hires had. The firm then was able to go into the market for new hires with a clear blueprint for what kind of talent would best thrive at the firm. In this way, the firm saw some clear strategies it could enact to increase the chances that any new hires would thrive at the firm, the panelist explained. 鈥淲e saw that if we immediately kept new hires engaged in work and didn鈥檛 lose sight of giving new and younger talent a voice in the firm, that we were better able to create that glue that keeps our talent satisfied,鈥� the panelist said.

Another panelist agreed, adding that integration during the on-boarding process is also key. 鈥淔irms should look for organic situations in which to place new talent to help them find those opportunities within the firm,鈥� the panelist noted, adding that law firms need to invest in their marketing professionals to enable them to tell their firms鈥� story. 鈥淓quipping the messengers to be the hands and feet of the organization brings the brand to light,鈥� she said. 鈥淪torytelling is the key.鈥�

Many on the panel agreed that the role of law firm marketing professionals in talent matters is not something that just happens upon hiring but should continue throughout any new hires鈥� tenure with the firm. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for the firm to remember why this or that particular person was hired in the first place,鈥� one panelist said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not just about whether new hires are meeting expectations or are meeting their metrics 鈥� rather, it鈥檚 about whether we, as a firm, are meeting their expectations that we set out when they were hired.鈥�

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Fears of missing out on opportunities or alienating rainmaking lawyers trap some firms in the ambiguity abyss 鈥� that largely undifferentiated position of saying, We are a full-service firm that鈥檚 able to meet the complex needs of sophisticated clients.

Our analysis of the last 15 years of law firm brand positioning, recently reviewed alongside law firm financial data, has produced a compelling argument for law firms to build a differentiated approach to the legal market.

A differentiated approach

There are four ways to think about segmenting and differentiating a firm鈥檚 approach to the market:

1. 1. 1. Expertise 鈥� We are smarter than other firms in this area of law.
      2. Client type 鈥� We understand this kind of client better than other firms (e., public vs. private companies, start-up vs. mature companies, etc.)
      3. Geography 鈥� We offer strength in a defined geographic region.
      4. Sectors 鈥� We can navigate the dynamics of this sector and are well-positioned to serve all client needs in this space.

While law firms need to consider each of these factors as part of their strategic plans, competitive advantages are created when one factor is considered the key strategic priority that then informs the other three. Let鈥檚 look at this concept in action.

Case Study 1: A sector-focused approach to the market

Law firm ABC has a clear sector-focused approach to the market and is heavily entrenched in the technology sector 鈥� from traditional tech companies to fintech and e-retailers, this firm serves them all.

The good news for Law firm ABC is that their stated strategy is strongly corroborated when looking at our research of more than 2,300 General Counsel and senior corporate law department leaders. (Sadly, this isn鈥檛 always the case, which may indicate a poorly executed strategic plan.)

When looking at the types of companies that keep Law firm A top-of-mind, nearly 70% of those senior legal decision-makers are from organizations in a tech-related sector. This, unsurprisingly, also means a large proportion of these companies are based on the West Coast of the United States.

More proof of Law firm ABC鈥檚 effectiveness in executing this strategy comes when assessing the firm鈥檚 ability to gain access to new work or generate more legal demand.

Our Market Insights team undertook a conversion analysis, which involves looking at what proportion of legal buyer respondents who name a law firm top-of-mind then go on to say that firm is the one they consider hiring for different types of legal work. In other words, how well does a firm convert mindshare into market share.

Law firm ABC is twice as effective at turning awareness in new work with legal buyers in the technology sector compared to all other sectors combined 鈥� an impressive proof point that underscores how the firm鈥檚 focus in this sector is more than just lip service. And the firm鈥檚 financial performance? When looking at demand (billable hours), this firm has nearly 50% higher demand growth than the average firm over a three-year timeframe.

Why differentiation works

Of course, lots of factors go into a law firm鈥檚 ultimate success, and brand differentiation is one of the levers that law firms can control. In the case study above, Law firm ABC uses a sector-focused strategy to differentiate itself from other firms in the (extremely crowded) market.

And Law firm ABC is not a one-off example.

Our ongoing research with General Counsel shows that many outside law firms identified by clients as having deep sector knowledge earn, on average, 43% of their clients鈥� external legal spend 鈥� that鈥檚 nearly 2.5-times the typical firm.

With lack of time being one of the most pressing issues that General Counsel and other law department decision-makers face, a differentiated brand helps buyers quickly understand how your law firm can help them 鈥� rather than trying to figure out if yours would be the right firm to call in a specific situation.

For more on how your firm can differentiate in various ways, , which digs deeper into understanding the various ways firms can differentiate 鈥� and .

Yet, many law firm leaders fall into the trap of thinking their firm鈥檚 brand strategy is a nice-to-have element rather than a necessity. They talk about brand positioning as an exercise for the marketing department to tackle 鈥� and one that is typically separate from the strategic business planning conducted by the firm鈥檚 Executive Committee.

When brand strategy is separate from business strategy it is typically less embraced by lawyers, and that results in individuals focused on building their own personal brand at the (unintended) expense of a differentiated firm-wide market position.

What does a distinctive brand look like?

Understanding where your firm sits in the minds of clients is the critical first step to ensuring your brand and business strategy are working together and not undermining your firm鈥檚 true growth potential.

Measuring business success is largely a straightforward undertaking. There are scores of financial and operational metrics that help law firms understand how they are performing year-over-year and against others in the market.

Measuring brand success is more complicated because not every firm takes the same path to reaching their goals. You wouldn鈥檛 assess the brand success of Hyundai and Ferrari using the same metrics. Despite both being car manufacturers, the underlying business strategies and value propositions of these two companies require looking at different brand metrics to understand how well each is positioned for future success.

The same is true for law firms.

Below we will walk through a few variations on how a law firm might assess brand positioning based on their business strategy. At the end of this article, there is an interactive brand strategy landscape to create a custom view of the metrics most strongly aligned with your firm鈥檚 growth strategy.

The common denominator for each market landscape is the horizontal axis. This represents top-of-mind awareness, which is defined as how many buyers of legal services name a particular law firm when asked which five law firms they think of first. This metric is critical to understand how 鈥渟ticky鈥� your firm is in the minds of buyers.

Legal services buyers are more likely to hire the firms they think of first. Additionally, as a firm鈥檚 top-of-mind awareness grows, there is a correlated growth in revenue. This makes monitoring the trajectory of your firm鈥檚 top-of-mind awareness over time a fundamental component of any brand tracking.

The key difference in each brand landscape below is in its illustration of how well a firm converts its awareness into consideration for specific work types. The vertical axis in each chart shows the proportion of clients that think of a firm top-of-mind and say they use that firm for the work type listed. Conversion metrics are particularly effective at taking the firm鈥檚 size out of the picture and can further illustrate if your firm is building relationships with the type of clients your strategy is targeting for growth.

For example, Figure 1 below focuses on cross-border litigation needs through the eyes of global organizations with $1 billion or more in annual revenue.

In this chart, more than 18% of global legal buyers name Baker McKenzie as one of the five firms they think of first when asked as an open-ended question 鈥� this is shown on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis shows that 80% of that 18% also consider Baker McKenzie for their cross-border litigation needs. The takeaway: Baker McKenzie has built a strong differentiated brand for this work type.

In contrast, the law firm Quinn Emanuel sits on the left-hand side of the chart. This means the firm doesn鈥檛 generate as much top-of-mind awareness as Baker McKenzie (not surprising when you look at the headcounts of both firms on a global scale.) However, Quinn Emanuel garners more consideration for cross-border litigation than the firm generates for top-of-mind awareness. Hardly an earth-shattering analysis when you consider that Quinn Emanuel鈥檚 core strategy is to be the litigation boutique that clients call for their most pressing 鈥� albeit not every day 鈥� legal needs.

Which is precisely why this view of the market is one way for these firms to test if their brand position truly reflects their business strategy. Alignment between brand and business strategy drives more efficient growth. However, those firms with a misalignment in brand and business strategy can struggle to overcome pre-conceived perceptions of the firm and often leave the market confused as to what differentiates the firm from other market leaders.

Figure 2 below is a more focused view of the legal market, looking only at the firms that legal buyers based in the United States think of as top-of-mind and how well those firms convert this awareness into consideration for top-level M&A work.

However, many law firms can be even more granularly focused on their market segmentation. Figure 3 goes a step further to look at this same set of variables and shows the firms mentioned by buyers based in the Western part of the U.S.

The right metrics for your firm

The link below will take you to an interactive chart built on data 成人VR视频 collected from more than 1,500 General Counsel and senior legal decision-makers at companies with $1 billion or more in annual revenue.

At the top of the chart are filters you can apply to align the data to the market segments upon which your firm is most focused for 2023.

This allows you to look at the data by:

• • • Region 鈥� Either global, Asia-Pacific, Canada, Mainland Europe, the United Kingdom, or the U.S.
    • Buyer type 鈥� General Counsel or other legal decision-makers. (Firms focused on more transactional work types tend to build stronger relationships with secondary decision-makers, such as the Assistant General Counsel for litigation or Deputy General Counsel for transactions.)
    • Work type 鈥� We鈥檝e provided a select list of the metrics 成人VR视频 tracks in our ongoing research with legal buyers including cross-border litigation, top-level M&A, and firms most-used for high-value work.

Once you鈥檝e determined where within the market your firm is positioned, the next step is to make any needed adjustments. For example, if your firm is not as strongly positioned in certain segments in which it is looking to drive growth, provide your lawyers with the brand message that you want them reinforcing in the market. As the firm鈥檚 brand ambassadors, lawyers have the biggest impact on how a firm is perceived in the market.

When business and brand strategy align, a more differentiated position in the market is established, making it more difficult for competitors to beat your firm in its market segment.

If you’re interested in learning more about taking our insights to the next level and advancing your firm鈥檚 brand strategy, please reach out to Jen Dezso, Director of Client Relations, for next steps on how you can elevate your firm鈥檚 market position with current, unbiased, and irrefutable competitive intelligence.

Those attributes include deep-subject matter expertise, breadth of practice, commercial acumen, and strong sector knowledge, according to the newly published UK Law Firm Brand Index. In fact, UK clients are increasingly seeking those outside law firms that can show they have a determined ability to grasp the strategic business challenges with which clients are grappling. Further, clients are looking for those firms that can demonstrate a solid track record of delivering quality results and viable and future-looking commercial solutions, the Index showed.

Simply put, in the minds of many clients, their outside law firms should be looking forward and leveraging all their skills towards solving the next set of issues that clients are certain are around the next corner. That leaves many UK law firms with very full plates, as they strive to keep up with how the UK鈥檚 move away from the European Union will impact business, trade, and worker issues, as well as the latest shifts in trade and labor issues and the evolving regulatory and compliance landscapes in the post-pandemic, post-Brexit environment. Firms also need to keep abreast of other notable challenges, such as the ongoing and increasingly rapid digitalization of their clients鈥� industries.

The sum total of these concerns are certainly keeping corporate GCs awake at night, a level of concern that clients are passing on their outside counsel. Not surprisingly then, as corporate clients say they expect across-the-board increases in their legal spend after two years of tightening budgets, they make it clear that those law firms seeking a portion of their wallet need to meet a stringent criteria of legal skills and attributes centered around deep market knowledge, strong legal acumen, and strategic business guidance.

Cementing strong relationships

For UK law firms, this new reality means that having a respected and clearly defined brand when it comes to attracting clients and cementing trusting relationships has never been more critical. As law firms seek to help their clients navigate still-uncertain waters, they鈥檙e seeing how important maintaining these high-quality relationships are to the ultimate success of the firm and its client relationships.

成人VR视频鈥� Regional Law Firm Brand Index 2022 showed how those law firms in the UK and around the world that were able to establish themselves in the minds of clients in areas of favorability and brand awareness were able to strengthen these client relationships as a result, leading to those firms seeing the most growth in this year鈥檚 Index. The Regional Index covers the legal markets in five separate countries or regions 鈥� the United States, the United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region. Each Index is based on data compiled in 2021 from 成人VR视频 Sharplegal study.

You can watch Jennifer Dezso, Director of Client Relations at 成人VR视频, breakdown not just the UK legal market, but also the markets in the US, Mainland Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region.

This year鈥檚 UK Law Firm Brand Index, like other Indexes in other regions, exhibited this realignment of client priorities as new names topped a number of the Index charts. In the UK, Clifford Chance topped the Index for first time, improving its Index score by an amazing 44 points and climbing from 9th place in 2020. UK clients said that they had greater brand awareness for Clifford Chance, citing the firm鈥檚 ability to combine its strong technical specialty, client-focused approach to providing solutions, and reputation for handling high-level work as reasons it was so favored.

Further, Clifford Chance was seen as a strong partner in clients鈥� eyes, ready to guide them through uncertainty and help them maximize opportunities in a year of constant change. In short, just what UK clients of all stripes said they were looking for in an outside law firm.

Eversheds Sutherland鈥檚 investment of its time and energy into building a business-savvy approach to the market allowed the firm to keep its 2nd place position from last year. According to clients, Eversheds鈥� ability to understand clients鈥� businesses and develop and deliver pro-active commercial solutions was a top reason it was favored.

Interestingly, two other firms 鈥� CMS and Herbert Smith Freehills 鈥� moved up into the 3rd and 4th place, respectively, after tying for 5th place in last year鈥檚 Index. And both made their move by leveraging different strategic pathways to success: CMS, based on its industry knowledge and ability to generate proactive, practical solutions to clients鈥� problems; and Herbert Smith Freehills by delivering on the solidity and technical excellence of its position as the go-to firm for top-level litigation.

Conclusion

As the world moves into a new, post-pandemic era, what corporate clients want from their external law firms is changing as well. Clients are rewarding those law firms that can demonstrate a deeper focus on factors that will position clients to address future challenges and take advantage of coming opportunities.

Not surprisingly, clients in the UK legal market are favoring those UK law firms that can show how well they understand their clients鈥� business and market sector and can steer clients through the current still-choppy waters and into calmer seas.

You can download the UK Law Firm Brand Index here:

成人VR视频鈥� newly published Regional Law Firm Brand Indexes 2022 (download below) shows how those law firms that were able to forge the components of strong client relationships 鈥� such as establishing high firm favorability and brand awareness in the minds of clients 鈥� saw the most growth in this year鈥檚 Indexes. The new Regional Indexes covers the legal markets in five separate countries or regions 鈥� the United States, the United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Each Index is based on data compiled in 2021 from 成人VR视频 Sharplegal study; and the sample of surveyed organizations is random across each individual country or region with all major industries and sections represented to consistently allow for reliable benchmarking.

The Indexes are not a reflection of technical competence alone, however; it is a reflection of which firms are upper-most in clients鈥� minds, to which firms clients are most attracted, and to which they are most likely to give their most important work. How the regional rankings in the Indexes change over time shows which firms are doing a better job of making and maintaining a meaningful relevant impression with clients through experience, relationship development, and alignment with clients鈥� goals and needs.

Overall, the data shows that clients in almost every country or region are planning to increase the level of their legal spend in 2022. Indeed, it appears that the lingering impact of the pandemic has kept organizations鈥� legal budgets robust and corporate law departments鈥� reliance on outside counsel at a high level. Add to this a booming M&A market in many areas around the world and it鈥檚 no surprise that those firms most quickly climbing up the Index are well-situated in clients鈥� minds for top-level M&A work.

From a brand perspective, a post-pandemic shift was clearly going on across all regions. Traditional law firm differentiators like historic reputations or relationships with individual lawyers gave way to other factors such as clients鈥� need to have fast, trustworthy advice from their external counsel. The rapid response aspect of legal work was increasingly important to clients, especially as in-house lawyer workloads continue to grow.

鈥淚n 2021, as businesses emerged from the crisis, legal service buying patterns focus on forward-facing factors like understanding the client鈥檚 business and knowledge of their sector,鈥� explains Elizabeth Duffy, Senior Director of Global Client Services at 成人VR视频. 鈥淎nd we still see clients prioritizing specialist expertise over historical relationships or reputation.鈥�

Indeed, standing out in today鈥檚 legal marketplace requires firms to hone an ever-evolving set of skills. What once was considered solid differentiators in recent years have turned into table stakes as clients continually push for higher standards in legal service delivery. Simply put, the bar continues to rise. For example, responsive law firms no longer stand out as unique, nor can they tout their responsiveness as anything beyond what is an expected norm. However, newer skills 鈥� like being proactive communicators 鈥� do still allow a firm and its key lawyers to stand out.

Similarly, the idea of understanding your client鈥檚 business is simply expected; and without it, client satisfaction can drop precipitously. However, delivering commercial-ready advice is one of the most effective ways outside law firms can still differentiate themselves and earn a larger share of clients鈥� legal spend.

As more client businesses try to put the harsh depths of the pandemic crisis behind them, legal demand is becoming more focused on these forward-facing factors, such as how well law firms understand their clients鈥� business and market sector. And as we continue to move through 2022 and beyond, we will increasingly see clients all around the world prioritize this kind of specialist expertise and reward those outside law firms that can provide it.

Download 成人VR视频鈥� Regional Law Firm Brand Indexes 2022 here: