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Refining Core Skills
As legal marketing professionals look to further position themselves at the center of the
firm’s evolution, the need to consistently refine their set of skills is vital. These skills must be
founded in both the business and practice of law.
The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) — the “authority for legal marketing” with 4,000
members — defined the core set of skills for legal marketers in a foundational resource called the
Body of Knowledge (BoK). The BoK clearly defines the essential and accepted domains,
competencies, and associated skill sets within the legal marketing profession at every level.
This resource helps legal marketers hone their skills, assists legal marketing managers to
develop themselves and their teams, and provides a universal benchmark against which legal
marketers can be assessed. We invited leaders in each of the six BoK core competencies to share
their insights on key trends and developments in each area.
The Business of Law
Those marketing and business development professionals who are appropriately proficient
in the business of law understand the legal profession and are able to evaluate firm financial and
operational performance, build strategies to leverage market opportunities, and implement
practices that maximize performance.
When you look at the specific competencies that define these abilities, you start to see
important areas of expertise that should be familiar to anyone who aspires to lead within a law
firm.
Many competing opportunities exist, which means that legal marketers must play a role in
being able to choose those with the highest return and then collaborate to put them into action. The
work of realizing opportunities must integrate the efforts of multiple departments. For example, a
new practice area will require new promotional materials, but it will also likely involve recruiting
new attorneys to fill in missing capabilities; other functions will also have an important role to
play.
The “business of law” is changing rapidly because of two factors. The first is technology,
which requires efforts across multiple fronts (Technology Management is one of the BoK core
competencies); the second involves the evolving nature of client expectations. Leaders understand
how these two forces will change a firm, and can be prepared to address and exploit them. Leaders
must show the way and not respond after events have already swept by.
Increasingly, an important feature that will differentiate successful and unsuccessful firms
is the capacity to bring all talents to bear, irrespective of their position in the firm and legal training.
Firms must draw on the talents, perspectives, and energies of all attorneys and professional staff;
the perspectives of all roles and responsibilities should inform strategies and tactics.
Client Services
In order to build revenue, firms need to not only focus on securing new business, but also
on retaining current clients. According to Harvard Business School and BTI,1 profits will increase
by 25 percent or more when client retention rates are elevated by 5 percent.
1 Frederick F. Reichheld & Phil Schefter, E-Loyalty: Your Secret Weapon on the Web, HARVARD BUS. REV. (July-Aug. 2000), excerpt available
at https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/the-economics-of-e-loyalty.
198
As legal marketing professionals look to further position themselves at the center of the
firm’s evolution, the need to consistently refine their set of skills is vital. These skills must be
founded in both the business and practice of law.
The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) — the “authority for legal marketing” with 4,000
members — defined the core set of skills for legal marketers in a foundational resource called the
Body of Knowledge (BoK). The BoK clearly defines the essential and accepted domains,
competencies, and associated skill sets within the legal marketing profession at every level.
This resource helps legal marketers hone their skills, assists legal marketing managers to
develop themselves and their teams, and provides a universal benchmark against which legal
marketers can be assessed. We invited leaders in each of the six BoK core competencies to share
their insights on key trends and developments in each area.
The Business of Law
Those marketing and business development professionals who are appropriately proficient
in the business of law understand the legal profession and are able to evaluate firm financial and
operational performance, build strategies to leverage market opportunities, and implement
practices that maximize performance.
When you look at the specific competencies that define these abilities, you start to see
important areas of expertise that should be familiar to anyone who aspires to lead within a law
firm.
Many competing opportunities exist, which means that legal marketers must play a role in
being able to choose those with the highest return and then collaborate to put them into action. The
work of realizing opportunities must integrate the efforts of multiple departments. For example, a
new practice area will require new promotional materials, but it will also likely involve recruiting
new attorneys to fill in missing capabilities; other functions will also have an important role to
play.
The “business of law” is changing rapidly because of two factors. The first is technology,
which requires efforts across multiple fronts (Technology Management is one of the BoK core
competencies); the second involves the evolving nature of client expectations. Leaders understand
how these two forces will change a firm, and can be prepared to address and exploit them. Leaders
must show the way and not respond after events have already swept by.
Increasingly, an important feature that will differentiate successful and unsuccessful firms
is the capacity to bring all talents to bear, irrespective of their position in the firm and legal training.
Firms must draw on the talents, perspectives, and energies of all attorneys and professional staff;
the perspectives of all roles and responsibilities should inform strategies and tactics.
Client Services
In order to build revenue, firms need to not only focus on securing new business, but also
on retaining current clients. According to Harvard Business School and BTI,1 profits will increase
by 25 percent or more when client retention rates are elevated by 5 percent.
1 Frederick F. Reichheld & Phil Schefter, E-Loyalty: Your Secret Weapon on the Web, HARVARD BUS. REV. (July-Aug. 2000), excerpt available
at https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/the-economics-of-e-loyalty.
198
