Page 71 - Professional Services Networks
P. 71
The Handbook: Law Firm Networks
Webinars Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Meetings with Other Members
Receptions No No Yes Yes
Joint Initiatives No Yes Yes Yes
Seminars with Other Members No Yes Yes Yes
Joint Ventures No No Yes Yes
Secondments of Professionals No Yes Yes Yes
Free Advice Policy No No Yes Yes
Visits While Traveling No Yes Yes Yes
Use of Offices No No Yes Yes
No No Yes Yes
No No Yes Yes
External Awareness and Engagement Marketing
External marketing and public relations are generally limited to Level 4 networks. They require a
professional staff and a substantial budget. While this function could be outsourced, this would require an
even larger budget.
Why would a network want to do external branding? There are four reasons in the accounting profession:
(1) Accounting networks are competing against one another for the same mid-market clients. To the
degree that the mid-market client is aware of the network through external communications, this
enhances the reputation of the members and the network itself.
(2) Being recognized externally increases the fees that firms can charge their clients.314 If the
members of the accounting networks are all large firms, they can effectively compete in quality and
credibility with their much larger networks.
(3) Networks must maintain their positions within the accounting profession. When a network’s
reported revenues decrease, this is news in the profession.
(4) The perceived value of the network increases when professionals at the member firms see their
network externally presented. People want to identify with an institution.
The reasons are somewhat different in the legal profession:
(1) Networks are not written about as often as the large law firms. When a large legal firm hires one
attorney away from a competitor, this is news and publicity that enhances the name recognition.
When a network adds five new members with 500 attorneys, this is not news. However, when a
network has a recognized brand, it is more likely that the media will write about the network. This is
free publicity.
313 Van Alstyne, supra note 9, citing J. Rockart & J. Short, The Networked Organization and the Management of Interdependence, in THE
CORPORATIONS OF THE 1990S 189-216 (M. S. Morton, Ed. 1991):.“It can commingle distinct internal structures through lateral communication just as
it can intermingle network and external structures through tighter coupling.”
314 Id., citing M. Firth, Price Setting and the Value of a Strong Brand Name, 10 INT’L J. OF RES. IN MARKETING 381, 381-386 (1993); see also infra
Appendix 2.
314 Philip Smith, Top 35 Networks 2015: The Survey, ACCOUNTANCY AGE, www.accountancyage.com/aa/analysis/1776670/top-35-networks-2013-
the-survey.
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Webinars Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Meetings with Other Members
Receptions No No Yes Yes
Joint Initiatives No Yes Yes Yes
Seminars with Other Members No Yes Yes Yes
Joint Ventures No No Yes Yes
Secondments of Professionals No Yes Yes Yes
Free Advice Policy No No Yes Yes
Visits While Traveling No Yes Yes Yes
Use of Offices No No Yes Yes
No No Yes Yes
No No Yes Yes
External Awareness and Engagement Marketing
External marketing and public relations are generally limited to Level 4 networks. They require a
professional staff and a substantial budget. While this function could be outsourced, this would require an
even larger budget.
Why would a network want to do external branding? There are four reasons in the accounting profession:
(1) Accounting networks are competing against one another for the same mid-market clients. To the
degree that the mid-market client is aware of the network through external communications, this
enhances the reputation of the members and the network itself.
(2) Being recognized externally increases the fees that firms can charge their clients.314 If the
members of the accounting networks are all large firms, they can effectively compete in quality and
credibility with their much larger networks.
(3) Networks must maintain their positions within the accounting profession. When a network’s
reported revenues decrease, this is news in the profession.
(4) The perceived value of the network increases when professionals at the member firms see their
network externally presented. People want to identify with an institution.
The reasons are somewhat different in the legal profession:
(1) Networks are not written about as often as the large law firms. When a large legal firm hires one
attorney away from a competitor, this is news and publicity that enhances the name recognition.
When a network adds five new members with 500 attorneys, this is not news. However, when a
network has a recognized brand, it is more likely that the media will write about the network. This is
free publicity.
313 Van Alstyne, supra note 9, citing J. Rockart & J. Short, The Networked Organization and the Management of Interdependence, in THE
CORPORATIONS OF THE 1990S 189-216 (M. S. Morton, Ed. 1991):.“It can commingle distinct internal structures through lateral communication just as
it can intermingle network and external structures through tighter coupling.”
314 Id., citing M. Firth, Price Setting and the Value of a Strong Brand Name, 10 INT’L J. OF RES. IN MARKETING 381, 381-386 (1993); see also infra
Appendix 2.
314 Philip Smith, Top 35 Networks 2015: The Survey, ACCOUNTANCY AGE, www.accountancyage.com/aa/analysis/1776670/top-35-networks-2013-
the-survey.
- 59 -
