We had the pleasure of co-hosting an event with Lexology yesterday. The keynote presentation was an interview with Anthony Rosen, Legal Director at Bird and Bird, formerly in-house at Facebook and Sky.

Here are four things that Anthony suggested content needs, to be valuable and engaging for your in-house counsel clients:

Content should be easy to consume - the 3 minute rule

'The biggest thing is time.' 

Targeted, focused & concise content that gets straight to the point is more valuable than waffling legalese. Many in-house lawyers are constantly running hither and yon, dealing with different issues. Your content needs to be mobile-friendly and digestible.

Anthony suggested the three minute rule. If you can't deliver value in 3 minutes or less, then it's likely that your content won't be well received. Equally as important is that it is easy to tell at a glance what a reader will learn and why it matters.

Content should be timely but considered

There are plenty of services that in house lawyers can subscribe to, to know up to the minute industry news. Larger firms will often employ lobbyists who know what legislation will be passed before it becomes public knowledge. 

So being first to deliver news holds some value, but being the first to deliver the relevant insight to your clients is the goal. Make sure your firm is not the last one to the table, but it is not necessary to compromise value-added to be the very first.

But a month later is too long...

Content has to help your client's decision-making - make it shareable

Anthony explained that in-house lawyers are looking to their external advisors to help them make decisions. Given that most decisions have a number of stakeholders (who are also short of time) easily shareable content is critical. Content that shows the threats and opportunities for their business aids in those decisions.

Useful content is easy for the recipient to share on to the rest of their firm. Consider including a few words on why someone should read this content when you share, that makes the content much easier for the recipient to distribute.

The real art in useful legal thought leadership is demystifying the happenings in the industry and framing that in a way that provides value for the whole firm.

Customise the content for the individual client

Leading on from the point above, do take the time to send a note alongside your content, clarifying its relevance to your key clients. They will hugely appreciate it.