The last morning of the 2025 LMA event in Washington DC started with the always entertaining GC panel.  The panel was chaired by GrowthPlays' Tasneem Khokha and featured Eric Dodson Greenberg - GC at Cox Media Group, Belinda Nixon- GC at Internet 2 and Lillian Potter- Head of Enforcement at Ericsson.

Tasneem did a brilliant job of making the session very interactive, and the audience actively participated in the live surveys.  The first of which was linked to GC's impressions of firms and their thought leadership programs.  The audience, unsurprisingly and unanimously, voted that law firm thought leadership was the most important way to influence clients and the GC participants agreed.  They also noted that ‘rankings and reputation are also very important.’  Eric explained that if something goes wrong, then it then falls on the head of the GC, who in turn can point to the brand of the law firm, so it does matter.

Thought Leadership:

• Updates and executive orders are very useful, especially at the moment.
• Guidance on travel restrictions, for example, is super helpful.
• Please also tell us when things don't matter.
• Here are the three things you need to know.
• Tailored information is also much more useful than generic information.
• Subject matter expertise and matching of skills are extremely important.

A key point brought up by the panellist in relation to receiving law firm communications was to keep it human and think about the ‘relationship’.  For example, if there is an event coming up, get the lead partner to send it and make it authentic and 1-2-1.  GC's are more likely to attend as a result.

The GC's also gave some helpful advice around winning their business:

• Remember that when service outmatches brand, service always wins.
• It is a high-stakes approach for the law firm to go around the GC and straight to the CEO- it often doesn't work and puts you on the back foot with an awkward relationship.
• Associates really matter.  It is unrealistic for a senior partner to have all the contact and run the whole relationship because the associates will be doing the work and will be operational contacts.
• Pricing does matter but don't be lazy and just give a standard billable hour-be creative.

It was very interesting to hear that it is very much still a relationship business.  Be human and authentic with a big emphasis on building relationships over lunch and in face-to-face meetings. Billings then don't become a problem if a good relationship is in place.

The team composition is very important when servicing a client and the law firm's approach and work should be aligned to reflect the mission statement of the client.

The smallest piece of work can then lead to much bigger pieces if done well and can often be used as a test bed to prove value and build the relationship.

In summary:

• Thought leadership is the most important tool to get in the door. 
• When service outmatches the brand, then service always wins.
• It is all about building relationships.
• Team composition is huge.
• Small pieces of work can lead to a bigger prize.

Fascinating as always with the GC panel.