I am writing this just over a week after flying home and beating the cold in the US.  It was a great experience and I met a bunch of new brilliant marketing and BD folk in the legal space.  It was also a beautiful setting and backdrop with lovely weather to boot.  The event took place over two and a half days in Florida on the lovely Amelia Island.  Not that i got to see much of it during an action-packed, content-rich two days.  I did manage to leave the hotel early the first morning to get in a slow run along the beach!

Session 1: Using AI For Tailored Client Journeys

The first session I attended was chaired by Jonathan Fitzgerald (Managing Partner at Equinox Strategy Partners) and featured Ian Ribald (CMO at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher) Jennifer Reeves (Lead Innovation Counsel at Quinn Emanuel) and Michael Idinopulos (Co-Founder of MyMai).  The session discussed some very useful real-life case studies around how law firms can harness AI tools to drive efficiencies at their firms.  Ian and his team have been using tools to create informative ‘Battle cards’ for partners so that they can use them for client meetings and pitch meetings.  Using such tools has also proven the BD and marketing function to be very proactive within the firm, thus increasing the equity stake of the department.  Jennifer talked about how they have managed to get significant adoption of their AI tools at Quinn Emanuel.  Whilst there has been a heavy lift with 1-2-1 training sessions, the end result has been 82% weekly usage at the 850 attorney firm!  Jennifer also suggested that you have to ground everything on what the attorneys are working on.

Session 2: Empowering Lawyers with Marketing Analytics for Business Development Success

I attended a second session on the first day in the afternoon, focusing on how to empower lawyers with analytics for Business Development success.  This was a stella panel chaired by Jen Dezso (Director of Client Relations at Thomson Reuters) with Justin Edmondson (CMO Duane Morris), Iris Jones (CMO Akerman) and Kate Stoddard (CMO Kelley Drye & Warren).  Justin suggested that he had split his attorneys into two camps when it comes to data and analytics.  The loud resisters and the quiet resisters.  He advised that it is really important to bring on and get the leaders of the firm involved right from the start.  He also cited that metrics should always be financially linked to show how the needle can be moved with things like cross-selling.  Iris suggested that the try/fail model has to be adopted, but it is best to collaborate on projects like this with IT and business intelligence, as partners really don't like the fail word.  Kate suggested that it is imperative to be involved in partner business plans as marketing and BD can then use data from the CRM for pipeline reporting.  Everything has to be digestible and actionable.  Iris suggested that you can't get all the attorneys in your tent but get some influential ones in and peer influence can be unbelievable.  The panelists also agreed that financial information is very important, so make sure you have a glossary of terms and use other firms as use cases.

 The second day began with some interesting research from the Thomson Reuters team, with one of the main points suggesting that there was a great opportunity for firms and attorneys to really grow revenue but that many of the client relationships are shallow, which makes it very hard.

Session 3: Large Law Vs Mid-Sized Law

The next session explored the world of mid-sized and large law firms and featured Julie Chodos (CMO Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider) Michael Michaelidis (CMO A&O Shearman), Lisa Azzuolo (Chief Strategy & Growth Officer Lavery De Billy) and Nicole Petrie (CMO Proskauer Rose).

Risk aversion at larger firms is a big problem and the smaller firms have operational advantages as a result.  Lisa also suggested that the firm has to have leaders that make key decisions giving confidence to the rest of the firm.  Julie pointed to the fact that there has to be a balance between structure, order and governance whilst her firm nurtures that entrepreneurial spirit.  Michael stated that the team had to work a lot harder at A&O Shearman to avoid bureaucracy.  He and his team are very adept at keeping the tricky bits behind the scenes and away from partners.  At Lisa's firm they are curious, learners and want to drive change.  Nicole suggested that having come from the big four, law firms aren't as connected, and they do need to go through a bit of an evolution.  The pure marketing lens isn't real and at law firms, rallying around clients and growth is the way forward.  Michael agreed and suggested education of leadership happens over time, but it is best to get lawyers to understand marketing value through the client lense.  Julie has recently seen the back of a very successful rebrand at Axinn and talked about how this was made easier and more possible with only 35 partners.  The project was completed in 11 months.  Michael talked about a big plus point of working at a larger firm and that is opportunity, especially within the marketing team.  There are more roles and avenues for individuals to go in, but it has to be weighed up against red tape, business case fatigue and frustration.  Lisa concluded that she missed the reach and scale of working at a larger firm, but it is all about relationships at smaller firms.

Session 4: An Exploration Into International Markets

One of the stand-out panels was well chaired by Jon Brewer (Senior Growth Director Intapp) and featured Angela Petros (CMO Baker Mckenzie), David McClune (CMO Davis Polk) and Kerri Vermeylen (CMO Sidley Austin).  The panel discussed how the international law firm now operates with Angela pointing to the fact that in the past there had been lots of flag planting, but firms are now retreating from certain areas like Asia.  David suggested that there was a de-coupling of globalization.  Kerri suggested that now everything is client centric, including lateral decisions and growth areas.  For Sidley, this has led them to the Middle East.  Kerri went on to suggest that if they can't service a client in a certain area, then they find a trusted firm to partner with instead.  David also made the point that it is very important to focus on 3 or 4 key sectors and concentrate on them instead of being spread too thin.  The panelists all agreed that the landscape has changed and is changing rapidly — there are only two main firms left that have the lock step compensation approach and David argued that the Nylon corridor really only leaves major law firm players in London and New York.  Angela pointed to the fact that whilst things are changing externally, it is still hard to get change management right internally.  It is sometimes best to actually surface data into things that are already happening and changing.

Session 5: Leveraging Technological Tools and Trends

Erin Banks (CDO Husch Blackwell) hosted a very practical and interactive penultimate session on the last day covering technological tools and trends with some great use cases put forward by Andrew Laver (CMO Porzio Bromberg & Newman), Kimberly Rennick (CMO Thompson Coburn) and Zena Applebaum (SVP Market Development Harbor)

Final Session: Exploring Faster Cross-Selling Strategies

Nothing could quite beat the final session though hosted by — well, me!  I had the pleasure of hosting a great panel covering tactics to make lawyers better at cross-selling within law firms.  I was joined by Alessandra Almeida Jones (CMO BCLP) Barbara Malin (CMO Jackson Walker) and Gina Carrioulo (CMO Hinckley Allen).  We discussed how the term cross-selling can be a dirty word within the walls of a law firm but also how much of a missed opportunity it can be.  Strategic lateral hires that clients want can really move the bar on revenue and clever succession planning can often lead to revenue growth opportunities. It was an honor to host such a great bunch.

All in all, a great few days and even the Octopi managed to get some sun.