It may be old news to say that the traditional law firm model is changing as we have all read about or experienced the ongoing shift in the legal sector. However, it is worth stating that the legal sector is undoubtedly going through its most significant change in recent times.
The genesis of this market shift is rooted in the aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis which forced law firms to re-think their operational models and look deeper for efficiency gains as their clients continued to squeeze on price. Additionally, firms needed to find new ways to engage their clients in an increasingly competitive market, which has seen entrants from the Big 4 accounting firms and the evolution of new legal companies. And finally, the rise in legal technology solutions, to deliver the desired operational efficiencies, is driving competition in ways that law firms have never seen before and with a profound impact.
All these factors have come together in a perfect storm that is driving law firms to evolve. While the focus has been on delivering efficiencies to the legal process using a range of technologies, the most successful and forward-thinking firms are leaving no area of their operations un-touched, including their business development and marketing capabilities. Turtl, in conjunction with The Lawyer, surveyed business development and marketing professionals at leading law firms to ascertain their approaches to the production and delivery of thought leadership, client briefings and other marketing collateral. The key aims were to gain an understanding of the levels of satisfaction with their current materials and rates of client engagement, to understand the key pain points they face and to outline what factors could contribute to a better future.
The survey is based upon 68 responses from senior business development and marketing professionals and partners from the top 200 UK law firms. Survey responses were backed up by one-to-one interviews with marketing professionals to uncover the key issues facing the effective use of thought leadership and other digital marketing activities.