The tips ain’t just for women lawyers. Every lawyer should pay close attention to what several in-house women lawyers have to say. Their suggestions on tips for legal marketing when pitching for new business are recapped in an article by Stacy West Clark on The LawMarketing Portal, based on a recent meeting sponsored by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section and Pennsylvania Bar Association.
I am covering this in two posts for emphasis and brevity purposes. This one will cover what these in-house counsels do not like, the second will address what they do like or want. The attorneys on the panel were from Comcast, GlaxoSmithKline, Gannet Co., Inc. and Corporation Service Company.
They suggest you don’t do the following:
*Pitch the firm, rather you should detail the individual lawyer’s skills,
*Assume they know what you do, and the experience you have,
*Include poorly written letters (and presumably bios) detailing a lawyer’s experience,
*Attempt to go around them (Boy, do I have a story of how this backfires, but it’s for another day), and
*Tell them they “can’t do” something (they want your advice on how they can get it done or “here is what will work” instead), and
*Don’t send them news that is days old (they probably already know about it, so your newsletter, alert or white paper, if not timely, is a waste of their time).
Next Time: What you should do when trying to get hired.