Dustin Cole at the Massachusetts Bar Association

As I said in my last post, last week I attended and spoke at the Massachusetts Bar Association Annual Conference in Boston. As always, the conference was productive on a number of fronts, including the opportunity to listen to the other presenters on the Law Practice Management track.

One of those presenters was Dustin Cole of Attorneys MasterClass, who talked about the business of practicing law – a topic near and dear to my heart. He told us that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is projected that unemployment won’t go below 10% until 2019!

This is a difficult time for lawyers because of pressures from inside AND outside of the profession. Nonlawyers are providing services pereviosuly provided by lawyers. There are more lawyers and lawyers are retiring later. Cloud computing is reducing costs, technology is allowing others to get into the practice, and even larger firms are virtualizing. All of that means that lawyers who may not have continued in practice before may be staying in the profession, driving competition up even more.

What does that mean in terms of law firm marketing? According to Cole, everyone’s perspective has changed. The new consumer is more like a depression-era person: less trusting, cynical, more practical, more careful. They shun shows of wealth and are seeking more self-help. As a result, lawyers need to be more selective, and they need to make sure clients know they sell VALUE, not TIME. Clients don’t really want to buy time. But if lawyers insist that time is what they are selling, it’s going to be that much more difficult for lawyers to distinguish themselves.

Cole also reminded lawyers that clients will go to someone they trust and pay them more than they would to someone they don’t know for the same work. Lawyers need to distinguish themselves – after all there are 1.2 million lawyers. To be successful, lawyers need to narrow their practices to distinguish themselves and change the perception of the lawyer’s value to the consumer.

All of this means that lawyers today are challenged to be more entrepreneurs than technicians and mere administrators. Cole cautions that lawyers should stop focusing on the process. Lawyers need to focus on what they are really selling – and it isn’t legal work. He emphasized that lawyers need to know not only what makes them different than their competitors, but what makes them better. He admonished lawyers not to focus on what everyone else is doing, because that breeds merely average lawyers. 

Lawyers need to know their competitive advantage, their pricing in the market and their profitability. They need to know what segments of their practice are the most profitable and the most marketable and focus on them. Think about social, cultural, ethnic, industry focus – what is most natural and logical for you and your firm?

I had to chuckle when I heard Dustin Cole say, “I started out teaching marketing, but too often, lawyers said they didn’t have enough time to market,” since that’s a common problem I encounter with my clients.

I often work with my clients on prioritizing and focusing on their highest value activities. But what are they? According to Cole, the hierarchy of value of an attorney is:

1. Client development
2. Client relationships
3. Strategy
4. Managing the team to get results
5. Accomplishing high level legal work (defined as work only you can do)

What are the most cost-effective marketing avenues for lawyers? Cole thinks they are referral marketing, websites and very targeted marketing. But referral marketing requires that you pay attention to your referral sources and that you educate them about what you do and the kinds of clients you’re seeking.

All in all, I enjoyed the presentation and the reinforcement of some important concepts for all lawyers today, regardless of the size of their practice.