Competition. Disruption. Pandemic. As cliché as it sounds, today more than ever, law firms must differentiate to thrive. Look no further than any day's headlines and you will see that the pressures on law firms are immense. At Goodwin, we have been thinking differently about what it takes to succeed. Here are eight experience-based questions about the business of law that you should be asking yourself. Spoiler alert: It is all about client value.

What else have you got? Excellence in the practice of law is table stakes. Clients expect it and lawyers focus relentlessly on it. So what else do you have to give? Five years ago, we began to offer our firm's operational (i.e. non-legal) expertise to clients, free of charge. This started with consulting on technology assessment, pricing and knowledge management and grew to include diversity, equity and inclusion; pro bono; project management; marketing and communications; and, more recently, business continuity and reimagining real estate. Consulting on the business of law is where you can add immediate value to your clients.