As Associate Business Development Gains Steam in Big Law, Mayer Brown Expands Networking Program
"It really is empowering from an associate’s perspective, because typically we're put in situations engineered by partners," said Mayer Brown associate Sydni Eibschutz about a networking program.
November 10, 2024 at 06:11 PM
6 minute read
Law Firm Marketing and Business DevelopmentAs Big Law marketing budgets grow, law firms are pouring more resources into business development budgets for associates, finding the expense here worth the investment for junior lawyers.
Business development programs for associates in law firms have "taken off," consultants say. Mayer Brown, for instance, recently expanded its associate-driven business development program, known as the "NextGen" initiative, to New York. Started in 2018 in the firm's London office, it's a series of networking events, drawn up by committees of associates, counsel and trainees in each office, with some support from the firm's business and development arm.
The key, said Sydni Eibschutz, a Mayer Brown associate in the New York office who is spearheading the effort there, is that it's run by and for associates and associate-level employees. It typically involves just them and their counterparts on the client side.
"It really is empowering from an associate’s perspective, because typically we're put in situations engineered by partners," she said in an interview. She added: "We put together this event, with people around our age, our level, and mingle with them without any sort of stress or anxiety about" being overseen or managed by superiors.
The program is already up and running in the firm's Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris, Washington, D.C., and Chicago offices as well in London, where Hannah Cartwright, a senior associate, said they aim to have about four events at the most per year.
Eibschutz said the firm allowed them to host internal events as a sort of first step to building a roster of invitees. She said that involved asking every associate and every counsel in the office to submit potential contacts and asking the partners at the firm to email their client counterparts for names of rising stars within the company.
"I'm a fourth-year associate," Eibschutz added. "And as we’re getting up there in the years, we’re learning how important developing our book of business is. But sometimes it feels so scary and stressful, because sometimes we don’t feel like we have the tools to develop that book of business, or even know where to start. This is a way to get in a room and seamlessly meet each other. And it's stress-free."
|
Starting Earlier
Business and client development is a skill that's not generally taught in law school, noted Deborah Farone, a law firm marketing expert and founder of Farone Advisors. But firms have also started to see the value in getting associates used to thinking about how to spot opportunities and ask for business. She said business development training for associates has "definitely taken off" in recent years.
"One, they [law firms] realize for business development, it makes sense for associates to know their colleagues at the clients who are at their level. It's so important because those people one day could become general counsel or go to another company, so strictly from a business development standpoint, it makes sense," Farone said.
She also said it's "much easier to start this [training] earlier on" rather than having to teach them another way of thinking when they make partner. Additionally, "associates really want to know how a business operates," Farone said. "These are such smart people and they want to find meaning in their work."
The Mayer Brown program has included events with speakers such as former British Olympic swimmer and silver medalist Leon Taylor, events related to Pride Week, as well as more open-ended events: "no speaker, no roundtable, just a party" in the summer, for example, Cartwright said.
"We really want it to be targeted and appealing — what’s going to attract people at the time," said Cartwright, the Mayer Brown senior associate. "But the goal in London has been to do a nice cross-section of events."
There are other networks they can tap into, Cartwright said. It just takes a three-dimensional mindset. "We’ve all been to university. We know lots of people. So just tapping into that," she said.
|
Variation in Training Approach
Mary K. Young, a law firm consultant at Zeughauser Group, noted that every firm is a little bit different in how they develop business. Some firms, for example, have more, large institutional clients, and people dedicated specifically to those clients. So for associates entering the partnership, they're "not expecting them to go out and get a new $100 million client," Young said.
Others are more entrepreneurial, she said, and actively encourage young lawyers to go out and network with current clients or drum up new business with fewer restrictions.
Farone said training programs for associates in business development can also differ noticeably. Some firms just have the partners speak to the associates. Some firms have business development experts speak to their associates.
Then there are firms that have really well-thought-out associate programs: at every stage, they’re being taught new skills. Maybe the first three years, it’s on building relationships, getting to know people. Then, during years three to five, it’s how to ask for business, and maybe as they are approaching partnership, it’s how to spot opportunities and how to spot trends. They all do it so differently," she added.
On average, law firms spend 2.5% of gross revenue (excluding salaries) for marketing and business development — and that continues to rise, according to an August 2024 ALM legal marketing survey report. Over half of respondents in senior positions report that their marketing budget has increased since last year, the marketing report found.
Marketing and business development expenses were the fastest-growing overhead expenses between 2021 and 2022, according to a separate report from Thomson Reuters. And heading into this year, the 2024 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory found a majority of firms were planning to increase their marketing and business professional staff through 2025.
With law firms in an extremely strong financial position now, said Bill Josten, strategic content manager for Thomson Reuters, it makes sense that firms would make business development a focus "because we know we’re in a demand-rich environment with a lot of work." He added that "building those skills and equipping your lawyers to be in a position to capture that work" is worthwhile.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllAmid Ripple of Marketing Moves, Paul Hastings Hires 2 Pros From Skadden
2 minute readLabor & Employment Firms Expect Demand Surge as Bosses Face Uncertainty Over Rules Changes
6 minute readAs Tech-Focused Roles in C-Suite Expand, Newcomers Embrace Big Law Opportunities
Latham, Kirkland Alums Land the Top GC Posts—Here's What It Means for Business Generation
10 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Who Should Pay? Insurer Wants No Part of $30M Sexual Abuse Settlement
- 2Passenger Sues Frontier Airlines for Burns Sustained From In-Flight Beverage
- 3Who Are Trump's Potential Candidates for Attorney General?
- 4Drugmaker Wins $70.5M After Fed Judge Says Generic Sales Were Blocked
- 5Out of Thin Scienter: Protecting Confidential Information in Light of ‘NVIDIA v. Ohman’
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250