In a world of globalization, technology and ever-evolving customer demands, change has shifted from a specialty to an imperative trait of today's business leaders. This message resonated at the annual Legal Marketing Association Southeast Conference themed "Change Agents" in Birmingham, Alabama, which generated well over 200 attendees, speakers and sponsors from all over the United States. With key speakers such as Eddie Hartman, co-founder of LegalZoom and partner at Simon Kucher & Partners; Natalie Bolling, senior employment attorney at Vulcan Materials Co.; Erica Sheffield, senior counsel at Honda Manufacturing; and Aldos Vance, general counsel at Altec Industries, the importance of change and diversity in the legal industry stood firm.

Here are a few key takeaways to stay relevant and competitive:

Become Agents of Change and Agents of Empowerment

To say that Eddie Hartman is a change agent is an understatement. After becoming a licensed attorney and founding LegalZoom, the online legal technology company in 2001, Hartman continues to help those in need as a partner with the global strategy consulting firm Simon Kucher & Partners. LegalZoom changed the way individuals and companies access legal assistance, and with over 3.6 million customers so far and millions of requests for attorney consultations through LegalZoom, law firms must pay attention to the changing landscape of the legal industry.

So what is Hartman's recipe for successfully becoming a change agent? You must identify the sequence of change first. There are three key factors to decide: the role dynamic—identifying who will lead the change, the power dynamic—identifying the priority and effectiveness of the change, and the action dynamic—identifying the actions that must be taken by the firm and the attorneys. Once you have decided the sequence of change, then you must develop the framework for action. Hartman provides four steps in the framework for action as follows: understanding the challenge/opportunity, the factors forcing change, the factors enabling change, and the factors rewarding change. Once these are completed, you are ready to be an impactful change agent.

In a 2018 Simon Kucher & Partners study, partners and associates were asked what they believed were the significant obstacles to adopt major change at their firm. The three most common responses were time-based billing metrics, seniority of decision-makers and equity structure of the firm. How to combat these obstacles? Understand the factors forcing change and provide creative solutions to remain competitive.

As an example, Hartman drew from a case study outside of the legal space where Michelin wanted to outperform its competitors so R&D refined its tires to become more durable and longer lasting. To succeed, they would need to raise the price by 20% when realistically market data showed the price could only be raised by 5%. Marketing worked together with leadership to find a better solution and ultimately changed their approach by charging per mile for each tire, putting them in the No. 1 slot and allowing them to ultimately charge much more.

With the rise of procurement officers, bill scrutiny enabled by machine learning, entry of alternative legal service providers and regulatory changes, the need to become a change agent within our firms is more important than ever. "Law is a beating heart underneath the surface. The profession of law is more important than ever," said Hartman. There is a true need for legal assistance in our world, and it is the duty of law firms to adapt and help clients become more accessible and operating as a trusted brand in the marketplace.

Diversity Is a Driving Force in Hiring Outside Counsel

The dynamic in-house counsel panel was entirely diverse this year, sending a powerful message of inclusion that was reiterated by each of the panelists several times. Bolling with Vulcan Materials, Sheffield with Honda Manufacturing of North America and Vance with Altec Industries provided attendees with insightful takeaways to bring back to their firms.

One of the key takeaways voiced by all three panelists was the importance of diverse representation in law firms, which is the driving factor in hiring outside counsel for these companies. Sheffield said, "Originating credit for diverse attorneys is important. It's not enough to have them on the team or attend a presentation, they must receive credit for their work." This sentiment was echoed by Vance and Bolling. "If I see that you have diverse attorneys on the team, and you don't bring them to the pitch or it looks like you put them on the team as an afterthought, that raises a red flag for me," said Bolling. Vance expressed the importance of diversity, saying "You don't know what the client wants if you don't know what they are experiencing."   

Another key force in hiring outside counsel is culture and relationships. Vance said, "We don't choose law firms. We choose lawyers and relationships matter. It's not just about doing a good job, it's about client engagement." All of the panelists echoed the sentiment that law firms must make clients feel like they can't live without them. How can firms accomplish this? Be diverse in thought and personnel, and respect the client's budget. Give the client your true feeling about how a certain case is going and provide proactive solutions. Sheffield stated, "If law firms want to stand out, instead of sending a standard client alert about a new legal change, prepare a few PowerPoint slides that I can use to share with my team to provide education on the issue."

"We don't want you to only do what is legal, we also want you to do what is right," said Vance. This sentiment was echoed through the entire conference programming. Change and diversity are necessities for law firms to be successful. It's our job as legal marketers to be the change agents in the legal industry by harnessing opportunities to show companies and individuals where to turn for legal assistance, proactively drive inclusive cultures and foster new initiatives —because it matters to our clients and it should matter to law firms.

Use Technology to Spot Opportunities and Grow

As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Yet it remains somewhat surprising that not many law firms truly know their client's businesses or are able to identify competitors and opportunities for business growth. In one of the sessions titled "Competitive Intelligence (CI) Workshop," the CI panelists talked about the pros of using CI tools for offering value though targeted reports for their law firms. Akerman, for instance, created a position for a CI professional five years ago and that person, with the assistance of others, prepares an average of 40 reports per month highlighting industry trends, opportunities, potential clients and other metrics. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz also has a full-time person dedicated to this who completes 300 to 400 reports annually looking at the same metrics to help leaders create sound strategies, keep tabs on competitors, make decisions and grow.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a full-time person dedicated to research on their team, but the panel did offer recommendations of paid and free services that could be used by anyone at a firm or a consultant. Some of these services include Hoover's, Legal Compass, ClientsFirst Consulting, LAC-Group, Tilt Institute, Market Intelligence, Meltwater, Google Alerts, TweetDeck, Lexis-Newsdesk, Manzama and more.

It is no longer enough to provide a product or a service—even if you are really good at it—and not pay attention to what is happening in the marketplace. Up-to-date information will make a difference in keeping pace and getting ahead.

The Path Forward

The picture is clear. As we move forward, the legal landscape is rapidly evolving and we have a choice to embrace change and forge ahead or remain flat and get left behind. Leaders have to rethink their value proposition. One way is to use tools to review what is working and what is not working, pay attention to other technologies and disruptors and spend time developing strategies for what lies ahead. Another way is to pay attention to firm culture and promote diversity to work smarter and grow from different perspectives. All of this starts with acknowledging reality and becoming a "Change Agent."

Jessica Haarsgaard is a business development manager at Burr & Forman and she is the 2019 president of the Legal Marketing Association Southeast Region. Haarsgaard is a published author and speaker in the legal marketing space.

Ioana Good is the senior business development and communications manager at Lowndes and she is the past president of the Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Region. Good is a published author and speaker, and she currently serves on the Professional Advocacy Group for LMA international and chairs this group for the Southeast region simultaneously.