Market Leaders Podcast

“This is going to get worse before it gets better.” With the novel coronavirus dominating the news, how should law firms respond in the face of crisis? Join David Ackert as he interviews Stefanie Marrone, communications and business development consultant, in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: • How firms should be communicating with their clients to reassure them • How firms can implement crisis management teams and best practices to ensure continuous service • How to reassure employees and ensure that the COVID-19 disruption to business is minimized

Tune in to hear them discuss: *How firms can ascertain the degree to which procurement will play a part in client negotiations *How technology and data play key roles in navigating a win/win arrangement *How to better navigate relationships with legal operations professionals *How to frame procurement as an ally rather than an obstacle to winning new work

Tune in to hear them discuss: How to build thought leadership in new areas of law such as Fintech How an external facing BD position can fuel law firm growth How to position yourself internally as a contributor to revenue growth

Tune in to hear them discuss: Networking strategies to generate referrals and drive new business How to utilize social media to engage with the marketplace Playing to your strengths to achieve your business development goals

Tune in to hear them discuss: Deborah's strategies for improving engagement in practice planning How technology has impacted the way we approach and execute our business plans Important steps you can take to be a successful marketer for your firm in a rapidly changing landscape

Join David Ackert as he interviews Jennifer Queen, Chief Talent Officer of Bracewell LLP, in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - Jennifer's holistic approach to smooth lateral integration - Strategies for maximizing the business development benefits from laterals' books - How to reconcile mismatched expectations between the firm and the incoming lateral

Join David Ackert as he interviews Michael Blachly, Chief Marketing Officer of Gray Reed & McGraw, in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - How to internally market the marketing department by demonstrating the services you offer to the lawyers. - How marketers can use the concept of ROO - Return on Objective - to demonstrate their department's value. - Where Michael gets inspiration for new ideas and innovation in his role.

Join David Ackert as he interviews Dr. Larry Richard, Founder and Principal Consultant of LawyerBrain LLC, in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - Larry's research on lawyer personality types, and how lawyers tend to have extreme personality traits that are standard deviations away from the norm. - How professionals can develop their resilience, an important quality for leadership and business development. - How law firms can improve lawyers' willingness and capacity for innovation, despite a tendency toward skepticism.

Join David Ackert as he interviews Ezra Crawford, Senior Director of Practice Group Business Development and Management at Crowell & Morning, in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - How the LMA Professional Advocacy Working Group focuses on raising the stature and profile of marketing and business development professionals within the industry, with lawyers, and with law firm leaders. - What marketers can do to showcase the value they bring to the table, as well as earn a strategic seat at that table. - How two activities, practicing what you preach and getting closer to the money, will help marketers demonstrate their expertise and earn more recognition in their role.

Join David Ackert as he interviews Molly Porter, Director of Marketing at Seyfarth in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - How Molly applies Design Thinking concepts to better connect to her firm's prospects and clients. - Why tapping into your client and competitive intelligence data will help you identify and streamline your Design Thinking-based campaigns. - How to showcase the value of content marketing and draw a line from creative projects to ROI.

Join David Ackert as he interviews Erin Meszaros, Chief Business Development and Client Service Officer at Eversheds Sutherland, and Anusia Gillespie, Director of Innovation at Eversheds Sutherland in this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: - How Erin and Anusia created a completely new Director of Innovation role, cultivated buy-in and overcame internal challenges around the new function at the firm - Day-to-day operations that a Director of Innovation handles as well as skills needed for such a role - How Anusia spearheaded a new definition of the innovation concept at Eversheds - Guidance for marketers looking to create a new framework for innovation at their own firm

Join David Ackert as he interviews Trish Lilley and Kevin Iredell of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – Key leadership skills that legal marketing and business development leaders need to foster amongst their team – Specific strategies that increase the credibility and trust factor of the marketing team in the firm – How to handle failures effectively, and how to apply healthy criticism and praise to your team members

Join David Ackert as he interviews Jennifer Griffin Scotton, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Brooks Pierce on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – How Brooks Pierce helps attorneys measure their individual business development ROIs by providing individual BD spending funds – How these individual funds encourage collaboration and accountability amongst the lawyers – The impact of separating BD and marketing spends to improve marketing department agility – Brooks Pierce's approach to maintaining BD momentum at the practice area level through goal-based reporting

Join David Ackert as he interviews Tim Corcoran, Principal of Corcoran Consulting Group on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – Tim's methodology that unites firm strategy with data-driven decision-making – How law firms can reverse-engineer their business development approach to aid the strategic planning process – How to leverage data to identify the optimal investment of the firm's BD resources

Join David Ackert as he interviews Marcie Borgal Shunk, President and Founder of the Tilt Institute on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. – How today's law firms can leverage competitive intelligence to make better-informed business decisions – Marcie's approach to CI that includes both internal and external metrics and intelligence – An overview of cutting-edge tools that firms can use to obtain and oversee competitive intelligence – The role of law firm leaders in shepherding data-driven change

Join David Ackert as he interviews Kathryn Whitaker, Director of Client Relations at Burr & Forman on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – How the legal industry’s approach to innovation is often counter-productive to progress – How data-driven decisions are becoming a greater imperative at the law firm – Kathryn’s four-step approach to optimizing firm initiatives – How to manage practical innovation

Join David Ackert as he interviews Chris Newman, Director of Practice & Industry Business Development at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – McDermott's strategy for tracking new opportunities from inception to close – The firm's use of thought leadership to uncover client needs – How to use the "challenger sale" methodology to create deeper client conversations

Join David Ackert as he interviews Dave Southern, Chief Marketing Officer at BakerHostetler on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – BakerHostetler's client-centric approach to content-based marketing strategy – How to use multi-functional teams and "tribal" leadership to accelerate marketing initiatives – How agile teams can widen skill-sets, introduce variety and encourage cross-departmental collaboration

Join David Ackert as he interviews Iris Jones, Chief Business Development & Marketing Officer at McNees, Wallace & Nurick on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – How Iris' award-winning summer associate program equips associates with competitive intelligence to drive new strategic approaches to business development initiatives – Her use of visual business development metrics dashboards to keep the firm aligned on BD objectives

Join David Ackert as he interviews Alitia Faccone, Director of Business Development at Jackson Lewis on this episode of the Market Leaders Podcast. Tune in to hear them discuss: – Alitia's unique career transition from an e-discovery lawyer to a career in legal business development – Jackson Lewis's 20 industry teams that seek to create internal coalitions for better client service – How the firm used their client feedback initiative to fuel a revision of their client service standards – The firm's attorney training program that approaches business development from the viewpoint of the client