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A checklist, with five priorities, to assess the effectiveness of pitches by law firms

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Lisa Hart, the CEO of Acritas, shared research on what law departments find effective when law firms solicit business from them. These five attributes of pitches come from her presentation at the Georgetown University Law Center’s Center for the Study of the Legal Profession conference three weeks ago. Acritas surveyed hundreds of in-house counsel and ask them to rank these characteristics. Many departments could use this as a checklist and evaluation tool.

Understood our business (14% chose it as most important)
Understood our needs (12%)
Demonstrated expertise (10%)
Knew our industry (8%)
Chemistry and rapport (5%)

Summarized even further, a law firm that knows quite a bit about the target company and its industry presents the most compelling case to be hired. If the firm has a sense of where the company could use more or different legal support, even better. Finally, a winning personality doesn’t rate nearly as high as ability and any form of commercial familiarity.