Home > Outside Counsel > Do you want to see a marketing person at the pitch by a law firm? No
Published on:

Do you want to see a marketing person at the pitch by a law firm? No

By

When it comes to pitches, the in-house lawyers at a recent panel said they’re open to the business development team’s involvement in the pitch process and cross selling. Sheri Qualters, writing for the National Law Journal, on Nov. 24, 2009, noted these comments by panelists at an LMA conference in Boston. If they meant that marketers should help with RFP responses and identify opportunities for more work, the point is banal.

If they meant that marketers should attend presentations to clients, my view is different. A pitch presentation by a law firm should include the lawyers who will work on the matter, and only those core lawyers. Legal departments should bar smooth-talking senior partners who show up only to impress and marketers who don’t understand the nuts and bolts of handling legal issues (See my post of Nov. 5, 2007: law-firm marketing with 8 references.). Legal departments hire working lawyers, not mouthpieces and sales people.