A Case for Closer Collaboration
By Mike Goodwin, SVP
Communications has always been a somewhat misunderstood function within large organizations. To some, communications is viewed as a crisis resource, only called upon to put out fires with little advance notice. To others, communications is little more than an in-house newsroom tasked with writing press releases on demand.
Smart companies recognize the greater value that communicators can impart when allowed to serve as a strategic partner across the broader corporate structure – advising on all aspects of how an organization plans, constructs, and tells its story to stakeholders to support growth.
Law firms have made tremendous progress in this regard, boasting some of the most effective corporate communications teams practicing today. Driven by intense competition for talent and blue-chip clients in the last decade, the roles of communications and marketing within the legal profession have grown dramatically – a trend not likely to go away anytime soon.
These factors have led to corresponding growth for in-house communications teams and specialized public relations firms alike. However, most are missing out on an opportunity to increase effectiveness through increased collaboration.
The solution lies with another often-misunderstood function within law firms – business development. These professionals are typically paired with individual practices and tasked with creating networking opportunities, managing client relationships, completing proposals, creating strategic partnerships, and stewarding a firm’s image. By not partnering business development more closely with corporate communications, law firms are duplicating efforts and missing opportunities to highlight the partners and issues that can differentiate their firm from the competition.
While it seems obvious to have these disciplines more closely aligned, it’s momentum and bandwidth that usually keep them apart. Business development and communications have almost always functioned along parallel lines with limited interaction. That reality, combined with high demands for staff time, usually prevents greater collaboration.
Close Partnership Brings Many Benefits
What are the potential benefits of these two departments working together? The first would be advance notice on cases, opinions, and trends that could eventually produce news opportunities for the firm. With many practice groups, and especially litigation, corporate communicators are often brought in late in the game and asked to construct a favorable storyline on short notice. Frequent collaboration with business development would not only solve this problem but would allow for more strategic input that would reinforce firm strengths and present a more consistent brand profile.
Another benefit would be realized through crisis management. Among all professional services categories, law firms are exposed to higher levels of reputational risk. This is due to their engagement in active litigation, corporate restructuring, financial transactions, and other issues that may present less than favorable narratives to media and stakeholders.
As with any form of conflict, the majority of crisis management is handled through preparation. This includes issue identification, message development, tabletop exercises, and forging relationships with key reporters. This begins with issue awareness, and that can be best achieved through regular communication with business development professionals who work side-by-side with practice leaders and can provide advance notice and content to corporate communications.
The most significant benefit of collaboration is consistent messaging across the different levels of a law firm. At any given firm, high-profile partners and practice groups can develop their own unique reputational profiles. These can be created organically over time or carried over from previous firms.
While these partners and practices can achieve high levels of awareness in legal circles and vertical markets, it can be difficult to integrate such profiles when crafting a consistent message that resonates across the partner, practice, and firm levels. Again, collaboration is essential.
Closing Remarks
If corporate communicators are more informed about ongoing casework, client alerts, speaking opportunities, and legal trends, they can use that information to tell a more consistent and compelling story to the media that presents a more cohesive brand narrative. The alternative is to act in a reactionary manner after the fact. This allows messaging to become more segmented instead of coordinated and strategic.
Both communications and business development professionals are being called upon to do more with less in today’s competitive environment. Therefore, it’s not surprising that collaboration between the two functions is restricted by bandwidth and less than ideal. Regardless, such an investment in time would generate working relationships and strategic success that would prove more than worthwhile.
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