Getting the Most from Your Industry Groups

Industry Groups are excellent cross-practice platforms to deliver against your firm’s strategic plan.  Following are a few ideas, beyond the obvious thought leadership portal/blog/podcast (which are invaluable) that may line up with some your firm’s objectives.

But first, consider whether creating some Working Groups within your industry team will help you execute more efficiently.  If your industry group is expansive and diverse, take a look at your billings by client and work type, identify 3 to 4 buckets of common work-types/client-types (not every matter needs to fit into a bucket).  Consider the profile of the decision makers for those buckets, and if they have common needs from their legal service providers, if so create a working group.  Working groups do not need to fit a paradigm; within your life sciences group you may have Patent, Asia, Hospital, and Regulatory working groups if those are the areas that connect your buyers.

Innovation:  Bring the leaders of your Innovation, Knowledge Management, Legal Project Management and IT teams together with your industry group partners.  Ask your relationship partners to share what they are hearing from their clients – what are they asking of the firm, what do they need from their in-house team, what topics have captured their interest?  Now consider whether there work processes that could be more efficient?  Assets in your knowledge bank that could benefit your clients?  Tools that could be built to monitor developments?  Portals that could facilitate collaboration?

Packaging:  Look for portfolios of work that could be packaged and marketed to similar clients on a retainer basis.  This could be a type of financing or transaction that occurs frequently, or a type of lawsuit that needs to be settled with annoying consistency.  Consider whether adding a legal project manager, non-lawyer resource, or an AI-assist could improve your efficiency.  Package, price, and name it as a solution.  Offer a demo to clients with this need.

Partnering with Clients:  Clients want to be viewed as experts in their industry just like the lawyers in your industry team.  Identify the events, publications, associations and boards where your partners want to be visible.  Task your most effective BD professional with determining what panel, article, reception would create the biggest buzz and ensure that you can secure the opportunity.  Have your partner invite her client to share the lime-light.

Integration:  Prioritizing industry groups in your lateral integration process is an excellent way to introduce your laterals to areas of the firm that they would not necessarily learn of in a traditional practice orientation.  Let these introductions be driven by the firm’s hives of activity, not just by areas where you expect common interests--there is value in being a student of the firm.

For more ideas on how to get the most from your industry teams, reach out and work with us.