The legal world is even more exciting than we first thought. Not only is high-rate work reappearing but more law firms are getting their marketing mojo on—and some way more than others. Our exclusive in-depth interviews with 159 law firm marketing leaders reveal the law firms they most want to avoid pitching against are:
- Cravath
- Jones Day
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Quinn Emanuel
- Skadden
4 firms—Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Skadden are all repeats from last year—showing continuous marketing mojo. Cravath and Quinn Emanuel upped their marketing mojo this year to join these high performing firms.
We note Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, and Skadden are also are members of the BTI Litigation Fearsome Foursome for all 6 years BTI has published this analysis. Quinn has also been part of the Fearsome Foursome in 4 out of 6 years. Both Cravath and Latham are ranked as Awesome Opponents. This suggests these firms have a rare cultural ability (and brand) to make competitors take pause.
Clients also rank Cravath, Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, and Skadden as longtime top client service performers.
What’s Driving Marketing Mojo
Clients and law firm marketing leaders alike describe the key attributes of marketing mojo as:
- Unabashed Hunger to Win—The law firms with the most marketing mojo believe winning is monumental. There is no room for just another pitch. If it were merely a routine pitch—they might not be pitching at all. They want to focus their resources on places where they can win—and win big.
- Over Prepare—Competitors report these firms show up more prepared and ready to discuss substance. Top legal decision makers note these firms talk less about themselves than competitor law firms.
- Going Off-Script as an Advantage—Any halfway decent pitch will provoke clients into throwing out some nugget of information or insight about themselves which is new and important. This happens every time. Most firms let this insightful comment slip by untouched because they don’t want to go off-script. The firms with the most marketing mojo realize this offhand comment is a gift and leap off script to learn more about their potential clients.
Law firm marketing leaders name another 7 firms bring their strong marketing prowess to bear and come in close behind the Marketing Mojo firms. These law firms are:
- Cooley
- Hunton & Williams
- King & Spalding
- Littler Mendelson
- Morgan Lewis
- Perkins Coie
- Wachtell Lipton
You can learn more about the law firms marketing leaders would rather not pitch against in our new, complimentary report
BTI Marketing Mojo 2017: The Law Firms Marketing Leaders Don’t Want to Pitch Against.
MBR