The Mad Clientist

Don’t stop yet. Clients want more and want something different. Yes. They are swarmed with emails, alerts, webinars, and e-newsletters — but they are still searching for more answers. Every top legal decision maker has their favorite alerts. They don’t read much beyond those, but will scan a few new…

After handing the first wave of work to come out of the pandemic without RFPs, clients are now changing course. They are issuing RFPs and making sure everyone is invited. This means including small- and medium-size firms. Legal decision makers in the US are tackling their US issues — so…

Among the flurry of webcasts, podcasts, online webinars and newsletters, a book can offer a source of comfort. It’s a place to be quiet with your thoughts. With increased stress all around and a focus on well-being, I wanted to share a reading list of books to help manage through…

Certainty is comfort. And you can find it in this sea of unpredictability called the pandemic. Expect changes in client behaviors and expectations. Clients have added a whole new set of needs to their plate and many have new opinions about law firms — mostly for the better. This translates…

First, law firms face wildly uneven needs and pressures in different client industries. Then it’s the amorphous process of knowing when and how to reopen. Data privacy lurks in the background as a compelling issue without the pandemic – and now you have top legal decision makers jumping ship in…

The race is on for law firms to use AFAs and better align themselves with clients’ short- and long-term goals. Top legal decision makers identify 70 of the 600 law firms serving large and Fortune 1000 clients as absolutely best at developing and implementing alternative fee arrangements. They point to…

The new client formula for the next normal is in: Increased Demand > Legal Budgets = Fixed Fees Learn to love it. Study it. Memorize it. It will be a force to contend with. Top legal decision makers are staring at increased litigation, compliance, and other demands – all of…

Women associates’ job satisfaction spiked after the pandemic broke out. Men’s remained unchanged. Law firms did a good job of delivering on associates’ high expectations for how they would be treated and how well-informed they would be. Men have the same concerns but value these behaviors differently than women associates…

Like spring in New England, the talk of reopening is about to go into full bloom... Reopening is the current mainstay of COVID-19 resource center content. The only remaining questions are how and when. Law firms are doing a good job flooding the market with insight about how to reopen…

What’s next? How will this play out? How to get ready? Where are we exactly in this thing? Top legal decision makers are asking themselves these very same questions. This thinking dominates client’s mental energy. They may be working on other issues – but this is where their focus lies.…