More than 80% of clients are going through a business transformation. 67% of corporate counsel are playing a mission-critical role in this transformation — and they single out the law firms best suited for this high-value new and novel work.

These firms are best at delivering on the all-new expectations arising from clients changing how they do business. This marks the early stages of new branding based on law firms who can:

Serve as the source of new ideas:

Hungry for innovation and transformation in-house counsel seek law firms to help brainstorm their way ahead of the curve.

Develop brand new strategies and thinking:

Clients want brand new thinking to help deliver new approaches to their business — and the legal issues they are likely to face.

Bring tech savvy in delivering services:

Your tech-savvy delivery sends a high-value message about how your firm invests in improving its performance and capabilities.

Use and understand key aspects of Generative AI:

Clients believe the firms adopting Generative AI are best suited to help them evaluate and anticipate the legal implications of their plans.

Offer creative interpretations of existing rules and regulations:

Clients want the secret sauce to being able to get something done. They believe it lies in the new and creative interpretations — it offers up answers the naysayers don’t bring.

You can learn exactly which firms clients recognize and how to be recognized in BTI’s inaugural report, Leading Edge Law Firms 2024, which identifies the 121 firms best equipped to meet the new leading-edge expectations. Here are the top 33 out of the 121 clients rank as best:

1. Serial Needs = Serial Leads

Rainmakers are skilled in finding and attracting clients with ongoing higher-value needs. They know developing clients with a continuing lead flow generates substantially more business than those with episodic needs.

Strong relationships with these marquee clients is a primary reason why Kirkland and Ropes & Gray are so successful in Private Equity — one of the ultimate client groups with serial needs.

These clients aren’t always the largest — any size company can have ongoing needs — the trick is to focus on the continuing nature of the work. You likely have a few of these clients in your current client base.

You can also research the velocity of new litigation, M&A, and regulatory issue at each client. Industry spending patterns also give you insight. Financial Services are the top legal spenders with ongoing needs — followed by big Pharma, Tech, Telecom Health Care, and Food.

2. Never Fill the Silence

Every high-quality business development meeting has a moment of silence. You just got through sharing an idea or approach and your client may have debated some of the points. And then comes the silence.

It is not the awkward staring at you from across the table silence — it’s the client thinking through the discussion silence. There is nothing awkward about it. Rainmakers have trained themselves to resist the urge to fill the silence. You want your client to process your ideas in real time. It shows they are engaged and have learned something.

Filling the silence stops client processing in its tracks and cuts off their engagement. Most clients will continue the dialogue after they have finished processing — or you can read the non-verbal cues to know when to ask the all-important question: What do you think?

3. Always There — Even When They Are Not

Rich, meaningful voice communication — during and in between matters — are the unsung heroes of making yourself feel present to your clients. One deep conversation creates a connection lasting from months to years. These conversations also give license to engage in informal email communications — including check-ins, sharing news, offering thoughts on new developments, and maybe a few personal items.

Your presence in a client’s life is core to developing a stream of business from a single client. The attorneys who are client-life adjacent to clients get the RFPs. The attorneys with presence get the phone calls and queries for help — and don’t go out for bid.

Rainmakers will tell you a smaller number of clients where you are deeply present end up generating a flow of inbound leads from client referrals — almost as good as a client with serial needs.

1. Deadlines

They are everywhere and unavoidable. Deadlines are part of the fabric of legal practice and are the top issue keeping 23.4% of associates up at night. Associates point to simultaneous, manufactured, and moving deadlines — all of which serve as a source of insomnia.

2. Career Growth

It could be a partnership or lateral move — but 19.6% of associates lose sleep over their career trajectory. These associates see the path to partnership getting longer and slower — and want growth. They are looking ahead in their careers and express concern over making sure it goes right for them — and they want to feel like they have control.

3. Doing a Great Job

At 17.2%, rivaling career growth, these associates see nothing but high expectations and want to meet them. Their work reflects themselves — and a ticket to advancement. They also see a range of expectations across the partners for whom they work — and worry about how to do an excellent job for all.

4. Billable Hours

It is in their faces. It drives bonuses. And the cost of failure is high. It keeps 14% of associates up at night as they may not see exactly where the billable hours will come from.

5. Work/Life Balance

With a tilt more towards work than life — 11.3% of associates are looking for a better balance.

6. Economy/Recession

Only 4.7% of law firm associates are losing sleep over the economy. Most are busy and see the demand for their talent — and remain confident they will land on their feet.

• • Overall success. At 26%, these leaders are looking past the recession. They want to keep the right strategic and operating initiatives going — and make the changes to drive success. Law firm strategy is a living, breathing organism — the law firm leaders are keenly watching for adjustments needed as a result of the uncertain world.
  • At 22%, law firm leaders are banking on retaining and attracting talent to drive success. These leaders are focused on bringing in rainmakers, filling gaps in key practices, and bolstering the bench in targeted growth areas. The hunt for talent is the most strategic it’s ever been. Look for law firms to find better ways to retain and recruit the right talent for their goals.
  • Recession at 12% is the 3^rd largest source of law firm leaders’ insomnia. The primary worry here is when, how deep, and then how to adjust. They are watching early indicators like new assignments, BD activity, and billed hour trends.
  • 9% are concerned most about cyberattacks. These pose existential threats. And as one law firm leader put things; “All you have to do is send a sophisticated looking but malicious email with partner comp in the subject line you have a potential disaster on your hands.”
  • Merging the firm and succession planning come in at 5% each.

The recession lurks but it’s not a top concern. So many have lived through at least one and have a good sense of what to do. In addition, these leaders feel they have already prepared the firm for a recession — it’s baked into the strategy.

One of the big takeaways is the strong focus on strategy, which is reflected deeply in the 1^st and 2^nd concerns — overall success. These law firm leaders are looking ahead — as are those focusing on talent. The near-term impact of a recession is but one stop on the journey.

Look for more lateral movement, more strategic movement, and more focus on metrics and inputs as these leaders adjust their strategies. Talent will have a major impact on success — for firms of every size. Look for strategy and talent to become even more of a centerpiece than it ever was.