Law firms understanding the 2024 market drivers will perform exceptionally well. Others will be hit or miss. Corporate counsel love the challenges of the market drivers and want law firms who can relate to why they enjoy the work — as well as their core needs. The ability to meet 2 needs more than doubles the rewards.

We discussed these drivers during our 15^th Annual Market Outlook and Client Service Review on January 11, 2024. You can see the recording here. The top 7 takeaways and insights from the webinar include:

Spending on Outside Counsel is Resilient

56% of clients plan to increase spending on outside counsel in 2024. Another 30% will hold spending at last year’s record levels. The drivers include:

• New and novel work with immediate business impact
• Few additions to the in-house staff
• Record workloads
• Activist workforces
• Layoffs
• Unending stream of regulations

One Powerful Core Market Driver

One unifying reason is driving so many crucial trends including:

• Outside counsel spending increases
• Legal market reliance
• Higher rates
• Technology adoption
• Layoffs at client companies
• Rise in complex litigation

More than 80% of all companies are undergoing a business transformation. More importantly for law firms — 67% of corporate counsel play a lead role in how companies implement these transformations. Almost every transformation includes a plethora of new and old legal issues.

The law firms who bring new ideas and approaches will win this work without ever seeing an RFP.

Clients are examining regulations to find new opportunities in their markets and avoid obstacles at a pace never seen before.

Clients Quietly Converging Law Firm Panels

Corporate counsel have too many law firms. And — they are tired of pitches and proposals. These clients are giving more work to law firms who understand their needs (see transformation above) — and not giving work to others. The result is a 24% drop in the number of law firms clients use.

There is little fanfare and no announcements. The work either stops flowing or keeps coming.

Still More Open to New Firms than They Have Been in 20 Years

Despite the quiet convergence clients are more open to hiring new firms than they have been in 20 years. This is a proxy for how open clients are to new ideas — because the newly hired law firms get the work by offering new ideas.

Clients entrust more to law firm partners who share opinions and ideas.

Small and Midsize Firms Get Their Day in the Sun

Top legal decision makers report that small and midsize firms are often quick to provide ideas on the spot. While not poised to perform cross-border M&A — these firms are grabbing meaningful assignments and acting as a thorn in the side of larger firms that are reluctant to share new ideas. 52% of clients report giving meaningful work to small and midsize firms — many who punch above their weight.

The quest for new ideas and custom solutions can come from anywhere. Top legal decision makers want new ideas and custom solutions.

RFPs Bore Clients to Tears

Clients continue their dislike of RFPs. Some may still issue them — but few even read them if they don’t offer something interesting and new early on. These corporate counsel say one good idea makes it worth it to go through the process — if not — nothing changes.

We recommend putting one client-specific idea in the front of your RFP response.

6 Top Growth Practices and Industries

Almost every practice is seeing a spending uptick — 6 stand out as higher than all the rest. These practices benefit most from the business transformation. We discussed these in detail 2 weeks ago. You can find the discussion here.

Client development skills and thought leadership are the 2 winning secrets for this market. Customized solutions and new ideas demand client interactions and input. The firms with the most meaningful dialogue will take the work from others. But the need is so compelling and broad that it’s not too late to start the dialogue. We recommend reaching out to your top clients today to learn where they are in their transformation — and don’t forget your best ideas.

You can watch the video of the 15^th BTI Market Outlook and Client Service Review here. You can also get a sneak peek at the law firms clients single out as being on the leading edge of law and best at helping clients move ahead in our brand new report BTI Leading Edge Law Firms 2024: Law Firms Creating the Future with and for Clients.

Client ranking of law firms, BD hacks, and client service topped the most popular Mad Clientist posts of 2023. Use these to drive growth, retain clients, and improve the culture.

Each post still offers new insights and strategies. Here are the top posts of 2023 in 2 groupings:

Ranking and Ratings

The 46 Most Feared Firms in Litigation

Top legal decision makers and attorneys alike want to know what it takes to be fearsome — who is fearsome and what it means. This is a direct result of the tremendous growth in complex litigation and new and novel cases. Clients want the most feared firms on their side.

Learn more in the BTI Litigation Outlook and here.

The BTI Client Service All-Stars — Client Single Out 293 Attorneys Delivering the Absolute Best Client Service

Client service site at the epicenter of client relationships and better outcomes. This post pinpoints the attorneys delivering the absolute best client service — with no prompts, suggestions, or self-submittals, these are the only organic ranking of client service in the world — and top legal decision makers flock to it to see who is best.

Clients Single Out Law Firms Delivering the Best Client Service — The BTI Client Service A-Team

A cousin to the BTI Client Service All-Stars, The BTI Client Service A-Team identifies the law firms delivering the best client service — all identified organically — with no prompts, suggestions, or self-submittals. Clients see who is best, and law firms learn how they perform on each of the 17 activities driving client service.

31 Law Firms with the Best LinkedIn Engagement

LinkedIn is quietly becoming the go-to source for top legal decision makers. Clients visit LinkedIn more than 2x as often as law firm websites. LinkedIn engagement drives client connection and inbound leads — the best kind. Learn how and why.

58 Law Firms Moving Up Market in Litigation

Litigation is getting more complex. Clients face peak litigation loads. Moving up market continues to get harder and harder every year. These 58 firms managed to gain more client preference and improve their market position — an impressive feat as the litigation market only gets more difficult. Learn what they are doing and who they are.

BD, Client Service, and Talent:

RFPS hit a Screeching Halt

Clients have little time for RFPs. They take a lot of time and yield little. Top legal decision makers are quietly using fewer RFPs to bring in new law firms. They are relying more on peer referrals and thought leadership to find only the best talent. Clients issuing RFPS are looking for law firms with new ideas and approaches.

17 Top Reasons Lawyers Don’t Call Their Clients

It’s easy to find a reason not to call a client. Learn the most popular reasons and start a campaign to remove these self-imposed obstacles.

10.1% of Attorneys Report a Toxic Culture — How Many Are Great

Culture is getting more of its day in the limelight. Learn about the 4 types of law firm cultures and what to do to improve the culture of even the best firms based on more than 1,000 responses to our workplace and attorney satisfaction survey, attorneys.

6 Tactics to Immediately Your Pitches and Proposals

Your pitch is more important than ever as clients are more open to hiring new firms than they have been in decades. Learn the specific tactics you can take right now to stand out and land the work right during the pitch.

9 Q4 Business Development Hacks

The last quarter of the year offers unique business development opportunities. You can also see these early in the 1^st quarter — as in now.

6 Phrases Clients Want to Hear from You

Words matter — they go beyond sharing and knowledge. They impact which attorney gets hired, it also defines the client experience. Learn the words clients think make the most impact — and how they impact you.

We will discuss the impact of all of these topics and new issues for 2024 in the BTI Market Outlook and Client Service Review webinar.  Learn where clients are spending, the law firms clients recognize as the Leading Edge Law Firms — and so much more. This is a sell-out event — register below!

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.