From toxic wastelands to well-oiled machines, the legal workplace is a diverse ecosystem.

Trust can be a rare commodity and cooperation a distant dream. But fear not, only 10.1% of law firms have descended into this abyss.

On the bright side, 12.1% of firms operate as well-oiled machines, where the attorneys are in sync, ideas flow freely, and client relationships thrive.

BTI research, based on more than 1,000 responses to our workplace and attorney satisfaction survey, reveals 4 distinct cultures:

The Toxic Workplace

Trust is scarce. Attorneys keep their distance. Partners work together only if they have to — the same goes for associates — they don’t trust each other to help with work or share stresses and experiences. Partners resent firm interference with their clients. Fortunately, only 10.1% of firms receive this distinction from their attorneys.

The Well-Oiled Machine

At the other end of the spectrum — 12.1% excel with seamless collaboration and information sharing. Partners are in synch — so associates feel in synch.

You find ongoing information sharing about client, legal, and workplace issues — all serving to build attorney knowledge bases they can use in client work and business development. Attorneys offer up thoughts and ideas routinely — it’s part of the DNA.

The Machine

The largest group at 47.5% leans towards working together — but often needs a catalyst to make it happen. These catalysts include transactional work, large litigation, a partner seeking another out, pitches, and large client defections.

This group of firms has the building blocks to become a well-oiled machine.

The Siloed

30.3% report uneven cooperation. There is little in the way of active sharing between practice groups. Some attorneys in this cohort report being envious of the groups with more sharing than their own.

The Well-Oiled Machines enjoy the highest workplace satisfaction. BTI research suggests they enjoy fundamentally stronger client relationships as well. This is a clear benefit of idea sharing finding its way to clients.

All firms can boost workplace culture and sharing of ideas by implementing at least one of the following strategies:

Anonymous Attorney Survey

Give attorneys a voice. And give leadership feedback. Learn what and why your attorneys really think about the firm. Uncover unseen strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the few tools proven to immediately boost even the best workplace culture upon delivery — and again when you present the results.

This survey adds enduring value when leadership takes action on the weaknesses and leverages the strengths. N.B. — if it is not anonymous you won’t get the insight.

Formal Idea Sharing Sessions

Promote better ideas and stronger bonds. The more discussion the better the bonds. We recommend:

Idea circles — smaller formal groups to exchange ideas on what they see and hear. Meet in short sessions of 30 minutes or less. Discuss one or two ideas. Rotate the people who bring questions or ideas for the group to discuss.

Informal idea sharing — send an email once a month to all attorneys asking for the top issues in the market, in law, or other meaty topics. Limit response to three bullet points and share the list with all attorneys.

Client-issue Discussion Forums

Create small groups to discuss one client. Discuss all aspects of the client — from legal issues to business development to news. Discuss how to solve problems, develop new business and services, and what everyone knows about a specific client.

These sessions always reveal new insights, build bonds within the forum, and provide potent discussion topics with clients.

Leadership Partner in Charge of Workplace Development

Put a respected and influential partner in charge of developing the workplace. While every attorney is responsible — this leadership partner is accountable. Give this effort a budget and goals.

Some of these practices were the hallmark of a good law firm back in the day — when law firms were small, and the partners fit in one conference room. Large firms can embrace what was and add new elements to leverage their size and collective skills and knowledgebase. This will be part of the next wave of critical success factors in successfully developing the next generation law firm.

Your LinkedIn firm site shows more insight and personality into your firm than any website can.

Law firm LinkedIn Pages are the new all-encompassing showcase for law firms – anyone can look and listen without risk – and get the snapshot they want.

Here’s why:

• Your posts, likes, and comments on your posts reveal deeper insights into the firm and its thinking
• Your activity level is a proxy for how engaging you are when you work with a new client or lateral
• It also shows what new ideas you might bring

This explains why corporate counsel visits to Law Firm LinkedIn pages outnumber visits to law firms’ websites by just over 2 to 1. The numbers look like this:

• 83% of clients visit LinkedIn as part of their work routine
  • more than half visit daily
• 37% of corporate counsel visit an average of 1 law firm website per week – almost all go directly to attorney bios – the remainder visit sporadically
  • 11% visit law firm websites only after visiting the LinkedIn page

Look for the gap to grow and favor LinkedIn law firm pages. It’s time for law firms to go all in.

LinkedIn law firm pages offer one-stop shopping for everything corporate counsel want to know:

• Legal developments
• Partner movement
• Firm news
• Marquee matters, cases, transactions they worked on – and what the reader can learn from it
• Follower comments on firm posts including:
  • The content of the comments – are they insightful and provocative
  • Who is making the comments – reflecting the company your firm keeps

And clients are starting to look on LinkedIn before going anywhere else for details such as:

• Rankings and accolades
• More detail and context around Pro Bono initiatives
• New offices
• Lateral group acquisitions
• Promotions outside the attorney ranks

Corporate counsel know stunningly little about their law firm – and their appetite to know is rapidly growing. They know the practice their partner delivers and then the specific knowledge base dries up. Clients know the generalities – but not enough specifics to hire them for a new practice.

LinkedIn law firm pages are the latest law firm battleground. As many law firms realize this as don’t – leaving enormous opportunities to boost engagement, lead flow, quality lateral interest, connection to the firm and so much more.

LinkedIn will do more to – and for – your brand than law firms realize.

BTI just finished a 3-year study on law firm LinkedIn performance – we meticulously gathered all the details about the Am Law 200 plus the large international firms. We compared and contrasted all of them along 6 key metrics. Then – we ranked the law firms by size cohort:

Am Law 30+
The 30 largest law firms in the Am Law 200 for 2022 plus 5 large international law firms

Am Law Mid One Hundred
The law firms ranked 31 to 100 in the Am Law 200 for 2022

Am Law 2^nd 100
The law firms ranked 101 to 200 in the Am Law 200 for 2022

The results reveal a wide spectrum of performance and investment. You can access a press-quarantined version or learn more here. I will be writing more about the results in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

You can develop outstanding thought leadership without ever posting a thing. Write just for yourself. Don’t show it to anyone until you go through the following 9 steps to bring your thought leadership up to where you want it to be — attracting new and existing clients — and enjoying the process. I recommend the following 9 hacks:

Write a Haiku — every day for 30 days

Train yourself to write short, concise thoughts. Over time you will learn to connect your thoughts in new ways. You will learn to create short, thoughtful, and easy to read content. The more you practice, the more natural it will become. The haikus also become fun to write.

Don’t write without a subject line

Start with a premise. Drive to the premise. Take turns if you need to — and go back and change the subject line. Starting thought leadership of any type and size without a clear direction is likely to leave you wandering with your words.

Look for unique words to use

Use words you don’t see often. Your writing will look different from everyone else — a key element in getting noticed and read. AI bots can be helpful as can a thesaurus. Set a goal of 2 novel words per piece.

Don’t publish — practice for 20 days to 3 months before thinking about publishing

Get your sea legs first. Write for yourself. Don’t let it see the light of day. But just start writing. The more you write, the closer you get to developing your voice and rhythm. You also gain the benefit of developing a good inventory of thought leadership pieces.

Go back — review and improve

Wait 3 days to review your writing. Go back and look at it with fresh eyes. You will immediately see how and where to make small improvements — with substantial impact.

Challenge yourself to write in a unique style

Try unique styles on. How does it make you feel — how does it sound? You will inevitably like some of what you see and adopt it. This approach also has the benefit of helping you think about the subject matter in a new light.

Put it in an AI Bot — but don’t use let them rewrite

Ask your favorite AI Bot what they think of your piece. Ask them to make it better. Review the suggested changes which usually serve to dilute the piece — but you will find 1 or 2 amazing insights you can include.

Publish

Place your thought leadership on LinkedIn and repurpose it at least 7 times to catch a good audience. You may not feel ready, few authors do. You will learn more from posting — and posting again.

Rinse and repeat

Plan to use these hacks on a continuing basis. They work for novices and the most advanced thought leaders.

Thought leadership will only continue to gain more client mindshare as they look for answers and flock to LinkedIn — stay tuned for more on this. Start writing today or start tomorrow. Starting is the hardest step — and then making it a part of your routine is the 2nd hardest. Only then does it get just a tad easier. And then, the inbound leads start to flow.

Please send me your Haikus if you are so inclined.

My Haiku for today:
Give your words power
Invest time for the reward
The world wants your voice

Partners weren’t the only ones swapping firms. CMOs were just as active as the attorneys — maybe even more. Our new LinkedIn research about law firm CMOs reveals all the changes. We took a deep dive in each of the last three years to track how law firms and their CMOS are doing.

The Numbers Give Law Firms a Reason to Pause:

• • 28% of CMOs changed firms
  • Of this 28%, 1/3 were promotions and 2/3 were lateral moves
  • Another 18% left the legal world

The Biggest Reasons for the Changes:

• • Compensation
  • New challenges
  • Perceived a more welcoming environment
  • Unappreciated in current role
  • Leadership change at their existing firm

Lasting Implications for Law Firms:

• • A successful CMO will strive to execute their strategy — which can lead to significant improvements and drive new law firm behaviors
  • Keeping a good CMO will be challenging as comp continues to rise
  • More firms are investing in strategic marketing initiatives — they need talent to develop and execute successful marketing plans
  • The best CMOs need two years to get their sea legs — demanding patience and investment in the process from law firms
  • Law firm leaders will embrace their CMOs — giving them a voice and implicit authority to act —an amazing strategy for retaining talented individuals

More Than a Trend: Fundamental Industry Shift 

The number of law firms cutting marketing staff and budgets is roughly equal to the number increasing their commitment. The cutters are making big bets they can stand up against firms investing. It is harder than ever to acquire and keep clients.

Clients have had substantial turnover — and 1/3 don’t know who their relationship attorney is. These firms are at risk. Only 21% of clients report having meaningful dialogue with their primary law firms outside of required case-related communication. These are serious obstacles to overcome — and a skilled, savvy CMO is one of the essential tools to remove these barriers.

CMOs are now part of the strategic battleground for market success. Their market value is up — as is their value to law firms. CMOs will go where they are most respected — and more CMOs know this than law firms. Until this equation reverses, look for the turnover rates to remain high.