Improve your brand and you drive your firm’s growth. Improve your brand a bit more strategically and you improve profits too. Boost your brand in all 9 factors leaving the biggest imprint on clients and you attract new clients as well. Develop the brand strength to outperform almost all others and you are looking at the potential for outsized gains—no matter what the market conditions.
Brand drives hiring decisions and value decisions—as in what clients expect to pay your firm. Your brand drives your business—whether you manage your brand or not. Weaker brand means weaker hiring and rate potential.
BTI’s newest research on law firm branding—BTI Brand Elite 2016—ranks the law firms serving large clients with the best brand standing—based solely on general counsel and legal decision maker’s input.
Clients Rank All Law Firm Brands
65% of the 650 law firms serving large companies have some level of branding. 35% of law firms serving large clients have no perceptible brand. The first 65% have a significant advantage.
Of the 422 law firms with a brand ranking, 28 outperform all others—receiving a score 13 times the average law firm.
The BTI Brand Elite 28 are:
BTI BRAND ELITE 28
|
Rank |
Firm |
|
01 |
Skadden, |
|
02 |
Jones |
|
03 |
Baker |
|
04 |
Kirkland |
|
05 |
Sidley |
|
06 |
DLA |
|
07 |
Latham |
|
08 |
Davis |
|
09 |
Hogan |
|
10 |
Sullivan |
|
11 |
K&L |
|
12 |
Gibson, |
|
13 |
Wachtell, |
|
14 |
Alston |
|
15 |
Dentons |
|
16 |
King |
|
17 |
Foley |
|
18 |
McGuireWoods |
|
19 |
Ropes |
|
20 |
Morgan |
|
21 |
Mayer |
|
22 |
Covington |
|
23 |
Seyfarth |
|
24 |
Reed |
|
25 |
Norton |
|
26 |
Greenberg |
|
27 |
Bryan |
|
28 |
Arnold |
Branding By Leaps and Bounds
This year 7 firms make leaps of 5 spots or greater and land on the BTI Brand Elite 28 by exhibiting the core factors making the most enduring and influential imprint on clients—and their own hirability and rates.
Davis Polk & Wardwell—up 12 spots to #8—has been investing in understanding clients’ business and sharing their strategies with clients—this has positioned the firm for more premium and bet-the-company work and GCs recommend Davis Polk to peers based on these strengths.
Hogan Lovells—up 5 spots to #9—has boosted their innovation with widespread client educational programs using original research. The firm has embraced educating clients about cybersecurity and product liability.
Dentons—up 25 spots to #15—has been making changes to harness its growing base of resources around clients. Clients note and are impressed by these changes—driving substantial improvement in brand.
King & Spalding—up 19 spots to #16—has been changing how it delivers its legal services in a manner which improves client service. The firm has been able to improve its consistency in complex matters for complex clients. This change offers significant value and speaks to core client goals.
McGuireWoods—up 7 spots to #18—has been making changes to deliver more value, including introducing more client-facing practice groups such as supply chain management, built around client needs instead of legal skills.
Ropes & Gray—up 11 spots to #19—has been aggressive in reaching out to clients to learn about the changes their clients want and need. GCs see this approach as innovative—both asking clients and actually making the changes clients suggest.
Covington & Burling—up 9 spots to #22—has brought more firm wide consistency to growing practices like class action, mass tort and government investigations enabling clients to rely on the firm in more matters and more high-risk matters.
MBR