Clients Reveal 4 Strategies for Doling Out New Work

BTI’s about to be released BTI Litigation Outlook 2025 reveals clients are more open to hiring new law firms than ever. They have their own ideas about what they want and don’t want when awarding the torrent of new work coming in the door. Here are the 4 major approaches they use:

1.  12% are funneling their new needs through a dedicated client relationship manager. This group of clients pays the highest rates and are the most demanding.
2.  21% report strong relationships with a partner who watches out for their interests and these partners will get the new business.
3.  11% are selecting from directories and RFPs. These clients are more price-sensitive than most. They will study law firm statistics and resumes.
4.  56% report little interest or engagement from the law firms’ partners with whom they work. These corporate counsel are cherry-picking new firms using referrals from peers and thought leaders. These clients pay premiums for new insights they gain before actually hiring a firm.

Law firms can take immediate action to make this work in their favor. These include:

• Embracing dedicated client relationship managers
• Mining existing clients for new matters and issues they face
• Boosting client service to drive referrals
• Developing metrics to increase client engagement with current clients
• Finding thought leading ideas a significant number of partners can embrace and share with clients on a personal level

With 56% of clients reporting little interest from existing partners – the opportunity is ripe – especially with existing clients. Getting new business from existing clients tends to get you a stream of new business instead of a single matter. It starts a flywheel of client-facing interactions proven to make clients feel valued instead of ignored. Just the antidote for more than half the market.