Legal Marketing Consultants

Alyn Weiss and Associates

WEISS EXPLAINS BEST SALES PRACTICES TO LAWYERS
FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

CHICAGO (September 28, 2007) - A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 250 lawyers from Europe, the Caribbean and Asia attended a marketing workshop given by law firm marketing consultant Bob Weiss of Alyn-Weiss & Associates, Inc. here to learn how to get work following lunch, speeches, conventions, seminars and from articles they write.

"Most lawyers and legal marketers are highly frustrated because most time spent by lawyers one-on-one with prospects and at meetings doesn't leads to a new file," Weiss said. "What I want you to learn today is why this is common and what specific steps can be taken to get files in the door."

The workshop was held as part of the State Capital Law Firm Group's annual meeting. Weiss' presentation reviewed the best practices he sees in firms nationwide.

He emphasized his observations were important to both to lawyers and marketers. The reason: he has been told recently that several in-house legal marketing professionals have lost their jobs because while they can manage publications, media relations and special event planning, they cannot help attorneys close engagements.

"Increasingly managing partners expect their marketers to both teach and help attorneys effectively sell the firm's services," Weiss said. "Handling publications, media relations, managing a database and special event planning are an assumed and basic skill set-- but not enough if you're going to be the director of marketing.

"You've got to know business development, as well," he said.

Weiss also explained how to get work by serving on advisory panels and boards of directors and explained how much time leading rainmakers spend on business development.

Weiss and his firm have written hundreds of law firm and practice group marketing plans over the past 20-plus years. Clients have included corporate, transactional and defense firms along with contingent fee practices and those firms focused on a distinct practice niche-immigration, family law, wealth preservation, criminal defense and policyholder rights. He speaks regularly on legal services marketing and ethics. He has addressed the annual meetings of the American Bar Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now the American Association for Justice), the Meritas law firm network and numerous local chapters of the Association of Legal Administrators.

He will summarize the Chicago workshop in a series of future columns for the ABA. They will be published in Law Practice Today as Weiss' Monthly Marketing Brief.

State Capital Law Firm Group is an association of more than 140 independent law firms serving businesses in all 50 U.S. state capitals and major commercial centers around the world.

Please call us at 303.298.1676 or email us to schedule a private consultation with Bob Weiss.