Category: Contributors

In December of 2021, I had the pleasure of attending the CEELM Winter Ball, a festive event filled with good food and great discussions. Although I truly enjoyed this opportunity to catch up with old friends, I also found it fascinating to observe lawyers operating outside of their office comfort zone by partaking in the mysterious ritual of networking.

Why do so many of us struggle in networking conversations? And, what are the basics for making these conversations enjoyable? Read on to find out.

The Rainmaker Mistake

Many lawyers struggle with networking because they believe they should be playing “rainmaker”. The term rainmaker comes from the Native American Indian concept of a tribal magician who could make it rain in order to save the crops and feed the tribe. In the legal world, “rainmaker” refers to superhero lawyers having the magical ability to feed the firm by making client matters fall from the sky.

At networking events, nobody is looking to talk to weirdos pretending to have magical powers. Instead, most of us are just looking to have interesting conversations. If you are having a conversation with a potential client and they raise a work-related interest, then great – set up a meeting to pitch some work. Otherwise, don’t force things and just enjoy the conversation.

Enjoyable Conversations

If you want to generate enjoyable networking conversations, I recommend that you focus on three simple techniques: (i) asking open questions, (ii) leveraging linking words, and (iii) utilizing “Yes, and” boosters. 

After you briefly introduce yourself, send the conversation in the right direction by simply asking open questions. For example, “What brings you to this event?” or “What’s the most interesting thing you have learned here?” With such questions, not only can you make it easier for your counterpart to get into the flow of the conversation, but you can oftentimes learn a great deal about his/her interests. Once you start to identify these interests, you can offer your own observations or, better yet, ask follow-up questions to deepen your understanding of their interests. In any event, most people love the opportunity to express their views, so it’s impossible to ruin the conversation by asking questions and letting them talk.

If you are concerned about how to fill the gaps in the conversation when it’s your turn to talk, focus on identifying and leveraging linking words. In particular, listen closely to what your counterpart is saying and begin your responses by linking back to some of their words. For example: 

Client: “Our department is trying to shift towards a more strategic approach that prioritizes the most important needs of key business units, like sales and our licensing teams.”

Don’t: “Interesting. Did I mention that we just became 1st tier in Chambers?”

Do: “When we work with licensing experts, they usually …”

Last, but not least, you can boost the positive energy in your conversations by using the “yes, and” technique. Sometimes, lawyers introduce negative energy into conversations by utilizing “but” expressions. If you replace these with a “yes, and” approach, you can generate surprisingly positive results. For example:

Client: “We would love it if our lawyers would just get rid of billable hours.”

Don’t: “I can understand your frustration, but they are the basis of our business model.”

Do: “Yes, I can understand your frustration, and we are always looking for ways to provide greater value to our clients. What alternative fee structures do you prefer?”

Learn More

Get some good tips on networking by checking out the series of networking articles at attorneyatwork.com. Also, if you struggle with speaking in spontaneous situations, sign up for an improv acting course.

Aaron Muhly is an American lawyer who has been training European professionals on clear writing and effective communication for over 15 years.

This Article was originally published in Issue 9.5 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

The following situation would cause me to pull my hair out – if I had any left.

Frequently, I hear students apologize for their English. For example, they will hand me writing samples with an embarrassed look on their face and try to lower my expectations with some strange excuse like “my English teacher was previously my parent’s Russian teacher.”

Such apologies drive me crazy because they are completely unnecessary. In 99% of the cases, after I review their sample, I discover that their English is more than adequate for their job.

Unfortunately, however, this mistaken mindset retards their skill development as lawyers. There is nothing more disappointing for me than seeing young lawyers struggle in a negotiation or while making a speech because they incorrectly fear that their colleagues will laugh at their English.

If you count yourself as one of these unfortunate souls, read on to discover why your English is probably not your problem.

Do Mistakes Really Matter?

Please read the following two versions of the same legal text and select the version that your clients would prefer.

1. Pursuant to the French Public Procurement Act, a request that the ECJ provide a preliminary opinion in accordance with the EC Treaty may be initiated by the Arbitration Committee. In the event of such a decision by the Arbitration Committee, it suspends the proceeding (therefore the 60 + 30 day deadline is not affected). In our estimation, the likelihood that the Arbitration Committee requests a preliminary opinion from the ECJ does not exceed 50 percent.

2. Pursuant to the French Public Procurement Act, the Arbitration Committee may request that the ECJ provide a preliminary opinion according to the EC Treaty. If the Arbitration Committee decides to make such a request, it suspend the proceeding (therefore the 60 + 30 day deadline is not affected). In our estimation, the Arbitration Committee is not more than 50 purcent likely to request a preliminary opinion from the ECJ.

If you are like most readers, you prefer the second version, the version that is filled with English mistakes. In sentence 1, I misused “according to” instead of “in accordance with.” In sentence 2, I incorrectly used the plural form, “suspend,” instead of “suspends.” In sentence 3, I misspelled the word “percent.”

Despite the flaws, readers prefer version 2 because it uses reader-friendly sentence structures. For example, each sentence in version 2 begins with the same important story element – the Arbitration Committee. Such repetition helps the reader tie the sentences together into a coherent narrative.

I am not saying that English mistakes are not a turn-off for clients. But clients are unlikely to care about or even notice your mistakes if you focus on utilizing reader-friendly writing structures. Another way of saying this is: you could have the best English on the planet, but clients aren’t going to like your writing if you can’t structure it to match their needs. In this case, does it really make sense for you to be obsessing over your English?

What If I Still Have an English Problem?

If you still have concerns about your English, you are probably struggling with the absurd complexity of legal English terminology. In this case, I recommend that you order yourself a copy of Professor Bryan Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage. Professor Garner is the expert on legal English usage (e.g., he is the editor of Black’s Law Dictionary). In his Legal Usage book, he helps lawyers choose the right words and also explains common misuses of legal English.

Aaron Muhly is an American lawyer who has been training European professionals on clear writing and effective communication for over 15 years.

This Article was originally published in Issue 8.3 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

When we think of a crisis, what usually comes to our mind is an unexpected, negative event, with a limited duration.

The classic approach to managing a crisis is focused on:

• Crisis assessment;
• Clear roles and responsibilities;
• Fast response;
• Transparency towards all stakeholders;
• Message clarity;
• Clarifications and/or taking corrective measures;
• Continuous monitoring;
• Lessons learned.

In most cases, unless you have a “this can’t happen to me” approach, and have a crisis prevention plan in place, things shouldn’t be rocket science and you may very well keep your firm’s stellar reputation and client portfolio intact.

But how about the current crisis, with an unanticipated magnitude and implications that are here to stay longer than we were expecting?

When I think of the unpredictability that most firms face in the context of the pandemic, I remember the theory of the complex adaptive systems (CAS), which states that leaders can be more effective if they can embrace uncertainty and even become comfortable with a certain degree of chaos and uncertainty.

You might wonder: How can this model be applied to the current context what’s the connection with a clear strategy and continuity plan?

Well, these days might be just the perfect “storm” to effectively ride the waves of the uncertain, by cultivating clear directions in the fundamental strategic areas. From this perspective, I have identified eight long-term crisis response elements that might help your firm, not only navigate the grey waters of post-pandemic times but possibly emerge stronger than before.

1. Adapt or even question your way of doing business.

Whether in a growth or mature stage in the firm’s lifecycle, a thorough analysis or reanalysis of your team’s adaptive mechanisms, leadership style, and firm’s politics in key areas – business development and client relations, human resources policies, financial and fee structure, operations, and internal processes – will make the difference between merely surviving the crisis and becoming future market leaders. 

2. Deal with uncertainty realistically.

It is essential that you contextualize all the firm’s operations, establish clear strategic directions for the next five years, and a coherent continuity plan that should focus on the opportunities, vulnerabilities, available resources – human, financial, time – and prevention plans for future similar contexts.

3. Keep the right mindset.

From my experience, lawyers’ constant curiosity, adaptability in complex situations, and ability to deliver outstanding results when working under pressure should be some good indicators that these capabilities may well be transposed in a context of prolonged crisis dominated by uncertainty and guide their peers towards capitalizing existing opportunities.

4. Never underestimate the impact of efficiency.

It is a time for re-evaluation. You should focus on finding the right positioning in the market and finding the group or individual mechanisms to manage workflow and prioritization. You should establish the key strategic paths, from digitalization processes/CRMs to facilitate the operational areas, to cost-cutting through externalization of certain non-essential activities, to a (re-)evaluation of the firm’s human resources structures, etc.  

5. Make empathy your new credo.

We know for a fact that empathic relations are the key to a successful business. Although apparently simple, when it comes to applying empathy in practice, it might seem a bit more challenging. But it is a key competence which, if properly cultivated, has always proven to be a factor for success – it will not only help you become a rainmaker in a business where emotional connection is essential but also nurture open and trustworthy approaches with clients and peers alike.

6. Work on team cohesion through internal communication.

Aligned, consistent messages to clients across all the firm’s levels reflect not only a strong organizational culture and shared principles, but also a highly motivated team of lawyers. Beyond know-how, the main difference between a good and a fantastic firm often lies in the authentic team spirit based on cohesion and empathy between its lawyers, which will indirectly transmit the confidence clients need from their consultants during these times.

7. Adapt your tone of voice in communication.

I’ve seen many excellent law firms “speak” too much in a technical language and lacking the ability to position themselves, as a group, in the elite category of those who use a normal, cliché-free language that sends the message “we’re here for you the way you need us to be.” This is no longer the “new normal,” we are actually living times that might have changed indefinitely – albeit for good – the way we think and live, the things we prioritize, and the way we do business. Relevant and empathetic messages adapted to the context are the norm now, with transparency, consistency, and clarity no longer being optional – neither when speaking to clients, nor when addressing to media. Along with community involvement, these are strong differentiators that support an effective positioning strategy that can differentiate both legal and individual brands.

8. Embrace digitalization

This is a must for every firm to consider in its continuity plans on the medium- and long-term. The communication space has become rather overcrowded with similar messages of “how to.” Consequently, smart, direct, and clear delivery of such messages, along with keeping them relevant and context-/audience-adapted, might be the key to making your voice heard during these times and in the long-run.

These eight response strategies have probably been at the top of law firms’ priorities during the pandemic and in their recovery/continuity plans. Many of them are being implemented one step at a time. It is critical to remain open to uncertainty by constantly exploring and rethinking concepts and ideas about the opportunities this uncertainty might bring. Such an openness might make all the difference and even (re)shape the legal markets across the continent.

By Irina Melecciu-Vitelaru, Strategist & Growth Marketer, IMV Consulting

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Irina is an empathic business development and corporate communications entrepreneur, with 15 years of experience in professional services/business law, the hospitality industry, and the technology sector. One of the most appreciated consultants on the Romanian legal market, she regularly advises local and regional law firms, start-ups, and professional services providers on aspects such as brand strategy, digital and traditional public relations, client relationship management, legal marketing. Irina is a curious explorer who likes to work on turning vulnerabilities into strengths, to emphasize what is unique about each client, while keeping things straightforward and meaningful. With an MBA from the University of Sheffield, Irina also specializes in crisis management. She is NNDKP’s former head of marketing, where she designed and implemented, for over ten years, cutting-edge communication and BD campaigns.

After billing 500 hours for the past month, you finally found some quality time to write an article for your loving clients. After you send it out, you watch your phone with bated breath, anticipating that avalanche of new business that’s just about to pour in. Then, nothing.

You call down to your marketing people to express your displeasure, but they tell you that Google Analytics doesn’t lie. Nobody is reading your articles. Bummer.

Let me tell you how to fix this – how to boost your popularity on the client scene by switching to industry-based articles. I will also describe a basic template for writing effective industry articles.

Industry = Cool with Clients

The vast majority of lawyers like to write articles based on their practice areas. Although this approach sounds logical, consider the following questions: (i) Do clients read practice-area publications? and (ii) Do clients go to practice-area conferences? I bet if you examined the phones of your clients, you would discover that they prefer to read industrial publications, and they definitely prefer to attend industrial conferences.

When you write practice-area articles, it’s highly unlikely that an industrial publication will be interested in publishing your content. More importantly, such articles are not going to get you on the radar of industrial conferences. In other words, by sticking to your practice, you are disinviting yourself from networking opportunities that could be crucial for building your business.

Industry Articles: Four Simple Steps

Luckily for you, most of your competitors are making the same mistake of ignoring their clients’ industries. If you want to take advantage of their ignorance and start writing client-oriented articles, I recommend that you focus on: (i) picking a trending topic that clearly interests your target clients; (ii) helping them see the future by making a guess; (iii) getting their attention by playing the fear card; and (iv) demonstrating your unique value as an attorney by providing some practical legal tips.

First, you want to make sure that your topic is truly of interest to industry players. You can best accomplish this by reading reports and publications that are dedicated to the industry (e.g., industrial reports from top consultancies like McKinsey). Based on such reports, you can easily find a topic that addresses a key industry trend. For example, if you wanted to target the automobile industry in Central Europe, you could start by writing about the problems that were already facing the industry during the pre-COVID-19 days (e.g., Trump’s threats of tariffs, or profit warnings by major German and French automobile parts suppliers).

Second, pleasantly surprise your future clients by making a prediction about what will happen in the near future. (Please note: You are not creating any legal liability by making such a prediction, but you are demonstrating that you are not a typical backwards-thinking lawyer.) For example, due to the additional burden of the COVID-19 crisis, you might predict a much greater slow-down in the auto industry leading to a dog-eat-dog environment and massive consolidation.

Third, as you are a lawyer, you need to sell with fear, so you want to highlight the legal risks that clients will face based on your future prediction. For example, you could explain that companies without appropriate defense mechanisms against hostile takeovers will face a serious risk of being taken over by competitors.

Fourth, you finally get to promote your legal skills by providing your future clients with some practical advice about what they should do in the near future. For example, you could provide some corporate advice by explaining how to sell the management team on setting up poison pills and other corporate defense measures.

Your Takeaway

Clients are always looking for lawyers that understand their industry. Wouldn’t it be cool to be that lawyer? 

Aaron Muhly is an American lawyer who has been training European professionals on clear writing and effective communication for over 15 years.

This Article was originally published in Issue 7.11 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

Over thirty years ago, journalists reported that a chemical had been released into the water pipes of Durand, Michigan. They warned citizens that the chemical DHMO could accelerate corrosion and in certain situations even cause suffocation. The city’s inhabitants were beside themselves in panic.

Several years later – in the era that brought us Ronald Reagan, Rick Astley, and Starbucks – the US Army were intent on describing the increasingly unstable environment caused by a crumbling iron curtain and the fast-imploding Soviet Union. 

Measuring and Managing

Uncertainty was in the air and, in keeping with the mantra attributed to both management guru Peter Drucker and President of the Royal Society Lord Kelvin – “what gets measured, gets managed” – the US Army coined the concept of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), in order to understand, measure, and then manage this environment.

The Covid-19 pandemic is our Cold War, our generation’s tipping point, and again VUCA has returned. Many sources (Forbes, World Economic Forum) talk of the need for leadership, emotional intelligence, and creativity as core skills needed to move forward post-crisis. Adaptability, tech-savviness, and critical thinking also get a mention. 

So what should we actually focus on in this mad scramble for skills? Where do we begin? Do lawyers and service professionals need a special kind of skillset for coping with coronavirus?

Abilities and Skills

The answer, as always, is yes… and no. In a world where the market is shifting under our feet and the profile of the conservative lawyer is clearly outdated, a new set of skills is required for these new times, skills that embrace volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. However, Covid-19 has not created this necessity but only accelerated it. 

In wanting to deal with the VUCA world, Professor Bill George (of Harvard Business School) developed VUCA 2.0 as a guideline or roadmap for managers and leaders: Vision, Understanding, Courage, and Adaptability. However, limiting this list to all but the C-suite would be a grave disservice to the lawyers of today who are primed for embracing new ways of doing business. 

In more simplistic terms, what each of us needs today is:

• Clarity, in order to describe, assess, and understand our current situation;
• Adaptability, in order to learn about or re-train for the new environment;
• Bravery, in order to take the first step forward.

In fact, we could boil these three points into a mindset that is geared for success regardless of the maelstrom that might be enveloping us. 

Learn to Learn

Warren Bennis, a leadership expert and one of the fathers of the original VUCA stated that “Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life” as well as “in a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.”

No fancy management models are necessary, no specialized skillsets nor indeed costly online courses. Implementing continuous learning in one’s life, loving to learn, and simply ‘being a learner’ is the only genuine approach that can guarantee success regardless of the circumstances.

In this exaggerated information age of ours where we are constantly bombarded by a jungle of news and noise, it is difficult to find our bearings. Bringing together continuous learning and clarity, adaptability and bravery can help us clear the noise, navigate accurately, and find true north.

And so we return to Michigan. 1 April 1983. The chemical seeping into the underground pipes in Durand was Dihydrogen monoxide, more commonly known as water.

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg)

Terminology for Tough Times

Problem

VUCA = volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous

FUD = fear, uncertainty, doubt

TUNA = turbulent, uncertain, novel, ambiguous

Solution

VUCA 2.0 = vision, understanding, courage, adaptability

CAB = clarity, adaptability, bravery

GROW = goal, reality, options, way forward

By Raf Uzar, Head of Communication and Development, Penteris

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Raf Uzar has been involved with education, training, and communication his entire career. A published academic originally working in computational linguistics, Uzar transitioned to the world of law and the development of lawyers via print and radio journalism, publishing, and a stint working for the European Film Academy. The continuing improvement of firm-wide performance, strategy, and culture are his over-arching aims. He is a member of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and supports the legal team at Penteris in his role as Head of Communication and Development.

Once upon a time, you were a pretty good speaker, dominating the law conference circuit. Now, you find yourself holding webinars in your pajamas. Things got weird, fast.

If you are feeling disconnected from your audiences, you are not alone. It’s hard to build a positive relationship with your audience when they, and you, have been reduced to boxes on a video screen, many of which have crappy wi-fi connections.

Fortunately for you, I have been slogging along with trying to master this online speaking world for over six months. At first, it really sucked. However, I now find myself in situations where I actually prefer running trainings and webinars online. In this article, I would like to pass on some valuable discoveries about how to connect with your audience by simply asking questions, and how to strengthen your connections with non-verbal communication.

Building Connections with Questions

Before the coronavirus, I hated legal presentations because they rarely involved discussions with the audience (outside of the lame Q&A sessions). Nowadays, I don’t mind them so much, because I can politely just shut off the webinar and read something interesting.

If you don’t want your audience shutting you off, you need to quickly build a strong connection by pulling them into your presentation via the 2-Level Question Technique. This technique involves, first, asking the audience a general question. Then, after quickly reviewing their responses, asking specific audience members follow-up questions.

For example, I began a recent negotiation course by asking participants to describe their biggest problem with negotiating online. (Zoom Tip: I instructed them to communicate their responses via the chat function.) Not surprisingly, I got a lot of interesting answers like: “I struggle with bridging the gaps (e.g., language, legal understandings, different cultures);” “I find it difficult to build rapport with the other party;” and “I have too many people trying to negotiate together as well as a confused translator.”

For the second level, I asked each of the participants to turn on their microphones so that we could discuss their answers. With this simple approach, I transformed a potentially boring lecture into an engaging discussion that was immediately relevant to my audience.

Maximizing Your Non-Verbal Communication

Even if you build a good connection with your audience, you might unconsciously weaken it by failing to take advantage of the non-verbal communication tools available to online speakers. If you aren’t doing so already, I strongly recommend you work on the following methods.

Camera Level: Although it might feel cool to be hunched over your laptop like a start-upper, you eliminate all of your positive body language (e.g., shoulder and hand gestures). To avoid this, put your laptop on top of some books and sit back in your chair. Your audience will not only appreciate seeing your gestures but you will look more relaxed and confident.

Lighting: If you don’t have good lighting in your home office, your audience won’t receive important communication from your facial expressions. You can fix this by putting a desk lamp behind your computer and pointing it at an angle towards your face.

Eye Contact: Although you might feel comfortable watching people’s faces when you speak online, it’s not a great feeling for your audience – they are looking for eye contact from you. If you want to address their need and look confident as well, practice speaking towards your camera. (Zoom Tip: You can shrink the pictures of your audience and move them close to your camera. This way, you can still look at them while looking at your camera.)

Final Thoughts

With these tips, you will definitely find it easier to connect with your webinar audiences, and they will truly appreciate your efforts. Better yet, you will find this advice useful for building strong relationships in all of your videoconferencing activities, whether they be client meetings, negotiations, or BD networking.

Aaron Muhly is an American lawyer who has been training European professionals on clear writing and effective communication for over 15 years

This Article was originally published in Issue 7.6 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

Everyone knows that law firm pitches are terrible, and nobody is happy about it – not the lawyers, not the marketing/BD teams, and definitely not the clients.

Although most lawyers find it uncomfortable to sell their services by simply bragging about their expertise, firm pitches force them to do exactly that. They need to describe their personal greatness, the awesomeness of their transactions, etc. Even worse, as they recognize that their competitors are saying the exact same thing, it’s hard to get excited about slapping together yet another unimaginative pitch.

The marketing/BD teams are equally frustrated. Since they have a marketing background, they understand the absurdity of just copying the marketing approaches of competitors as opposed to talking about meaningful differentiators. But, since they are not lawyers, who’s going to listen to their opinion?

Last not but least, we have the clients. Imagine that you are a client with an important matter. You send out an RFP to several firms, and each firm sends you almost the exact same information. It’s no wonder that clients regularly choose the cheapest offer.

Regardless whether you work at a client or a law firm, you can improve the pitching process by getting all participants to focus on the client’s business.

The Missing Ingredient: The Client’s Business

If you ask in-house counsel to identify their biggest problem with law firms, you will likely hear that the lawyers simply don’t understand their business. For example, in Altman Weil’s 2019 Chief Legal Officer Survey, in-house leaders were asked to select the main improvements that they would like to see from outside counsel. Not surprisingly, the most popular choices focused on saving money (e.g., “greater cost reduction”). However, after these money-related responses, the most popular answer was “Greater effort to understand our business.”

With this in mind, wouldn’t it be a good idea to differentiate your firm from competitors by using your pitch to demonstrate your understanding of potential clients’ business? In particular, I recommend that you dedicate just a page of your written pitch or a few slides of your .ppt to address the key business issues that will impact and shape your service to their company.

To identify the key business issues of your client, you need to talk to them. In other words, once you get invited to pitch, pick up that phone and start investigating the relationship between (i) the transaction/dispute, (ii) the client’s business goals, and (iii) your firm’s services. In particular, you are likely to obtain valuable information by asking the following types of questions: (i) How is this transaction/dispute important to your company’s business? (ii) How do you envision the best possible structure/result for this transaction/dispute? (iii) Who are the key stakeholders for this transaction/dispute? What is their position/opinion/interest on/in this matter? (iv) What are your biggest concerns regarding how your external counsel manages this matter? (v) Is there anything special (i.e., not addressed in the RFP) that you or your colleagues would like us to address in our pitch?

Most clients welcome such questions and will happily provide surprisingly detailed answers. With these answers, you can improve your pitch by: (i) communicating your understanding of these fundamental business interests, and (ii) explaining how you would ensure that your firm’s services would best address them.

However, clients should not sit around and wait for lawyers to take the initiative. Many lawyers feel uncomfortable with picking up the phone to ask such questions. If you expect your lawyers to pick up the phone, it’s not a bad idea to communicate this expectation explicitly.

Similarly, the marketing/BD teams can greatly support their lawyers in this process by (i) compiling useful questions to support clients, (ii) obtaining feedback about the success of questions and sharing these with the lawyers, and (ii) updating firm pitch templates to include a section focused on client business interests.

Aaron Muhly is an American lawyer who has been training European professionals on clear writing and effective communication for over 15 years.

This Article was originally published in Issue 7.3 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

 

The coronavirus has had a deep effect on legal services. Now we can start drawing conclusions on how deeply this sector has been affected during the last two months. 

More than 1000 Hungarian lawyers filled out an anonymous online survey conducted by Pro/Lawyer Consulting. The survey was based on self-declaration, and it examined changes in workload, decrease of income, and the areas of law where service providers saw increased or decreased work.

The demographic

55% of survey respondents work in Budapest, 28% of them work in large cities other than, and 17% of them in small cities. 73% of respondents operate as solo practitioners, 18% work in a small office of a few people, and the rest of them report working in a medium, large, or an international law firm. Although the survey was specifically controlled to be representative, this breakdown generally corresponds with the national segmentation of the 12,000 lawyers in Hungary.

Decreasing income

As you might have guessed, a significant part of the legal community has been hard-hit during the last couple of months. Only 20% have reported that their income has not decreased in the last months because of the pandemic. Conversely, 20% of the survey participants have experienced a decrease between 10% and 30% in revenue, whilst 30% of respondents admitted to suffering from a 30-60% decrease, and a further 22% reported they experienced more than 60% decrease on earnings.

In regards to trainee lawyers (who are educated as lawyers but still need to work for 3 years under an attorney to be eligible to take the Bar exam), 67% stated that their salary has not changed in the last months. 14% of them answered that their salary changed in a negative way, many of which are currently on unpaid leave or work reduced hours.

One respondent commented: “Everyone thinks that lawyers have sacks of money in this situation, but we have plenty of outlay in addition to liability insurance, bar association fees, and the rental fee. A lot of young, entrants and even lawyers who have been practicing for 1-2 years find themselves in a hopeless situation, even after having spent many years and lots of money to open a law firm.”

Changes in the type of work – growth and reduction

As one would imagine, the greatest decrease of work was in the field of real estate, as one in four lawyers remarked. Litigation and corporate matters follow second with 15-20% noting that they experienced a reduction. 5% of the respondents noted that the decrease was significant with damages-related, criminal, and family law cases.

The rate of M&A and finance matters were reduced by 5% as well, but the analysis revealed that these fields employed 38% of the workers of large firms – which is understandable, as these transactions are concentrated in large firms.

It came as no surprise that the largest growth was in the field of labor law – as reported by 32% of respondents. It is not surprising either that claim management took second place in terms of an increase in workload.

The survey asked trainee lawyers how their workload has changed in the last few months. Half of them stated that they have less work, 6% have almost no work, and 9% of them lost their jobs. On the other hand, 16% of respondents stated that they have more work than a few months ago.

Survey participants’ comments:

“It might be that despite the setback, the work has increased overall. This is because, with the drop of the billable hours, more marketing-type work is expected from them.” 

“The workload increased, but this is due to being assigned the work of those colleagues that left the firm as a consequence of the lay-offs.”

Lay-offs and terminations

To the question of what percentage of lawyers is affected negatively by the situation, only 1% of the respondents answered that either no one is affected, or a maximum 10% of them are. 45% believe that everyone or almost everyone has been affected and a third of them argue that half of the lawyers have been affected.

90% of the lawyers answered that there were no lay-offs in the last few months – though this can be a result of the majority of the lawyers who filled out the survey working as solo practitioners. In the firms where there were lay-offs, this mostly affected the administrative staff, but 4% stated that they had to dismiss lawyers as well.

It is interesting to compare the answers of lawyers with the answers of trainees. Trainee lawyers declared that 29% of the firm had lay-offs. As 23% of the trainees work in a one-person firm, it is clear that the lay-offs affected medium-sized or large firms, where typically trainees work.

A fifth of the lawyers are hopeful and think that every practice will survive the crisis. 42% of respondents think that 10% of the firms in the market will cease to exist, 23% believe that we will see about 20% of firms vanishing, and 12% forecast a 30% closure rate. But as a respondent summarized this shortly: “It is not the coronavirus that causes the disappearance of a praxis – for those who are considering of giving up the praxis, this is just going to be another reason.” Another lawyer said: “The lawyers that do not have any income mostly represent private individuals. Concerning litigation, uncertainty is normal. The real estate market obviously waits. Right now, people only inquire through the phone, they do not want to spend money on lawyers. This is it, but obviously we will be needed eventually, so I am optimistic.”

Trainee lawyers are not so optimistic, one in four thinks that many of them will lose their jobs in the next few months. At the same time, one in four believes that their salary will be reduced with 10% of those believing that this reduction will be for the long term.

I believe this is likely to be the case. In the last few years, there was a lawyer shortage in the market, and firms were competing for trainees by offering great salaries. It is worth checking out jobs portal – a few months ago 20-30 law firms were looking for trainees, nowadays you cannot see more than 4-5 advertisements. There will be a lot of trainees in the market again, this is going to push down their salary – and it is going to be the firms that will select among the trainees. Some people will have to give up on a lawyer’s career.

Is there a need for governmental help?

More than three-quarters of the lawyers surveyed believe that there is a need for some kind of governmental measure in the sector. Primarily, they would be satisfied with a reduction of contributions, or the complete release from these, or perhaps seeing an extension to the sector of the measures helping the contractors who are in the “KATA” (self-employed) system. Plenty of people wrote that they expected more from their bar association, stronger enforcement of claims, and generally, easily available membership fee discount (or the remittal of the fee for a couple of months). If the lawyers are not working, they still have hundreds of thousands of expenses: rental fees, bar association fees, liability insurance, and also maintaining the infrastructure of their practices.

It is mainly the sole practitioners who want governmental help, 4 out of 5 would like to see these measures implemented. As the size of the firm grows, the need for help decreases, but even half of the lawyers who work in an international firm noted that help is needed. It is mostly the medium-size firms that do not see a need for help, with 58% of respondents in that group claiming they see no need for it.

The future – what are they foreseeing?

17% of the trainees believe that from now on, it will be a basic requirement to work in home-offices. As one of them says: “The expansion of home-office and electronic administration will enhance a career change among those who were not familiar with electronic services and remote working until now.” Another opinion is: “I have been working in a home-office since March, and it is great that I can manage almost everything from home. These are my trainee period’s best weeks. This situation has proven that there is no need to rush into the office in the morning and stay there even on a Friday night. As long as I am available all time, write every submission on time, and provide legal advice, I can do it all from home.”

More people are hopeful about remote working, but there has been more criticism dedicated to the court system, mainly because of the deadlines and the difficulty of administration. The widest criticism was to Skype-type trials. It not only put lawyers in a difficult situation, but the hearings of the witnesses and other parties concerned were problematic in the last weeks. 

But to end up with a positive note: “We have put in a lot of time and attention right now for everyone to think over what it is that they want to evolve and specialize in. I encourage everyone with self-education and objectives to use this time to think thoroughly. I believe that now it is an important time to have a good strategy, or to have a strategy ready for the next 2 years.” –  says a lawyer. Another adds: “We need the website, the marketing, and with these, there will be no problem.”

By Mate Bende, Partner, Pro/Lawyer Consulting

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With 10 years of legal communication experience, Mate Bende started his legal consultancy firm, Pro/Lawyer Consulting in 2015, with the intention of, helping lawyers and the legal industry reach their business goals. Until today he worked with more than 50 law firms and several legal networks in the CEE region.. His main focus is on PR based business development solutions which include branding, online presence for law firms, social media trainings and legal ranking consultancy as well. In 2016 and 2017 Pro/Lawyer won a Hungarian B2B communications award, both times with a campaign in the legal business sphere. From 2018, the firm is a member of the Nextlaw Global Public Affairs Network, powered by Dentons.

If it seems that both – activity of online communities and the amount of legal content on social media has boomed lately, you are not wrong. LinkedIn reported that the number of articles from February untill March 23 grew by 2196% and 33% of these posts were related to coronavirus (Navigating Today’s Evolving World of Work, LinkedIn, 2020 March). Global research shows that the legal service industry was among TOP10 contributors to the topic and my research in Lithuania confirms that by indicating that the main cause for that was a significant increase in the production of content by law firms and lawyers. 

Lithuania’s market of legal services shows that during the quarantine period (from March 16 to May 12), the activity of leading law firms on LinkedIn in Lithuania has grown by 93%. This means that law firms were communicating almost twice as much as before and publishing an average of 5–6 posts per week. However, the key question is whether it was worth investing so much time for law firms in LinkedIn content production and if it had any positive outcome for their business?

Cases study: LinkedIn communication of the law firms in Lithuania at a time of quarantine 

To answer that question, I conducted a LinkedIn communication analysis of the company pages of the 15 largest business law firms in Lithuania in terms of their page following. These had a range of 350-4500 followers. As Lithuania has announced the quarantine on the day when only 8 persons were infected with COVID-19 and that was at the very beginning of the crisis and after that many regulatory changes were announced, it was reasonable to take the first day of the quarantine as a benchmark for the analysis. Therefore, for comparisons two periods were taken: the beginning of the year before the quarantine, which qualifies the period from 1 January to 15 March; and quarantine period, which started with 16 March and to my research day of 12 May. 

I noticed similar trends in the other markets, therefore my sincere hope is that the case study of Lithuania will help others to critically assess their communication on LinkedIn during the COVID-19 quarantine and avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Most law firms at least doubled their activity on LinkedIn at the time of crisis

Lately we have seen many changes in the legal environment and a high degree of uncertainty. This has provided great justification and content for more intense communication, which is why 80% of major law firms at least doubled their activity on LinkedIn publishing an average of 5–6 posts per week. Some of them communicated 6–7 times more actively than before posting an average of 10 entries per week at a time of quarantine, which, you can imagine, required an enormous effort.

And to my professional eye, most of this activity has been focused on the acquisition of new clients or at least on increase the number of followers. 

Did those who bent over backward with communication reap the rewards?

Unfortunately, the drastic increase in communication did not help these firms to attract more followers on LinkedIn at a time of quarantine – their numbers grew at the same rate as before. Meanwhile, the engagement of the public dropped for some of them almost three times and an average stood at only 4.39% to compare with an average of 7% for the same firms at the beginning of the year. 

One can conclude that even if positive results were achieved, it is likely that they included increased brand awareness and expert positioning. However, even with enormous efforts, these firms did not manage to strengthen their position on the LinkedIn platform.

If you are curious about what specifically did not work out, I would say that in addition to many other minor mistakes LinkedIn organic reach algorithm was not taken into consideration when deciding about the intensity of the communication. My research also confirmed well-known recommendation for communication on LinkedIn, that publishing more than 4–5 posts per week would be inefficient, even when there is a growing demand for information in the market. 3–4 posts per week would be a reasonable limit even under these circumstances.

Was the relationship with the target audience strengthened? 

To make it short: it was not.

The flow of legal information increased significantly in this network, which means more competition for exposure time and more difficulty remembering who posted the information they read or listened to. Therefore, if the interest attracted by extra effort did not turn into a query, more was lost than gained. It is likely that among the audience your post or message is now remembered without assignation to any law firm. Furthermore, it seems so that the content was rarely so persuasive that it encouraged the viewer to follow the company page. To be precise, after the communication on LinkedIn was an average doubled in the market, the number of page followers in the market an averaged grew only as little as 20% to compare with the period before the quarantine. 

In other words, the efforts of Lithuanian law firms to build relationships with the public did not bring about a breakthrough, despite the fact that demand for such content existed and the public consumed it.

Why? The answer is simple: it is likely that most law firms acted without aligning their actions with their goals or did not set any goals for this communication at all.

What could have been a smarter LinkedIn communication strategy for the period? 

In terms of effectiveness, for most of the firms creating less content and investing more in its advertising could have been a very smart decision for two reasons: first – an organic reach of the news in the legal services sector dropped on average by 25–40% during quarantine; second – as the number of posts increased, the engagement of the public significantly decreased (correlation coefficient: -0.65). To sum up, hard work did not ensure better coverage, however, that could have been solved with a little investment into advertising. 

To make it obvious, I suggest comparing two alternative strategic scenarios of communication on LinkedIn at a quarantine period. First one: a firm creates 60 pieces of content and does not invest in advertising; second: the firm creates 20 pieces of content and invests EUR 1,500 – 2,000 in advertising.

Creating a LinkedIn post in Lithuania can cost anywhere from EUR 100 to  EUR 400 and by investing EUR 1,500 into advertising you can reach an audience of 80,000 – 120,000 decision-makers. If we focus on audience reach as a key success indicator of your LinkedIn communication in the given circumstances, I must conclude that in the second case scenario the same reach could have been achieved with just one-third of the time spent for content preparation and with two-three times lower costs overall. 

The takeaway is simple – there is always a way to achieve the same results at better efficiency, you just have to stop and do some math before taking an action.

Neringa Petrauskaite is a business development and marketing strategist with 15 years of international legal service industry experience working both in-house and as a outsourced consultant.

 

Crisis time is not a problem. It is an opportunity. Seemingly so solid structures start to shake, opening up new opportunities for those who want to see them. It can be particularly rewarding for those who are open to tune or revise their modus operandi, being opportunistic, attracting the best talent, acting more swiftly, and preparing for the future more efficiently than others.

What is your attitude towards the pandemic?

According to an interesting survey conducted by the Managing Partners’ Forum in May 2020, 42% of mid-market UK professional services firms describe their response to the pandemic as being “pivoters”, adapting the service proposition and working on new revenue streams. 19% are “thrivers”, continuing operations to meet the high demand for services.

24% of firms thought their response to the pandemic should be labeled as “survivors”, cutting back activity in parts of the firm that are no longer viable, while 15% considered themselves as “hibernators”, using existing cash reserves and minimizing losses through furloughing.

It is interesting to note that so many firms take a pro-active approach as “pivoters”. The change process is already happening there. To which category do you want to belong?

Listen to sell

If you want to sell, stop talking and start listening carefully instead. It is perhaps not a big novelty, but the importance of active listening and of ongoing dialogue is particularly important today.

Of course, it is still virtually impossible to meet IRL in many countries, but there are so many tools that you can use to be in touch. Technically speaking, nothing prevents you from being proactive and continuing a dialogue with your clients.

This way you can realize which fields are of particular importance for them and hopefully also draw their attention to some important aspects they would not be able to identify without you. Being one step ahead of your clients.

Get inspired by other industries

Some fashion retailers launch a test series of products, make them available in a limited number of shops on a small market. If it works, then they launch the product on a wider scale, making adjustments if needed. This way they avoid unnecessary large investments without testing waters first, and instead, they are able to act swiftly with a decreased risk of failure.

Pro-actively looking for new products and services. Do a market proof of concept. Amending if necessary. Then go ahead.

Those who will be more agile and smarter will get a chance to grab new market shares which without the Covid-19 crisis would have not been open for new players.

Learn from past crisis

Learn from what has already happened. We do not mean that one should automatically repeat past solutions. It is rather a matter of creatively looking at past experience, assessing which strategies and tactics have worked well a while ago.

You can get inspired and then try to transpose this experience to the current market environment. The outcome may turn out to be completely different from specific past solutions because contexts and circumstances vary.

It may also help you assess your strategies and operations from a new perspective. Think about potential sources of your competitive advantage and be ready to act.

Be a matchmaker

Try to find opportunities for your clients and contacts. Sometimes connecting the dots may turn out to be very easy for you and yet will make a huge difference for your client or contact who may become a client.

It is a matter of looking at things from another angle. Rather than just trying to sell, focus on helping others, and making their life easier.

Helping people is a powerful business development tool.

Time to hire, time to care

CEO of an innovative company told one of us a few weeks ago: “We do not lay off. We are investing right now. Now it is time to invest”.

In the current time, some firms may be able to recruit excellent people who may otherwise not have been open for a career change.

At the same time, pay attention to your team. Treat your people with respect and care, be understanding, and be openminded and receptive. Otherwise, instead of winning, you may be losing some of your valuable colleagues.

Mid-market? Act now

We expect that mid-market will be a particularly challenging place to be going forward, with increasing pressure on one hand from the big players and on another hand from smaller ambitious firms.

If you are in this market segment, it is time to look at how you can benefit from the current developments. Many mid-market firms have a relatively steady flow of “bread and butter” revenues, which is an advantage in comparison to transaction-focused firms.

If you don’t do anything, we have bad news: others will certainly act. This includes not only your current competitors, but also firms which will become your competition soon, but you do not see it coming.

Pricing and costs

One way of addressing it may be to consider alternative pricing solutions. Instead of focusing on hourly rates, focus on delivering value, and connect pricing to it.

There are also technology tools that can help you deliver services in a more efficient manner. And we do not necessarily mean implementing new ones, but to start with checking what you already have. For instance, do you know which tools your Office 365 license includes?

At the same time, it is a good moment to look at your cost base. It may be the case that you have been tolerating inefficiencies in your cost structure and the current challenges may trigger revisions which should be made anyway.

Going forward, it will be really interesting to see the impact of the current situation on office space leasing. In particular, in this area, things may never be the same again.

Brexit has not been canceled

There are issues which did not disappear just because Covid-19 has covered them up. After the pandemic outbreak, it seems that almost everyone has already forgotten about Brexit. Yet, it will take place.

Brexit is just an example. There are issues that many of us have had on the agenda before the Covid-19 crisis. Are they still your issues today or going forward? Do not forget to take them into account while looking again at your, and your clients’, risk assessment scenarios and crisis management procedures.

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Let us conclude with this quote gotten from a client: “It is not the big who beat the small but the fast who triumph over the slow.”

Authors 

Per Magnusson is a Swedish attorney (advokat), a founding partner of Magnusson Minds and formerly a founding partner of Magnusson. He is a trusted advisor, advising clients on disputes, complex projects and negotiations. He also serves as an arbitrator. Mariusz Kowalski is a manager and trusted advisor specialized in business development, management, strategy, marketing, and digital projects in the legal sector. He is the Founder of Waterwalk Partners. For almost 15 years, Magnusson and Kowalski have been key members of the firm-wide executive management of Magnusson, in their respective roles of Managing and Senior Partner, and the firm-wide Chief Marketing Officer.