In response to ‘fierce competition for increasingly demanding clients’, 56 per cent of attorneys and marketing professionals anticipate that their law firms will invest more in marketing and business development in the next two years. More than two thirds of respondents also said that their firms are putting greater emphasis on marketing.

The survey found that the roles of marketing staff are becoming more strategic in nature and that the majority (88 per cent) of attorneys and marketers report having positive relationships with one another. However, marketing and business development professionals also said they wanted more ‘buy-in’ and ‘responsiveness’ from attorneys, with 40 per cent finding that ‘at least somewhat difficult to achieve.’

The survey shows there is also work to be done in terms of utilising technology, with 96 per cent of law firms reporting either having or desiring client relationship management software, but only 48 per cent of marketers and 61 per cent of business development professionals reporting using it.

The survey is based on responses from 114 attorneys, 89 percent of whom were partners, and 172 marketing and business development professionals working in law firms across the US.

Source: Bloomberg BNA