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Cross-border energy law program way of the future
If lawyers don’t think that specialization and globalization are key to their future success, one need only look at law schools for some direction. The University of Houston Law Center and The University of Calgary last week announced the formation of the International Energy Lawyers Program.
The program allows students to earn both a Canadian and American law degree in four years. Students spend two years at each school and take courses that will enable them to apply for admission to bars in the United States and Canada.
The program, of course, will focus on producing energy lawyers, a much coveted skill in today’s environment. The two universities are known for their energy teachings.
“Our two countries’ futures are intertwined economically, and one of the most important issues facing both countries is energy security,” said Ian Holloway, dean of The University of Calgary Law School.”Training the next generation of lawyers who are leaders in energy and natural resources law will help us in our quest for sustainable, rational, continental energy policy.”
“This is just the beginning of a collaboration that will extend beyond this program between two of the best law schools and two energy capitals in North America,” said Raymond T. Nimmer, dean of the University of Houston Law Center.
More and more law schools are becoming centres of excellence in specific legal categories. It’s a way for schools to differentiate themselves and make their mark with students. The same for lawyers when it comes to clients.
The day of the general practice lawyer is coming to an end, if it isn’t already over.
Globe column advocates return to the past
I found this Globe and Mail article by law firm recruiter Carrie Mandel somewhat humorous and a throwback to what has been tried before and not always worked at law firms.
Mandel advocates that law firms reach beyond their current hiring practices and bring in people from industry to run their firms. I am not going to debate that a fresh eye is welcome.
Mandel praises Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and McCarthy Tétrault LLP, (clients perhaps?) for hiring COOs from outside the legal business and suggests it’s something new.
Not even close. It’s a cycle that law firms have been going through over the past 40 years. In 1980s and early 1990s, law firms often had a chief administrator who was usually an accountant or management consulting professional. Then the trend in the early 1990s was for law firms to hire CEOs from outside the legal industry. That was an abysmal failure and most leadership structures today at the big firms have a partner at the helm.
Why? Because lawyers own the business and most lawyers are not prepared to take marching orders from non-lawyers nor should they as business owners.
Mandel argues that firms reach outside for things like marketing directors. In 20-plus years of writing about the legal profession — starting when there were only a handful of marketing directors at law firms — I’ve seen that with mixed success. (I remember one firm that hired someone from the cosmetics industry. The person lasted maybe six months. There are many others who have stopped in for a cup of coffee before moving on.)
Making the leap from a business with a CEO structure, with one person in charge, to an environment where you have multiple owners is a challenge that many cannot handle.
Mandel is right when she says law firms can learn from people who come from other industries. But it’s just not that simple. Their success will depend on their ability to juggle the challenges that come with working in a partnership model. It’s not for everyone and it is not a panacea.
Canadian law firms and web strategies
My latest column in Canadian Lawyer looks at the top 20 law firms and their internet presence and Klout scores. Klout is a web site that measures online influence by using algorithms to gauge activity and influence in social networks, measuring things like “re-tweets,” “mentions,” “likes,” and “comments.” Klout uses a scale of 1 to 100. For simply existing, you get a 10 and build from there. An average Klout score is about 20, and those who achieve 50 or more sit in the 95th percentile, according to a recent tech podcast.
I ranked the firms according to size and contrasted that with their Klout scores. It clearly shows that size doesn’t matter, since Canada’s biggest firms scored down the list when it comes to building influence in an online world.
The chart accompanying the story shows which firms are using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and youtube. Clearly, Canadian law firms are at the early stages and there is lots to learn.
Blogging and using Twitter can allow practice groups and individual lawyers to build a community and become thought leaders in their area of expertise. The race is on. Stikeman Elliott is well down the path of creating blogs for their practice groups, with eight blogs.
The gaunlet has been laid. It’s now up to the other law firms to strut their stuff.
Legal Marketing Association conference
Ad gurus Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin of SWIM say that law firms need to take a chance in their marketing collateral and it is up to the legal marketing department to drive the bus.
Speaking at the Legal Marketing Association annual meeting in Toronto, the women, formerly of Ogilvy, gave kudos to Torys LLP mergers and acquisitions .
They says law firms are too focused on details, things like their rankings and deals, rather than trying to build a brand that tells the market what they do and how they are different from their competitors.
Blogs are too boring and web sites too similar. You can simply cut and paste one law firm name over another.
But some firms
The women say law firms need to be thought leaders and share knowledge and information. Tell your market about trends. Steal from packaged goods marketing and tell a story.
You need to put a “stake in the ground” and tell the public about your service. It’s not about the case you won. “Generic isn’t the way to go. Identity matters.” Differentiate yourself and tell a story.