Dear Lawyer Colleagues: Are You Thriving or Just Surviving in the Legal Services Marketplace? (discussion wanted!)

Tomorrow I will participate in a panel for a class that is taught at Pitt's Law school.  "Understanding the Legal Services Marketplace"  taught by Max Miller.I write this blog post to facilitate discussion about the topics that are the focus of this course.  I also write this to get any lawyer's wheels rolling in respect of his or her own personal marketing plan.  Do you even have a personal marketing plan?I have been practicing law for 10 years (including my 2 year stint as a legal advisor/business consultant) and building a client base has always been an cryptic endeavor to me.  How does one build a client base?   My niche practice has always been bankruptcy which is a challenging niche for client-getting; not everyone wants to share with others information about their dire financial situation.I also worked at firms where meeting billable hours requirement was critical.  In the last decade, I spent most of my time trying to keep my hours up and learn substantively as much as I could about my niche area of the law.  Although I have always enjoyed meeting people, in my law firm life, networking or getting "out there"  was subordinate to making my billable hour requirement.One of the reasons I started my own practice was to figure out how a client base is created and nurtured.   So, the learning curve in the last 8 months has been steep, much to my delight.In Max Miller's course, the student are to (i) gain a basic understanding of the construct and commercial market drivers of the legal services industry; (ii) explore the industry's demand side (i.e., what do client's want) and supply side (i.e., being successful in a law firm or in your own practice) and (iii) structure a basic marketing plan to sell/offer legal services.

• What are the market drivers re: the demand for your particular practice?  How do you change your practices and policies in response to these market drivers?
• How do you make a contribution to your firm?  Do you provide more than just substantive knowledge?  Are you a grinder, a minder, and/or a finder?
• What factors drive the decision to procure legal service?
• How do legal services purchasers/users evaluate the services rendered?
• How have the sales, marketing, operations and soft skills associated with the provision of legal services in the law-firm changed?  Do you use social media in your practice?

DISCUSSION WELCOME-I will write another post re: these issues after my participation in the class tomorrow.