Ask the Authorities.

THE QUESTION

We're about to run an event and we need mailing lists from two of our practice groups. Yet they don't want to share. Any advice?

Sara Crocker

First, ask some questions. Why aren't they sharing? Do they understand how their lack of sharing might affect the event? How will they feel when their clients are not at the event because they haven't been invited? Then be sure you are communicating in the right way to the right people.

But let's assume you did everything well and sufficiently nagged them, and yet they still choose not to respond. Here are some suggestions:

* Prepare a list of each group's top clients based on the previous year's revenue. Then schedule a meeting for the group's leader(s) and go through the list, asking which should be invited to the event. Once they get going, they will come up with additional names of clients/referral sources/prospects.

* Get yourself on the agenda (or, if that's not possible, just show up) to the next practice group meeting and go around the table asking each to contribute names for the invitation list.

* If all else fails, look for other sources of names: lists from past events, previous holiday card lists, etc. Create an invite list from that and show it to the group. Knowing lawyers, they will immediately want to "correct" it!

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Sara Crocker is director of client services at Wolf Greenfield in Boston. She has 20-plus years of experience in legal marketing and has served on national and chapter LMA boards.

Laura Hudson

Of course this issue isn't just about the lists, so please don't take their lack of cooperation personally. If people don't want to share, that's likely to relate to an issue you neither caused nor can fix. Do the best you can! Here are some thoughts:

Go visit in person as many of the lawyers as you can. It is much harder for people to be obstructionist when you are standing in their office asking for help than if you send a mass email requesting information.

If the event is something the two practice group chairs support, I'd get the practice chairs' lists first. Then go to each individual attorney, from most senior to most junior, to ask for each list. You might also try getting permission to have an administrative assistant help. Say something like: "I know your group (or you) wants to make the most out of the conference. With your permission, I'd like to work with your assistant to get your key client list. I'll run the names by you for final...