Law firms. Satisfaction Guaranteed?
| Author | John Roemer |
| Pages | 20-22 |
Business of Law | LAW FIRMS
LAW FIRMS
Satisfaction
Guaranteed?
A recent spate of big-money guaranteed contracts for lateral partners
raises eyebrows and concerns
BY JOHN ROEMER
In their mergers and acquisitions
departments, large law rms
deploy due diligence specialists to
scrutinize every detail of a client’s
proposed deal. Yet when it comes to
rms’ own efforts to gain a competitive
advantage through lateral acquisitions
of marquee partners, similar analysis
often is lacking.
The result has led to some eye-pop-
ping salary guarantees for celebrity
lateral hires that bring to mind the
NBA’s quest for the next LeBron James
or a Broadway show’s need for a
surere box ofce draw. Firms’ rush to
acquire superstars, however, can come
with unseen costs that include disrup-
tion within the existing partnership
ranks and questions from clients about
whether the splash truly adds value.
The issue crystallized in 2018 when
the New York Times reported that Kirk-
land & Ellis paid $11 million a year for
ve years plus a signing bonus to entice
ace litigator Sandra Goldstein from her
senior partnership at Cravath, Swaine
& Moore. The rm also reportedly paid
Robert Khuzami $11.1 million over a
span of a little more than a year after
he moved from his post as the Securities
and Exchange Commission’s director of
enforcement to lead Kirkland’s govern-
ment and internal investigations prac-
tice group. Khuzami is no longer with
Kirkland, which declined to comment
for this article.
Not to be outdone, the Times report-
ed that Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton
& Garrison would pay $10 million to
poach Scott Barshay from Cravath’s
corporate department to head Paul
Weiss’ M&A practice.
The big salary numbers evoked com-
parisons to the Dewey & LeBoeuf col-
lapse in 2012 that was widely attribut-
ed to promised payouts to partners that
says Allison Seriani Rush, founder of
Prime PR & Marketing based in Boca
Raton, Florida.
Rather than appearing in a suit with
a law library backdrop, trying to mem-
orize a script with ashy ‘call now’ signs
and saying how you will “ght for your
clients,” Seriani Rush says to dig deep
into the passion behind your skills.
“People want to see and hear who
they are trusting with their money and
time,” she says. “They want to see real
testimonials.”
As far as reach, Google pay-per-click
and Google Ads campaigns are key
because people are actively searching
through keywords for what they need,
and it’s usually immediate, Seriani Rush
says. Social media has a great reach and
can target a specic audience, and it
can help businesses with branding and
engaging with users.
Within those campaigns, attorneys
should focus on news consumers can
use rather than sticking to news about
themselves, says Ken Kilpatrick, presi-
dent of Sylvia Marketing & Public Re-
lations in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
“For example, lawyers should write
content such as, ‘How to prepare for
the crisis you think won’t happen to
your company,’ or at tax time, ‘10 tips
to avoid an IRS audit.’”
When used correctly through the
voice of an individual rather than a
rm, social media advertising can do
wonders to humanize and build trust,
says Caroline Carter-Smith, partner
with CSuite Content in Vancouver,
British Columbia.
She suggests using LinkedIn’s blog
feature and sharing that content across
Facebook, Twitter and other chan-
nels, along with a regular drumbeat of
content and other articles that highlight
that you understand what’s important
to your clients.
Occasional sharing of personal an-
ecdotes to be more relatable—whether
that’s highlighting family or vacations
or elements of your personal life—also
reinforces that you’re a person (it builds
trust and values as well).
Slowly, attorneys can build trust,
erasing one lawyer joke at a time. Q
Photo illustration by Sara Wadford/Shutterstock
ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2020
20
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