The question.

• Author: Hirsch, Stewart
• Position: Ask the Authorities

I've been asked to help a lawyer in my office who still believes that our role is to help him get business and thinks his lack of success is because I did not get him the right speaking engagements, rather than it being his failure to follow up. How do I convince management that he just isn't worth their investment?

Catherine Alman MacDonagh, JD

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

You don't have a case--yet You've been asked to help; do that first by delivering excellent support. Make sure you have invested appropriate time and effort with the lawyer before trying to convince management he is a failure. If you won't help, who will?

You already identified one of the lawyer's issues: failure to follow up. You must demonstrate that you have tried helping him with that or management may arrive at the conclusion that it is YOU who is the failure. Establish and communicate a process for speaking engagements at your firm. Clearly define roles, responsibilities and a tracking mechanism with agreed upon metrics Of course, management must support the approach you are taking and agree to hold lawyers accountable for proper use of firm resources.

Next, ensure that lawyers have training and coaching as to what to do before, during and after these opportunities. Finally, report marketing successes and challenges to management on an ongoing basis. If, after all this, this lawyer still fails to live up to his obligations, then you are much better prepared to successfully bring your case to management.

Catherine Alman MacDonagh is a recovering lawyer, author and law firm marketing and business development professional who serves on the 2012 LMA Board of Directors. She is a founder of The Legal Mocktail[TM], The Legal Lean Sigma(r) Institute and the Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO).

Michael Blachly

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Firm culture, available resources and the level of support you get from management must all be weighed. My suggestion? Before taking any drastic steps, work with the attorney to educate him on what truly makes a client development activity successful.

I find that the most common cause for failure in client development is not allowing enough time to the activity. In the case of speeches, dedicate time to developing the speech, developing the PowerPoint (which SHOULD NOT be the speech; rather, it should support the speech), practicing the speech, arriving early to mingle with the guests, giving the presentation, staying after to mingle with the...