Audio Conferences

  January 17, 2008 at 02:00PM ET

Although industry data suggest that the law firm convergence movement has slowed, firms that don’t live up to their clients’ growing list of expectations are still vulnerable.

In a recent survey of chief legal officers, 32% of the respondents had fired (or considered firing) one of their outside law firms this year. Another report found over half of the corporate counsel surveyed had replaced or demoted at least one of their primary law firms in the 18 months prior to the survey—largely without any more notice than a reduction in assignments.

The good news: This same body of research reveals that law firms lose big-ticket clients for reasons that are readily preventable, including lack of responsiveness and cost management issues.

Law firm leaders can reap benefits and win more business in the months ahead... but to do so, they must carefully re-evaluate their approach to building and maintaining relationships with their most profitable clients, treating them more like business partners, getting to know more about their businesses, and conveying value.

Some recent studies also show that in-house spending on outside law firms is on the rise, so opportunities remain for leaders who understand what it takes to satisfy their law firm’s big-ticket clients.

Indeed, industry experts confirm that law firms that re-evaluate their client relationships, enhance communications, and partner with their clients always land on the “right” side of convergence programs.

Join IOMA for this 90-minute interactive audio conference and learn how to:

• Identify root causes of client dissatisfaction and keep your focus on what matters most to your key clients
• Set your firm apart from your competition by actively partnering with your firm’s most profitable clients
• Anticipate client expectations and build their loyalty
• Generate repeat business
• Model your firm’s approach based on insights provided by our panel of general counsel and industry experts
• and more!

FEATURED FACULTY

John Wallbillich
of Lexvista Partners and Wired GC

John Wallbillich is managing director of Lexvista Partners, an Ann Arbor, MI-based legal advisory and development company he founded in late 2006. For the previous 12 years, he was vice president & general counsel of a major natural gas pipeline joint venture of two diversified North American energy companies. John also served as secretary and compliance officer, while leading the legal, environmental, community relations and internal audit groups. John has over 22 years of experience as a corporate lawyer and in-house counsel. He attended the University of Michigan and Wayne State University law school, where he was Note and Comment Editor of the law review.

John is also editor of Chief Legal Officer Today, a monthly report for general and senior managing counsel, and publishes The Wired GC, the first legal weblog devoted to the role of general counsel and in-house practice.

Peter A. Sullivan
Partner, Hughes Hubbard

Peter Sullivan is a partner in the litigation department of Hughes Hubbard. He specializes in technology-based litigation and his practice focuses on patent infringement, trade secret, product liability and commercial litigation. As a patent litigator, he has experience litigating actions through trial, and in counseling clients with respect to pending and threatened actions. He has worked on patent appeals in the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit as counsel for a party and as counsel for amicus curiae. He is currently counsel for several large corporations in the case KSR International v. Teleflex, which is currently before the Supreme Court on a grant of certiorari. He was counsel for several large corporations in the case KSR International v. Teleflex. He was the Chair of the Patents Committee at the Bar Association of the City of New York, and he is a member of the AIPLA and the Federal Circuit Bar Association. He is a registered patent attorney.

CLE Accreditation:

IOMA will apply for CLE accreditation in all states for which we receive a request. You will be provided with an opportunity to apply for same as part of the post-event evaluation process. Your request should include name, state, bar association number, and email address of each listener. CLE credits are applicable to live event registrations only. Clients purchasing audio recordings of our audio conference events are not eligible for CLE credit. The accreditation process typically takes 2-3 months.

Register today! Unable to attend? Order the CD now!