Abstract

In today’s market it takes more than legal acumen and experience for a law firm to be successful. Managing and developing a legal practice has never been more challenging or competitive. Business development is vital to both retaining existing clients and developing new ones, and central to law firm management and strategy. This practical guide, edited by Stephen Revell at Freshfields, takes readers through the tools and skills needed to implement effective business development, including the importance of good communications and public relations. It addresses the prominence of the client perspective and looks at the regulation and ethics behind business development and what the future of business development looks like. It also answers the questions – can you teach business development and can lawyers sell? The chapters cover the practical elements – such as the nuts and bolts of experience lists and what the perfect pitch looks like – as well as the strategic elements – including the variety of structures and approaches to business development at all sizes of law firms. 'Business Development: A Practical Handbook for Lawyers' is a one-stop shop on business development for lawyers in private practice, but it will also be of interest to in-house lawyers and academics.
Add to this the proselytising (can lawyers sell, and can you teach them to do business development? – yes, in both cases), alongside the articulation of how effective BD needs to be supported by good communications and PR, HR, and technology, and you have an invaluable handbook. Professor Stephen Mayson, University College London