Mona Zeiberg, the firm's senior director of strategic marketing, presented on a panel for "The Role of Marketing in Law Firm Mergers & Integrations" at the Legal Marketing Association Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.
Law firm mergers and practice/attorney acquisitions have become seemingly commonplace in the industry over the last decade. The law firm that has not acquired another firm, been acquired by another firm or acquired a significant team of lawyers is more the exception than the rule. The challenge is integrating new attorneys/firms to gain the most value out of each combination.
This session focused on:
- A look back at the major firm mergers and acquisitions over the past few years.
- Examples of both successful and sub-optimal integrations, with anecdotes from insiders on what went well and what did not, particularly from a marketing communications perspective.
- A look at factors contributing to successful out-of-industry mergers and integrations.
- Key implications for law firm marketers and steps to take ahead of, during and post-merger to contribute to the successful integration.
- How senior marketers - when included in discussions before the combination reaches final stages - can offer:
- strategic value with insights, market knowledge and trends.
- competitive intelligence on the target market/practice/firm.
- effective integration plans.