January 2009 Strategies Journal Covers

12 | Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, January 2009,V11.N01

The ABCs of the SAC: a Primer onLMA’s Strategic Alliance Committee

by Marni MacLeod

As a relative newbie on LMA’s Strategic AllianceCommittee (SAC), I spent my first year playing “decipherthe acronym” and trying to follow conversations com-prised of strings of letters punctuated by the odd verb.This was sometimes challenging because if you don’tknow the players, the dialogue starts to sound a bit likealphabet soup. So, for those of you new to LMA or thoseof you wondering what the SAC does, here is a primer.

Let’s start with what you know. Legal marketing is incred-ibly diverse and legal marketers are often called on toidentify and learn to use an ever-expanding range of toolsand resources.What you may not know is that the SAC’smandate is to help secure access to quality resources,knowledge and training to help LMA members succeed intheir increasingly demanding roles.The SAC actively seeksout connections with associations, organizations and serv-ice providers that contribute directly or indirectly toLMA’s goal of creating a vibrant community of legal mar-keting professionals and that demonstrate LMA’s values ofprofessionalism, integrity, leadership, innovation, collabo-ration and a commitment to education.

To fulfill its mandate, the SAC identifies, assesses andexplores what other professional organizations related tothe legal industry have to offer, with a view to augment-ing the legal marketer’s tool kit. We accomplish thisthrough the auspices of SAC ambassadors who volunteertheir time to build relationships with groups the commit-tee has identified as sharing and supporting LMA goalsand values. Once the ice is broken, the committee assessesand evaluates whether the particular entity is an appropri-ate candidate for a strategic alliance. In this case, a strate-gic alliance is defined as “A purposeful relationship withan association, organization or service provider, whichmay or may not be contractual, in which specific benefitshave been negotiated for both parties and in which thereis an expectation of mutual accountability for delivery ofsuch benefits.”

Just to make it fun, there are several different categories ofalliances: Affiliates, Partners in Education & Programming(P/EP), and Friends of LMA.

Affiliates: LMA members enjoy the exchange of the affil-iate organization’s publications, access to Web sites andparticipation in seminar programs and conferences atmember rates.

Currently, LMA’s affiliates include:

> APSMA (Asia-Pacific Professional ServicesMarketing Association);> PSMG (the Professional Services Marketing Group);and,> SCIP (the Society for Competitive IntelligenceProfessionals).

Partners in Education & Programming alliances provideLMA members with discounts at P/EP events, access toeach P/EP organization’s research and more. LMA’sP/EPs include:

LMLMAAViVisisitsts ththee ACCACC MeetMeetininggby April Jones

Last October, the Association of Corporate Counsel(ACC) hosted its annual meeting in Seattle. ACCwelcomed more than 2,600 attendees, speakers andsponsors to the four-day event, which included morethan 100 CLE programs.

Value ChallengeACC also used the conference to showcase its find-ings from the ACC Value Challenge. Over the sum-mer, focus groups from law firms and legaldepartments around the country met to reexaminehow firms provide services and value to in-houseclients.The ACCValue Challenge is a major initiativefor ACC and its regional chapters, and the hope isthat the lessons learned will generate a dialogue tohelp identify best practices for the relationshipbetween in-house counsel and their law firms. SusanHackett, ACC’s general counsel, has also presentedthe findings of the study to multiple LMA chapters.

Despite the economy,ACC recently announced thatits membership is growing, and according to LMAmember and ACC Director of Business DevelopmentLucy Jones,“has reached the 25,000 mark.”The 2009ACC Annual Meeting will be held in Boston. �

April Jones is marketing manager, Financial AdvisoryServices, Deloitte Services LP and a member of theLMA Strategic Alliances Committee. She serves asLMA’s SAC ambassador to the ACC. Jones can bereached at [email protected] or 202/378-5517.

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Jan09Strategies:Journal 12/22/08 12:33 PM Page 12

18 | Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing, January 2009,V11.N01

through its pro bono work helps cultivate new clients,referral sources and prospective recruits.

Pro bono and other volunteer activities are ripe for mar-keting opportunities, including press releases for mediacoverage as well as announcements in the firm’s newslet-ter, Web site and blog. Be sure to display articles, posters,plaques, awards and other items commemorating thefirm’s pro bono and volunteer work. In addition, ask thenon-profit(s) that the firm assists to include the firm’sname on theirWeb site and in their marketing materials, ifthey don’t do so already.

Pro bono work enhances the firm’s credibilityand visibility; it also cultivates relationshipswith clients and future business referrals.

One case study for pro bono work involves a St. Petersburgattorney who became an overnight celebrity in the TampaBay, Fla., area through his volunteer work. Despite runninga busy commercial and real estate practice, Murray Silver-stein devoted 500 hours of non-billable time last year toreuniting two Hurricane Katrina victims with their dogs.The indigent family from Louisiana sought help from alegal aid organization in St. Petersburg after learning theirdogs had been adopted by two local residents, one ofwhom was a well-known state prosecutor. Knowing thatSilverstein has a soft spot for dogs, the organization

recruited him to take the case.After a formidable year-longlegal battle, Silverstein and the hurricane victims prevailedwhen both adopters agreed to return the pets.

The story was widely publicized in local newspapers andlegal publications. Although Silverstein regularly handlesmulti-million dollar cases, his pro bono victory broughthim more media coverage than he had ever enjoyed inhis career.

When it comes to pro bono work, sometimes time is bet-ter than money. Although non-profit organizations rarelyobject to financial donations, the value of free legal serv-ices provides an equally significant – if not greater – bene-fit, given the high cost of attorney fees. For example,when a lawyer whose typical hourly rate is $250 spends 14hours drafting discovery responses, preparing a motionand attending a hearing on behalf of a legal aid client, thatlawyer donates the equivalent of $3,500. The legal aidorganization would otherwise have to collect donationsfrom 10 people at $350 apiece to pay for those services.

In addition to the personal fulfillment inherent in probono and other volunteer work, law firms can benefitgreatly from a marketing standpoint. Publicizing andactively promoting their pro bono efforts through online,media and personal channels allows firms to build brandrecognition, reputation and relationships with clients andreferral sources. �

Jowita L.Wysocka is a former civil litigation attorney and nowserves as marketing director of The Fleming Law Group, P.A., acriminal defense firm in St. Petersburg, Fla. She is also executivedirector of Lawyers for Literacy, a non-profit that offers tutoringservices for struggling third-grade readers. She can be reached [email protected] or 727/323-4020.

DoingWell by Doing GoodContinued from page 16

> LSSO (the Legal Sales and Services Organization) and

> SMPS (the Society for Marketing ProfessionalServices).

Friends of LMA are professional services marketingorganizations that share LMA’s dedication to performancestandards and professional development and provide accessto international resources.Those include:

> Legal Marketing Italia; and

> PMN (the Professional Management Network) inGermany.

Once we’ve established a relationship, we nurture and mon-itor it to ensure it continues to provide mutual benefits.

We also have ambassadors actively networking with theALA (Association of Legal Administrators), the AALL(American Association of Law Librar ians), the ABA(American Bar Association), the PRSA (Public Relations

Society of America), the AMA (American MarketingAssociation), the ACC (Association of Corporate Coun-sel) and ILTA (International Legal Technology Associa-tion), among others. In the near future we plan to post afull list of our ambassadors along with their attendantacronyms and information on what these organizations,associations and service providers have to offer LMAmembers.You can also find out more information aboutthe SAC on the LMA Web site at www.legalmarket-ing.org/about-lma/committees/alliances/.

In short, the SAC exists to give you access to the tools,training and information you need to succeed in yourcareers. The alliances we have worked to form are therefor you to explore as needed and in turn, we hope youwill share your ideas for new resources with us. So, if youdon’t see your favorite combination of letters here or youthink we are missing out on a great opportunity thatwould benefit the LMA and its membership, by all meansfeel free to send me a quick email and tell me about it. Iwill happily share the information with the SAC. �

Marni MacLeod is client services director at Skunkworks CreativeGroup Inc. and a member of LMA’s Strategic AlliancesCommittee. MacLeod can be reached at [email protected].

The ABCs of the SAC: a Primer onLMA’s Strategic Alliance Committee

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