“Business of law” thought leadership is a secret recruiting weapon that few law firms realize they can wield
Too few law firms are creating “business of law” thought leadership. As a result, they’re missing out on the Trojan Horse Effect of that kind of thought leadership.
What in the world am I talking about?
Before I explain further, let me set the scene.
The way law firms’ legal-based thought leadership operates
We know what law firms’ typical legal-based thought leadership is designed to do: show clients and referral sources, and other target audiences like reporters and conference organizers, that the creators of the thought leadership are knowledgeable and wise about the work they do for their clients.
No matter what the topic of a particular piece of thought leadership content might be—whether it’s analyzing a recent court decision or discussing best practices for navigating a particular legal or business issue—this category of thought leadership is designed to establish the creator’s capability and credibility as a leading attorney in the eyes of the consumers of that content.
A distant secondary effect of this kind of thought leadership is recruiting. By consistently publishing thought leadership regarding the work they do, attorneys, practice groups, and their firms can impress upon prospective lateral partners, associates, and staff, or recent law school graduates, that they should consider working at their firm if they’re interested in working on the kinds of legal or business issues that are the frequent subjects of their thought leadership.
But make no mistake about it: The far-and-away primary purpose of law firms’ typical legal-based thought leadership is to support their marketing and business development efforts.
Law firms’ “business of law” thought leadership operates differently
On the surface, business of law thought leadership appears to be an opportunity for attorneys or non-attorneys in leadership positions at their firms to share valuable insights about running a practice, a practice group, or a law firm.
But unlike the substance of legal-based thought leadership, the substance of business of law thought leadership is not related to the work the creators would be hired to do for clients. Generally speaking, no law firm managing partner, COO, director of facilities, or other leader is going to be simultaneously hired by another law firm as a consultant to help that firm with the areas they’re discussing in their thought leadership content.
So why should law firms produce business of law thought leadership?
Because of the Trojan Horse Effect.
What seems like an opportunity to show off knowledge and wisdom about law firm operations is actually a hidden message designed to boost a law firm’s recruiting efforts.
That message is: “Hello there, prospective lateral attorneys and staff, and recent graduates of law school. If you’re attracted to the way we run this law firm—which we’ve given you a taste of in this piece of thought leadership—and if you want to work at a law firm that operates the way we do, come join us.”
What looks like a typical piece of thought leadership is actually a secret weapon. But instead of containing Greek soldiers that eventually open the gates of Troy for their comrades, business of law thought leadership opens the minds of the consumers of that content and plants seeds in them about why the firm producing that content would be a great place for them to work.
When you take a step back from any particular piece of business of law thought leadership, you can see the hidden message it’s sending.
The message in a video series about how a law firm is integrating AI and other technology into its attorneys’ everyday work is, “If you want to work for a law firm that sees the potential for how AI and other technology can transform the legal industry for the better, join us!”
The message in an article about the benefits of hybrid work and how a law firm is creating a hybrid work environment that provides its attorneys and staff flexibility but also an in-office culture is, “If you want to work for a law firm that understands that hybrid work allows its attorneys and staff to be more productive without forced face time, and gives them the best of both the remote and in-office worlds, join us!”
The message in a blog series about innovative collaborative approaches to client service, including how to get junior attorneys real-world legal experience as quickly as possible is, “If you want to work for a law firm that gives junior attorneys a chance to be real attorneys sooner than other law firms, join us!”
How to create business of law thought leadership that serves as a Trojan horse for your firm’s recruiting efforts
To create business of law thought leadership that can be your firm’s Trojan horse for recruiting, follow this three-step process.
First, look at what your law firm is doing well from a business of law perspective, even if your firm is not unique or exceptional for doing those things well.
Then, look at what news articles, surveys, and informal feedback (such as social media posts) are reporting and discussing as what attorneys and staff want out of their professional lives and what they want out of the firms they work at.
(For example, think of the news articles about remote work around the time COVID-19 emerged, and the recent news articles about how attorneys want their firms to allow them to experiment with AI to be more productive.)
Finally, consistently create thought leadership content that stands at that intersection of what your firm is doing well when it comes to the business of law and what you know or believe attorneys and staff want out of the places where they work.
When I say “consistently create” that kind of content, consider publishing a piece of business of law thought leadership content every three to six weeks. That frequency should be enough to consistently get you on the radar of potential lateral attorneys and staff.
You might not get on there with your first or second piece of content. But over time, as you build a library of business of law thought leadership that’s planting seeds for why your firm is a place that attorneys and staff should come to work, you’ll build an effective Trojan horse.
Business of law thought leadership is more than meets the eye
Legal-based thought leadership produced by attorneys and law firms is primarily focused on impressing clients and referral sources by showing off the attorneys’ knowledge, wisdom, and insights with the hopes of being retained for new matters.
Recruiting is a distant secondary reason for why law firms produce that kind of thought leadership.
Business of law thought leadership, on the other hand, flips the script.
Masquerading as educational content about best practices for running a legal practice, practice group, or law firm, business of law thought leadership is a Trojan horse because it’s actually a recruiting tool that signals to prospective lateral attorneys and staff, and recent law school graduates, that your law firm would be a great place for them to work.
Thinking about bringing on an outside writer to help your law firm strategize and create compelling thought-leadership marketing and business development content? Click here to schedule a 30-minute Content Strategy Audit to learn if collaborating with an outside writer is the right move for you and your firm.