Competitive Intelligence on the Upswing in Law Firms
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
While competitive intelligence (CI) has long been a standard tool in mainstream industry and in consulting firms, it has only recently come to the fore in law firms.
This is according to an e-brief received from the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) earlier to day, quoting an article in the Boston Globe and another in Legal Technology.
According to the latter: in the past two years firms including Nixon Peabody; Duane Morris; Goodwin Procter; White & Case; Lindquist & Vennum; and Leonard, Street and Deinard have created competitive-intelligence or business-intelligence positions either within their library function or within their marketing departments.
Reasons that are suggested for this trend include:
- growing corporatization of law firms
- increased competition for high-end work
- consolidation amongst firms
- clients' reduction of their legal panels
- cost reduction initiatives by general counsel
- clients requiring more knowledge of their business; not just legal issues
- evaluating merger opportunities
A short quote from the Boston Globe article:
"It used to be that in-house counsel would pick up the phone and call a friend, and that's how work came in," said Trillos-Decarie, who is also director of marketing for the law firm Goodwin Procter LLP, which has offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C . "Or you always worked with one company, so you always got that work. But the nature of the business has changed dramatically, and we're being expected to compete more. . . . Competitive intelligence analysis can help us understand how to do that."
For lawyers, that analysis might mean understanding how an upcoming merger of law firms could change the competitive landscape, how an anticipated regulatory change could affect business, when a practice area is ripe for expansion, or whether the arrival of a national law firm poses a threat. Without that knowledge, a law firm could overlook a promising opportunity to merge or lose a lucrative client to a rival firm.
CI has long had the stigma that it is something somehow unseemly or unethical. Properly done, it is nothing of the sort. In fact, in a market that is highly dynamic and constantly evolving, it is nothing less than essential for survival.
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