Law firms also need to provide good legal services

The strong connection between brand strategy and customer service strategy is undeniable, and firms that, in addition, also perform well in the provision of legal services will continue to strengthen the plate in the minds of their clients.

Thomson Reuters’ 12th Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index 2022 results are a consequence of four different measures related to how clients choose law firms to work with. Two of the measures, top-of-mind awareness and favorability, relate directly to the client’s perception of a law firm’s brand and are the first steps in determining which law firms will be selected for the client’s work.

The other two measures, Consideration for Multijurisdictional Litigation and Consideration for Multijurisdictional Business, illustrate the importance of law firms being global in scope and capable of handling a wide variety of legal matters across multiple jurisdictions.

For Elizabeth Duffy, Senior Director of Global Client Services at Thomson Reuters, “Looking at this year’s Top 20, it is clear that partnership awareness and multi-jurisdictional agreements were the most important success factors for global law firm brands. ”. Five of the seven fastest-growing law firm brands showed above-average levels of consideration for multi-jurisdictional settlements, Duffy notes, and it was M&A performance that really lifted the overall position in the index this year.

Two other companies that grew the most this year have levels of favorability above average, indicating a close alignment between these firms’ client offerings and the drivers of demand for legal services.

This favorability criterion, or favorability, which does not exist in Portuguese, can be understood as the quality of being good for something and making it likely to be successful or have an advantage. With some frequency, Brazilian legal management considers this to be market positioning, the result of defining relevant differentials through focus, uniqueness and consistent message.

For this, the report points out the need to build a medium-term strategic plan for the firm, with the definition of a strategy based on strengths and based on objective and comprehensive market intelligence. This will show the direction to clients and how the office can best adapt to any change in direction. Bank leaders need to execute this strategy while keeping a close track of progress and objectives. Over time, three to five years, the office will see results.

The proactive attitude of mitigating risk and promoting cost/value control also represent key areas of strategic focus for clients. Research shows that these areas are also where clients say their law firms are not getting coordinated and innovative solutions. As a result, clients are not waiting for firms to reverse this situation and are increasingly building their own mechanisms to control, monitor and evaluate expenditures and the efficiency of providing legal services.

To remedy this situation, Duffy suggests talking to customers. According to her, offices should ask clients what they are anticipating for the next year. What are your biggest challenges and strategic priorities? What is most important to them in the working relationship and how can you best support them in matters big and small? What does value mean to your customers?

Gathering all this information can provide the data law firms need to make good decisions about where to invest their resources, time and talent.

In this year’s index, Baker McKenzie continued to hold the top spot, marking its dominance for the 12th year in a row since the Index was first launched. DLA Piper, which ranked second in 2020, continued to hold that position.

The first big move among top law firms came when Clifford Chance became the third strongest global brand, raising its Index score by 9 points and rising to fifth place in the 2021 Index. Dentons, in fourth place, has been one of the cool brands on the rise over the past decade, breaking into the top 10 of last year’s index and further boosting its score this year. Only one new firm has joined the top 20 Global Elite Law Firm in 2022, Gibson Dunn.