Marketing skills vital for Law graduates

For Law students, the real challenge comes after they pass out and venture into the real world. Making it big while carving a particular niche for themselves in the legal profession requires not just a sound knowledge in the field of Law but also multiple skills and insights into marketing, analytics, business, etc. Whether they are an aspiring corporate lawyer or a criminal lawyer, winning a case is not enough. They will soon realise that translating professional success into business success is essential.

Often as a practising attorney, classroom skills translate to some extent to the 'real world' of practising Law. Opening a law firm and running it successfully will require some new clients and improving business. In business terms, one would say, apart from talent, lawyers need to market themselves or their brand to become successful in the field of Law.

How marketing helps

Marketing is not just a specialisation needed by business professionals; in fact, it teaches skills useful in any and every career. Transcending the business world, marketing skills are used across various fields, even those outside the traditional marketing world, including Law.

What do lawyers derive from the study of marketing? Let us take a look:

Marketing strategies help to identify and enhance client base. To build a successful law practice, lawyers need first to identify their clients. Who is an ideal client? Is it a great liability/damages case, or a real estate closing that brings extra money for writing the title, or even a high-income divorce case? While these may be right clients, they aren't ideal clients. An ideal client is one who brings clients with such cases in the first place. Thus, marketing skills instill in individuals the ability to identify and understand clients while building successful relationships that help generate a steady stream of cases throughout the career.

Winning arguments

Marketing of a product or brand requires the lawyers to put their message across to customers convincingly. Similarly, for a winning argument, lawyers have to present the facts and data across to the judge or jury in a way that captures their interest. Marketing teaches learners the valuable art of influencing decision making, which matters when preparing and executing arguments in front of the judge and the defence counsel.

Marketing teaches valuable skills in data interpretation that can be essential in preparing cases. Also, often corporate firms prefer hiring lawyers who have marketing and data analytics skills apart from the knowledge of the Law. Having sound data interpretation skills can be used in various situations that rely on client feedback, data, or metrics to inform success. Hence, the ability to read and understand data is integral to making strategic decisions even in the legal profession.

Apart from the number of winning cases, what also matters is how lawyers position themselves or their brand in the real world. After or before every prominent case, lawyers often come under the press radar, for various reasons. An individual's public image is influenced by their marketing skills and not just their wins or losses. For individuals, marketing themselves as a competent lawyer irrespective of the case outcomes is key for getting hired. The perception that lawyers create in front of the public greatly influences how potential clients view them.

There is a rise in individuals applying for law school and such a growth in the number of lawyers means a healthier job market and a consistent increase in competition. These are clear indicators of how important it is for lawyers to market themselves efficiently. They must be able to stand out from the crowd. Marketing efforts help cultivate a professional image in the public eye, including the potential clients while giving the learners a competitive edge over others.

As lawyers, it is easy getting caught up in client servicing that people forget about business development. Spending some time on marketing strategies along with case preparations can take the lawyers or their law firm a long way! Thus, with comprehensive legal education, talent and essential marketing skills, they can aim to become the next rainmaker in the industry.

(The author is director, Symbiosis Law School, Nagpur)