As Associate Business Development Gains Steam in Big Law, Mayer Brown Expands Networking Program

"It really is empowering from an associate’s perspective, because typically we're put in situations engineered by partners," said Mayer Brown associate Sydni Eibschutz about a networking program.

As Big Law marketing budgets grow, law firms are pouring more resources into business development budgets for associates, finding the expense here worth the investment for junior lawyers.

Business development programs for associates in law firms have "taken off," consultants say. Mayer Brown, for instance, recently expanded its associate-driven business development program, known as the "NextGen" initiative, to New York. Started in 2018 in the firm's London office, it's a series of networking events, drawn up by committees of associates, counsel and trainees in each office, with some support from the firm's business and development arm.

The key, said Sydni Eibschutz, a Mayer Brown associate in the New York office who is spearheading the effort there, is that it's run by and for associates and associate-level employees. It typically involves just them and their counterparts on the client side.

"It really is empowering from an associate’s perspective, because typically we're put in situations engineered by partners," she said in an interview. She added: "We put together this event, with people around our age, our level, and mingle with them without any sort of stress or anxiety about" being overseen or managed by superiors.

The program is already up and running in the firm's Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris, Washington, D.C., and Chicago offices as well in London, where Hannah Cartwright, a senior associate, said they aim to have about four events at the most per year.

Eibschutz said the firm allowed them to host internal events as a sort of first step to building a roster of invitees. She said that involved asking every associate and every counsel in the office to submit potential contacts and asking the partners at the firm to email their client counterparts for names of rising stars within the company.

"I'm a fourth-year associate," Eibschutz added. "And as we’re getting up there in the years, we’re learning how important developing our book of business is. But sometimes it feels so scary and stressful, because sometimes we don’t feel like we have the tools to develop that book of business, or even know where to start. This is a way to get in a room and seamlessly meet each other. And it's stress-free."

Starting Earlier

Business and client development is a skill that's not generally taught in law school, noted Deborah Farone, a law firm marketing expert and founder of Farone Advisors. But firms have also started to see the value in getting associates used to thinking about how to spot opportunities and ask for business. She said business development training for associates has "definitely taken off" in recent years.

"One, they [law firms] realize for business development, it makes sense for associates to know their colleagues at the clients who are at their level. It's so important because those people one day could become general counsel or go to another company, so strictly from a business development standpoint, it makes sense," Farone said.

She also said it's "much easier to start this [training] earlier on" rather than having to teach them another way of thinking when they make partner. Additionally, "associates really want to know how a business operates," Farone said. "These are such smart people and they want to find meaning in their work."

The Mayer Brown program has included events with speakers such as former British Olympic swimmer and silver medalist Leon Taylor, events related to Pride Week, as well as more open-ended events: "no speaker, no roundtable, just a party" in the summer, for example, Cartwright said.

"We really want it to be targeted and appealing — what’s going to attract people at the time," said Cartwright, the Mayer Brown senior associate. "But the goal in London has been to do a nice cross-section of events."

There are other networks they can tap into, Cartwright said. It just takes a three-dimensional mindset. "We’ve all been to university. We know lots of people. So just tapping into that," she said.

Variation in Training Approach

Mary K. Young, a law firm consultant at Zeughauser Group, noted that every firm is a little bit different in how they develop business. Some firms, for example, have more, large institutional clients, and people dedicated specifically to those clients. So for associates entering the partnership, they're "not expecting them to go out and get a new $100 million client," Young said.

Others are more entrepreneurial, she said, and actively encourage young lawyers to go out and network with current clients or drum up new business with fewer restrictions.

Farone said training programs for associates in business development can also differ noticeably. Some firms just have the partners speak to the associates. Some firms have business development experts speak to their associates.

Then there are firms that have really well-thought-out associate programs: at every stage, they’re being taught new skills. Maybe the first three years, it’s on building relationships, getting to know people. Then, during years three to five, it’s how to ask for business, and maybe as they are approaching partnership, it’s how to spot opportunities and how to spot trends. They all do it so differently," she added.

On average, law firms spend 2.5% of gross revenue (excluding salaries) for marketing and business development — and that continues to rise, according to an August 2024 ALM legal marketing survey report. Over half of respondents in senior positions report that their marketing budget has increased since last year, the marketing report found.

Marketing and business development expenses were the fastest-growing overhead expenses between 2021 and 2022, according to a separate report from Thomson Reuters. And heading into this year, the 2024 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory found a majority of firms were planning to increase their marketing and business professional staff through 2025.

With law firms in an extremely strong financial position now, said Bill Josten, strategic content manager for Thomson Reuters, it makes sense that firms would make business development a focus "because we know we’re in a demand-rich environment with a lot of work." He added that "building those skills and equipping your lawyers to be in a position to capture that work" is worthwhile.

“Reprinted with permission from the November 10th edition of The American Lawyer © 2024 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.”