Who Knows Whom at Your Law Firm? Why That Information Matters for Business Development

Every law firm has a network that is much larger than any one person can see.

A partner may know the general counsel of a company another practice is trying to pursue. An associate may have worked closely with an executive who has since moved to an important prospect. A lateral partner may arrive with relationships that overlap with clients and contacts already connected to the firm. A lawyer in one office may have a strong relationship with someone another office has been trying to reach.

The challenge is knowing those relationships exist at the moment they could be useful.

This is where relationship intelligence comes into business development. At its most practical level, relationship intelligence helps a firm better understand who knows whom, how people are connected and where those relationships may be relevant to clients, prospects and other business development priorities.

For firms that are beginning to explore this area, it helps to start with the business development situations where relationship information can make a difference.

Start With a Question Law Firms Ask Every Day: Who Do We Know?

Consider a partner preparing to meet with a prospective client. The firm may already have several connections to the company and the people attending the meeting, but finding them can require searching a CRM, checking LinkedIn, reviewing old matters and asking colleagues.

Sometimes the most useful connection is discovered only after the meeting.

The same situation can happen during pitch preparation, conference planning, client team discussions and prospecting. The firm has relationships, but the people working on the opportunity may not know about them.

Relationship intelligence gives firms another way to understand their collective network before the opportunity passes.

A Connection Is More Useful When You Understand the Context

Finding a connection is only the beginning.

If three lawyers appear to know the general counsel of a prospective company, the next question is which relationship is most relevant. One lawyer may have met the general counsel at an event several years ago. Another may have worked with them at a previous company. A third may have communicated with them recently.

Those are very different relationships.

This is why context matters. Business development teams need enough information to have a useful conversation with the lawyers involved and determine whether a relationship provides a natural path to an introduction or outreach.

The technology can help identify the connection. The lawyer and BD professional still bring the judgment about what to do with it.

Relationship Intelligence Can Make Prospecting More Focused

Prospecting often starts with a list of companies that fit a firm's strategy. The next step is figuring out where the firm may already have a path into those organizations.

Take a list of 20 prospective companies. Before beginning outreach, look at the executives and other decision makers at each company and compare them with relationships across the firm.

There may be a partner who knows the CEO from a previous company, a lawyer who serves on a board with another executive or a colleague who has a relationship with an investor connected to the business.

That information can help the BD team prioritize the list and develop outreach around existing relationships instead of treating every prospect as a completely cold opportunity.

It Can Also Change How Firms Prepare for Pitches

Relationship research is often an important part of pitch preparation. BD teams want to know who at the firm knows the company, its executives, board members, investors and other people who may influence the selection process.

Without an easy way to see those relationships, the research can become a time-consuming exercise involving multiple systems and emails across the firm.

A more complete view of the firm's relationships can give the pitch team a stronger starting point. The team can spend more time evaluating which relationships matter, who may be appropriate to involve and how those connections fit into the overall pitch strategy.

For the next significant pitch, keep track of how the team finds relationship information. Note which systems are searched, how many lawyers are contacted and whether useful connections emerge late in the process. That provides a practical picture of how relationship research currently works at the firm.

Existing Clients Are Part of the Relationship Intelligence Picture Too

Relationship intelligence is just as relevant to existing clients as it is to prospects.

A firm may have worked with a company for years through one partner and one practice. At the same time, other lawyers at the firm may know executives elsewhere in the organization through previous jobs, industry activities, boards, transactions or other professional relationships.

Understanding those connections can help client teams see the broader relationship around an important client.

Choose several key clients and map the relationships the firm has across each organization. Look beyond the primary relationship partner and general counsel. Identify connections to deputy general counsel, business executives, board members and other leaders, as well as lawyers across the firm who have worked with those individuals elsewhere.

This can help with client team planning, succession and identifying opportunities to develop a broader institutional relationship.

Lateral Integration Creates Another Important Use Case

When a lateral partner joins a firm, two large professional networks are coming together.

The lateral brings clients, former clients, prospects, referral sources and relationships developed over many years. The new firm already has its own relationships across those same companies, industries and professional communities.

Some of the most valuable opportunities may exist where those networks overlap.

Instead of relying entirely on a series of introductory meetings, BD teams can look for those overlaps early in the integration process. If a lateral has a relationship with an executive at a company the firm already represents, that is useful to know. So is discovering that several existing partners know people within one of the lateral's important prospects.

Those connections can make internal introductions more purposeful and give the lateral and BD team specific opportunities to explore during the first several months.

Relationship Intelligence Can Support Succession Planning

Relationship visibility also becomes important when a senior partner is preparing to transition client responsibilities.

Revenue numbers can show which clients are important, but succession planning also requires understanding the people behind those relationships.

Who else at the firm knows the client? Which lawyers have relationships with other executives? Where is the relationship heavily concentrated with one partner? Which next-generation lawyers already have connections that can be developed further?

Looking at the relationship network around a client can help the firm begin those conversations earlier and make succession planning part of ongoing client development.

What Should Law Firms Do With Relationship Intelligence?

The value comes from what happens after a useful connection is identified.

Start with a specific business development priority, such as an upcoming pitch, a group of target companies, an important client or a newly arrived lateral partner. Identify the people and organizations involved and look at the relationships that already exist across the firm.

Then bring that information into the business development conversation.

Which relationships are meaningful? Which ones are current? Is there someone who could provide useful background? Would an introduction be appropriate? Is there another lawyer who belongs in the conversation? Is there a natural reason to reconnect with someone?

This is where business development professionals play an important role. Relationship information gives them a stronger starting point for helping lawyers decide what to do next.

Where Does Gatsby Fit?

Gatsby is a business development intelligence platform built for law firms. It helps firms make better use of information that is often scattered across different places and difficult to connect when a business development opportunity arises.

Gatsby Intel helps firms research companies and turn business information into useful intelligence for prospecting, client development and other business development activities. Gatsby Aware focuses on relationship intelligence, helping firms better understand the connections that exist across their organization.

Together, they can help a BD professional answer two important questions: what is happening with the company, and who at the firm may already have a relevant relationship?

For a prospect, that could mean identifying a company worth pursuing and then understanding whether someone at the firm knows a key executive. For an existing client, it could mean recognizing a business development opportunity and identifying lawyers with relationships that could help the client team act on it.

The technology provides information. The business development opportunity comes from understanding what that information tells you and deciding what to do next.

Frequently Asked Questions About Relationship Intelligence for Law Firms

What is relationship intelligence?

Relationship intelligence helps an organization understand connections among people and the context surrounding those relationships. For a law firm, this can include understanding which lawyers have relationships with clients, prospects, executives, investors, referral sources and other important contacts.

How is relationship intelligence different from a CRM?

A CRM helps organize information about contacts, companies and interactions. Relationship intelligence focuses more specifically on understanding connections among people and providing context around those relationships. The two can complement each other as part of a firm's broader business development technology strategy.

How can law firms use relationship intelligence for business development?

Law firms can use relationship intelligence to support prospecting, pitch preparation, client development, cross-practice collaboration, lateral integration, succession planning and other activities where understanding who knows whom can help determine the appropriate next step.

What should a law firm do first if it wants better relationship intelligence?

Start with a real business development situation. Choose an upcoming pitch, an important prospect, a client team or a lateral partner and examine how the firm currently identifies relevant relationships. Look at where the information comes from, how long it takes to find and whether important connections are easy for the people working on the opportunity to see.