Atlanta Midsize Firms Say Lawyer Business Development Programs’ Gains Outweigh Costs

Some midsize firm leaders say their investment in business development training for associates and young partners pays for itself.

Leaders of two Atlanta-based midsize firms say they offer programs to junior partners and senior associates to help them develop client bases and books of business.

Administrative partner Teresa Bult of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete said the firm paid to hire a consultant for some programs but earned positive results from this effort.

Likewise, Christy Walsh, chief operating officer of Drew Eckl & Farnham, said she believes the benefits of her firm’s training programs are made clear “in the success of the attorneys here.”

“I think we get a high return on investment, especially a passive one. There is more of a cost in time for senior attorneys, rather than a direct monetary cost,” she said.

Howard Cohl, a legal industry consultant with recruitment firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, said training programs are more helpful for young partners working to develop a book of business because law schools typically do not offer courses focusing on business development.

“You’re seeing more and more firms of all sizes doing it,” he said. 

Walsh said Drew Eckl offers training programs that include business development experts in the firm meeting periodically with partners to review their business plans and make adjustments if needed.

It also hosts training sessions on the use of artificial intelligence, she said. The firm views the technology as a “disruptor”―though “not in a negative sense”―because of its potential to change the way “our lawyers and our firm practices law,” Walsh said.

She said Drew Eckl’s AI training focuses on the firm’s policies about the use of the technology, as well as the risks involved in using it. It also teaches about ways to secure information to protect its clients and the firm, while being able to explore ways to use it ethically in the practice of law, Walsh said.

Walsh said everyone from clients to its insurance provider have asked how Drew Eckl is using the technology. However, the firm is not alone among law firms considering the best use of the technology, she said. 

“It’s a super hot topic for everyone,” Walsh said. “We’re all kind of learning the AI landscape as we move forward.”

Constangy, a labor and employment-focused firm, also offers monthly business development training for partners on a voluntary basis, Bult said. She said she believed client development training generally “intimidates” some attorneys.

“If they can get coaching and they can get somebody to make them understand you can break it down into bite-size pieces, and you can tailor your own client development approach to you and your personality, then it becomes much more feasible for those individuals,” Bult said.

Bult, who is also general counsel of the Atlanta-founded firm, said the “remote environment” the pandemic encouraged led to popularization of such platforms as Zoom, giving Constangy more opportunities to concentrate on training groups of employees.

“We really took advantage of that,” she said.

Another program Constangy leaders developed was called “Office Head University.” They designed the program for the leaders of its 38 offices and focused on such areas as law firm finances, management of associates and customer service, Bult said.

She said the firm’s training programs were something “we find to be valuable” and will continue to offer in the future. Many lawyers who received the training said it was a “big benefit” for them because it kept them “focused,” Bult said.

At Drew Eckl, Walsh said senior associates can take advantage of another program the firm offers that takes an “all-inclusive approach” to training lawyers who are one to two years from partnership.

The year-long program, “Path to Partnership” focuses on such areas as leadership fundamentals, including communication styles; financial metrics for success in the firm; business aspects of a law firm; the state of the legal market; and pros and cons of using AI, Walsh said.

She said the firm’s attorney training committee develops the program’s content, though they also incorporate feedback from younger lawyers.

“We’ve found that providing this training before they become partners is most successful because they’re motivated to get it right,” she said. 

“Before they make partner, they recognize the value of these things because they’re still senior associates and they’re seeing people do it well [and] they’re seeing some people who don’t do it well,” Walsh said. “So, it’s pretty fresh for them while they’re straddling that line of associates to partner.”

She said some senior associates need more business development training than others, and the firm gives them individualized training to make sure the plan “fits where they are” in developing an overall practice, Walsh said.

One important result of the program is establishment of an open dialog between the senior associate and a “key professional” at the firm who is available as a mentor to guide the lawyer if they are promoted to partner but forget any part of the training, she said.

Drew Eckl also gives all its employees annual DEI education and, annually, hosts webinars focused on mental health and wellness, Walsh said.