The Thought Leadership Project

Episode 140: Jay and Tom break down the (polite) battle for control in the business development process. As a lawyer, you have more power and leverage the more unique and differentiated you are from the competition. This impacts pricing power, the ability to avoid RFPs, and dynamics in the attorney/client relationship as well. Lawyers who have “power” aren’t merely order takers—they steer the ship when it comes to strategy. Listen in to learn what this type of power is, its impact, and how to get more of it.

Episode 139: Listen in as Jay, Tom, and Curtis Hays do a LinkedIn deep dive. Curtis is the founder of collideascope, a digital marketing agency, and also the host (along with Tom) of the Bullhorns and Bullseyes podcast. This episode was recorded for Bullhorns and Bullseyes, but we thought it was a great conversation so we decided to re-publish it on The Thought Leadership Project. Enjoy!

Episode 137: Creating and sharing thought-leadership content is an effective way to gain visibility and build trust with an audience, and generate billable work for your practice. But what if you could take things to the next level by monetizing your thought-leadership content itself—not merely using it to sell your services? That’s what Laura Frederick and Jay Harrington discuss in this episode. Almost everyone in the legal industry who’s on LinkedIn is familiar with Laura, and her daily contract tip posts. Laura is a lawyer, and founder of How to Contract, a contract training business focused on helping lawyers and in-house contract teams learn real-world contract skills, and ContractsCon, a contract training conference.

Episode 136: Adrian Lurssen, co-founder and VP of strategic development at JD Supra, rejoins the podcast to discuss tips and trends for thought-leadership marketing as we look ahead to 2024.

Episode 135: In this episode, legal recruiter, podcast host, and author Scott Love breaks down what it takes to become a rainmaker with Jay and Tom. Scott shares the many lessons he’s learned while helping rainmakers make lateral moves in the legal marketplace, including the importance of consistent effort, truly understanding a client’s challenges, and collaboration. He also shares his perspective on the current state of the legal hiring market—and much more in this episode chock full of actionable insights.

Episode 134: In this episode, Jared Correia, founder or Red Cave Law Firm Consulting and podcaster extraordinaire, shares his expertise on how to run a small law firm like a business and grow it sustainably and profitably. Jared, Jay and Tom discuss Jared’s three-step system for growth, which involves establishing processes and systems, hiring effectively, and learning from data and analytics. At the end of the podcast, Tom and Jared delve into their passion for yacht rock, while Jay mostly stays silent and sips coffee, due to his ignorance.

Episode 133: Jay and Tom share and discuss content that inspired them in the last month. Learn how a famous Hollywood producer generates movie ideas (without trying) through “curiosity conversations.” Check out a private equity fund that isn’t afraid to have a clear and strong point of view in their writing. Discover what professional writers think matters in the age of AI. These and other topics are addressed in this content “favorite finds” episode.

Episode 132: Between the two of them, Jay and Tom have written thousands of LinkedIn posts, hundreds (perhaps 1,000+) long-form articles, and a number of books. In today’s episode, they unpack their writing processes, from how they generate ideas to how they edit their work, so you can learn from their experiences. Want to grab and hold the attention of a reader with your thought-leadership content? Get inspired and learn important lessons about writing for today’s attention-strapped readers in this episode.

Episode 131: Law firms sell expertise, and the best way to showcase expertise through marketing is to produce thought-leadership content. Most firms do that to some extent already. However, in today’s episode, Jay and Tom make the case that firms should do much more—in essence, they should build a media company to become the go-to resource for a given industry or topic. They discuss examples of companies outside the legal industry that are already doing this, why it’s a valuable opportunity for law firms, and what would be required to pull it off.

Episode 130: In this episode, Jordana Confino, Positive Lawyering professor, and founder of JC Coaching & Consulting, joins Jay to discuss well-being and the practice of law. They discuss Jordana’s journey from clerkships, to BigLaw, to academia, and her recent transition to entrepreneurship as founder of her own coaching and consulting firm. Jordana also shares her thoughts on how lawyers can build successful and sustainable careers by finding purpose in their work, detaching from work in order to refresh and revitalize, and much more.

Episode 129: In this episode, Jamie Sternberg, trademark attorney at Saunders & Silverstein LLP, joins Jay to discuss her experience building a legal practice. They discuss the various tactics Jamie has used to grow her practice, including networking, getting involved in groups and associations, content creation, and more. Business development and marketing require experimentation and iteration, and Jamie’s experience can help your own approach to building a practice.

Episode 128: In this episode, Phillip Russell, OSHA and employment lawyer at Ogletree Deakins, joins Jay to discuss the importance of client service. Learn about the fundamental principles of client service, why it’s so important to have a one-size-fits-one mindset about client service, how to gain an understanding of your client’s needs, and the role of responsiveness in client service and business development.

Episode 127: When it comes to building a legal practice, mindset is critical. In this episode, Jay and Tom discuss five common mental obstacles lawyers face on their way to becoming a rainmaker, and tips for overcoming them.

Episode 126: In this episode, Jay speaks with General Counsel Heather Stevens about her experience transitioning from private practice to general counsel of an incubation firm for technology companies. They discuss a range of topics, including how Heather made the leap from a premier BigLaw firm to in-house, what she values in outside counsel relationships, and how she approaches content creation and personal branding on LinkedIn.

Episode 125: Jay and Tom cover a range of topics in this episode, including the what the perfect AI tool for legal looks like, LinkedIn’s recent algorithm changes, the importance of responsiveness in business development, and the benefits of the book-writing process.

Episode 124: In this episode, Jay chats with General Counsel Brittany Leonard about her experience transitioning from private practice to general counsel of a multinational corporation .They discuss a range of topics, including how Brittany found contentment, satisfaction and success as an in-house lawyer, what she’s looking for when hiring and working with outside counsel, and her approach to personal branding and content creation on social media.

Episode 123: In this episode, Jay chats with Eric Pacifici about his experience leaving BigLaw to build a thriving small law firm serving SMBs. They discuss a range of topics, including how Eric and his co-founders built one of the first law firms that grew almost exclusively through engagement on social media, Eric’s best practices for engaging on social media, his thoughts on the importance of having a niche, as well as finding something that you’re passionate about doing in order to have a long-term, successful legal career.

Episode 122: In this episode, Jay has a deep dive discussion on business development with Bradford Hardin, co-chair of the Financial Services practice group at Davis Wright Tremaine. They discuss a range of topics, including how Bradford approached the early stages of building his practice, the importance of having an industry focus, and Bradford’s experience creating content and building relationships on Twitter.

Episode 121: Jay and Tom cover a range of topics in this episode, including the importance of adding value beyond the billable hour in the face of declining legal demand, the implications of declining content visibility on LinkedIn, and their latest thoughts on the intersection AI and the legal industry.