More and more law firms branch out into marketing

By Stephanie Tavares

Sunday, July 8, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

Even as recently as a year ago, partners of major law firms in Las Vegas shuddered at the mere mention of marketing.

To many attorneys, the notion of marketing is associated with practitioners at the lower end of the food chain - ambulance chasers and others who engage in television antics that seem undignified and even a touch desperate.

But national and regional law firms are changing the marketing landscape. As behemoth law firms with national reputations open Las Vegas offices, they have brought with them marketing specialists able to zero in on target clients for the firms' specialties.

The result has been stepped-up competition, forcing local firms to change the way they think about marketing.

"Law firms in the past have said, 'We've been here 50 years, everyone knows who we are,' and that's not true anymore," said Shannon Hiller, a partner in Vanguard Media . "Names have changed, and there are so many new people in the market ... they don't necessarily know. You can't rely on just your distinguished past, you really have to market yourself."

Many firms also don't understand what marketing is. Local marketing specialists have fought an uphill battle for years against the stigma of marketing as advertising.

"I think it's unfamiliar territory for some larger law firms," said Holly Lobelson Silvestri, president of Impress Communications . "They have mostly relied on word-of-mouth for new business and are not used to stepping out of their comfort zones to try something new."

They also may not completely understand the benefits of branding and name recognition that can take place if they seek out additional PR, marketing and advertising endeavors," Silvestri said.

Still, not everyone is buying it. The state's largest law firm, Lionel Sawyer & Collins, resolutely refuses to jump on the advertising band wagon - considering it a point of pride.

On the few occasions it produces news releases, the firm relies on associates and partners whose previous careers were in journalism or public relations.

"Law firms advertise to become known and to attract clients," said Bob Faiss, a partner in the firm. "Our marketing does not equate to publicity or advertising. The key to our marketing is to maintain the highest service to our clients. That's because our No. 1 source of new clients is referrals from existing clients. Our clients don't choose a law firm based on advertisements, so doing advertising or marketing would have no effect."

Lionel Sawyer & Collins' approach is becoming rare in Las Vegas. Most firms are trying to attract smaller clients, and have found they can no longer depend on a local reputation for new business. Many new clients move to Las Vegas from out of state and do not know the law firms exist, let alone know their reputations.

Many businesses don't look for new representation when they move their operations here, choosing instead to stay with law firms they used in their home states.

"For business matters, we still use a California attorney," said Ed Wiseman, owner of Spacecraft Components, which recently moved to North Las Vegas. "We really haven't seen the need to hire a local firm. So far, thank God, we don't have the need for any new attorneys."

Wiseman said if he does seek new representation, he won't look for the oldest or the largest law firm in town. He values a past working relationship over a firm's ranking in obscure journals, its size or the number of years it has been in Nevada. He might not get the most prestigious firm that way, but he thinks hiring attorneys he knows, even at a small firm, is more efficient.

"It's a crapshoot," he said, "but that's Vegas."

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