Extending the Law Firm Alumni Relationship

In every conversation we have with law firm clients, even in the most sophisticated companies with industry-leading preferred partner programs, their legal world is still built on relationships. Clients want to work with outside counsel they know, like and trust. Lawyers’ reputations are built on what their clients say about them, even when they are across the table in a deal or on the other side of a litigation. Nevertheless, one of the greatest sources of referrals remains woefully untapped: firm alumni.

We conducted our first Alumni Assessment nearly a decade ago when we were asked to have candid conversations with a firm’s alumni to not only learn about their experiences and perspective of the firm once some distance had passed but also to uncover their spheres of influence and the likelihood they would recommend the firm to their colleagues and peers.

The findings then, and to this day, are unsettling. Law firms are not taking advantage of their broad networks of alumni. When we work with key client and account teams, there are five phases of the Client Experience (aka the Client Journey Map). Firms are good at the first phases of Entice and Enter, strong at Engage, mediocre at Exit and weak at Extend, where alumni are the greatest opportunity.

Firms are certainly better at staying to connected to their alumni that go to clients, but even then we find firm attorneys often take those alumni for granted and fail to engage them on a deeper level.  

In order to extend the relationships with alumni, it is essential to have a broader understanding of the role those alumni can continue to play in the firm’s success and act accordingly:

• When the alumni leave, uncover where they had strong personal relationships within the firm and designate those individuals to connect with them on a regular basis.
• Track where alumni are, when they move and the evolution of their roles.
• Keep in mind that even if someone leaves the firm because they are dissatisfied or opportunistic, time can heal all wounds (and perceptions are not always accurate). Don’t just check in the weeks after they leave but in the months and years later as well.

What happens when you extend the alumni relationship:

• You can uncover exactly when and why they would recommend their former firm to their peers. And equally important, you can learn why they would not and potentially disabuse them of the notions or biases that prevent them from recommending the firm.
• They will reveal what roles they have in their businesses and professional lives that could be helpful to the firm. A former associate at a firm once told us that they were now the executive director of a non-profit whose board members were all potential buyers of legal services, but no one from the firm took the time to understand that. And she wanted to send business to the firm.
• Even if they are at another firm, they may still be in a position to recommend their former firm to colleagues and clients. Clients regularly have novel needs, and the best outside counsel make recommendations beyond their own firms when needed.
• Their roles change fast. The person that goes to one company in a functional role may make a lateral move to another company and be a buyer in the new role.

Most importantly, they want to help. The vast majority of alumni have fond memories of the firm, and some even feel indebted to the firm for serving as a critical step towards their current positions.

While firms are becoming more sophisticated in their onboarding of clients, they should also make as strong an effort, with equal structure and support, to their new (and not so new) alumni.