For one firm doing insurance defense work, that meant inquiring of the client as to their progress on internal Y2K issues. Some, but the burgeoning area of practice is more transactionally oriented. The firm is now integrated into the insuror's product development and underwriting to help protect it against future Y2K claims. Go to some law firm web sites, and you will see this principle of expert advice dispensed for the clients' benefit in their being able to subscribe to specialized news letters delivered electronically to their electronic desk top. Stretch the paradigm one step further and you witness law firms asking for advice.
Some firms invite clients in to speak about their business to the firm.
Associates and staff are often included. Actions Speak Louder Assisting a client to be more successful than ever imputes action, and many firms now mandate specific actions such as requiring attorneys to be members of at least two industry or community associations. Other firms translate the marketing paradigm into a set of actions such as doing sales calls and building a book of business via carefully chosen meetings with prospects or clients to explore ways to create or enlarge a working relationship. And interestingly, as firms have required an established book of business as a requisite to partnership, many have coincidentally provided sales training to attorneys. This orientation towards action takes shape in the lawyer's initiation of research and the suggestion of preventative or remedial actions to clients rather than reacting to extant issues.