Recorded 9/17/2021

Within a law firm, the line between the business development role and the practice management role is often a blurry one at best. Admittedly, most attorneys and firm leadership don’t have a clear understanding of the distinctions of each role, making it challenging for the functional leads to work efficiently and – most importantly – collaborate on group-wide or firm-wide initiatives. This presentation will offer best practices on how these roles can partner together in providing proactive and substantive value to attorneys and firms. Arguably even more helpful than these best practices, attendees will hear about case studies involving real challenges experienced by business development and practice management counterparts in their collaborative work and how those cases could have been handled more effectively.  

Key Topics:

• Overview of the relationship between the roles of business development and practice management 
• Potential challenges arising in defining these roles within a firm and in establishing collaboration on key initiatives
• Best practices for integrating these areas to improve partnerships and provide value

Presenters:

Gina Natale is Senior Practice Manager for the Regulatory & Finance Department at Troutman Pepper. Gina works with practice group leadership in developing, managing, and executing strategic and tactical initiatives to help advance the business goals of the firm. With experience in business development, pricing, and practice management, Gina takes a 360° approach to legal operations and focuses on actively breaking down silos between functional departments.  

Shannon Lombardo is Director of Business Development for Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP. In this role, Shannon leads Saul Ewing’s Business Development Team and provides firm attorneys with business development coaching and general marketing training. Shannon also participates in lateral attorney integration and leads process creation and business development system initialization.

Cost:

LMA members complimentary.  All others $25