Marketing the Legal Mind (Hardcover)

~ Henry Dahut (Author) "In almost twenty years of working with lawyers, I have come to know many extraordinary people..." (more)
Key Phrases: master charter, inspired values, beautiful elephant, Great One, Century City, Toxic Partner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A compelling and analytical roadmap to growing your law practice and a must-read for law firm leaders...." -- Martindale-Hubbell, Timothy Corcoran, V.P. Market Planning

"A highly compelling and delightful read which demonstrates the expanding role of lawyers..." -- Dan Pink, Best Selling Author of Free Agent Nation and Whole New Mind

"Henry Dahut's book is wonderful and thought-provoking." -- Linda Hazelton, Chair Education Committee, Legal Marketing Association

"This book is a must read for all lawyers. Henry Dahut really understands the art of law firm marketing." -- Latham & Watkins LLP, Perry Viscounty, Partner & Chair of Global Marketing Committee

"This is a great book...it belongs with the clasics of law firm management and service marketing..." -- PM Forum Magazine, Steve Barrett, Marketing Strategist, Formerly CMO of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker

Product Description

Supported by more than one hundred candid interviews with top law partners across the United States, this best-selling law practice management book reveals how law firms can become marketing giants by learning a new conceptual foundation behind professional service marketing, advertising, and most importantly the secrets behind delivering great client service. This book promises to unlock revenue potential, bring marketing goals into focus and bolster confidence for law firms of all sizes.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: LMG Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974512605
• ISBN-13: 978-0974512600
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #773,410 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for the solo lawyer; not about marketing, except for the author, August 24, 2006

By	Richard Gibson "Rick Gibson" (Woodland Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

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I was disappointed by this book. I am a solo litigation attorney, and I read the book to get ideas on marketing. It gave me some ideas. Perhaps the most valuable idea was to focus more on customer service; Dahut has an interesting discussion about exactly what that means and how we can do it better. By and large, however, this is a book by and for big firm attorneys. It is about big firm angst and how it can be combated by hiring experts such as Dahut to do extensive consulting work for your firm. Dahut does not acknowledge, and does not care, that most attorneys are solos or work in small firms, and that we have very different issues than agonizing over whether we have lost our soul by conforming too much to dead firm culture.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and thought provoking!, June 16, 2004

By	Linda Hazelton, law firm consultant (Flower Mound, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

Henry Dahut's book is wonderful and thought-provoking. He persuasively explains why marketing cannot be an afterthought, and why firms must be organized around compelling visions of their charter with the client at the very center. He counsels against falling into the trap of thinking that so long as revenue is good, all is well in our world. "Somewhere along the line, lawyers have come to believe that as long as there is sufficient revenue flow, fixing and changing the exterior problems (applying the hammer) will be sufficient to keep declining service in check. In the meantime, the partners keep partnering and hope that no one notices that they don't have a clue about where the firm is going or how it will end up." His book is an antidote to such thinking, and serves as a just-in-time wake up call.

In preparing to write this book, Dahut interviewed more than 100 lawyers from firms of all sizes. He explains, up front, what the book is and is not intended to be: "This is not another "how-to" book. It won't tell you how to publish more effective newsletters or develop better brochures. It does not promise to make marketing fast or easy, nor does it promise instant results. There is no simple checklist to follow and there are no breakthrough technologies to exploit. In fact, it offers little of what you might expect from a book about law firm marketing. Yet if you read this book with an open mind and serious intention, it has the power to transform your firm and make it soar."

Dahut stresses the need to be client-centric rather than firm-centric and he makes clear why we must ask clients up front what they want and why and how. A simple point, to be sure, and yet, in my experience, many firms neglect this-lawyers are trained not to ask questions unless they know what the answer will be-but whatever the obstacle, we must find a way around it. True marketing must be founded on understanding what clients need and want and also what the firm needs and wants. As Dahut says, "Marketing works best when there is no separation-no inconsistency-between what a firm says it is and how it actually goes about its business. Marketing should dictate the experience people have of the firm. It should shape people's perceptions of the firm. It should describe the ways in which the firm holds itself accountable-not only to its clients, but also to its employees, partners and all those who do business with the firm."The book is, at first blush, expensive at $62-and I wish that Dahut had included footnotes from some of his assertions-but having said those things, I highly recommend it. The reading list is worth the price of the book, in and of itself. I especially recommend it for lawyers; it's a great eye opener. Most marketers will find themselves nodding in agreement and will also be treated to new ways of looking at our universe. And that's a good thing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Insight and Strategies; Powerful Work!, February 6, 2008

By	Mike H., Esq. (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

Mr. Dahut presents a remarkably insightful and highly original look at the very core of highly successful marketing strategies for legal service businesses, and, indeed, for all service-providing businesses. Beginning with the premise that marketing is an experience and a process, and not the experience of the service-provider, but, rather, the collective individual experiences and perceived value of each and every client, Dahut proceeds to disassemble this premise, examining its implications and meanings. In analyzing this premise, and the derivative notion that exceptional marketing comes from service that is primarily client-centric, Dahut delves into revealing psychological discoveries and even studies from the field of neuroscience that both support and validate his powerful premise. This work offers tremendous insight into a core notion of highly effective marketing from a gut-level, psychological perspective, that, when implemented, will lead to exceptional increases in client loyalty and retention, particularly for the small firm or solo practitioner attorney with a high degree of client contact in a highly competitive market. However, Dahut also intensely examines the signature obstacles that medium size and large firms in the service-industry confront, including the difficulties of building consensus among members and perpetuating well-needed change, and the illusion of success that often paralyzes large firms and prevents them from implementing changes in marketing structures in a pro-active manner, changes that are absolutely critical for continued levels of prosperity.

This work is an essential read not only for every small firm and solo practitioner attorney, but also for any partner or associate in any service-oriented business who has any decision-making authority in regard to the establishment of firm visions and the tedious process of making those visions practical reality. Dahut goes well beyond the traditional service marketing book in that he borrows intriguing studies from the fields of psychology and neuroscience, explains what these studies reveal about how lawyers have been trained to think, how clients think (differently than lawyers), and the tremendous gains in client loyalty and marketing effectiveness that follow when lawyers are able to think in "other domains", as he puts it.

The unique and extraordinary value of this book lies in Mr. Dahut's brilliant exploration of what psychology, neuroscience, and his own twenty years of business and legal experience reveals about the most fundamental root needs and wants of clients, indeed of all humans, and how service inspired by and aligned with these powerful human motivators is almost unsurpassable. Moreover, Dahut examines how lawyers and firms of all sizes can think in "other domains", strategically develop "inspired values" in-line with those of clients, and make real and lasting change on all levels to develop cutting-edge marketing programs and skills that are critical in this significantly competitive and changing time for service businesses. A highly intriguing, practical, and very worthwhile read! This is a powerful, captivating work.