LGC Blog

Independent African professional services firms (PSFs) need but often lack a clear marketing strategy for their business. Consequently most partnership driven organisations are unable to say “no” to anything that a particular partner wants and very often fail to make necessary choices about which markets and services to pursue. The result? Firms with sub optimal marketing activity and even less adequate marketing resource to achieve their objectives.

According to a recent study by Citibank, by 2025, Africa will account for 12% of global legal spend. This represents more than double the amount of global legal spend just 5 years ago. In essence Africa presents a huge opportunity both for African law firms and for international law firms. Traditionally, the lion’s share of legal advice in connection with Africa-related matters has been performed in major capital cities such as London, Paris, Dubai, New York and Washington DC. However, increasingly law firms across African jurisdictions are securing engagements and accessing the legal spend of international clients. Consequently, as the legal market for Africa firms grows so too does competition for legal work given to both African and international law firms. In this challenging environment, how can African law firms protect their brand and relational capital with local and international clients?

Love them or loathe them, legal directories are a necessary part of the business development calendar for law firms. Whether your firm is intimately familiar with directories or grappling to understand the essential elements involved in gaining entry into sought-after rankings like Chambers, Lareine Gold Consulting (LGC) is experienced in helping law firms prepare successful directory submissions and develop a rankings strategy that takes the guesswork out of dealing with directories. Below we review a brief history of legal directories, discuss whether they are still worth the trouble and provide some best practice hints and tips.