Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or in this case, the recruits or the reputation?

In the business of law, the proverbial "which came first?" discussion creeps its way into any number of meetings. Should you spend money on national advertising in order to provide services nationwide? Should you provide services nationwide before starting a national ad campaign?

Marketing and recruiting departments constantly face this same dilemma: To recruit attorneys in a market, you need a strong reputation. To build your reputation, you need a critical mass of attorneys so that you'll be taken seriously by everyone from prospective clients and business people to reporters, recruiters and other lawyers. It's no wonder the cocktail hour is so popular at LMA events.

The (Unoffical) Analysis

A poll of marketing and recruiting professionals throughout the country found each of the law firms we talked to--and they ranged in size from 100 lawyers to 1,200 lawyers--experienced this scenario. What the firms didn't have in common was how they dealt with the situation. And even more unique to each firm was the amount of interaction between the marketing and recruiting groups, and what the two departments did to coordinate efforts.

While nearly every marketing and recruiting person we talked to recognized the value of coordination, more than 47 percent of them never conferred with their colleague on the other side of the aisle. One marketer and several law firm legal recruiters commented that working together was a great idea, but one that had never occurred to the firm prior to the survey. A few of the collaborations between the two departments mainly consisted of basic generic recruiting and diversity brochures for law school recruiting, not the strategic or focused approach that one might expect. Lateral or merger recruiting collaborative efforts were nearly non-existent.

When asked about their relationship with recruiting or marketing, a solid number of respondents indicated a good relationship. In fact, many of the marketers started out in legal recruiting, which they say gave them tremendously valuable insight into each role. However, a significant portion--more than 55 percent--indicated mediocre or poor working relationships between departments. This clearly leaves room for improvement, and it appears to be mainly in the lateral recruiting area.

One theme that emerged from this research is that the business of recruiting and the business of marketing are inextricably tied together. Marketing sells a firm and, most importantly, its people. Recruiting brings those people into the firm. One cannot-and should not-exist without the other.

One director of marketing went so far as to say that the law firm market is so competitive that any firm at which these two department don't collaborate will be left behind; everyone needs to be "on message."

Best Practices

So what can firms do to improve or facilitate the interaction between these two departments? Here are some suggestions:

Target your recruits.

One firm used its competitive intelligence team to identify lawyers at competing firms who did work for existing clients. The recruiting department specifically targeted those attorneys to shore up existing business and ultimately develop a platform that truly offered one-stop shopping for the clients. Several firms indicated they found this a useful approach.

Spread your own news.

Grassroots efforts seemed to be another item high on the list of marketing and recruiting professionals. It's all about the buzz, but in cities such as New York where the daily papers are really nationals, the move of a handful of attorneys from one firm to another is simply not newsworthy. Instead, firms made an effort to spread their own news. Whether the source was firm newsletters, direct mail, alumni Web sites or purely pressing the flesh (seriously, get your lawyers out of their offices!), those communications really made a difference.

Let legal search firms send your message.

Legal search firms are a great communications conduit that only some of the firms were embracing. Who better to know and understand your message than the legal search firms that bring you recruits? One law firm makes a point of sending press releases of significant hires or relevant articles about recent firm events or hires in other markets to key legal search firms. When those professionals know what's happening at the firm-especially the significant and exciting mergers, attorney additions or positive survey rankings--then selling the firm to recruits is that much more effective.

Go on a road show together.

One of the firms sent its directors of marketing and legal recruiting on the road for the first few months of the year to meet with legal search firms in each of its key markets. The results were two-fold: The firm was able to market itself and provide key collateral and recruiting pieces in person and also give some advance knowledge to the search firms on the specific recruiting initiatives for the year. In turn, how better for the marketer and recruiter to hear first-hand what "the word on the street" is than from legal search firms who hear it daily as they talk to prospective candidates?

Co-develop projects for new associates.

At another firm we spoke with, the marketing and recruiting departments took on a joint project of developing a mentoring program. The program has been tremendously successful, and is one of the most well-received programs at the firm.

Recruit internally.

Another firm's marketing and recruiting departments collaborated on an "internal" recruiting piece that described recent happenings, firm statistics and the history of the firm. This firm had recently added many new attorneys through mergers, acquisitions and lateral hiring. The internal piece was provided to the new attorneys who were then able to get involved in helping to recruit shortly after they joined the firm.

So, which is it? The chicken or the egg?

Both. Reputation is built by recruits, recruits by reputation. There's no easy way to solve the challenges facing law firms as they grow in this market climate, but it is clear that collaboration between recruiting and marketing is a fundamental step toward achieving that growth. When in doubt, invite your colleagues from that other department to your next meeting.

Lori Lecker is director of communications and public relations and Laurie Lenigan is the director of legal recruiting for Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Lecker can be reached at [e-mail] and Lenigan at [e-mail].