Podcast Ep. 111: Pandemic-Era Law Firm Marketing: Why Now Is the Perfect Time for Innovation

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 podcast, Guy Alvarez discusses how law firms can treat the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to innovate their business development and marketing practices with guest David Kamien. David Kamien is a former lawyer and the founder and CEO of Mind-Alliance Systems. Mind-Alliance offers an AI-powered business development intelligence platform called ‘MindPeer’ and just launched a COVID-19 Legal Intelligence Hub that aggregates thought leadership from over 200 law firms. In the 20 years since he left the practice of law, David has consulted on innovation, knowledge management, business development, and research for law firms and corporates. You can connect with David on LinkedIn here.

Podcast Show Notes

Tell us a little bit about how you went from practicing law to working with law firms.

My mentor, Dr. David Tadmor, was appointed the head of AntiTrust Authority for the State of Israel, and I was given the opportunity to support him in his new role. Throughout law school I did consulting work for the ministries of defense communications who needed an English speaking research analyst. Then, I changed career paths to focus on helping law firms with intelligence analysis and knowledge management.

How do you see that the COVID-19 pandemic is changing legal marketing?

The first thing I noticed was that law firms were publishing more thought leadership content. This pandemic seems to be a catalyst for innovation. Law firms need to learn how they can stand out to their clients and cut through the noise of other firms.

What specific technological innovations, do you think could shape the future of legal marketing in general, and thought leadership and business development intelligence specifically?

Firms must transform their legal marketing processes and systems into a symbiosis of people and machines.

You have a background in the military and in competitive intelligence. What can law firms learn from how intelligence organizations gather relevant information and manage crises?

Well in the military, you can not just be reactive. Similarly in law, you can not wait for clients to come to you, you must be proactive in seeking out your clients, supporting business development and proving your attorneys with intelligence. Firms need an ‘intelligence cycle’ in place that processes tech, data, governance, and security to achieve that edge over the competition.

Do you see technology as a fix that can replace people in certain areas of the legal industry?

Artificial intelligence has already changed our lives and will continue to do so, but we are very far from where a computer can replace a person.

Tell me about the ‘COVID-19 Thought Leadership Intel Hub’. Is it for law firms or also legal departments? What is the key value proposition? What happens with the intelligence hub after COVID-19?

Law firms and legal departments are always going to need a knowledge management solution. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a major increase in thought leadership content. From a law firm perspective, this hub aggregates thought leadership content, specifically about COVID-19 from hundreds of websites and allows lawyers and legal marketers to compare what they have written to what other law firms have written. In time, this hub will also contain other legal information for other legal departments to reference.

Takeaway

Technology is transforming the legal industry. Law firms that adopt AI and advanced legal technology will be well positioned to deliver real-time insights, enhanced decision-making, and improved marketing efficiency. Although technology and AI will not replace lawyers, firms that don’t make use of these evolving methods will lose their edge.

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