How Three Firms Stand Out From the Pack: A Perspective From Law

Each lawyer and law firm faces the same problem – how to distinguish the professional services they offer from those offered by every other lawyer and every other law firm.

If you are no different from your competitors, then you are a commodity – and should expect a career shaped by commodity work at commodity prices. If you want to attract the best work at the best prices, you must strategically differentiate yourself from the pack. You must identify your own unique message – and take it to market.

"Most lawyers and law firms have a very hard time narrowing their focus," said Ross Fishman, an attorney and consultant at to the professional services industry. "They want to be all things to all people – 'full service' firms that market to 'anyone, anywhere, who needs any legal service.'"

To illustrate the points he made in his June 15, 2006 presentation to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, Fishman used slides featuring more than 100 real-life examples of marketing materials from law firms around the country.