Business Development Manager - Litigation

WilmerHale is a leading, full-service international law firm with 1,000 lawyers located throughout 12 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Our lawyers work at the intersection of government, technology and business, and we remain committed to our guiding principles of providing quality, excellent legal and client services; developing diversity among our lawyers and staff and cultivating an environment that promotes an ambitious spirit, collaboration and collegiality by drawing on the extraordinary talents and dynamic experience of our lawyers. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our clients and the communities in which we practice.

What You Will Be Doing:

This position helps drive the client development initiatives of the Litigation (LIT) Department and its individual practice groups. He/she serves as a Client Development “customer-service” contact for attorneys by either providing strategic guidance and support directly or coordinating with other Client Development Department team members to ensure services are provided efficiently and effectively.

This position acts as a go-to LIT lead for practice group business development and marketing projects and initiatives including, but not limited to, the implementation of strategic business development activities, responding to pitches/RFPs, and driving marketing initiatives like thought leadership and social media projects, increasing practice group and individual attorney visibility and marcom infrastructure projects like maintaining mailing lists and practice group descriptions.

About the Role:

The Client Development Manager’s responsibilities fall into three areas of focus:

Client/Business Development:

• Work with practice groups to implement client development projects and initiatives to support new business development goals.
• Leverage the firm’s experience and industry knowledge, in accordance with Department-wide best practices, to develop pitches and presentations that are responsive to companies’ specific needs.
• Use his/her experience to offer strategic advice and options to lawyers preparing to approach potential clients and in looking to expand relationships.
• Use business intelligence, client development tools and research to identify opportunities for new work for existing clients.
• Manage the LIT Department’s archiving of business development activities and experience.
• Work with the Client Development Department infrastructure to regularly update marketing collateral, including practice group descriptions, matter/case lists and biographies.
• Lead various aspects of lateral partner integration and practice group strategic planning.
• Responsible for developing technical understanding of clients and industries served by LIT practice groups to help proactively issue spot, leading to identification of business development opportunities.
• Develop and maintain “trusted advisor” partner relationships.
• Sees and deploys collaboration with colleagues and other departments as a critical factor in service excellence.
• Contributes to the firm's Service Excellence initiative to consistently improve its image internally and externally. Displays professionalism, quality service and a “can do” attitude to internal members/departments of the firm as well as external clients and vendors via electronic and print correspondence, over the telephone and in-person.
• Assumes additional responsibilities as assigned.

Legal Directories & Research:

• Help to oversee and execute the LIT Department’s legal directory submissions for various directories including Chambers, Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation.
• Work with practice groups to analyze research on existing and prospective clients to aid in the development of customized pitches, presentations, and proposals.
• Work with practice groups to monitor industry, sector and market trends, as well as competitor activity, to identify business development opportunities.

Events & Thought Leadership:

• Execute practice groups’ visibility strategies with thought leadership and client-facing events.
• Make recommendations on thought leadership and in-house programing. Work with practice groups to develop event concepts and create programing that demonstrates our ability to “look around corners” and inform clients on forward-looking issues.
• Work with all members of the Client Development Department to build profiles for practice group and individual attorneys (internally and, as appropriate, externally) by publicizing victories, news items, events, and articles leveraging social media and other distribution platforms.
• Oversee the management of sponsorships and memberships for the LIT Department, including evaluating sponsorships and opportunities to participate in various organizations.
• Contributes to managing the internal Client Development team. Provides guidance to more junior team members, among other general marketing projects, implement webinars and seminars, client-facing events and sponsorships, including marketing the event/program, mailing list creation, internal and external promotion (including social media if relevant) and follow-up activities.

What You Will Bring:

• Strong independent thinking and execution, and mature professional judgment.
• Strong multitasking and project management skills and demonstrated capabilities to manage multiple deadlines and changing project criteria.
• Demonstrable analytic skills, organizational skills, initiative and vision.
• Superior oral and written communications skills, including professional presentation abilities, with demonstrated excellence in grammar and proofreading.
• Extensive working knowledge Microsoft Suite, Foundation, ON24 and InterAction preferred.

Education:

• BA/BS required.
• Advanced degree preferred.

• A minimum of eight to ten years’ experience in legal, technology, management, or market analysis environment preferred.

For additional information about our benefits, please click here.

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by employees in the position. It is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills for positions. The firm reserves the right at all times, in its sole discretion, to add or subtract duties and responsibilities, as it deems necessary.

WilmerHale is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability or veteran status, or other protected status.

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