A dozen trainee solicitors joined an MBL online workshop on “A Trainee’s Guide to Marketing & Business Development (MBD) in a Law Firm”. This article summarises delegates’ key takeaways and actions plans. Trainee solicitors’ role in marketing and business development – LinkedIn and networking.
The online interactive session (see Kim Tasso – MBL Seminars for details of future sessions) – covering mindset, knowledge, skills and behaviour – included the following topics:
- Overview of MBD in law firms (with contemporary case studies)
- Ambassador skills
- Working with the firm’s MBD systems and support
- Networking – digitally
- Networking at events
Reflections on the different roles of trainee solicitors in marketing and business development
During breakout discussion, delegates compared their experiences of MBD. Observations included:
- There appeared to be a mix of experience with marketing and business development and most of it was online rather than in person
- Drafting blogs increases awareness of the firm to potential clients
- Preparing articles for the website and socials contribute to brand awareness
- Involvement in recording podcasts
- Sharing and posting on LinkedIn
- We are encouraged to attend firm events
- Mainly we attended young professionals networking events
- One of us attended a client event
They also shared experiences of the marketing and business development systems they used:
- Our marketing team maintains a cross-referrals schedule that is updated daily
- Our firm tracks how clients come to us, whether it is a referral from previous client or from online resources
- It is on each of the individual lawyers to inform the marketing department of their contacts and activities
- Use their firm’s CRM to manage client relationships and follow-up on referrals etc.
Other reflections included:
- Maybe I don’t work with that many colleagues in other offices / departments (which would be helpful for internal communications, collaboration and cross-selling)
- In MBD it is important to have good people skills (we talked about emotional intelligence)
- For MBD you need to be proactive and seize opportunities in unlikely scenarios
- I was surprised that the experience for trainees differed so much between different firms
- Interesting to see how so many aspects are important for the firm’s brand
- The importance of having a personal message
- I found it useful to consider the key messages for my firm / team / myself
- A few members of my group have marketing / networking calendars to plan each week
Trainee reflections on law firm marketing and business development case studies
Delegates spent time reviewing some law firm marketing and business development case studies (see Marketing and Business Development (MBD) law firm case studies and Marketing case studies: Sponsorship, brand campaigns). Their observations included:
- Good to see a focus on client-centric mindsets
- Interesting to see the types (groups or segments) of people that firms are targeting
- Found the involvement of influencers surprising
- Simmons and Simmons was interesting – that they have chosen creative visual video. This seems a good way to catch clients’ attention and others in the legal field
- Hill Dickinson naming the stadium – I wondered how the return in the future will be
- The McKinsey statistic that firms with a client-centric approach increased profitability by 60% was interesting, goes to show how important it is to maintain those relationships once the new client is secured
- I found it interesting that Bird & Bird uses a traditional sales-focused approach to MBD. Their use of KPIs is a bit different to what I thought traditional law firms would do for MBD
Key insights from trainee solicitor delegates
- The approach to take when attending networking events
- Be a good listener and don’t just talk about yourself when networking
- Working on MBD is a journey during your legal career
- Consider business development involvement in newly-qualified roles
Actions planned by trainee solicitor delegates
- Use LinkedIn more frequently and effectively
- Ask more questions
- Start shaping my personal brand
- Attend more events
- Do research so I am able to ask good questions when networking
- Get experience of starting and sustaining conversations at networking events
- Practice networking so I feel more confident
- Go to more networking events and follow-up with connections afterwards
- Reflect on my own business development activity
Selected trainee solicitor poll results
Throughout the session, trainees responded to a series of polls. Here are selected results
Where do you have most involvement as a trainee in marketing and business development?
- 50% Service delivery
- 38% Managing enquiries
- 13% Awareness raising
Which do you think is the most important knowledge, skill or behaviour that you need to develop?
- 25% Building relationships
- 13% Questioning and listening
- 13% Networking
- 13% Knowledge of your firm, services and markets
- 13% Empathy and emotional intelligence
- 13% Client care and service excellence
- 13% Meetings, presentations and pitches
What do you estimate as the annual growth of the UK legal sector? Strategic analysis – PWC’s UK Legal Services Market Report 2025 and Law-firm-mid-market-benchmarking-report-25-26.pdf
- 13% 1-2%
- 25% 3-4%
- 63% 5-6%
What is a brand – why is it important? (Multiple answers allowed)
- 88% Conveys a consistent image
- 75% Builds trust
- 75% Attracts talent
- 63% Differentiates
- 63% Positions against competitors
- 50% Builds competitive advantage
- 38% Supports consistent service
- 38% Supports premium fees
- 13% A future promise
Which systems have you used? (Multiple answers allowed)
- 88% Social media systems
- 75% Web site
- 63% Intranet
- 63% Event calendars
- 38% Templates
- 25% CRM/KAM
- 25% Analytics/results dashboards
- 13% Sales pipeline management
How often do you use LinkedIn?
- 0% Multiple times a day
- 38% Once a day
- 25% Once a week
- 13% Once a month
- 13% Rarely
- 13% Never
How would you feel presenting to an internal or external audience?
- 25% Confident
- 63% OK – a little nervous
- 13% Low confidence
What’s your general networking strategy?
- 83% Cast the net wide (relationships)
- 17% Focus (strategic)
How comfortable do you feel about networking at external events?
- 13% Confident
- 88% Will practice and feel more confident
Related links for trainee solicitors in marketing and business development
Law firm trainees engage in marketing and business development February 2026
All change? Mental health in the legal sector – Kim Tasso August 2026
Confidence – Does it increase as we get older and wiser? – Kim Tasso June 2026
Emotional Intelligence in legal practice (Globe’s Fundamental Skills July 2026
Book review: Building B2B Relationships June 2026
Book launch: Essential soft skills for lawyers – some research findings
Mapping the client journey in professional services – Kim Tasso August 2025
Strategic analysis – PWC’s UK Legal Services Market Report 2025 September 2025
Marketing basics – What are the 4Ps and why are they still useful?
Better Business Relationships – The building blocks
An introduction to emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy (Video)
Why are questions so important? (Questioning skills)
How to create and promote your personal brand – Kim Tasso May 2024
LinkedIn personal branding for women in real estate – Kim Tasso June 2025
Brand Basics (Video) – What is a brand?
Building a Brand to Create Competitive Advantage – Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession
Strategic marketing case study – Brand at Mishcon de Reya November 2025
Marketing and Business Development (MBD) law firm case studies November 2025
Marketing case studies – Digital thought leadership campaigns February 2025
What is curiosity and why is it important in business relationships? (Video) June 2021
CRM – Applications, systems and fee-earner engagement
Client satisfaction benchmarks – How do you measure up?
Soft skills – Boost your self-confidence and confidence (Video) (kimtasso.com)
Confidence to overcome a fear of failure – Kim Tasso
Confidence – How to get a word in when people keep talking July 2024
Power of three – Writing and presentation basics (Video)
Telephone skills: Anxiety, voice, etiquette and the client experience September 2022
Telephone skills – Focus on the caller’s needs – Kim Tasso April 2025
Introduction to networking skills (Video)
Why Do We Like People Who Are Similar to Us? | Psychology Today United Kingdom
dog, cat and bear personalities – Better business relationships
Non-Verbal Communication (NVC) – the basics (Video)
Book review – Great networking by Alisa Grafton July 2022
Practical sales tips: Reach out and Follow up
Book review: “Now we’re talking” by Sarah Rozenthuler January 2025
Selling insights for fabulous first meetings
An introduction to presentation skills – Easy as ABC (Video)
Presentation skills – TED Talks Chris Anderson book review
Perfect pitches – Five key points (Video) Kim Tasso
Book Review: Strategic Tendering for Professional Services April 2025
Cross-selling and referrer management – Past, present and future September 2025
KAM Basics – Bowties and Diamonds
Transition from technical expert to adviser
