The report that law firms spend millions of pounds on promotional activities that don't work is hardly surprising (see [2005] Gazette, 26 May, 1). For too long law firms have only dipped a cautious toe in marketing their services professionally. Many marketers at law firms are perceived by ageing partners as little more than office juniors.


As a specialist in legal marketing recruitment, I often meet marketers fuming at the ignorance of those who hold the purse strings and loathe the amateur attitudes to marketing at their firms. Thankfully, the tide is turning - senior partners who ignore marketing advice and prefer to schmooze clients on the golf course are dying out. The days of word-of-mouth reputation are numbered.


Younger partners are emerging to shake off the stuffy image of the law and work with their marketing teams to boost profits.


Jenny Cainer, director, Jenny Cainer Marketing Professionals (UK), Manchester