Law Firms Open Drive-In Windows; Newest Trend in Client Service

By Oliver W. Douglas

Published April 1, 2003

Beginning the newest trend in legal marketing, international powerhouse law firm Morgan, Jones announced the opening of a drive-in window to improve client service for key corporate clients ranging from M&A work to employment law.

"To be competitive in this day and age, we need to offer a level of service that extends beyond snail mail and the Internet," said the firm?s Chief Marketing Officer Mary Paul-Peters. "General Counsel has told us they are too busy to go through the time-consuming process of signing into a building and waiting in a conference room. Simply pull around to the window and drop off or pick up your documents."

The drive-in window is open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. In some of the firm's twelve international offices, the window is open late, until 1 a.m. The concept follows some of the Nation?s most efficient and effective service industries, taking a page from banking and the lucrative fast-food powers.

"Fast-food is a multi-billion dollar a year industry," said Morgan, Jones managing partner Thomas David. "They must be doing something right. Our marketing staff learned of this concept at a fantastic law marketing soirée at the Ritz-Carlton in Boca. This is about service."

Not to be outdone, competing firm Popper, Harrington LLP is providing clients the opportunity to super size matters, for as little as $390 extra. This includes options such as getting a second-year associate doing research on a matter instead of a first-year or paralegal.

"For the price of a second-year, you can upgrade to a third-year as well," Popper Hamilton chairman C. Montgomery Summers stated. "We need to keep up with the Jones. This is an important step toward bringing the legal profession into the 20th Century."

Law marketing consultant Hildey Altweiler believes that any firm without a drive-in will go the way of the buffalo - extinct! "If everybody else is either doing it, thinking about it, or claims to be considering it, you must act quickly. It will necessitate some firms to move from skyscrapers to client-friendly strip malls or ranch homes," said Altweiler.

If your marketing department has not informed you of a need to open a drive-in, consider attending the Webinar, "Drive-In Law Firms: Bank on it!", available for $89 online at www.LawMarketingGenius.com. The distinguished panel includes the same people that brought you "Selling Your Lawyers for Profit and Fun", "Technology?Sell your office and just get virtual", and ?Coaching Little League and Big Partners". For the more serious, attend the upcoming conference at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, ?Drive-Ins for Decision-Makers and the Extremely Important" at www.LegalCLEBoondoggles.com.

This article originally appeared in the April Fool's Edition of the IMA Newsletter.