This December Honigman announced that Patrick Johnson joined the firm as its new chief business development & marketing officer. With more than 20 years of experience, he will be focused on developing and implementing strategic initiatives and will work closely with the firm’s leadership team to advance client growth and elevate the firm’s reputation.
We sat down with Johnson to discuss his goals for his new role as well as his overall outlook on legal marketing in the coming year.
AALM: What drew you to Honigman. What are you most excited about in your new role?
PJ: Opportunity. First, the leadership was direct in sharing its aspirations with a bold, but achievable strategic plan that from my years of experience felt distinct and with purpose. Additionally, Honigman was familiar to me. I initially knew it as a strong regional firm with a solid reputation. Knowing that the firm is now positioned for national growth and what it wants to achieve was an incredible opportunity to be a part of.
And secondly, what drew me to Honigman is the opportunity to implement my vision and culture. I believe the entire team should operate with a client mindset and be ‘business curious’. That means every member of my team has a vested interest in knowing the firm’s clients and the clients’ business and industry. Such a view, in my opinion, leads to creative thinking, collaboration with the lawyers, and ultimately generates new business opportunities. The result is the team delivers value and an elevated level of service excellence.
Ultimately, I’m excited for what lies ahead in this role and with Honigman. The firm has ambitious growth plans which will be achieved.
AALM: The firm is positioned for national growth in the coming years. What initial steps does the firm have to expand?
PJ: Every day in the legal news is a story of firm mergers, strategic initiatives, and plans for growth. Honigman is no different in having a growth strategy. What I’ve seen is a clear and defined approach to what is objectively achievable. Tantamount for the firm is to convey to the market that it is a national brand. After all, the firm has clients across sectors throughout the country.
Growth will come from continuing to do what is working and produced consecutive years of growth and not surprisingly, yes, the firm needs to smartly pursue new areas of growth. For example, through lateral recruiting where it supports the firm’s key practices.
AALM: When discussing legal marketing today, it’s hard to avoid the role AI plays. How will you implement AI in your team’s marketing and how will you take AI’s impact on SEO and business and consumer habits into account when planning your marketing?
PJ: Great question. I think the application of AI among marketing departments varies as its application beyond better writing is still nascent.
My view is that AI will help my team and firms of similar size with scale. I have a vision to amplify strained capacity and resources by accelerating deliverables such as the creation of bespoke pitch decks, reducing what can take days down to hours. Ask me this question in a year and I’ll be able to show you the results.
Additionally, I see AI used for creative delivery of information in a manner that enhances impact. For example, our current internal business development newsletter. It is the primary communication vehicle for the department and connects the firm’s activities. Yet, it can be time consuming to create… as it is a comprehensive written collection of marketing, media, PR, and business development activities. This communication often is not as impactful as intended, because it is dated due to the time necessary to create. Now, imagine that information is instead converted into a short run podcast summary with the help of AI. A weekly update of the prior activities. Wins, new clients, thought leadership, key news, etc!
AALM: Are there any other focuses you will have when it comes to marketing your firm, meeting client growth goals and elevating the firm’s reputation. What are the trends you think you’ll see developing at firms nationwide in the years to come and how do you hope to outperform the competition?
PJ: I can’t overstate the focus on team culture. Marketing departments are all performing similar services. However, culture can be the reason for success or failure. Additionally, my team will be heavily focused on the client mindset. We need to look at clients through their industry. That means understanding the business and issues facing the industry.
From a legal marketing perspective, the trends I witnessed starting years ago still persist. And the firms that not only invest but integrate into the marketing culture will ultimately outperform the competition. This includes investment in both professionals and resources involving data analytics, competitive intelligence, and content. And maybe it is my bias and proposal manager background, but if a firm participates in a high volume of RFPs you can never overpay for a skilled proposal manager. At Honigman, I will be investing and have started already to invest in these areas!
AALM: Anything else you’d like to add?
PJ: I dove right into my role, and I am eager to hold a leadership role at such a robust, expanding firm. There’s a lot to look forward to here, and I’m honored to be a part of it.
The post Patrick Johnson Joins Honigman as Chief Business Development & Marketing Officer appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine.
