ALM's Third Annual Business Development Study Shows Law Firm Marketing and Sales Budgets Continue to Rise

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ALM Research, a leading source of business intelligence for the legal profession, today announced the release of its third annual survey of law firm business development practices. This year’s study shows that business development budgets increased last year at rates exceeding 20 percent, while marketing budgets grew at a slightly slower pace. Among the largest U.S. law firms, combined spending for these two areas averaged 1.2 percent of gross revenues. The study tracks trends related to law firm spending on business development and marketing/communications, as well as the organization, structure, strategies staffing and compensation related to the business development function. The full report is available for purchase at http://www.lawcatalog.com.

Among the other findings of the study:

• Business development and marketing/communications efforts are co-located at the majority of law firms.
• Hiring last year for business development was focused on leadership positions, while new marketing hires tended to focus on support staff.
• Only a small percentage of new hires in these functions have law degrees.
• More than half of the respondents reported that equity status for current and new partners was tied to their success in developing new business.

As in the two previous reports, this year’s survey breaks down results for “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” firms. Tier 1 Firms are those that appeared on one or more of the three industry-standard lists: The Am Law 200, The Global 100 and the NLJ 250. New this year is a separate breakout of responses for Tier 1 firms with 700 or more lawyers.

For more survey information, contact Charles Lowry at (212) 592-4932 or e-mail clowry@alm.com.

ALM Research which produces ALM Research Online, a subscription database of legal market intelligence, as well as a number of syndicated survey reports, including the annual Law Firm Business Development Survey, the 2006 Global Law Firm Knowledge Management Survey, and the 2006 Law Firm Outsourcing Survey.

About ALM

ALM is a leading integrated media company, focused on the legal and business communities. ALM currently owns and publishes 33 national and regional magazines and newspapers, including The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal and Real Estate Forum. The company is one of North America's largest producers of conferences and trade shows for business leaders and the legal profession. ALM's Law.com is the Web's leading legal news and information network, while ALM's GlobeSt.com is the Web's leading information source for commercial real estate professionals. Other ALM businesses include book and newsletter publishing, court verdict and settlement reporting, production of professional educational seminars, market research and content distribution. For more information, visit www.alm.com. ALM is an Incisive Media company.

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