Law firms spend a tremendous amount of money on events. They sponsor conferences, host client receptions, organize roundtables, conduct webinars and invest heavily in seminars and educational programs. Entire teams spend weeks or months planning these initiatives. Invitations are drafted, speakers are recruited, agendas are developed and marketing campaigns are launched. By the time the event takes place, significant time, budget and effort have already been invested. Yet after many events, I hear the same conversation.
- How many people attended?
- How many registered?
- How many seats were filled?
Those are reasonable questions, but they often distract from the questions that matter much more.
- Did the event strengthen relationships?
- Did attorneys have meaningful conversations with clients and prospects?
- Did the firm create opportunities that can be developed in the weeks and months ahead?
- Did the event position the lawyers and the firm as trusted advisors?
After helping plan and execute hundreds of events throughout my career, I’ve become convinced that many firms leave tremendous value on the table. The issue usually isn’t the quality of the event itself. Most firms do a good job with programming, logistics and execution. The problem is that they often approach events as isolated activities instead of viewing them as part of a broader business development and relationship-building strategy.
The firms that consistently get the most value from events tend to think differently. They start planning earlier. They are more intentional about who attends. They create content before and after the event. Most importantly, they understand that the event itself is only one piece of the opportunity.
Stop Obsessing Over Attendance Numbers
Attendance is important. Nobody wants to host an event that nobody attends. At the same time, attendance numbers can create a false sense of success.
I’ve attended events with packed rooms that generated very little business value. I’ve also seen smaller events produce client opportunities, referrals and relationships that continued developing years later. The difference often came down to who attended rather than how many attended.
For example, a room with 30 carefully selected clients, prospects and referral sources may create much more opportunity than a room with 200 attendees who have little connection to your firm’s strategic priorities.
This is especially true in professional services. Law firms don’t typically win work because someone sat through a presentation. They win work because trust develops over time. Events provide an opportunity to accelerate that process by bringing people together, creating conversations and demonstrating expertise.
When evaluating an event, firms should look beyond registration reports and attendance metrics. Consider the quality of the interactions that took place. Look at who attended. Review the conversations that occurred. Assess whether attorneys had opportunities to strengthen existing relationships or build new ones. Those measures often provide a much more accurate picture of success.
The Guest List Deserves More Attention Than It Usually Gets
One of the most overlooked aspects of event planning is audience strategy. Many firms devote significant attention to selecting speakers and building agendas but spend far less time thinking about who should actually be in the room.
In my experience, the guest list often has a greater impact on the success of an event than the program itself. That doesn’t mean content isn’t important. It absolutely is. People expect valuable insights and practical information. However, some of the most productive events I’ve attended generated value because of the people who attended, not simply because of the topics discussed.
When planning an event, it’s worth asking a few key questions.
- Which clients should be invited?
- Which prospects are priorities for the firm?
- Which referral sources would benefit from attending?
- Which relationships could be strengthened by bringing people together?
- Which industry leaders would contribute to the discussion?
- Who should attend internally?
Thinking strategically about these questions often leads to stronger outcomes than focusing exclusively on attendance goals.
I’ve always believed that one of the most valuable things a lawyer can do at an event is make introductions. Bringing together people who can benefit from knowing one another creates goodwill and helps position the lawyer as someone who adds value beyond legal advice. Those introductions often lead to relationships that continue long after the event has ended.
Start Creating Content Before the Event Happens
Many firms think about content after an event. I think it’s much more effective to start before the event even takes place. An upcoming event can generate a surprising amount of visibility if firms approach it strategically.
Speaker announcements can become LinkedIn posts. Interviews with panelists can become newsletter content. Industry trends related to the topic can be discussed in articles. Questions the panel plans to address can be highlighted in social media content.
These efforts accomplish two things. First, they help drive attendance. Second, they begin establishing the firm’s expertise around the topic before anyone walks into the room.
This approach is particularly valuable because marketing efforts become more effective when they build over time. A single event announcement is easy to overlook. A series of thoughtful pieces of content tied to the event topic creates familiarity and generates interest.
By the time the event arrives, attendees should already understand why the discussion matters and why the firm’s perspective is worth hearing.
Your Event Should Generate Content for Months
One of the biggest missed opportunities I see is the failure to extend the life of event content.
Think about everything that happens during a successful event. Attorneys share insights. Panelists discuss emerging trends. Audience members ask thoughtful questions. New ideas are exchanged. Market developments are analyzed.
All of that content has value beyond the event itself. A single panel discussion can easily become multiple blog articles, LinkedIn posts, newsletter features, short videos and client alerts. Audience questions often reveal future content topics. Key takeaways can be repurposed into presentations, graphics and educational resources.
This is why I encourage firms to record sessions whenever possible and assign someone to capture notes, photos and observations during the event.
The most successful firms don’t view an event as a one-time activity. They view it as a source of ongoing content that can continue generating visibility and engagement long after the program concludes.
Considering how much effort goes into organizing an event, it makes sense to maximize the value of every insight that’s shared.
Lawyers Need to Spend More Time Working the Room
One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career is that lawyers often underestimate the importance of the informal conversations that happen around events.
Many attorneys focus heavily on preparing their presentation. That’s understandable. They want to deliver value and represent the firm well.
However, some of the most important opportunities happen outside the formal agenda. They happen before the event starts. They happen during networking breaks. They happen after the program ends when attendees gather in small groups to continue discussing the topics that were raised.
These interactions create opportunities to build relationships in a way that presentations simply cannot.
Clients and prospects often remember conversations more than they remember slides. They remember how someone made them feel. They remember useful introductions. They remember lawyers who listened, asked thoughtful questions and took a genuine interest in their businesses.
That’s why I encourage attorneys to arrive early, stay after the program and spend time engaging with attendees. The strongest business development outcomes often come from those informal moments.
The Follow-Up Is Where Many Firms Lose Momentum
This is probably the area where I see the greatest opportunity for improvement. An event concludes. People return to their offices. Everyone gets busy. The firm immediately shifts its attention to the next initiative. Meanwhile, attendees are still thinking about the conversations they had and the people they met.
Those first few days following an event create an ideal opportunity to strengthen relationships and continue discussions. Unfortunately, many firms limit their follow-up efforts to a generic thank-you email.
A more thoughtful approach can make a significant difference. Perhaps a prospect mentioned a challenge their company is facing. Maybe a client expressed interest in a particular topic. Perhaps two attendees should be introduced because they share common interests or complementary expertise.
Events create momentum. Follow-up helps preserve it. The most successful business development professionals understand that relationships develop through a series of interactions over time. Events provide a natural reason to begin or continue those interactions. A meaningful follow-up conversation often creates more value than the event itself.
The Firms That Get the Most Value From Events Think Differently
After years of working on law firm events, I’ve come to believe that the most successful firms share a common mindset. They don’t view events as marketing activities. They view them as relationship-building opportunities.
That perspective influences everything from the guest list and content strategy to networking plans and follow-up efforts. It shifts the focus away from attendance numbers and toward creating meaningful connections.
The strongest events bring together the right people, facilitate valuable conversations and create opportunities that continue developing long after the room has emptied. They strengthen existing relationships, introduce new ones and generate ideas that can support future business development efforts.
The event itself may last only a few hours. The relationships, conversations and opportunities that emerge from it can create value for years. That’s why getting the most from an event has very little to do with what happens on the day of the program. The real return comes from everything that happens before and after.
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