The State of the Legal Market:  Prospects and Opportunities
While 2013 was a record year for law firm mergers and the pace of lateral acquisitions remained strong, growth often leads to problems for firm leaders.  In addition, a comparison of the number of lawyers in the Am Law 200 firms with the profits per partner of those firms showed no correlation between size and profitability.  This session will focus on what law firms need to do to build sustainable organizations over the long term, giving serious thought both to how they provide services to clients and how they can provide opportunities for lawyers that elicit commitment and afford professional satisfaction.
Speaker: Mitt Regan, Georgetown University Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession
Law Firm Strategy in Turbulent Times
2014 Report on the State of the Legal Market
Mid-Size Firms Peer Monitor April 2014

Delivering on Our Promises:  Developing and Implementing Meaningful Client Service Standards
Nothing is more important than delivering exceptional client service.  An effective client service improvement program is one of the most important marketing initiatives a firm can undertake. National studies show that approximately 70% of clients who stop using a particular law firm do so because they feel they were treated poorly or indifferently and 30% changed firm because their previous attorneys weren’t readily available.  Clearly, law firms need to do better.  This session will focus on developing service standards designed to occasion improved client service behaviors, thereby yielding greater client satisfaction.
Moderator: Thad Morgan, Fraser Trebilcock (Lansing, Michigan)
Presenters: Beth Clyne, Featherstonhaugh, Wiley & Clyne (Albany, New York)
Tom West, Poyner Spruill (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Client Service Standards

Doing Well by Doing Good:  Philanthropy’s Role in Strengthening a Law Firm’s Brand
Law firms should care about social responsibility because their clients do. It’s no longer enough just to provide good service.  Clients expect more from their law firms including real, meaningful social engagement.  It appears firms are beginning to acknowledge the importance of these demands.  Rather than tacking philanthropy onto the marketing director’s list of other duties as assigned, more firms are trying to integrate corporate social responsibility into everything they do.  This presentation will highlight several notable examples of successful philanthropic programs and what they have done to improve the firm’s name recognition, boost its brand reputation among clients, increase billings and enhance its clients’ perceptions of the firm, assist in recruiting and retaining the best and brightest attorneys, and improve the quality of life in communities where the firm practices. 
Moderator: Bill Moreau, Barnes & Thornburg (Indianapolis, Indiana) 
Presenters: Lisa Borsook, WeirFoulds (Ontario, Canada)
Chapman Hopkins, McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie & Kirkland (Lexington, Kentucky)
Lawyers’ Service on Nonprofit Boards

In the Haze:  The Impact of Marijuana Legalization on the Practice of Law
On January 1st, Colorado became the first state in the nation to permit the sale of recreational marijuana.  Washington likewise is poised to begin issuing licenses to produce, process and sell the Schedule I drug.  Meanwhile, possession and sale of the drug remain illegal under federal law.  This session will provide an “in-the-trenches” look at how marijuana legalization is affecting the practice of law in these two states including the regulatory schemes taking shape, the Department of Justice’s perspective and how some state bar associations have responded in their published ethics opinions to the situation.  
Moderator: Becky Almon, Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe (Denver, Colorado)
Presenters: Kelley Duke, Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe (Denver, Colorado)
Cliff Webster, Carney Badley Spellman (Seattle, Washington)
In the Haze: The Impact of Marijuana Legalization

Developing and Implementing a Collaborative Business Development Strategy:  A Canadian Approach
Finding new clients is hard work – and trying to find them on your own is harder still, which no doubt explains why many SCG Legal firms found their way into the network in the first place.  But some firms didn’t stop there.  They forged alliances with other SCG Legal firms, especially in their same geographic markets, to get even more value out of their membership in the network.  One such group is Team Canada, which meets monthly to discuss recent developments in the law, news of goings on in Canada’s legal industry, and changes being implemented in their own firms to serve clients better.  This session will feature a discussion of the steps SCG Legal’s Canadian firms have taken to build a truly collaborative approach to winning more business and serving their clients more efficiently.
Moderator: Kent Robinson, Bingham Law(New Brunswick, Canada)
Presenters: David Bain, Bull Housser (British Columbia, Canada)
Wayne Egan, WeirFoulds (Ontario, Canada)
Team Canada