LinkedIn is a social networking site where busy professionals meet to puff up resumes, brag and, in theory, exchange ideas whilst looking for new work. It just received $1 billion dollars in financing to upgrade/add features and looks another questionably valued high cost web 2.0 takeover or ipo candidate in the coming 12-18 months. Every so often they send along an e-mail letting you know what your contacts are bragging about most, errr, up to. A feature is one can ask a question of the network and a friend recently answered one that was of interest to me.

The Question: How Are You Avoiding Career “Redundancy” in the Current Economic “Downturn?
The questioner’s detailed follow-up: As an in-house legal marketing and business development professional, I’m watching the trends as to how the economy is affecting the business of law. I read a Legal Week article today discussing UK firm Howard Kennedy’s launch of a “redundancy campaign” which will most likely result in the layoff of 20 fee-earners and 30 staff. They are not the first firm to do so. Coupling that news with a blog post at www.legalwatercooler.blogspot.com by Darryl Cross, a consultant to the industry, asking “Why We are Gloomier Than the Economy,” I have to ask: what are we - legal industry professionals, consultants and lawyers — doing, or should be doing, to avoid being labeled as “redundant,” and therefore expendable, in these uncertain economic times?

Being shy and retiring I answered:

PwC (a firm I onced worked with) eliminated its regional in-house marketing function last year and now relies on high priced branding “experts.” They are under fire for failing to produce results… in this economy. Pendulums swing back and forth… in this economy. There is a US firm’s London office that built a huge esoteric marketing function, they are downsizing because they cannot deliver enough business to justify their existence… in this economy.

Services “marketing,” is a misnomer. Unless directly bringing in business it will always be at risk… in this economy. The same can be said of lawyers and even partners, being a good lawyer is not good enough… in this economy. Relying on one or two rainmakers is not good enough… in this economy. Raising your fees annually and assigning green associates to a client earnings pyramid is not good enough… in this economy. If any department needs to justify its existence instead of knowing and bolstering its bottom-line impact, they will not survive… in this economy.

Recessions come along to prove this theory but there is no overcoming the one over-arching truism in law firms - “greed is good” and it will continue to be the dominant paradigm or mantra in this or any economy. Those atop the pyramid got there on the backs of others and will do anything to stay there.

Those 20 HK fee earners will not be sitting atop either the earnings or revenue pyramid… in this or any economy so only the strong survive.

A large group we’re consulting with had a conference last week where the global marketing head had a chance to sit, ask, listen and learn from 14 EU country managers. The head of finance came into this meeting and asked questions. This marketing guy came in with Powerpoint slides and talked about how great they were doing only to learn from 70% of the country managers how they did not feeling supported. Private advice was to get on the airplane and do a ‘mea culpa,’ humble pie eating tour… sit, ask, listen and learn. He gave 10 excuses as to why he is too busy to do that. We give him six weeks.

Alas, there are a lot of busy, unemployed people… in this economy.