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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
ONE-STOP SHOP - Gaining more business from existing clients can be even more lucrative for law firms than acquiring new ones, but it’s much easier said than done. True story: ALM once hosted a panel discussion during which a top in-house lawyer for a major multinational corporation declared that “cross-selling sucks.” But maybe it’s not cross-selling that sucks so much as the way many firms go about it—like a used car salesman trying to upsell you on TruCoat. As Law.com’s Andrew Maloney reports, one Am Law 100 firm is attempting to take a more strategic approach. Polsinelli has nearly doubled the size of its construction practice in 2021, adding seven lawyers across the country, mostly shareholders, with an eye toward deepening ties with its existing client base by offering them a more comprehensive menu of services they actually need. Amy Hansen, chairwoman of the firm’s construction practice, gave the example of a hospital system as one client the firm might try to help throughout the life cycle of a construction project. “They have land-use issues and real estate issues, financing, leasing,” she said. “But part of what they’ve got is they need to actually get the hospital designed—hire engineers, consultants, architects, a general consultant and get it built. So the ability to have that nationwide practice in construction that can help them on the front end, get them with the service providers, an agreement with an architect or contractor—it’s very specialized. That’s how we would get them plugged in—working hand-in-hand with real estate and health care lawyers.”
