Silvia L. Coulter

Consultant

Ms. Coulter is a Managing Director with Hildebrandt’s Law Firm Strategy and Structure Practice Group and leads the firm’s Client Development and Growth Practice. Silvia has substantial experience in collaborating with firms on their business development and key client retention and growth strategies, client service strategies and process improvement initiatives. Silvia, a Six Sigma Green Belt, and a certified facilitator, is a frequent speaker at legal industry meetings and conferences, and law firm retreats. Prior to merging her firm with Hildebrandt in early 2008, she was a partner with the consulting firm of CoulterCranston and has served as chief marketing and business development officer at two Global 50 firms. She is an instructor at the George Washington University College of Professional Studies in the Law Firm Management Master’s program.

Silvia was presented with an award and inducted into the Legal Marketing Hall of Fame, the highest level of recognition for one’s marketing and business development contributions to the legal industry. She is a Fellow with the College of Law Practice Management.
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Professional Associations, Achievements & Organizations

Fellow, College of Law Practice Management
2010 Inductee, Legal Marketing Association Hall of Fame Award
2007-2009 Committee Member, ABA Law Practice Management, Women Rainmakers Section
2008 Board Member; 2005-07 President, Legal Sales and Service Organization (www.legalsales.org)
2005-2007 Elected Board Member, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Foundation
2005-2007 Elected Board Member, Patriots’ Trail Girl Scouts
2001 Elected President, Legal Marketing Association (National) (www.legalmarketing.org)

Education

George Washington University, M.S., Law Firm Management, 2010
Babson College, Strategic Planning Certificate, 1988
Northeastern University, B.S.B.A., cum laude, Marketing, 1984
Six Sigma Green Belt, 2007
Certified Facilitator, 1988

Additional Information

Books and Editorial Boards

The Women Lawyer’s Rainmaking Game, published by Thomson Reuters/West Legal Education
Lean Law, Creating Valued Client Relationships, published by Thomson Reuters/West Legal Education, due out late 2010/early 2011
Editorial Board Member, Marketing For Lawyers, published by ALM
Law Firm Partnership and Benefits Report, Editor-in-Chief, American Lawyer Publications
Editorial Board Member, Practice Innovations, published by Thomson/West
Advisory Editor, “Smart Decisions,” Summer/Fall, 2006 and 2007 editions
Editorial Board Member, Law Firm Inc., 2001 through 2007, published by ALM

Articles

Process Improvement, A Practical Overview, Q1, 2010, Practice Innovations, Q1, 2010
Outpacing the Downturn with Innovation and Forward Focus, ABA Law Practice, March/April, 2009
Grow Your Large Clients: Tips for Retention and Cross-Selling, ABA Law Practice, January/February, 2009
Small Firms and Big Litigation, ABA GP SOLO, January/February 2009
Productizing the Firm’s Services, Build the Brand and Live the Brand, Practice Innovations, Fall, 2008
Evolving from Law Firm Marketing to Business Development--Hitting Its Stride in 2007, Practice Innovations, Thomson/West, January, 2007
Tuning Your Firm to C and Orchestrating Results for Innovation, College of Law Practice Management, online library, June, 2006
ROI…Who’s Accountable and Who’s Counting? LMA Strategies, November/December, 2005
CRM, Law Technology News, October 2005
Politically Speaking….The Intersection of Marketing and IT and Making it Work, Law Firm Inc., April, 2005
The Role of Competitive Intelligence within Business Development, Practice Innovations, Thomson/West, Spring, 2005
Building the Best Team: The Relationship between Marketing and Information Resources, Practice Innovations, Thomson/West, Spring 2004
The Grass is Greener, Law Firm Inc., Fall, 2003

Presentations

Legal Marketing Association, March 2010, co-presenter: “Tactical Strategies for Integrating the Marketing and Business Development Department with Overall Firm Strategy”
Marketing Partner Forum, January, 2010, co-presenter: “Strategic Account Management: Beyond the Basics”
Hildebrandt Institute Virtual Seminars, “Lean Sigma for Law Firms”, November, 2009
Hildebrandt Institute Virtual Seminars, “The COO’s Role In Driving Revenue Through Key Account Management.” November, 2009
Legal Marketing Association, New England Chapter, Annual Meeting, Moderator, General Counsel Panel, November 2009
Legal Marketing Association, Nashville and Birmingham Chapters, “Connecting Costs to Value through Strategic Account Management” Fall 2009
Association of Corporate Counsel, Northeast Chapter, Summer, 2009; “Adding Value Through Effective Pricing Strategies” Fall 2009
ABA 2008 Law Practice Management Women Rainmakers Mid-Career Meeting: "Retaining and Growing the Firm's Top Clients." September, 2008
Lex Mundi Annual COO Meeting: "The COO's Role in Business Development and Driving Revenue." July, 2008
Marketing Partner Forum, Panel Moderator: Women Clients Speak, January 2008
West Legal Works Webcast: “The Road to Equity Partner for Women Lawyers,” December, 2007
ABA Women Rainmakers Mid-Year Meeting, Puerto Rico, October, 2007
ALA Region I Annual Meeting, Marketing and Business Development Strategies for the Mid-Size Firm, Delaware, October, 2007
Business Development for the Small and Mid-Size Firm, West Legal Education/Legal Works Webinar, October, 2007
Lexis/Nexis Business Development for Women Lawyers, luncheon keynote, Philadelphia, PA, September, 2007
Public Relations and Business Development: Truths and Myths, co-presenter, West Legal Education/Legal Works Webinar, June, 2007
The Intersection of Business Development and Public Relations, co-presenter, LMA Webinar, June, 2007
Selling Diversity, Practicing Law Institute, NY, June, 2007
What’s Hot with Law Firm Marketing and Business Development, US Law Firm Group, May, 2007
The Intersection of Professional Development and Business Development, co-presenter, LMA 2007
Women Rainmaking: The Clients Speak; Building your book of business, a no-nonsense approach, GC panel moderator, West Legal Works Webinar, February, 2007
Women Rainmaking: Steps to Success, Keynote, AIPLA Women Lawyers Committee, New
Beyond Diversity 101; Practicing Law Institute, New York, GC Panel Moderator, October, 2006
Navigating the Puddles of Rainmaking, Webinar Keynote, Interlaw Women Lawyers, September, 2006
Getting Your Business Development Strategy UnStuck, keynote speaker and GC panel moderator, Lex Mundi International, Women Lawyers’ annual meeting, September, 2006
Turning Librarians into Analysts, American Assn. Law Librarians, Keynote Panel, July, 2006
Panel Moderator, NY City Bar; Women Rainmakers Panel and Clients panel, April, 2006
Prove It! How to demonstrate marketing value to firm leaders, Philadelphia chapters, Assn. Legal Administrators and Legal Marketing Association, March, 2006
Turning Your Firm Toward a Sales and Client Culture, Vancouver LMA, September, 2005

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Articles

Getting Work Partnering with Big Firms [+]
08/12/2010 By Silvia L. Coulter

If you are going to get work from larger firms, they must know who you (and your firm) are. Sending business to your firm (a) helps the larger firm meet its clients’ local needs; (b) helps the larger firm’s clients and contacts with work the firm may not handle or may not be able to handle economically; or (c) provides a strong alternative solution to a conflict or potential conflict situation. In some cases your firm may handle work related to the larger firm’s practice but not work the larger firm handles at all. Below are some effective ways to increase your visibility and attractiveness to larger firms.
Responding to Client Calls for Value: [+]
09/30/2009

For many years, corporate counsel and other executive-level buyers of legal services have been alerting law firms to their growing concern over the gap between rising law firm fees and the value of services delivered. Despite mounting client frustration, the law firm value proposition in the legal industry has remained relatively unchanged, with most firms continuing to bill clients by the hour and raising rates annually. These trends largely supported paying associates ever-increasing salaries and driving higher partner profits - neither of which served to improve the value of services delivered to clients. Client concerns about rising fees and the “value” of services have been previously overshadowed by years of enormous demand for legal services, enabling firms to avoid undergoing significant change to the traditional service delivery model. However, over the past year, market dynamics have aligned, creating an opportunity to transform services provided by law firms in order to better meet or exceed client demands.
Growing Revenue in a Challenging Economy by Focusing on a "Go to Market" Strategy [+]
07/27/2009

This article is reprinted with permission from Practice Innovations, March 2009 | VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2.© 2009 West, a Thomson Reuters business.

Law Firms, like their clients, should use a strategic account management program to focus their marekting ont their key accounts.
Build and Deliver the Brand - [+]
07/27/2009

This article is reprinted with permission from Practice Innovations, January 2009 | VOLUME 10, NUMBER 1.© 2009 West, a Thomson Reuters business.

There is nothing quite like helping a prospective client see how your firm’s services will help their company reach its business goals and having your firm hired as a result of your strong presentation and your ability to tie your services to their needs. Contributing to your firm’s revenue builds confidence, wins accolades, and emphasizes that you are part of the team. But today, differentiating one firm’s services from another is becoming increasingly difficult and a real challenge.
To retain clients you’ve fought so hard to sell requires consistent delivery of the services and the brand that your firm promised with the sale.

This article will discuss two areas that will help today’s law firm effectively compete for and retain clients in the evermore competitive legal environment: building the brand and delivering the brand.
The Business Side of Social Networking [+]
07/27/2009

This article is reprinted with permission from Practice Innovations, July 2009, Volume 10, Number 3. © 2009 West, A Thomson Reuters business

Social networking can boost your business development efforts. But first you must educate the members of your organization about appropriate usage, professional conduct and ethics, and avoiding legal liability.

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