Buchanan Ingersoll's "Superb" Annual Report

During the summer of 2006, law firm marketing guru Larry Bodine blogged,

"Once again the Pittsburgh law firm Buchanan Ingersoll has published a superb annual report.

The report is brilliant for its focus on seven of its 15 target industries. Most other law firms market their practice groups, which is a mistake. Smart law firms approach clients and prospects as industry experts, because executives think of themselves as being part of an industry, not a customer of a practice group."

What Larry Bodine liked about the report:

• It's short and easy to read.
• 50% of the space is devoted to pictures.
• It tells success stories, which clients love. Here's a vignette from their Financial Services section: "We successfully resolved a $64 million lease-rejection claim and a $6 million preference complaint in the Global Crossing Chapter 11 case for Goldman Sachs Mortgage Capital." They told the story in 5 lines.
• It's organized to discuss their legal work across areas of practice in several industries. Each section has about 10 success stories and a sidebar that discusses their industry activity.
• It names clients, so that readers can see the representative corporations the firm works with.
• It ends with awards and honors, appointments, donations and rankings where the firm scored high.

Thanks, Larry. Our thanks also goes to Lori K. Lecker, Buchanan's director of communications and public relations, who worked closely with Greenfield/Belser to create the report.