Expertise

How to market to law firms is an issue faced by many experts operating in our fields of banking, investment and insurance. We constitute narrow and specialised segments of the wider expert field and our challenge is how to ensure that litigation lawyers know where to look when they require an expert in one of our disciplines – it’s not immediately obvious where to go for an expert in distressed debt pricing, trade credit insurance or commodity trades.

The classic marketing approaches for high value services tend not to work when targeted at busy lawyers who can put a precise opportunity cost on their time. This tends to discourage spending time discussing possible future needs which doesn’t directly generate revenue.

When we ask lawyers how they find experts, the two most common answers are, firstly (and unsurprisingly) using a search engine - probably half of our enquiries originate in this way - and secondly, asking colleagues or other contacts for recommendations.

One marketing approach which we have found to be well received is to offer presentations to litigation and banking lawyers which can be run over lunch or at the start or end of the working day. These normally take around 30-40 minutes plus Q&A and may count towards CPD.

We currently have three presentations available:

Using Experts in Financial Sector litigation

• How do law firms identify suitable financial sector experts? 
• Sector specific issues (banking/investment/insurance) 
• Problems facing instructing firms – and solutions 
• Trends in financial sector litigation  (based on our analysis of approaches)

Trade Finance: “When Deals Go Wrong”

• Trade finance expert areas (credit/structuring and LCs/documentary collections)
• How and where do things go wrong?
• Case studies - structuring
• Case studies – insurance
• “Red flags”

Issues Currently Facing Banks (drawn from both our consulting and our expert experience)

• Winners and Losers. An analysis of which major international banks have grown and which have shrunk over the past 10 years, looking at balance sheets, capital, capitalisation and the wider economic backdrop. 
• What’s worrying banks? An overview of major issues currently facing banks and their potential to generate litigation, including an overview of the World Economic Forum’s Top 5 Global Risks 2009 to 2019.

All three presentations can of course be tailored to reflect additional areas of interest.

We welcome approaches from any firms who would be interested in running sessions on one or more of these topics.

Elsewhere in this edition of Expertise:

• Mike Trippitt of Michael Joseph Consulting discusses recent developments in Open Ended Funds and their potential to generate new litigation – a very timely subject in the light of investors’ experience with the Woodford Equity Income Fund.
• My fellow director David Ellis comments on the impact of the current “Basel IV” regulatory changes, which are likely to lead to increased lending rates, which may in turn create disputes between borrowers and their banks.

Managing Director,

GBRW Expert Witness
August 2019