David H. Freeman, J.D.
David H. Freeman, J.D.,a former lawyer from New York, is founder and CEO of the David Freeman Consulting Group, a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to increasing revenue through the integrated use of:
- Leadership training and coaching
- Business development training and coaching (partners, associates, laterals, and of counsel)
- Retreat design, facilitation, and speaking
With twenty-five years of experience, he has worked with thousands of lawyers as a coach, consultant, trainer, and certified facilitator in one hundred law firms across North America (with nearly half of those in the AmLaw 200). Specific examples of his work include:
Action-Oriented Leadership - Helping leaders become more effective in achieving the firm’s most important strategic goals, such as 1) generating more business; 2) raising the bar on providing superior client service; and/or 3) addressing overall internal law firm management issues. Examples include:
- Delivered custom-designed, revenue-focused training and consulting programs for an AmLaw 200 firm and a large Southeast firm that facilitated the development of group and personal plans, enhanced cross-selling, and increased overall business development activity
- Consulted with individual group leaders in several AmLaw 200 firms
Goal-Focused Retreats - Designing, facilitating and speaking at high-impact retreats that focus firms, groups and individual lawyers on achieving important organizational goals. Examples include:
- A partners retreat for an AmLaw 200 firm that identified over $60 million in new business
- A program for an AmLaw 40 firm on delivering superior client service
- A one-year implementation planning session for the tax group of an AmLaw 20 firm
- Business development training (full firm and associates-only) with follow-up coaching
- Long-range strategic planning for a large Southeast firm
- Strategic marketing planning for the litigation group in a regional office of an AmLaw 200 firm
- Three-year strategic planning session for the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section
Business Development Training, Planning and Coaching - Helping individual lawyers develop and implement short- and long-term strategies for building their practices. Examples include:
- Customized business development training, coaching and planning programs delivered across practice groups for partners, counsel and associates in dozens of AmLaw 200 and mid-sized firms
- Custom-designed marketing and cross-selling programs for lateral hires in an AmLaw 200 firm
David’s expertise goes beyond training, facilitation and coaching. He has many years as a change management and strategic planning consultant for law firms and corporations like Sun Microsystems, Zurich Financial Services, Agilent Technologies, and Olin Corporation. This experience has given him valuable insights into the critically important “human factors” that drive successful implementation.
David is the author of Weekly Reminders for Revenue-Focused Leaders, he publishes a newsletter entitled Law Firm Leadership and Strategy Report, and he was on the Board of Editors of American Lawyer Media’s Law Journal newsletter, Marketing the Law Firm. He was a member of the Education Committee of the LMA and has written numerous articles on legal management, leadership, strategy, and business development. David is a nationally recognized speaker who has appeared at law firm retreats, national and regional legal industry conferences, bar associations, and international law firm network meetings.
Recent Speaking Engagements:
- “Tactics for Competing in Turbulent Times”
LMA Webinar, October 28, 2008 - “Mastering the Art of Firm-Wide Cross-Selling”
LMA Virginia, October 2008
Marketing Partner Forum, January 2008 - “Understanding and Changing Your Business Development Culture”
Terralex 2008 Americas Regional Meeting, June 2008 - “Mastering the Art of Firm-Wide Cross-Selling”
Marketing Partner Forum, January 2008 - “The Five Pillars of Client Service”
Professional Development Consortium Bi-Annual Meeting, July 2007
Retreat for AmLaw 40 firm - “Contact Ease Users Conference Maximizing Cross-Selling”, March 2007
- “Developing Revenue-Focused Leaders”
LMA Bay Area, January, 2007
Marketing Partner Forum, January 2007
Lex Mundi Executor Director’s Conference, October 2006
LMA Webinar, September 2006
LMA New York, September 2006
LMA Minnesota, September 2006
Association of Accounting Marketers, Annual Conference, June 2006
LMA Mid-Atlantic Region, June 2006
Association of Accounting Marketers, September 2005
Pre-Conference Workshop, NorthStar Law Firm Leadership Institute, May 2005
American Lawyer Media Webinar, March 2005 - “Best Practices in Leadership”
ALA Region 5 & 6 Annual Conference, September 2006 - “Mastering the Art of Implementing a Strategic Plan”
LM Southeast Annual Conference, September, 2006
Association of Legal Administrators 35th Annual Conference, May, 2006 - “Filling the Gap: Mastering the Sales Function for CMO’s and Marketing Directors”
LMA Annual Conference, March 2006 - “The Five Habits of Successful Business Development”
American Association of Nurse Attorneys, October 2008
LMA Dallas, October 2006
ALFA International Annual Meeting, October 2006
LMA Minnesota 2nd Annual Conference, November 2005
LSSO Raindance Conference, June 2005
International Law Firm Network, Vienna, Austria, May 2005
LMA Chicago, March 2005
LMA Southwest, March 2005; LMA Nashville, March 2005
LMA Orlando, March 2005 - “What Role Does Marketing and Business Development Play in Your Firm’s Success”
NorthStar Law Firm Leadership Institute, May 2005 - “The Five Pillars of Client Service”
Retreat for AmLaw 40 firm - “Developing a Roadmap for Establishing a Sales, Marketing and Service Culture in Your Firm”
LMA Richmond, July 2005
LMA Atlanta, March 2005; LMA Birmingham, March 2005
LMA Austin, February 2005; LMA Nashville, March 2005
Terralex Network, October 2004
Legal Marketing Association, Annual Conference, 2004
Legal Marketing Association Rocky Mountain Chapter, 2003 - “Marketing to Existing Clients”
Legal Marketing Association Boot Camp, Sept 2004 - “Practice Group Management”
The Participating Group, July 2004 - “Business Development - The Power of Long-Term Relationship Building”
ABA Minority Counsel Program, Spring, 2004 - “Empowerment and Leadership: Taking Control of Your Career”
Women in Law Leadership Academy, 2004 - “Business Development for Inside and Outside Counsel: It’s a Two-Way Street”
ABA Minority Counsel Program, Fall, 2003
Recent Articles and Publications:
“Enhancing Your Culture of Business Development”, Marketing the Law Firm, November 2008 - ALM Newsletter
“The Audacity of Being Above Average”, Marketing the Law Firm, July 2008 - ALM Newsletter
“The Pheromone of Client Service”, Marketing the Law Firm, May 2008 - ALM Newsletter
“Courageous Leadership”, Marketing the Law Firm, March 2008 - ALM Newsletter
“The Pheromone of Client Service”, Marketing the Law Firm, May 2008 - ALM Newsletter
“Pencil to Paper to Prosperity”, ABA Journal, December 2007
“How to Lead a Revenue-Focused Group”, Law Practice Magazine, December 2007 - ABA
“Leadership Aspects of Cross-Selling”, Marketing the Law Firm, December 2007 - ALM Newsletter
“Coach Me”, ABA Journal, June 2007
“Revenue-Focused Leaders”, Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, March 2007
“Habit-Stakers, Habit-Breakers, Habit-Makers: Making Organizational Changes Stick”, Of Counsel, July 2006
“Turning Energy into Matter(s)”, ALM Newsletter Marketing the Law Firm, June 2006
“Weekly Reminders for Revenue-Focused Leaders” - Book
“100 Days to Revenue-Focused Leadership”, Professional Marketing Magazine, October, 2005
“Outcome-Focused Leadership”
ABA Law Practice Today, February 2005
ALM Newsletter Marketing the Law Firm, November 2004
“Stop the Bleeding: How Leaders Can Improve Associate Retention”, Law Firm Leadership and Strategy Report, December 2004
“Marketing-Focused Leadership”, Law Firm Leadership and Strategy Report, February 2004
“Rev the Revenue: The Marketing Focused Retreat”, ALM Newsletter Marketing the Law Firm, August 2003
“Setting Sales: Sales Management for Practice Group Leaders”, Legal Management, July/August 2003
“High Impact Retreats”, New York Law Journal, April 2003
“Sales Management is a New Role for Practice Group Leaders”, New York Law Journal, February 2003
“Developing the ‘Great’ Law Firm”, Of Counsel, November 2002
“Why Strategic Planning Doesn’t Work”, Strategies (Legal Marketing Association), August 2001
“How ‘Balanced’ Law Firms Must Implement ‘Balanced’ Law Firm Strategies”, Of Counsel, June 2001
“How An Emerging Management Strategy Can Effect Legal Services”, Of Counsel, December 23, 2000
“The High Performance Law Firm”, Law Firm Governance, Summer 2000
© David Freeman Consulting Group LLC, 2005 - 2008.
All Rights Reserved
Phone: 303-448-0757