Maximize Your Legal Association Membership

By Becky Bergman

Legal Association Membership Benefits

Boost your professional network and position your firm as an industry leader by leveraging your association membership for business development and client retention. Sharing valuable information and making memorable connections establishes you as a credible legal source and a trusted expert in your practice area.

Five (obvious) reasons to join a legal association:

1. Enjoy exclusive benefits. Many legal associations offer access to various resources that can be difficult or expensive for individual members to purchase independently, including industry data, research studies, white papers, and other materials that help you stay competitive.

2. Tap into discounts and perks. Legal association memberships often include discount pricing on products and services, such as office supplies, travel, and insurance. Other perks include discounted rates on continuing education courses, access to online resources, and invites to networking events.

3. Stay informed and connected. Reading the member newsletters, association magazines, and other publications helps you stay informed about the latest industry trends and hot-button issues in the legal field.

4. Attend events. Legal associations host regular in-person and virtual events, including conferences, seminars, social mixers, and webinars, all of which will help connect you to business leaders, potential employees, future partners, and client prospects that can help grow your practice.

5. Advocacy. Associations often advocate on behalf of their members and the other professionals in the industry, working to shape policy that can impact the legal field. You also can find volunteer opportunities, mentorship programs, and even pro bono work, all of which help fine-tune your networking skills and give your firm exposure — all while you’re doing something good.

In today’s competitive environment, distinguishing yourself by staying up to date on the latest legal trends and networking with industry peers is crucial to your practice and your firm’s success. Therefore, selecting a legal association where you can meet with like-minded professionals to advance your skills, improve – and share – your knowledge and make new connections is essential.

Four sure-fire ways to maximize your association membership

Industry association memberships can be extremely valuable to new and experienced attorneys, their firms, and their clients when they are utilized and supported appropriately. That requires focusing on three key areas where memberships can play the biggest role: networking, content creation and sharing, and communication.

Networking tips for making memorable connections

Many lawyers join professional associations for various reasons at different stages of their careers. Legal membership groups are especially valuable for new associates just starting out as it can give them access to great mentorship opportunities from more experienced professionals.

1. Be prepared for insightful conversations. Do your homework before you attend an event such as a conference, webinar or a social meet-up. Read the online profiles of the people you want to connect with. Print and review the profiles in advance of an event, if possible. Then when you meet those people, be sincere and have a conversation.

2. Participate in committees. Joining a committee can be a great way to get involved in the legal association and make a meaningful contribution. You might even find your next client or a superstar attorney for your firm by getting involved.

3. Reputation and credibility. Association membership can be viewed as a positive endorsement by others for you and your firm because it demonstrates that you are committed to your industry and take your practice seriously.

4. Reuse great and develop stellar programs that translate into practical action. Your firm is at the leading edge of legal issues, and you can bring your association peers the latest information – make sure the knowledge you reshare and the programs you create are top-notch and presented clearly and effectively so you make a great impression with key decision-makers when it counts.

Eight tips for getting the most out of association membership:

1. Reshare. Search for valuable content from the events and seminars you attend on social media streams and reshare information with a nod to the person who shared the original post. And don’t forget to use the conference hashtag, even post-event.

2. Note key theme(s)/takeaway(s). Put the themes from a webinar, conference, or association meeting in the context of a session discussion. This information can be essential to spot trends and create relevant social media posts.

3. Connect on social media. Look up on LinkedIn and connect with the members you meet. Then do the same thing with other social media platforms if you haven’t connected with them already. While there many social media outlets on which you can connect, a best practice is to wait to connect on Facebook until you’ve established a more familiar relationship.

4. Quote or mention panelists. Share relevant quotes or panelists on your social media channels who are (a) current clients, (b) prospective clients, or (c) are well-known/respected in the industry (note: mentioning or quoting these individuals in content is an opportunity to create awareness and potentially increase the reach of your social media content online).

5. Capture images and photos throughout the conference that can be used in post-event social media content and brand pieces (such as panel photos, pictures of your attorneys with other conference attendees, images of materials with your firm’s logo, etc.).

6. Find out if there will be video or audio recordings of your firm’s attorney sessions. These can be repurposed as post-conference pieces and run on the firm’s website.

7. Use audio recordings of your firm’s session to create a transcript using AI, such as Rev or Temi, which are low-cost transcription applications. These can be turned into Client Alerts, blog posts, or even guest expert commentary/Q&A content.

8. Publish takeaways. Write and publish a blog or article about what you learned and how it can be implemented among your circle of influence. Be sure to link to the bios of key presenters as well as the books, articles, or blogs they have authored. When you share the content on social media, tag the people and organizations mentioned to build goodwill and increase engagement.

Create stellar programs

Content is vital, and your passion for the subject matter that you produce and speak about will connect and engage your targeted audience and keep them coming back for more tips long after your presentation.

Develop, share, and repurpose your content:

1. Make a plan. Be familiar with the topic you want to present, and don’t overpromise or underdeliver. Understand the attendees you’re speaking to: who are they? What are their pain points? What is trending in the legal industry? When you know your audience and their needs, you can create content that is relevant, timely and useful.

2. Review the attendee list. Ask the event coordinator ahead of time if you can access the list of attendees who expressed interest in attending your presentation. Review the list to get an idea of what kind of audience you’re speaking to. You don’t want to lead a high-level, technical discussion on top five AI trends in the legal space with attorneys who are new to the topic. Understanding the make-up of your audience will help you determine the tone of your presentation.

3. Use a variety of tools, visuals, and platforms to reach a wider audience. Not everyone consumes information the same way. Some prefer to read – on screen and/or in print — while others want to listen or watch. Use visuals in your presentation that you can repurpose later with the content.

4. Repurpose your content. As you create your initial presentation, plan for a variety of different ways to share the new piece with your firm, colleagues, and clients in a new format to expand its reach and lifespan. Examples include blog posts, podcast episodes, thought leadership articles for trade publications, social media campaigns, and internal newsletter/communications.

Communicate the value of the legal association membership

As a legal association member, it’s important to demonstrate the value of your membership to your law firm, colleagues, and clients (hint: don’t wait until your firm’s budget season to share how beneficial the membership is).

By routinely sharing your knowledge and insights after association events, you show that you’re committed to keeping the firm up to date on the latest legal developments and demonstrating the importance of staying current in your practice area.

Maximizing your legal association membership takes strategic planning and time. Implementing these tips will help you make memorable connections and establish you and your firm as a credible legal source and trusted expert and set you apart from your competition.