Charlotte, NC – Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, a business law firm with seven offices across the Southeast, is pleased to announce it was a finalist for the Sales & Service Team of the Year Award presented by the Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO). The award honors marketing and business development teams that have helped their firm drive revenue.
The judges were “very impressed” with Parker Poe’s Mini-MBA initiative in 2016, an innovative program that helped attorneys, paralegals and senior leaders further refine their business acumen. Parker Poe was the first law firm in the country to formalize an in-house program of this nature. The program was essentially a business school curriculum customized for the legal industry, with classroom-style lectures by top-level business professionals, followed by question-and-answer sessions streamed live to all seven offices.
Tim Corcoran, a featured speaker, endorsed the program by commenting: “Today’s corporations need law firms that speak their language, and that starts with understanding basic business economics and how effective legal representation can improve business velocity. This cutting-edge legal career development effort by Parker Poe helps pave the way for the future of how law and business interact.”
LSSO also commended Parker Poe for its ongoing series of initiatives called “The Path,” which the Mini-MBA program fit into last year. Parker Poe launched The Path in 2015 in response to clients saying they value attorneys who think like businesspeople. The focus in 2017 is called “TeamUP,” which will feature joint projects with clients, including a combined process improvement and project management certification course geared specifically for the legal profession. Parker Poe will be the first law firm in North Carolina to host that type of course, called a Legal Lean Sigma Yellow Belt Certification.
“With The Path, we saw an opportunity to better serve our clients by providing our attorneys and other legal professionals with business knowledge they would not normally learn in their legal education and day-to-day practice,” said Kristen Leis, Parker Poe’s chief marketing and business development officer. “We look forward to incorporating what we’ve learned and partnering with our clients to provide further value to their businesses.”
About Legal Sales and Service Organization
The Legal Sales and Service Organization Inc. was launched on August 8, 2003. At that time, law firms were beginning the evolution from marketing to incorporate business development and service initiatives. Legal departments became ever more demanding of their firms and increased their use of process improvement tools, like Six Sigma and Lean, internally. However, law firms did not have the resources or tools in the areas of business development, service excellence and quality initiatives. LSSO was created to fill those needs.
About Parker Poe
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP has more than 200 lawyers in seven offices located in major markets across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The firm provides legal counsel to some of the largest companies and local governments in the region.
Parker Poe is a member of TerraLex, one of the world’s leading international legal networks. With 155 member law firms and 19,000 attorneys in 100 countries, TerraLex members provide the legal resources and expertise needed to conduct seamless business worldwide.