There are many legal marketing agencies in the US market. What makes LETS Americas stand out?

What makes LETS stand out most is its passion and enthusiasm for its work and clients.

I first came to know the LETS Marketing team in Brazil while working in my previous role at Euromoney, and was consistently impressed by how attentive the team was to the needs of its clients, and how it consistently found new ways to promote and advocate on clients’ behalf to the media, as well as the international legal market.

My decision to join the LETS team and to become a founding partner of LETS Americas was due to my admiration of its dedicated team of talented legal marketing and business development professionals, and the potential I saw for the firm’s expansion into the rest of the Americas. The LETS Marketing team already consisted of 12 professionals, with highly trained project managers managing clients, and an in-house team of graphic designers, PR professionals, content writers, and business development strategists – a much larger operation than most of the other legal marketing firms I had been in contact with.

I recognized that this was a company with a vision for growth, ambition and excellence, while remaining close to and trusted by their clients, and I knew right away that there was a strong alignment between the values of the company, the leadership, and the end product they were delivering. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of this impressive firm and bring LETS to be able to service not just firms in Brazil, but across all of the Americas.

Members of the LETS team have worked across a number of the main law firms in Latin America, where they gleaned extensive knowledge on the operations and marketing strategies of these firms. Combining the expertise of my partners and colleagues with my own background working with respected international legal publications, we are a team well equipped to handle all tasks related to legal marketing.

Our offices in New York and São Paulo give us a physical presence in two of the most important cities in the Americas. From there our team of English, Portuguese and Spanish speakers are able to service clients all across the region.  We hope to expand the physical presence of LETS into Mexico and other key countries in the region in the future to best service our growing client base throughout the region.

For a law firm, what are the advantages of using an agency such as LETS instead of an internal marketing/business development team, other than time-saving?

Firstly, working with an external consultant is much more cost-effective. Hiring an external partner costs less than hiring an employee; the firm will not have to invest in the training of the new hire, nor the management of the hire, and will only pay for the services needed. By working with LETS, firms have a partner that is already trained and ready to take on any challenge concerning legal marketing.

We also have a large and robust team of professionals skilled in many different tasks, so firms can have all of their marketing needs serviced by the same team, while only having to deal with one main point of contact.

Working with an external marketing partner is recommended also to bring innovation to the institution. Our experiences also tell us that oftentimes law firms need new perspectives, after being in the “bubble” of their own firms. By working with law firms across a number of practice areas, sizes, and strategies, LETS is well on top of the latest industry trends and can best introduce new ideas and strategies to their clients.

How has legal marketing changed over the last few years, and how is it continuing to change?

Over the past few years we have seen the legal marketing adapting itself to better target the growing global economy. Legal directories are expanding, establishing new guides and featuring more countries within their rankings, which has given much more exposure to smaller markets and more niche practice areas.

We have also seen that law firms are placing much more importance on digital and inbound marketing, relying less on traditional outbound tools such as email marketing and newsletters. The emphasis on networking and creating personal connections has not diminished in this digital world, and we have been impressed by the ways in which law firms and lawyers have adapted so well to the immediate digitalization of networking events and conferences during the pandemic, and have still found ways to create impactful connections virtually.

Lastly, more than just manage reputation and provide communication solutions, legal marketing has transformed to help firms build institutional solutions for business development, and external marketing firms focus on helping partners and attorneys build and adapt their brand and approaches to enter new markets, target new clients, and form new business relationships.

Does LETS Americas plan to advise service providers to law firms – such as consulting firms – as well as law firms themselves?

Yes, actually LETS already advises service providers for law firms, such as legal tech companies and consulting firms. Nowadays, the environment of the legal market transcends the law firm, and we see an important synergy between law, auditing and consulting firms. LETS already works with a number of clients that are not law firms but work closely with law firms. Our networks and backgrounds are within the legal industry, but as the main attribute of LETS is “adaptability”, we do not limit our client base specifically to traditional law firms.

What specific kinds of innovation are you seeing from law firms, and how does LETS Americas innovate?

Law firms are embracing technology and developing improvements to reach the high managing statuses of big companies. The innovation comes from this view. Currently, it is not hard to find professionals in law firms from several backgrounds, such as engineering, corporate communications, data science and the hard sciences.

Corporate responsibility has become an innovation driver for law firms, with many firms adapting philanthropic missions, and focusing on finding more effective ways to promote inclusion, diversity and sustainability.

In order for LETS Americas to be able to help our clients become more innovative, we recognize that we must incorporate innovation into our core strategy as well. LETS Americas aspires to become a large firm, so we are adapting our organizational structure and workflows to best contribute to growth. Our international expansion demonstrates our interest in reaching new markets. We also hire energetic, motivated staff who are passionate about delivering new solutions to our clients so that they can best stand out in the market.

Visit LETS Americas' website here.