Interview: Katherine Hutchinson, Senior Manager of Business Development, Bennett Jones

Lextel’s Bonnie de Jonquieres spoke to Katherine Hutchinson, Senior Manager of BD at Canadian law firm Bennett Jones, about her background in the British Army and how it is an asset to her role, her involvement as Chair of the IBA’s BD & Marketing Subcommittee, how she has overcome obstacles in marketing campaigns and what she is looking forward to in 2024.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I’m English born and raised, and now a naturalised Canadian, which always causes some confusion as my accent has never gone away. My first career love was the British Army, and I had a blast working with passionate and driven individuals. I fell into legal business development in Canada completely by accident after swearing blind I would have nothing to do with the law (my mother is a lawyer!). I was lucky enough to work with some fantastic partners who were so generous with their time and knowledge, and I received a really thorough grounding in how law firms succeed when everyone pulls in the same direction. I moved to Bennett Jones five years ago to focus on international business development, working with a very supportive CMO and management team to implement new processes and strategy. I think my military background is a huge asset as law firms have a lot of similarities with a hierarchical structure, mission-based mindsets, and a lot of strong personalities. I choose to take it as a compliment when people liken my projects to military campaigns!

How did you get involved with the IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee and marketing sub-committee?

When I started attending the IBA Annual Conference over a decade ago, there were very few BD and marketing professionals who attended, and even fewer who went out to the social events to network. It struck me at the time that it was such a missed opportunity to not have these individuals representing their firms. Over the years, the number of BDM professionals attending has grown exponentially, as firms have realised that we are the cheapest BD resource available to them as we don’t ‘cost’ the firm money by way of missed billable hours. A few years ago, our Toronto Managing Partner at the time, Stephen Bowman, was Chair of the Law Firm Management Committee, and championed my involvement on the business development side. For the past two years, I have been the Vice Chair of the BD & Marketing Subcommittee and, as of January 1, am now Chair. I am looking forward to growing the Subcommittee and providing real value to both lawyers and BDM professionals with webinars, podcasts, and networking opportunities.

What has been your most effective BD/marketing campaign at Bennett Jones, and why?

Last year, Bennett Jones celebrated its 100^th birthday and over the year (and for quite some time before that) we worked on an end-to-end campaign that involved every member of our department. This included a gorgeous coffee table book full of images and stories, ad campaigns in the national press, and client and internal events themed around our growth across Canada. By bringing the firm’s history to life, we helped our clients understand our origins and values that shape the work we do today. I think the deep dive we took into our past gave us ideas and inspiration for how we present the firm going forwards, not least with our recent expansion into Quebec through the opening of our Montreal office earlier this year. I should also add that it’s not just me who thinks our team nailed it – we were absolutely delighted to be recognised by the Canadian Marketing Association with the Gold Award for PR in the Business Sector for our Centennial Campaign.

What obstacles have you encountered in other campaigns and how have you overcome them?

I know I am not unique in identifying time and resources as the largest constraint on success. In the last 16 years that I have been in the industry, the roles and responsibilities of legal BD and marketing professionals have changed massively and become vastly more sophisticated. Most lawyers can identify the highly visible tasks that BDM departments perform, such as directory submissions, pitches and proposals, executing events, and maintaining websites and social media communications. But, increasingly, we are also the department that is responsible for client satisfaction and relationship building, lawyer coaching, sales training, data analytics, identifying industry trends, internal communications, competitive intelligence, media relations, experience management, brand awareness, marketing technology, and many more areas that seemingly increase every year. Many firms are realising that we don’t just produce glossy brochures and slap a logo on things (although we do that too!). We are true strategic partners in the growth of the firm and, increasingly, more BDM roles are client facing, which is a very positive development for our industry. In my own role, taking a data insights approach has been key to advancing strategy – until you gather and analyse information, you can’t understand what factors will contribute most strongly to success.

And finally, what are you most looking forward to in 2024?

I am massively looking forward to connecting with and learning from more BD professionals around the globe through the IBA BD & Marketing Subcommittee, the Legal Marketing Association, and other opportunities. I spoke on a panel at the LMA Annual Conference in April with some talented BD leaders from different countries, and it was great to understand how they tackle challenges in their markets. In September, I am chairing the second edition of The High Tide immediately prior to the IBA Annual Conference in Mexico City. We held this inaugural IBA Law Firm Management Committee day for BD & Marketing professionals in Paris in October 2023, and were delighted over 100 people got together to share their experiences with the aim of elevating the profession – hence the name “The High Tide”. So, I am excited to see it build upon its success.

 

Credit: ID 320519105 © Elovkoff | Dreamstime.com