While the financial crisis has pushed many top-tier firms towards implementing redundancy programs, mid-tier firms have been able to poach business from price-sensitive clients. This is creating what one marketing professional labels their “one shot at success” with big clients that might previously not have considered these firms.

“The mid-tier market saw an amazing opportunity to take more work from clients who were price-sensitive, who were looking at mid-tier as a way of reducing some of their legal expenditure,” said Graham Seldon, managing director of executive recruitment firm Seldon Gill.

Seldon said that the strong growth experienced by these firms allows them to spend money on marketing to build their brand. “In the mid-tier market they’ve always been quite lean in terms of marketing, and suddenly they’re seeing some quite big growth curves in some of their practice groups. Therefore there is a willingness to spend money because they see that they have one shot at getting in front of clients that previously they might not have got in front of,” he said. “This is their opportunity to shine in front of those clients.”

One example of how a mid-tier firm has sought to capitalise on this opportunity comes from Swaab Attorneys, which has increased its marketing budget during the downturn and plans on increasing it further over the next year. “We believe that marketing is far too important to be given the chop at the first hint of an economic downturn, so we've actually increased spend in the last 12 months,” said Paula Gilmour, a business development manager at the firm.

Similar strategies are in place at DLA Phillips Fox, where director of clients and marketing, Cat Wirth, said that slower times have shown the benefit of keeping up marketing expenditure. “Previous downturns have taught us that organisations that maintain their marketing activities are more likely to increase their market share,” she said.

While marketing is often the first part of the budget to be slashed in tough economic conditions, most marketing professionals consider it a key ingredient to a successful firm – regardless of the business environment.

“During an economic downturn, smarter companies who boost their marketing efforts can benefit by increasing market share,” Gilmour said. “By putting in even more effort when times are tough, we can position ourselves as the first choice for clients who are seeking quality legal expertise and are looking for a smart alternative to the mega-firms.”

Many mid-tier firms are well placed to benefit from any economic downturn as businesses look at all facets of their operations to minimise overheads - including legal costs.

“In tough times, clients become more cost-conscious,” Wirth said. “We are increasingly hearing that they are under a lot of pressure to keep costs down, and this naturally flows through to pressure on in-house counsel to reduce their legal spend.”

However, mid-tier firms have more to offer than lower prices, according to Australian Health Management in-house lawyer Louise Leaver. "I think the mid-tier firms can be a lot more nimble and responsive for requests for change because they’re not burdened by large heavy structures," she said adding that AHM has traditionally had a split between top tier, mid tier and even small regional firms.

"Historically we use mid-tier firms for regulatory advice and also your general commercial contractual matters," Leaver said.

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