My blog has been on vacation. I have had numerous ideas for posts, but I just haven't been compelled to drop what I was doing to put any of them on paper. But, I'm back. Stay tuned for some of the most interesting trends I've seen the last few weeks. In spite of the stock market turbulence, business is on the upswing, and law firms are the beneficiaries of it. Safe travels for all the vacationers!

During round table discussions in 2009 entitled, "Best Practices in Business Development and Proposals," we asked invitees (law firm marketing and BD professionals mostly) about the uptick in the receipt of RFPs and RFIs from clients and prospects. The overwhelming response was that the number had tripled or quadrupled.

Deborah McMurray moderated a panel at the LMA Dallas City Chapter (subgroup of the LMA Southeastern Chapter) luncheon on ROI. To anchor our remarks in the day-to-day reality of our LMA members, I created a survey for them to complete in advance. The Dallas City Group has 82 paid members, and this survey had 29 respondents. Each panelist spoke of how and what they are measuring in their firms. I asked the question that all marketers fear hearing, "What are we getting for all the money we are spending?"