2014 Hall of Fame Inductee Mark Beese: FROM RESTORING HOUSES TO BUILDING UP LAW FIRMS.

Mantick, Kelly

Mark Beese entered the world of legal marketing through the door of a crumbling house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This 2014 LMA Hall of Fame inductee began his career working as the director of marketing for Kideney Architects in Buffalo, New York. There, Mark learned the value of creating lasting relationships. Through Mark's relationship building, his architecture firm grew into new segments and geographic markets. "All business relationships are personal," Mark said. "One of the most basic business development skills is to develop a wide and strong network based on truly caring for other people."

Mark's next job materialized from a personal relationship, built upon a common interest in restoring historic landmarks, such as Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House in Buffalo. Attorney and marketer John Courtin approached Mark with an opportunity to become the first full-time marketing director at Hodgson Russ Andrews Woods & Goodyear, a regional firm with offices throughout New York, Florida and Canada.

New to legal marketing, Mark said that he owes much of his early success to a small group of LMA members who served as his mentors. "Mentors like 'Radio' Dave Milberg and Marcie Johnson from Schiff Hardin were helpful. They were a constant source of encouragement and sage advice. I hadn't a clue how to navigate the politics of a 200-year-old law firm. They kept me from making too many mortal mistakes," he said.

In 2001, he accepted the position of chief marketing officer at Holland & Hart in Denver, Colorado, an Am Law 200 firm with 15 offices throughout the west.

In Denver, Mark met Lisa Simon, who was the LMA Denver chapter president (and later, president of LMA International). Lisa recruited him to serve on the local board, serving first as programming co-chair and later as president of the Denver chapter. He and the board forged partnerships with ALA and the Colorado Bar Association, resulting in significant growth in chapter event attendance. Later, Mark served as co-chair of the LMA Your Honor Awards and on the international strategic planning committee. He was elected to serve a term on the international board of directors. Now, he is a frequent speaker at the chapter and national level on topics of leadership, business development and managing change.

At Holland & Hart, Mark experimented with new ways to lead the business development and marketing staff. "When a firm succeeds in business development, revenue grows and partners get richer. Business development and marketing staff, however, don't typically have robust financial incentives. I wanted to find a way to engage and grow a world-class team that provided high-level service and that looked forward to coming to work on Monday." The result was Imaginate, an internal agency model that focused on treating lawyers like clients and moving the firm from a marketing model to a business development model. Mark and his team won multiple awards for the concept and for their work, including five LMA Your Honor Awards and the "Marketing

Director of the Year" award.

Pursuing his passion for developing leadership in attorneys and staff, Mark started his own consulting practice, Leadership for Lawyers LLC, in 2008. He focuses on training, speaking and coaching in the areas of leadership and business development. "Many of my clients are law firms seeking to make their practice groups, client teams and staff departments more effective by strengthening their leaders and helping their teams perform at higher levels," Mark explained.

Another challenge that law firms must face is the pressure to continually deliver higher value to clients. "We are going to have to create new and different process to deliver legal services, reduce cycle time, improve quality and save money," Mark summarized. However, he noted that, because lawyers are often not trained in leading change in their organizations, process improvements are challenging to many organizations.

"Clients are searching to realize lower costs and smarter, more efficient choices. They are looking for firms to come to them with innovative and value-oriented ideas. Firms need strong leaders with vision, the ability to lead effective teams and to initiate change," Mark said. "For me, there is nothing more satisfying than to help an individual or team see new possibilities and to redirect their efforts to a more efficient and enjoyable result, especially when that result is an increase client satisfaction and a more engaged team."