Do you want to promote your law firm, enhance its reputation, and win new clients? An alumni program will help you do all this and more. Indeed, a law firm alumni network offers powerful benefits to law firms of all sizes.
If there’s one industry where building strong relationships and networks is crucial, it’s the legal industry. And an effective alumni program is an essential part of this process. Discover all you need to know in this guide to the business benefits of law firm alumni networks.
What is an alumni network?
In the academic world, an alumni network is a professional and social network of former students, bonded through association with an alma mater. However, alumni networks also exist outside the academic sphere.
Corporate alumni networks are built around former employees of a company or corporation. And in the legal arena, these networks typically include former colleagues bound together by their previous association with a specific law firm.
Therefore, an alumni network can exist in any sector or industry. What matters most, is that it should offer value to both the alumni network members and their former organizations. And an engaging alumni relations program is the answer.
Building a strong alumni relations program for legal professionals
Building a strong alumni relations program for legal professionals is the first step in creating an efficient law firm alumni network.
The program should include communications, activities, and services that keep alumni engaged, and coming back for more. These typically include access to law firm news and legal industry trends, as well as alumni events that offer networking opportunities within the alumni community.
When you provide alumni on your law firm alumni network with high-value benefits, the firm benefits, too.
6 Business benefits of law firm alumni networks
Here are six benefits that law firms with strong alumni networks experience, with tips for how you can experience them too.
1. A single alumnus can sponsor the entire program
Law firm alumni who have retired, moved on to other legal roles, or started their own firms often need legal services themselves. By turning even one of these alumni into a client, your law firm can generate enough revenue to sustain the alumni network’s operations. So, keep the lines of communication open.
Regular communication with your law firm alumni is essential to your alumni program’s success. This can be done through private emails and direct messages, of course. However, to build a robust network, you need a comprehensive platform that brings together communication, information, and engaging content.
Aluminate for Enterprise is the world’s most customizable online community builder. The Aluminate Community Builder is suitable for every industry and sector, including the legal profession. It allows you to create an alumni directory, and build a personalized and dynamic alumni program for your law firm alumni network.
2. Talent acquisition
Law firms are extremely competitive. To gain an edge over your competitors, you need to attract top legal talent. Your law firm alumni network is the solution. Your former colleagues can encourage their fellow students from law school, or new contacts in the legal field, to join or partner with your firm.
They may even wish to return, themselves. It’s always going to be easier, and cost less, to rehire one of your former attorneys than to outsource new talent.
Ensure everyone knows when you’re looking to grow the firm or introduce new talent, with postings on the digital dashboard. This is the core of Aluminate for Enterprise. Use it to reach out to members with engaging content and advertise new opportunities for in-house roles.
3. Increased client referrals
Despite the emphasis on technology in an increasingly digital age, many law firms rely heavily on good old ‘word-of-mouth’ client referrals. And there’s a good reason for this. A potential client is much more likely to hire an attorney that a peer knows and recommends than one they found online.
The top law firms know this and encourage client referrals in their law firm alumni network. Your former employees, or a former colleague, may bring in more potential clients than you ever dreamed of. However, they are more likely to do so if you have kept the connection going through an alumni network.
When you keep your alumni data up-to-date, you will never lose a potential source of new clients.
And if you keep your alumni engaged, they’ll want to keep sending work your way. Ensure alumni engagement through webinars and networking sessions. Your alumni who have moved further afield can actively participate, through virtual events.
4. Business development opportunities
At the end of the day, law firms are businesses. And a law firm alumni network of former employees and colleagues can help you with your business development. They can open the door to new partnerships that will grow your firm and help it realize its full potential while aiding their own professional development.
Create an alumni network newsletter to keep alumni involved with what’s happening in your law firm. Use it to celebrate alumni’s personal milestones and honor their individual achievements, or to invite alumni to participate in new projects.
Our social data sync (SDS) feature allows you to keep alumni social data accurate. SDS can track LinkedIn and Facebook data (with permission). As your alumni update their details on social media, your network data will automatically track alumni data changes and update alumni profiles with the new information.
5. Boosts law firm’s reputation
A successful law firm alumni network is key to boosting your reputation. One thing that all law firms agree on is the importance of a solid reputation. This is what attracts potential clients, and makes the best and brightest young attorneys want to work for you.
Offer your alumni pro bono, community service, and philanthropic opportunities. This will keep them active in the legal field and engaged with your alumni program. It will also boost your law firm’s reputation in the public eye.
Encourage fellowship amongst your alumni members by creating a thriving community where they can all share and learn from their experiences. Our Groups module is a top tool for segmenting your alumni network and creating sub-communities within your wider legal community.
6. Knowledge sharing and collaboration
The best law firms include attorneys with different experiences, expertise, and skills. This encourages knowledge-sharing and collaboration that ultimately brings successful results for their clients. Legal professional alumni programs make this even easier.
When your law firm alumni network also has a mentorship program, senior members can share their expertise, gained through years of experience, with junior members. The Aluminate Community Builder offers a fully scalable, peer-to-peer online mentoring platform.
Knowledge sharing goes both ways, so don’t forget about the skills and insights that junior members also bring to the table. The digital dashboard is helpful for this too, with each member seeing content that’s most relevant to them.
Supercharge your law firm’s growth with Aluminate for Enterprise
Every successful law firm can attribute its success to the building of strong partnerships, and the appreciation of a common vision. An efficient law firm alumni network maximizes both of these.
With an alumni program, you’ll build a professional community invested in the success of your law firm. This network will be an endless source for client referrals, talent acquisition, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and business development. It will boost your firm’s reputation, and encourage growth.
Are you ready to supercharge your law firm’s growth? Build a robust alumni relations program with Aluminate for Enterprise. Request your free demo today.
