COMPANIES MUST MAKE A CONSCIOUS INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPING THEIR PARTNER'S PERSONAL BRAND, SAY PLS 2019 PARTICIPANTS

• How can a firm’s brand strengthen its lawyers’ personal brands?
• What are the risks of investing in the development of lawyers’ personal brands?
• Is it worth retaining a rising “star”?

Alexey Shevchuk, a partner at Barristers JSC, and other participants in the “Partner’s Personal Brand” session at PLS 2019 addressed these and other questions.

“What does a successful personal brand mean to you?” Ms. Patiy asked the session participants. “When people associate you with what you do,” replied Alexey Shevchuk, an attorney at Barristers JSC. “A successful brand is one that achieves its goal, and goals can vary,” added Mr. Dubinsky. For Mr. Ovcharov, it’s brand recognition. Alexander Ruzhitsky holds a different view, as recognition can also be “toxic”; therefore, in this context, the reputational aspect is important to him.

According to Alexey Shevchuk, a partner at Barristers, clients today pay attention to “lawyers’ personality types”: if clients didn’t have requests for services provided by specific individuals, we wouldn’t be discussing this today. Mr. Ovcharov noted that a partner’s job is to sell—but how can a partner sell if they don’t develop their personal brand? And it’s actually a fairly straightforward process.

According to Mr. Dubinsky, the company’s strategy is crucial to a partner’s personal brand: after all, you can build a star-studded team, or you can build a team of stars—there’s a world of difference between the two. He is convinced that it is essential to build a team of stars. Sometimes, a partner’s personal brand may conflict with the company’s brand. What should be done in such a situation? Seek a compromise, because in any case, the partner will be associated with the company. Mikhail Dubinsky is convinced that companies need to invest in developing a partner’s personal brand, but this should be done thoughtfully. “The company’s brand is more valuable and significant than a lawyer’s personal brand,” Mikhail Ilyich emphasized.

Why is a partner’s personal brand necessary? What are its objectives? Ms. Patiy posed these questions to Mr. Shevchuk and Ms. Musienko. “For self-identification,” replied Mr. Shevchuk. “And to establish your identity, you need to focus on your own distinctive traits.” Svetlana Musienko views personal branding through the lens of reputation, the need to share, and the desire to build a community of experts. “You have to step into the public sphere and speak out on important issues,” Ms. Musienko believes. She supports her colleagues’ view that a company’s brand is more valuable than a personal brand; nevertheless, her company also invests in developing its partners’ personal brands.

“An organic brand is a reflection of a professional’s and a person’s personality,” Alexander Ruzhitsky is convinced. A personal brand must, first and foremost, be authentic—that’s how you can find your own audience. For Mr. Ruzhitsky, a criterion such as likability is also important: a lawyer must be likable to the client, and the lawyer and client must share certain common values. “If you’re recognized as an expert, people will start listening to you, and that makes it easier to persuade others,” added Mr. Ruzhitsky. Anastasia Zhulina expressed an alternative view: sometimes a lawyer’s brand is entirely the result of PR and marketing efforts. “A brand is what we create. A lawyer may be an excellent professional, but they may lack a certain ‘magic,’” the speaker emphasized. According to Ms. Zhulina, when assembling a large team, all the individual values of the lawyers must be “set aside” in order to establish shared values for the firm. In this context, it is also important to engage external consultants and seek outside perspectives.

Ms. Patiy suggested discussing uniqueness. How does one become unique? “You need to find the courage within yourself to cross a certain line,” believes Mikhail Dubinsky. “There are no ‘red lines’; don’t be afraid to go where no one has gone before. That’s the first thing. And second—don’t be afraid to take responsibility for the decisions you make.” “Stepping out of your comfort zone is also a way of honing your uniqueness,” commented Denis Ovcharov. In his view, a personal brand is a matter of technique: the mechanics of writing, storytelling, and public speaking—all of which can be learned. Therefore, it’s essential to understand what a lawyer is lacking and to think outside the box. That’s what makes someone stand out.

“In 2020, the influence of partners’ personal brands will grow, and this will have a greater impact on the market than the company’s brand,” predicts Daria Kravets. She is convinced that to build trust, a personal brand must be sincere and authentic; in addition to expertise, it must have its own “unique selling point”—the distinctiveness of the personal brand. “You need to think two steps ahead and do what others are only just considering,” Ms. Kravets concluded.