What GCs Really Want: Takeaways from the LMA National GC Panel
Author: Jackie Kappus
It’s no secret that the GC panel at LMA National is always one of the most valuable sessions — and this year’s was no exception. Eric Dodson Greenberg (Cox Media Group), Lillian Howard Potter (Ericsson), and Belinda E. Nixon (Internet 2) took the stage to share their perspectives on what really drives successful firm-client relationships: how firms market themselves, how they pitch, and how they deliver once the work begins.
I wanted to share a few takeaways that stood out. Not because they were brand new—in fact, many of them will sound very familiar—but because they confirmed that what we’ve been saying internally for years is precisely what clients keep saying back to us.
Moderator Tasneem Khokha (GrowthPlay) used in-room polling to ask the audience of legal marketers to guess how the GCs would respond to a series of prompts. The result was both validating and sobering. Across the board, the GCs offered clear, candid feedback about what matters to them — and where law firms continue to miss the mark.
What Clients Are Still Telling US
- Show the Full Team — Not Just the Pitch Team
GCs want to see who they’ll actually be working with. That means including associates and specialists, not just the lead partner. One panelist said, “Don’t bring someone to pitch who won’t be working on the matter.” This seems obvious, but it is clearly still happening. - Understand the Business Before the Meeting Starts
Clients are still frustrated that firms come to pitches unprepared — or too focused on themselves. When asked what matters most in a pitch, GCs didn’t say “creativity” or “innovation.” They said: “Understand my business.” Not just my industry. My business. - Don’t Say ‘Trusted Advisor’ — Be One
That phrase has officially run its course. The GCs agreed: being a trusted advisor means offering proactive insight, showing up consistently, and building real trust over time. If a firm says it, but doesn’t back it up with responsiveness and client feedback loops, its clients know the difference. - Marketing and Delivery Still Aren’t Aligned
This one stings because many of us live it daily. The experience firms promise in the pitch often doesn’t match what’s delivered. That disconnect frustrates clients and erodes trust. GCs called on firms to make the client experience a true cross-functional priority, not just a marketing message.
The Problem Isn’t the Message — It’s Who’s Hearing It
Here’s the rub: most of us in marketing and BD already know this. We’ve been saying it internally for years. The problem isn’t the insight — it’s that not enough partners are hearing it.
Too often, this kind of client feedback gets siloed — or worse, second-guessed — by firm partners. Despite best efforts, CMOs and their teams still face resistance when trying to secure buy-in where it matters most. But the reality is this: the small, everyday decisions made during client communication and pitching have a cumulative impact. They shape how the firm is perceived, experienced, and remembered. More partners need to understand that — and take ownership of it.
A Final Thought: Why These Conversations Need More Space — and More Ears
This panel could have easily filled a full-day workshop. In just 60 minutes, the group covered everything from pitching and pricing to innovation, team dynamics, post-matter feedback, and the broader issue of how law firms show up (or don’t) for their clients. It was fast, honest, and a little overwhelming — in the best possible way.
It also reminded me how much more impactful these conversations can be when we create the space to go deeper. That’s one of the reasons we launched Legal Lift — a full-day forum designed specifically to surface in-house perspectives and foster honest dialogue across functions, including voices from both the GC and Legal Ops sides. These aren’t surface-level issues — and they can’t be solved in a single hour.
For those in marketing leadership, this session felt both energizing and deeply familiar. Once again, clients are telling us — clearly — what they want. And once again, we find ourselves in the role of translating that feedback internally and trying to bridge the gap.
Conversations like this are vital. But we need to keep pushing to bring more people into the room — more partners, more practice group leaders, more firm decision-makers who can turn insight into action.
The ideas shared at LMA shouldn’t stay in the ballroom. Let’s make sure they travel.
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