On Wednesday, September 7, AABANY held its How to Pitch Panel at Paul Weiss in advance of Pitch Sessions at the AABANY Fall Conference on September 24, 2016.
Moderated by Larry G. Wee, Corporate Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the panelists, who were senior in-house attorneys actually hearing pitches at the Fall Conference, included:
- Steve Chung, Senior Vice President of Legal at NBCUniversal,
- Sachin Bansal, Director and Senior Litigation Counsel at RBC Capital Markets, and
- Flora Lau, Managing Counsel at Publicis Groupe.
They discussed what companies are looking for in an outside counsel, how to get and prepare for a pitch, the dos and don’ts of pitching and other insights into the client development process. Thanks to everyone who made this panel possible. Check out the insights below.
Our How to Pitch Panel is starting! Thanks to Larry, Sachin, Flora, and Steve for sharing their expertise. https://t.co/eXmPB48AEX
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Steve Chung: Come in prepared. If you waste my time on a pitch, I’m going to think that you’re wasting time when you’re on my clock.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Flora Lau: Make sure you do your homework beforehand. Research my company. How much do I need to hold your hand?
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Larry Wee: This should be obvious, but don’t be late.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Steve Chung: One of the best pitches I ever heard took 15 minutes. They introduced their partners, areas and then they gave me back my time.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Sachin Bansal: For anyone, cost is a huge concern. It’s not necessarily that they want the cheapest option. They want transparency.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Flora Lau: Take into consideration that our company already has existing relationships. Show how you can have a competitive edge.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Sachin Bansal: If we choose a person, we want to make sure that he or she knows that we want them to get credit.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Two things that might upset the existing relationships: cost structure & diversity.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Sachin Bansal: There are a lot of foot-in-the-door opportunities for the smaller matters. For big stuff, we’re going with who we know.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Steve Chung: If you can teach me something during a pitch, I’m going to remember it was you who taught it to me.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Sachin Bansal: I think it’s impressive when a firm can admit that they’re not the right fit. It builds trust.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 7, 2016
Steve Chung: If you’re going to bring like 8 people, make sure that every person has a role. Is that how you’re going to staff your deal?
— AABANY (@aabany) September 8, 2016
Flora Lau: In order – I want to know who you are, how your firm is structured, and how you’re going to work together.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 8, 2016
Sachin Bansal: When sending articles, you should be super-targeted. You don’t want to get deleted right away.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 8, 2016
Flora Lau: [on diversity] Of course we want to open the doors, but once we do, we’re going to choose the best person.
— AABANY (@aabany) September 8, 2016