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IN PLAIN SIGHT
Everyone knew something, no one knew everything
“From fragmented coverage to tripled revenues”
Situation
Leadership of an AmLaw 10 firm needed help "figuring out" their relationship with their largest investment banking client, one of Wall Street's most prestigious firms. For years, partners had claimed deep ties—but when pressed for specifics, the picture fragmented. Partners involved were asking for more and more firm investment to build the relationship, but it remained opaque as to exactly what the opportunities were and how they would materialize. Each partner promoted their slice, defended their turf, and assumed someone else had the rest covered. Everyone knew something, no one knew everything.
Approach
Conducted forensic internal diligence, interviewing every partner, senior associate, secondee and alumni who'd touched the account in three years. Built a comprehensive map: every practice area involved, every client contact engaged, every matter billed, every opportunity lost to competitors. Then added external intelligence—understanding the client's organizational structure, strategic objectives, law firms, and which firms were winning work we weren't even pitching for.
Twist
The mapping revealed stunning gaps. The firm was completely absent from three major practice areas where the client spent millions annually. Worse, we discovered multiple partners were calling on the same client executives with contradictory messages. But the biggest revelation: what we thought was our strongest relationship—M&A—represented less than 15% of the client's legal spend in areas where we had top-tier capabilities. We were protecting the wrong territory while ignoring wide-open opportunities.
Result
Armed with the complete picture, we tripled revenue from this client in 24 months by targeting the neglected practice areas. The systematic approach became the blueprint for launching the firm's Financial Services Industry Group, which grew to $250 million in revenue within five years. The client later told us that we went from "one of many" to their "most coordinated firm."
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