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From analysis to strategy and delivery: a structured business development plan for law firms

Published by a LexisNexis Practice Management expert

Practice notes

For law firms, business development works best when it is guided by a clear, systematic and transparent approach. All too frequently, practices rush into tasks—like networking, authoring articles or rolling out campaigns—before properly grasping where they stand, settling on intended outcomes, or mapping the route to reach them. This document brings together three critical core phases of business development planning as follows:

grasping your present position via both internal and external analysis
establishing clear, meaningful firm goals and objectives
creating a targeted, coherent business development and marketing strategy

Taken together, these steps provide a practical, reliable foundation for sustainable growth. They ensure business development activity is purposeful, aligned with firm strategy, and capable of delivering measurable results.

Understanding your current position through analysis

Analysis underpins every business development decision and choice. In its absence, firms fall back on assumptions, anecdotes or routine...

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Jon Whittle

Jon Whittle Consulting Ltd

Jon is a specialist in developing legal businesses using market intelligence and customer insight to implement successful programmes for change. He works with law firms to create sustainable growth alongside successful project management, implementing new technologies and evolving business operations. Jon has been working on the future of law firms for more than fifteen years, focusing on the strategies and tactics that help firms build real and defendable competitive advantage. Whilst working in a senior leadership role at LexisNexis he was also the architect and author of the widely read LexisNexis Bellwether Reports and is a recognised authority on how law firms can build and grow. Previously, Jon worked, for two decades, at board level, in some of the UK’s largest media companies, transforming traditional businesses into growth in the digital age. He now applies the fruits of this experience,...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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