1.6 Chandler Lauzon: From Tactical to Strategic BD

Barbara and Andrew are joined by Chandler Lauzon, Chief Growth Officer at Cassels, a national Canadian law firm of about 400 lawyers with offices coast to coast. Chandler calls himself "a recovering lawyer." He practiced for about eight years before pivoting into proposals in the early 2000s, and has spent the last 20 years watching the BD and marketing function inside law firms evolve. In this conversation Chandler talks about the mission he was hired for: moving a BD and marketing function that was "responsive, but tactical" into something genuinely strategic. He walks us through the three metrics he now holds his team to, revenue generation, profitability and profile, and why anything outside those is noise. He explains why "lists of 20 action items in law firms will never get done," why accountability is the new dirty word in the legal industry, and why the real unlock is everyone in the firm understanding that "at some fundamental level, we're all doing business development, just at different points on the pipeline." He also shares the reminder he gives his own team every chance he gets: behave like the experts that you are. If you work in legal BD, this one is practical, honest and full of ideas you can carry straight into your next partner meeting. One to listen to twice.