Client Value
Commitment to Client Service
Clients consistently give Michael Best high marks for being a critical asset. The reason? We focus on building a deep understanding of each client, beyond just the legal matters we’re involved in. It’s important that we know your enterprise, your people, and your priorities, so we can provide strategic guidance to help you succeed.
Client Service Standards
At Michael Best, we will:
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Be your strategic partner. |
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Learn and understand your unique business goals. |
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Provide the highest-quality counsel and guidance. |
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Plan our approach with you. |
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Communicate with you promptly and often. |
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Be available when you need us. |
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Respect your time. |
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Be accountable to you and seek your feedback. |
We Listen to You
To make sure we’re living up to our service standards and yours, Michael Best created a Client Service Program focused on understanding our clients and managing client teams. This program has interrelated components, including attorney training and support, designed to foster consistent service across our firm and long-term partnerships with our clients. It’s part of our commitment to excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Client Service Meetings
We hold complimentary (yes, free) feedback and planning meetings at different stages in each client relationship. With new clients, our team will first do targeted research and then hold an introductory meeting to get to know you, your business objectives, and your legal needs. Everyone on our client service team will be trained so they know your organization and your expectations.
In ongoing client relationships, we conduct regular feedback meetings hosted by the client relationship attorney to discuss your business plans and legal issues, review work in progress, share best practices, assess our performance, and identify ways we can better serve you. In many cases we also hold “lessons learned” debriefings after finishing a significant legal matter.
Client Listening Program
In addition to client service meetings, Michael Best proactively seeks client feedback through our Client Listening Program. We survey selected clients at least twice a year, as well as conducting formal client interviews. This program gives our clients another avenue to provide candid feedback on Michael Best’s service and the overall relationship.
After analyzing survey and interview results to assess each client relationship, we create an action plan for any service changes that may be beneficial. We also evaluate feedback from all interviews and surveys collectively, through a firmwide lens, to look for opportunities to improve our processes and anticipate our clients’ needs in a fast-moving world.
Efficiency & Value
We know legal issues aren’t your only concern—and lawyers aren’t the only solution. To meet our clients’ varied needs, we deploy creative solutions like alternative legal staffing, project management, and consulting services that dovetail with Michael Best’s legal services.
Project Management
When it comes to project management, your goals are our goals. Our in-house Practice Group Managers, Legal Project Manager, Pricing Manager, and legal operations specialists help make sure we’re setting realistic project timelines, assembling the right team of skilled professionals for your needs, and giving you high-quality service on time and on budget.
Their mission is also to continuously improve Michael Best’s service delivery. Our practice management teams monitor business and workflow processes in each practice group, track and report on our progress against budgets and established milestones, analyze matter management data over time and across the firm, and identify opportunities for process and resource improvement.
Value-Based Pricing
Clients shouldn’t have to pay a “Big Law” price tag for excellent lawyers. At Michael Best, we understand the need for value-based pricing. That’s why we work to build efficiency and best practices into our services, and to give our clients options for fee structures.
We offer different pricing structures to suit different client preferences and types of work. We can collaborate to find the structure that’s right for you—whether it’s an hourly rate model, monthly retainer, project-based flat fee, a combination, or another arrangement.
Michael Best has been recognized as a leader in client service, innovation, and alternative fee arrangements in surveys of corporate counsel by BTI Consulting.
Client Value Team
Our Client Value team drives Michael Best’s initiatives to enhance service delivery and the value received by our clients.
This interdisciplinary team includes professionals from different administrative areas who collaborate to deliver matter management, value-based pricing, process improvement, knowledge management, and innovation strategies and solutions. Their work enhances the client experience and helps our attorneys focus their time on serving your critical needs.
Meet our Client Value team
Efficient Legal Staffing
Our client service teams often combine lawyers with highly skilled professional staff who specialize in supporting specific practice areas, industries, and clients. Michael Best’s skilled staffing model, client-focused teams, and strategic locations enable us to offer very competitive billing rates and fee arrangements.
Your client relationship partner will work with you to build a team that’ll deliver top-notch service and value to align with your budget. Michael Best’s allied professionals include:
- Engineers, Scientists & Agents (ESAs) – Our Intellectual Property group has more than 45 ESAs and IP Administrators who help manage our clients' patent and trademark assets.
- Staff Attorneys – Our flexible “career lattice” approach to professional development allows different paths for lawyers to progress through the firm. Staff attorneys provide highly experienced, cost-effective support.
- Wealth Planning CPAs – With extensive experience in accounting and taxation, our CPAs assist clients with income, trust, and estate tax planning and compliance; business succession planning; and financial planning.
- Dedicated Paralegals – We have paralegals and administrators dedicated to supporting our clients in areas such as Corporate, Litigation, Immigration, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Real Estate, and Tax.
- Litigation Support – Michael Best’s Discovery Consultants and Discovery Specialists help develop and execute case-specific discovery strategies, manage the discovery process, and analyze data.
Partnering for Your Success
The Michael Best family of companies includes consulting firms whose services complement and enhance our legal services. Together, we can field a team of business consultants who understand your legal strategies and lawyers who understand your long-term business strategies.
Our consultants can support you in everything from government relations to human capital management, technology implementation, product development, and venture financing.
Michael Best Strategies helps clients accelerate their success through a combination of strategic business consulting, lobbying, government relations, public affairs, and communications services. Strategies connects clients with influential allies—government officials, industry leaders and innovators, consumer segments, communities and stakeholders, and media—who can help advance business objectives.
Best Workplace Solutions provides human resources consulting services to align your HR strategies with your business strategies. BWS offers solutions such as human capital planning, transitional HR leadership and successor recruitment, professional training and development, HR audits and assessments, employer branding and recruitment marketing, benefits and compensation analysis, and M&A organizational integration.
Venture Best works with entrepreneurs and their investors to help new, high-growth companies find financial backing and grow their businesses. Venture Best goes beyond core legal services to provide crucial value-added services, such as advising on business plan and pitch development, making investor introductions, and team-building referrals.
The law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, the consulting firm of Michael Best Strategies LLC, and the consulting firm of Best Workplace Solutions (a division of Michael Best Consulting LLC) are affiliated entities that provide distinct services. Venture Best is a part of Michael Best & Friedrich.
Technology
Michael Best’s Technology & Innovation team focuses on designing, implementing, and supporting best-in-class technologies to provide exceptional service and value to our clients. Led by our Chief Process & AI Officer, the team works to solve business challenges through technology innovation and process design.
With our deep experience in tech industries, in-house staff of engineers and scientists, and dedicated Privacy & Cybersecurity group, Michael Best can quickly deploy new technologies. For example, we have capabilities to use AI-assisted document automation to process and review—cost-effectively—thousands of contract updates and loan documents for our banking and financial services clients. We regularly advise clients on technology licensing and agreements, systems implementation, and information security.
Related PeopleSusan Lee Hollender* *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. Jill A. Toporkiewicz* *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. James Franco** *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. *Independent contractor teaming with Michael Best.
Related PeopleSusan Lee Hollender* *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. Jill A. Toporkiewicz* *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. James Franco** *Names that appear with an asterisk indicate a Michael Best professional not admitted to practice law. *Independent contractor teaming with Michael Best.
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