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Increasing competition in the legal market forces law firms to rely on qualified human resources, unique marketing and specialised business development strategies in order to stand out and grow further in their respective market. This book focuses on the role and methodology of specialised business development to become a key competency of a law firm. Business development is crucial for law firms but it is a challenging task due to the specific features of the sector. This specialised business development distinguishes law firms from other service companies since lawyers tend to see themselves as the unique business developers and it seems to be difficult for them to accept business development professionals, who have no legal education, as valuable business support. A literature research, a well prepared survey and interviews with Law firm and BIG 4 Senior Partners will provide insight on this problematic from different perspectives and will be the basis for recommendations how business development can be organised in law firms.

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Nicole Thomé has 15 years of professional experience in the European financial services industry, in particular as Business Development Expert for PSF´s, Law firms and Banks. After business administration studies, Nicole started her career in 1996 in the Industry and holds a MBA Corporate Governance & Management from the Donau Universität Krems.

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