How to Respond to a RFP for Legal Services

Sometimes law firms don't need to find new clients. Instead, it is sometimes the client that finds the law firm. This is what the request for proposal (RFP) process is all about. Legal departments will frequently send out RFPs to find a law firm to work on a type of matter or an individual case. In order to better the law firm's chances that it will send out the winning bid, it is important to know how to draft a solid response to the RFP. This article will help you respond to a RFP for legal services.

Things You'll Need

• Marketing personnel
• Managing partner
• RFP
• Statistics regarding your firm
• Computer
• Paper

Instructions

1. Call a meeting with the head of marketing and the firm's managing partner. Review the RFP.

2. Assess whether what the RFP is requesting is something your firm can provide. If so, continue with the process. If not, send a message to the requesting party thanking them for their consideration.

3. Charge the marketing employee with finding all the general statistics about the firm that the RFP requests. This will be information such as how many partners work in your firm and what practice areas you concentrate on.

4. Charge the managing partner with finding the appropriate partner contacts to answer some of the more targeted questions. These will be questions regarding actual experience with certain types of manners.

5. Send the targeted questions to the appropriate internal resources.

6. Bring marketing's response and the lawyers' responses together by typing them up in one, master response.

7. Review your response. Make sure all the information is factual and questions are answered completely.

8. Have the managing partner and marketing personnel read over the response to ensure it meets their standards.

9. Print it out and send it to the appropriate contact at the requesting party.

Tips & Warnings

• If you need clarification on a question in the RFP, don't hesitate to pick up the phone and ask the requesting party.

• Failure to answer all questions in full will likely cause you to lose the potential client.

• Inserting generic answers thus disregarding specifics will likely cause you to lose the potential client.