ABOUT US – OUR HISTORY & FOCUS  

Formed in 1993, what is now known as Bernard LoVerde & Company, LLC | Advisory Services (“BJL”) was originally focused on the United States (“U.S.”) and Canadian Investment & Retail Banking industries with a set of core competencies as an Expert Witness in securities arbitrations and/or lawsuits (which was eventually continued in partnership with, and then divested to, the principals of the law firm now known as The Pearl Law Firm, P.A.). 

This practice then further expanded into the development, and licensure, of Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (“OSJ”) under the former National Association of Securities Dealers (“NASD” now known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. or “FINRA”), acting as the Chief Compliance Officer and/or Auditor of said OSJ’s and handling matters such as; broker/dealer registrations (at the NASD, NYSE and State levels), the registration of individual investment brokers/advisers in States throughout the United States, the choosing of correspondent clearing agents for said operations, back-office operations, etc. 

After that period, beginning in 2003 and accelerating further at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, the firm focused much of its energy and efforts on the U.S. Mortgage Banking industry, both residential and commercial, first within the title insurance segment of the U.S. real estate marketplace, with a focus on both residential and commercial default title, and then evolving across the U.S. Mortgage Banking market. This has led to the firm having significant competency in, and a focus on, the following key markets:

▪ Mortgage Banking & Servicing
▪ Distressed Assets/Non-Performing Loans
▪ Creditor’s Rights & Default Servicing
▪ Real Estate Finance & Investment
▪ Real Estate Title Insurance
▪ Capital Markets

The firm’s current practice (which started in 2006 and evolved further in 2016) is highly focused on the distressed asset/non-performing loan/note and default services segments concentrating on working primarily with law firms, as well as the title insurance companies, settlement service providers, etc. and also all forms of investors in, and servicers of, these residential and commercial mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.

Concerning the aforementioned concentration in the law firm segment of the market, BJL’s current, primary focus is serving as an outside strategic advisor to such firms based upon the theory, or practice, of acting as a firm’s “outside”, or “fractional” on occasion, Chief Client Officer (a role that has recently expanded in the industry, first in Canada and now into the U.S. legal markets) and/or a Chief Strategy Officer (other roles could include those that could be considered a Managing Director, Chief Marketing Officer and/or Chief Revenue Officer).  Please see the below for a greater description of how we view the CCO and CSO roles.

Chief Client Officer (“CCO”):
This role is seen as more than business generation and client expansion since, at its core, the role is about strengthening, building, and rebuilding consultative, trusted advisor relationships, about having someone uniquely accountable for driving the customer perspective throughout the firm.  The CCO often counsels a firm’s lawyers and leadership on how to think, talk and act differently when it comes to expressing the unique value provided to their clients.  To accomplish this active listening skills are key as well as is having natural conversations with clients that go beyond firm pedigree, general firm history, and/or recent wins for other clients.  

For example, while many law firms these days employ CRM (Customer-relationship management) systems, which help manage the customer relationship, these systems are often more about data management, data input, transactions, and number-crunching while being less about people. CCOs fill that “people gap”; they spend their time and energy figuring out who the firm’s clients are, which ones are most profitable, and which are most valuable to the company in the long term regardless of their current status(es). They also determine what customers need and want, and what they are willing to pay to achieve their objectives.  

In general, CCOs are tasked with owning the customer experience—driving profitable customer behavior by focusing on loyalty, satisfaction, and retention; creating a client-centric culture; and shaping overall strategies where clients are concerned.  In effect, the Chief Client Officer seeks to continue evolving the dialogue with clients; away from clients seeing the firm as a “vendor” but as a valuable partner, a change in mindset which often requires education internally, as well as externally.  Perhaps the best way to think about this role is to consider it as a “concierge” for clients; there to do whatever is needed to make the relationship better/evolve, to make the client more “sticky”, and these are actions, and items, that don’t always show up in the firm billing system.  The challenge of the proposition is in the strengthening of client trust and confidence in the face of growing competition thus moving the needle forward in terms of; revenue growth, organic growth to maximize ROI, client retention, and client experience across the frim service spectrum, as well as getting clients to evolve their thinking about the firm as true, committed business partners.

Chief Strategy Officer (“CSO”):
Confronted with trends in digitalization, globalization, ever more stringent government regulations, and increasingly complex supply chains and organizational structures, executive leaders are being pressured to continuously develop and implement a more robust strategy to respond, adapt and get ahead. That’s where the role of the Chief Strategy Officer comes into play.  It’s a position that has become far more prevalent in the C-suite within the last decade – often under the guise of a head of strategic planning – but is seeing increased activity as the economy continues to strengthen.  The CSO can often be seen as the further evolution of the CCO role referenced above.  The job of the CSO, then, is to clarify the vision and communicate it to the masses to achieve and sustain the execution of the strategy. Every business unit must share the vision and understand the gravity of the decisions involved and the discipline required to create change. Essentially, it’s about transparency and accountability. 

Both law firms specifically, and companies in general, are adding CSOs to their management teams (or at least considering doing so) for several reasons. Start with changes to the business landscape—complex organizational structures, rapid globalization, new regulations, the struggle to innovate—that make it even more difficult for CEOs to be on top of everything, even an area as important as strategy execution. Then consider the nature of strategy itself. By nearly all accounts, strategy development has become a continuous, not periodic, process. Successful execution, therefore, depends more than ever on rapid and effective decision-making. Further, as Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Bower has noted, iron-fisted control of execution often eludes the top team’s grasp, as line executives seek to define a strategy on their terms. (See Bower and Clark G. Gilbert’s “How Managers’ Everyday Decisions Create—or Destroy—Your Company’s Strategy,” February 2007.). 

As such, a Chief Strategy Officer is a senior leadership team member within a law firm, or any business organization, and is one who works with firm leadership to guide the firm’s strategic direction and advancement.  This role works closely with practice group leaders throughout the company to develop and implement sound business plans and counsels individual attorneys therein on business development, client engagement, as well as on a wide variety of marketing initiatives.  A CSO would further advise the firm on brand identity, ensuring a strong market position throughout the firm’s geographic footprint, within the various industries that make up those areas’ economy as well as within the legal community, locally and nationally, if applicable.  Additionally, the CSO would oversee a firm’s marketing department which would provide the firm with expertise in communications, advertising and branding, community relations, digital content marketing, event planning, and CRM.  This would also include the critical issue of the client experience from client development through client engagement and enhancement throughout the spectrum of the client relationship.

We believe that the above is further developed by the use of the following which outlines two additional theories (the hypothesis-led engagement plan and the use of strategic and empathetic sales conversations) which we at BJL both subscribe to, and use, with our clients in conjunction with the earlier referenced OODA Loop:

We trust and hope that this gives you the initial insight into how we would and, on behalf of BJL, we invite you to view the Sampling of Assignments references on our site to understand the wide range of expertise and ethics we strive towards and demonstrate in every client engagement.