Prior to co-founding CoulterCranston, Mr. Cranston was a member of the senior leadership team at a Global 100 law firm where, as the Director of Business Development, the firm was listed as a top 10 firm in the annual BTI Client Service Study for three years straight. His experience includes:

• Launching more than forty successful client teams and authoring the client team planning process, initiating the practice section business planning initiative;

• Serving as a business development leader and client development coach to client relationship partners

• Establishing firm-wide business development training and coaching programs;

• Developing and teaching programs to more than 1,500 lawyers

Prior to his work in the legal industry, Mr. Cranston spent fourteen years selling consulting services in Northern and Southern California. In 1990, Jim was one of the first recognized business development executives among the Big Eight where he served as regional sales manager at Price Waterhouse. Four years later, he was recruited to grow the consulting practice at Arthur Andersen as the Director of Business Development. During his seven-year tenure at Andersen, Jim received the prestigious “Sales Excellence Award” on four occasions and later received the firms “Top Producer” award.

Presentation and Speeches

• Trends in Law Firm Marketing: What Firms Are Doing in 2011, LMA Houston Chapter, June 2011

• Transitioning from Marketing to Business Development, DRI Damages Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2011

• Four Ps of Business Development, ALA Utah Chapter, March 2011

• Transitioning from Marketing to Business Development, LMA Southwest Chapter, October 2010

• Key Client Management, Marketing Partner Forum, Palm Beach, Florida, January 2010

• Developing a Sales Culture at your Firm, LMA Southeast Annual Conference, Austin, Texas, October 2009

• Business Development Trends of Midsize Firms, MP Roundtable, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 2009

• Rainmaker Panel, LSSO Raindance Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 2009

• Staying Ahead in a Rapidly Changing Environment, Hildebrandt Breakfast Briefing, San Francisco, CA, March 2009

• Hope is Not a Strategy: Effective Client Service Initiatives for the Next Generation, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Business Development Trends, Carlsbad, CA, February 2009

• Coaching Rocking Rainmakers and Mistmakers, Marketing Partner Forum, Dana Point, CA , January 2009

• Sales is the Bottom Line, LMA South East Chapter Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA ,September 2008

• Fundamentals of Business Development, Asian American Bar Association, Houston, TX, August 2008

Articles

• Getting Down to Business, California Lawyer Magazine, April 2010

• Have a Plan - Or Your Marketing Won't Have a Prayer! Marketing the Law Firm, February 2007

• Is Sale Training Worth the Investment? Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report, October 2006

• Success Begins With You: A Focused Strategy for Associate Business Development, Of Counsel, October 2006

Education

• B.S., Santa Clara University