Catalyst for Growth and Champion for Exceptional Client Experience

Amid higher-than-ever client expectations and a competitive legal market, Morgan Lewis’s Global Chief Business Development Officer Amanda M. Bruno not only implements and oversees strategies to grow business among the firm’s top clients by more than 35%, she did it while running a department of 90+ business professionals, launched a new data center strategic initiative, and provided lawyers a suite of resources to “help them help themselves” bring in business.
A lawyer-turned-business development virtuoso, Amanda joined Morgan Lewis in 2004 as a litigation associate before pivoting into client service and business development roles. Her knack for building camaraderie and generating new work was evident to all in 2017 when she was tasked by firm Chair Jami McKeon with creating the firm’s award-winning Exceptional Client Service (ESC) program. The interactive training marked a dramatic departure from the way law firms usually do things in that ECS involved all personnel – everyone at the firm is required to attend one live ECS training and on-your-feet problem-solving. Amanda was then promoted to her current role in which she leads all strategic business development functions across 30+ offices and four continents for 2,000+ lawyers and 15 core practice areas. The numbers speak for themselves: In the eight years Amanda has held the chief BD post, Morgan Lewis has experienced record financial success, growing from $2 billion to nearly $3 billion.
Known for her encyclopedic institutional knowledge, strong relationships with firm leaders and ability to communicate the big picture while focusing on the bottom-line, Amanda is the penultimate matchmaker between lawyers and clients. After helping to establish our Client Alliance Program (CAP), in fiscal year ‘24 alone, one-third of CAP clients had double digit growth and two CAP clients had triple digit growth. Overall, CAP teams opened a record 2,393 new matters.
At a firm the size of Morgan Lewis, with competing peer firms angling to retain, generate and grow revenue, a well-defined multi-faceted business development strategy and team to execute it is imperative. With Amanda in charge, Morgan Lewis is firing on all cylinders.