Turning Former Colleagues into Long-Term Business Relationships: Key Takeaways from Troutman Pepper Locke

Alumni programs in law firms are often treated as light-touch engagement initiatives. At Troutman Pepper Locke, WLG member firm for Massachusetts, USA, Director of Alumni Relations Clare Martin Roath described a more structured approach. Instead, the strategy in place positions alumni as an integral part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to maintain client, talent, and market connectivity.

The model reflects a clear shift from informal outreach to a more intentional system embedded within Business Development.

From Informal Contact to Structured Ownership

In 2025, Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord LLP merged to form Troutman Pepper Locke. The firm combination formalized what had previously been an ad hoc approach, consisting of occasional lunches, emails, and reunions.

A key change was moving alumni relations into the Business Development function, aligning engagement more directly with client strategy and relationship development.

Alongside this, the program was given dedicated ownership. Alumni engagement is not treated as an add-on responsibility, but as a defined function supported by coordination across BD, marketing, recruiting, and practice teams.

Scaling Engagement Through Infrastructure and Data

For firms like Troutman Pepper Locke with a network of approximately 9,200 alumni, consistency depends on strong data discipline and accessibility.

The team takes an active approach, including using LinkedIn Sales Navigator to support ongoing tracking of career movements and encouraging internal lawyers to surface alumni updates in real time by sharing updates they hear through their networks.

Rather than relying on a passive annual audit, relationship data is continually refreshed through daily CRM maintenance and LinkedIn-based monitoring using saved searches reviewed on a recurring basis. The "On the Move" section of the quarterly newsletter serves as a structured checkpoint to verify more than 100 alumni career transitions each quarter. Together, these mechanisms ensure the database functions as a live business development tool rather than a static record.

The firm decided against a password-protected alumni portal that would likely have low engagement due to platform fatigue. Instead, communication is pushed through channels alumni already use. The emphasis is on keeping the firm's alumni network aligned with current professional reality, not historical records.

Engagement Designed Around What Resonates

A consistent theme from the program is that engagement works best when it reflects what alumni actually use.

Several formats stand out. The aforementioned "On the Move" section of the quarterly newsletter is consistently the most-read content, reflecting strong interest in career mobility across the network. High-demand CLE programming, particularly ethics and professionalism credits delivered virtually at scale, offers practical value that is often difficult to access elsewhere. Industry and role-based roundtables respond directly to in-house alumni who want structured peer connections across organizations facing similar pressures.

Feedback also highlighted a gap in peer-to-peer connection once lawyers move in-house, which is directly shaping the development of these roundtables. The guiding principle remains straightforward: relevance drives participation.

How Alumni Create Value Across the Firm

The program creates value well beyond relationship-building, with alumni influencing business development opportunities across multiple fronts. Senior in-house alumni influence counsel selection, panel composition, and RFP processes. Alumni relationships generate referrals, co-counsel opportunities, and introductions. Former colleagues in leadership roles support visibility through speaking platforms and industry events.

This network effect is not only external business development. Internally, the firm has recorded more than 40 boomerang hires—former employees who have returned to the firm—over the past three years, underscoring the strength of sustained relationships. In parallel, structured alumni feedback, captured through interviews and surveys, provides valuable market and client insight, informing firm strategy.

Importantly, engagement is maintained regardless of where alumni move, including competitor firms. The rationale is pragmatic: career paths are fluid, and today’s competitor may become tomorrow’s client-side decision-maker or referral source. This inclusive approach ensures relationships are maintained across the full career spectrum, rather than segmented by current affiliation.

Closing Perspective

The program is designed to maintain continuity with professionals as their careers progress across industries, firms, and senior roles. Its strength lies in treating alumni not as a historical group, but as an active extension of the firm’s broader professional ecosystem, one that supports visibility, relationships, and opportunities over time. Through this network, the firm is building new client relationships with people who already understand its strengths and how its lawyers work and creating cross‑firm collaborations with alumni now at other law firms, boutiques, and organizations where the firm can partner, co‑counsel, and refer work. In doing so, the firm is also strengthening brand loyalty and goodwill, so that when alumni think "outside counsel,” they instinctively think of the firm—and say that out loud in the rooms where decisions are made.

As Clare emphasized, staying connected to alumni in a more structured and impactful way, and recognizing that these relationships are central to the firm’s growth and success, is at the heart of this program.