Raya Blakeley-Glover

I'm the Director of Business Development, Sales & Clients and co-head of our International Marketing and Business Development team.

We work closely with our lawyers across different practices and jurisdictions to identify and pursue new clients and work opportunities, provide strategic business development guidance, manage the firm's sales pipeline, and enhance our existing client relationships.

With nearly 20 years' experience in the legal profession, including over 14 years focused on Business Development, I lead the firm's business development and client initiatives. This includes generating opportunities, growing client relationships, managing multipliers and referral sources, pitching and work winning, event coordination, and more.

I am passionate about business development training, conducting regular internal training sessions for our client-facing colleagues, including partners, associates, and business development specialists. I am a certified DCMi Activator facilitator and lead the Activator programme for the firm. Our BD training programme, including Activator, focuses on empowering our people to follow BD best practice, through practical workshops, coaching, and ongoing support, ensuring everyone can contribute effectively to the firm's five-year strategy.

Prior to joining Bird & Bird, I worked as a lawyer focusing on litigation and complex civil and white-collar criminal disputes in the US. Thanks to my legal background, I can bring together the perspective of our clients, who are seeking exceptional legal advice, with the expertise of our partners and associates, creating a mutually beneficial client relationship.

I serve on the Board of Advisors for the Legal Sales and Service Organisation. In that role, I work as an advocate for client-facing business development and sales professionals in the legal industry.

• Leading in the development of firm-wide and practice-specific business development strategies.
• Collaborating with partners and associates to align business develop initiatives and identify new business opportunities.
• Facilitating cross-selling initiatives between practice groups to maximize client engagement.
• Providing coaching and support to partners and associates on building their networks and creating business development plans.
• Developed a first-of-its-kind internal Bird & Bird Sales App – providing the firm with on-demand BD training, inspiration, tools, and templates.