Top Legal Industry News for Spring 2022: Law Firm Hiring, Industry Recognition, Women in Law

We’re back with another edition of our legal industry news roundup. Read more below for the latest updates in law firm hiring and expansion, legal industry awards, and recognition of leading women in the field today.

Law Firm Hiring and Expansion

Keller and Heckman added Counsel Daniel P. McGee to the firm’s Tobacco and E-Vapor practice. Mr. McGee’s experience includes counseling companies on a broad range of complex tobacco industry and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory matters and developing strategies to help companies bring new products to market.

“Daniel’s expertise and industry perspective will be invaluable to Keller and Heckman clients who are carefully navigating the challenges and pitfalls of a highly regulated and rapidly evolving legal landscape,” said Azim Chowdhury, a Partner in the firm’s Tobacco and E-Vapor and Food and Drug practices. “In addition to expanding our tobacco and e-vapor capabilities, we are especially looking forward to utilizing Daniel’s expertise in state law compliance, particularly for clients expanding into the hemp and CBD categories.”

Richard Mann, Chair of Keller and Heckman’s Management Committee, expressed excitement over Mr. McGee’s joining the firm, saying. “The addition of Daniel to our practice demonstrates Keller and Heckman’s commitment to helping our clients understand and comply with continuously evolving regulations in this growing field.”

Mr. McGee said he’s looking forward to collaborating with the Tobacco and E-Vapor team at Keller and Heckman.

“After spending the bulk of my legal career as in-house counsel to the tobacco industry, I made a strategic decision to focus on the industry as a whole and join a law firm that is a leader in tobacco regulatory compliance and public policy initiatives.”

Norris McLaughlin, P.A. welcomed Michael J. Willner as a Member in the firm’s New York office. Mr. Willner joined the firm’s Real Estate, Finance, and Land Use Practice Group.

Mr. Willner works with individuals and entities involved with managing real estate assets, as well as condominiums and co-ops. He specializes in condominium and cooperative law, commercial and residential real estate transactions and related litigation.

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinksy & Josefiak PLLC opened a new office in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm held its ribbon cutting ceremony on April 26 for the office at the Esplenade with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

The office is led by resident Partner Christine Fort and Dallin M. Holt, Of Counsel.

“After over 20 years representing high-profile clients in all aspects of political and regulatory law, we are grateful to now open our fourth office to help support our growing roster of clients in the West,” said Managing Partner Jill Holtzman Vogel, former Chief Counsel for the RNC and a sitting member of the Virginia General Assembly. “We could have chosen anywhere to expand our reach, but Arizona and the Phoenix metro area is dynamic and fast-growing – just like our team. This is absolutely the right place for Holtzman Vogel to put down roots, and we are thrilled to open the doors and get started.”

Goldberg Segalla added Ian G. Zolty to the firm’s Workers’ Compensation group in Princeton, N.J.

Mr. Zolty has experience counseling and defending employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation matters throughout New Jersey, including hospitals, insurance companies and school boards, among others.

Legal Industry Recognition

City & State New York named three shareholders at Greenberg Traurig, LLP to its 2022 Energy & Environment Power 100 listSteven C. RussoDoreen U. Saia, and Zackary D. Knaub. The recognition spotlights significant legal professionals in the New York area that are “reshaping the energy industry – and rescuing our environment.”

Mr. Russo is the co-chair of the firm’s Environmental Practice, focusing his practice on environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, the State Environmental Quality Review Act, and more. Ms. Saia is the chair of the Albany Office’s Energy & Natural Resources Practice, where she focuses her efforts on supporting national and international electricity corporations and aiding in related financial transactions. Mr. Knaub is a shareholder in both the Environmental and the Government Law & Policy groups, practicing specifically in energy and environmental legal and government affairs matters, including litigation, dispute resolution, government procurement, and regulatory matters.

Tammie Alexander, chair of the Business Department at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, is a 2022 Bar Foundation Fellow, appointed by the West Virginia Bar Foundation Board of Directors.  Recognizing lawyers and judges in West Virginia with noteworthy dedication to the practice of law, the Bar Foundation has nominated only 450 out of 6,000 eligible individuals since 1999. Since the program’s inception, 22 Steptoe & Johnson attorneys have been selected as fellows.

Ms. Alexander, located in the firm’s Morgantown office, focuses her practice on an array of topics, including banking, real estate, commercial transactions, title insurance, and construction matters. She primarily assists with large scale projects that involve multiple property owners, governmental agencies, and financial investors.

The South Carolina School of Law provided the Platinum Compleat Lawyer Award, the school’s highest alumni honor, to Erna Womble, retired litigation partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. Established in 1992, the Compleat Lawyer Awards are meant to recognize alumni for notable professional, civil, and legal accomplishments. Recipients are members of the field who exemplify professional competence, ethics, and integrity.

Erna Womble, who graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1986, joined Womble Bond Dickinson in 1987. Today, she serves as the Co-President of Clearly Bespoke Strategies, Inc., a strategic advising company. Ms. Womble said of the award: “I am profoundly honored by the award from the law school which began my career as a lawyer-in-training. One of my excellent professors often admonished that when lawyers cease to learn, they cease to be good lawyers. More than three decades later, I’m still a lawyer-in-training. I am forever grateful to my beloved firm which afforded me the singular privilege of raising children whilst working with scions of industry and holders of the public trust in serving some of the firm’s best clients.”

Women in the Legal Industry

The Los Angeles Business Journal announced their “Women of Influence: Attorneys,” list which included Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles’ Heather Antoine. The list highlighted lawyers working for large businesses in legal areas such as data protection and intellectual property law.

Heather Antoine focuses her law firm practice on corporate property and data protection as Chair of the firm’s Trademark & Brand Protection practice, and Co-Chair of the Privacy & Data Security practice group. Some of her credits include features in the Los Angeles Times and CNBC.

Robinson & Cole LLP voted partner Britt-Marie K. Cole-Johnson to join the firm’s Managing Committee, allowing her to participate in the firm’s policy and practice strategic development. This comes after a series of noteworthy recognitions in the legal field: Cole-Johnson was recently presented with the Distinguished Leader Award by the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Connecticut Legal Awards, and she was additionally selected as an honoree for The 100 Women of Color Gala & Awards.

“[Ms. Cole-Johnson] is well-known for her talents as a legal advisor but also for her deep commitment to community organizations. She joined the firm thirteen years ago after law school and has been a true and constant champion for equitable and inclusive business practices within the firm, with her clients, and within the community. I look forward to her bringing that leadership and perspective to our Managing Committee,” said Robinson & Cole colleague Rhonda J. Tobin.

The accolades followed a recent appointment by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont for the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority board.

Romer Debbas, LLP formed an all-female, diverse Agency Lending & Affordable Housing Department, focusing on representation in the property market. Partner Carmen I. Pagan, and Associates Catherine M. Azevedo and Pamela U. Norbert lead the new team with years of legal knowledge in real estate financing, commercial property law and lending service providers.

The new department expanded the firm’s practice areas in bankruptcy, corporate and business law, immigration, litigation, taxation and trusts and estate law.

For more business of law legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC

Episode 2: The Importance of Data in Legal Business and Legal Marketing with Laura Leopard of Leopard Solutions [PODCAST]

Rachel and Jessica speak with Laura Leopard, the Founder and CEO of Leopard Solutions: a service that provides law firms with data to improve hiring and marketing for the business of law.

Be sure to take the Women Leaving Law Survey HERE and sign-up for the Women Leaving Law webinar on June 2, 2022 to hear the results of their survey.

We’ve included a transcript of our conversation below, transcribed by artificial intelligence. The transcript has been lightly edited for style, clarity, and readability.

INTRO  00:00

Well, hello, and welcome to Legal News Reach the official podcast for the National Law Review. Stay tuned for a discussion on the latest trends, illegal marketing, SEO, law firm best practices, and more.

Rachel  00:15

My name is Rachel,

Jessica  00:16

And my name is Jessica.

Rachel  00:18

And we’re the co-hosts for the podcast. Today we’re speaking with Laura Leopard Founder and CEO of Leopard Solutions. Laura, would you like to tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and your organization?

Laura Leopard  00:28

Of course, of course, we are a legal intelligence company that monitors law firms and attorneys. And we have been doing it for nearly 20 years. And we have grown from a simple attorney list to a detailed current and historical account of attorneys and their movements. And of course, we now offer competitive and business intelligence for law firms and the market in general. And I have been at the helm for nearly 20 years.

Rachel  01:02

We’re excited to get your insight into some of those more data-driven trends here in the industry. So the first thing that we want to focus on is the importance of data and legal marketing and legal business. One of the things that I hear pretty often is that law firms are data-rich and information poor. So can you explain a little bit about why that is and how law firms can solve for that problem?

Laura Leopard  01:26

Well, I think that was more generally true in the past. But today, many law firms are correcting that issue, because they’re hiring intelligence professionals to come in and help them mind and understand their own data. The other side of the coin is gathering external data on their competitors so that they can benchmark their own shortcomings and successes properly. And that’s where we come in. We measure law firms across the board, and we deliver those benchmarks that they need. Well, several years ago now, we had prepared a detailed report on a law firm and the top 200, about their ROI on lateral hiring and entry-level hiring. And we showed it to you know, prospective law firm. And we offered to write one for their firm, and then also a list of their competitors, you know, of their choice. And their response was, “this is very interesting, but I’m not sure what we could do with it.” And it just proved to me at that time that firms and leopard both needed to do a better job of explaining the value of the data, and how it could be used. So we developed firm scape, which is our competitive intelligence platform. And it’s filled with great data. And people were very excited to see it. But then again, only people who could readily understand what it offered, really benefited from it in really meaningful ways. So when we wrote our Business Intelligence platform, we wanted to just carefully lay out what everything meant, in clear, concise terms, so that meaningful measurement would be readily understood. You know, everyone gets very excited about data. You know, “big data, big data, data-data-data.” But not everybody understands the application of that data, what that data could mean. And that’s where we have hoped to sort of democratize data in a sense of laying it out in a way that anybody can understand it, not just data people.

Rachel  03:36

Yeah, I think just being empowered to look at it is also really great. Because I think some people can get a little intimidated by data like, “Oh, it’s just a lot of numbers,” like what the numbers mean. So one of the trends that we’ve seen, and that we’ve talked about recently is women leaving the legal industry and what that means for the profession. We published a Q&A that you did with Stefanie Marrone, about this topic. We’ve had her on the podcast before; I was curious if you could dive into this trend and talk about why this is happening and how law firms can respond to it?

Laura Leopard  04:07

So we did a survey, and it’s still in progress. We’ve had about 170 responses so far. And I have to tell you, it was incredibly depressing to read the comments and the answers that they had about why they left their top 200 law firm. And a lot of it was much of what you might suspect, you know, lack of opportunity, lack of mentorship, a feeling of not being included, you know, in the group and just really lack of opportunity stood out, you know, a great deal. So we decided, well, we can’t just we can’t just, you know, do a report. We’re gonna do a presentation in May about this at the Art conference. We really wanted to dig in deeper. So we’ve been doing interviews with women who have succeeded in the top 200 Who are partners at their firm, and they’re leading women’s initiatives, and they’re doing some really great things. And we’re learning a lot in the whole process, I didn’t want to just say, here’s a big problem, you should fix it. It’s like, Here are ideas about how you can fix it. And here are examples of where those ideas are actually succeeding in top 200 law firms. But I think the really important thing that we took away after reading a lot of this was these same problems exist for attorneys who are also underrepresented, and from who are ethnically diverse. And there are also, you know, white men at the firms that have issues because they have a family members who is ill, and they have to step away. And there’s lots of there’s, there’s lots of problems here. But there are ways to fix them. And that’s what we’re working on. Right now. We are doing some great interviews, we’re coming away with some really positive ideas. And we have some firms that are really doing some great work. And we want to share that with everyone. This is not a problem that cannot be fixed. This is a problem that can be fixed, if one wishes to fix it, and everyone is determined to see it through. And for us, it’s really important to talk about this topic, we are a woman-owned business. I’m a woman entrepreneur, we have all experienced, you know, sexism, we have all experienced some lack of opportunity in our lives. And this is really important for us to start this conversation again, or remind people this conversation needs to be ongoing and continuing. So after our presentation, we’re going to we’re going to do a webinar at leopard, we’re going to invite some great folks to speak at that webinar, we’re also going to do a full white paper. But this is one of one of something that’s really, really important to us. And I really hope it can open a lot of eyes and help move the needle to helping women succeed in those top 200 firms and in law in general.

Rachel  07:13

We talked on the show before about how COVID has sort of given people the opportunity to make change that their law firm their ongoing, I think, you know, we did speak in the past year about how COVID did push women out of the workplace. But like, I think moving forward past that and not using that as like an excuse to go back to the way things were and to make long-lasting change, I think is really important. So I was curious if you could share maybe some of the solutions that you know, law firms could implement to help remedy this problem, or if that’s something that will come later with with your white paper and after your presentation?

Laura Leopard  07:48

You know, having a strong mentorship program is really important. And you can have assigned mentors, but you also have those sort of like those volunteer mentors on the side. And not just not just women mentoring women, but men also being mentors to women. The same problem exists for those who are ethnically diverse, if you have a program in place, or everyone is assigned a mentor, then you’re you’re going to help them overcome that hurdle, flex time paternity and maternity leave and not just saying we offer maternity leave, but by saying we encourage you to take maternity leave, right? If as many men took maternity leave, as women take maternity leave, it sort of removes that stigma from a woman having to take that time off, there are some really concrete things that can be done that can make a huge difference. And, you know, the women did not just leave these firms due to COVID. They left because it became untenable to stay for many different reasons. And a lot of it had to do with flexibility on the job, right? Yes, they were. Some of them were home with children. But a lot of people that answered this survey didn’t have children at home. But this entire pandemic caused people to think differently about their lives and their situations. Women are not alone in feeling this way. Right. So there are lots of young people now that are coming, you know, coming into law firms that are saying, I don’t I don’t want to work 80 hours a week. I like being home. I like having time to myself, that’s important to me. And the pandemic showed a lot of people how important that other part of your life is, right? It’s it’s a big bargain to make when you say I’m gonna work this hard for this long and I’m gonna make partner but some of the people that responded to our survey says, here’s here’s a here’s a newsflash when you make partner, that doesn’t get any better. If anything, it gets worse. worse, there are more responsibilities on top of you, you have to continue to work those crazy hours. And you have to do business development and you have administrative duties. And and and so if you are questioning, you know if this is the lifestyle for you. And I actually did have someone say that. So if you really care about having a lifestyle with your family and friends that may be this, this choice isn’t for you, I’m gonna flip it back on its head and say, Do you really want well rounded, happy, well adjusted people working for you, somebody that’s working 80 hours a week is not going to fit that bill, right? Because that’s all they do. That’s their single focus. And they’re going to burn out, and they’re going to leave you just when you need them. So taking a more holistic view, and saying, you know, and this was this was a quote, I had a partner say, I was told when I, you know asked for flex time, my partner said, I would rather have you at 50% of your normal time than many of the people that work for me at 100%. Because you do the job that I need you to do. It’s it’s time that law firms start thinking about the future, things never stay exactly the same, right? The whole hierarchy of law firms that we know now was created, what 100 years ago, when men were the only people that were lawyers, and they had wives and housekeepers and stuff at all. Right? That’s not the world we live in anymore. And we’re also beginning to question, you know, all the young people coming up are questioning everything. They’re questioning authority, they’re questioning why they have to do this and why they have to do that. And when they say, this isn’t a life, that’s for me, I don’t want to be partner. What does it do to that old model? You know, you’re there, there’s going to have to be an inflection point where they start to think about what is going to happen at their firm five years from now 10 years from now, when this generational divide, you know, really takes place. And here’s another newsflash. According to our data for the last three years ago, I think entry level hiring coming out of law school was about 5050 men and women, then the women edged out the minute, then the women rose again, there are far more women in college and far more women in law school than there are men, and they are outnumbering men being hired on that entry level position. But if those women don’t stay, and if those women leave, because you are asking, you’re creating an untenable situation for them, what’s going to happen to your partner track, then what is going to happen to that wealth of knowledge that that person brought to your firm, and she’s gonna walk away with, there’s, there’s going to be a reckoning in the industry, because times have changed, and people have changed. And it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. But we can see by looking in the data that they’re, they’re going to be, there’s going to be some shockwaves. And as we start, at the Women’s seminar, we’re going to be, you know, measuring all kinds of exit data and comparing it, you know, one against the other. But it’s time that firms really start to have more of a forward view about what kind of law firm they’re going to be 10 years from now, because that’s really going to impact one thing they care about most. And that’s their bottom line.

Rachel  13:46

What has been the impact that you’ve seen, like this, this lack of information?

Laura Leopard  13:54

I think we all can say, you know, pretty clearly, if you are not using data to make decisions, you’re gonna pay a price for it. You know, data improves decision making, and it can help you predict, you know, competition stresses, and then by tracking industry trends, you can begin to predict future moves a little more successfully. Of course, you have to be, you have to have really, really good data, right? If you’re using bad or incomplete data to make decisions, you might as well not use it at all. So, data quality has been very central to our business. Our data is checked and rechecked and continually updated in order to offer the best possible dataset. But I think data itself should be demystified you know, to a certain extent, by making it clear why a particular dataset matters, right? firms should care about employee turnover because it costs their bottom line and I’m not just talking about a few dollars here and there. I’m talking about Millions of dollars. And firms should care about where their competitors are opening new offices because it shows possible opportunity that they didn’t see, firms should care about who their competitors hire, to see where their next focus will be. And perhaps they should look there as well. Are, is there a competitor building up a practice that competes directly with them in their city? Are they looking at your people to possibly, you know, recruit out of them? Lack of data and insight just leaves a firm operating blindly, just by their instincts and granted, instincts are great, but they can go horribly wrong. If you look in our growth decline report now, which kind of shows that winners and losers by you know, headcount, you will see firms in the bottom of that tear that you never would have guessed would be there just a few years ago, those other firms saw an opportunity that the others didn’t, and they seized it. So data can really make or break, you know, your company, relying on your gut and anecdotal data that people bring you. It’s just not effective. I, you know, law firms love to call around and ask a recruiter. So what’s hot right now? Or what’s what’s going on right now, this was one of my favorite stories. They they talked to a recruiter, the recruiter said, Oh, the Chicago market is so hot right now. It is so hot. It’s just on fire. And I look back and I looked at our data and and like, it’s, no, it’s not, there isn’t more movement, there isn’t more job openings, that one recruiter happened to be a lot busier in Chicago than anybody else. So all of that anecdotal data like that is meaningless when you can compare that against really hard, true facts. And that’s what they really need to start doing.

Jessica  17:00

Without giving away the “secret sauce” if you will, the metrics that these firms are using for hiring specifically is that, you know, the number of job openings, like you said. I mean, what are what would you say are maybe 1-2-3 of the big numbers they’re paying attention to with hiring specifically?

Laura Leopard  17:16

Well, you know, on our platform, one of one of everyone’s favorite, you know, reports is, is that growth decline report so they can see who is who is growing quickly, and adding a lot of people to their firm. You also can see firms who who are in churn, right, they lost 100 people, they hired 100, people, and firms will use that report to find firms that it might be easier to pry people away from, right. So if you have a firm, that’s negative 15, in headcount, and people are exiting that firm like crazy, well, you have an opportunity to go pick up those people there. You also can look at our lateral reports. And you can see where the hot markets are, you can slice and dice it by practice area by specialty, you know, by far by all different kinds of metrics. You even can look at, you know, gender movement, and those who are ethnically diverse, there’s lots of different ways to look at it, but it gives you a good market view. And of course, we do have, we have a job program where we are looking at over 1000 law firms every day in real time. And I’ll tell you, you know, when the pandemic happened, we normally had like six to 7000 jobs and our job program. During the pandemic, I think in like July of 2020, that number went down to about 3000. And most of them, I don’t think were really real openings. Anyway, there were openings, they just sort of left on their website. And now we have over 12,000, approaching 13,000 openings in a program. So that will just tell you the velocity, they also can. And our job program is great for CIA too, because you can go in and see how what your competitors are looking for how they’re framing that position, like right now, we know everyone’s looking for corporate m&a people, right? How are they framing that job? How can you make yours look more attractive? What can you do to you know, sort of get an edge in that market. And there’s lots of other reports that we have that can help them gain advantage. But those are probably, you know, the top the top three, just seeing what’s going on in the market.

Jessica  19:31

With all the changes in the legal industry, I think there’s a huge focus right now, not only in just data and the services you guys offer, but also diversity in the workplace. So I would love to know–I know you mentioned a little bit of it, but being able to see you said gender maybe changes are hiring, how to make it attractive to certain diverse populations of people so that you know, the law firms represent their communities, if you will. Could you explain a little bit more of that? I would love to definitely learn more.

Laura Leopard  20:00

For years, we had been asked to have diversity information in our database. But we just thought it would be incredibly hard, we weren’t sure how we wanted to do it, it was it’s it, you know, having that kind of information in the database is a little risky. To a certain extent, you have to be really careful and really think things through. Then the summer of George Floyd happened, we were in the middle of a pandemic, things were kind of crazy. But when that happened, we all you know, on our, our, you know, our little community of folks at leopard said, we have to do something, we have to do something. So we put all of our heads together. And we said, well, here’s how we might do it. And we knew about the Mansfield rule and, you know, diversity lab who are great folks. And we knew how they handled their data. And they really, were asking for data, they really wanted law firms to be able to go in and find people that were diverse in order to bring them into the hiring game. So we took a page out of their playbook, and we said, Okay, if we put diversity in our database, we’re only going to show it to people who we think are going to use it correctly. So if a law firm is a member of the Mansfield rule, they get the diversity data, we don’t charge an extra penny for any of this, we spent months doing research on every single person in the US in our database, to see if they might be ethnically diverse. And what we did was we, we went on a probability score. So if we look at where they’re from languages, they speak committees that they belong to, like we sort of look at all of their data points, then we can come back and say, Okay, we think there was a high probability, this person could be ethnically diverse. If you are a member of the Mansfield rule, you can access and you can view those attorneys. If you’re not, then you can sign the leper diversity pledge. And with that, you are promising to use that data in the correct way, which is to include not exclude, and to really look at these people, you know, in order to bring them in front of the hiring committee of a law firm, in order to move that needle. We also put safeguards in the database in place, so that those people could never be excluded from a search, they could only be included, you can only see them when you want to find them. And we did the same thing for gender. So we moved because there were other gender issues that we wanted to recognize and acknowledge. So you have a high probability of being gender diverse or low probability of being gender diverse. So now, because because we took those steps, we are also able to report on diversity, and every single law firm in our system. And that means if you are a diverse candidate, you’re going to you’re going to be able to know, you know, or a recruiter can show you or the law firm can show you what their diversity score is, in comparison to the other law firms that they may be considering. Everyone. Everyone gets a score, everyone sees you know, how well they’re doing or how poor they’re doing. And law firms can use this in their conversations with people that they want to bring in. And let them know that they are growing diversity within their firm, you can see it in the growth decline report, you can see who’s growing in ethnic diversity numbers, who’s growing in women numbers, it’s all right there for the world to see. And we use the same scoring across the board for every firm. So it’s so it’s all equal. But that was an incredibly important thing for us to do. We spent months with, you know, all hands on deck, getting this data in, and it’s something that we continue to work on all the time. You know, there are people that we have as, as we consider sort of, we don’t have enough information to go either way. Well, we continually go back to see if there’s more information that’s available about that attorney, so we can label them properly, high or low. But being able to do that also led us fold in diversity into our leopard law firm index. So we decided that the normal way that firms are assigned, you know, a grade of excellence, where those scores coming from a once a year list, you know, are really not helpful in today’s fast paced world. We have always seen firms go out of business in the top 200 of emerging they, you know, they go away, they go under, and we wanted something that was real time that would go up as the firm was improving and if the firm Um, you know, hit a bad patch than their score would also show that we have firms in the leopard top 250 that are not in the top 200. We have, we also have firms that are in the top 200 that are not in the leopard top 250 Because our scoring scoring methods are very different. And they’re really database and one of those data points is a diversity number, how well are they doing with diversity. So it is become a part of everything that we do in almost every single report. And in our last leopard law firm index, how well a firm is doing on ethnic diversity is incredibly important. And we wanted to show that by using it as many as many different ways as possible.

Jessica  25:49

I think it’s great to have so many different options of metrics, because I think casting that wide net, as far as what you’re able to keep track of for your firm, allows you to pick up any alarm bells of things that maybe aren’t going as well, like you said of, you know, growth, maybe it’s going down in this area or what have you. So I’m curious to know what some of those alarm bells would be or like red flags in the data that maybe law firms should pay attention to or could affect their business model and moving forward for their growth?

Laura Leopard  26:22

Well, I think all those items that are in that, you know, law firm index, and the score that we give because of it. So we look at metrics that really don’t change over time in the in the sense that we do look at only one little tiny piece of the financial puzzle, which is the revenue per lawyer, but it’s scored over a five year period, because that is really there just to show Oh, it’s going up, oh, it’s going down. So that is available there, and part of that index, but we also use items, the growth decline and attorney headcount, we use the average attorney tenure increases or decreases in that RPL, as I just mentioned, and the ROI, the success and lateral recruitment, and the success and entry-level recruitment. And for the index, we only look at it in the prior 12 months. Because if you are having problems retaining people, the first year they join that firm, we see that we think that is a red flag of something going on at the firm, which is why it’s in the index, we also look at promotions to partner and we look at ethnic diversity within the firm. And one reason that we do that is that companies have said over and over again, they care about ethnic diversity, and they want to work with firms that have a good ethnic diversity number, if that’s true, and if they hold their feet to the fire, then that really must be in the index. And there are other items that we’re looking to fold into that index. But those are the ones that help give that score. There are so many other things, that ROI that I talked about, like in the index, we look at the past 12 months, but you can go back and look, look three years ago, how well did you do in your hiring three years ago? How well did you do that the year before that, because we’re talking about millions of dollars that these firms are losing because they only have a 70% retention of people that they just hired two years ago. And and that is a huge red flag that they really must pay attention to. So then the question is, you know, where’s my problem? Right? So we wrote a report in the in the BI Suite, that really helps you break it down? Is it a practice area issue? Is it a particular office that has an issue, and you can benchmark your firm against your competing firms? I think sometimes when people say, Oh, we have a 80 80% retention rate, that’s pretty good. Well, it’s good until you compare it against some of your competitors who have a much higher number. And it’s also good until you realize exactly how much that attrition is costing your firm, millions and millions of dollars. You know, I’ve also I once had a recruiter and a law firm say, they really didn’t mind the attrition because it was sort of job security for them. Because they kept busy. But really, job security for them is not just it’s making sure you have a successful hire. It’s making sure that those people are happy and they’re getting what they need, is looking to see, you know who might be on the cusp of leaving. We have something in our attorney database called the probability The move, right? So we’re looking at people that have moved in the past and similar circumstances and JD, your range, practice area and all that good stuff. So you can run it on your own firm. And you can see who has a very high probability at your firm that allows you to play defense with those people and help to see if they’re getting what they need, are they happy? Do they need to look at some new kind of schedule? Are they unhappy in their practice area, and they’re not getting an opportunity to change it, there’s a lot, a lot of things that firms can do, if they start to use that data to help see where they might have a problem. And we’ve written many reports that could help them do that, again, again, even with the law firm index, it’s not about calling out oh, this is the big winner, this is the big loser, it’s like, you might have a problem. And we’re gonna help you find where your problem is, because this report will show you where you are, you know, far beneath your competitors, this is an area that you have to look at. And that’s what it’s there for is to really help them do better. And we can show them the metrics that say, this is where you should begin looking.

Rachel  31:15

We’d spoke a little bit about at the beginning of our conversation, how law firms are starting to really start to adopt this technology to integrate more data and things like that into their business. I was curious to get your thoughts on how the legal industry has changed over the course of your career in terms of how this technology has been adopted? Have you seen like a paradigm shift in the past couple of years? Or how has that been?

Laura Leopard  31:37

They certainly have changed, but it hasn’t been a change overnight, you know, law firms, both now. And then they use several different kinds of technology for several different purposes. And, you know, data was housed in silos, you know, with multiple programs used by multiple people. And today, you see firms hiring technology teams, to better integrate and manage that data. So that’s a step in the right direction. You know, I have seen firms that have very little data about their own firm, and about, you know, their own alumni. And they’re beginning to recognize that, that puts them at a disadvantage, right. So that recognition is a huge step, and getting the task of just getting all the data in a proper form, and then the right system, that’s a really big undertaking, and only the largest firms can really, you know, kind of take those steps and hiring that technology department, you know, lucky for others, we can kind of step in and provide that market data that CEI intelligence for them. And even for the firms that have, you know, their own CI department, they still need data on their competing firms to use to create that proper analysis and benchmarking. And that’s where we step in to fill that bill. But technology has been getting much, much better in in many law firms, but not all law firms, there will always be some that are sort of lagging behind.

Rachel  33:11

I wonder, you know, when is going to be the point where these people who are lagging behind will start to realize that, you know, if if you don’t change, then you die, essentially, you know, it’s because eventually just not going to be able to keep up with everyone else around you. So I think one of the technologies that in addition to data that we’ve been hearing about is the use of artificial intelligence in you know, recruiting and and other operations. I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about like your experience in using artificial intelligence and recruiting and things like that, and how it can improve those processes.

Laura Leopard  33:46

We have a product that uses AI, that sort of analyzes a possible merger, right, so it can produce possible candidates. And then when you select one, we use all of the data from all the past mergers that we’ve seen in our database, to really say, Well, this is how we think this merger would go based on attrition rates. And then we highlight all the risks points, you know, of that particular acquisition or merger. And that’s, that’s in the BI Suite. An AI for hiring is kind of tricky. So while it sounds like you know, oh, we’re going to use AI and it’s going to eliminate bias. The problem is there will be inherent bias baked in, depending upon the data set that AI is based on. And the legal industry has historically been predominantly white and male for decades. So an AI hiring system based on that data set is going to have bias unless you work to overcome it. If you’re parsing resumes and cover letters is going to need to be trained on you know, being neutral on titles and verbiage. And you know, was key words. Now we like to look at data patterns, which can prove to be, you know, maybe even more helpful than that kind of AI. You know, there’s different processes that firms do almost without thinking, you know, firms do a lot of institutional hiring. And we can show that in data and tell that story. And these are the types of data patterns that you know, I would like to see kind of shake up that hiring model, the one that, you know, may not be serving the firm as well as they thought. But an AI for hiring has always been tricky. And we’ve, we’ve explored some of this ourselves. And then at the same time, we said, Well, wait a minute, it could very well be that the best person at the firm, the one that succeeds the most is always going to be that white male partner that came on 30 years ago. So this is something that we’re working on. And we’re working to see how we could eliminate bias in that kind of report. But it’s, it’s a tricky thing. And it’s I know, a lot of companies outside of law firms have used it. And there have been a lot of issues with using AI in that process. So it’s something you have to watch very closely.

Rachel  36:17

Yeah, I think there’s this misconception that AI is just like, you know, it’s not a person. So how can it you know, make these questionable decisions. But the problem is that, like a person has to build the AI. And it has to be based off of, you know, it has to learn these things from something else. So I can see how that would be a slippery slope. So with that in mind, like do you see…Or I guess, like what technologies do you see changing these processes moving forward? What do you expect the role of technology will be like, in the future?

Laura Leopard  36:49

There are many, there are many hiring issues. And we are working now on a really cool piece of technology. To help with one of those, you know, I talked to I talked to a lot of law firm people who have to do a lot of work, before the hiring partner sits down with the candidate. Because so often that hire can be blown if that hiring partner doesn’t know what to say that I care. So much about lateral hiring is about convincing that person to join your firm. And competition right now is at an all-time high. So what sets your firm apart? You know, why would this top-notch corporate m&a attorney, choose your firm over the five others that he’s looking at, you really have to tell them and you can’t just say, Oh, we’re a great firm with great people and a great culture, you really have to say, how your firm has, you know, grown over your competitors. Let’s say you’re interviewing a woman who’s an IP associate and wants to make partner, well let her know how many women IP partners you have in your firm in relation to her current firm. And if that number isn’t as great, maybe the percentage of growth is great, right? Just convince them that your firm is the best choice by using data to confirm that back. There are always good stories that can be told with data. And we are trying to help firms uncover those and help that hiring partner convey those really positive things. And right now, you can do that. But you’d have to run several reports. And then you’d have to write the analysis and then hand it to the to the hiring partner. So we are developing a tool called the Coach’s Corner, that’s going to do just that. And it’s going to analyze the firm that seeking to hire against the firm with the attorney currently works. And it’s going to map out all the positives that we have in the data for your firm. And that is a really important part of the conversation. Right now the competition is so tight, and it’s so everything is moving so quickly, that they all need, you know, as as much help as they can to paint their firm in the right light if they’re gonna get that higher. So there’s a lot of power on the job seeker right now, especially in certain practice areas and in certain areas of the country. And they want to make sure that they’re making the right choice. All that there’s a lot of strange decisions going on out there. There’s, there’s a race for, you know, who’s getting paid the most. But if you’re all paying the most, how do you decide between one and the other, you have to look at all of that other data to say overall, our firm would be the better choice for you because of a B, C, D, and E. And that’s what we’re trying to do is give them the data for all of those points. So you may see people making decisions based on all of those metrics, and all of those things that that firm offers, as opposed to just monetary decisions, right? Am I going to be happy where I go? Am I going to be able to live the kind of life that I want to leave, all of that’s going to happen and that those firms that are doing that are going to change the dynamic of the rest. So it’s not all about starting salary, and it’s not all about the PPP. There’s a lot more in the mix now. And there may be a reshuffling of firms, as some firms begin to realize they need to change how they do business in order to have, you know, people that stay with them and people who want to join them.

Rachel  40:48

There will be an interesting thing to watch here in the coming years, especially as your company continues to roll out these new tools.

Laura Leopard  40:54

As a group as a women working in law firms, as men working in law firms, we have to look and demand and ask for that change to happen.

Rachel  41:04

Excellent. Well, that’s why we’re so excited to have you on as a guest today to get these ideas and these topics out there! So special. Thanks to you, Laura, for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

OUTRO  41:19

Thank you for listening to The National Law Review’s Legal News Reach podcast. Be sure to follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts for more episodes for the latest legal news. interested in publishing and advertising with us visit WWW dot NAT law review.com. We’ll be back soon with our next episode.

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC
For more episodes of Legal News Reach, please visit the podcast page.

A Lawyer’s Guide to Integrated Marketing

Like many lawyers, I did not learn about marketing in law school. I knew nothing about communications or media relations before law school, either. When I graduated and began practicing at a boutique matrimonial law firm, there was no internal or external marketing resource, and no direct conversations or plans about public relations or branding. One founding partner talked about the importance of reputation for connecting with potential clients and how his connections in the legal community resulted in many referrals, but he never mentioned marketing.

Yet, as I tagged along to bar association meetings, drafted articles that the partner published in a legal journal, and received encouragement to network at Inns of Court sessions, I saw this side of legal practice come to light. We didn’t call it marketing, or PR, and it was well before social media, but I understood that the partner was intentionally marketing the practice and generating awareness of the firm’s experience — an effort that resulted in new client engagements.

When I decided to leave law after a few years, I enrolled in a New York University course about marketing for professional services. As luck would have it, the instructor was Deborah Brightman Farone, an extraordinary legal marketer then and now — she was inducted into the Legal Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame at the organization’s 2022 annual conference. Deborah introduced me to the field of law firm marketing, and since then, I have worked with hundreds of lawyers and professional marketers on business development and integrated marketing plans, and have helped them make marketing part of their daily practice.

Most lawyers need to understand what this marketing thing is all about. I see firsthand their appreciation for the importance of building client relationships, cross-selling expertise within the firm, and networking. However, I don’t see an understanding of the terms and tactics of legal marketing as often. I think that with so much to learn in law school, there just isn’t time to learn the business side of law. Once a lawyer is practicing law, there may be little direction about how to reach prospects and referral sources, stand apart from other lawyers doing similar work, and find time to “market oneself.”

I frequently read articles where lawyers describe their routes to becoming partner or managing a practice or office. The words “PR” or “marketing” may not appear in their answers, but as someone who has advised lawyers about practice growth for more than 20 years, I know that positioning themselves as knowledge leaders played a role in the success of their relationship-building and practice development. And that, of course, is marketing.

This article will take you through five steps I always examine with lawyers who are just getting started with marketing, or participating in a firmwide marketing program.

  1. Acknowledge the Need for Education

Earning a JD and passing the bar exam prepare a lawyer for the practice of law, but not the business of law. My colleague Vivian Hood recently wrote, “Law schools focus on teaching the art of law, and not so much on the art of connections.” Courses about marketing, public relations, or social media are not part of the law school curriculum. Rather, law school teaches students to read cases and apply precedent, analyze facts and frame arguments, and spot the real issues and see the red herrings. Likewise, legal writing courses, moot court competitions, internships, and other hands-on work prepare them for practicing law. Their understanding of marketing may extend to billboards they see on their way to work, law firm ads in legal journals, or networking events with bar associations.

Lawyers know how to practice law, but do not know what marketing is or how it supports business development and revenue. Education is the first step to heightening awareness. On many occasions, I have explained how PR works so lawyers understand the events that result in being quoted in a trade publication, or the behind-the-scenes steps that go into earning a speaking engagement at an industry event.

  1. Discuss Perceptions of Marketing

The only way to know how an attorney perceives marketing is to ask, and then provide guidance about worthwhile and suitable marketing efforts.

Lawyers often shy away from marketing because they associate it with sales. My colleague Glennie Green explains, “Most attorneys envision some sort of sales when the idea of marketing and business development comes up. They see car salespeople, or aggressive pitches for timeshares. But that is the wrong mindset. Business development is not sales. Business development is cultivating and nurturing relationships.”

Relationships can be built in many ways. A common misconception is that marketing success is based on the ability to be a natural rainmaker who can walk into any room and instantly make connections for the firm. That belief can create unrealistic expectations and undue stress, because rainmakers are few and far between. Relationships can be built and nurtured without that unique rainmaker quality. Everyone adapts to situations differently ­— some of us are introverts, others extroverts, or a combination of traits.

  1. Assess the Impact of Previous Experiences

Lawyers may base their perceptions of marketing on prior experiences. Lawyers have told me, “I wrote many articles in the past, and they never amounted to any new business.”

“I traveled to speak at a conference, and not a single attendee turned out to be a new client.”

“I did an interview with a reporter who misquoted me.”

“I have a LinkedIn profile, but I’m not interested in doing anything with it; it’s just like Facebook.”

Many people fear failure, and many transactional lawyers and litigators are driven by winning. It is no surprise, then, that lawyers question the value of something that has not been a winner in the past. Understanding and acknowledging these hesitations can lead to productive discussions about marketing and, more specifically, about techniques that may be better suited for the lawyer.

  1. Discuss the Time Commitment

The billable-hour model of legal practice can affect a lawyer’s availability to market their practice. Too many business-driving commitments will inevitably frustrate a lawyer and diminish the success of marketing. It’s better to work with a distinct set of action items that can take only a few minutes a day rather than many hours each week.

Glennie Green has helped lawyers identify their advocates — assistants, paralegals, the firm’s librarians; people they can partner with to achieve their action items. One managing partner with a busy practice serves as an example of this effort. “He has made a commitment to conduct a certain number of meetings a month with current and potential referral sources,” she says. “He enlists a paralegal in the office to help schedule those meetings, as well as maintain his ‘marketing’ calendar. This allows him to keep his focus on his practice and manage the firm. He regularly checks his calendar for new appointments, and he says he looks forward to seeing whom he will meet with next. Once he realized that he didn’t have to do it all and enlisted some help, his plan and marketing goals became not only manageable but systematic.”

  1. Find the Comfort Zone

Marketing efforts must be tailored to a lawyer’s personality and interests. Everyone has a different comfort level. Some lawyers love to speak at conferences, and others would rather research a case and write an analysis for a journal. One lawyer may already enjoy engaging on social media, and another may feel crushed for time but would be amenable to doing a 30-minute interview with a reporter. Perhaps a lawyer may enjoy participating in an association’s events or committees. Green explains, “Knowing a lawyer’s areas of confidence, and recognizing what causes any discomfort, is crucial to establish the right marketing plan with the flexibility to change direction as needed.”

The avenues for marketing include website content and branding, social media posts and engagement, media relations, published quotes and articles, rankings submissions and awards, conferences and speaking opportunities, networking, events, and more. The questions and conversations I’ve provided lead to more precise choices of marketing tactics, as well as more informed expectations of results. An integrated marketing and business development program offers lawyers a selection of tactics, with deliberate matching to their preferences and the flexibility to change as needed.

© Copyright 2008-2022, Jaffe Associates

How Businesses Can Use LinkedIn Company Newsletters in Their Marketing Efforts

LinkedIn has added what I think is the most helpful tool in a long time for businesses to engage with and bring value to their followers – the ability for LinkedIn Company Pages to publish email newsletters right through LinkedIn.

This underscores the importance of having a company page and how it can be used as a content hub for marketing and recruiting your business.

Linked Company Page newsletters are available to businesses with more than 150 followers that actively maintain their LinkedIn presences.

You can create a LinkedIn Company Page newsletter in three simple steps:

  1. Create: Start writing an article on and select “Create a Newsletter.” Give it a title, add a header image (it prompts you with the dimensions) and cut and paste your text. You can add hyperlinks and images for each article too.
  2. Publish: When you publish your newsletter it will post to your feed and LinkedIn will notify your followers. They can opt in to receive email and in-platform notifications when you publish new content.
  3. Review performance: View the analytics of each newsletter sent out and see the number of subscribers. The number increases pretty quickly which is awesome. And it’s opt in so you don’t have to worry about GDPR rules.

There’s a lot of opportunity here because it is a new feature (for companies – it’s been available to individuals for a short time) and most companies don’t know about it yet (and certainly aren’t using it yet), so being an early adopter is to your benefit.

Even if you send out an email newsletter, you should still utilize the LinkedIn platform to send out a newsletter because you will reach a different audience and cast a wider net for your content.

In addition, people are opting into this newsletter, so it’s not building an audience from scratch, and if you haven’t ever sent out an email newsletter, this is a great way to start. If email marketing programs and CRM management tools overwhelm you, this is a great way to test out the waters.

It’s also really easy to repurpose content you already have. I would include hyperlinks to your website or blog with the full text (in order to keep the newsletter short and to drive traffic to your site).

You can embed links from YouTube into the newsletter to play. Check out my LinkedIn newsletter to see how it looks.

Here are some content ideas for what you can include in your LinkedIn Company Page Newsletter:

  • Article snippets with links to your latest blog posts or client alerts
  • Links to past webinars (provide a synopsis too)
  • Links to recent podcasts and videos (with shownotes)
  • Recent case studies
  • Q&As with your employees
  • Highlights of your community service/pro bono work
  • Announcements of your recent hires
  • Recent press coverage (this would be the only place where I would recommend including self-promotional items in the newsletter – the rest of it should be client-focused)
  • Upcoming events/webinars – this is a great way to promote them
  • Open jobs – why not promote them through this newsletter? It’s a competitive job market
  • News about your diversity and women’s initiatives programs – clients care a lot about this

Check out this new feature and let me know what you think of it. With nearly 800 million people on LinkedIn and the fact that your competitors are very likely not using it yet, it’s at least worth trying out.

Copyright © 2022, Stefanie M. Marrone. All Rights Reserved.

February 2022 Legal News Roundup: Women in Law, Promotions & More

Happy belated Valentine’s Day from the National Law Review team. Please read on for new legal industry hires, promotions and awards.

Firm Recognition & Awards

Much is included on the 2022 Top Workplaces USA list, which recognizes organizations with a people-centered culture.

“At Much, our culture centers on people: our employees, our clients, and our community partners,” said Managing Partner Mitchell Roth. “We work each day to support a collaborative, kind, and service-oriented environment, so to be recognized for our culture on a national level is a tremendous honor.”

The rankings are based on employee feedback from a survey administered by Energage, an employee engagement technology partner. The survey gauged various aspects of workplace culture, including  alignment, execution, connection, and more.

Womble Bond Dickinson is one of the Best Places to Work for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) workplace equality, earning a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

The survey is administered by the Human Rights Campaign, and acts as a benchmarking tool to track how businesses are adopting equitable workplace policies, practices and benefits for LGBTQ+ employees. Womble Bond Dickinson earned perfect scores every year since 2015.

“We are honored to be named one of the HRC’s Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Employees once again,” said Betty Temple, Chair & CEO of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. “We at Womble Bond Dickinson have worked hard to promote diversity and inclusion. These efforts include earning Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers—including LGBTQ+ attorneys—in law firm leadership, partner promotions and lateral hires by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities. We have much more work to do, but we are proud to be recognized for the progress we have made.”

Lawdragon recognized Foley & Lardner partners Daniel Kaplan, John (Jack) Lord, Jr., and Rachel Powitzky Steely on its 2022 edition of 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, an annual recognition of the nation’s top advisors on workforce issues. Lawdragon selected the honorees based on submissions, editorial vetting and journalistic research.

Lawdragon said that this year’s honorees “specialize in defending corporations in everything from wage and overtime claims to trade secret disputes, while helping companies maintain global workforces throughout a pandemic.”

Law firm Hiring & Additions

Varnum LLP expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of Timothy D. Kroninger. Joining the firm’s Detroit office as an associate, Mr. Kroninger focuses his practice on copyright law, trade secret law, patent and trademark prosecution and more. He also has experience in drafting design patent applications, as well as participating in United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trademark opposition proceedings.

Beyond his practice at Varnum, Mr. Kroninger works as a supervising attorney in the Trademark and Entrepreneur Clinic at University of Detroit Mercy College of Law. There, he instructs law students on copyright registration, drafting corporate documents, and protection of trademarks.

Beveridge & Diamond PC elected four new principals: Eric Christensen, located in SeattleAllyn Stern, located in Seattle; Michael Vitris, located in Austin; and Gus Winkes, located in Seattle. Mr. Christensen practices in energy law, assisting companies and consumers in navigating the legal and regulatory landscape. Ms. Stern, former U.S. EPA regional counsel, helps clients develop environmental compliance strategies. Mr. Winkles practices in a variety of fields, providing solutions-oriented legal representation in the areas of enforcement defense, regulatory compliance, and contaminated site cleanup. Mr. Vitris, former litigation attorney with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, defends companies in class actions and environmental mass torts.

“Each of these Principals’ talents, skills, and expertise deepen and enhance B&D’s dynamic regulatory compliance and litigation practice as environmental and energy law continue to evolve,” said firmwide managing principal Kathy Szmuszkovicz. “They’ve proven their ability to deliver top-notch service to clients and to serve as thought-leaders at a particularly exciting time in our practice. We look forward to their continued success and contributions in their new roles.”

Barnes & Thornburg LLP added five new attorneys and legal professionals across various offices. Associate William Choi  joined the firm’s Los Angeles office, and associate Albert D. Farr joined the New York office. Mr. Choi focuses his practice on product liability and complex civil litigation, and he is well-versed in all aspects of pretrial case management. Likewise, Mr. Farr practices in transactional tax law, counseling multinational strategic and private equity clients on transaction tax structuring, tax diligence and more.

Furthermore, legal professionals Amit DattaAl Maloof, and Soyoung Yang joined Barnes & Thornburg’s ChicagoIndianapolis, and Washington D.C. offices, respectively. Dr. Datta, a business transaction advisor, provides targeted legal advice and strategic insight for European clients conducting business in the U.S. Mr. Maloof, a client relationship specialist, provides strategic consultation among the firm’s government services, compliance and regulatory attorneys. Ms. Yang, a legal fellow, aids attorneys and clients on matters related to international trade, customs and the supply chain.

William L. Nimick  joined the Construction Litigation and Counsel practice group at Goldberg Segalla LLP. An experienced litigator, Mr. Nimick is located in the firm’s Raleigh office, where he counsels insurers, contractors, subcontractors and corporate entities in liability claims including but not limited to property damage, personal injury and construction defects.

Previously, Mr. Nimick worked as a civil litigator across North Carolina, representing clients in areas such as wrongful death, workers’ compensation, and subrogation. Specifically he  handled subrogation claims such as motor vehicle accidents, product liability lawsuits and large fire losses.

Women in the Legal Industry

Angela Bowlin of Frilot LLC law firm has accepted a position serving on the International Association of Defense Council (IADC), an organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance matters. Ms. Bowlin focuses her practice on mass torts and class actions, with experience in asbestos and other toxic tort cases.

“I am honored to have been selected as a member of IADC and look forward to working on the many important committees related to the law and its many facets,” said Ms. Bowlin.

Nicole Archibald joined Foley Hoag LLP as their Director of Legal Recruiting. Ms. Archibald will work alongside the Foley Hoag team to attract and promote a diverse group of attorneys to help the firm achieve its diversity and inclusion goals.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Nicole to Foley Hoag, and are confident that she will be a great asset to the firm and its culture. Her considerable prior experience as a director of recruiting, legal search consultant and practicing litigator will prove a valuable asset as we look to 2022 and beyond. Our executive committee, practice leaders, hiring committee and I are excited to begin working with Nicole to attract new talent and strengthen our market-leading practices,” said Foley Hoag Co-Managing Partner Kenneth Leonetti.

“I look forward to collaborating with Foley Hoag’s management, department chairs and practice leaders, and hiring committee to develop, implement and execute proactive recruiting initiatives to further the firm’s hiring goals and strategic growth plan,” said Ms. Archibald.

Norton Rose Fulbright appointed New York partner Robin Adelstein as the Co-Head of Commercial Litigation, joining Houston partner Andrew Price. Ms. Adelstein brings extensive experience in litigating complex commercial disputes and advises companies with respect to antitrust issues regarding mergers, joint ventures and more.

“Robin has long been respected as a leader within the firm as our Global and US Head of Antitrust and Competition, and she is a highly-recognized practitioner in her field. I look forward to seeing the great work that our commercial litigation group will do under Robin’s and Andrew’s leadership,” said Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Managing Partner.

“Our firm has a longstanding reputation for advising clients on their most complex and significant matters. It is an honor to head Norton Rose Fulbright’s commercial litigation group along with Andrew; I am proud to be leading such a talented group of lawyers,” said Ms. Adelstein.

Copyright ©2022 National Law Forum, LLC

How Marketers Can Better Support Inclusion for Women Lawyers of Color — Today

A new in-depth report from the American Bar Association, Left Out and Left Behind: The Hurdles, Hassles and Heartaches of Achieving Long-Term Legal Careers for Women of Color, draws on data and interviews to tell the story of what life is like for women lawyers of color. The report, authored by social scientist Destiny Peery, past ABA president Paulette Brown and Chicago attorney Eileen Letts, demonstrates why, despite increased efforts by firms and the profession generally, to improve diversity and inclusion, women of color continue to face barriers to advancement and are much more likely than white women counterparts to leave the profession.

This report is essential reading for any law leader who is serious about making true substantive changes that will improve the retention and advancement of women of color — particularly those leaders whose firms are posting “Black Lives Matter” messages in internal communications and on social media channels. Becoming an antiracist law firm does not end with a slogan or “messaging” — it requires an honest examination of formal and informal policies and practices, and a reckoning with the impact of those policies on lawyers of color. Then it’s time to reimagine how your firm runs to make sure opportunities are fairly distributed.

While it’s very important to hear and sit with the stories individual lawyers share from their experience of implicit and explicit bias, if I know my audience of driven, task-oriented marketers and communicators, you will be skipping to the end, where the report recommends next steps for firms that want to take action. Below I outline those general recommendations, and then consider the role of the marketing department in helping to make them a reality.

Adopt Best Practices for Reducing Biases in Decision-Making. “[P]revious research that has shown that high levels of subjectivity in promotion standards, selection for assignments, compensation decisions, and performance appraisals are often colored by stereotypes and serve as institutional and structural barriers to the advancement of women of color and other underrepresented attorneys.”

What Marketers Can Do: How does your department determine which partners receive marketing and communications support as they work to build their business? Is there a way to distribute those resources — help with individual lawyers’ social media channels, assistance writing and placing thought leadership, nominations for awards and key boards of directors — more fairly to elevate your firm’s diverse attorneys? How can you help advise up-and-coming partners on which opportunities will be the best use of their limited time and make the biggest impact on their business development?

Improve Access to Effective, Engaged Mentors and Sponsors. “[W]omen of color are especially likely to report that they lack access to mentors or sponsors who are well-connected and have power and influence to both clue them into important dynamics of the workplace and effectively advocate for them.”

What Marketers Can Do: Marketers have a great opportunity to help create mentorship and sponsorship relationships through the business development and proposal-writing process. By now, most rainmakers and practice leaders understand that business clients demand to be served by diverse teams. So they’re being thoughtful about including diverse attorneys in pitch decks and other materials. You can help move that inclusion to the next level by adding a follow-up communication step to your BD process in which all named/pictured team members de-brief and offer feedback. This is a simple way to build a platform upon which younger and diverse attorneys can demonstrate their value in front of the senior partners who can shape their career opportunities. In addition, you can use channels like the internal firm newsletter to educate more senior partners on how to effectively advocate for diverse attorneys — and, in doing so, help the firm stand out as a leader on an issue that matters very much to clients.

Take an Intersectional Approach to Addressing Diversity and Gender. “[B]lindness to or ignorance of the ways that gender and race (as well as other social identities) can interact to create distinct experiences” has so far limited what firms have been able to achieve. Firms must acknowledge that, while they are still disadvantaged, white women’s careers develop differently because of their access to privilege. They navigate networking differently, are viewed differently by colleagues, clients, and judges, and receive distinct treatment when it comes to work distribution and performance evaluation.

What Marketers Can Do: Take a look at how you use words like “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” in internal and external firm communications. Do you grapple with intersectionality — that is, the way that experiences of race and gender (and class and sexuality and ability) intersect for your attorneys — in your messaging? Are there ways that your “diversity” initiatives and communications erase the experience of women who are not white? How could you make changes to address this issue?

 “[O]ur participants mentioned again and again the myriad ways that the culture of the legal profession interfered with their abilities to succeed, to feel valued, and sometimes to persist in the legal profession.”

What Marketers Can Do. So much! 1) Take a look at your firm’s (pre-Covid, in-person) events. Where are they typically held? Do you always choose locations and activities that are most comfortable for wealthy white men? How might you change things up? 2) Does your firm have a written editorial style guide? If so, does it include a section on inclusive language so that everyone knows how to use language in the most inclusive ways possible? 3) If your intended audience for your internal firm communications is “everyone,” are you sure your language and framing actually accomplish that goal, or are you unintentionally treating a white reader as the default? 4) What other unexamined policies, practices, habits and conventions may implicitly communicate to diverse partners that they don’t fully belong? Learning how to spot potential for “othering” and exclusion in communications and other marketing activities is an important skill your department needs to teach its junior members and encourage them to practice.

True change that makes law firms into more equitable and inclusive workplaces for all lawyers must happen on both the systemic and individual levels. While many of the most sweeping and necessary changes are out of the hands of junior and senior legal marketers, there are plenty of things we can do within the scope of our influence that will make a difference. And the time to start is now.

© 2020 Page2 Communications. All rights reserved.

ARTICLE BY Debra Pickett at Page 2 Communications.

For more on diversity in law firms, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Coronavirus and Law Firm Event Marketing: Cancelled, Postponed or Just Different?

Given the current circumstances associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19), a law firm has three choices when it comes to executing on their 2020 event calendar: cancel, postpone, or just change the format. My vote would be for you to change the format wherever you can to stay top of mind and relevant to your client base and referral sources while still practicing a responsible form of “social distancing.”

In-person business development and communication through event marketing involves creating an experience that attendees look forward to, get value from, and associate with your brand. Through hosting various types of business development activities, you can set your law firm up as a networking hub for diverse practices, become a thought leader in your legal niche, and establish a history of credentialing activities that will keep you top-of-mind in your legal community. Virtual events for law firms can, and will, do the same.

It is known that law firm marketing has evolved rapidly in the last decade. In a recent study, 67% of legal marketing professionals and 45% of attorneys listed firm-hosted events as one of the most effective ways to get new clients.  Even with all of the new marketing strategies and techniques, face-to-face connection remains one of the most effective ways to network and gain new clients. In the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that is requiring all industries, even the legal industry, to take a second look at how they will continue to operate effectively under quarantine conditions, law firms need to be flexible in how they market. Event marketing can still take place in the spring and summer of 2020, it will just look a little different than originally anticipated. Excluding large luncheons, parties, and galas, for the most part, technology can allow a law firm to move forward with most of their planned events.

Virtual Business Development Events for Law Firms

Every type of business development event attracts different stakeholders, networking opportunities, and ways to strengthen your law firm’s market dominance. Some types of business development activities for law firms that can be transformed into virtual events include the following:

  • Seminars. Conferences that provide training or updates on legal changes in your area of practice. Many seminars and conferences have scheduled downtime and social time, allowing attendees to network and nurture connections that may lead to future referrals. This networking aspect of a seminar can be done in a virtual manner through private chat rooms or even through a special area of your website that allows for “booths” to be created for information sharing.
  • Legal CLE events. Continuing legal education is an essential part of attorney growth, and since continuing legal education is required for lawyers in most parts of the United States, these events offer clear value to attendees. Speakers at continuing legal education events also have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise, strengthen their image as an authority in their field, and connect with others in relevant areas of practice. CLEs have been webcasted and recorded for years and the coronavirus outbreak really should have no effect on your law firm’s CLEs schedule. All that is necessary to proceed is to tell your audience it will be a webcasted program rather than a live program, hire a professional videographer, and then add then video and handouts to your website.
  • General education events. These events strengthen a firm’s credibility within the community and demonstrate the firm’s expertise to its target client base. For example, an immigration attorney could host an online Q&A seminar through their Facebook page on recent changes to immigration laws and invite affected community members to attend through that medium. An estate planning attorney may host an informal brown bag luncheon that is webcasted on long-term care options to caretakers of aging family members.
  • Brown bag lunch and learns. Lunch and learn events take advantage of the fact that many attorneys have extremely busy schedules. These events last between 30 and 60 minutes and take place over the lunch hour, letting attorneys fit education or networking into their busy day. Brown bag lunches can also take place in a virtual environment. Attorneys can provide a memorable brown bag experience online through the sharing of relevant documents beforehand that they will go over and using screensharing to direct attention of attendees. Law firms will want to make sure that they pay special attention to small things such as consistency in their lawyer screen names and the background portrayed in their videoconference (i.e. what is behind you or what is around you that the other participants will see and does this portray your law firm in the best way possible).
  • Panels. Panel discussions let attendees learn from multiple experts simultaneously. Question-and-answer sessions provide additional value, allowing attendees to get answers to specific, relevant questions. Panels are easy to convert to a digital format. Be sure to have your moderator use the first name of the person that they are addressing when a question is asked as the conversation has to be directed a bit differently than it would in person when you can connect with body language and eye contact. Also, the audience should know beforehand how their questions can be posed and if they are required to have their computer on mute to control outside noise.
  • Collaborations. Collaborating with businesses relevant to your area of practice expands attorneys’ opportunities for networking. For example, an estate planning law firm may collaborate with a senior activity center to help attendees better understand the needs of aging clients, or an intellectual property law firm may run a seminar with a venture capital firm. These types of collaborations can be moved into a digital format by prerecording them for the audience. The business can easily gather questions that come up from attendees and send them to the attorney or law firm afterward so individual phone calls can be made to the guests as follow-up.

Rather than seeing the need to change the format of their existing events to be virtual as a problem, marketing savvy law firms are seeing this as an opportunity. They are utilizing their existing commitments to being modern law practices with functional, time saving technology to continue to connect with their audience. They are using videoconferencing, webcasting, and video recording to continue to host relevant programming for their community. The real challenge in pivoting an event marketing strategy to be entirely digital for the next 3-6 months will be working with the right type of marketing and videography professionals to engage the audience and drive attendance.

Preparation and Follow-Up

Event success, even for virtual events, is more than just choosing the event for your audience. It is critical to have a clear strategy about how to prepare for your event, execute a successful activity, and follow-up to ensure that it is doing the business development work you expect it to.

Know what success looks like. Prior to the event, you should know which benchmarks you want to reach and have ways to measure those. For example, you may want to hit a certain number of attendees, have representatives from a set number of firms, or yield a specific number of networking connections.

Promote your event strategically. Look into different ways to promote an event including traditional invitations through mail or email, social media, and broadcast or print advertising. Be sure to create a custom hashtag to encourage social media engagement before, during, and after the event.

Expect the unexpected. From technology glitches to presenter snafus, being underprepared can end up turning your potential networking opportunity into a PR nightmare. Make sure to give yourself time to work out all the kinks well in advance of your event date and hire a professional to guide you through the process.

Strategize follow-up activities. Following up with attendees after an event provides valuable information on how successful the event was and whether or not it is worth repeating. Some firms use automated email sequences to gauge the results of an event. Reviewing social media engagement, lead generation, attendance numbers, and other metrics provides valuable insight into the success of the event.

Conclusion

Event marketing in 2020 will need to look a little different for law firms but it still remains an effective tool for fostering professional networking and client connections. With the wide range of events to choose from and also the technology available to today’s law firms, there are many options to help firms continue with their previously planned activity calendar. In addition, when law firms are strategic about how they structure, prepare for, and follow up from their virtual business development event, it can be an incredibly powerful form of marketing that is inexpensive, engaging, and memorable.


© 2020 Denver Legal Marketing LLC

For more on managing events during the coronavirus situation, see the National Law Review Coronavirus News page.

Legal News and Updates for January 2020: Law Firm Moves, Legal Industry Trends

Law firms and the businesses that surround them have hit the ground running in 2020, with tons of announcements, big moves by law firms and innovation across the entire field.  Read on for a small taste of some of the exciting developments in the legal industry.

Hiring and Law Firm Moves

Patent preparation and prosecution law firm, Harrity & Harrity, LLP recently announced the firm had added four new patent attorneys: Joseph Lentivech, Patrick Hansen, McCord Rayburn, and Bret Tingey; as well as two new law clerks: Sara Ko and Abigail Troy.

Joseph Lentivech is based in Mobile, Alabama, and returns to Harrity & Harrity to practice after his service as an Administrative Patent Judge at the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO).  His practice focuses on the prosecution of patent applications in electrical and computer technologies, encompassing telecommunications and computer hardware and software.  Patrick Hansen will be based in the Raleigh office, and has experience representing petitioners and patent owners in post-grant proceedings, with specialization in patent applications for electrical, computer and mechanical technologies.  McCord Rayburn has international patent experience, coordinating inbound national state patent application filings for foreign corporations, and he will work out of the law firm’s Charlotte office.  Bret Tingey focuses on patent preparation and prosecution in mechanical and electrical technology, with extensive experience writing memos and briefs in IP litigation–including some submitted to the US Supreme Court–and he will be based in Raleigh.  Law Clerks Sora Ko and Abigail Troy both have experience in patent preparation and prosecution before the USPTO and will work out of Harrity & Harrity’s DC office.

Paul Harritiy, a partner in the firm, called the group “superstars” and says, “we are excited for this group to join our team and assist the firm in continuing to provide excellent customer service to our Patent 300 clients.”

Lipson Neilson started off 2020 by announcing it has added nationally-recognized Surety & Fidelity Law attorneys Phillip G. AlberJeffrey M. FrankOmar J. Harb, and Jessica L. Wynn, all four previously with Alber Frank PC law firm. Alber will head up a new Lipson Neilson office in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Frank, Harb and Wynn will be based in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills, Michigan office.

Jeffrey Neilson, a co-founder of the firm, says,  “They’re a tremendous and immediate asset to our firm in the area of Surety & Fidelity Law and bring significant expertise in other areas of law and litigation as well. I think their decision to move to Lipson Neilson is a good indication of our reputation, our work and our culture.”

In a move that will strengthen the firm’s healthcare and corporate practices, Manatt announced that Paul A. Carr-Rollitt has joined as a healthcare partner in the Los Angeles office. Carr-Rollitt focuses his practice on corporate healthcare concerns, and his healthcare transaction experience includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, reorganizations, affiliations, public offerings, and private equity transactions.  His practice includes advising non-traditional and traditional health care entities, and his advice is legal, business-oriented, and incorporates strategy as well as policy concerns.  Bill Bernstein, the leader of Manatt Health, calls Carr-Rollitt a “perfect fit” with Manatt’s growing practice.  Bernstein says, “He brings with him an excellent roster of clients and has a national healthcare practice, which encompasses both payers and providers.”

On his end, Carr-Rollitt says Manatt’s blending of strategy with legal advice is an approach he’s always appreciated.  “I am excited to be part of a firm that has a strong understanding of and commitment to the future of the healthcare industry and to work with some of the most forward-thinking professionals from coast to coast,” he says.

Last week, Katten announced that Mitchel C. Pahl has joined its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice as a partner in the New York office. Pahl’s practice concentrates on employee benefits and executive compensation in private and public company M&A’s.  He has also been involved in high-profile corporate transactions in a variety of industries including real estate, health care, and financial services.  Additionally, he has advised clients on the operation and design of qualified retirement plans, equity incentive plans, and other compensation arrangements, as well as on negotiating executive employment agreements and separation packages.

Kate Ulrich Saracene, Katten partner and leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice, praises Pahl’s decades of experience across complex transactions. “Mitch also brings new capabilities to Katten with his focus on qualified retirement plans, benefit plans for non-profits and experience working with ESOPs,” says Saracene. “With the addition of Mitch, we’ve achieved our goal of building a full-service employee benefits and executive compensation practice, able to advise any type of client on any type of plan or transaction.”

Cornerstone Research started off 2020 by naming  Dr. Yesim C. Richardson as President.  In a departure for the organization, Richardson will share leadership with CEO Rahul Guha, who also took on his role on January 1, 2020.  The duo succeeds Michael E. Burton, who had served in both roles since July of 2014.

Yesim Richardson Cornerstone Research
Yesim Richardson

After a period of succession planning, the organization decided it made the most sense to divide the responsibilities of the CEO and President, and have two individuals fill those roles instead of combining them.  “At this stage in our history,” says Dr. Guha, “we believe splitting the CEO and president responsibilities ensures the most effective leadership structure for our future.” Prior to her appointment as President, Dr. Richardson served on Cornerstone Research’s board of directors, and has been active on firm governance committees.  In her new role as president, she will focus on talent strategies and service delivery, and continue to consult and support Cornerstone Research experts on litigation matters and other consulting questions.  “Cornerstone Research has always lived its values . . .we have been guided by our commitment to deliver top-quality work to our clients, provide exceptional support to our experts, and develop pathways to leadership for our outstanding staff,” says Richardson.  “We have enhanced the way we run the firm to support this commitment even more fully. I am proud and grateful to partner with Rahul as we look ahead to the continued growth and success of this extraordinary company.”

Porter Wright announced last week that Deb Boiarsky was promoted into the firm’s Chief Operating Partner position.  This development comes after the firm has grown, with two new offices and a 30-percent partner increase across the firm.  Boiarsky focuses her practice on employee benefits–specifically ERISA and IRS compliance–but in her role as the Chief Operating Partner, she will work with firm leadership to oversee day to day operations at the firm with an eye towards strategy and securing firm growth and development.   Bob Tannous, managing partner of Porter Wright and the former Chief Operating Partner, indicates that a business mentality is key to success in this role.  “Deb is known for being measured and considerate,” he points out, “and for fostering strong relationships in and outside of the firm.”

Law Firm Innovation and Developments

Kluk Farber, a female-founded law firm in New York and Los Angeles, has partnered with Vivvi Early Learning, a provider of employer-sponsored on and near-site child care, to provide children aged six weeks to five years access to near-site back-up care.  Vivvi has worked in a variety of industries with employers to provide childcare for employees, including hospitality, media, and advertising. Partnering with companies who understand childcare is a major pain point for their employees, and their solution can increase employee morale while lowering turnover and absenteeism.

Kluk Farber, already a progressive leader in the legal industry for providing flex-time and supporting work-life balance, entered into this partnership acknowledging that the way child care is traditionally set up is not ideal for working families.  “Being a female in law is not an easy feat to begin with, but having a family and achieving work-life integration? That’s nearly impossible,” she says.  “We learned of Vivvi’s transformational work through the NYC female founder community, and knew instantly that it was a resource we needed to integrate immediately.”

Norton Rose Fulbright advised on the development and implementation of the world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency, assisting NZIA Limited to create the currency for the Central Bank of the Bahamas.  The currency, known as “Sand Dollars” is a central bank digital currency_or CBDC–and is part of Project Sand Dollar.  Sand Dollars will be issued by the state’s central bank, and are the same as legal tender, backed by the government and used by the public.  The currency went live in digital wallets in December of 2019 and was used locally immediately after, as local businesses were onboarded through banks and other financial institutions. Now, the sand dollars are basically, legally, the same as cash.

The Bahamas was one of the first areas to develop a CBDC, and the island nation will benefit in a variety of ways; including inclusion in the financial system of unbanked and improved expenditure and tax systems. Norton Rose Fulbright Vancouver-based partner, John Kim, commented: “The innovative nature of Project Sand Dollar required us to provide equally innovative solutions to our client. Our input resulted in a system that would not only meet the requirements of current financial and regulatory regimes but actually leverage them to provide a CBDC solution that enables people to conduct more secure and instant transactions.”

Paige Justus
Paige Justus

Fortis Law Partners will now offer legal guidance on estate planning practice, assisting clients with asset-protection strategies, gift planning, and tax reduction. Paige K. Justus, a senior corporate associate with the firm, will head the practice, which will also assist clients with wealth protection strategies, wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, guardian designations for minor children and healthcare declarations. Along with individual estate planning strategies, the estate planning practice group will work with nonprofits desirous of obtaining tax-exempt status assistance.

Legal Technology and Industry Developments

Embroker, Inc, a digital insurance company, announced the Lawyers’ Professional Liability platform, ideal for both large and small law practices. This platform allows law firms across a variety of sizes to secure and enroll in legal malpractice insurance quickly, efficiently and affordably.

Embroker CEO Matt Miller says the new Embroker platform can leverage technology to improve a traditionally onerous process.   “They [attorneys] only have to spend a few minutes on each year and receive a quote from an A+ rated insurance provider,” Miller says. “By leveraging Embroker technology, our overhead is less intensive than the traditional decades-old model, and we are also able to provide lower rates that are going to be very attractive.”

Embroker will target law firms with 1-10 attorneys nationally,  as these are traditionally most impacted by the onerous process of purchasing malpractice insurance without large staffs.  The platform is currently available in 31 states, with approval pending in other states as the product is offered nationwide.

Lex Mundi recently released its Global M&A Trends Report, featuring insights from almost 70 Lex Mundi member firms from all over the world.  Each of these firms shared insights on mergers and acquisitions within their purview, focusing on key concerns facing M&A practitioners, deal activity by segment, and 2020 predictions.  The report indicated that due diligence and deal structure rank highly, with 18% and 14% of member firms respectively ranking those issues as major areas of concern.  Matters of cybersecurity and data privacy are spurring concerns in due diligence, as buyer companies are working to mitigate risk across cyber, anti-corruption, and data privacy.

Despite global disruptions such as trade wars, Brexit, and economic instability, the majority of Lex Mundi Member firms (as much as 60%) indicated they expected M&A activity to remain the same in 2020; with the top industries such as energy and power, financial services, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and life sciences seeing heavy activity.

Last week Jennifer Schaller moderated a panel at the 27th Annual Marketing Partner Forum in Miami, Florida on Client Journey Mapping for Law Firms.  In conjunction with the discussion on Client Journey Mapping, the National Law Review is conducting a survey on elements of client journey mapping, and we will be analyzing and writing up the results.  The survey is still open, so please consider taking a few minutes to add your insights.  All responses are completely confidential.

That’s it for now.  More to come as 2020 progresses!


Copyright ©2020 National Law Forum, LLC

For more legal industry news, see the Law Office Management section of the National Law Review.

Legal Industry News for October 1, 2019: Law Firm Mergers, New Additions and the Best Paralegal Programs

With fall officially upon us, the legal industry continues to whirl with change, innovation and movement.  Read on to learn about some of the developments from the past two weeks, covering law school changes, law firm updates and legal technology developments.

Law Firm Moves: Mergers, Practice Group Additions and New Hires

Boston law firm Anderson & Kreiger LLP recently announced Lon F. Povich has joined the firm as Counsel. Povich is former Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.

Mr. Povich says: “As I return to the private practice of law, I wanted to join a firm that offered challenging work in both the public and private sectors as well as an inclusive and supportive culture that prioritizes practicing law with the highest professional standards.”

As Chief Legal Counsel, Povich oversaw the confirmation process for 130 judges across the commonwealth, including 4 on the Supreme Judicial Court.  Additionally, he counseled on the regulation of new industries, such as gig economy staples like Uber, short term rentals like Airbnb and the legal marijuana industry.  Povich also contributed to the 2018 criminal justice reform bill and the 2015 reforms for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA).  David Mackey, Managing Partner at Anderson & Kreiger says, “Lon will bring to the firm experience with the wide variety of issues he dealt with in the Baker administration as well as a diverse set of experiences in the private sector and as a federal prosecutor. We know that he will be an excellent colleague and he will further strengthen our ability to serve our clients.”

James V. Drew has joined Katten in the firm’s New York office as a partner in its Insolvency and Restructuring practice.  Drew has fifteen years of experience advising clients across a variety of industries on insolvency matters.  He has particular experience in “conflicts counsel” or as an independent director role on investigations or litigations of claims and causes of actions on behalf of debtors, secured and unsecured creditors and indenture trustees.  Additionally, he has experience handling matters as lead counsel for debtors, lenders and other creditors, equity holders, liquidators and defendants in avoidance actions or bankruptcy litigation.

Steven Reisman Katten
Steven Reisman

Steven J. Reisman, the head Katten’s New York Insolvency and Restructuring practice, says, “Jim is a highly skilled attorney who is respected by his clients for his practical advice and business-minded approach to addressing their most pressing insolvency and restructuring issues.”

DLA Piper attorneys Claire Hall (Los Angeles), Richard Hans (New York), Marc Horwitz (Chicago) and Isabelle Ord (Los Angeles) are leading the firm’s new LIBOR Transition practice, assisting companies with impact assessment and advising on benchmark reform implementation across multiple jurisdictions and products. This transition from interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates poses challenges to companies that are operational, legal, related to taxes, accounting and compliance.  DLA will assist companies with these challenges by monitoring developments across industry working groups and addressing benchmark transition across jurisdictions like ISDA, SFIG/SFA, LSTA, SIFMA and the ARRC.

Hans points out that DLA Piper, with its track record of advising some of the largest financial services companies and institutions on operations and strategic planning, is well suited to assist with the LIBOR transition.  He says, “Our LIBOR transition team will be able to assist clients in creating and implementing strategic and customized action plans that lay out the steps needed to implement benchmark transition.”

 

Karen Mangasarian Haley Guiliano
Karen Mangasarian

Karen Mangasarian has joined Haley Guiliano, a boutique IP law firm as a Partner.  She will join the firm in their New York office, but she was attracted to the firm’s presence in not only New York, but also Silicon Valley and London.  She says: “I was attracted by Haley Guiliano’s entrepreneurial spirits and business value-based approach to intellectual property, as well as its commitment to diversity and the mentoring of junior lawyers and technical advisors.”

Mangasarian has over twenty years of experience in life sciences practice, including patent filing and prosecution, freedom to operate and landscape analyses, and contested proceedings in the USPTO and other patent offices.  Mangasarian earned her JD from New York Law School while working as a post-doctoral fellow in microbiology at the New York University Medical Center.  She has also studied pharmacology, earning a Ph.D., and a BS Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin.

Jim Haley, head of the Life Sciences practice at Haley Guiliano, says “Karen is a marvelous addition to our firm and to our Life Sciences practice.”

Full-service business law firm based in Portland, Oregon, Ater Wynne will merge practice into Buchalter, bolstering the latter’s presence in the Pacific Northwest.  Ater Wynne’s 22 attorneys will join Buchalter on in October, bringing Buchalter to roughly 300 attorneys in nine locations across the country, and adding Buchalter’s second office in the Pacific Northwest in under three years.

Todd A. Mitchell, Ater Wynne’s Managing Partner will become Managing Shareholder of the Portland office and a member of Buchalter’s Board of Directors. Mitchell calls the move “an opportunity to provide stronger counsel to our clients in Portland and the surrounding region,” and he says the two groups have a strong cultural fit.

Adam J. Bass, President and CEO of Buchalter, has overseen more than 130 attorneys added to the firm and has opened offices in California and in Washington State.  He calls the move a chance to “stay ahead of the curve.  This move is about looking to the future and the right cultural and business fit.”

Law Firm Awards, Recognitions and Achievements

Zuckerman Law principal Eric Bachman was named to the prestigious “Top Lawyers in America” list for 2020 by Best Lawyers in the field of Labor and Employment.  Lawyers are nominated for this achievement, and then evaluated by their peers based on professional expertise.  Bachman was included in the 2020 Edition of Washington D.C.’s Best Lawyers.

Bachman is the Chair of the discrimination and retaliation practices at Zuckerman Law, and prior to his work with Zuckerman he served in senior roles at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and in the U.S. Office of Special Counsel where he worked on class actions and whistleblower protection act settlements.

Preeminent workplace law firm Jackson Lewis once again was listed on the BTI Litigation Outlook 2020 report, earning “Powerhouse” rankings in Complex Employment Litigation and the Employment Litigation categories.  These rankings are based on in-depth interviews with legal decision-makers, involving data from more than 9,000 corporate counsel client interviews.

Jackson Lewis is on track to have a record number of trial victories in 2019, and this is in part due to the firm’s forward-thinking approach through innovative programs like its Advanced Trial Techniques Academy, which enhances the already strong litigation strength of the firm’s attorneys.

Firm Co-Chairs Kevin G. Lauri and William J. Anthony: “Jackson Lewis remains committed to staying abreast of national litigation trends faced by employers and delivering the best possible results, by both providing exceptional client service and retaining a deep bench of top-notch litigators.”

BTI reaches out to legal decision-makers at large organizations, with more than $1 billion in revenue, targeting decision-makers in the industries that have the largest legal spend, consulting Chief Legal Officers, Chief Legal Operating Officers and other executives with a say in the selection of outside counsel.  BTI’s 2019 report indicates an expectation of growth in litigation for the third year in a row.   More information about the BTI Litigation Outlook 2020 report can be found here.

The law firm of Sills Cummis & Gross received top ranking as one of the “highly recommended” New Jersey litigation firms in the 2020 edition of Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys. This is the third year in a row Sills Cummis & Gross received this honor. Focusing solely on litigation in the United States, this guide is published by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.  Firms recognized are chosen based on interviews with the country’s leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel. Thirteen members of Sills Cummins & Gross were also included.

ATM Class ActionMoginRubin LLP is representing a class of non-bank ATM operators across the United States arguing that Visa, Mastercard and its affiliated banks conspired to fix ATM fees, requiring anticompetitive overcharges for network processing fees, resulting in higher ATM surcharges and foreign transaction fees when customers use ATM’s not associated with their bank.

The proposed class represents 60% of the U.S. ATM market and includes the following: ATMs of the South, Inc., Business Resource Group, Inc., Just ATMs USA, Inc., Wash Water Solutions, Inc., ATM Bankcard Services, Inc., Selman Telecommunications Investment Group, LLC, Scot Gardner d/b/a SJI, Turnkey ATM Solutions, LLC, Trinity Holdings Ltd, Inc., and T&T Communications, Inc. and Randal N. Bro d/b/a T&B Investments.  Roughly five years ago Visa and Mastercard attempted to have the case dismissed, even taking the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, however, the Supreme Court found that the companies had changed their argument after the court granted certiorari and dismissed the writ as “improvidently granted.”

Jonathan Rubin of MoginRubin LLP calls the rules governing the fees “absurd” designed to punish consumers who choose less expensive networks or the defendant’s competitor’s networks.  He says, “The independent ATM operators and regional networks are providing a necessary service that banks are unwilling to provide or to invest in, but Visa and Mastercard are using their market power to impose anti-competitive fees and bleed the operators and consumers for their own profit,” he added. “Mastercard and Visa have no business telling independent ATM operators what to charge.”

Legal Industry News, Law School Updates

Leading legal publisher Fastcase announced today the acquisition of NextChapter, the cloud-based bankruptcy software for attorneys and paralegals.

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Paralegal Janine Sickmeyer used her expertise in preparing bankruptcy cases to create NextChapter, teaching herself to code and building the application from the ground up, launching in 2016.  The service became known as “the turbo tax for bankruptcy filings” and its success was built on the efficiency created by understanding the best workflows and practices into an easy to use, full-circle solution used by several thousand law firms across every district in the U.S.  Upon Fastcase’s acquisition of NextChapter, Sickmeyer will become Managing Director and Founder of NextChapter and Director of Practice Workflow at Fastcase. She calls the acquisition “a dream come true” and she voices her admiration for Fastcase leadership.  She says, “it’s invigorating to collaborate and continue to build NextChapter’s company and products alongside them. Fastcase and NextChapter share the same core beliefs on customer-focused products. I know this opportunity will allow us to continue serving our mission.”

The UCI Law Graduate Tax Program and Alteryx Inc. Announce Tax and Data Analytics Partnership, designed to train future tax attorneys on ways big data analytics can work in tax law.

Students in the UCI Law Graduate Tax Program will learn on the program already used by in-house tax departments–Alteryx Designer, and will learn how to use the data analytics platform to generate data-based legal tax advice, earning a certification for successful completion.  This practicum is the first time Alteryx will work with a law school, and the group will provide software licenses to students who participate in the program. Omni Marian, Professor of Law and the Academic Director of the UCI Graduate Tax Program, says the program is a way to prepare students for the way practicing tax law will be in the future.  He says, “Alteryx for Good’s generosity allows us to help our students to become future leaders of the legal tax profession.”

Bachelor’s Degree Center which provides a free guide to bachelor degree programs across all disciplines, recently released four guides to the best Paralegal bachelor degree programs in the United States,  including the 25 Best for 2020, the 15 Best Online Paralegal Programs,  the 10 Fastest Online Paralegal Programs, and the 10 Most Affordable Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs.

The top 3 Best Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Auburn University
  2. Quinnipiac University
  3. Montclair State University

The Top 3 Online Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Tulane University
  2. University of Central Florida
  3. University of Massachusetts Lowell

The Top 3 Most Affordable Paralegal Bachelor’s Programs for 2020 are:

  1. Bellevue University
  2. Charter Oak State College
  3. Peirce College

The guide points out that while law schools have been graduating new attorneys facing an uphill battle in the legal marketplace, paralegals are still very much in demand.  A standard entry into the profession is a two-year associate degree, however, many paralegals combine work with further study, and a bachelor’s degree in legal studies can be the key to moving ahead in the profession.  Whether an online program or a traditional program, this guide provides important information so students—non-traditional or otherwise, can make the best choice for their situation.

That’s it for now.  We’ll be back in a few weeks with more updates on the legal industry.


Copyright ©2019 National Law Forum, LLC

For more legal marketing developments, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

From the Outside Looking In: Getting Hired by In-House Counsel with Jaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic Law Firm Marketing Catalyst Podcast [PODCAST]

It’s perhaps the legal industry’s most-asked question: how can attorneys get noticed by in-house counselJaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic, joined the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast to offer her tips, including how to stand out by finding a niche, and why diversity and inclusion are so important.

Read the transcript below.

Sharon:   Welcome to the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast. Today my guest is Jaimala Pai, Principal Legal Counsel at Medtronic, where she provides legal support across all business groups. Jaimala has a strong marketing perspective and has some important tips for outside counsel in terms of making inroads with fellow attorneys in-house. Jaimala, very glad to have you.

Jaimala:  Thanks so much, Sharon. Really glad to be talking to you today.

Sharon:   Jaimala, tell us about how you got where you are. I know that you were in private practice with an outside firm. How did you segue from that into being in-house? Was it something you wanted? Was it a random call from a headhunter? How did that come about?

Jaimala:  I think I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go in-house. During law school, I was the only summer law clerk at 3M’s Office of General Counsel, and I really enjoyed my experience. Specifically, I enjoyed learning about the business, working closely with business personnel and figuring out how to provide practical advice in a business setting. So, I knew I wanted to be an in-house attorney and began networking. I met with both in-house and law firm attorneys and asked them about their careers, and I told them about my aspirations. Sure enough, when an in-house attorney reached out to one of the law firm partners I had met to look for a junior-level attorney, they provided my name. I immediately jumped on the opportunity and began my in-house career at Northwest Airlines, which is now Delta, and I’ve now been in-house for 12 years at various companies, including a Fortune 10 company.

Sharon:   So, you’ve been in a variety of industries.

Jaimala:  Yes, I have, from airline to health insurance to now med device.

Sharon:   That sounds very interesting. If I had a nickel for every time I was asked by a lawyer in private practice about how they can attract the attention of in-house counsel, I could have retired a long time ago. We’d all like to hear your advice. I’m also curious because it seems like you’ve given it a lot of thought, more than other in-house counsel that I’ve met or heard speak. You wrote an article on the subject, published in the Legal Executive Institute publication. What got you thinking about business development from the perspective of outside counsel?

Jaimala:  I think what got me thinking about it is a couple of things. One was a client looking for outside counsel. I practice in a very specific practice area. I am in health law, and beyond that, it’s fraud and abuse in health law, so I’ve had a very hard time finding people who could help me on various projects, and also just from the networking perspective. I’m friends with multiple people who are junior-level partners and even senior-level partners who come across the same thing, which is how do we break into a large company like Medtronic? How do we get noticed when these larger companies have preferred provider networks or a series of closed networks of law firms? How do I get in front of somebody to talk to a decision-maker? So, it’s really made me think about that. And you’re right, I put some of the thoughts in the article, which I will expand on in this podcast.

Sharon:   So, what is your advice? Where do we start?

Jaimala:  I think my first point is don’t be a generalist. In-house counsel are required to be generalists, like a Swiss Army Knife. We need to know a little about a lot to cover most everyday questions across innumerable subject matter areas. When we look to outside counsel, we’re looking for a specific tool that this Swiss Army Knife won’t do. The issue requires deeper experience and more specialized expertise. So, really be specific about your area of expertise and call it out on your firm online biography, because I often look up firm biographies to understand experience. I may also get a referral. I may know our network of law firms, but I need to look for one specific person, so I’ll just click on the firm website to see who has the expertise I’m looking for.

Sharon:   Will you do a Google search with healthcare technology or healthcare devices, or do you just start because you have names?

Jaimala:  Sometimes I have names. Sometimes I do Google searches, and sometimes I look at specific law firms. I may have a law firm—we have 10 law firms, for example, in Medtronic’s preferred provider network—but I don’t have a list, aside from what their website says, of who the regulatory healthcare counseling attorneys are. From there, that may give me a feed of 10 different attorneys, or sometimes it’s 20 because everybody’s thrown in everything, and then I actually click on their website and their bios to see whether they have the experience I’m looking for, and whether it’s specific enough to be able to help on the issue I have.

Sharon:   So, attorneys should be very specific. Can you give some examples?

Jaimala:  One of the main things that I see are industry phrases being used, like, “I work with life sciences companies,” and that’s helpful but it’s not helpful. I would like someone who specifically can say, “I work with med device companies versus pharmaceutical companies,” because our issues are different. One of the reasons why we use outside counsel is because we want someone who has more industry expertise and can give us information on what other companies are doing, obviously without violating privilege. They can say, “In my experience, this is how I’ve worked this issue in other companies across the same med device industry that are trying to do this, or conversely, you guys are outliers. I’ve never heard this before.” Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes that’s a bad thing, but if you don’t have that industry expertise and I’m still getting my narrow view of a Medtronic-only perspective on an issue, that’s not as helpful.

Sharon:   I know lawyers are so resistant to focusing. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve suggested that perhaps a laundry list is not the best way to go. These are lawyers who often have distinct expertise, but they don’t want to focus in on it. Why do you think that is?

Jaimala:  I think you hit the nail on the head in the past, when we had a conversation, and it’s the fear of missing out. They think if they don’t have the laundry list on their bio, a client may come in and not see an area they can help on and not be interested in them. I actually think it’s more the other way around. In this day and age, companies are looking for law firms that have a varied practice area, but they’re looking at lawyers for a specific expertise. Your firm may have everything but the kitchen sink under it, but your specific expertise needs to show, so that I know you’re the person I should call when I have a fraud and abuse issue for med devices. You will be the person that can talk me through and be the expert, versus us muddling through something together because you think you can do it, but you haven’t really ever done it in the past.

Sharon:   Yes, I think it is the fear of missing out, and I wish every lawyer we’ve talked with could hear what you’re saying. So often we hear, “Nobody’s going to look for me online,” or “Nobody’s going to find me online.” What are your thoughts about that?

Jaimala:  I do think networking is key, too. It’s not just online. I understand why people will think that, but the other information I would give is oftentimes, we don’t have these great, big areas of information in-house. For example, I know my network of law firms that I’m supposed to use my budget towards, but I don’t have a list of regulatory attorneys from each of those law firms. I still have to go online and look for these things. Even if you’re in my network, it doesn’t necessarily mean I know the lawyers that are in that firm. So, I do think we look online more than law firms expect, and we don’t always just hire our friends. That’s another misconception that people have, that you only hire someone you know. I’d love to hire people I know, but sometimes you can’t. Like I said, you have a network you have to work in, or conversely, your friend doesn’t practice in the area you need. There are a lot of times that we just look straight to websites to find people.

Sharon:   What a missed opportunity, in terms of not introducing themselves to you and making it clear who they are.

Jaimala:  I think my second tip, Sharon, would be to really invest in relationships; network with everyone including mid-level and junior-level lawyers. Take an interest in what they do for your client and how you might be able to help them. Oftentimes, at these networking events, people go straight to the GC of a business, and I think they don’t realize that junior-level attorneys and even mid-level attorneys have considerable authority and influence on who companies hire and evaluating the quality of services that firms provide. Honestly, you never know who will be a general counsel tomorrow. I think you have to realize that there may not be an immediate return, but if you invested in the relationship and built a good reputation, in-house attorneys will find a way to work with you when they’re in a position to be able to make outside counsel hiring decisions.

Sharon:   That’s such a good point, in terms of not just going to the top, especially because time goes by so quickly. It seems like no time at all when you have a new attorney entering a firm and all of a sudden, they’re partner. You have to plant the seeds early on.

You’ve talked about diversity and diverse teams producing more profitable results. Can you tell us about what you look for when you’re hiring and your experience with that?

Jaimala:  For me, it’s at these networking events. Who treated me well? Who didn’t just gravitate towards people who look like them? I’m a female minority in the legal profession, and in some ways, I’m a little bit of a unicorn at this stage of my career because so many of us have left the profession or never even joined it. So, I appreciate when people come over and talk to me and don’t just gravitate towards those who look like them. There are numerous studies that show that diverse teams produce better economic results. Most companies have taken these studies seriously and made diversity and inclusion a focus and goal. Many law firms require diverse teams to work on their issues, and they want to have both diversity in their in-house teams and their outside counsel.

It feels to me that if law firms remain homogenous, it’s almost an impossible task for an in-house department to be diverse, because in-house pulls talent from law firms. To me, if you commit to diversity in the profession and invest in it, you’re going to feel more comfortable talking to someone like me. You’re going to come up to me in a networking event, and I’m going to think of you when I need to hire somebody and think about how well you treated me. You didn’t seem intimidated by me. You were good, so we’re going to have a great working relationship, because if in a networking setting you could talk to me, then you could definitely talk to me in a working relationship.

Sharon:   Have you seen changes? Are there more firms to choose from? What are the trends that you’ve seen?

Jaimala:  I do think more companies are making this a priority for them, and as a result, more law firms are focusing on it, too. If you demand this, if your clients are demanding something from you, you’re going to put focus on it and effort into it. I think recruitment has gone up for sure. I think there are more pipeline organizations. One particular organization that I’m very close to is LCLD, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, which is a national organization that doesn’t just focus on one affinity group. It’s an organization of more than 285 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners and it’s dedicated to creating a diverse legal profession. Through the fact that so many companies and managing partners have joined this group, you can see that there is a commitment and a focus on it in the profession, so I have seen some positives. Just being in a room full of other folks that look like me has been great, because most of the time, I’m the only one in the room.

Sharon:   Have you ever been in a meeting where a law firm has put a token minority in, even though they may not be relevant to what they’re pitching?

Jaimala:  I think just about every minority has been that token at some point, including myself. I think it’s up to the clients to ask, “O.K., so Jaimala’s in the room. What is Jaimala going to work on on this project? Is she only going to be doing doc review, or is she going to be writing these briefs? Is she going to be the core team that takes this to litigation? Is she going to be part of this, or is she going to be relegated to the sidelines?” It’s that follow-through that the client needs to do to ensure that you’re not just bringing someone to the pitch who’s not going to get meaningful work. I think the numbers you put out, saying, “We want 20 percent diversity on a team,” doesn’t mean anything if that 20 percent is just doc review.

Sharon:   I’m looking at some of your suggestions you have for law firms, like committing to a diversity program and investing in it or joining a mentor program with a local school or college. I think that’s so important, because we’ve worked with quite a few law firms, smaller law firms who would love to diversify, but it’s a very tight pool to draw from. For whatever reason, they haven’t been able to retain people, so right now, there are a bunch of white males. So, these are great suggestions in terms of how they can at least start to support diversity.

Jaimala:  Yes, LCLD is a large organization and it takes money to join, and that is something a lot of smaller law firms and even smaller companies can’t necessarily commit to, but there are other ways, like you mentioned. It’s so easy. You can just reach out to a local law school and offer to be a mentor to a diverse law student. That gives you a different perspective. That gives you incoming talent into the profession as well, and that opens that individual up, who may not have had a lawyer in their family or ever even known a lawyer before they went to law school. You’re a network, and I think just doing simple things like that makes a difference.

There are also numerous organizations such as Just the Beginning, which is a pipeline organization that focuses on showing high school and middle school students of color and those of low income backgrounds that there is a path to law school and the legal profession. There are also national affinity bar associations that are great resources and offer wonderful networking opportunities. I think it’s good to remember that just because I’m not in this diverse community, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to join these things, and it doesn’t mean this isn’t my problem. This is a problem across our profession that everybody needs to own. It’s not for women and minorities to solve on their own.

Sharon:   That’s a great point. We’ll put links to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and we can also put a link to Just the Beginning, which I haven’t heard of before, but it sounds very interesting. How else can outside lawyers get in front of in-house counsel?

Jaimala:  I think presentations are huge. This could be CLEs or presentations at different trade associations. When I say presentations, I mean outside counsel is typically tapped to do these presentations, and if they take a step back and think, “This might be more meaningful if I bring someone who’s in-house to give industry examples and real-world examples of what’s going on. These anecdotes of what really goes on in a company will make me better off connecting with the audience.” It’s a win-win, because in-house just doesn’t get those types of opportunities as much, and we would love to be a part of that and be able to add that to our résumés. I do think it would make the presentation better, because those in-house folks in the audience will say, “Hey, this person has a great relationship with the client, but not only that, I can understand what the client’s saying because I go through that all the time. Here’s someone who knows how to work with in-house people.” I think that’s a great way to get in front of in-house and connect, and it’s a way that your in-house clients will know that you’re thinking of them and opportunities to help their careers. If they, let’s say, move companies, they’ll still remember that, and in an opportunity where they can hire you, they’ll try to do that. I think co-writing an article is another example. Oftentimes, Sharon, as we’ve talked about, people at law firms think, “Oh, in-house folks are too busy. They don’t want to do things like that. They don’t have time for it.” We may not have as much time in some ways, but we do want to do those things. We do want to continue to grow professionally and get our résumés in order and have publications on them. That’s another good opportunity. The best one that I’ve seen a couple of companies offer is to do CLE presentations for free at various companies, just saying, “Hey, I saw that you’re a big government contractor. I’d like to come in and give a great presentation on the ABCs of government contracting. I’ll do it for free. I’ll fly out to you. What do you think?” Almost any company would take you up on that.

Sharon:   Those are great suggestions, and once again, I’m looking at missed opportunities when you say that in-house counsel don’t have as many chances to be on a panel or co-write an article. I rarely hear that discussed when we’re talking with lawyers in private practice. That is such a fabulous opportunity, in terms of helping in-house counsel build their credibility. I think that’s something to be considered.

Jaimala:  I think it’s great, because sometimes when you get various law firm attorneys on a panel, it’s sort of an ego thing, “Hire me versus them. I’m better.” That ends up being what the presentation sounds like, which is obviously not what it’s intended to do. If you have that in-house person on the panel, I think it changes the dynamic. They will give a real-world example of what’s happened and you’ll have the outside counsel giving their expertise, and it really does make for a better presentation.

Sharon:   I’m also thinking, it’s great to ask an in-house lawyer to be on a panel, but why not just create your own opportunities? You could put a presentation together with a bank or an insurance company and ask in-house counsel to participate. It could just be doing a webinar and asking in-house counsel to join, just to get that perspective and also to let them know that you’re thinking about them.

Jaimala:  Yes, I think so. That would be great. Like I said, a lot of these opportunities don’t come to us as much, partly because we’re not as connected in the industry as law firm attorneys are, and we don’t know folks who are putting these on. We’re not on those associations necessarily at the highest levels. Those tend to be attorneys at law firms, so the opportunities don’t come to us as much.

Sharon:   That’s a great point to keep in mind. Jaimala, I want to thank you so much for being here. This is great information and it’s not just a marketing person saying it. It’s from you talking from your experience, so I really appreciate it.

Jaimala:  Thank you so much, Sharon, I really appreciate you having me on here.

Sharon:   I want to let people know that if they want to contact you, they can do that through LinkedIn. That will be in the show notes. I want to thank everyone for listening to the Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast. Please join us for our next conversation on topics that will propel your firm forward. Thank you so much.

END OF AUDIO

Click here to listen to Jaimala’s Law Firm Marketing Catalyst podcast episode: From the Outside Looking In: Getting Hired by In-House Counsel. Make sure to download/subscribe.


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For more on attorney hiring, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.