Elevating Your Career: Personal Leadership and Management in Legal Marketing Presented by the West Region

LMA Body of Knowledge Domain: Marketing Management and Leadership Competencies: Firm Organizational Structure and Dynamics & Department Management, Leadership and Motivation

This session will explore necessary skills for leadership and management within law firm marketing departments. Our panel of experts will provide insights into cross-functional collaboration, defining and developing personal and professional identity, practical execution of strategies, and leveraging tools and technology for professional growth. Attendees will gain valuable strategies to advance their careers and contribute more effectively to their organizations.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify effective communication and collaboration strategies for working across different departments within a law firm.
• Discuss ways to define and align personal and professional identity with career goals in a legal marketing context.
• Explore practical skills, tools, and technologies that enhance personal productivity and support continuous professional development.

Presenters:

Jessie Spressart is the Founder and Managing Director of Optia Consulting. She brings nearly twenty years of experience in talent management and law firm professional development to her coaching and consulting practice. Jessie founded Optia with the mission to help legal organizations improve well-being through solutions designed to capitalize on the strengths of each generation in the workforce today. Optia provides consulting and training on management and leadership skills, mental health, and well-being in the workplace.

Britt Schmidt is Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Peasechief's legal talent & inclusion officer and is based in the Columbus office. She leads the legal talent department, oversees the firm’s legal recruiting, professional development, diversity, inclusion and retention strategies to drive growth and engagement across the firm’s ten markets. Her team provides dedicated resources to support attorney integration, professional development, mentorship and well-being in ways that advance their careers and elevate their experience at Vorys. She works collaboratively with firm leaders to align Vorys’ business and talent strategy and serves in various leadership roles throughout the firm including as chair of the Mentorship & Engagement Committee; vice-chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee; member of the firm’s Strategic Operations and Planning Committee and Hiring Committee; and as the firm’s Flexible Work Advisor. She reports directly to the firm’s managing partner.

Gene Gilmore is a lawyer, entrepreneur and certified coach who brings over a decade of professional development experience, insightful creativity and leadership to Cooley's unique culture. Gene leads a talented team devoted to supporting the ongoing professional development of all Cooley lawyers throughout their careers with integration and on-boarding programs, substantive skills training, stage-critical conferences, professional skills workshops and coaching, and on-demand e-learning resources. 

Cost: 
Members: Complimentary
Prospective Members: $79

Data Analytics for Law Firm Marketing: Measuring Success and Making Informed Decisions Presented by the Midwest and West Regions

LMA Body of Knowledge Domain: Technology Management
Competency: Data and Analytics

Join us for an in-depth exploration of how technology can drive effective marketing strategies within law firms. This session will bring together a panel of experts, who will provide insights into integrating marketing technology including CRM systems, website and data analytics, and intelligence and thought leadership analytics to enhance business development and marketing efforts. Learn how to measure success accurately and make informed decisions that can significantly impact your firm's growth and client engagement. This session is designed for those looking to harness the power of data to streamline and optimize their law firm's marketing initiatives.
Learning Outcomes:

• Strategies for Data-Driven Decision Making: Gain insights into how internal data can be leveraged for optimizing strategic decisions within law firms.
• Enhancing Professional Visibility Through Digital Media: Explore effective methods for using long-form content and digital media to increase visibility and influence targeted professional audiences.
• Advanced Marketing Integration for Firm Growth: Learn to integrate marketing, business development, and client engagement strategies to drive awareness, engagement, and retention in professional services.

Speakers:

Alyson Fieldman (moderator) is a seasoned marketing professional with over 20 years in professional services marketing. She currently works at Rockit Results as an independent consultant with high-growth professional services firms to achieve their strategic, marketing, business development, and client/employee experience goals. Alyson thrives on facilitating collaborative, cross-functional strategy sessions that result in actionable marketing plans, crafting impactful client experience programs, and building and leading high-performance teams.

Most recently, Alyson served as Chief Marketing Officer for Marcum LLP, a top-15 accounting and business advisory firm, where she worked closely with firm leadership to set the marketing strategy to build awareness, drive client value, and support firm growth. Previously, Alyson served as Managing Director of Client Services at One North Interactive, Portfolio Manager of Interactive Marketing at Hubbard One (A Thomson Reuters business), Account Manager at Greenfield/Belser, and Marketing Director for a small labor and employment law firm. Alyson’s clients have included some of the world’s largest and most reputable law firms, accounting firms, and consulting businesses – including Reed Smith, Skadden, Jones Day, Minter Ellison, CliftonLarsonAllen, and Navigant.

Jason Kennedy has worked at the intersection of marketing technology over the last decade plus, processes and data within professional services. He has lead technology implementations, data strategy initiatives, and data visualization projects. Jason is currently the Intelligence Solutions Manager for Holland & Knight, and has an MBA and Masters Degree in Marketing Analytics.

Adrian Lürssen is co-founder and VP of strategic development at JD Supra — a leading platform for content distribution and business intelligence — where, among other things, he heads many of the organization’s editorial initiatives. Adrian has spent his professional life working in new media, starting in the 1990s as an early Yahoo! employee when he built and managed the Internet pioneer's first team of editors and writers.  

The CI Practitioners Corner is a video campaign designed to spread awareness of CI principles and teach applicable skills that can be used immediately. The videos will be brief (often tutorial style) CI lessons about how to use free, paid or readily accessible tools to “do CI”. 

Sponsored by: Talent Development Committee
Domain: Marketing Management and Leadership
BoK Competency: Firm Organizational Structure and Dynamics

Design Thinking is a creative process for innovation. In the same way successful lawyers use a process for preparing for a court case or going about business development, Design Thinking is a process with five distinct steps to develop a better way to deliver legal services or solve a challenging problem. Legal Design Thinking (LDT) can be applied to develop new ways to combine human-centered design and technology to meet the ever-changing demands of the legal profession. Legal Design Thinking results in not only more creative and effective solutions, but also a closer relationship and collaboration between law firms and their clients, the legal departments.  

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn what is Design Thinking including the critical 5 steps
• Identify how this concept is applied to law firms and legal marketing
• Discuss how you can use Design Thinking to demonstrate leadership within your firm

Presenters: Mark Beese, Founder, Design Thinking Legal; President, Leadership for Lawyers Mandy Hicks, Director of Marketing & Communication, English Lucas Priest & Owsley, LLP

Exclusive for LMA Members

Sponsored by: Solo Small Team SIG & Business to Consumer Practices SIG
Domain: Marketing Management and Leadership
BoK Competency: Budgeting

Budget season is fast approaching, and we’ve got the tools and real-life experience to help you tackle it head on. Join us for an insightful discussion specifically for solo or small team legal marketers on the basics of budgeting. Learn from in-house legal marketers from various backgrounds and their first-hand experience creating, managing, and justifying marketing budgets for their firms. Walk away with the insights you need to get the most out of your budget process this year. 

Learning Outcomes:

• Explore best practices for budgets, including how to structure them, timelines, and see templates that can help you get started
• Discuss how to effectively communicate budget needs to lawyers and leadership
• Identify budget justification tips
• Explore how to handle unexpected items and additions.

Presenters:
Andrew Laver, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. 
Crystal Breede, Marketing Director, Huffman & Huffman 
Nikki Sherrill, Chief Business Development Officer, Parker Hudson 

Sponsored by: PR & Communications SIG 
Domain: Communications
BoK Competency: Reputation Management

Take a break from compiling matter descriptions and referee contact information and join the PR SIG for an insightful webinar on Chambers Submissions, designed to take your submission skills to the next level. Ask your burning Chambers questions and get answers from members of the Chambers & Partners team and seasoned in-house legal marketers. Panelists will dive into the key elements that make a compelling and successful submission and help you improve your existing approach. You’ll also learn common pitfalls to avoid and have the opportunity to ask questions during a live Q&A.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn the key elements of a successful Chambers submission
• Understand the role references play in the ranking process and best practices for managing them
• Gain insights into common mistakes and pitfalls in the submission process and learn how to avoid them

Presenters:
Kush Cheema, North America Research Director, Chambers & Partners
James Haggerty, Head of USA Research, Chambers & Partners
Meredith Rosenblatt, Business Development Manager, Adams and Reese
Brook Redmond, Director of Business Development, Baker Donelson (moderator)

Sponsored by: Client Value SIG
Domain: Client Services
BoK Competency: External Client Communication and Feedback

Delving deeper into the realm of client experience (CX), this webinar aims to equip legal marketers with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively create, expand and refine their CX programs. 

Jennifer Carro, Director of Client Experience at Marcum LLP, a leading national accounting firm, will share her experiences and insights on:

• Implementing a CX program
• Scaling and refining the program as it matures
• Key considerations for fueling CX efforts within your firm
• Lessons learned along the way

Learning Outcomes:

• Reflect and Refine: Understand the importance of continuous evaluation and refinement in your CX program, using Marcum's experience as a case study.
• Scale Strategically: Learn how to scale your CX program while maintaining its objectives and integrity and managing its complexity.
• Lessons Learned: Gain insights into the potential challenges and pitfalls in implementing a CX program and how to navigate them.
• Crucial Considerations: Discover the key factors to consider when implementing a CX program, from aligning with firm objectives to securing buy-in from stakeholders.
• Adapting to Firm Size: Understand the nuances of implementing a CX program in a small firm versus a large firm, and how to adapt your program accordingly.

Presenter: Jennifer Carro, Director of Client Experience, Marcum LLP

Sponsored by: Marketing Technology SIG
Domain: Technology Management
BoK Competency: Data and Analytics

Join the LMA Marketing Technology SIG for a roundtable discussion on how legal technologists use tools like Power BI to share data insights across departments, enabling firm management to make informed, data-driven decisions. 

Our speakers, Aja Hendrix, Marketing Technology Manager at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and Madison Henry, Senior Business Intelligence & Analytics Manager, will share their data visualization journeys and provide firsthand examples of leveraging data from various internal applications to create compelling dashboards.

Together, let's harness the transformative potential of data visualization to empower each other!

Learning Outcomes:

• Gain insights into how legal marketer’s employ Power BI to effectively share data across departments within law firms. 
• Acquire practical knowledge and “lessons learned” from real-world examples.
• Learn practical steps and discover valuable resources for initiating the implementation of data visualization tools like Power BI within your firm or organization. 

Presenters:
Aja Hendrix, Marketing Technology Manager at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Madison Henry, Senior Business Intelligence & Analytics Manager, Troutman Pepper
Rosa Colón, Senior Manager of Marketing Technology, Lowenstein Sandler LLP (Moderator)

Sponsored by: Competitive Intelligence SIG and SALI
Domain: Business Development
BoK Competency: Competitive Intelligence

Join leading experts in law firm data to discover solutions to industry code problems and to hear real life examples of transformative approaches to data management. CI professionals leverage multiple resources to provide accurate and reliable research, including both third-party platforms and internal data. Across this myriad of sources, industry taxonomies may differ greatly and as such these roles tend to become subject matter experts in the standards and understanding their nuances. This session will cover advancements made by the Standards Advancement for the Legal Industry (SALI) with industry codes standardization using LLMs. You'll hear the story of how two different firms transformed industry coding and improved reporting for Marketing and Business Development as well as their entire firm.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn about industry coding time-savers and efficiencies available through the SALI Alliance’s industry code initiative 
• Identify practical applications for how data management principles may be incorporated into your firm’s strategy
• Discuss how peer firms transformed their data and improved financial reporting 

Presenters:
Cindy Bare, Chief Data & Innovation Officer, Frost Brown Todd LLP
Denis Anscomb, Industry Codes Working Group, SALI & Co-founder, index.io
Rachel Shields Williams, Director, Knowledge Management, Sidley Austin LLP 

Sponsored by: Solo/Small Team SIG
Domain: Business Development
BoK Competency: Event Management

Planning and executing events with limited resources can be challenging – especially when your team is small, your budget is small, and your time is limited. In this round robin panel, marketing professionals will share their favorite tips on how to stretch resources and strategically plan for successful events. They will talk about event strategy, logistical planning, delighting guests, marketing your event, and tracking ROI. Their tips will address both educational and social/entertainment events for clients, potential clients, and referral sources.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify ways to stretch event budgets and prioritize most important elements.
• Learn tricks & tips for efficient logistical planning and how to incorporate small, inexpensive details. 
• Before & After: Discuss event promotion and post-event evaluation and ROI, identifying low-budget solutions for both.

Presenters: 
Susan Gorham, Director of Marketing, Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates, P.A.
Marissa Panchal, Marketing Coordinator, Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates, P.A.
Sarah Hazel, Director of Marketing & Business Development, BCM Law, P.C.
Kelsey Reeves, Senior Marketing & Events Manager, Jones Walker LLP