Agenda
Thursday, October 19
12:30 PM — Registration Opens
1:30 - 2:30 PM — Opening Session / Keynote
Welcome Remarks
President, LMA Northeast Region
Keynote Speaker
Disruption: How Technology is Revolutionizing the Law & Media
2:30 PM — Break
2:50 - 3:40 PM — Breakout 1
Collaboration - How Marketers Can Use IT to Implement Software, Motivate Lawyers and Build Super-Functional Teams
Speakers
Farone Advisors, LLC
Distinguished Fellow, Harvard Law School
Session Details
In this session, we will discuss and workshop how marketers can use the brand new tools of collaboration set out by Heidi Gardner’s new book, “Smarter Collaboration” to implement technology, motivate lawyers and create super-functional teams. Heidi will be interviewed by Deborah Farone, author of “Best Practices in Law Firm Marketing and Business Development,” and the session will involve roundtable discussions.
Turning Insights Into Action With Your Marketing Data
Speaker
Operational Excellence Consultant, Calibrate
Session Details
Following the popular two-part Marketing Analytics Bootcamp presented at this year’s LMA Conference, we are bringing the bootcamp on the road! In this session, you will be presented with a list of data sources and a specific business scenario to address using marketing analytics. This will be a workshop format, where attendees will be split into smaller groups to work on potential solutions to the given scenario. This is a rare opportunity to use your existing skills (and learn some new ones) to learn how marketing can show value using data in even the most uncertain of times.
Weathering the Reputational Storm: How Law Firms Can Remain Agile and Authentic During a Crisis
Speakers
Vice-President, Infinite Global
Vice President, Infinite Global
Session Details
A law firm’s most valuable asset is arguably its reputation – forged over time, owed not only to the excellence of its attorneys’ legal work but also to the image of strength, sophistication and adaptability it projects in the world. But this carefully engineered reputation can come crashing down in an instant. Law firms are threatened from all sides by potential crises – from data breaches to reports of employee misconduct to unfavorable sentiment on social media. In this environment, how can you ensure that you maintain a state of constant preparedness? What tools do you need to add to your crisis communications toolbox?
In this session, two of Infinite Global’s strategic communications advisors will walk through the key components of crisis preparedness, exploring how to pre-emptively build and enhance a law firm’s reputation on the front end to mitigate risk, how to remain coordinated and calculated during a fast-moving incident, and how to seize the opportunity to re-establish the firm’s reputation after it takes a hit.
The presenters will use common scenarios to dissect the key elements of effective reputation management, sharing practical steps for safeguarding a firm’s most valuable asset. This session is designed for law firm communications professionals who want to make certain that their organization is prepared to confront a variety of reputational threats and deploy a selection of strategies, from traditional media relations to modern digital tactics, to help navigate the inevitable storm.
3:50 - 4:40 PM — Breakout 2
Media Matters: Building & Leveraging Authentic Relationships
Moderator
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Thompson Coburn LLP
Speakers
Reporter, Global Data Review
Senior Editor at Above the Law and Managing Director at RPN Executive Search LLP
Senior Staff Writer, The American Lawyer
Session Details
Be a fly on the wall to see effective reporter-marketer interactions and after these role-plays, hear from three senior journalists about what they seek in relationships. Get the scoop on building authentic bonds, effectively exchanging information and leveraging trusted relationships to fuel media relations.
Working in Concert to Elevate Your Brand and Position
Moderator
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Porzio Bromberg & Newman, P.C.
SpeakerS
Partner, Society 54
Senior Director of Practice & Industry Business Development and Client Solutions, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Session Details
Given the amount of noise and chaos in the legal world these days, it should surprise no one that personal branding has taken center stage. Whether you are new to the industry and looking to grow your career or a seasoned roadie looking to take the next step in your world tour, personal branding is the answer. However, with so many different opinions and tunes floating around, it can be hard to know where to begin. How do you know which lyrics are right for you? How can you ensure your brand is coming across as clearly as possible? How do personal branding strategies impact your professional development and how can you work to ensure all members of your band are singing your praises? Luckily, there are answers. Hear from two seasoned legal marketing and business development professionals who have recently crowd surfed their way into C-suite roles at new firms by not only relying upon their skills and experience, but the support and contributions of their backup singers and crewmates.
Harnessing the Power of Specialization: Building Industry-Targeted Go-to-Market Strategies That Work
Moderator
Managing Director, Growth Enablement, Williams Lea
Speakers
Principal, Harvey Global Consulting
Director, Sectors & Clients, Foley & Lardner LLP
Session Details
This session will delve into ways in which sector- and industry-focused strategies can safeguard law firms, enabling them to thrive in economic downturns and grow profitable relationships within their key sectors.
5:00 - 7:00 PM — Evening Reception Sponsored by IntroHive
Friday, October 20
8:00 - 9:00 AM — Breakfast
9:00 - 9:50 AM — Breakout 1
AI and What It Means for Legal Marketers
Moderator
Chief Growth Officer, Nexl
Speakers
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Lowenstein, LLP;
President-Elect, LMA International Board of Directors
Founder and CEO, Kaitongo
Driving Growth: Business Development Initiatives That Accelerate Revenue
Speaker
Founder & CEO, Ackert
Session Details
With uncertain economic headwinds comes the need to protect loyal clients and seek opportunities to broaden and deepen client relationships. How do law firms address this challenge and what can be learned from those who have been most successful in adapting to changing client needs? In this dynamic, interactive presentation, you will discover a framework that reveals the actionable steps you can use to enhance your firm’s business development strategy. You will discover:
- The five critical phases of business development, how they apply across the various functions at your firm and how you can make revenue-generating improvements to your current approach.
- A range of powerful initiatives and approaches that enhance short-term revenue generation and lead to sustainable growth.
- Real case studies and success stories of firms that overcame challenges and achieved remarkable growth.
You will leave this program with a comprehensive roadmap for advancing your business development effectiveness and a clear understanding of the initiatives needed to maximize your revenue generation potential.
Fishbowl: Great Expectations, Even Better Execution – How to Get “Stuff” Done and Exceed Expectations
Leader
Director of Marketing & Business Development, Stark & Stark
Get With It, Already! Creating Digital Marketing Infrastructure
Moderator
Speakers
Director of Client Relations, Morris James LLP
Client Success Consultant, Passle
Session Details
Law firm marketing departments are under increasing pressure to support strategic firm objectives and drive revenue growth. But outdated systems, siloed technologies, and lacking interdepartmental communication create barriers to progress and innovation. As technology tools have improved, the opportunity to gain efficiency in client outreach and with targeted marketing campaigns has never been more ripe.
Digital-forward organizations understand the importance of a fully integrated, end-to-end marketing infrastructure that marries effort, performance, and outcomes. Too often firms of all sizes either struggle to update and enhance systems or to fully utilize tools that would help streamline the marketing and business development process. As the digital transformation wave takes hold, and emerging technologies are seemingly around every corner, firms that fail to make the necessary infrastructure improvements now will be left woefully behind.
In this war game-style workshop, attendees will be split into groups, each with a unique set of technologies – and challenges – to work through as a team. Through the process, teams will discuss how to prioritize resources, build a business case for innovation, and manage change and adoption.
10:00 - 10:50 AM — Breakout 2
The Legal Industry: The View from Social and Legal Media
Moderator
Director of Public Relations, Seyfarth Shaw
Speakers
Publishing Director, Legal 500
Session Details
As LMA members, we are in the middle of the latest law firm developments and may miss the bigger picture. This panel will give us a look at the business of law from the outside, from the press and social media influencers. What current trends do they see, what are their predictions for the future and what does it all mean for legal marketing?
Fishbowl: Career Ownership: Thriving - on Your Terms - in Volatile Times
Leader
Principal, The Law Marketing Coach
Session Details
The maturation of the profession gives us significant information as to what works / what remains challenging in having a position as an administrative professional inside of a top law firm servicing the world’s most successful companies.
We will discuss the realities of the job – stressed partners and resources; an often unyielding sense that work trumps all no matter the situation; the feeling that a typo can erase years of great work; and the continued questions about our professional abilities and value (in some ways related to lack of JD / practice experience.)
We also acknowledge that partners are taking a look at resources with an eye to save money now that the pandemic revenues have slowed down, and recession worries continue apace. Many firms are actively cutting staff spots. In short, it’s a dangerous proposition to leave your career development, perceived value and success and longevity to anyone beyond yourself -especially during a VUCA – infused climate.
This “let your hair down and talk openly” dialogue will allow us to discuss the everyday realities and truths of jobs that are not simple – yet allow for great intellectual challenges and good salaries.
VUCA! Reframing Website Revitalization Initiatives as Valid Undertakings Calmly Achieved
Speaker
Founder, President, Rubenstein Tech; Founder, Creator, RubyApps
Session Details
Website revitalization initiatives can be terrifying, overwhelming sources of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Legal marketers may have to decipher and navigate stakeholder concerns, understand and articulate key objectives, and select third-party experts to implement the sophisticated technology.
Join RubyLaw, a leader in content lifecycle management (CLM), as we confront VUCA with legal marketing experts to discuss the many facets of website refresh initiatives, and how to ensure that results meet and exceed leadership’s expectations.
10:50 - 11:15 AM — Coffee Break
11:20 - 12:10 PM — Breakout 3
How to Effectively Build and Maintain Your Personal Brand
Speakers
Fractional/Outsourced Marketing Director, Chief Strategy Officer & Social Media Strategist, Stefanie Marrone Consulting/The Social Media Butterfly
CEO, PGE Consulting Group
Session Details
Everyone has a personal brand but not everyone effectively manages it. Today, it’s just not enough to be the very best at what you do to keep bringing in new business and to stay top of mind with clients, prospects and referrals; you also need to build your personal brand.
The good news is that there are many tactics available to professionals at any stage of their careers – such as content marketing, social media, public speaking, podcasting, creating videos and volunteering, among others – that will enable them to build a stronger personal brand and achieve the ultimate goal of revenue generation.
This interactive workshop session will help attendees become more intentional and successful at building their personal brand with branding coaching during the session and a group activity.
TED Talks
What’s Top of Mind for Your Buyers?
Director, Strategy & Content, Right Hat
Future Proof Your Firm With Client Experience
Experience Director, CX Pilots
Fueling Business Development Success: How Rainmaking Differs for Women Lawyers
President and Founder, The Lawyers’ Edge
Fishbowl: A Tale of Three Pipelines: How to Maximize Your Sales, Service, and Cross-Selling Pipelines
Leader
Founder & CEO, Ackert
Session Details
In this interactive fishbowl session, legal marketers will gain invaluable insights into maximizing revenue generation by leveraging each of the three primary strategic avenues. Be prepared to share your best practices, and hear from your peers as we collectively explore effective sales techniques to attract new clients, develop strong client relationships through exceptional service, and unlock the potential of cross-selling to existing clients.
You Bought It, Now What? Best Practices for Successful Implementation and Adoption
Speaker
Vice President, Client Value, Pitchly
Session Details
You’ve evaluated all the options and have selected the right software for your needs – but what comes next? After you’ve made the decision to incorporate any technology into your stack, it’s imperative to know how to navigate the steps to successfully implement and deploy it. Whether it’s CRM, experience management – or any type of software — doing so helps ensure widespread buy-in, adoption, and use by the intended stakeholders.
12:15 - 1:45 PM — Lunch
1:50 - 2:40 PM — Breakout 4
Law Firm Business Development Strategies: Tactics for Professional Staff to Develop Relationships With Clients and Deliver Exceptional Client Experience
Moderator
Principal, LawVision, LLC
Speakers
Chief Client Relationship Officer, Goodwin
Director of Marketing & Business Development, Farrell Fritz, P.C.
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Session Details
Amidst VUCA and a highly competitive legal landscape, successful law firms understand that professional staff – including marketers, business developers, salespeople and more – can play a direct role in driving growth and retaining a loyal client base. Join our expert panel for a discussion concerning the evolution of law firm client development operations and client-facing roles. Attendees will gain practical insights and an understanding of the innovative, modern approaches used by progressive law firms to inspire their own firm’s business and client development initiatives.
Fluff Is for Pillows, Not Marketing Copy (2022 Encore)
Speaker
Principal, Teicher Professional Growth, LLC
Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown University Law Center
Session Details
The sleeper hit of the 2022 LMANE Regional Conference returns by popular demand. Whether it’s in marketing copy or program descriptions, ideas need to be conveyed in a way that will both captivate the reader and persuade them to adopt the message. In this program, legal writing professor and CLE educator, Stuart Teicher explains how to deliver a “Surgical Strike” in our marketing copy. He teaches how to write with power and efficiency by using “Intense Plain English.”
From Process to Product: How to Increase Marketing and Business Development Process Efficiency
Speakers
Sr. Business Development Manager, Sidley Austin LLP
Business Development Manager, Sidley Austin LLP
Session Details
This session will use real life examples to demonstrate how process can lead business development strategy in today’s complex, evolving legal marketing environment. Speakers will highlight three areas essential to the marketing and business development process: client list targeting, client entertainment, and lawyer biographies. From earning stakeholder buy-in to implementation to actionable follow-up, each step in developing a process lends itself to efficiency over time for marketing individuals and lawyers. Attendees will understand the importance of earning trust by developing a toolkit of resources to have at the ready and having the ability to connect dots across multiple projects.
2:50 - 3:40 PM — Breakout 5
The Evolution of CRM: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Business Development Initiatives
Moderator
Customer Success Manager, LexisNexis
Speakers
Marketing Technology Manager, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Marketing Database & CRM Manager, Mayer Brown
Session Details
Most Business Development and Marketing teams want to leverage technology to give lawyers what they need to grow their business. It is challenging to thoughtfully and globally design automation and execute through integrations. As a result, too many of us become mired in manual business development activities that require pulling reports and collecting CRM data. Finding time to integrate and automate falls further and further down the list of To Dos. Now it’s time to utilize all of the hard work you’ve done to collect and maintain your firm’s relationship intelligence
This panel will discuss:
- The future of CRM is here: Cloud Technology and AI
- Using CRM as a business development technology tool to provide lawyers enhanced client and pipeline insight and client portfolio tracking
- Time-saving shortcuts on how to automate steps and enhance user experience
- Insightful reports that other firms are using to guide lawyers into taking BD action today
Guiding Lateral Partners on the Path to Success
Speakers
Director of Partner Integration & Business Development Coaching, McGuireWoods
Consultant, Fireman & Co.
Session Details
Do any of these statements ring true in your law firm?
- Lateral partner integration is a fraction of many peoples’ jobs – we do the best we can but lack an overarching strategy.
- When a partner joins my firm there is a flurry of activity in the first month, but sustained efforts are difficult.
- “Successful” partner integration hinges on the business professionals. The lawyers rarely engage.
Investment and collaboration are two overarching forces in lateral integration. Think of them as a sliding scale on your journey from orientation to integration. This session will examine how those forces intersect with four integration amplifiers: people, tools, processes, and technology.
Fishbowl: AI Applications and Ethics
Leader
Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Lowenstein, LLP;
President-Elect, LMA International Board of Directors
How to Reduce RFP Response Times by 90% With AI Tools
Speaker
President, Co-Founder, iKaun
Session Details
ChatGPT and the potential power of generative AI in the open, public domain is exciting—even notwithstanding its pitfalls and known propensity for error. But what if we were able to harness the power of ChatGPT and apply it to firms’ data to solve real business challenges?
Join ikaun Chief of Product Strategy, Jason Noble for a thought-provoking session focused on the real outputs of truth-based, generative AI currently available and what that will look like for law firms with a specific focus om AI that works to radically reduces RFP response times by 90% by:
- Down-selecting which RFPs firms should respond to based on the skillsets of its attorneys
- Automatically answers qualifying questions RFPs
- Generates tonally consistent, enriched responses in a matter of seconds
- Provides multiple suggested RFP responses that target a variety of strategic approaches
