From Roe to Dobbs (Epstein Becker Green)
Winner in the Category of Business Development
Epstein Becker Green (EBG) aimed to be a reliable, comprehensive legal nexus for clients directly and indirectly affected by the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, while also seeking to become the foremost thought leaders that journalists, prospective clients, and other readers/viewers could depend on for information at a time when dependable information was scarce.
To do so, the firm created the “From Roe to Dobbs” online portal, a dedicated online space that serves as a hub for all of the firm’s content and resources related to the Dobbs decision.
Additionally, EBG instituted a firmwide focus on the creation of Dobbs-related content throughout all firm media, including videos, podcasts, guest authorship, blog posting, and social media features, and created direct client email communications specifically tailored to aspects of the quickly changing laws that could affect them.
Production & Implementation:
Months before the Dobbs decision was issued (or even leaked), the firm’s attorneys collaboratively began developing their knowledge base, studying relevant statutes and case law, and monitoring proposed and pending legislation. And the firm’s marketing & business development professionals began thinking of creative ways to maintain and distribute EBG’s wealth of knowledge.
When the decision dropped, key attorney, marketing, and business development members moved immediately to create a “war room” to organize teams and begin establishing resources. Proactively equipped with responses and content to launch, and due to the immediate collaboration across departments, the new site was live within mere hours on the day the decision was announced.
As a result of this initiative, the group deployed a multi-pronged strategy to content distribution, developing a continuous stream of content that was 1) timely, 2) specific, and 3) comprehensive across a diversified array of channels. This content spanned owned media channels such as EBG’s own blogs like “Health Law Advisor” and “Commercial Litigation Updated,” podcasts such as “Employment Law This Week” and “Diagnosing Health Care,” and earned media via articles or quotes found in Healthcare Dive, Axios, Health Affairs, and Law360.
EBG also created and distributed to clients the “Dobbs Decision: Impact on Your Business” newsletter, which delivered a rundown of the Dobbs-related publications, upcoming events, and newest resources prepared by EBG attorneys. At the foundation of the marketing and business development strategy was the creation of the firm’s original 50-state survey and related checklists, which was continuously updated with the relevant laws. In addition, Epstein Becker Green created a new Dobbs working group, which included eight different sub-groups, to track and monitor changes across every state and impacting every practice.
Results:
By the numbers (content created as part of the Dobbs initiative):
- 41 blog posts
- 19 events and speaking opportunities
- 23 quotes in the media
- 18 articles and similar publications
- 8 videos and podcasts
- Over a dozen new Dobbs-related matters
In great part due to these efforts, the firm was able to develop business and provide counsel related to the Dobbs decision across industries on single- and multi-state matters, ranging from financial, to hospitals, to retail, to bar associations, and more. Notably, this firmwide effort was unique in that both the umbrella working group and all eight Dobbs sub-working groups were led by women.
The firm’s work related to Dobbs was subject to numerous recognitions: The New York Law Journal awarded the firm its “Innovation” award in large part due to the firm’s leadership on the subject, Lawline selected three EBG attorneys—Susan Gross Sholinsky, Cassandra Labbees, and Delia Deschaine—as “Top Women Faculty” for their thought leadership on the platform in 2022 regarding the decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the American Healthcare Law Association (AHLA) included its podcast with EBG attorney Devon Minnick in its 2023 Top 10 special issues series.