Blogs

Caroline Yarborough

Caroline Yarborough with K&L Gates was this year's Annual Conference Scholarship recipient. This is the second in a series of three articles Caroline will author regarding her experience at the LMA Annual Conference in 2015.

Previously, I shared the key theme, in my humble opinion, of the LMA Conference was that it's the relationships that matter - the ones we work to maintain and grow daily with the attorneys, firm clients, marketing colleagues and vendors with which we have the opportunity to work. Having first focused upon the relationship with our internal clients, the attorneys who we provide marketing and business development services, it seems only natural we discuss the relationship with our marketing colleagues - as anyone in legal marketing knows, it takes a village.

Whether you are part of a department of 50+ or are the sole legal marketer at your firm, I hope the below nuggets of wisdom serve to strengthen your relationships with colleagues and guide your own career path.

1. Trust your teammates' knowledge and strengths. During the General Counsel Panel "How We Buy What You Sell - And How That's Changing," Joe Otterstetter, Managing Counsel at 3M Company, outlined the process 3M undertook to consolidate their outside legal spend and focus upon 'strategic insourcing.' While the considerations and strategy discussed were certainly impressive, Mr. Otterstetter's trust in his team to oversee the RFP and counsel selection process for their respective legal areas stood out as a key component of the conversion process. He empowered and encouraged his department leads to take ownership of their selection processes and supported their outside counsel selection decisions.
   
   
2. Seek out and serve as mentors. In "The Roadmap For Your Future: Navigating and Accelerating Your Career in Legal Marketing" panel discussion led by Ian Turvill, Chief Marketing Officer at Freeborn & Peters, Kate Harry, Senior Recruiting Manager at J. Johnson Executive Search; Heather McCullough, Partner at Society54; Nancy Linder, Director of Marketing at Chapman & Cutler; and Charlotte Wager, Chief Talent Officer at Jenner Block discussed career development for both junior and senior level marketers. As junior marketers, the panel noted identifying and seeking out mentors is key for developing relationships and the skills necessary to climb the career ladder - via mentors, you have the opportunity to watch and learn, and then put into practice these skills. For those who may be interested in developing managerial skills in order to seek a mid-level position, mentor-mentee relationships offer the ability to indirectly manage and strengthen relationships with fellow teammates.
3. Understand, advocate and contribute. Melanie Green, Chief Client Development Officer; Brian Frederiksen, Chief Information and Knowledge Officer; and Ann Rainhart, Chief Talent Officer at Faegre Baker Daniels provided an in-depth overview of the merger between Faegre & Benson and Baker & Daniels and the steps the leadership team took to ensure it was successful in the "Law Firm Operations - The Change Agent Behind the Scenes in Today's Law Firm" session. As the leadership team oversaw the combination of each firm's departments and systems, the team met weekly to discuss and update one another on the status of the master execution plan. The weekly meetings and subsequent discussions served as a forum for the department leads - from IT to business development - to understand their colleagues' respective department's goals and objectives, provided department leads the opportunity to advocate for their department when necessary, and confirmation of the contributions each department was/is providing to the firm as a whole.