1. How did you start working in/with the legal marketing industry? My dad worked in legal publishing, and I made my legal marketing debut at age four handing out swag at his exhibitor table at the annual California Bar convention. I continued on the path with college internships at various legal companies, including Thomson Reuters, Bar/Bri and both small and large law firms. After working as a paralegal at Dorsey & Whitney for two years after college, I took a break from the legal world and worked in publicity at the publishing house Simon & Schuster. It was there I learned the ropes of PR, which brought me back to the legal world in a marketing capacity as an in-house communications coordinator at Fried Frank in NYC.
2. How do you describe your job to people outside of the legal industry? I usually tell people I do marketing and PR for a law firm, which often results in a blank stare. Occasionally someone will ask what that means and I launch into my elevator pitch about raising the profile of our firm and attorneys in the legal and greater business communities through various marketing and PR efforts.
3. What’s the best part of your work and why? The people. I love that I spend my day surrounded by intellectually stimulating people, including our insanely smart and creative attorneys, our driven and dedicated management team, my funny and talented team and amazing supportive staff.
4. How do you deal with “impossible” situations? By not accepting that it's impossible and not taking anything personally. I rely on my team and colleagues to help me come up with creative solutions, my Executive Director to give me a pep talk, and my marketing partner who will always advise on how best to proceed.
5. If you were to build the “perfect” legal marketer, what skill(s) would they most need? My perfect marketer would be persistent, resilient, creative, eager, unflappable, have extreme attention to detail and the ability to prioritize. They would also love to learn and desire an in-depth understanding of the various practice areas. Perhaps most important is the ability to communicate well with lawyers and understand how they operate.
6. What advice would you offer to someone new to the industry? Join LMA! Also, be responsive and proactive in your communications and have integrity. A lot of success in legal marketing relies on having the trust of attorneys. Being responsive, keeping them in the loop and doing what you say you will are three key ways to start building their trust and establishing your credibility.
7. If you could have any job other than what you currently do, what would that be? Work in marketing/development for a nonprofit.
8 What are your passions outside of work? Spending time with my husband, our 8-month old daughter and dog Frida. When time permits, reading, hiking, travel.