THE ROADMAP FOR YOUR FUTURE: Career Insight from LMA's Rising Stars.

Mantick, Kelly

Past LMA Rising Stars teamed up to provide a power-packed, pre-LMA 2015 Annual Conference panel discussion about skyrocketing your career. Moderated by Ian Turvill, chief marketing officer at Freeborn & Peters LLP, this panel discussion delivered top tips from the experts, and we have put together some of their insights from the presentation to guide you along the way to advancing your legal marketing career.

Elizabeth Boehm

Senior Marketing and Business Development Manager

Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP

To be a successful legal marketer, you need to develop the following key attributes:

* Eagerness to learn is essential. As we know, the legal industry is always evolving and changing, as is the field of marketing. It's important to be able to adapt, learn about new trends and be willing to work on new initiatives.

* A positive attitude is key. This industry can be stressful. We are working with extremely smart, talented, intensely hardworking attorneys. If you feel stressed or overwhelmed, find a way to release that stress outside of the workplace. When you're at the office, smile, be helpful, have a cando attitude and be that go-to person the attorneys enjoy working with. This business is about relationships, and just as we coach our attorneys to be client-service focused, we should have the same mindset when we are working with them, because they are our own clients.

* Be a contributor and share your perspective. Your opinions matter. You are a marketing expert, and the attorneys at your firm and your colleagues in your department will be respectful of your ideas, regardless of your career level or years of experience.

From my experience, certain factors have been key in my professional growth at my firm, and many of them involve education and finding the right resources. Access to resources is important. Not just financial resources, but support from supervisors or firm management for professional development, organizational involvement and skills-building opportunities. Whether you are getting involved in LMA, signing up for writing or coaching workshops or attending networking functions, having support from firm management to participate in these growth opportunities will be essential to your development.

I've also taken on a mentality of, "Help us help you." In order for legal marketers to do the best work we can for our firms, it is vital to be in an environment that helps us be better at our jobs. If you are looking at joining a new firm, ask yourself if a supportive environment exists there. Is the firm marketing and business development focused? Are the senior marketers involved in strategic initiatives; do they even have a seat on the executive committee? Are the attorneys willing to work with the marketing department? Do they view marketing and business development as essential to success?

A team atmosphere both within the marketing department and in the firm's culture across the board can help propel your growth as a professional. A team-centric workplace will help you get more done, foster relationships, learn delegation skills, have more leadership opportunities and provide better service to your attorneys. Sometimes, it really does take a village.

Throughout my career so far, I have stayed at Benesch but have fulfilled different roles, which was a great way to support my professional growth. Having been at the firm for almost 10 years and in five different marketing roles, I have gotten my feet wet in the gamut of marketing and business development functions legal marketing encompasses. Starting out with administrative duties, I moved on to communications, regional marketing, interactive marketing and now to business development. I'm fortunate to have been able to develop my skills in a variety of areas.

If you have the chance to move up within your firm, demonstrate your willingness to do so. Do your best work in your current position and go above and beyond to demonstrate you are capable of even more. If an internal position opens, approach the hiring manager and discuss your interest. Be prepared to share a list of reasons noting why you are interested and qualified.

If you are looking to move up within your existing firm, it's still critical to network and build relationships. Earn the trust of the attorneys and staff at your firm. If you say you are going to do something, always follow through. Build friends and allies by getting to know your colleagues. Work with other departments and make a positive impression on them. Do the legwork so that, if an internal position opens, you have already set yourself up for consideration as a candidate.

Heather McCullough

Director of Business & Practice Development

Nexsen Pruet

It's important to focus on the essential attributes of a successful legal marketer, including self-motivation. Oftentimes, you are given projects without much direction. You need to ask questions to get to the heart of what is really needed and then work to meet the request. At times, the end product can be reviewed with a critical eye, which is when you will need thick skin. Realizing that you are working in a fast-paced, high-stress environment and being able to focus on the task at hand is incredibly important, which leads to why we all do what we do. Constantly remind yourself that we are working on behalf of our clients and their best interest is critical. Realize that it is not necessarily about what is good for an individual attorney, practice or industry team, but rather working toward what is best for our clients and having that viewpoint constantly in your mind is key to being successful in this industry.

I came to a crossroads in my career, and I was looking to make a move up without having to move on. I spent a great deal of time considering how to make that happen, which is when I started thinking about areas of weakness, or perceived weakness, within our firm. Our attorneys were great with their current clients, but many weren't considering how best to cross-sell services, how to prospect for new clients or how best to maximize on their speaking/writing/etc.

I developed a proposal for a business development coaching program for our attorneys, presented it to our board of directors and decided how the program would be structured within our firm. I hired outside consultants and implemented the program. This was a great leadership opportunity for me and gave me higher visibility among the decision makers in the firm. When it came time for them to decide on a new director for our department, I like to think that my actions at the firm helped to make their hiring decision easier, and they hired from within.

I have gained so much knowledge from my participation in LMA, both from the educational sessions that are offered and the networking among peers that occurs at each gathering. There are also a number of other organizations both within and outside of our industry that offer phenomenal opportunities for growth: Association for Legal Administrators (ALA); National Association of Law Placement (NALP); Public Relations Society of America (PRSA); American Marketing Association (AMA); Association of Accounting Marketing (AAM) and more. With any organization that you join, remember to get involved--show up and participate--and most of all, get known!

Melissa Marshall

Regional Marketing Manager

Clark Hill PLC

I fell into legal marketing directly out of college: The dad of some kids I babysat was an attorney, and he passed my resume along to his clients. It turned out that his firm was looking for a marketing team member at the time, and I was hired. This goes along with everything I tell my attorneys: network, network, network! They can meet potential clients in many different avenues outside of just the events they are invited to: their kids' activities, parking cars at church, their spouse's social circles, volunteer work, past colleagues who have moved on to other opportunities and more. For legal marketers, LMA has a great network. Use this opportunity to find a mentor, ask questions, and draft goals and priorities throughout the year.

I have switched firms once in my career so far and have grown significantly in my new role. Throughout this transition, I learned a couple important lessons. First, timing is everything. I always have my fingers on the pulse of the market and continue to sharpen my skill sets in events, public relations, and office and practice group strategy. I joined Clark Hill full of excitement at the opportunity of growing two offices in completely different markets, and this opportunity continues to be a great challenge for me. Second, I learned to listen and observe. I let the attorneys do the talking, and my colleagues provided all of the firm history I needed.

Communication is also an important part of the legal marketing role. Marketers are recruited to communicate externally, but they also must communicate internally. Internal communication is just as important and should be a priority within any firm or organization. At Clark Hill, our marketing department takes advantage of technology. We use intranets, interactive websites, email, virtual teleconferencing and other new technologies to keep internal audiences up-to-date and in the loop. But don't forget personal interaction. The most effective internal communications vehicles are still face-to-face meetings and small group interactions, which keep everyone on the same page while improving firm culture.