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The Jungle of Law Firm Marketing (And How to Keep Your Best from Swinging Away)

By Insights

Capuchin monkeys. Law firm marketing. Holding on to great people. An editor recently asked me, “Why is it that legal marketers leave 🏃‍♀️ their firms?” While there are several reasons, from lack of advancement to culture to compensation, there are several ways to value and retain your business development and marketing staff. I’ve seen several law firms do this well….

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As the chief marketing officer at two of the world’s most successful law firms and a national marketing professional at a global management consultancy, Deborah Farone has mastered the skills of professional services marketing, business development and communications.

Deborah was the first person ever hired to create and oversee a state-of-the-art marketing program for Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, one of the country’s most admired law firms. She is widely recognized as one of the founding professionals in the business development and communications field within the legal industry.

With deep expertise in building firm-wide strategic marketing programs and coaching lawyers across the U.S. and abroad, Deborah brings a tailored, practical approach to each client engagement. Whether she’s advising a global law firm, a fast-growing consultancy, or an individual lawyer, clients frequently rely on her long term for strategy, implementation, and trusted counsel.

Her clients have included many of the country’s top law firms, respected individual attorneys, professional advisors, jury consultants, and legal tech innovators. She has also led marketing and business development efforts across other professional services industries, including management consulting, advertising, and public relations.

Deborah is the author of the acclaimed book Best Practices in Law Firm Business Development and Marketing (PLI, 2019), widely used by firms around the world. She is currently at work on her second book, Breaking Ground: How Successful Women Partners Develop Thriving Practices, to be published by PLI in 2026. The book is based on more than 60 interviews with rainmakers, general counsel, and law firm leaders across four continents.

A frequent lecturer in the U.S. and Europe, Deborah has taught marketing courses, served on the faculty of New York University, and appears regularly as a columnist for Forbes, Bloomberg, and The American Lawyer. She was nominated by her peers as the first recipient of the Legal Marketing Association’s Legacy Award, is an officer on the Law Firm Management Committee of the International Bar Association, and is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.

Capabilities

Marketing Management

Strategic Plans

Reputation Management

Training & Coaching

Speaking Engagements

Unlock the Secrets with Author Deborah Farone

Culled from more than 60 interviews with law firm leaders, chief marketing officers and legal innovation visionaries,Best Practices in Law Firm Business Development and Marketingprovides actionable advice and real-world thinking. Each chapter is filled with information that can be scaled to apply to a large international law firm or a single-practitioner firm. The book is now available online on Amazon and pli.edu/bestpractices in various formats.

This book uncovers the best practices in the wide arena of legal marketing and covers topics including:

  • The most successful ways to create long-term relationships with clients
  • How personalities, leadership, and collaboration contribute to a firm’s culture and brand
  • What characteristics management should look for when hiring a CMO
  • How compensation, firm culture, training, and coaching can support and incentivize business development
  • Steps to take to build an individual reputation and brand, including the use of press, speaking engagements, and social media
  • The essential approach to support women lawyers with business development — including ideas on networking, mentorship versus sponsorship, and authenticity in marketing
  • How new technologies are being applied to deliver better service, attract clients, and generate business
  • The important role of legal operations, the procurement professional, and legal process outsourcing
  • Practical methods for evaluating AI solutions to business needs such as billing, e-discovery, and technology-assisted review

About Deborah Farone

With expertise in developing and managing marketing departments, and experience in one-on-one business development coaching and strategic public relations in the U.S., Asia and Europe, Deborah Farone brings a diverse range of skills to each unique situation.

The first person to be hired to develop and run a marketing program for Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, acknowledged as one of the country’s most admired law firms, Deborah has been called the leading expert in law firm marketing and recognized one of the CMOs who helped found the business development and communications profession at law firms. In addition to her highly-regarded work in the strategic marketing, marketing operations, and communications counseling spheres, she has established and led marketing efforts for several other professional service companies including those in the management consulting, advertising and public relations professions.

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What Leaders in the Profession Say

Deborah Farone is the leading expert in law firm marketing. Not only has she studied this complex topic from at the peak of the legal profession, her research into what works and what doesn’t is priceless for anyone interested in growing their business.

Heidi K. Gardner, PhD, Distinguished FellowHarvard Law School’s Center of the Legal Profession and author of Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos

Deborah is a connector, linking clients and legal service providers. She is our go-to person when we are looking for authentic industry knowledge and insights on where the legal market is trending.

Connie BrentonFounder of CLOC, V.P. of Law, Technology, and Operations, NetApp Inc.

Deborah helped us at Cravath develop internal systems from the ground up and obtained experience through working in the trenches and dealing with the most challenging marketing and public relations issues in professional services.

C. Allen ParkerInterim CEO and President, Wells Fargo & Company

Being savvy to best practices in business development is more critical now than ever. Deborah Farone is an industry leader who helps professionals navigate the evolving legal landscape. She brings an exceptional wealth of notable experience, insight, and forward thinking that continues to elevate our profession.

Cynthia P. VothDirector of Client Engagement & Innovation, Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP, Legal Marketing Association President - 2019

Grace under fire. The clear-headed thinking to be a visionary when surrounded by hundreds of genius lawyers. The grit to survive the twists and turns that are modern law firms. Those are just three of the traits needed to succeed as an elite legal CMO. Farone has those and more.

Katrina DeweyFounder and CEO, Lawdragon

Deborah Farone has a unique perspective on the modern American law firm. Her years of experience inside “big law” make her an invaluable source for those who provide and consume legal services.

Evan CheslerChairman, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

The gold standard in marketing.

Ralph FerraraSenior Advisor, Brown Rudnick and former General Counsel of the SEC

Receive a complimentary copy of the Marketing Strategy Toolkit.

Farone Advisors LLC