Insights

As Featured in Bloomberg Law on May 6, 2022.   In the early 2000s, a partner running a significant litigation department looked me squarely in the eye and said, “I’m a litigator. That means I don’t market. Once the client is done working with me, they want the whole litigation episode behind them.” At the time, I thought he might…

Published on LinkedIn on April 28, 2022.   In the last decades, I’ve often felt like a contractor. As a CMO and now as a consultant, I’ve built new marketing departments and helped renovate others. They’ve ranged from talented teams of five people to troops of more than 100. When asked what makes a marketing department successful, I see the…

A chapter by Deborah Farone from the book “Running Legal Like a Business: The Fundamentals of Legal Operations for Law Departments,” by Connie Brenton and Susan Raridon Lambreth.   Imagine having the perfect role within a great legal department. Each day, you’re adding value and doing the work you love. The most innovative assignments seem to fall from the sky….

As Featured in Forbes on Jan. 05, 2022. A few years ago, a CMO friend referred a talented young lawyer to me. The lawyer was on the precipice of great career success but wanted to improve her abilities by working with a marketing coach. I already had several law firm clients and looming deadlines, but like anyone who has trouble…

As Featured in Bloomberg Law on Dec. 15, 2021. The start of the new year is when people try to commit to improving their mental and physical health by going to the gym, cutting back on social media, or curbing their consumption of carbohydrates. Yet when thinking about goals for 2022, lawyers may be best served by considering their marketing…

As featured in Law.com on August 25, 2021. For the last several years, there is one recurring question lawyers have been asking me: “What is the secret behind rainmaking?” After having served two long-term tenures as a chief marketing officer, first for Debevoise & Plimpton and more recently for 14 years at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, I left to write…

As featured in Forbes on August 20, 2021. Several studies demonstrate that those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. Perhaps the most famous of these studies was conducted by psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University of California. In 2007, Matthews led a study on goal-setting. The results were telling: Those who wrote…