Lucy is a Doberman puppy with her own Instagram account. She insisted on starting one. It’s been more than a decade since our last four-footed friend Gracie the Dalmatian left us. As a dog mom, I’ve had to get up to speed on an array of new products, companies and services. With everything from locating the just-right chewable puzzle toys…
As featured on LinkedIn, November 22, 2022. If I knew then what I know now. It was great to have the chance to speak to a group of terrific young women undergrads at Cornell University as part of the Forte Foundation program. Thank you, Tatum Shearer (a junior, graduating in 2024), for the lovely invitation. The topics ranged from careers,…
As featured in PM Magazine, July/August, 2022. Talented people, check. Great technology, check. Partners love them, check. It sounds like your firm’s marketing and business development department is buzzing away. Yet, just like any organisation, it’s essential to take a good look at the indicators of your operation’s health to ensure its wellbeing for the future. There are seven factors…
As featured on LinkedIn, June 6, 2022. Why are so many executives asking questions about the craft of personal branding? Does this require posting on Instagram 4 times a day, or launching a dedicated You Tube channel? Does it involve a personal shopper? Personal branding is an outgrowth of professional services marketing. While most of us in the field started off…
As featured on LinkedIn, June 1, 2022. What is it that holds women back from developing new business? A glass ceiling? No, a wood office door. During the last few decades, generally those in heels were not the first ones invited to a new business pitch. Men were in the majority when it came to dealing with clients and choosing teams…
As featured in LinkedIn, May 25, 2022. Last week, I was in Orlando, but I wasn’t there to see my rodent friend with the big round ears or his sweetheart, Minnie. This was not to be a Mickey Mouse adventure. Still, I was thrilled to present to legal administrators from around the country at this year’s Association of Legal Administrators (ALA)…
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 be…
On April 19, the IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee, with the support of the Women Lawyers’ Committee, produced the webinar, “The Secrets of Women Rainmakers – How to Become One and How to Create a Culture that Develops Them.” With more than 400 attendees calling in from around the world, the group discussed their own experience in developing business, their…
As featured 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….
