Recalibrate your Communications!

Over three Tuesdays in October (11, 18 and 25), our Communications Clinics offered a variety of sessions focusing on the latest trends and strategies for implementing successful communications programs. We also had salon-style breakout sessions where you could meet with speakers and your peers to share ideas and war stories.  

It was a deep dive into each of these topics:  

• Diversity & Inclusion
• Crisis PR 
• PR + BD Panel
• Reporter's View – Meet the Media Panel
• Two-Way Street: Building Effective Law Firm / PR Agency Relationships 
• Internal Communications

All sessions were recorded & are available for viewing. 

The "Break-Glass-in-Case-of-Emergency" status of crisis communications no longer applies. Crises – both at law firms and with their clients – are now far more routine and encompass increasingly greater aspects of day-to-day operations. With this dynamic in mind and with the "knives out" minefield that social media has become – including the rise of "citizen journalists" eager to muckrake and stir the pot – firms and their clients need to recalibrate their approach to emergent communications. The ubiquity of connectivity and the algorithm-juiced nature of news (and bad news in particular) means communicators need to use constant vigilance and have game plans for a wide range of threats and outcomes – all while learning to listen (to employees, colleagues, clients and on social media) like never before. 

This panel brings together PR professionals – both in-house and agency based – who have helped firms and clients weather a multitude of challenging situations. War stories will be shared and dissected as the panel aims to help attendees expect the unexpected and respond accordingly. Unique law firm considerations will be reviewed, and there will be discussion of the broader media ecosystem, as well as the niche legal trade world – complete with its own, often click-chasing motives. Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of the span of a "crisis" in 2022, a clearer picture of how a major conflagration often starts (it just takes a cell phone) and tools to help guide preparation for the next unexpected storm. 

The world and the workplace have undergone seismic shifts in the three years since Greentarget and Zeughauser Group's last in-depth look at the information consumption behaviors, attitudes, and preferences of in-house counsel and C-suite decision makers.

COVID-19 upended the global economy and highlighted broader racial and social inequities, triggering increasingly frank conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion that are pushing organizations across the business world to speak up about their own DEI efforts.   

That's why for the first time in 2022, Greentarget set out to better understand the evolving DEI pain points and needs of clients themselves. The research was born out of legal and executive decision makers expressing that beyond the practice- and matter-specific content populating their inboxes, they have a significant need for guidance on a range of DEI topics. 

This session will cover the following topics:

• Top-line Greentarget's 2022 State of Digital, Content and DEI research findings
• Decode what clients are really looking for in terms of DEI-focused content – and how needs differ between in-house counsel and the C-suite.
• Discuss the importance of collaboration among law firm marketing and DEI leadership teams to give clients what they need while advancing their own firm's DEI narratives.

This panel featuring senior in-house public relations and business development professionals and outside advisors will provide actionable insights that you can move on quickly to better collaborate with your colleagues to create successful public relations programs.

Hear from top national journalists about the lawyer-journalism relationship from their vantage point.

A strong working relationship between a law firm and agency allows for external PR advisors to seamlessly serve as an extension of the firm's internal marketing team, slotting into strategy meetings with partners, independently driving forward media relations plans and developing content to support initiatives with a strong firm voice. With a deep understanding of a firm's culture, processes, goals and stakeholders, a PR advisor with an existing relationship can also be a neutral and independent voice to assist with crisis communications when times get rough, without the time needed to get to know a new firm.

But how do firms establish and build on these relationships? What do they expect of their agencies? And what are the qualities of a good agency – and a good law firm client for that matter? In this panel, participants will consider effective processes for collaboration while sharing success stories and learning moments.

Visibility Within is a session on internal communications content, where we answer the question: What are firms doing to communicate with their lawyers and business professionals, while many firms are still operating remotely or hybrid? 

Discover how firms have adapted to sharing leadership communications internally to a hybrid workforce and find out which methods of communicating successes within have proven most impactful, such as: newsletters and digests, reports, intranet platforms, etc. 

Panelists will discuss challenges, opportunities and tools they've come across that help meet the internal communications needs of the "future-forward" workplace. 

The session will also feature a Q&A that will allow attendees to ask the panelists questions at the end. 

Cost: 

LMA Members - $99
Non-LMA Members - $149 
Communication Clinic Attendees - Free 

Thank you to the LMA West Region 2022 Ambassadors: