State your name, title and law firm.
Morgan Ribeiro, Chief Business Development Officer, Waller
How long have you been in the legal marketing field?
Seven years.
How have your marketing efforts evolved during the last five years?
The evolution has happened pretty rapidly in the last five years, both for our organization and for the industry as a whole. Since joining the firm, we have completely revamped our digital marketing efforts, including the launch of a new website, more consistent thought leadership efforts, highly targeted subscriber lists, the launch of a podcast and more engagement from our attorneys and staff on social channels, such as LinkedIn. We don’t see these efforts decreasing any time soon.
...many of the changes we endured in the last year will stick with us for the long-term.
In addition, the amount of pitches we do as a firm for new business has also grown. With that, we’ve become much more sophisticated and efficient in how we produce materials in order to best position the firm and to support attorneys in responding to prospective clients who typically have quick 
turnaround times.
All of that said, clearly the biggest marker of change has been COVID-19. That pushed us to adapt to a new way of marketing almost overnight and many of the changes we endured in the last year will stick with us for the long-term. For example, we launched a series of intimate, virtual c-suite roundtables during lockdown, and we plan to continue those and other virtual events into the future.
How does your marketing department drive strategic plans and lead the charge in a time of change?
The legal industry is evolving so quickly, it seems we are constantly adapting to change — whether it is revamping our team and individual responsibilities; adapting our processes in order to serve a greater attorney population; or delivering services during lockdown. We have launched a number of initiatives that touch the entire firm and improve the way we deliver our services, and ultimately how we drive business for the firm.
An example of this would be our experience database where we house information (both confidential and publicly available) on matters for all practice areas. While the BD department leads on this effort and regularly accesses this information for pitches, this is a database that proves useful for the entire firm.
Additionally, as it relates to driving strategic plans, our team is built around the firm’s industries of strategic focus, which are outlined in the firm’s five year strategic plan. The bulk of our BD and marketing activities are to drive those initiatives forward — position the firm, further build our reputation, nurture existing client relationships, and build our network of new clients and referral sources firm in each of our core industries.
What marketing and business development initiatives born out of COVID-19 will be used in the future?
As I stated earlier, COVID-19 pushed us to adapt to a changing world overnight. While challenging at the time, I was really proud of our team for coming together to advance the firm even though the work had to get done in a different fashion.
In the first few weeks of COVID lockdowns, we decided “there is no time like the present,” and we haven’t looked back...
We came up with new tools and outlets in order to continue to position the firm, communicate with and update clients, and market our capabilities in response to our clients’ shifting needs. We’d thought about launching a podcast well before COVID-19 but never quite got around to it. In the first few weeks of COVID lockdowns, we decided “there is no time like the present,” and we haven’t looked back. Our clients and attorneys have been extremely positive about this communication channel.
